**********

Bailey stirred, awakening first, confused by the odd sensation in his head. It was unpleasant and…tingly? Yes, tingly. That was definitely the word. He washed his face and whiskers by routine, and then stared at his paws. Turning them over and back again, observing as if for the first time how dextrous they were. He curled his digits in and out, feeling how the muscles moved under his skin. ‘Huh. That’s neat. Why did I never notice that before?’ Bailey cocked his head and looked around, examining his little home away from home. He padded over to his sleepy packmate and started grooming him awake. Byron, startled at the touch, fought his brother off him, and shoved him down. His heart beating nearly out of his chest, he backed into the corner of the pouch. Bailey got up and padded over to his brother and resumed his morning wash.

“Good morning, sleepyhead! I thought you’d never wake up. My head feels funny. Does yours?”

“Uhm.. yes. Now that you mention it, my head does feel kind of…tingly?”

“Yes! Tingly is just how I’d describe it, too!”

**********

I opened the lid once I felt a commotion, only to see Byron in a corner in a defensive position, with Bailey washing his face.

“Hey little guys. Are you okay? Kinda worried about you right now. Something just happened, and I feel like I need to explain it to you.” Like any pet parent, I spoke to my guys like they were just little humans. I had always known that they never really understood me, but domesticated animals can sense our tones, and will usually react appropriately. This time was no exception. They both looked up at me the moment I spoke. I placed my hand, palm down into the pouch to invite them to come out and stretch their little legs.

“Doc, if you would shut the door, please? I don’t want them to wander too far from me. It would destroy me if I were to lose either of them.”

Doc gently shut the door with a pseudopod, and seemed to settle back and observe.

“Thank you, Doc. Hey Bailey.” I reached forward with my other hand to stroke his fur, “You doing okay there, bud?” Bailey stood on his hind legs, and gently grasped my hand with his tiny paws, and then started grooming me. “He seems okay, Doc.” I settled Bailey up onto my left shoulder, and he searched around for a snack, which I dutifully supplied in short order. He happily munched away while I reached in for Byron. “Byron? Hey buddy. Let’s come on out of there. We need to get a good check on you.”

Unlike Bailey, Byron was more skittish than usual, and dodged my hand repeatedly until I cornered him, and scruffed him out. He squirmed a bit, and then went limp in my grip. I settled him into my palm and gently stroked his fur, trying to soothe him. Bailey, now finished with his treat, scampered down my arm, and pushed my hand away from his brother, and curled up around him.

“Well, that’s a new behavior. He seems to be protecting his brother.”

Doc piped up from my left, “I think you should settle them down into their container again. You are all about to receive an update to your chips. It’s the same one, so there should be similar results. You have ten seconds. Nine. Eight.” I hurriedly settled the boys back into their pouch, and covered them again. “Five. Four. Three…”

I settled back against the wall, steeling myself for whatever was about to happen.

“One.”

A flood of information rushed into my brain. I gripped the sides of my head at the immediate spike of pain, and heard a pair of sharp squeaks from the inside of the pouch. I breathed through it, and waited for it to be over. I sat for what felt like an hour as my mind was assaulted from every conceivable angle, and then some I’d never even thought of, and lifetimes of data and information were dumped onto and into me.

My rats fared no better, as they squeaked in pain for the entire time and went still long before I did.

I sat there, shaking, panting and drooling from the mental assault, vainly trying to remember my own name. The searing pain inside my skull had subsided to a dull roar, and slowly vanished over a couple more minutes.

“Hmm. Reaction is very unusual, no subject has ever been able to remain conscious through the procedure. Congratulations! You are the first! How did you do it?” Doc extended what appeared to be ‘eyes’ towards my face.

I panted, struggling to recall how to make words. “I’ve had headaches since I was a small child, but this was soooo different.” I gently caressed my head. “Gotta see how the boys did, though.” I opened the lid of the pouch, fearing the worst. I saw both of my rats curled up in two separate mounds on either side of the pouch, trembling. “Hey guys. Are you okay? That hurt me, too. Let’s get you both out of there and check on you.”

Both rats uncurled themselves and reached out for my hand as it came down. I hoisted them up, and cradled them against my chest. I gently rubbed their fur, and they seemed to calm down. I was looking at them when my vision suddenly went wonky and a haze appeared before my eyes.

“You should be getting what you call augmented reality, but we call it magic sight. Nanometer-sized spheres of mana-charged titanium I implanted into your eyes should be coming active right now, and giving you a display of sorts. It should give you a name, species, affiliation and some minor details about whatever entity you are looking at. Test it out on me.”

I gazed in the direction of the doctor, and the haze snapped into focus, giving me what amounted to a heads-up display. It was disorienting at first, but as I gazed around, it became more and more natural. I looked down at my rats to see them looking up at me. I saw their names, ages, species, and noted that their affiliation was with me, and me alone. They undoubtedly were seeing something similar as they looked at me. As I pondered this new facet of my life, the oddest thing happened. I heard a pinging noise in my head, and reflexively looked at my phone. Not that. I looked around, not noticing that my rats were doing it too, trying to find the origin of the sound.

“Every species does it differently. Every individual does it differently. I’ve just sent you three a message through your chips. If you can figure out how to access them, you’ll be one step closer to being ready for the next stage of testing and fitting.”

I tried everything I could think of, but nothing seemed to work. I sat there for a good fifteen minutes trying various methods that I thought might work, but got nothing. As I sat there, mentally working it out, I heard two more pings. “I’m working on it. No need to be pushy,” I irritatedly responded.

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“It wasn’t me. Nobody else knows you have had this done. In fact only Mil’Grash and Bel’chazz even know you exist besides myself and my receptionist.”

“Well, if it wasn’t you, who was it?”

“I couldn’t say. Nobody - Oh. Oh, I see. It looks like your small friends there are more clever than you realize.”

“What? Byron? Bailey?” Each looked at me in turn, cocked his head to the side and nodded.

“What the actual fuck? You mean, you guys developed sapience? In a half hour?” Once again, both nodded.

“Bailey just told me that you should envision a menu? Whatever that is, and press the button for ‘messages’,” came the startled reply from Doc.

I shut my eyes, and called up a menu. To my surprise, there was, indeed, a menu. I mentally clicked the one for Messages, and saw that I had three. One from Doc and two from Bailey, Doc’s message was short and sweet. It read “Congratulations! You are one step closer to being a member of The Council.” Bailey’s first message read “Hi big brother! We’re both okay, and aren’t upset, or anything. Byron seems like he will take a little longer to get used to this, however. Don’t worry! I’ll help guide him.” His second read “Oh, try to imagine a menu screen, just like your games have! Bye!”

“Well, I’ll be damned. I can actually talk to my rats now. And have them talk back. Thank you, Doc.” I wiped tears from my eyes.

“It wasn’t intentional. I think my receptionist misunderstood the purpose of your rats. As of now, they are the first of their kind. They may be able to make more, but without the chip, I’m not sure. Now. As I’m sure they can understand me, you all have access to our information archives, and these chips will allow you to access your own archive on your home planet. However, they do not receive a stipend, as they are not representatives. So that portion of access for them has been removed. Otherwise, you three have full access to the data here. I have alerted Mil’Grash that you are finished, and she should be at the door. Goodbye.” Doc slid out of the door, and we left, following the exit signs. Bailey and Byron crawled to my shoulders and stood, holding onto my ears for support. I sent them a message to hang on and not wander off, and they both replied in the affirmative.

Upon reaching the waiting room, I looked over the desk at the receptionist, waved a cheery good-bye, and headed out, seeing Mil’Grash waiting just outside the door.

“Excellent. I see the procedure worked well. Any concerns?”

“No, not really. Just that my rats are now sapient. That’s all.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Seems the receptionist misunderstood me when I described them to her. She assumed they were already fully sapient and nobody thought to ask anything. Damnedest thing.” I smiled and my rats waved.

“Well. That’s new. A-anyway… we should head to the Cleric. They’ll take care of any ailments you have, and your, uh, files should have already been sent over. They’ll be waiting for us,” she said, uncertainty coloring her voice.

As we walked, Mil’Grash explained how the Administration Center worked. “So, I don’t really know where precisely MedBay is. I just keep it in mind, and the Center adjusts itself to accommodate my desires.”

“So, it’s sentient, in a way?” I asked.

“Somewhat. It’s more that the magic surrounding this demiplane senses intent, and restructures reality to give us what we desire, if it exists. If it doesn’t, we run into the end of a hallway. Simple as that. Certain areas are off-limits to people without the proper clearances, regardless of their intent. They’ll get to the right door, sure. It will never open, however,” she shrugged, continuing with, “Even I’m not allowed in certain places. I can take others there, but I can’t go in. The door will not open while I’m there. What I’m saying is this: Now that you know how this area works, you can get anywhere, as long as you know that it exists. You seem clever enough to work out what you need, so after today, you’ll probably not need my services anymore,” she said, a hint of resignation in her voice.

I gently touched her arm. “Mil’Grash” -she stopped and turned to me- “would I be correct in assuming that you’d like for that to not happen?”

“What do you mean, Ivor? I’m just used to Council members and other workers here getting the tour and their requirements taken care of, and then leaving. That’s all,” she said, tucking a stray lock of her dark blue hair behind her ear.

“You’re a little lonely, aren’t you, Mil’Grash? Kinda want a friend?” I asked gently.

She nodded, looking down. “Yeah. It gets kind of lonely doing this job, sometimes,” she said quietly. She looked up after a moment, an obviously forced smile on her green face. “But anyway, let’s get you to the Cleric’s hall, and make sure any ailments you may have get taken care of,” she said cheerfully.

I nodded and stepped to the side, letting her guide me through the maze-like interior of the Administration Center.

We walked for another ten minutes, her shoes making a click-clack sound that echoed off the walls.

We slowed to a halt in front of another door, only this one was obviously different.

“Mil’Grash? This door actually looks different from the rest. It reminds me of an old castle door from our Medieval Period on Earth. Why is that?” I asked as I ran my hands on the stone exterior of the door.

“Our Clerics like to set a tone. This is austere and serious, like the business of Healing,” she said, caressing the stone and wood edifice, a smile brightening her serious features. “Go on in, Ivor. The Cleric is expecting you.”

I nodded, opening the door. Inside was a sight that reminded me of an ancient temple to a long-forgotten god. The entirety of the structure was well-worn stonework, with two large, beautiful stained glass windows shining light onto a large stone altar. Rows of stone benches lined the floor, and a faded carpet ran the length of the center aisleway.

I walked in, gently shutting the door behind me, afraid to break the reverence this place inspired. I walked cautiously down the aisle, looking left and right, and eventually took a seat on the cold bench at the front. I was the only person in the building, it seemed.

At least until I heard a door creak open and shut behind the altar.

I stood, my hands clasped in front of me, a soft smile on my face, expecting to see a berobed monk or priest walk out to meet me.

Instead, I was greeted with a smile by an extremely short, plump, green-skinned, motherly-looking woman who my magic sight identified as “Gruldia Blood-Letter” and marked her species as Goblin.

“Hello, ma’am. I’m glad to meet you. I understand you’re the Cleric?” I asked in a soft, quiet voice, extending my hand as I neared the altar.

She reached up, taking my hand and kissing the back of it with her plump lips. She looked up at me, smiling through her long lashes, her eyes a striking violet color. I swallowed audibly. “Yes, Ivor. I’m Gruldia. You may call me Mother, if you wish. Many here do,” she said, her soft voice sounding like the sweetest honey.

“Yes, Mother. What am I to do, here?”

She walked back around the altar, and climbed a set of steps to stand upon it. She approached me, and slipped her hood back, exposing her wavy maroon locks of hair. I got a good look at her face, then. She had a smattering of what looked like freckles across her upper cheeks and nose. Her ears were pointed, and jutted out from the side of her head at an angle. Her face was somewhat plump, and rather pleasant to look at.

As she reached me, she extended her hands and gently placed them on either side of her head. It was at this point that I realized that I was eye-level with her large chest. I swallowed again and closed my eyes, trying to ignore it.

Her warm hands began to vibrate slightly, her grip tightening on my skull, as if she was simply trying to hold on. I opened my eyes and looked up at her face, screwed up in concentration, and waited. I heard her heart racing, and could see her breathing coming faster, until suddenly she fell over.