"You!?" You gasp, eyes widening in shock.
Alexander lowers his head in shame. "Yes, I did it." He whispered.
Of everything you had expected after that bombshell, that was certainly not one of them.
You stare at him for a long moment before you blurt out the only question that comes to mind. "Why?"
His face turns a deep scarlet as he averts his gaze. "I-I was drunk."
You sit back, letting out a deep sigh. "Alex, I'm afraid you're going to have to explain that a bit more."
He puts his head in his hands, rubbing at his temples for a few seconds before he stands up. "Very well." He says, tone shifting into that of an academic presenting a paper at a symposium.
"Fred, what I'm about to tell you is top secret, but considering that by the end of the week, we're all going to be smothered beneath a literally incalculable mass of German Shepherd, I'll happily explain."
You feel a shiver run down your back as he mentions the sheer size Hugo will eventually reach; you shove it aside for the time being.
"Now, I'm on a contract with DARPA to create a new drug - specifically, a drug to help make dogs fitter and stronger for police and military work. I won't bore you with all the scientific information but basically, it's a combination of steroids to start the process and nanites to carry out the process. Once the steroids start, the nanites take over and exponentially accelerate the process until they're all used up as, due to a detail of nanomachines, they can't self-replicate, so we give them more doses as required. Are you following me so far?"
You rub your forehead as you run through all this information. "Yeah, I think so."
Alexander nods, relief slipping over his face. "Good, good. So, after that, they undergo a CRISPR procedure, you know, that gene editing technique you'll have no doubt seen in the news. It's designed to give them denser muscles, denser bones, clearer vision and so on. However, here's where I deviated. Using an artificially created retrovirus, I put them all together into a cocktail and gave it straight to Hugo after mixing myself one, or possibly, six, cocktails too many that night."
You let out a quiet sigh of despair. Of all the things that could lead to the end of humanity, it wasn't nuclear war; climate change; pollution, disease, famine, drought or anything like that. It was a single, intoxicated genius with a syringe full of an artificial wonder drug.
"Oh boy, let me guess, that's what's causing this?" You groan.
"Fred, I don't know for certain, but that blood test I told you about? I put a drop under the electron microscope, and literally, every cell had a nanite. Every cell! Considering a single drop has several million cells, that means several trillion nanites throughout his entire body! Now, considering the cocktail had nowhere near that many..." He trailed off, a shudder visibly running through his body.
You blink in confusion for a few seconds before you let out a gasp. "Woah, hold on. You mean those nanites can self-replicate? But I thought you said they couldn't?"
"They can't!" Alexander cried, his voice rising slightly in alarm.
"They can't, but they have! And that means that it'll keep going and going and Hugo will keep growing and growing, forever!" He whimpers, voice rising higher as he talks, putting his head into his hands at the end, shuddering in pure, unadulterated horror.
Your entire body suddenly feels as cold as an Arctic winter as you croak out a question. "What do we do now?"
Alexander raises his head to look you in the eye with a look of total despair.
"Now? Now I try desperately to come to terms with the fact that a single night of drunken bravado has brought about the end of all things and you go out there and spend time with Hugo and hope and pray that when the time inevitably comes, our new god shows you mercy."
You can only nod weakly as you push yourself up and step out with a brief raising of your hand in goodbye.
You step out of the office, back into the comfortable lounge to find Hugo staring at you, his head cocked to the side ever so slightly; it would be completely adorable if it weren't made somewhat terrifying by the knowledge that he, Hugo, your loving pet German Shepherd - already the size of an elephant, was going to become an unstoppable titan of destruction in less than a week. The big dog gave out a soft whine as he padded closer, leaning down and pushing his big nose against your chest, a slightly wet, cold sensation coming through your shirt.
"Oh, Hugo. God, what am I going to do boy?" You lament.
In response, Hugo whines again, nuzzling down into you, tail wagging gently. He steps back and turns around three times before planting his huge, muscular body down. He looks at you and then at his bulging, muscled flank a few times before you get the message.
You smile softly as you step forward, getting down on your knees and snuggling up to Hugo's immense bulk, chuckling as his tail whips around in delight at being so close to his master.
Pressed against Hugo's flank, you feel that odd rush of heat again, which only increases as Alex's explanation plays again in your mind. Damn it, why was this happening? Why did it seem to get more intense whenever the prospect of Hugo growing came up?
You run a hand over your face as you start to realize why that might be before your attention is grabbed by Hugo, the enormous dog nosing down on you lovingly.
You chuckle at that, reaching up to scratch the massive canine behind his ears, Hugo huffing up a storm as he groans in pleasure, his tail wagging furiously, smacking into the sofa he lay in front of, sending it closer to the coffee table with every smack.
You smile up at Hugo's happy face, wondering what you'll do now, Alex's grim warning replaying in your mind, eliciting a shudder from you that has nothing to do with temperature. Hugo notices this and snuggles in closer, practically pinning you against his bulk with his snout.
Well, looks like you'll be spending the night here, although you sort of guessed you'd have to do that anyway since there's no way that you'd be able to sneak an elephant-sized dog all the way back to the suburbs, assuming he could even fit through the doors now.
As if on cue, Alex walks through the doors, jumping at the sight of Hugo so close to him. He takes a moment before asking, with a slight grin of amusement. "Don't suppose you'd like to stay the night?"
You grin back, a lopsided smile coming across your face. "Well, I don't think I have much of a choice, do I?"
Alex lets out a quiet sigh as he takes in Hugo's huge frame. "Don't worry, you can borrow some of my clothes tomorrow."
"Thanks, man." You smile back as Hugo lets out a quiet snort as his ears flick as he looks between the two of you. As you look into his eyes, you could swear you see a gleam of... something.
Something... most decidedly not canine.
Something... more.
You swallow, averting your gaze back to Alex, who seems to have noticed the same thing you have, quickly rushing off to the hallway. As he reaches the door, he turns and calls back.
"If you want to sleep in an actual bed tonight, just go up the staircase and the spare room's the last door on the left side of the balcony."
You thank Alex as he takes his leave, leaving you alone in the lounge, listening to nothing but the sound of Hugo's deep, powerful breaths.
Just you and Hugo.
You sigh, leaning back against Hugo's big body, feeling his sides expand up against you back with every breath.
What to do, what to do?
On one hand, it'd be nice to sleep in a real bed, especially one surely as luxurious as Alex would have but on the other, ensuring your own survival aside, Hugo seems to crave your company and considering what he's about to go through, he'll need all the support he can get.
What to do, what to do?  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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