Cynophobia

☠₂₈☠

 "We are nearing the base," Bella barked. She looked to her side, scanning for Alpha and his pack.

I could see them far away. They kept their distance from us, but followed closely. Days ago we were running for our lives, now we would be in the same quarters. I wondered if coming here invited was a mistake.

"Don't fret, they won't approach us," Zena promised. "They know they aren't our favorite Cynoids." She shook her head disgusted, "He should know better than to bring Strikers without proper clearance to the base."

"Why did the creator send them after me instead of you?" I asked.

Bella glanced over at Zena. "He didn't send them after you. The Strikers were to report to us if they saw you."

"No good has come out of giving Alpha power. I was aware that he would ignore the order and keep the information for himself," Rags murmured.

I thought about earlier when I suggested we find Alpha and go with him. "Now I'm glad Loki discouraged the idea of following Alpha here."

We walked into a clearing. I was surprised since we were in New York. Most cities only had clearings if there was a park. The city was typically covered with pavement and buildings, but this was just a nearly open field. There was a single shed in the center.

"That's the place where they were created?" I said unimpressed. "All of the thousands, millions of Cynoids that are alive, they came from this place?"

"It's underground, of course," Orca responded. "The creator wouldn't have been able to make progress if the government noticed. That's why he created the bunker out of an abandoned subway station."

"So the Remnants aren't the only ones hiding in the ground. After what happened in the mind, I'm not sure if I want to go down there."

We stood feet away from the shed. Me and Cairo dismounted from Rags and Loki. Bella walked over to it and placed her paw on a sheet of metal on the ground. Four holes appeared where her claws were and it scanned them.

"Welcome, B e l l a," a robotic voice greeted as the doors to the shed opened.

We walked into the shed. There was a small flight of stairs we had to walk down. Once we got there, we stood in front of rows of escalators. They weren't moving, but it was a long way down. There was a shell of concrete around the escalator staircase.

On the opposite side of us, there were children playing on the frozen escalators. They were chasing each other up and down. There was a Watcher at the bottom supervising them. He nodded to us as we walked down.

"I apologize, the creators personal quarters are further down," Bella barked taking lead.

I just stared as the kids played. Kids, playing, feet from where Cynoids were standing. I almost couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't believe I would get to see this in years, after the Cynoids were gone and we started to rebuild society.

Just as we left that section, I could hear the robot voice say, "Welcome, A l p h a." I shivered, he was right behind us.

The children gasped and ran down the escalator. Their Watcher looked back to make sure they had all of his charges. The Strikers walked in. The Watcher gave Alpha a warning look before following the kids into a different tunnel.

Orca was walking behind us now. He occasionally checked behind him to see where Alpha was standing. They got down the stairs quickly. I caught a glimpse of his one working yellow eye before Orca ushered us into a different tunnel.