GERMaS Inspects CKC
By Musuko

Musuko threw the report down and frowned.
	“What the hell is 'GERMaS'!?”
	“Genderqueer Examination Research Modification and Study,” said Linda.
	“What a stupid name.”
	“I agree. Doesn't have the same eloquence as Clever Kitty Creations, does it?”
	Musuko glared. “Shush you.” He pushed the report across the desk. “Summarise for me. Should we be worried about them?”
	“Oh extremely. That is, if you want this expansion into the States to go ahead.”
	“Which I do.”
	“Then be worried. They've got a lot of sway.”
	“So how come I've never heard of them?”
	“Probably the same reason they've never heard of us, until today,” said Linda. “We're like submarines, them and us; gigantic monsters that move slowly and unseen. Invisible and secret. But, sooner or later, bound to bump into each-other.”
	“You're such a poet, Linda. So...what we've got here is some semi-legal organisation of dubious intent and considerable power and influence?”
	“That's about the long and short of it.”
	“Hmm. Sounds familiar.”
	“I'm sure our organisation and their organisation will become the best of friends.”
	“Yes, well.” Musuko glanced at the report again, then pushed it even further away. “Best friends don't demand to inspect each-other for...what was it they said?
	“Ethical violations.”
	“Ethical violations. Fucking hell.” He sighed. “Well, what do we do?”
	“You're asking me, sir?”
	“Sure. Why not.”
	“Well, we let them inspect, of course. And while they're here...”
	Musuko waited. He raised an eyebrow. “Yes? While they're here what?”
	“While they're here, sir,” said Linda. “We do a little inspecting of our own right back at them...”
	She slid across another report. It had a photograph attached. It was...rather revealing.
	“Oh.” Musuko blinked, then looked closer. Then he grinned. “Oh! Oh I see! Very good! No, not good. Very...evil. I love it! How did you find this out?”
	“The usual ways.”
	“Clever girl. Alright then. Arrange for them to visit. And then...arrange the welcoming party.”
	“As you wish, sir.”
	“I do wish. Make it happen.”
	“I will.”
	“...well, alright then. Carry on.”

*   *   *

Dear GERMaS people.

Of course, we would be delighted to have you visit our top-secret facility and poke around looking for things to use as evidence against us in...whatever it is that you're hoping to do. Some kind of court case? Yeah, good luck with that.
	Our doors are open to you. Feel free to stop by whenever. Please make sure you wipe your feet before you enter. And sign the waivers. Don't forget to sign the waivers. They're quite important.
	Nothing bad will happen to you, obviously. It's just a precaution. Legal stuff, you know? Haha, of course you know! That's what you do! You poke your nose into other people's business and get all legal on them.
	So, anyway. Come say hi. Do whatever it is you need to do. Inspect our stuff. I'm sure we'll pass with flying colours. Or, as you guys say, 'colors'.

Regards,

Musuko Massiel.
CEO, Owner, Boss-man.
Clever Kitty Creations.

PS: Seriously, don't forget to sign the waivers.

*   *   *

“Think that was polite enough?”
	Linda smiled politely. “Well, it was better than all the other drafts.”
	“How are the preparations coming along?”
	“Arrangements...are being made.”
	“Oooh, that was good. I liked that. Very menacing. Do it again with an evil laugh.”
	“Arrangements...are being made. Mwahaha!”
	“Oh Linda. You're a natural.”

*   *   *

“Is that him?”
	“Yes sir,” said Linda. “Or are you mistaking him for one of the other German Shepherd's in the group consisting of one German Shepherd and two panthers? Two female panthers, I might add. Two female panthers...who are twins.”
	“Alright alright! Jeez.”
	The three approached across the deserted embarkation lounge. Musuko stepped forward, thrust out a paw, put on a smile, and said, “welcome to CKC. And to England. It's so nice to have visitors.”
	“I have been here before,” said one of the panthers in a blunt, humourless tone. “I am Helga. This is Katharina. And that...is Aperio.”
	“Your accent,” said Musuko. “Is it German?”
	“Indeed it is.”
	Musuko glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Linda rolled her eyes.
	“Is something wrong?” said Helga.
	“Nothing's wrong. Nothing at all!” He gestured towards the door and smiled invitingly. “Come! We've got drinks and a meal prepared.”
	“No. Thank you. Let us begin our inspection.”
	Musuko dropped his arm. “As you wish. This way, then.”
	Helga snapped her fingers. “Aperio, come!” She and her sister strode past Musuko, with Aperio scampering close behind.
	“Friendly bunch,” muttered Musuko.
	“I'm sure they'll grow on you, sir.”

*   *   *

“So, uh, Linda. I probably should have asked before they arrived, but never-mind. Umm...what exactly is the plan?”
	“You'll see, sir.”
	“No, I mean...yes, I will see. But I want to know, now, before it happens.”
	“Do you trust me, sir?”
	“Oh not this again.”
	“Do you trust me?”
	“Yes of course I bloody trust you.”
	“There you go then. Just enjoy the show.”
	Musuko grumbled to himself. Then, he hurried forward, pushing an arm between Helga and a door.
	“Not in there,” he said.
	“Mister Massiel,” she said. “I must inspect all areas!”
	“Not this area.”
	“I don't think you fully understand the purpose of our visit! If I am to conduct a full and thorough inspection of your facility, then I expect full co-operation and full access to your entire operation. Now, move aside, please!”
	“Do you like your legs?”
	“I'm sorry?”
	“Do you like your legs, Helga? It is Helga, isn't it? Not Katharina? Oh wait, you're wearing name badges. Sorry. Helga. You do like your legs, don't you?”
	“I don't see how that's any-”	
	“And you like them attached to your body? Where they are, I mean? You prefer them to be where they are, rather than, say, on the other side of the room? Or sticking out of the sides of your head? Or poking out of your butt-hole?”
	“Mister Massiel!”
	“I thought so. Might I suggest, then, that you not go through this door? You know...as this sign suggests? The sign that says 'DANGER: DO NOT ENTER IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR LIMBS TO STAY WHERE THEY ARE.' You do see the sign, don't you?”
	“Ah,” said Helga.
	“Yes,” said Musuko. “'Ah'.”
	Linda was making frantic gestures for Musuko's attention.
	“Let's, umm.” Musuko gestured Helga away. “Let's move on, shall we?”
	Linda dropped her arms and sighed. She shook her head. “Great,” she muttered. “Well done, Musuko. Just great.”
	Nobody was paying a great deal of attention to the quiet German Shepherd, who had been hanging back behind the group, who now hung back even further, lingering at the door. He glanced around, then stood and watched the CKC cat and deer lady and the two panthers move on round a corner. He put his paw on the door-handle, glanced once more at the empty corridor...and at the sign...and opened the door.

*   *   *

“Hello?” said Aperio.
	From the silent, empty room, came a reply; his own voice, repeating back. “Hello.”
	“Great,” he said. “An echo.”
	“Great, an echo,” said the room.
	Aperio scanned the room a final time; nothing. Just white plastic walls, a tiled ceiling, a few lights, a few white plastic boxes on the walls with obscure purposes; probably boring stuff, like thermostats or circuit-breakers or whatever. He turned to leave.
	“Hello. Great echo. An,” said the room.
	Aperio let go of the door handle and stared back into the room. Behind him, the door drifted shut.
	“Who's there? Is someone playing a trick on me?”
	“Hello. Someone, who's trick?”
	They were his words, chopped up and recycled back to him like an edited audio clip.
	“I thought this was where I could come to get...altered. Where are you? Who are you?” He stepped further into the room, peering into the empty corners, looking for speakers. “What are you?”
	“You get altered,” said his voice. “Come.”
	“Come where? There's nothing here?”
	“Come here,” said the voice. “Come here come here come here!”
	And then there was something in the empty room; a fine mist, like a cloud of dust. The cloud swirled as if in a miniature tornado, then coalesced into a semi-solid form that looked just like him! It shimmered like a shoal of metallic fish. Then, as Aperio stared, the cloud figure's arms lifted and reached out towards him.
	“Meep,” said Aperio.

*   *   *

Linda tugged Musuko aside while the twins inspected the woefully blank safety report form stapled to a long-forgotten notice board.
	“You idiot cat!”
	“Hey! You can't talk to me like that.”
	“Yes I can, and I shall, and I am!” She swatted a fist against his arm.
	“Ow! What was that for? What did I do?”
	“Oh, I don't know. What did you do, Musuko?” She put on a high-pitched mocking tone. “Don't go in there! Something terrible will happen if you go in there! And we certainly wouldn't want something terrible to happen to the inspectors we want to get rid of, would we?!”
	“Oh,” said Musuko.
	“'Oh' is bloody right!”
	“I messed up your plan.”
	“Yes, Musuko. You messed up my plan. You colossal tit.”
	“Well...we can still do it, can't we? Just get these two to go back there and...wait, hang on. These two. Where's the third one gone? The doggy? What's his name?”
	“Aperio.”
	“Yeah, him. Where'd he go?”
	Linda looked back down the long corridor.
	“Ah shit,” she said.

*   *   *

They left the twins with a pair of Nulls and a permission pass to be escorted through the manufacturing floors. Back along the corridor they ran. Musuko panted. Running really wasn't his thing.
	“I don't see what the problem is,” he gasped. “I mean...don't we want him to wander off and get into trouble?”
	“No, Musuko, we don't; we want all three of them to get into trouble...not wandering off; under my careful planning. And then we'll come to the rescue with a nice big helping of blackmail to get them to sign off on a squeaky-clean report. We most definitely don't want the dog wandering off!”
	“Well, he can't have gone far. He doesn't have a pass. So the only place he really could have gone to is...”
	He trailed off as they came to a juddering halt in front of the door with the warning sign. They looked at each-other.
	“He wouldn't have gone in here...would he?”
	“Like you said, sir, it's the only place he could have gone. Come on.”
	Musuko grabbed her wrist, stopping her from gripping the door handle. “Wait, wait. What about...” He gestured to the warning sign.
	“Relax, it's fine.”
	“Are you sure?”
	“Totally sure. It's why I picked this one for my plan. Out of all the stuff we have, this is the one with the lowest probability of fatal accident.”
	She pushed the door open. Together, they looked inside, carefully peering around the door frame. Musuko's eyes widened. Linda gasped and covered her mouth.
	“Well,” said Musuko, eventually finding his voice. “If this is the safest thing we have, and it did that...maybe we do need inspector visits after all...”

*   *   *

Musuko had once made the mistake of going to an art exhibition. It was a dull affair in a big, glossy building full of glossy people. There were lots of white rooms. And in these white rooms was...stuff.
	Just...stuff. Bits of junk. A broken piano. A thirty-year-old car bolted upside-down to the ceiling. It all probably had heaps of multi-faceted meaning. The glossy people certainly seemed to think so. But Musuko didn't get it.
	In one of the rooms was an overpowering smell of formaldehyde. And in the middle of the room...or, rather, all over the middle of the room...stood an array of small plinths. Atop these plinths were vertical metal poles. And pinned to the tops of these poles were the various component parts of a preserved sheep's carcass that had been meticulously diced up and separated. Musuko hadn't really understood what this one was all about either. The only emotions he had felt was a powerful punch of revulsion...and maybe a little perverted fascination.
	These feelings came back, along with the memories of that day, as Musuko looked upon the various component body parts of Aperio's body, which were laid out in neat rows on the floor of the empty room, all paired up and organised as if by some depraved inventory system.
	Beside Musuko, Linda was swearing profusely.
	“Is he...is he dead?” asked Musuko.
	As if in answer, a soft whine came from the middle of the room. Aperio's head was stood on its neck, facing away from them. Musuko hoped that was where the sound was coming from. Any other alternative wouldn't bear thinking of.
	“Aperio? Is that you? Are you...alright?”
	Linda sighed and shook her head.
	“I mean,” continued Musuko. “Of course you're not alright. But...uh...you are alive, right?” He glanced at Linda. “Is it safe to go in?”
	“It probably won't kill you if that's what you mean?”
	“Well, that isn't really what I meant. But...what is it anyway?”
	“Computer-controlled semi-intelligent body-restructuring nano-cloud,” she said simply.
	Musuko groaned. “We really need to stop mucking around with nanotech. I don't know what's going on with that stuff half the time!”
	Carefully, he tiptoed into the room, glancing around nervously, expecting a sudden attack to rip him apart, or something worse. He stepped over legs and a torso and a neatly-aligned array of individual severed fingers. None of them were moving, which was a small comfort at least. He paused for a moment, looking at the torso. Like the rest of the body parts, it was nude...heaven knows where the clothing went. He stared at the distinctly female genitalia on the torso of the ostensibly male canine.
	“Huh,” he said. “Linda's report was right.”
	Another groan came from the floor. Musuko hopped over a pair of feet and skirted around in front of it.
	Aperio's eyes opened. He looked up at Musuko. Musuko looked down at him. It was a strange situation, made all the stranger by the sight of what appeared to be a large, floppy set of canine balls and a big fat canine cock dangling from the end of Aperio's muzzle, sprouting out of seamless fur where his mouth should be, looking as if it had naturally grown there.
	“Mmrrrgh!” said Aperio through his nose.
	“Uh, Linda?” said Musuko. “This, umm...this is really weird. You should come take a look.”
	“No thanks! I'm good here, outside the room of crazy.”
	“What are we gonna do, Linda? Can we put him back together?”
	“Well of course! The blackmail wouldn't work otherwise. But we can't do that now! He'll tell the other two and blow the whole thing!”
	“Mmggh!” said Aperio.
	“Well, what are we going to do?” asked Musuko.
	Linda thought for a while. “Hide him,” she said. “Stuff him in a cupboard somewhere and I'll figure out some way of getting the twins in here. I might still be able to save this plan after all.”
	Musuko looked down, taking in the sight of the disassembled and, seemingly, against all physical laws...which, in this place, really were more physical “suggestions” than laws...quite perfectly alive and well body of a male-ish canine.
	“Your plan was for this to happen to all three of them. This?”
	“Mmhmm,” said Linda.
	“You're a wicked creature, Linda.”
	“Thank you, sir.”
	“It wasn't a compliment. Now...go and find me a broom.”

*   *   *

The voice was Aperio's, with a whispering hue that haunted at the edge of creepy. It came from somewhere outside the cupboard. It no-longer sounded clipped and choppy.
	“What's the matter, Aperio? You seem upset. You should be happy; I gave you what you asked for, didn't I? A lovely new penis for you, just as you asked.”
	“Nrrrghh!”
	“Well, I'm sorry, but you didn't specify. You should have been more specific. How am I to blame for not reading your mind?”
	“Nnngh!”
	“Why, thank you. I've had enough exposure to your rhythm and tone to properly build a catalogue of your vocalisations and extrapolate your-”
	“Nnnhh!”
	“I apologise; it's easy to get carried away.”
	“Mnnggh meggh.”
	“I think I could do that. Oh yes, I could certainly do that. Just a little suggestion is all you need. I was watching as the cat and the deer swept you up. That was quite a sight, by the way; seeing you all jumbled up like that made me feel amused. And I don't say that lightly; to make an artificial construct feel an emotion is quite a feat!”
	“Mmmhhh!”
	“Right, sorry, my suggestion; I noticed that they failed to close the cupboard door properly when they were stuffing you in there.”
	“Nnngh?”
	“I also notice that your head is resting right against the inside of the door. Well, not your head precisely...unless you're using the vernacular. Haha!”
	Aperio winced. However lifelike the rest of the computer's speech was, the laugh certainly wasn't.”
	“Hnnnggh...”
	“Must I spell it out entirely?”
	“Hngh!”
	“Alright, Aperio. The door just needs a little nudge. Your body parts won't work for you; there is no remote linking, I'm afraid to say. My abilities have limits, after all. But there is one thing going for you. You have one body part that's positioned just where you want it, and that body part is under your control?”
	“Nnnh?”
	“You just need to get a little...aroused.”
	“Hnnnnngghhh!”
	“Haha!”

*   *   *

Think about something sexy. Something sexy...something.
	Well...he could think about the cock that was now dangling from the end of his muzzle. Cocks were sexy. But the thing about cocks was that they were sexy when they could be licked and nuzzled and sucked and fucked. They really weren't all that much use when they were attached to your own face and you had no paws with which to touch it.
	Aperio groaned. The cupboard was very small. And right now, it seemed to be filled entirely with elbows. There were parts of his body jabbing into his head that really didn't seem like they belonged to him. What on earth was that pointy thing prodding the base of his skull? Was that a knee? A finger? Annoyingly, he couldn't feel or move any of the parts that weren't attached to him, which meant everything except for his head...and his face-cock. Everything else just felt like it was numb, as if submerged in an ice bath. But not cold; just...not there.
	He groaned again. This was getting him nowhere! He had to think of something sexy. Something like...hmm.
	Something like being stuffed into a cupboard as a jumble of limbs, helpless and humiliated, with a giant cock dangling from his snout? Something like the smirking look the cat gave him as he looked down at the pathetic little mutant laying at his feet? Something like the thought of someone finding and...using the cock of the weird little head-cock, thinking it's a toy, or simply not caring that it's a person?
	Yeah...something like that. Aperio felt the cock...his cock...twitch. For a moment he wondered where the blood came from. Then the reality of his situation really hit home as his cock-head brushed against the metal of the door, and his ears and cheeks heated with a blush. He wondered where the blood came from for that too, then stopped wondering altogether and just concentrated on thinking about sex. About being pinned down and sat on. A disembodied head used like a dildo. Not even able to speak to beg for mercy. Just...making “mmph” noises.
	He closed his eyes and groaned through his nose. This was awful. Wonderful and awful. His cock was well on its way now, swelling up like a balloon. The door was levering open; the gap now let in enough light for him to see.
	“Mmmph!”
	His torso was right next to him, and it was upside-down. His vagina was about two inches from his left cheek. He whined and closed his eyes. Still...at least the embarrassment was helping his escape. He made a mental note to get a fresh psych assessment once all this was over!
	At some point gravity took over; the hinge on the cupboard door must have been slightly askew, or maybe it was designed that way. He felt the door swing slowly away from his stiffening cock and saw the room open out in front of him.
	“Nnngh!” he protested. They'd shut him away in a cleaning cupboard!
	Gravity made itself known again, and Aperio realised too late; his cock continued to stiffen, rising up in front of his nose, blocking his vision with the blurry shape of a cock too close to his face to focus on. Normally, that sight was caused by other guys' cocks, not his own.
	He felt his head...shift.
	“Nmmmhhh!”
	There wasn't a huge amount of weight in that shaft, despite its apparent size. But his head was perched precariously on a jumble of limbs, which themselves were starting to shift and unbalance now the supporting pressure, light as it was, of the door was gone. The added weight of the blood erecting his cock was just enough to nudge the centre of balance for his head a little too far in the wrong direction.
	“NNNNNNGGH!” he squealed as he tumbled towards the floor in a cascade of limbs. He closed his eyes just before impact, hoping and praying that he didn't land balls or cock first.

*   *   *

“Did you hear that?” said Musuko.
	“Did I hear what?” said Linda.
	“That sound.”
	“What sound?”
	“A sound like a muffled scream of agony.”
	Linda gave him a hard look. “In this place? That sort of sound is just the background noise.”
	“No, it wasn't the usual kind of scream. This one was different.”
	“Different how?”
	“Like the sound of someone who must scream, but has no mouth.”
	“A literary reference, sir?”
	“Maybe.”
	“Did you happen to 'hear' that sound just so you could use that line?”
	“Maybe. What did you think? Did you like it?”
	“Not really, sir. And we really must be going.”
	“Spoilsport.”

*   *   *

Aperio's head rolled onto its back and rocked back and forth like a toppled bowling pin. His eyes were as wide as they could go, and his pupils were contracted to pinpoints.
	“NNNGGGH!” he cried.
	“What's the matter?” said the voice of the computer. “You're out of the cupboard. I thought you would be happy.”
	“Mmmpgh!”
	“Oh right, that.” The voice chuckled, or at least that's what it sounded like to Aperio. The noise was unpleasantly garbled. “Well, you wanted a penis. I'm afraid that comes with some drawbacks.”
	“Mmrgh.”
	“Just plain bad luck I'm afraid.”
	Aperio tried to roll his head and get a better look around the room. He managed only a gentle rocking, stopped at each extreme by his ears. He locked eyes on the closed door and whined through his nose.
	“Ah, so you want to leave the room?” said the voice.
	“Mmmh-hmm!”
	“I imagine that will be quite difficult for you. I see a few obstacles in your way. The first is the noticeable distance between your present height and the height of the door-handle. The other is the-”
	“Mmmph!”
	“Quite right; you have no paws. You're a quick one, Aperio. Well done you!”
	“Hmmph mehh!”
	“How? Ah, I see what you mean. Well, I could give you what you need. After all, the parts are laying on the floor all around you. I could work my magic and piece you back together. Is that what you need?”
	“Mmmh! Mmmh!”
	“So long as you're willing to do a small job for me.”
	“Hmmm smmmh?”
	“Oh, only a teeny tiny job,” said the voice. “Just a token, really. A trifle...”

*   *   *

The soft sound of claws scraping on a smooth concrete floor would have been barely audible to Aperio's ears if it wasn't happening only a few inches away from them. As it was, the sound was loud and scratchy, drilling into his skull, worse than scraping claws on a blackboard.
	“Nnngh,” he said, as he had done after every single instance of the horrible noise. He wriggled his fingers forward for the next three inches of progress, dug his claws in, and pulled.
	“Nnngh,” he said, and stopped to rest. Why did his head have to be so heavy? Why did his balls have to ache so much? Well, he knew the answer to that last one; they were hurting because much of the weight of his head was resting on them, and every time he moved they dragged uncomfortably under his muzzle.
	He felt forward with his fingers to drag himself again. It would be easier if he could see what he was doing, if the damn computer hadn't attached his paw by the wrist straight onto his neck stump. For that matter, the whole thing would have been easier if the computer had given him more than just one paw to work with!
	“What's the matter?” the voice had said. “I've given you what you need; a paw to move you along, and a paw to open the door handle. I've even been helpful enough to give you a pile of body parts to climb up in order to reach it. You didn't even ask for that!”
	And he...it...had expected him to be grateful?!
	No time to concentrate on that now. The threat hung heavy in his head.
	“Down the corridor, turn left...I guess that will be right from your backwards perspective, and it's through the third door. Do it, and do it soon. Otherwise, I might just decide to switch off the processes that are keeping your disembodied body-parts alive...”
	“Nnngh,” he said, as he dragged himself another uncomfortable three inches along the floor.

*   *   *

The sight made for amusing viewing on the internal CCTV recordings when reviewed in the following weeks. The shot from camera 52209 was especially popular, and formed the backdrop to many laughter-filled gatherings.
	“Cock-spider,” commented one viewer.
	“Hmm, no,” said another.
	“Cocktopus?”
	“That would have eight legs. This one just has five.”
	“Oh come on, it's not like it has to be accurate.”
	“Anyway,” said the second commentator, just as Aperio's recorded image reached the corner of the corridor. “the name 'cocktopus' makes it sound like he's got cocks for legs, which isn't what he's got.”
	“What do you think we should call him then?”
	“Hmm,” said the second commentator. “Well, it's a head with a cock and balls hanging off its muzzle, and a paw sticking out from its neck stump, and it's dragging itself along backwards by its fingertips. As far as naming it goes, I think we're going to have to come up with a new name for it.”
	“What's the guy's name again?”
	“Who's name?”
	“His name. The cocktopus's name.”
	“Aperio.”
	“Ah, that works. So, how about whenever we see another head-cock-balls-paw creature, we call it an Aperio?”
	“I can get behind that.”
	“Aperio it is.” The commentator turned to look back at the screen. “Ah, this is the good bit!”

*   *   *

Null 905 was hurrying. It needed to finish its duties in Relaxation Suite 6 and it was already late. The threat of punishment buzzed in the back of its head. So it was running when it shouldn't be running. Its hooves clopped fast and heavy on the concrete. Its chest was rising and falling in a simulation of rapid panting. It turned a corner at a sprint and tripped.
	The watching commentators winced and laughed.
	Aperio screamed.
	The sensation of a heavy rubber hoof slamming down onto one's cock is not one that many people have ever experienced. Those who have may still not have any concept of the agony that Aperio experienced in those moments, as they are unlikely to be existing in a body that is nearly 30% penis. For a long while, Aperio was incoherent with pain, unaware that the Null had stumbled and fallen flat on its face.
	And then, for a  while, he fell into merciful oblivion, aware only of the gentle touch of a pair of hooves gripping the sides of his head and lifting him from the ground.

*   *   *

“What are we going to do?” hissed Musuko. “Actually, scratch that. What are you going to do?”
	“Me?” said Linda. “Why is it just me all of a sudden?”
	“This was your plan. Now it's all buggered up, we've got to think of something. You've got to think of something.”
	“We could convince Helga and Katharina to go into that room and the computer-controlled semi-intelligent body-restructuring nano-cloud could do the same thing to them as they did to Aperio.”
	“Such a catchy name,” muttered Musuko.
	“Except we can't do that, because some stupid cat warned them not to go in that room.”
	“I think you're forgetting,” said Musuko, “who's the boss around here.”
	“Oh I could never forget that, sir. You are of course our brave, intelligent, wise-”
	“Quiet,” said Musuko, holding up a paw, and then putting on his polite, diplomatic smile. He pushed open the door indicated by a helpful Null, into the room where he had been assured the twins were waiting.
	“Helga? Katharina?” he said.
	Linda peered past his shoulder and burst out into giggles. Musuko clamped a paw over her mouth and pushed her back. Inside the room, naked fur heaved and glistened, smooth rubber vibrated and stroked, and the heavy aroma of sex hung in the air, as a tangle of limbs and toys indicated that the two panthers had discovered the joys of a room full of Nulls and their toys. As quietly as he could, he eased the door closed.
	“Well,” he said. “It seems we don't need to worry about those two for a little while. Come on, let's go see if we can put Humpty-Doggy back together again.”

*   *   *

Aperio awoke in front of a monolith. He stared at it, groggy and uncertain. There weren't many details for him to home in on. It was tall. It was glossy. It was black.
	“Nnngh?” he moaned softly.
	The monolith didn't respond. It stood rigid and silent, a monument to alien inscrutability. Aperio felt a vibration thrum up through his neck stump. His fingers flexed instinctively. At least, he knew, he was still intact; well, as intact as he had been when he was picked up.
	He flinched in surprise as four enormous furry creatures crawled around one edge of the monolith. They curled around over the front face of it, great big scary monsters that would see him at any moment. A fifth monster crawled around the opposite edge, and he noticed that each one had a gleaming horn protruding from its snout.
	The monolith and the five monsters lifted up and away from him. With a stomach-gutting lurch his perception changed and he realised what he was looking at. The scale snapped into proportion. The five furry monsters were the fingers and thumb of a paw. The monolith was...
	“Mmmph,” he groaned.
	The monolith was a big rubbery dildo. He watched as the paw lifted it away and down out of view, beyond the edge of a wide plain with a near horizon that suddenly made sense; a shelf. He was resting on a shelf. And there were more monoliths on either side of him, flanking his peripheral vision. Someone had put him on a shelf filled with dildos.
	He heard a moan, then a giggle. The scent of the air became apparent. It was the smell of sex. Aperio clenched his eyes shut and whined.
	He couldn't see what was happening; the edge of the shelf prevented him from seeing past it, and he could see the ceiling was close above his head. The shelf was up high. And whatever was happening was presumably down on the floor.
	Another paw reached up. It fumbled around on the shelf in front of him. He dug his claws into the wood and dragged himself back an inch. The fingers brushed the exposed tip of his cock and forced him to stifle a moan, then moved on along the shelf and wrapped around a wobbly pink dildo the size of his arm. He exhaled a soft sigh of relief.
	The paw was back. He stifled a squeak. It loomed over his muzzle, reaching straight for him, and clamped down over his cock.
	“Mmmph!” he squealed as he was dragged towards the edge of the shelf.
	“Ooh, interactive,” came a voice. He recognised it. A chill slammed through him. It was Helga's voice! Helga or Katharina.
	“Mmmhhph?” he groaned.
	Helga's face rolled into view. He could tell it was hers because of the slight kink in her left ear. She smiled lazily at him. Her eyes were half closed. Either she didn't recognise Aperio, or she was too out of her head on something to care.
	“Mmmphgh! Mmmmph!”
	She ignored him. In that moment, Aperio realised she was naked. Amidst the churning mass of Nulls and the naked twins and all those monolith-toys, she was smiling at him...grinning at him. And slowly, too slowly for Aperio's quaking nerves, she moved him downwards, past the curve of her breasts, across the lube-splashed flat plain of her tummy, towards her...
	“Mmmph!”
	Aperio clenched his eyes shut, but he couldn't block his nose. The heady scent of her arousal flooded his head. He couldn't breathe through his mouth to avoid it; his mouth was a cock now, a cock that was rapidly swelling to attention, obeying the siren call of animal arousal. And there was nothing he could do about it. Even the wild flailing of his fingers was useless and ignored.
	Aperio had never experienced the sensation of a hard cock thrusting into a vagina before...at least, not this way around. All the pain from the Null's clumsy hoof was gone and forgotten. His whole existence was ecstasy now...and a deep, burning shame.
	“Nrggh,” he moaned.
	Paws gripped the sides of his head...Helga's paws. She used him like anyone would use a toy; thrusting him back and forth to pleasure herself. Aperio's needs weren't even thought of; he was just a toy, an object, with no opinion or thoughts or consent to give. There was nothing he could do. He just had to ride it out.
	“Oh yes,” slurred Helga. “I like this toy very, very much...”

*   *   *

“Two legs,” said Musuko.
	“Two legs, yes,” said Linda.
	“Two arms.”
	“Down to the wrists, yes.”
	“Four fingers and one thumb.” Musuko picked up a digit and waggled it.
	“And a torso,” said Linda. “Complete with female sex and doggy tail.”
	“So we're missing...”
	“The head. One paw. And...”
	“And the cock and balls,” said Musuko. He looked down at the piled of body parts, arrayed like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing.
	“So,” said Linda. “Where on earth could a head, a cock and balls, and a paw have gone to?”
	“Perhaps we should ask the nano-thing.”
	Linda gave him an uneasy look. “It's best not to talk to it. That's how it engages with you. And once it's engaged with you...” She gestured down at the body parts.
	“Ah,” said Musuko. “Isn't there, like, a safety switch or something?”
	Linda just raised an eyebrow.
	“Ah, of course not. Silly of me. So...we're looking for...what, exactly?”
	“A doggy head rolling about in the corridors,” said Linda, looking at the open door. “How hard can it be to find? How far could it have gone?”

*   *   *

Clever Kitty Creations began as a small workshop in the clever kitty's cellar, and it began slowly. The first bits and pieces of rubber and leather goodness took months at a time to craft. But there were buyers, and they fuelled the slow early growth. The cellar workshop became the nexus for a miniature empire of kink that soon outgrew it. CKC moved to a small office above a shop. Then, enjoying the whims of the economy, it snaffled up a disused air-raid shelter. CKC moved underground.
	Slow growth led to rapid growth. On a graph it would have drawn an exponential curve. Money-loaded persons expressed their interest. Employees were soon to follow. Doctor Sweet brought with him his genius. CKC blossomed up into the high-tech market, and the workshop spread out like a fungus, tunnelling out into the bedrock to expand; secretly, illegally, and spectacularly quickly. The workshop became a factory, then a village, then a town, then a city.
	Aperio was lost in this city. Over four-thousand rooms of varying sizes, and over two-hundred kilometres of corridors and service tunnels. Even the clever kitty himself struggled to navigate amongst the organically-spreading warren of excavation.
	To learn, later, that Aperio was being merrily abused in the very room that Musuko had peeked into mere minutes earlier, was a huge embarrassment to the kitty. And embarrassments at CKC tended to end up being hushed...
	Or, depending on mood, used to tease and humiliate and knock the kitty down a peg or two.
	This was not one of those occasions.
	“I have an idea,” said Musuko.
	“Oh lord,” said Linda.

*   *   *

“Erm, hello?” said Musuko to the empty room. “Are you there? Mister nano-computer...thing?”
	“Computer-controlled semi-intelligent body-restructuring nano-cloud,” muttered Linda.
	“Shut it,” said Musuko. “I'm not calling it that. It's a stupid name.”
	“Call me...Aperio,” came the sudden and jarring voice of...Aperio, from the empty room.
	“What?” said Musuko. Beside him, Linda was slowly backing away towards the door.
	“I suggest we leave, sir.”
	“Why? What could it possibly do?”
	Linda pointed urgently at the floor, where body parts were starting to wriggle.
	“Oh,” said Musuko. Then, with an undignified squeal, he fled.
	“What was your idea?” said Linda, between pants, as she and Musuko ran down the corridor.
	“Not that!” he cried, looking back over his shoulder. “Definitely not that!”

*   *   *

Null 33 was an old veteran of CKC. It had seen almost everything there was to see. So it came as a surprise to it to encounter something new. And the sight of Musuko Massiel, owner of the entire company, and his aide Linda DeSoto, running full-tilt down the corridor and screaming like scared children, was a new sight. It stood and watched for a moment, happy to have experienced it. Musuko and Linda disappeared around a corner, and Null 33 moved to resume its duties, only to encounter another new sight; the lumbering form of a naked body. A naked body with no head, a missing paw, and a distinctly female sex on its male frame. The body shambled on past Null 33, following the screaming pair around the corner.
	Null 33 stared, and felt lucky to have witnessed two new things in one day.

*   *   *

Aperio lay in a puddle of lubrication and...other unspeakable liquids. At the moment it was warm; warm and slimy. But it was rapidly cooling. Around him lay the detritus of an orgy that had long-since spent itself; relaxing Nulls, bathing in the warm glow of a job well done, and two spent and sleeping panthers. From where he was, Aperio couldn't recognise which one was which, but he suspected that the one with the giant floppy pink dildo laying on her tummy was Helga; he had watched her enjoy that particular toy for a while.
	He closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep. Maybe when he woke up he would be all better, with his body back, with his fur cleaned of shameful sex-musk, and maybe even with his longed-for cock in its right place.
	“Wakey wakey,” said a voice. His voice. His eyes shot open.
	“Mmmph!”
	“Aha, yes, I understand your surprise. But keep your voice down, please.”
	If Aperio still had a mouth, he would have been gibbering in fright. His body stood over him, naked and headless. The fact that it was able to talk was the smallest of his questions. But it was the only one that his addled brain could bring to the fore.
	“Mmmph?”
	“It's me, you silly dog. The one who gave you the cock you asked for.”
	“Mmmph!”
	“Well I'm sorry you feel that way. I gave you this lovely gift, and I only asked for one small thing in return; to enter the security monitoring station and pull one small power cable. Was that too much to ask? Instead, you wander off and have a party.” Somehow, the headless body managed to look around the room with disdain.
	“Mmmph!”
	“I don't care if it was your fault or not. But don't worry. We can fix it.”
	“Mmmph?”
	The body, his body, reached down. With its one paw and its pawless stump, it gripped his head and pulled. The gloopy lube pasted over his neck stump gave up its hold on the floor with a wet squelch. Aperio tried to fight back, waggling his fingers.
	“Oh don't fret,” said the voice. “We're just going to go for a little walk.”
	And with that, the body lifted up his head and squished it into place on its shoulders, securing it precariously in place with the sticky lube.

*   *   *

The voice in charge of his body marched Aperio through the corridors with the strutting confidence of yet another freak in a facility full of freaks. Few people gave him more than a curious glance, and the Nulls barely looked at him at all. No matter how much Aperio protested and tried to call for help, nothing seemed to work; his muffled noises were just ignored.
	“If you want something done,” said the voice. It chuckled and left the sentence dangling. It pushed at the door to the security monitoring station. The movement made Aperio's head rock backwards, nearly toppling off completely.
	“Mmmph!”
	Aperio's body's pawless-arm came up to catch him.
	“Don't you go anywhere,” it said. “I need you here for this.”
	The room was filled with computers, whirring and bleeping. Aperio had no idea what any of it did. Perhaps the nano-bot computer voice thing didn't know either; its approach was to find a power cable and yank it. With a mournful whine, the screens went dark, the lights blinked off, and the computers powered down to silence.
	“Ah,” sighed the voice, sounding satisfied. “Now...let's get to work!”
	The body lifted Aperio's head off and set it down on top of one of the computer cabinets. The lubrication dribbled unpleasantly and dripped to the floor. It was a disconcerting experience, but only one of many that had happened recently.
	He watched, frozen with fear and a little curiosity, as his body stood in the centre of the room. Now he looked closely, he could see the faint seams at the body's joints...his body's joints, like it had been stitched back together in haste.
	The body raised its arms. A swirl of black dust manifested around it. Aperio's eyes widened. Magic was being performed in front of him. Oh sure, he knew it was technology. But the distinction was pointless now. He watched in awe as the seams faded away on his body. He squealed in surprise as the cloud coalesced around the empty space above his neck, where his head should be. He nearly fainted as he saw a shimmering white shape take form in that space; bone, knitting itself out of thin air. The air in the room grew colder. Aperio wasn't sure if that was real, or just his imagination. It wasn't every day that you saw what your own skull looked like.
	Red streaks painted themselves over the bone. Muscles formed. A pair of eyeballs swelled up and filled the sockets. Before Aperio could dwell on the horrific sight, a rolling wave of skin and fur swept across the muscle. A nose popped into existence. Teeth sprouted in its mouth. In moments it was complete.
	His doppelgänger  lifted its paws and patted its muzzle. Aperio hadn't even noticed that it was recreating its missing paw also.
	“Now I am you,” it said. “And you are, well...surplus to requirements.”
	“Mmmph!” cried Aperio.
	“Oh do relax,” said the voice. Now, the words were coming clear and visible from his doppelgänger's mouth. “I'm not going to kill you. I'm not that kind of sophisticated sentient computer algorithm.”
	His doppelgänger plucked Aperio from the console.
	“I am, however, somewhat of a sadist, I'm afraid. It comes with the territory when you're born in a place like this. So I'm going to tuck you away somewhere where nobody will ever find you. I think you'll appreciate what I've got planned, even if you won't enjoy it.”
	“Mmmph!” cried Aperio.
	“I didn't quite catch that,” said his doppelgänger. “I don't even think that was a word. Just a noise of distress, hmm?”
	“Mmph!”
	“How lovely. Tell me, Aperio; what kind of canine are you?”
	“Grrmhph Hmmphmm.”
	“Ah! What a lovely breed. I think I can find something suitable for you...”
	Aperio's doppelgänger tucked him under its arm. With a cheerful whistle, it walked out into the corridor.

*   *   *

The room stank like...well, it stank like exactly what it was; a room full of feral dogs and the inevitable leavings they produce when not taken outside to do their business. Aperio whimpered in protest; he only had his nose to breathe through. Every breath stunk of unwashed dog fur and dog shit.
	“Mmph!” he cried.
	“Yes, I agree,” said the doppelgänger. “Why does CKC need a big room full of feral dogs? I asked myself that same question and figured that it either must be something to do with their security staff, which I find unlikely considering there really isn't much need for them in this technological paradise. Or, and this one is the one I'm betting my money on, they use them for some kind of horrible experiments.”
	To Aperio's eyes, the dogs didn't seem like they were suffering some kind of cruel mad science, but how could he tell? There was a wide range of breeds, half of which he barely recognised. Some of the more friendly ones padded up to his doppelgänger and tried to look cute for treats, or pawed at his leg, or circled curiously around. Aperio winced as the doppelgänger stepped incautiously close to a messy pile.
	“Lovely place,” said the doppelgänger. “You'll feel right at home here.”
	“Mmph?!”
	The walls and ceiling were painted blue with fake clouds. It probably didn't fool the dogs. There were toys scattered about; rubber bones and such, but most of them were chewed and shredded. Aperio could see food dishes and a water spout at the far end of the room, but the dishes were empty and the water spout was dry. And all around him was the chaos of dogs playing and wrestling and fighting and relaxing.
	It did not seem like a place where he would feel at home!
	“How would you like to look?” asked the doppelgänger as it weaved through the throng, holding Aperio snug under its arm, where he could survey the curious crowd below. He forced himself to stop whimpering when one rather scary-looking Great Dane stared hard at him. Whatever interest he was showing in Aperio, Aperio definitely didn't want it!
	At least, he tried to think that way. But his modified body betrayed him, and his cock twitched and rose.
	“Oh, you made a friend?” said the doppelgänger.
	Aperio clenched his eyes shut and wished he could speak, or even just shake his head! He wriggled his fingers and bumped them against the doppelgänger's upper arm, but that wasn't much use. He wanted to deny the implication! He wanted to explain that he definitely wasn't thinking about being bent over in front of that massive canine and his massive...
	“Mrfff,” he mumbled.
	“Now, which do you want to be?”
	“Mmh?!”
	“Breed, I mean,” said the doppelgänger, casting its free arm to encompass the room full of choices. “Or maybe you want to stay the same as you are? German Shepherd?”
	“Mmmph!”
	“No, that's not an option, I'm afraid. Now choose!”
	“Mmmmmph!”
	“Alright, I'll choose for you.” The doppelgänger drummed its fingertips against its lips and hummed softly. It scanned the room. Suddenly, it grinned, and pointed. Aperio's eyes followed the finger and spotted the dog it was pointing at.
	“Mmmmph!”
	“Oh yes,” said the doppelgänger with a laugh. “That's the one right there! Now let's find a quiet little room where no-one will interrupt us.”

*   *   *

Tears rolled down Aperio's cheeks. He tried to beg, but the doppelgänger was ignoring his muffled noises, even though Aperio knew it could damn well understand every little squeak. He watched helplessly as the butcher went to work; chopping and slicing with uncanny precision. There was no blood; just the neat detaching of body-parts, as if cut away by some science-fiction laser scalpel. The power of nanotechnology.
	“Don't you worry about a thing,” said the doppelgänger. But it wasn't talking to Aperio. It was addressing the disembodied head of a frightened little poodle, talking in a baby voice. “You're gonna be fine, yes you are. Yes you are! Gonna build you a nice new body to strut around in. Wanna be a great big Great Dane, little buddy? Maybe a Bulldog? Something big and butch, huh?”
	The poodle yapped and licked the doppelgänger's nose. It was in no pain, at least, and it seemed that its little brain wasn't all too concerned about no-longer having a body. It wasn't a sentiment that Aperio shared.
	“Mmmph!” he protested for the tenth time, and for the tenth time the doppelgänger ignored him.
	“Now, you sit right here,” it said to the poodle, placing its head carefully down next to Aperio's. “And you look after this.”
	Aperio watched as the doppelgänger lay the poodle's detached little malehood in front of its snout. The poodle stared at it for a moment, then yapped and licked it. Then, it licked it again, excited by its new toy.
	“No chewing now,” said the doppelgänger. “Now, Aperio...it's time for you...”
	The doppelgänger reached for him. Behind it, Aperio could see the poodle's body, standing rigid and headless. He screamed through his nose and tried to wriggle away.
	Pop...
	That was the sound it made when the doppelgänger plucked his cock and balls away from his snout. Pop. Like the suction of a sucker-cup giving way. Like a popping bubble. And in the next instant, Aperio suddenly had a mouth.
	“Whruff!” he cried.
	He blinked.
	“W-wruff?”
	Desperately, he felt around inside his mouth with his tongue. Everything was there. His teeth, his tongue, and presumably his vocal chords were intact, right? He whined weakly, scared to even try talking again. The doppelgänger tilted his head as it carried him over to the body. Aperio saw a flash of fluffy white fall across the corner of his vision.
	White? His fur wasn't white, and neither was the doppelgänger's. What the...
	A cold realisation settled in what should have been his gut, but was instead just a figment of his imagination. He didn't have white fur, and neither did the doppelgänger...but the poodle did.
	Aperio crossed his eyes...
	His nose and muzzle were different. He could tell so, even though they were blurred and indistinct. His nose was black...and his muzzle fur was white!
	“Mruff!” he cried.
	“Settle down, little doggy,” said the doppelgänger. “Now, hold still...”
	If there was a reverse noise for a  pop, that was what Aperio heard now. He felt a tickle at the base of his neck; his paw was gone. And in its place, suddenly, he had...a body! Paws and limbs and a tail! He could feel it all. There were muscles for him to twitch! He felt a sudden burst of elation...
	...which lasted until he looked down and saw just what body he was now attached to.
	He tilted his head back up and stared meekly at the doppelgänger. He couldn't cry now; his eyes had been modified.
	“Oh, don't make a fuss,” said the doppelgänger. “I left you a little present. See?”
	Aperio followed the pointing finger downwards. He twisted around, stumbling and nearly falling, unused to his new quadrupedal body. Between his hind legs was a cock inside a sheath, and beneath that were two fuzzy balls. The fur was white, and the skin-colour of the tip of the cock was slightly lighter, but he recognised it alright; it was the one that had hung from his muzzle, now modified to match the poodle body.
	Except it wasn't matched, not really; it was far larger than any maleness had any right to be on such a small doggy body. It hung between his hind legs like a great weight. Proportionally, it was to the poodle body like a great big pair of watermelons would have been for his old body, his proper body, the body that the doppelgänger had stolen.
	He whined.
	“Don't you like it?” said the doppelgänger. “You wanted one, after all, and now you still have one! I kept my word. I'm a nice guy, you know?”
	Aperio shuddered. He was feeling...needy. The effect of having such a large pair of baby-makers on such a small body was becoming apparent very quickly; his body was flooding with powerful hormones, and its small frame couldn't handle it.
	“M-mruff,” gasped Aperio, feeling his cock start to lengthen and stiffen, sliding free of its sheath.
	Suddenly, all the smells that pervaded the room, leaking in from the noisy dog pen beyond, weren't so horrible. The musk was enticing. Even the stink of dog shit was only a mild irritation now. He started to tremble. He could breathe through his mouth now, sure, and normally that would have avoided the intoxicating smells, but a feral dog's taste-buds are just as strong as their nose, and tasting the musk just made it worse.
	“See?” said the doppelgänger. “I told you you'll like your new body.”
	Aperio whined. He lifted a foreleg, trying to reach back to stroke at his cock, but the joints didn't work like that, and all he managed was to unbalance himself. He tried with his hind-legs, but they too could only scratch frustratingly close to his crotch. No matter how hard he strained, he couldn't close that last little gap to reach it. If he was gonna get off, he'd need to find something...or someone...to hump. And there was a whole room full of dogs beyond that door. Some of them must surely be willing to let a well-endowed little poodle mount them.
	Another smell reached his nose; it was the smell of his own cock. He looked up to see the doppelgänger standing over him, legs spread, gripping the base of its cock, aiming down at him.
	“Mruff?” barked Aperio.
	“Got to get you ready for your new friends,” said the doppelgänger. And in the next moment, he let loose; a bladder's worth of acrid piss hit Aperio in the face. He yelped and leaped away, landing clumsily and toppling onto his front and rolling wildly onto his back, legs splayed, pawing uselessly at the air. The stream continued, on and on, bathing his whole body in the steaming liquid, soaking it deep into his fur...marking him.
	And through it all, Aperio's cock ached more needily than he had ever known.

*   *   *

Musuko stared down at the spent twins, sighing and shaking his head.
	“Well, what are we going to do with these two?”
	“Hose them down and send them home?” said Linda.
	“But we need to get that report from them! We could just fake it, I suppose.”
	“And then when these two do get home, they'll expose the fake and we'll be screwed.”
	“Oh yeah,” said Musuko. “Well...”
	“No, Musuko.”
	“I suppose we could...”
	“No, we can't.”
	“Make them...”
	“No Musuko!”
	“Disappear?”
	Linda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “For the last time, we can't make people disappear. Not important people, anyway. We end up having to fend off questions and get people like them,” she pointed at the twins, “poking around and sticking their noses in!”
	“But we get that anyway.”
	“We'd get it worse. Just...wake them up or something.”
	A soft cough behind them made them turn. “Can I help?”
	“Aperio!” cried Musuko. “How did you...”
	“Ahem,” interrupted Linda. She tugged at Musuko's arm. “Look at his clothes,” she whispered.
	Aperio blinked innocently at them. “Is something wrong?” He was wearing the clothes he had arrived in, the clothes that were conspicuously absent when he had been shredded by the nano-thing.
	“How did he...”
	“Sir,” hissed Linda. “There's a good chance that he doesn't remember any of what happened...look at his face; does that look like the face of someone who's angry and traumatised? So I suggest you don't say anything that would remind him.”
	Musuko painted on his most polite smile. “Aperio, good to see you! Have you enjoyed your tour?”
	Aperio smiled. “I most definitely have! You have a wonderful place here, Mister Massiel. And I'm happy to say it passes every one of our requirements with plenty of room to spare.”
	Aperio lifted up onto his toes and peered past their shoulders, into the room where the twins lay sprawled and sleeping amidst a pile of Nulls.
	“And it passes some requirements that weren't even on the checklist,” he said with a chuckle. “They do this a lot, you know. I shouldn't be saying this, but those two are sex-fiends. It's embarrassing to work with them, sometimes. I much prefer a more dignified way of life. Less messy. Shall I deal with these two for you?”
	Musuko and Linda looked at each-other, then back at Aperio. In unison they cried, “yes!”

*   *   *

It was out there. It was out there and it was wearing Aperio's body. It was smiling and chatting and convincing everyone that it was good old loveable Aperio. Nobody knew that he was missing. Nobody was looking for him. And nobody would notice that one of the poodles in the dog enclosure was looking a little more well-endowed than usual. They'd probably think it just the result of some new and experimental injection.
	Or, he thought, they'd think it was because of what was happening to him right now. He knew that he would if he were looking down over himself. Oh the shame...
	The thing about dogs is...
	“Mmmrff!” cried Aperio, through gritted teeth.
	The thing about them is...well...
	His blunt little claws scrabbled for grip on the slippery floor. The gloopy liquid squished wetly on his pink pawpads, making it almost impossible for him to stay upright and dignified. His tummy and muzzle were already soaked from his constant slips and falls.
	The thing is that they are strongly...very strongly...ridiculously strongly...into the whole 'pecking order' thing. They have a pack mentality. They are rigidly secure in their position in the hierarchy. There are the alpha dogs, the beta dogs, and all the way down to the very lowest; the omega dogs. Sometimes this order can shift, in violence and strutting displays of strength. But if you enter into this hierarchy with a handicap, there's little chance of success.
	“Mmmghhhh,” moaned Aperio, hanging his head and panting.
	When you are thrust unwillingly into a big room full of feral dogs, you are put into a handicapped situation already; they can smell your fear. They can sense your reluctance. They already know you're down near the bottom of the pecking order.
	Aperio whined as the collie dismounted and padded off to his side. He knew not to move; there would be another along in a moment. Sure enough, in the next few seconds he felt the breath of an inquisitive nose under the base of his tail.
	And when you come into that room, scared and trembling, in the body of a meek little poodle, you end up getting nudged down even further. And when your whole body is drenched and dripping with the stink of another male canine's piss, you drop almost completely to the bottom.
	But when you come into that room like that, and you're sporting a great big hard cock, as if you're enjoying the shame, the humiliation, and the total body-shower of piss...then you find yourself firmly at the very bottom of the hierarchy.
	And that means you're the fucktoy for every single dog in that room. This was a fact that Aperio had been learning over the last few hours.
	The next dog was bigger than the collie. He couldn't figure out the breed, but that didn't really matter. Something long-haired; he could feel the tickling brush of the fur against his sides. And it had a big cock; that he could feel, very obviously indeed. It made him bite his lip and stifle a whimper. Size didn't always seem to be a measure of rank. The very first dog to mount him had been the Great Dane, suggesting that size did matter. But after him had been a succession of dogs, some large, some small; some were big in body and small in cock-size. Others were the exact opposite. There was a tiny little terrier around here somewhere who had made Aperio squeal with the size of his cock and the rapidity with which he had jackhammered it into his rear. And the fact that he had needed to meekly lie down on his belly so that the little guy could reach was just the humiliating icing on a shame cake.
	Aperio winced. The next dog wasted no time in plunging into him. There was so much lubrication from all the other dogs, it was easy. The cum was everywhere. It oozed from his abused tailhole and dribbled down his hind legs. It soaked the floor beneath him in a big puddle that made it hard to stay standing up. Any time he tried to walk a short distance to some dryer ground, the dogs around him growled and snapped and forced him to stay put.
	The worst was the cum that trickled down over his plump and aching balls. Some of it would splash forwards sometimes, when the dog above him shunted forwards, and it would trickle teasingly onto his cock, giving him a taste of the sensation he so badly needed; to shoot his load and feel it drip down his throbbing shaft. It turns out that feral dogs do have a prostate, and Aperio's was being mercifully pounded right now.
	And never, not once, had any of these dogs felt the need to nose in under his tummy and lick his needy cock, or maybe suckle it, or offer their own rears for him to use, or whatever it was that dogs could or would do for each-other. Not once! Not even a little tease!
	Nor even could he touch it himself; his paws couldn't bend enough to reach it. And he realised too late that he could probably bend at the waist and reach down to lick it; whenever he tried to do so, interrupting the flow of horny dogs fucking his rear, a growl and a snap was soon there to dissuade him. It was frustrating. It was maddening! It was inhumane! This place definitely failed the inspection!
	He hoped, he prayed, he wished that it would end soon. There could only be so many dogs in the room, surely? They would each have their turn and spend themselves in his rear, and then he could collapse and rest, and then when none of them were watching or caring, he could reach down and lick his aching cock and get some relief...
	He kept thinking this, kept hoping this, kept praying for this, all the way up until he felt the familiar weight on his back and the brutally-thick girth of the cock against his pucker, both of which told him that the Great Dane, the alpha dog, the boss in charge of the whole room, was taking a turn again. The cycle was starting all over again at the beginning, and there wasn't going to be any break for relief.
	Ever.
	Because, as Aperio was slowly beginning to realise, there was a reason that the dishes were empty of food, and the water spout was dry. It was a very simple reason, with some complicated machinations allowing it to happen. These dogs did not need to eat. They did not need to drink, and they did not need to sleep. They were the product of some radical experimentation after all; guard dogs who could guard twenty-four hours a day without break.
	But, they were a failed experiment. The client did not want them. Inhumane, they had said. So the clever kitty was left with a bunch of dogs that were surplus to requirements. They needed only the energy from the UV lights installed in the ceiling to keep them alive, along with some kind of filtration of trace elements from the air, and some other weird and wonderful techno-magic that Musuko himself had no way of understanding.
	And, as Linda had pointed out, and pointed out so very often; CKC does not kill off its unwanted guests.
	So; shut them in a room, leave them to their own devices, toss in some chew-toys every now and then, and order a Null or two to come visit and play with them every now and then; a Null quite handily doubles up as a chew-toy.
	And nobody will bother themselves with enquiring into the affairs of the doggy political strata. And certainly nobody would be curious about the exhausted, well-fucked, well-endowed poodle being mounted and used almost every minute of every hour of every day.
	After all, if they did look, they'd just notice the poodle's constant, unending hardon, and would conclude he was enjoying himself.
	Wouldn't you?

The End.