Our den-pack, including 17 almost-weaned pups, are as immaculate as I have ever smelled us. We are all groomed and well-fed. From Gangly First Eyes Cleansed to Blood Runt^ Cleansed all the pups are looking and smelling ready to go to creche and eager to learn how to serve Pack. Scrawny and I stopped lactating a twentieth-season^ ago. I was glad it was over, the closeness was not worth the discomfort. Scrawny is sad and even sadder now the pups have even stopped trying. Swift didn’t produce as much as either me or Scrawny but has only dried up in the last two days. Fierce will soon be dry. The pups are showing interest in other provision. Scrawny and Fierce both regurgitate for them now. Some of them (Gangly First Eyes, Stubborn, Stocky and Genuine) seem pretty eager but others (Confident, Bulky, Wispy, Soft and Blood Runt) are not ready to wholly leave the comfort of milk. Today they are all alert. All-Pack Guider^ No Eyes First Eyes Runt Rise is coming to talk to all of the compound dogs today. Curly Rise and her two-notches and all of the human researchers are to Set of the Cleanse-plain. Being outside the Compounds it is a key meeting area for all Cleanse-Packs. Sincere Set and the rest of the researchers and warriors who cover crow, octopus and tortoise compounds are to the Rise.
We’re anticipating an announcement about communication opening between worlds soon. Our research is to help dogs on other worlds defeat their enemies, as we have on World. I know Curly Rise has some useful devices that the apes brought with them. But (like buzz-tech), they rely on different dexterity than dogs have, so many artefacts from the ape-compound are a mystery still. Sincere Set is basically Soil parenting the more “creative” research teams who gravitated towards the more alien research. Our research pack have begun to master the flying-rig. Once we discovered pack-bonded individuals could activate buzz-tech, pack-bonded in our pack have made progress operating other devices that seemingly remember for a buzz-pack. We have managed to decode none of it so far. No pack-bonded has our successes (when we can find a degree^ to try together). Scrawny has the most advanced understanding of the bee language. The buzzers have left few items that can be used without decoding. But the secrets of buzzer-tech are more understood than any other species. We have all served Pack as best we can. Every-dog here knows our pack has achieved the most useful Service. We are sitting alert and smelling fresh and exhilarated where the other two packs smell noticeably exhausted and on edge.
We are sitting with our den-pack, including Soft and One-Spot First Eyes. Around us, den-packs and Service-packs sit alert. The talk all round is about our progress, scent-scientists talking to different research-packs, sharing insights. I could talk to the other three-notches or even some regular dogs from either of these packs, but I’m content to wait for the announcement and get back to Service. I don’t want to waste the time before the chance to help All-Pack opens. Swift has been, to some degree, closed in the pack-bond since Wisdom First Eyes Walked. We have never openly acknowledged her initial response or where she went that night, but it has changed something profound in her. Today she is completely shut, not communicating through any means. She previously enjoyed chances to socialise with other packs and has always been an essential link between the stomachs and minds of each pack. Now, she sits, thinking, scentless, wordless, waiting for whatever is to come. Fierce is eager to have full freedom soon. With a den-pack, any whelper feels relatively little impact in their Service but she has borne the bulk of the feeding, since she was the only one naturally experiencing milk-production. With such a large litter, any-dog would be tired. She is gleaming today, tasting the freedom soon to come. She and I were making some progress on a bee sentinel stone^ this Rise. Swift was observing, as she prefers to at the moment.
The scentscape shifts as All-Pack Guider No Eyes First Eyes Runt Rise approaches. Dogs part for her to reach the address point at the apex of a curved ridge that will amplify her voice to every dog on the Cleanse-plain. Even having met her now at least a littersworth^ of times, I’m still tackled and pinned by her scent and physique. She is a powerful dog, in every sense. I’m reassured, in all the strangeness of this unexpected new Pack, knowing she is in First Eyes.
“Greetings Cleanse-packs. I wanted to come and speak with ye, to tell ye that Pack knows what Service ye are doing for them and soon All-Pack will know. Every dog on every world will know what Service ye have done for them. There have been so many astounding contributions in the last cycle that they cannot all be acknowledged here. Every-dog has contributed, from swelling, to temporarily changing Service or pack, to understanding alien technology, to performing dangerous Service to protect Pack. Every one of these contributions has led to us being rid of contaminating life on World and with information for each world as they are able to contact us. I cannot thank any-dog enough for the contributions and sacrifices ye have made. I look forward to the day All-Pack is on World and safe. Every-dog here is contributing to that.” She speaks beautifully. Her tone, despite practically shouting, feels warm and intimate, like she is talking to each of us in den. “That said, there are some dogs who deserve particular commendation for their exceptional Service of Pack.” The whole pack shifts, no-dog was expecting a notching today. “I would like to ask Strong First Eyes and his notch-mates to come forward.”
Every nose is on us. Curly Rise curls her lip, she thinks the reason we didn’t socialise was that we knew this was coming. I scent surprise a little louder than I feel. I hope I get a chance to explain to her later. We have had a good Service relationship until now, respecting each other as role-mates.
( Were you expecting this?! ) Collective swirling emotions almost cover the most open Swift has been in the pack-bond for nearly an eighth.
( No. I assumed we’d be waiting a long while for our next notches. ) I had thought the speed of our previous promotion had mostly been to fill the three-notch niche. Curly Rise was also rapidly brought to three-notch. Sincere Set was only notched once since she was already a two-notch when most of Pack was ripped from Soil. Our legs are being guided by the request while our four minds are trying to catch up with the implications of this notching. As we make our way between clustered den- and Service-packs, every one of the pups falls in with us and make a ragged pack slaloming through the seated dogs. Every nose tracks us to in front of All-Pack Guider No Eyes First Eyes Runt Rise.
Once we are within hearing range, she says to us,
“I’m sorry for giving you no time to prepare but I’ve been so busy with collating reports for off-World dogs that I haven’t had a chance to send word to you.” She then projects to the entire pack, “This notch-pack have done so much in Service of Pack that I feel it is important to recognise their contribution with this, I admit unexpected, notching.” I hope that’s enough for Curly Rise to dismiss suspicions of excessive pack-pride. “Between being the first dogs to report to Pack how to cross the barrier, fighting valiantly in The Cleansing, identifying a not-for-Pack dog in their pack, doing the dangerous Service of clearing the buzz-compound of buzz-paste, being central to paradigm-shifting discoveries into buzz-tech and now,” Genuine Cleansed has broken away from her litter-mates and is approaching All-Pack Guider, “producing 17 stout future warriors for Pack they have served their den-pack, their Service-pack and Pack as a whole. I know many dogs feel uncomfortable with how quickly these dogs have been notched, but I have complete faith in their Service to Pack. A time will come when every-dog will thank Strong First Eyes Rise, Swift Rise, Fierce Set and Scrawny Set for saving them. For many dogs,” she raises her nose to the sky, Pack is guided by her, we all take a deep sniff for our lost Pack “that day will be very soon, when we give every-dog the secrets of the barriers. For others,” she points her nose to the Cleanse-plain “their Service is already recognised. When we have fully mastered the buzz-tech, dogs all over the sky will have access to potentially life-changing technologies. Thank you, Strong First Eyes, Swift, Fierce and Scrawny. Pack recognises ye-r contributions.” I have never known of such a declaration with a notching. She did not include our pack-names in addressing us, which would be unusual at a 6-notching!
Scrawny steps forward, gently nudging Genuine back to her litter-mates since she continues to sniff at the most important dog alive. All-Pack Guider No Eyes First Eyes Runt Rise drops her head to Genuine as she tumbles, pulls her back upright gently and grooms her. She is as gentle as Soil caring for a Runt. Genuine grooms her foreleg, sits and eventually lies. No-dog on the Cleanse-plain is unmoved by this demonstration of why she guides us all. She whispers something to Scrawny as he leans in, before she takes his ear in her teeth. Scrawny pulls away, tearing jaggedly. He was never trained to be notched. Warriors practise the pull-free with soft teeth until we can consistently make a straight red welt. He yips. The pups panic. Unsurprising, den-parent distress causes instinctual panic. They start to yip. Some run while others freeze. We go to calm them but All-Pack Guider No Eyes First Eyes Runt Rise sends out pheremonal suggestion. Even Scrawny is moved by it. I wish these pups had had her as a den-parent.
Swift approaches next. All-Pack Guider whispers something to her. She does not obviously react at first then scents, almost too much, pride. She closes her teeth on Swift’s ear who pulls her ear quickly, efficiently and neatly clear. The smell of her blood is sadder^than it should be, it makes my stomach churn slightly. Fierce steps up, glowing with delight. Whisper. Teeth. Pull. A flash of blood. My two intoxicatingly-scented 3-notches smell so different. Swift is scenting almost a polite level of pride and Pack-love, but it is also tinged with sadness. Fierce is pure delight, she is ready for the next phase of Service with another notch on her ear and strength in her stomach.
My 3-notch feeling barely healed despite being closed more than a quarter-season, I step forward. As I turn my head,
“Strong First Eyes, you are the future of All-Pack, keep up your Service to Pack and Pack will turn to you when I Walk.” I am reeling from these muttered words when her teeth stamp a hole into my ear, above the existing three. In a now familiar moment of pain, I pause before remembering that I need to pull. The sensation as my flesh rends and blood trickles into my ear fills me with pride. I have earned this. I have done as I intended. I served Pack well. And then my pack-pride bursts forth. If it were not for my notch-mates we would not be here. If it were not for every single member of our pack. I am filled with Pack and love for them all, Silky, One Spot First Eyes, Faithful Runt and Soft and every-dog with whom I have ever denned or shared a scent-story.
“Thank you, every-dog for attending today. I know ye have served very hard the last season. In a few more days, we will be able to deploy what we have learned. I would like two reports a day for any extra information we can analyse and send a scout immediately if ye make any discovery, no matter how small.” With that, she graciously grooms a few of the pups that are near her still. Other high-notches wander over to her and start to bring various dogs to her for further conversations about specifics of each dog’s Service.
Fierce and I are trying different combinations of divots on the soil-sentinel. We’re determined to discover something before communication opens. After All-Pack Guider No Eyes First Eyes Runt Rise’s speech, every-dog is inspired. Where normally there would be discussion and socialising after a notching, Cleanse-pack returned to our Service. No-dog took a break at zenith. As we try combinations, we occasionally suddenly share a pack-experience. When we find one, we focus on the connection. We have gone through the combinations we know induce pack-memories. The same, now familiar, pack-memories are as baffling as ever.
Next. The same meaningless collection of scents and feelings of hexagonal chambers it’s always been. Suddenly Fierce says, without breaking connection.
( Wait. I know what this is. Can you try to think further away? ) Swift is ensuring we don’t have to be aware of our surroundings, to prevent connection-break. I imagine standing at the entrance of the den with Scrawny and Soft trying to perceive this baffling combination of information. Everything shifts. I notice what Fierce did. This is the buzz-den. This is some kind of pack-accessed scent-map.
( Oh, this is significant. ) We break the connection and giggle that we have, again, served Pack.
“Was that a scent-map of the buzz-den? Have ye seriously found how to interpret this thing?” Swift feels excited despite her pack-distance.
“I think we have. Before we send for a dog to CT-HQ, let’s see if we can get it to do that again.” We hurriedly replace our noses to the still-warm divots. The pack-memory returns. This time we try to investigate.
( Rise?... Set? ) We can pan through the map, ( Close…and far? ) inspect closer and further. We break contact. Scrawny and Faithful Runt are waiting.
“Shall I go to CT-HQ, Notch?” He sounds giddy.
“Yes please, tell Pack that we seem to have found a way to access some of the information in these buzz-sentinels. We will investigate further and send a report at Set.” Faithful Runt leaves.
( What have ye found? )Scrawny sounds unusually disappointed that it is his den-parent shift.
( They got info out of the buzz-sentinel. It is a scent-map of their buzz-den. ) Swift replies.
( Oh wow. I will find out if One-Spot First Eyes is free to den-parent for a degree. Then three of us can operate. Maybe we can get more out of it. ) He trots off. Swift’s fondness for Scrawny’s enthusiasm is felt in the pack-bond. She is, for the first time in a long time, fully present in the pack-bond. It feels like warm provision.
( Would you like to swap in? ) Swift’s hormonal insight may not be as pronounced as Fierce’s but Fierce’s was why we found anything today. Having more than one insightful mind involved can only be better. Also, if she feels like she can be in-bond-pack I want to encourage it. She steps forward and I observe. The risks are far less with the buzz-sentinel since it doesn’t move. It is about ensuring dogs or fauna don’t interrupt rather than trying to keep two or more dogs safe in a moving environment. We’ve learnt (via accidents) it’s not safe for dogs to be completely unsupervised. They are ready.
I allow myself to admire them both and their fresh notches as they make contact. Concentrating, I observe in the pack-bond too. They track across the map and inspect the chambers. This chamber smells of buzzer paste…and it’s where we found the buzzer-paste!
( They’re scent-labels. ) Fierce is really using her insight! They go to the next that smells of stale nothing like buzz-tech – the tech-cache. She’s right. They go to the Buzz-Pack Guider’s chamber. It smells as it did when we first entered the buzz-den. Swift thinks of Wisdom First Eyes. We all feel the pressure of her emotions. She is crushingly sad, but she’s also scared. Why is she fearful? It’s a loss to Pack Wisdom First Eyes Walking so young but this disease, brought by aliens, has made many Walk and it was no surprise when he did. Those who recover seem safe. Swift is no longer in danger. The buzz-information flickers to a similar but distinct image.
( Sorry. Distracted. ) Swift’s barriers slam back up as Fierce suddenly comes alive.
( The image changed when you had that thought! Maybe emotion impacts what you can get from it… )
( OR time! I was not just thinking about Wisdom First Eyes but a specific time with him. If we think “past” like we have been thinking “Rise” and “Set” and “near” and “far”. Maybe this scent-map will show us their history! ) I join them thinking of the past. The map shifts and shows the same buzz-den but a little smaller and the meticulous scent-labels are missing.
Swift has gone for her den-parent shift. Scrawny is ready to take our Set-report to HQ. It is a log of the construction of the buzz-den. The first log was reflective of how we found the buzz-den. But there are 10 previous versions that take it back to a clear site. We have already gained insight into their priorities, mostly that Pack Guider is very important to them. They fabricated her chamber first and constructed out from there. For the first time, we have ascertained there are definitely no more buzz-paste caches waiting for an unsuspecting dog. Although we have had no contact with it for at least a season, I feel some unknown tension release knowing Pack is safe.
We have all interacted with it and already have found we can manipulate some other elements, even if we cannot decipher them yet. Scrawny is very excited to talk to Pompous. He has theories that he is trying not to get annoyed that no-dog here understands. He scratches his ear like the non-warrior he is. He’s forgotten why it itches. He rips open the wonky wound. He will be distinctively notched. He is grumbling as he hastily rubs it in Soil and sets off.
As his scent dissipates into the Set, Fierce and I go to take the Set feed. Then on to a den-parent shift. I reflect again how All-Pack Guider can inspire such Service, maybe I can one day.