As we leave the ape-compound and for the relatively familiar buzzer-compound, I find it hard to maintain the fervour I had for this hunt at the beginning. We’ve spent nearly a sixth^ scouting, following dead paths and trails. She is not here. As we established early on. Silky has kept us doing as diligent a Service as Pack deserves rather than rushing on. We suspect she knows we track her so every confusing scent must be investigated and eliminated. We don’t know what she is capable of. This has meant smelling a number of things I would rather have not smelled. The five distinct human settlements we found within the compound, less than a littersworth^ of days into their planting. All look frighteningly complex and established. There are rows and rows of creepily uniform planted dwellings, each with their own selection of strange items within. I thought, like the buzzer-den, all artefacts would have been stripped out for investigation but there are a lot of items left. We caught the scent of 3-notch Curly Rise. It’s not like no-dog found these settlements. To be fair, there are a lot of them, apes seem to need a lot of items to achieve whatever they do. We were lucky that there was only one buzzer-den-complex to deal with. I guess that’s the thing with bees; their pack shares a single complex.
We found ape-made-runts both alive and dead. Those alive have given us a wide swathe but they visit the settlements, including the empty dwellings. We have even smelled a selection of small feline creatures not-of World which must be another thing the apes brought to serve them in the fight. It all feels a lot more permanent than I thought any of the invaders could have achieved. I was expecting it to be difficult to tell where apes had infected World, but it is everywhere.
The compound-tunnel smells fresher and sweeter but not completely of-World. We’re going to cross into the buzzer-compound. Wilful seems interested in the buzzer-paste, she might want other buzzer things. Swift suggested we go there when we didn’t find her on the first day but Silky reminded Swift how much harder it would be to track her in the cloying buzzer-scent. Then he picked up the scent of Wilful. Fierce said that we’d all done a lot of Service clearing it and we were barely able to smell buzzer any more. After all we were sticking our noses into various buzz-tech items for degrees^ on end until we set off. Swift then also picked up the scent and we followed it down a steep gully and back up the other side before we declared that trail too indistinct to follow further. I was again struck by how this was the right land to give to the invaders, it is hard to traverse. We deep-sleep heavily at the end of the day. Silky always takes first sniff^ and by the time I am waking Scrawny I am ready to return to my soft mate-bonded and deep-sleep through until Swift nudges us awake to provide.
Swift has lagged behind this Rise. I’m surprised she isn’t more eager to get into the next part of our search, even if it is a sixth later than she thought we should. We have had to travel North to within a day^ of CT-HQ, our original breach point and the research plains to cross into the compound-tunnel but we will still be entering the buzzer-compound more South^ than we have ever actually travelled into the compounds. I am maintaining First Eyes so I notice that Swift is not just tired but inspecting something. She notices me noticing. She runs ahead a little then settles into a slow trot.
( I didn’t sleep well last night. )
( You seem to have not slept well many nights. )
( I don’t like being this far from Pack. )
( But Pack travels with you. )
( Yes.) She almost mutters. Fierce and Scrawny do not interject but I know they hear it as clearly as I. Silky is oblivious. We do not den together enough for him to be joining our pack-bond and we have only superficial pack-communication together.
“Here it is. The second entryway.” He leads us through. As I leave the compound-tunnel, I catch a waft of another dog. Not like the mirages^ of dogs that is all that is left of The Cleansing but a fresh, recent, living, sentient dog. Not Wilful either. By now I think I smell her everywhere. Maybe she has allies. That is too horrific to imagine. As far as I know, she is the only dog to ever be exiled from Unified Pack. Another thing that’s better about Unification. I emerge from the tunnel into the much fresher air of the buzzer-compound. Have I permanently damaged my nose doing so much buzzer research? The presence of them smells better than the compound-tunnels only traversed by dogs? I smell Soil, wax and a tiny hint of buzzer paste. She must be here.
“We will find her in here. This is where I would come if I had a need for buzzer-paste.” Fierce’s tone almost betrays her annoyance that we are doing this so long after Swift first suggested it.
“It is good to know that she didn’t use the obviousness of that to sneak past us in the ape-compound.” I add. I sense some discomfort in the pack but I do not know why.
“I suppose it is The Spit. She can’t go that far. We will find her eventually.” Scrawny has been so quiet. I think he’s missing the chance to speak to a peer, or maybe his research that Pompous is continuing. Though can they continue flying-rig research without us? No other dogs have tried buzzer-paste. As far as we know.
“It would be nice if it was sooner than eventually though. I miss a properly-dug den.” Swift sounds like she misses a properly-dug den. She smells like she did when she was weakened after The Cleansing. Scrawny’s nose is twitching in the air. He doesn’t share what he observes but he smells confused. We walk on.
I finally realise what is wrong with the compound! It smells fresh! The smell of established life is missing. There is growth but it seems to be only new growth. Our journey is hampered by fast growing plants like grass, bindweed and brambles^. There are plenty of trees, but they are not providing their bassy growing scent. Some are growing but again it is new growth at the tips. The bulk of the trunks are not producing what I would expect. What did the buzzers do to them? What did they do to the shrubs and bushes? There are none. There are withered stumps where they were. Something seems creepy about the missing scents now I have noticed their absence. It rings in my nose. I lower my head from my discovery. Swift turns away.
We have worked our way back towards the barrier because Swift caught scent of buzzer-paste, which came to nothing. We are denning surprisingly close to where we entered the strange-smelling compound. It feels comforting to be near the compound-tunnel and pointless to have made no progress today. Like most days. We provide in the Rise so we generally spend the Set hunting-degree chatting and grooming and trying to prepare for the next day. Swift has taken pity on Scrawny and is asking him scientific questions and providing a rapt (if uncomprehending) audience. Fierce and Silky and I are talking about our best place to start in this compound tomorrow,
“We know there is no more buzzer-paste in the settlement so it’s likely it is either the scent of her passing by or less likely, it is the scent of another cache.”
“So how do we decide where to go?”
“Well we could split the pack and follow the two strongest trails we’ve found.” Swift is still listening to Scrawny but her ear pricks at the comment.
“We could. Do ye want me to scout a bit for possibilities this Set after my sniff?” Silky seems to never get tired.
“I would appreciate the chance to take first sniff this Set if you don’t mind Silky. I am so very tired and I think a good solid deep-sleep would help.”
“Of course Swift, that is best for Pack. I will take second sniff.”
“Speaking of which, I think I will regret not getting started on my deep-sleep sooner rather than later.” I say yawning, there follows a Pack-yawn with Swift yawning the longest.