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Shok.wav was aware that there were different kinds of knowing.
One was programming, like the command fetch. That was simple. He knew that it meant to go and get the thing, the faster the better.
The second kind of knowing was more complicated.
It was knowing that fetch when Father was pointing meant that specific sinner. Or when Father didn’t specify, it meant to barrel through a line to catch up as many sinners as he could in his jaws.
What is DID NOT mean was to charge through the tower to get at whoever was screaming and running in front of him. But Shok.wav hadn’t done that since he was little, because he understood now.
Megabyte would, but Megabyte was an idiot who let her enthusiasm get ahead of what was actually asked. Which was exactly why she only got to go out when Father needed to claim more territory, and not on walkies like Shok.wav. Because Shok.wav understood.
Shok.wav was a good boy.
He understood that he shouldn’t bite, chase and bully J@Aws when they tried to change her name, because it did something to her. She would sidle and swim sideways around the tank for a few days before she settled and reprogrammed her name back. If anything, he should just nudge her away and not bite at her fins and her tail like Megabyte would. But Megabyte didn’t know and wouldn’t learn because J@Aws was too old and creaky to snap and put her in her place like she had Shok.wav when he had been younger.
After all, he had learned the best way to go after sinners from her.
He understood that meetings with strangers meant that he should lurk threateningly at the corners of where the strangers could see him.
He understood that meetings with employees meant that he should bob up behind Father when he started shouting and gesturing.
He understood that meetings with the Vees meant that he should do that particular float to remind them that he was there, a good boy, but a very hungry boy. Wasting away, probably.
He understood that when the food was delivered to the Vees to not beg, unless Father left the room. Then he could pop up hopefully or shake his tail in the way that would make Valentino laugh and throw him wings.
He understood that there were times when he could edge into the tank in Velvette’s quarters and wait until she held up her phone to do a roll, a wave of his fin and an opened mouth, and then she would laugh and come to the platform to scratch at the crease between his fins and body.
Velvette was the best at scratches. And if he let himself float, let himself be vulnerable, then she would sit there for hours, chatting on the phone and scratching him. If he snapped like Megabyte she wouldn’t do that.
But he wouldn’t, because he was a good boy.
Shok.wav was told that often.
All of that was why he was prowling the walls of the tank, carefully avoiding J@Aws where she was drifting along on her side. She didn’t mean any harm, and his focus was outside the tanks. He’d gotten an update with a new countdown to the next Extermination days after the last one was done. And that was wrong, but it wasn’t a mistake. It was an update that had gone to everyone in the tank.
It was bad.
Extermination made Shok.wav nervous and that didn’t sit well with him. It wasn’t like going after sinners, which he was good at. He was large, fast and frightening. It wasn’t like establishing the pecking order in the tank either. Both of them were easy, because he was big, and he liked that he was. It made things easier.
But Extermination couldn’t be fixed by biting or chasing after something. Extermination meant swimming down to the bunker and holding a guard on the door, because that’s how it had always been.
Shok.wav remembered the first one, when everyone had been screaming and running. He’d been very small. He’d thought it was a game, which was why he’d kept jumping when Father had called him up. At least until Father had snatched him out of the air in a way that hurt, and he realized that it wasn’t the good kind of screaming.
Then had come the running down to the bunker with J@Aws and M4ck. Shok.wav had been bad, because he had kept trying to bite Father, because he wanted to swim and Father was holding him too tight.
They’d almost made it to the bunker before a chunk of the tower had come down on M4ck. Then Shok.wav had understood and huddled in Father’s arms in fear. He hadn’t even tried to snap at the employees or the other Vees when they had come to shout and shove at Father in a way that had nearly thrown him out of Father’s arms.
He remembered staying there until Father had gone to J@Aws to patch her up from where rubble had fallen on one side of her head. He’d taken his own turn at guarding the door, shaking and snappy until Father had come to pull him back into the huddle with the rest of them until the Extermination was over. It had been frightening, and the lead up to Extermination still had him snappish and restless. But he had learned.
He didn’t take advantage of the opening of the tank, and the feed that would come after. He’d go down to the bunker and stand guard with J@Aws, more so now since she wasn’t the same. Hadn’t been since the first time.
The restlessness was still there. Father hadn’t gotten the chance to taken him out with the rest of them to eat their fill yet. They might not considering the return of the countdown and the massive power outage from earlier in the day. It wouldn’t have been bothersome in the tank, but Father was restless. And that make Shok.wav restless, nervous.
It made him want to be small.
Being small wasn’t usually an advantage. If he had been smaller when Megabyte had been introduced into the tank, he would have been the lowest in the pecking order. If he had been smaller, he wouldn’t be able to chase after sinners the same way, or guard the door during Extermination.
But, when he had been small, it had been easier to be closer. He’d been allowed to sleep in a bed by Father’s desk, or on the desk, or, if everyone was gone, Father’s lap. He’d been carried around, fed by hand, allowed to nap while the Vees had talked in the evenings.
He been allowed to sleep in Father’s bed.
That was solve a lot of problems. He could watch. He could guard.
He could be held by Daddy.
Shok.wav wove his way through the tank, purposefully avoiding where J@Aws was gliding by, nearly completely upside down and trying to avoid Megabyte. He didn’t want her involved in this. She would just cause trouble and then he’d never get to where he needed to be. A quick scan showed that she was off tormenting the newest shark, so he left her to it. The only other one to worry about was Vark, but he’d been in the quarantine tank since he’d dislocated a joint tearing around the tank after Megabyte a few weeks back.
Good. That meant Vark couldn’t tattle.
The easiest and most familiar way was to go to the space that opened up into the control room. It would get him out faster than waiting at the official door, especially at this time. It would take hours if he just tapped at that door.
Shok.wav gave the circular space a wary circle. Once upon a time he could have jumped up where the chair was, or onto the walkway, but he was too big for that now. Instead, he took an awkward, shallow jump towards where the door was, pinging it in the hopes that it would open up
He almost made it. His front landed on the firmer part of the walkway, his tail still danging in the water and his nose pressed uncomfortably up against the door. At least it was starting to open, which meant that Shok.wav could start wiggling through the opening before Megabyte decided to take his dangling tail as a toy.
Wiggling free meant more scraping than he anticipated along his stomach and dorsal fin. Shok.wav ignored it, thrashing with his tail and pulling with his fins until he was out the door and in the hallway.
Shok.wav paused a moment to take stock. He needed to get up, he knew that, but the hallways were smaller than he expected. They looked different, or at least wider from the tank. Then again, the tank looked mostly into rooms and a quick check of the map showed more hallways than rooms. He heaved a sigh, which ended up pressing him briefly more into the walls. Then he resettled his fins and started dragging himself forward.
The usual way that he would have taken wasn’t available, he was just too big to fit. Going to the visitors only elevator would have been faster, but the employees only staircase was his best bet. It was large enough that he could do something like swimming up the middle. But first there were a few more hallways he had to get through.
It was a torturously slow way of moving, pulling with his fins and wiggling to gain inches, all while his sides, top and stomach rubbed against the floor. Shok.wav grumbled to himself the whole time, and that made it bearable.
Another ping had the employees only staircase opening. Shok.wav was able to get halfway through before he had to start bending himself upwards. It took a few tries, with him flapping frantically at the walls and railings until he worked a way to walk up with his fins and sharp swings of his tail. It was still cramped by the time he got all the way into the stairwell.
It was closer than Shok,wav expected. Less swimming and more like paddling and pulling himself up. In some parts he felt the railing give, and he would thrash harder to get away from those faster.
It was faster than the hallway, but it wasn’t quiet. There was a lot of thunks and crashes as he ascended, wriggling his way up and trying not to scrape himself too much. The point was to move quickly and quietly, before anyone caught him and tried to send him back to the tank. Not when he needed to get to Father.
Shok.wav sped up, grunting and floundering his way to the top. He had to cling awkwardly as he waited for the door to respond to his request. It was slow about it, Shok.wave getting impatient and starting to shove at it until it finally decided to open. He bullied his way through into another hallway, settling on the ground as he considered his next move.
He was on the right level now, but there was so much further to go. And he hadn’t done this since he had gotten big. There was no reason. He was let out when he felt like it, at least until now. Shok.wav tapped his fins against the floor, pulling up and closing the map a few times as he stared at the hallway.
Downstairs there hadn’t been anything on the walls. Up here, there were pictures, things that he was going to bring down. Shok.wav shifted himself slightly, trying to draw himself in before dragging himself forward.
Squishing low helped. His dorsal fin didn’t scrape as much against the ceiling. And if he tried to be even smaller, he didn’t touch the walls much either. The problem was that it meant that he was trying to flatten himself on the floor, and that made hauling himself along that much harder. It made Shok.wav want to whine, or flap his fins against the floor until someone noticed. Until Father came to pick him up.
It was tempting to send out a text, except that would meant that Father would take him down to the tank again. And that wasn’t the point. The point was a higher vantage point.
And cuddles.
Shok.wav tried to rearrange himself again, less squished on the floor. It was still a painfully slow drag, all fins since using his tail sent him into one wall or the other. He knocked against a picture, freezing and pressing himself down as it rocked before settling tilted. Shok.wav wiggled to himself, testing the space before getting back to the arduous drag up the hallway.
It was very slow, a long scoot forward and then a pause as Shok.wav considered the next section he had to negotiate. And consider if he wanted to bother. He could just tear through the hallways, burst through windows.
He scooted himself forward a few more careful inches.
Shok.wav thought he was managing well enough, at least until he mistimed breathing out. Then his side scraped against a frame that creaked before falling entirely off of the wall.
Shok.wav froze, trying to see where it had fallen before daring to lift his head just a little. It might take careful placement of fins.
He never got a chance to spot where the frame was before a door banged open.
“Hey! Some of – What the fuck?”
Shok.wav couldn’t crane his head back enough to see Velvette, but he recognized her voice. He offered a careful wiggle of his tail, one that almost scooted him up. Mostly it felt like it wedged him further into the hallway.
He went still when she reached out to touch his side, Shok.wav feeling her start to climb over him a few times before she gave up and stayed out of his line of sight. “What the fuck.”
Shok.wav made another abortive attempt to catch her gaze before giving up. Instead he pressed himself to the floor, trying to be as small as possible as he cobbled together an explanation over text. The update notification, the new countdown, the black out, Father’s distress. When Velvette didn’t immediately respond back, he tried a sad face and daddy.
That made Velvette huff out something like a laugh, which was a good thing. Shok.wav shifted, hearing her tapping away, but it wasn’t a reply to him. He lifted his head, bumping his nose twice against the ceiling before Velvette reached out to pat his flank. “Oi, you know better.”
He did, but he felt stuck and he didn’t like it. He wanted to not be stuck. He wanted to be held and know that things were safe.
He tried to wiggle forward a little bit, feeling one of his fins slip as he found the picture that he had knocked down earlier. It clattered against the wall again, almost masking Velvette’s sigh. It wasn’t a good sound. It sounded like a disappointed sigh. Shok.wav tried to squish himself further down, in the vague hopes that just maybe, he wouldn’t be as visible.
Velvette sighed again, but then the hallway under him turned slippery. Shok.wav tipped his head, seeing the flicker of power beneath him and rolling onward. He gave an experimental shove, surprised when he moved further down the hall than he had managed before. He swung his tail, careful because Velvette was somewhere he couldn’t see. But, just in case, he sent her hearts and made sure to chatter his teeth to show his appreciation.
That made her laugh and push against him. To his surprise, he slid a little more. “Get. I’m not missing out on this.”
Shok.wav didn’t need any more encouragement, making sure he was squished as small as he could before continuing to shove himself along. Now it was less of hauling himself along, and more about being careful about how wildly he pushed. It took a bit to get used to it, and a bump on his nose when he took a corner too bravely. That at least gave him the chance to see where Velvette was behind him. She was out of the way of his tail, and giggling as she held her phone up.
He knew what to do about that.
Shok.wav lifted one fin in a wave and made sure to smile.
That made Velvette laugh more before she flicked her hand. Then he was practically speeding down the hall. It was almost like swimming, without any effort on his part. Shok.wav tried his best, keeping himself away from the walls and plants until he started to slow down. Then he was trying not to wiggle too much because he had done it. There was Father’s door.
It was already opening as he slid to a stop, Valentino slipping out to stare. “Oh, you weren’t kidding.”
“Would I kid about this? Massive killing machine wants cuddles?”
Shok.wav made sure to wiggle, because they were talking about him.
“He awake?”
Valentino huffed, flicking his antennae. “Please. He’s passed out.”
“Even better.”
Valentino was grinning, and Shok.wav couldn’t tell if Velvette was, but it seemed like the best option was to offer his best grin himself. It worked, because Valentino gave his nose the scritch he liked the best as he went to open the door.
Shok.wav DID NOT barge into Father’s room, because he was a good boy.
He did wiggle himself in perhaps a little too fast, because he almost got caught in a corner Shok.wav was still trying to backpedal when he felt Velvette help again.
He shuffled his way awkwardly so he was lined up right.
He’d gotten a good view of the room from the tank, and he remembered it from when he was little. The view from the tank had skewed it slightly, because the distance from door to bed was much longer than he anticipated. But there was Daddy, safe and sleeping.
Shok.wav wiggled, hearing something whisper, “Fucking adorable,” before he was dragging himself across the room.
It was easier now with his goal in mind, especially since the room was so tall. Once his tail was fully through the door, he was able to actually rise and swim. It was only when he was close to the end of the bed that he realized that he would have to be more careful than he thought.
The bed was smaller than he remembered. Shok.wav flicked his tail, eyeing the space before backing up. He wouldn’t be able to wiggle under the covers like he used to, but that wasn’t going to stop him.
He dropped lower, inching up into empty side of the bed. He used the touch of the sheets and his left fins against the floor to guide him into place, watching Father the whole time.
Father remained asleep as Shok.wav carefully maneuvered into place. There was an electric pulse as Shok.wav drifted down and let the bed take his weight.
It creaked, Shok.wav going still as the pulse got stronger. It had been easier to be sneakier when he had been smaller.
Shok.wav hunched a bit, going still as he waited.
Father woke up, but didn’t. His signal wasn’t strong enough to be awake, but his face flickered to life, one eye closed and one eye open. Shok.wav carefully stared back, making sure to blink in time with Father. He was ready to be told off and was preparing his best pleading face and text when Father smiled and rolled. He flung one arm over him, pressing his face against Shok.wav’s side.
“Shocky.” Father rubbed his face against Shok.wav’s side. “Good boy.”
Shok.wav chattered, feeling the happy spark of static before Father was powering down again. He kept it up even as Father went back to sleep and he heard Velvette and Valentino retreat out of the room. It didn’t matter. He was with Father, in a place where he could watch.
He half closed his eyes, letting his tail swing slowly as he luxuriated in the most important feeling of all. He was being held.