Bright tendrils reached across the dawning sky and the darkness retreated behind the opposite horizon. Throughout the sprawling forest the creatures stirred and woke. The first chirps flowed evenly onto the air and quivered across the dew-laden grass. They soon faded into a comfortable silence, disturbed only by the wind’s steady breath. Here and there a small furry something would scamper, or a bird would soar, or dive or flutter after its breakfast. It was another morning in paradise.

Then the silence was violently shattered by the alarming of birds and the disapproval of the squirrels. Furry things slithered into boltholes while feathery things perched and screeched. Two figures sidled along the deer run, flaunting and lurching in the peculiar way of teenagers. They two of them made their passing quick and directed, much to the liking of their audience. Soon the silence was hesitantly repaired, although it remained chipped and cracked as the now uneasy creatures fluttered about nervously.

The forest then sunk hastily into an unnatural hush while all the beasts froze in their tracks. Something else was stirring in the woods. Something that struck fear into all the beasts’ small minds. Something that looked, acted and was the essence unnatural.

It padded out of its earthen den, cracking its fearsome and twisted jaws wide in a yawn. Already the nose was quivering after the scent of floral perfume and spicy cologne; already the ears were prickling to hear the distant crackling of twigs underfoot. The beast caught its bearings, indulged in a delicious stretching of its hind legs, and then, with speed and agility that could not be expected of a from such as his, the thing sprinted off after it's prey.

The forest heaved a sigh of relief, and life continued along its way.

(------)

The Veteran sidled onto the bus, and coolly deposited his two dollars. Exchanging a few distant formalities with the driver, the man kept his eyes on the shapes of today's passengers. The bus rocked into motion, and he strode down the center isle. His balance was impeccable, and the motion of the bus seemed to be absorbed by his feet. He took his customary seat, and watched.

The Veteran was no survivor of war, nor even a battered survivor of life. He was only thirty years old, but having the misfortune – or luck – to be borne on the twenty-ninth of February, he was really just a little over seven. His face was haggard, and he peered casually over his shoulder, as if he half expected something unnatural to be there, instead of simply the gray metal wall of bus. Whether he expected the norm, or something higher than that, he didn't react.

He was a Veteran of the city busses, and the drivers recognized him as such. He knew their family as if they were their own, even though the sullen-faced man had never met them. The Veteran could coax a tale out of anyone, and he radiated a sense of calm charisma, quite contrasting to his depilated appearance. On the reverse angle of things, no one knew much about him. They didn't quite know his name, because he was shifty like smoke. He always managed to subtly redirect the conversation when his name had even the slightest chance of being inquired after.

So, for lack of anything to call him, they didn't call him anything at all.

And yet, when one things of an object, living or material, it must be given a name. To take up all the names that the individual drivers had tacked to him, and to mash them together and then withdraw a single word from that mix, the word would be Veteran. So, that was his new, subconscious, name.

Today, he was leaving the town. This particular driver saw him twice every two months, and when he did, it heralded a period of absence for the Veteran. No one had a chance to ask about his whereabouts, he left, and then returned a few days later, waiting patiently at the distant bus stop.

The Veteran nodded to himself, mulling over some improbable information. The driver watched him in the mirror, but gleaned no information from those hazy blue eyes. Only mist, and mystery.

(------)

"Come in, Code Strike, come in."

"Roger, Alpha Pack, receiving."

"Data transmission to begin at oh-six-hundred hours. Standby."

"Standing by, Alpha Pack."

The few seconds passed, and Strike fingered the wires that were inserted into his temple. He watched time creep past, and eventually braced himself for the click of the uplink. The heavy man fell back onto his mattress as information streamed into his brain, and he watched the video-reels flicker in his induced dreams.

The data stream ended precisely twenty minutes after it began, and Strike jolted upright to report.

"Alpha pack, this is Code Strike, confirming successful transmission."

"Transmission confirmed. Have a nice day."

Strike studied a sheet of paper that lay before him. He had no recollection of writing anything in his dreams, but there it was, clearly printed and easy to understand. He scanned the lines of automatic handwriting before rising to make himself a cup of coffee.

(------)

As daylight stalked between the trees and the birds forgot about their morning panic, the beast licked its bloody chops. There was not much left of the beast's prey; only a few splintered bones and a puddle of muddied blood creeping under the leaves. The shaggy gray monster flicked a twisted and overgrown ear in the air. Nothing stirred around its kill.

Eventually the beast struggled to its feet. Its twisted hind legs rolled strangely as it crept through the think undergrowth. Huge, deep paw prints were pressed into the soft earth where it had tread, until it reached the area of packer dirt that marked the entrance it its cave. It stretched its legs, scented the air, and ducked inside the cold stone entrance.

Once inside, the beast seemed to relax. It waited for its yellow eyes to adjust to the dim light, and then went straight to a distant wall. Tucked away in the deep shadows squatted a large metal something. The huge creature pressed against this machine with its snout, wagging a matted tail unconsciously.

A screen flickered into life, and a silhouetted face glowed at the creature.

"Alpha Pack, identify yourself."

The massive monstrosity heaved a weighty paw onto a scanner, and closed its eyes against the harsh, unnatural light. The shadowed figure on the screen paused, and then leaned forward.

"Ah, Code Blink, is it? We've been waiting for you to contact us again. We have some extensive updates available for you. I understand that last quarter-term you opted not to receive them?"

The blood-stained snout nodded several times, its eyes still lcosed against the LCD light.

"That was a good decision on your part, the hardware was fault-prone, and the wetware was found to be unstable in extreme conditions. You saved yourself much pain and effort. I suppose you had looked over the specs and 'prints before submitting your refusal?"

The bulky head nodded again, and the shadowed face leaned even closer, almost to the point of visibility.

"We won't make a mistake like that again. We would like you to personally evaluate the upgrades, and give us your opinion. You will receive a holographic data chip, as well as Breaker codes, and your deadline. Your orders are to provide a full auditory report to one of our field experts, who will be sure to pass the information on. Clear?"

"ROGER."

Though the massive paws were awkward to control, the abomination managed to impress the right keys to confirm his comprehension.

"Good. Alpha Pack out. Data transmission will begin within five minutes."

Blink waited in the shadows for the transmission machine to spit out the upgrade specs. When the shimmering blue disk tumbled from the machine, all went quiet and dark. The first page of details sprouted from the hardware and hung in the air, and Blink settled down to read them over.