[center][img]https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/024/675/792/large/m-k-untitled-1.jpg?1583177315[/img]
[color=slategray]Man’s Best Friend: A collab between [@SgtEasy] and [@Liotrent][/color][hr][/center][i]”Detainee 407-1, it is time.”[/i]

There was no resistance in the “detainee” as he was shackled in heavy chains and his shock collar powered up to life. Escorted out of the bare, stark room, he had already been physically blinded and deafened to the world. A special sort of torture particular to this one simian. He was a hobby artist, a descendant of a popular man, among many. He was a family ape, a Legionnaire who was an eco-activist on the side. One growing baby and a loving life-mate, a well-to-do artisanal job. A good life that some yearned for. Though one might feel sympathy for his coming fate, keep in mind the monster which lurks within this diminutive chimpanzee in glasses.

Violence is in the blood. Primal rage, even among the most sensible of beings, comes to light under enough scrutiny. It is up to the being to hold themselves back from the actions which may tempt them in the day-to-day. Among apes, especially those of certain “bloodlines” or with certain past experiences, this violence can come easier than for others.

All it took was a clock which ticked too much and a newborn which cried through the night.This was what pushed this simple ape to split his family and his nearest neighbours into shreds, splitting limbs after falling into a deep rage. He created a monstrous statue of organs and limbs within his home, the local police catching him in the act of assembling the then 5 feet tall “masterpiece” of his. 

He had utterly broken.

For any other being outside of the Legion, this act of brutal slaughter would be up to whichever city-state it occurred in. As a Legionnaire, he would be treated as a Legionnaire and be tried by other Legionnaires. This was an internal matter and would be treated with typical Legion efficiency.

The bodies were still being carried off to be separated and identified while the suspect was tried and convicted of 11 accounts of brutality and first degree murder, among other charges. The bodies were barely chilling as he awaited his punishment.

The glass-wearing chimpanzee was placed in an empty, dark chamber and left alone for some time. An unseen speaker crackling to life prevented him from dozing away.

[i]”Detainee 407-1, you have been tried for 11 counts of first degree murder, breaking and entering and brutality against simian. Your sentence, as passed by the Legion, is to be indefinitely within our service until such time you are unable to.”[/i]

The “detainee” visibly relaxed. There could be much worse fates for a Legionnaire murderer than serving as an unpaid physical labourer for the rest of his life. But he stiffened, noticing something in the words of the voice.

“I beg your pardon, but whose service will I be under?”
There was no answer, even as a thick purplish cloud filled the room, bringing tears to his eyes. He grasped at the floor, the walls, screaming and hollering with desperation. The air felt like it was being vacuumed out of him, his mind reeling in a pain never felt before. It was a searing headache, piercing his skull a thousand times with pinprick daggers, embedding itself and twisting viciously. And as quickly as it came, it left.

[i]”You are Doug. That is all you know.”[/i]

He was shocked, feeling a sudden regret in his actions. His mind raced back to the time he ripped his wife in half. Wait. Why would he do such a thing? He’d never do something like tha-

The pain came again, this time stronger than the last. And it would come, again and again and [b]again[/b]. Like a never ending mantra, until all he knew and ever knew and felt like ever would know was the [i]pain[/i]. He wanted anything else, to just die and free himself from this horrifying prison. But it would come, in the exact amount of time it needed to, overwhelming what senses he had left. 

All he knew was pain and that sentence which repeated itself over and over again. Never stopping with the same cadence, same inflections, same [i]everything[/i]. He spoke to a recorded message.

All he knew was pain. His emotions faded away under the headaches and the choking. He felt like he should die but could no longer voice it aloud and eventually, could no longer even hear his own thoughts. Everything was numbed and [i]painful[/i] and soon-

All he knew was pain. And that he was Doug.

[i]”You have learned. You are Doug and you are Hubert’s and the Khan’s. That is all you know.”[/i]

The pain comes back even stronger than before.

[center][sup][h1][sup][color=black]  [b]▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅[/b][/color]   [/sup]
 [sup][color=181818][b]▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅[/b][/color] [/sup][/h1][/sup][/center]
Four paws bounded across the metal floor in excited joy. It would be here, in front of the New Haven Directorate embassy, that it came escorted by two large gorillas. The receptionist, still unused to the sight of the talking apes, gaped openly but was promptly shocked out of this by what leapt over onto the desk.

A golden retriever puppy, with a bulky collar and a rose in its mouth. The young canine dropped the rose for the human woman, bowing with its eyes downwards. As any sane human would, she cooed and scratched behind the puppy’s ears. The pupper’s eyes squinted and its mouth opened with a lolling tongue, sitting down.

[color=dodgerblue]“Ahhh, this is the life.”[/color] The woman diverted her attention to the two gorillas, who had not moved an inch past the doorway. Who was talking-

[color=dodgerblue]“Greetings! I am Doug, the gift puppy to Lead Director Hubert, courtesy of the Khan!”[/color] The puppy extended a paw, [i]his[/i] collar a glowing blue.

The receptionist froze, unsure of whether to continue petting the puppy or lead him up to Lead Director Hubert. After a few minutes of awkward silence, she continued to slowly pick him up and pet him some more while also bringing him to Hubert. Why you ask? Because, in her own words-

“Who’s the bestest boy in the world!? You are! You can call me Auntie Kathy and the Lead Director Papa Hubert!” Katherine used her baby voice and affectionately gave the puppy in her arms plenty of rubbing.

The puppy seemed both confused yet satisfied, trying to look as cute as possible to receive more affection. [color=dodgerblue]”This is not the existence I expected but it is an existence I want!”[/color] His tongue kept lolling out of his mouth, mimicking a smile aight his canine teeth.

Another receptionist came to fill in her spot and address the apes by the door. “... Right, so she’ll be a while. Is there anything else you’d like? We have drinks, there’s a bar over to the right and an entertainment lounge to the left…” he then whispered, “... Director Hubert likes to take breaks from running everything every now and then. That’s why we have all of this, I use it too from time to time, you should try the simulator room, great stuff.”

The gorillas merely looked around, huffed as one and left, stamping their way out of the reception area. Their job was done, it was up to Emissary Doug to carry on from here. This left one confused receptionist, a desk full of dog hair and gorilla hand-prints on the carpet.

“Huh… I guess they didn’t want lattes.” he sips on a mug full of coffee amidst the mess of it all.

Meanwhile, Katherine and Doug arrive at Hubert’s office in the middle of Hubert being full blown upset about what’s happening in the Sol system.

“THEY WHAT!? I told them explicitly not to engage! It’s a non-combatant role. Their only job was to protect the NCV and medi-”

Katherine burst into the scene holding out Doug and placing him as closely to Hubert’s face as possible, “Hubert look! A gift from the Khanate! And he taaaaalks!”

Hubert stared into the puppy's eyes and paused for a solid second, “... director [i]whatsyourface[/i], give me a moment an emergency came up.”

Doug wiggled his butt out of Katherine’s hands, plopping himself on the desk of his new friend. He sat down, not minding the myriad bits and bobs which cluttered the Lead Director’s desk. The puppy settled on giving a smile and using a mystical phenomenon canines from Earth are uniquely adept with: puppy eyes.

His blue collar shone to life. [color=dodgerblue]”Greetings! I am Doug, a sapient-level intelligent dog from the Khanate. I am tasked to act as an emissary to the NHD for the Khan and facilitate relations. I am also tasked with being your budding companion! I also know many tricks such as lie down, shake, jump and stand.”[/color] Doug proceeded to do each of the tricks consecutively, doing them in as awkward movements as expected from a puppy. He finished with tilting his head, expecting an answer.

Hubert smiled, he then bent down and with both of his hands started to pet Doug, “Doug, you and I, and even Kathy who always brings me my lattes, will be the bestest of friends. I can feel it. In-fact! I’ll make you a new role in the directorate! Lead Director’s Companion! I’ll make sure that the Directorate will be home to many sapient dogs in the future. Somehow, someway!”

In the background Katherine was taking many pictures and uploading them onto all of New Haven’s social media sites. “Oh, you’re an emissary right? Did the Khan need something from the Directorate?”

“Oh… I almost forgot about that. Buuuut, ya know what, I’ll grant anything at this point. I have a mess to fix and I’d rather not waste my time berating Timbolini on his serious lack of serious… [i]ness[/i]…” He wiggled his moustache on the last word, as if unsure if that was the right way to describe Timothy Candy’s complete lack of awareness when it comes to foreign affairs.

Doug instinctively jumped on Hubert’s lap, flipping around for him to give belly rubs. Despite this, he continued on an official tone as a new animal representative for the Khan. 

[color=dodgerblue]”The Khan wishes to extend an invitation to an Artificial Intelligence program which can benefit both of our nations. A fully sapient AI with quantum computing power and the addition of a stable personality matrix, based on current or historical brains of the past. This brain-scan technology is available to you and is represented within me!”[/color]

The Golden Retriever turned around and sat up much to the dismay of his new owner. The puppy tilted his head, indicating a spot in his ear for Hubert to scratch. [color=dodgerblue]”My overall brain template is from an unknown personality but also includes personality traits from Einstein, Darwin, Newton, Gauss, Ramanujan and Oppenheimer. The Khan has access to a large database of stable personality and brain templates to be used for any future AI.”[/color]

There was no “talking” motion with Doug’s jaw, all of his talking came from the translation matrix within his collar. State of the art and directly connected to his neural systems. Hubert would later find out that the collar could be taken off without any problem, only requiring a metal cap around the neural socket covered by the collar. 

[color=dodgerblue]”Upon agreement of this AI program with leading Khanate scientists, the Khan is open for other deals you can put forward. I’m merely a message away from the embassy at all times!”[/color]

Doug raised his rear paw, showing an adjustable metal ring which glowed here and there. A small communications device sent to the nearest INFOWAR near-AI stations, a set of which would be given to Hubert for both study and placement around Directorate space and the embassy.

Hubert was thoroughly impressed with the Khanate’s scientific advancements. He was also easily won over by Doug’s loveable nature. “I’ll join this A.I. development program! There’s a few scientists I can think of that I could assign to this. I’ll make a few calls and give a formal answer to the Khanate in a few hours. First things first… [i]I need to handle the Sol Scuffle[/i]. You can listen in if you want, but there’s going to be a lot of yelling...”

Hubert clicked a button on his gloves and quickly resumed questioning Timothy Candy about what’s happening in the Sol System. In the meantime, Katherine took Doug up and asked, “Would you like a tour of the place? I’m sure you do!” And so Doug became a permanent family member of the offices. Dick however, was rudely surprised since he was terribly allergic to canine dander.