"Yes...and she's always returned the favor...I mean, she's a good boy."
"Well, I just need to have a word with her, and then we should have enough information for now."
As Rebecca entered the other room, Lydia stirred, and rose up. She seemed to look around, confused at where she was. Suddenly she felt something brush the inside of her back legs. She whipped her head around to try and see what it was, causing her to run in a small circle. The muscles at the base of her spine twitched and something came into view. Tail!?! she yelped. It came out as nearly unintelligible, but Rebecca got the gist.
Rebecca sat down nearby. Lydia padded over to her, looking up at her even from that position. She liked Rebecca. "I'm very sorry, Lydia...I truly am." Lydia whined. She was having trouble understanding the woman...she had to focus to do so. "All the evidence suggests that very soon, you'll lack the capacity to understand what is going on. Which is probably for the best. If there is a way to restore you, we would...but..we're so far from understanding this..I think those who hired me will just bury the report unless it happens again. Which they should. People need to believe the world makes sense, and this will destroy that belief if it spreads." She reached out and scratched Lydia behind the ears. "I would get a dog myself, if I ever had the time to make sure it was taken care of. I would have had that time, when they cut me loose. But then this happened, I was already here...knowing them they'll just cut me loose again after this is done, leaving me to find a new career. Damned if I know what someone like me would do in the private sector. But that isn't your problem..."
Lydia tried to focus on what she was saying, but was having trouble focusing. Her mind kept wandering, making it hard for her to follow everything that was said. She melted into Rebecca's scratches happily.
"Don't worry...I am expecting Buster to take over every aspect of your life soon enough. Although...if you are all like this...what about the transfers within a single species...?" She mused. "I suppose we'll have to check. Either way, good talk. Well, good listen for you," she chuckled. "If you have any last requests...while you might still be able to communicate them, I'll see what I can do."
Lydia was able to process some of that. Rebecca wanted to know what she wanted. She struggled to think about what that might be. She wanted more scratches....
