Planet Protectors: Hard Times/Chapter Four

Gary landed back in the bus stop, ever cautious of his surroundings. Unlike his previous visit, the station was now operating during peak hours and as such it was bustling full of animals scurrying from one destination to another. Gary bumped from animal to animal, scowling at their ignorance and lack of interest for his presence. He knew his routine by heart, but still checked his communicator messages just in case. His method of transport for travelling to Velocity Headquarters was more or less the same each time; he'd receive a message from Harvey, meet at the same destination and the two would travel there in the hedgehog's space cab. Harvey was a chauffeur for Gary and various shady critters, taking them to and fro Velocity Headquarters to negotiate deals with Velocity's most nefarious members. Upon checking his message log, Gary scrolled past his previous interactions with the Hedgehog, which consisted of a balance of pictures of kittens (of which Gary never responded to) and arrangements to meet up for traveling to Headquarters. Harvey had sent another message only five minutes ago, which read "Hewwo Gary ^\_^ We meeting up now rite? cya in a minite im on my wai now oWo". Gary winced at the message, quickly typing "Ok" and sliding the communicator back into his pocket and heading towards their usual location, behind the bus station's convenience store.

Gary waited outside the store, ever impatient as he waited for the motion sensor outside to pick up on his presence and open the doors for him. He stepped in and began to head through; at the end of the store there was another set of doors that were mostly used by employees for unloading stock from delivery trucks. As this location is discreet yet open, many animals used it for various suspicious activities. Thankfully for wholesome, crime free animals everywhere, Bill Cooper, the bus station's chief police officer just happened to be at the scene. However, right at this moment he was taking a break to shop. Gary had just noticed him through the corner of his eye and sped up his pace in an attempt to evade notice, however this just drew more attention towards him. Upon noticing the guide dog, Bill stopped eyeing up the kibble aisle, picked up a bag and headed towards Gary who was too socially anxious to stray away from expected social conventions so begrudgingly stopped to conform to expectations, squinting his eyes in frustration.

"Hello there!" Bill saluted, his stance firm and confident; before Gary could find a way to whittle himself out of the conversation he was stopped in his tracks by the German shepherd. "I just wanted to apologise for our interaction earlier. I was completely out of my rights to talk to you, a Planet Protector, like that! Please, give Scott my sincerest apologies too." Bill sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, loosening his hat in the process. Gary was about to high dive straight into a bath of self-righteousness and soaking in the smug waters but held back. "...it's okay. I honestly wasn't too nice myself, y'know.." He twiddled his thumbs; his eye contact erratically bouncing from one aisle to the other. He wasn't all too used to considering himself as 'wrong'. His attention was better focused on the small bakery stall inside the store; there was a lovely fresh baked batch of donuts on display which he wanted to buy but couldn't get himself to spend a whole two coins on them. Gary considered confessing to Bill about not being a Planet Protector, but his train of thought was interrupted by the shepherd. "You were saying?..." Bill looked over to the donuts and licked his lips. "Oh, right. I also wanted to apologise about the whole thing... Pulling your tie and such, causing a scene, y'know? It wasn't very nice." Gary's eye contact was anywhere but towards Bill, who was quite confused; since the second Scott appeared on the communicator feed Bill hadn't considered once that he may have been deserving of an apology. It was the Planet Protectors; their leader, correcting him on his mistake. "Oh... Thank you. Let's not worry about that now."

Bill went to pay for the kibble, expecting Gary to catch up with him however he stayed put. "...Would you like to talk over some lunch? My treat. I'd love to hear what you do for the Planet Protectors." Bill blushed, scratching his chin in embarrassment. "I've always admired the Planet Protectors... So hardworking." Gary wasn't too keen on the idea however he didn't want to upset the shepherd so he excused himself. "Gee, I'd love to, but I'm on a super important mission right now. Maybe we can meet up another time?" Gary began to head for the exit, much to Bill's dismay. "You have a mission in there? He pointed towards the exit, ever suspicious. "My, that's where a lot of shady activity takes place! I'm actually on patrol right now to make sure no ne'er-do-wells are hanging about." Bill's tail suddenly wagged from side to side in excitement. "Oh, could I join you on the mission?!?" Gary held his hands up in a desperate attempt to calm the shepherd down, who had drawn in attention from confused shoppers and was holding up the line in the process. "I'm sorry... Official business and all..." Gary noticed Bill's tail droop in despair so tried to cheer him up. "...But you could help by standing guard here and making sure nobody comes in!" Gary smiled at Bill who had perked up. "Sure thing! By 'nobody', you mean absolutely no animal, right? Not even me?" Bill scratched his head, stepping closer through the service line to pay for his kibble. "Not even you..." Gary realized he wouldn't be returning and, as a result, Bill would be left waiting for him, probably for a long time judging by his loyalty for obeying orders. "...Uh, I'll have to go someplace afterwards. Do you have a communicator? I'll message you once things here are finished so you can resume post." Bill opened his communicator and connected it to Gary, transferring their contact information. "There we go! I won't let you down!" Bill saluted Gary and stayed put, squinting his eyes at civilians as Gary continued through to the exit.

Gary was feeling rather nervous, as he usually is during his meet ups with Harvey; not because of the shady circumstances, but rather his driving skills or lack of them as it was. He took this moment to glance around at his surroundings in an attempt to calm his nerves; the area was open with only a fence to divide the guide dog from the vast, endless depths of space. There was another crooked fence, placed just off centre of the area, which divided crates full of stock from the open shelter of the other side of the gate. Whilst the original intention of the area was to provide a small, open break room for store employees to chat, eat and smoke, rising crime rates have left the employees hesitant to spend too much time there. Gary suddenly jumped up, startled by movement stirring in a rusty old trash can. A ruffled raccoon popped open the lid, sticking his head out and noticing the guide dog. "Oh. Hey. Just grabbing a cigarette. He flipped the used cigarette into the air and landed it into his mouth. "You got a lighter?" Gary winced whilst his nose scrunched up in repulsion from the odour emitting from the raccoon. "Uh, sorry dude, I don't smoke." The raccoon plunged back into the trash can, rummaging through trash once again. "It's okay, man... I'll keep looking." His voice echoed from inside the can. Gary was just about to ease up until he heard the familiar noise-ridden sound of Harvey's cab engine bustling through the depths of space. ("Oh boy...") Gary prepared himself as he noticed the trash can rumbling as the sound of the engine drew closer and closer. The cab hurtled itself into the area, breaking straight through the weak supporting fence and crashing into a pile of crates, sending fruits of different shapes and sizes hurling out into space and rolling onto the floor. The crash was enough to knock the trash can onto the floor; the raccoon sprawled out and upon noticing the fruit chased after it. "Hey, I'm here." Harvey winked, chilled back and reclining onto the padded chair of his cab's driver seat.

Gary gently opened the loose hinge on the cab's passenger door and reluctantly sat down on the used, stained chair that was scattered in rips and tears from various collisions and crashes throughout the last couple of years. He quickly grabbed onto the seat-belt and fastened it as tight as it would get, his lungs compressing leaving him gasping for breath. Unlike the trembling guide dog, Harvey didn't even have his fastened. "A'ight, you ready Gaz?" before Gary could peep out a response from his limited lung's air supply Harvey had slammed his pointy fingers onto the gear stick and forced it forward, propelling the cab out of the exit's gravity radius. The cab functioned as previous petrol-based vehicles in the past ran; however, the fuel source that was now being used in the majority of vehicles was star dust; the most popular supply came direct from a polar bear family in Tropoi. This alternate fuel streamlined transport through the constellation of space to allow for an environmentally beneficial experience. Team Velocity were initially against this; wishing to continue their destructive behaviour but after a financial brief with Gary petrol was becoming an expensive investment so they decided to convert to star dust, on the basis that they’d have more cash to splurge on dumbbells and laser canons.

Gary and Harvey began their journey a couple minutes ago, though nothing had been said between them. Gary was noticeably uncomfortable, tightly grasping the matted fur on his trembling legs though Harvey was completely oblivious to this. Turning down the radio (pumping out Sabre's Greatest Hits on a constant loop), Harvey initiated a conversation. "So, how are you doing today Gary?" Gary had completely zoned out in his own little horrific nightmare realm inside his head but jumped out of it after hearing Harvey's echoing voice. "Oh, I'm okay..." Gary was struggling to find something to talk about; he wasn't going to mention how he fished a Planet Protector out of space using a rusty fishing pole. "...y'know, just the usual stuff. How about you?" Gary was quick to move the topic away from himself. "Well, today me and Spinky binged an entire anime boxset... It was about a magical princess warrior who used the power of her ears to save the universe! She would listen to everyone's problems and absorb them to deal with them on her own and I thought it was quite selfish of the others to leave their problems for her to solve I just think she should have taken a break you know? But after that whole thing she had to fight a gang of evil aliens who wanted to sell her ears on the black market but it was okay because she saved the day and everyone was happy it was pretty good apart from Spinky giving critical commentary and nit-picking every scene but they're just very passionate and I appreciate Spinky they're a really good friend do you like Spinky too? They're pretty cool right-" Harvey was only halfway through his conversation before Gary couldn't take anymore and had to interrupt him. "Right. Hey, I wonder what's on the radio right now?" He tried to extend his arm over to the radio's knob to turn the volume up however he was so tightly confined by his seat-belt that he was unable to reach. Harvey lifted from his seat, wobbling the cab around and causing Gary to tear a small chunk of fur from his leg after grasping them so tightly. "Oh, it's that new song by Llama Del Rayfish!" The hedgehog began singing along to the song, his rambling voice being so rough to the guide dog that the tip of his ears physically inverted and plugged the hole inside his ears shut. "...Yes, it's very nice..." Gary smiled, tears forming from his eyes and rolling from his cheeks as he was still in pain from losing his leg fur.

Thankfully for Gary, the song was suddenly interrupted by an alarm that was conjoined with a holographic screen displaying a notification indicating that an animal was calling Harvey. "Uh, could you press that for me? My fingers usually pierce through the screen and I don't have my gloves on me right now..." Harvey continued to steer the wheel; it span around each time Harvey lifted his pointy fingers away from it due to them being buried into the wheel itself. Because of this the car steered back and forth; Gary wobbled from side to side as he tried to maintain his balance and hit the accept button on the display. Before either of them had the time to share their greetings, the animal on the other side began screeching off into a tangent.
"Hey Harv. So, I was ready to power my incinerator blaster but guess what? The wires shorted. Can you believe it? Who makes these lousy wires, anyway? So, I went to get my bread out of the toaster, I was going to have a nice sandwich, but the toast had BURNT. IT BURNT! I had to throw the darn thing into the trash and there was also no detergent so I couldn't wash our clothes and honestly my day is ruined immensely." Spinky finally took a breath; their voice was usually croaky but as they rambled on it got even worse which wasn't too pleasant for Gary to hear, thanks to being a dog he had extremely sensitive hearing. "Oh Spinkz, I'm so sorry!" Harvey sniffled, pulling his fingers out of the steering wheel to wipe his eyes, sending the car spinning to which Spinky didn't react to; they seemed quite used to it. "Is there anything I could do for you budd-" Harvey was immediately cut off by the opportunistic sphinx cat, quick to get their problems solved. "NOW that you mention it, could you nab me some stuff from a convenience store? I need detergent, bread and some darn new wires for my incinerator blaster. I think Luna2Go should have all those things in stock. There's one on the way to Headquarters; did you pass it already?" Suddenly, Harvey halted the breaks, sharp turning the cab in the opposite direction. "We passed it a moment ago. We'll go back right now! Is that alright with you Gary?" The guide dog had fallen straight into Harvey's hair during the sharp turn. He plucked himself away from the hedgehog, covered in spines. "Uh... sure." As he was pulling the spines out of his fur, Spinky had finally taken notice of him. "Oh hey, Gary." Spinky, despite their stumpy size, looked down upon the guide dog from their high-end display. "You look rough. Been drinking again?" The sphinx cat remarked, taking gleeful pride over the misfortune of others. This of course enraged the guide dog, though he managed to keep his cool and bite his lip, remaining silent. "Spinky... Knock it off." Harvey noticed some tension between two of his bestest buddies and wanted it to stop. "I'll see you soon, Harv." Spinky was quick to hang up though thanks to the screen's delay their audio was still playing the sphinx cat's rambling to another crew member of Velocity.

"Gee, the weather sure is nice, isn't it?" Harvey yawned, staring into the endless void of space. "...Space doesn't change, Harvey." Gary was used to Harvey's many nonsensical statements; as he resides in Velocity Headquarters the hedgehog was only exposed to deep space, he hadn't seen rain or shine for quite some time. Harvey knew Gary wasn't too open to talking, but he could tell by his tone that he didn't take Spinky's comment all too well. "Gary, I'm sorry about Spinky, I know what they were talking about is a sensitive topic for you..." Gary nodded, but didn't feel like speaking. Harvey, ever determined to cheer up any animal he meets, decided to keep talking. "Y'know, this reminds me of a story back when I was in a biker gang. Did I ever tell you about my biker gang?" Gary rolled his eyes "Just a couple of times..." Truth be told, Harvey usually mentions them every time he drives Gary to Headquarters, he just often forgets he does so. "Oh, right! Well, I was with my friends Duckati, Harley and Kane over on the planet Skarlar, where they hosted the huugge racing event. We were all gonna compete but the feds were on Duckati's case, y'know being a bird and all, they wanted to protect him from Velocity, which is uhh, me right now but not then, this was a few years ago now. But yeah, he wasn't allowed to race so we all decided to sit it out too so he didn't feel left out and that made him feel a lot better." Harvey smiled, concluding his story.

"...What does that have to do with..." Gary paused. "Well, anything?" He flailed his arms in frustration. "Uhh, I don't know. Just thought I'd share a story!" He smiled, finally maintaining his eyes on the star-lined road. "Well, it kept my mind off it, so thanks." The two shared a chuckle as they looked onwards into the open space. "Say, what happened to Duckati, by the way?" Gary questioned. "You know, being a bird and all. Aren't Polly and Lana the only birds free right now?" Gary rubbed his shoulder. "-You only have to talk about it if you want to, of course." Surprisingly, this topic didn't seem to upset Harvey. "Oh yes, well Velocity did take in Duckati about a year or so after I left them behind. He's at a lovely little farm quite a way away from here. I haven't been able to talk to him, but my ol' boss Sabre said he's just fine." Harvey smiled as he cheerily hummed along to Sabre's tunes on the radio. After reading into Harvey's story, a gaping shadow of realisation took over Gary's mind, leaving a sour taste in his mouth. ("Well, that's a heap of trauma I don't have time to unpack right now... I probably shouldn't say anything...") Gary anxiously thought to himself; he didn't want to upset the hedgehog and potentially cause an unwanted riot but didn't really know what to do in this situation. Should he bring Harvey to light, potentially freeing him from Sabre's manipulative control, but at the risk of Sabre declaring war, or keep quiet and leave an innocent animal in a terrifying organisation? ("Eh. I'll sleep on it.)"

"Well, we're here now!" Harvey once again jolting onto the breaks, this time holding his palm out to break Gary's fall. The hedgehog had haphazardly parked on the pavement outside the mostly full car park, firmly into a set of potted plants. Harvey shook himself to remove the leaves from his head, but they were secured deep into his spines. Gary pocketed the leaves from his head into his backpack in the hopes of selling them as 'exotic wildlife'. The building was rather large for a convenience store; it towered over the two animals and was at least six stories tall. The condition of the building was pristine inside and out; the space cab was pushed aside ever so slightly to allow the potted plant to self-restore its leaves and cleanse itself of any damage on the pot. The two stepped out of the cab and headed around the building towards the entrance, Harvey merrily skipping along whilst Gary cautiously trailed behind him, attempting to get his attention. "Uh, Harvey? You've left your cab unlocked." Harvey just about heard Gary through the leaves covering his ears and turned around. "Huh? Oh, right!" He spun a rusty key-chain full of keys on the end of his fingertip, flipping them up into the air and pressing a button on his cab keys, sending a beam of light towards the cab and securing it in a transparent orb, pushing a nearby shady raccoon away from the cab. "Oh, sorry friend! I kind of need this cab to get home, otherwise you could've taken it!" Harvey smiled to the begrudging raccoon, heading around the corner to enter the building.

The entrance was decked out with a stardust plated fountain on both sides of the velvet carpet walkway that dispensed a caramel shortcake cherry soda. Inscribed on a plaque on the body of the fountain was an advertisement that Gary read out loud" Try our new limited edition Luna2Go soda! Just grab a mug, fill it up and take a sip and we will automatically take the money out of your pockets! Mug is included in overall price. Please call Luna for assistance." The guide dog shook his head. "Why on earth would anyone try this? Don't you agree, Harvey? I can't think of a better way to waste your mone-" Gary looked over to his right to see the hedgehog overjoyed with commercialism, four mugs in his hands and a mug on his head, bending his neck down and into the fountain's soda to scoop up as much liquid as possible. A small crevice next to Harvey's leg opened from the fountain, displaying a hole and a speaker. "Thank you for your purchase!" Repeated on loop whilst the hole sucked the change out of Harvey's pockets, taking more coins than required and refusing to give change. "Transaction complete! Have a wonderful day from your friends at Luna2Go!" Gary sighed a breath of relief as the overly obnoxious voice from the speaker had finally muted due to the crevice closing. "Hey bud, do you want one of these?? I got one for you!" Harvey bowed his head down towards Gary who unexpectedly rubbed his chin awkwardly. "Uh, that's okay, thank you." He smiled, though Harvey didn't lift his head up. "No, no, I insist dude! Take it!" Harvey pulled a large grin, his eyes widening in anticipation despite the mug taking a toll on his head and resting it in place. "Okay, okay, I'll try it." Gary carefully pulled the mug from Harvey's hair, taking extra caution so not to prick his fingers. "I'm not sure what you see in this junk but-" He took a sip and his eyes widened. "Oh- Oh, this is pretty good, actually..." He took another sip whilst Harvey watched from the side-lines, ever excited that his friend was enjoying the gift. "RIGHT?!? It's like... A puppy and a kitten put into a blender and sprinkled with sugar and mixed with love!" The hedgehog let out a squeal that caused Gary to jolt his ears, scrunching up as Harvey leapt in for a hug, the soda splashing from one mug to the other. "Uh, right..." Gary was rather disturbed by Harvey's unique description of the beverage and was not enjoying the hug in the slightest. "If you could just-" Gary attempted to push away from Harvey but to no avail, his spines were too strong and stuck firmly into his shirt. "Oh, sorry pal!" Harvey smiled, forcefully plucking himself away from the guide dog, sending him frantically spinning through the entrance door. "Oops..." Harvey blushed, unaware of his strength. "I'm coming for ya', Gaz!"

"You okay dude?" Harvey slammed open the door, breaking the hinge off in the process and sending the door face first onto the floor (though that wasn't a problem; the door simply restored itself to perfection) as he bent down to check on the defeated Gary who was laying down face first on the recently polished glass floor. "Eh, not the first time I've fallen over today... Be careful, alright?" Harvey gently raised the guide dog up from the floor, flattening his hand out so not to hurt Gary with his sharp fingers. Gary began to aimlessly walk around the aisles, but Harvey dragged him back to the velvet rope walkway in the middle of the room. "Where are you going?" Harvey began to speak alone, but another voice out of sight joined in and echoed his speech pattern perfectly. "AT LUNA2GO WE HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW..." The voices began to sing a melody much to Gary's dismay. "Yeah, yeah, I know the jingle-" Gary was about to cover his ears but was startled by the sound of the other voice drawing closer. A beam of disconnected lights fell to the ground and manifested a holographic display right next to the grouchy guide dog. The flickering display of the store's panda mascot, Luna, continued the jolly jingle with the merry hedgehog. "SO COME FIND US AT RECEPTION AND DON'T BE SLOW!" Harvey laughed to himself and took another sip of his corporate beverage. The holographic display was rather delayed, having to internally register Harvey's laughter, repeating a monotone chuckle back. "That's right! Please make your way to reception so that we can assist you!"

Harvey watched with awe as the colourful holographic display zipped down the hall and reformed at the reception's desk. "But first, a word from our sponsors!" The voice echoed through the room's speakers and in an instant multiple holes in the floors opened to let a collection of well-dressed animals in tuxedos and business suits into the pristine open space. Gary's eyes twitched in aggravation as he fully knew what to expect. Marketing. Lots of it. Gary wasn't quite sure whether he was jealous at the marvellous marketing tactics and wanted his business to thrive or if he was just irritated in general. It was probably a mix of both. He carelessly pushed past Harvey and trudged along the walkway refusing to acknowledge any of the animals in his way; on the other hand, Harvey was fully investing his time into each and every pitch delivered by the sophisticated animals. As the two reached the end of the velvet walkway, Harvey had a gift bag with a pair of mini slippers that can be ironed and worn only on Wednesdays, two thousand mini cat stickers, a copy of Grizzo's latest album (and the remix edition), a high tech state of the art super computer and conveniently a stack of high tech cables, just what Spinky ordered! Or perhaps not; Harvey knew Spinky was awful particular about the wires they used and swore by their favourite brand, TaShiba. As such, Harvey decided he was going to buy that brand alongside the new wires in the hopes Spinky would get use out of them another time. They were two for the price of one, after all.

"Uh... where did the hologram go? There's nobody here." Gary shrugged his shoulders at Harvey who had his mind otherwise occupied on untangling the cables that he had got into a mess himself. "Actually, come to think about it there's no customers here at all despite all the vehicles parked... Hm, they must be upstairs." Gary's mind had trailed off onto its own path as Harvey clearly wasn't able to help right now. He took this moment to look up at the star lit sky, visible through the glass ceiling that arched over the room. There were multiple layers of flooring, each seemingly identical to one another and without any way to access them by foot. Despite the huge amount of space occupied by the building, Gary struggled to find a single flaw or imperfection anywhere which gave him quite the unsettled stomach. It certainly wasn't the rugged worn out sights he was used to back home to say the least. Gary was about to head back into the aisles until he was startled by Harvey finally untying the cables (albeit most of them being destroyed by his sharp claws). "Aha! I got you, you tricky cables!" He softly held the bundle of loose cables in his hands and glanced off into the distance for a short while before returning to focus. "Uh, what were we doing again... Oh, right! You just have to call for Luna." Harvey was about to call, but blissfully unaware of Gary's short temper decided it would be best to let Gary join in on the 'fun' and call for Luna himself. "Why don't you do it, Gaz? She's the most helpful hologram out there!" Gary was about to protest, but if he had learnt anything from his lengthy interactions with the perky hedgehog, it'd be that conforming to every request seems to get him out of the situation quickly. "Alright, alright. Luna? Hello? Luna to go?..." Despite the guide dog's call, Luna oddly didn't seem to pick up on it. Gary shuffled around in silence, readjusting the loosened flip flops on his feet. Harvey knowingly chuckled at Gary's attempt, rolling his eyes at the guide dog and swatting his hand down in condescension as if there were a surrounding audience to observe the situation. "Oh Gary, you're so funny! You know you're supposed to call for her, right?" Completely lost in what world he was currently in, Gary squinted his eyes and furrowed his brows in complete disorientation. "Is that not what I was doi-" Gary didn't have time to finish his sentence; Harvey had begun the special call on his behalf. "OOOOOOHH LUNAAAA!!" The hedgehog's call was incredibly loud and upbeat; he extended his arms out, moving the mugs and spilling some soda on Gary (who waited for it to drip onto his shirt before scrunching it up and collecting it in an empty alcohol can to sell later).

Harvey didn't even have the chance to blink before Luna manifested herself behind the desk as if she had never left. "Hello there! May I see you ID please?" Harvey went to reach for his ID, but his hands were still full from the gift bag and mugs he was carrying. "Uh, could you nab my ID for me Gaz? I'm a little fullzies here, heh!" The bubbly hedgehog bobbed out his tongue, waiting for Gary's attention as he was still occupied with 'cleaning' away the soda on his shirt. "Oh, sure." He nabbed the ID and showed it to Luna who absorbed it clean out of his hands. "Processing. Processing. Processing." Gary restlessly tapped his feet onto the polished floor, creating a muddy foot print each time that was cleaned instantly. "Oh, Gary, do you have an ID at Luna2Go?" Harvey placed his mugs down onto the desk, rolling his head down a little too quickly sending the mug bouncing off the desk and onto the floor. It shattered into thousands of pieces whilst the soda dripped through the floor crevices and into Luna's circuits, causing her projection to stutter a little. "Oops... She's still processing, so I can't get a refund..." Harvey placed his elbows on the desk and rested his pals on his cheeks, huffing in despair. "Wait. Did you just say refund?" The mostly monotone guide dog's ears perked up in interest. "I'm your guy. Want a refund? I'll get you one. Let's sort out Spinky's stuff first though." Gary was extremely passionate for once; money was his expertise and there was nothing he loved more than saving it. Whilst it's true that Harvey did frustrate him quite often on their meet ups, he still considered him a friend and felt sympathetic for him; whilst he wished to be as oblivious and happy as the hedgehog, Gary knew life wasn't treating him all too well, even if he didn't know it. Sabre wasn't a force to be messed with and he would easily dismiss Harvey if he needed to at any moment. Knowing this, Gary thought a little favour would lift his guilty conscious. "OH BOY, REALLY?!?" Harvey's grin got wider and wider as lifted his shoulders up, his fingers wiggling in anticipation. Gary recognised this as a sign to step back and rightfully did so, though it was far too late. "No, no, it's oka-" Harvey pounced with all his might towards the frightened guide dog and tightly wrapped his meaty and spiky arms around him, the spines interlocking them together much to Gary's dismay.

Luna stuttered for a moment whilst she read the data chip inside of Harvey's card. "Process complete. Is it just one entity today?" Harvey tried to loosen himself away from Gary but wasn't able to so had to muffle his response due to his mouth being stuck in Gary's fur. "MNno, MhEres Ah GhESt" Luna stuttered once more, staring blankly at the Hedgehog as her eyes span around in a loop. "Did you mean: "'Ё, there is।'?" Thankfully, whilst Gary was still firmly wedged to the hedgehog, he was in a position where his mouth was free. "Why on earth would we mean that?" Gary furrowed his brows in frustration; his discomfort for the eerily pristine convenience store had reached its limit. "Why would you say 'entities' too? What are you?!?" He rubbed his forehead in confusion, wiping away some stress-formed sweat. He was balanced on one foot as one of his legs and one of his arms were tightly locked into Harvey's quills. "This place is weird. Harvey, how do we deal with her?" Luna maintained her static facial expression through Gary's rant and smiled. "I do not know what that means. If you like, I can search for "Harvey, how do we deal with her?" Harvey tried once again to pull his snout away from the begrudged guide dog but to no avail. "Jhhsut Thheel Hhhurr Thho Schann Ushsh!" Harvey wiggled, pulling away but Gary was too irritated to work with him so they stayed put. "Wha-" Before he could finish his sentence Luna's eyes widened as she processed Harvey's muffled query for a second time. "Did you mean: "Julia's Thistle Hurdle Schnauzer Ulcer?" Gary squinted his eyes in bafflement. "Why yes, that's exactly what I meant." Gary responded with an ounce of sarcasm, shrugging his shoulders (the right shoulder banging off Harvey's jaw). "Okay. Two entities registered. Hello, Harvey T. Hedgewurst and Thistle Hurdle Schnauzer Ulcer! Allow me to scan you both.
A dim light glowed from underneath the desk as Luna began to shape shift into a large rectangular camera lens. The lens fired beams of light at the two fidgety animals, covering them with spots in a blue hue, almost like she was attacking them in a game of paintball. “Oh dear, this just won’t do! At Luna2Go we thrive on flawlessness and perfection. Allow me to fix you two up.” Luna’s hands were clasped tightly; as she began to move them apart, a wave of kinetic energy spread around the room and squeezed between the two animals, pushing them apart. “This will only take a moment.” Luna’s hands began to swish until their shape distorted into open light, transforming into sponge cleaners. The kinetic energy mimicked Luna’s actions, polishing the animals up. Each individual spine attached to Harvey was trimmed and his hair was blow-dried to perfection. The tears in Harvey’s clothes (that were created from contact with his sharp spines) were carefully stitched back together. Gary’s rugged jaw fur was trimmed and the soda that was stained in his shirt was removed completely.

“Well, that was convenient.” Gary wanted to complain but couldn’t really find anything to whine about. Harvey, on the other hand, had been cleaned by Luna’s services quite often so didn’t think much of it. Instead, his mind was focused elsewhere. “Oh Gary, I had no idea you were a schnauzer!” He grinned, ever blissfully unaware of anything going on right now. “You mean the name she called me? I think something’s up with her speech detection. I may have had a rugged beard going on, but by no means am I a schnauzer.” Gary rubbed his chin. He somewhat missed his beard-like fur. “Oh...” Harvey paused, suddenly being reminded of another story. “I knew a schnauzer once, his name was Kane he was pretty cool, part of the biker gang, remember I was part of a biker gang?” Gary held his breath (and in turn, his frustration) and nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”

Gary glanced down at the floor, expecting to see a collection of loose spines on the ground from the thorough cleaning but the floor was immaculate, irritating him just a little bit more than he already was. After a short moment he also noticed that the soda stain from his shirt had disappeared.

He lost his temper. Again.

“Hey, Luna! You took our soda. I demand a free refill, on the house. We have rights!” Gary buckled himself up for quite the argument (something he was unapologetically a master of), but Luna simply obliged his request. “Of course.” She paused for a moment. “... I have checked our records, and this is indeed true.” In the blink of an eye, a fresh new mug with soda appeared onto the pristine desk. Without any thought or hesitation, Gary slided it over to Harvey. “Oh.. thank you, Luna.” Gary smiled, raising his eyebrows at Harvey whose eyes were lit up brighter than a gaggle of glow worm. “Oh my gosh!!” Harvey squealed, throwing his mugs up into the air, thought thankfully this time they landed safely in his hair. “Gary, thank you so much!” It was right at this moment that the guide dog actually took notice to what he just did, a selfless action. “Huh.. oh, you’re welcome.” The guide dog felt quite odd, but it didn’t feel bad by any stretch.
“Is there anything else you needed today?” Luna smiled, unable to blink or change expression in the slightest. “Oh, right!” Harvey grinned, pointing his finger in the air before dropping it right after. “Uh. I forgot. What did we need again, Gaz?” Gary listed the detergent, loaf of bread and cable wires with monotony, counting them on his fingers as he listed them. “Understood. Allow me to assist you!” Luna lit up both physically and emotionally as her table divided apart allowing her holographic projection to move around the room. “Let’s find those items, shall we?” Luna’s projection lagged behind her as she sluggishly slid across the pre lit path on the floor. The two animals followed her with Harvey skipping ahead whilst Gary kept his distance with his hands firmly placed into his pockets.

“Oh Helper Bot? Could you help out our wonderful customers?” Luna ‘clapped’ her non-physically existing hands and in a flash her trusty robot friend burst through a nearby door, skirting around Gary’s legs and colliding right into Harvey’s feet; the hedgehog’s sturdiness simply bounced the metallic mechanism away, blazing past Luna and into a transport cable that linked it to a vast array of aisles filled to the brim with various branded products. The bot was speedy enough to leave tyre prints on the floor (which were cleaned up instantly) and left a pungent smell of burning rubber in the air. “Ugh. Do you smell that?” Gary scrunched his nose up whilst Harvey sniffed, shrugging his shoulders. Working as a chauffeur meant he was often exposed to similar scents. “Ha, nope. I cannot smell anything. I am merely a simulation.” Luna uncomfortably glared towards the uneasy guide dog. “Thankfully at Luna2Go we have a lovely selection of fragrances. We have Doggie & Catana’s “Puppy Love” fragrance, Canine Klein’s “Eternally Skunk” fragrance and Britney SpearFish’s “Circus” in stock right now. What fragrance would you like to test out?”

“None-“ Gary sarcastically remarked but stopped upon having the realisation that testing products is free. “Actually, do you have a strip or something I can test them on?” Without any communication Luna dispensed a strip of testing paper out of her mouth, hitting Gary in the face and tucking itself into the neck of his shirt. “Uh, thanks.” He got it out, ready to collect his fragrances but nothing was happening. “Luna? Can I try those fragrances?” Harvey stepped back as Luna began to vibrate intensely, pulling Gary back too. “You’ll wanna hold that strip tight, dude!” Gary took Harvey’s advice and prepared himself as Luna blasted various fragrances from tiny pistols inside of her head: Gary’s ears were flapping up and down as he tried to maintain his balance from the strong pressure of the fragrances at full blast; he wasn’t as bulky as the firmly placed hedgehog so grimaced as he saw Luna prepare a final fragrance to test.
The pistol gently dispensed the fragrance, tickling the end of Gary’s snout and making him sneeze. “Oh, I was expecting worse. I smell like a petting zoo.” Harvey sniffed Gary up and down in agreement. “Heh, yep! But don’t you mean nursery? We don’t really use that term any more...” Gary rolled his eyes at the hedgehog who was showing clear signs of discomfort. “Yeah. I swear this solar system’s gone crazy with their need to be politically correct..” he groaned, stepping forward into the aisles, following behind the Helper Bot whilst Harvey and Luna stayed behind.
“Aha, there you are...” Gary bobbed his tongue out as he stretched his arms out to reach the box of detergent that was at the top of the shelf. Much to his dismay, his arms simply phased through the box. “What gives? Another projection?!? Is anything in this darn place real?” Gary heard a siren approaching but had no time to react as it belonged to the Helper Bot, already far ahead on its fetch quest, having pocketed the loaf of bread and wires and bumped into Gary, knocking him off his balance as it scanned the detergent. The detergent slowly transformed into a solid state as the Helper Bot moved its projection down, storing it inside its chest plate and heading back to the reception desk. “Yeah, they do that for security reasons, some animals don’t like to pay money and apparently that’s not okay?” Harvey smiled, walking over to reception. He was starting to pick up on Gary’s foul mood; it upset him internally but there wasn’t a single trace of sadness on his exterior appearance. He tried to cheer the guide dog up in the hopes they could continue having fun. “Hey Gaz, we’re done now! Just gotta go to reception and grab our items then I promise we can get outta here.” Harvey went to grab Gary’s hand but realised it would probably hurt him and put him in a fouler mood, so decided to go ahead and give him some space.

“Ah, there you are....” There was an uncomfortable pause as Luna attempted to subtly scan the two animals. “Wow, it’s like having a genuine conversation.” Gary remarked, rolling his eyes playfully. He couldn’t help but be cynical, this time attempting to uplift his remark with humour, so Harvey didn’t get an impression of distaste from him. It seemed to work, as Harvey chuckled and seemed to be at ease again. “Harvey T. Hedgewurst and Thistle Hurdle Schnauzer Ulcer! I have your order here. Please take it and pay.... CALCULATING.....CALCULATING.....OUT OF RANGE. PLEASE CHECK YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION AND TRY AGAIN. OUT OF RANGE. OUT OF RANGE. RECONNECTED.” The two animals gawked around uncomfortably as they waited; they perked up at the sound of Luna reconnecting only for it to be instantly shot down again. “CALCULATING....CALCULATING..... 375 COINS. PLEASE INSERT INTO MY MOUTH.” Without any hesitation Harvey jammed his hand into Luna’s chute shaped mouth despite not having any money on him. “Oh, right. I left my change at home! Uhh....” Harvey rummaged through his pockets, finding a single coin and a paper clip. He next checked through his hair, carefully manoeuvring around the mugs firmly stuck on his spines only to find a comb and a button. “Uhh... Gary?...” Harvey grinned hopelessly at the grouchy guide dog whose face had dropped lower than a blobfish. “I’ll pay you back of course!!” Gary sighed with all his might as he reached for his backpack, his hands trembling at the thought of spending money. He shoved his hand over to Harvey, refusing to look at his dearly departed change. A single tear dripped down his face. “Y-you can put the change in. I was out of my comfort zone a while back, but I officially draw the line at shoving your hand down a corporate mascot’s throat”. Harvey nodded, taking the coins and flicking them into Luna’s mouth as if he were playing a game of basketball.
“PROCESSING.... Yes, that is satisfactory. Transaction complete. Have a nice day!” Luna’s display was now static, creating an eerie vibe as she stood over the two without blinking. “You have a nice day too, Luna.” Gary chuckled, entertaining the motion just this once. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand ‘You are a nice degu, Lorna’. Would you like me to search the web for it?” Gary and Harvey walked away, chuckling at the limited technology around them. “Good talk, Luna.” Gary waved sarcastically whilst Harvey opened the door for him, despite his hands being full already. The two walked outside and returned to the car, removing the protective orb allowing them to enter inside. “Next stop, headquarters! Fasten up, Gaz!”

Gary once again wrapped the tattered seat-belt tightly around his waist and braced himself for quite a bumpy journey. Harvey’s seat-belt was hanging by the seams and provided no protection as it loosely dangled from beside his neck. The hedgehog thrusted the cab’s engine into action, sending the two animals on their journey to headquarters. Gary noticed that Harvey’s fingers were slowly wiggling their way towards the stereo’s volume crank, cringing with every motion they took towards turning it. Gary sank in his chair as he braced himself for the dreaded question asked without fail every journey.

“Do you want to listen to some music?” Harvey gleamed, twisting the crank at full force which almost shorted the stereo out from playing at such a high intensity. “Oops!” He rotated it once again, adjusting the volume to a ‘respectable’ level (Which was far louder than Gary could tolerate). “Um… no, no, that’s fine, thank you... How about the news? I’m sure those crazy politicians are doing something.... rising petrol prices or...” Gary, being used to blindly following orders from others, was far out of his comfort zone by rejecting Harvey’s offer. “Oh, sure thing! You’ll have to catch me up though. I’m not familiar with the lore of this story.” Harvey enthusiastically jabbed the stereo’s flickering screen, changing the channel although piercing the display in the process. “Lore? Story? This is real life, Harvey.... Eh, just give it a listen. I’ll explain if you’re lost.”

Gary prepared himself for a lengthy and tedious journey consisting of explanation after explanation but thankfully the local news station were discussing a topic other than politics this time. “ATTENTION. For those passing through co-ordinations 2K20 through to 2K68 we bring your attention to a scheduled meteor shower taking place in a short moment. If you are currently active around this location please make a swift exit as soon as possible and avoid travelling there until further notice. Thank you.” The notice boomed through not only the cab’s speakers but echoed throughout space from the multiple transceivers dotted beneath and above the animals. As Gary absorbed the information he felt a rush of anxiety flow from the bottom of his feet right up to the tip of his head fur that was up on edge. “Uhh, Harvey, aren’t we there right now?” Harvey tilted his head in curiosity as he looked over to a nearby signpost inscribed with “Welcome to co-ordination 2K21” that the guide dog’s fear-stricken wobbly arms were pointed towards. “Oh, right. Yeah, don’t worry, these weather reporters are always wrong, such a sham.” Harvey kicked his feet up as he reclined back on his chair that was squeaking from the pressure and began to close his eyes, keeping his feet on the wheel, just in case.
Then there was a vibration. A rather large one, at that. Harvey jolted out of his chair, his feet slamming onto the rusted breaks, sending both him and Gary forcefully forwards. Without thinking it over the worrisome guide dog headed for his backpack, tearing it straight open to get another can of alcohol, wrapping his arms around the backpack and cradling it tightly, taking a small sip of alcohol before placing it between his legs so he could hold onto the backpack for his life even tighter. “Oh, uh.... I guess they were right.” Harvey pointed towards the once empty void of space, now filled to the brim with asteroids of varying sizes. “Hang on tight, Gary. This could be bumpy!” He revved his engine and prepared to manoeuvre through the powerful obstacles that stood firmly between them. Gary was practically mute with silence; he was used to his version of a ‘bumpy ride’ which he often considered to be a traumatic life threatening ordeal, but with giant indestructible boulders added to the mix, he decided it would be best to plan out his will now whilst he was still breathing.

The meteors were hurtling towards the worn-down space cab at a frantic pace, though Harvey didn’t even break a sweat as he skimmed past one meteor to the next without a single scrape or dent. The hedgehog’s laxed attitude wasn’t enough to convince Gary’s anxieties to ease; he had already begun to write down a makeshift will on a scrap piece of paper. The handwriting was barely legible thanks to not only the twisting and turning of the cab but also the guide dog’s trembling hands as he scrawled down ‘My Will: I declare all possessions and my home to my Helper Bot.’ Just as he finished writing, A meteor hurtled straight towards the cab causing Harvey to dip below it; the pressure from the motion ended up sucking the will out of Gary’s cold yet sweaty hands and into the endless void of space.

“Ya’ see? Nothing to be scared of, Gaz. I have to get past these all the time!” Harvey heartily patted the unresponsive Gary’s shoulder, his body folding inwardly with each forceful pat. “Yeah, it’s nothing. We made it all the way to Headquarters without any harm at all...” Gary’s mind was focused elsewhere as he noticed an enormous meteor blazing right into them. He tried to warn the distracted hedgehog of their upcoming doom, but to no avail. It was too late. He frantically grabbed onto Harvey’s shoulders, wincing at the sharp needles stabbing his palms (luckily the sweat allowed them to just slip right off) but just as his attention diverted, the meteor collided right into the cab, scattering into pieces.

The collision was strong enough to spring Gary out of his seat, sending him far enough to be pulled into the gravity radius of Velocity Headquarters, his entire body landing completely flat onto the reflective flooring just outside. Meanwhile Harvey sluggishly floated over, the cab now being nothing but the single chair he was seated on and the steering wheel now not attached to anything. “HEY GARY! You okay?” He smiled, rotating the steering wheel in the futile attempt to move himself closer. Gary tried to dish out one of his signature rants but being firmly stuck to the ground, all Harvey could hear was muffled rumblings increasing in volume as he reached the radius and landed safely onto the ground. He unbuckled his disconnected seatbelt and lifted himself from the burning chair (which fell apart and disintegrated straight after) and peeled Gary off the ground.

Gary shook his dazed brain, his fur now being patches of silver thanks to the floor polish and was about to storm off but looked up at Harvey, ever smiling and sighed. “It could’ve gone worse, I suppose.” He desperately held onto Harvey for balance; his emotions were so jumbled that without hesitation he reached in for a hug of his own accord. “Aw, Gary! It’s okay. These things happen, don’t worry! I’ll get a new cab lickety split.” Gary finally came to terms with his newfound intimacy and was quick to bury it deep down. “Uh, yeah, I was sad about your cab. That’s it.” He struggled as he plucked himself off of the friendly hedgehog who didn’t want to let go. “Harvey, how on Xylox did you survive that crash? You collided face first with a flaming meteor!” Harvey shrugged. “I dunno! I guess we hedgehogs are just durable like that.” He cautiously looked Gary up and down, his face wincing as he observed the disjointed figure; he had only a single flip flop on, his fur was ruffled and covered in splotches of silver coating and he had various needles lodged inside and outside of his body. “You on the other hand... You should freshen up before seeing ol’ boss man. There’s a ton of self-care products, showers and pampering in our lovely place. They’ll get you looking as fresh as a daisy!” Gary looked down at his feet. “Yikes, you’re right.” He sniffed his armpits and wretched at the foul smell of burning rubber emitted from them. “That wouldn’t hurt I suppose.” Harvey began walking into the golden gleaming archways of headquarters, gently nudging Gary to follow after him. “Let’s get you signed in then I can show you to our spa room, but I must get going right away. Spinky needs their groceries!”

Gary cautiously followed behind the bumbling hedgehog on the velvet red walkway entrance as an array of fountains on both sides of the walkway spurted glimmering pools of water out onto nearby flora. Adjacent to the fountains were two overwhelmingly large solid gold statues of Velocity’s leader Sabre. There were tons of statues of the German pinscher dotted all around Headquarters, each one lovingly handcrafted in a variety of poses by Sabre’s personal architects. It was at this moment that Gary remembered just how wealthy Velocity is; Harvey was bound to have a lot of cash and being skilled in sales, Gary wasn’t going to let an opportunity pass him.
“Oh Harvey, wait! Before we go in, wanna see what goods I’ve got in this ol’ backpack?” Harvey suddenly came to a stop, jolting around in hopeless glee as he dashed back to Gary, eager to see what he had on offer. A quick online bank transfer later and Harvey had pocketed himself an automatic juice dispenser, ten thousand earplugs and a charging cable for a device he didn’t even own. “Heh, another win for Harvey T. Hedgewurst!” he keenly pocketed the items, eager to show them to his rather disinterested roommate. “I’ve always meant to ask, what does the T stand for?” Gary questioned, double checking his online bank balance and nodding. “Oh, its Tyrone! Harvey Tyrone Hedgewurst.” He gleamed, folding his hands firmly onto his hips. “Ah, I see. Thanks for paying me back for those groceries at Luna’s too.” Gary always enjoyed negotiating with Harvey, mostly because he was quite the loyal customer, always eager to purchase products no matter how absurd.

The two animals entered the large open space of Headquarters that was mostly populated by wolves scowling at the anxious guide dog and sharpening their weapons along with paintings, statues and various Sabre memorabilia. The roof was extremely high and opaque allowing visitors to glance at the stars above them. The open air in the room was mostly for volume purposes; every word spoken echoed around the room which was especially helpful for unwanted intruders that visited as Sabre’s wolf lackeys howled hysterically somewhat alike a siren to alert the entire Velocity crew of their presence. “There sure is a lot of Sabre here isn’t there? One would assume he has a vanity complex or something, heh...” Gary nervously chuckled as he followed very closely behind the heavy hedgehog for protection. “Oh, yeah! It’s like he’s always watching you, right?” Harvey smiled, waving at a large mural of Sabre that seemingly followed their every move. “...Right...” Gary’s head shook as he slowly glanced up to the mural. It really did feel like he was watching every move. “Okay! Let’s go check in with Poodle.” The Poodle Receptionist was waiting at her desk right in the middle of the room. It was much larger than Audrey’s and contained technology that Gary couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Everywhere he looked was pristine and he was getting rather tired of it. Gary knew that deep down there was more than meets the eye with Velocity’s headquarters; behind the well- kept and polished exterior there was a glooming shadow of corruption and deceit.

Poodle Receptionist greeted the two animals with a nod as they fumbled over to her desk. “Ah, Harvey. Spinky has been complaining about... Well... Honestly it was too much for me to remember, for the past hour. Shall I let them know you’re on your way?” Poodle’s shades not only concealed her emotions but doubled as a stunning piece of technology. They lit up with a blue hue as she placed her fingers onto the table; there was a thin piece of glass overlay that rippled as she slid her fingers around it, changing the display of the shades as they were interconnected with the table overlay acting as a controller. “Oh snap, I’ll be right there! Uhh... Poodle, could you show Gary to the spa room?” She nodded to Harvey who was already running through a nearby hallway, bumping into various animals and objects on his way.
“Ah, Gary. You are here to see Sabre, correct?” Gary nodded, taking up yet another opportunity whilst he rummaged through his backpack. He struggled to find an item but compromised with whatever his hand landed on at the bottom of his bag. “Oh hey, would you be interested in buying this uh...” He flopped the object out of the bag and furrowed his brows at it but decided to roll with it anyways. “...Floral hat? It’s got a lovely pastel blue lace and lovingly stitched pink frame. I think it’d complement you lovely.” Gary eagerly held the hat in his hand but was met by silence and an unchanged expression from the emotionless Poodle. He filled the silence by modelling the hat himself, striking poses with no sense of coordination or self-awareness. “That’s a hard pass, thank you.” Poodle opened up her emails and quickly deleted a bundle spam mail before hesitating for a moment.

“...You know, you would sell more products if you let animals approach you in their own time.” Gary was surprised by this sudden advice given by the otherwise mute Poodle. “...Oh, gee, I hadn’t thought of that, I suppose I can be a little pushy... Thank you, Poodle.” Gary was expecting to continue his heart to heart conversation, but Poodle gave a simple nod, moving the topic back to business. “Gary, information shared between you and Sabre is highly confidential. I need you to sign these NDA’s and place your paw print onto this slate.” Poodle handed out the slate which Gary was cautious to place his paw onto. “Uhh, why exactly?” Poodle placed the slate further towards Gary. “Oh, just in case you fail to comply; Sabre can track you down and obliterate you.” Gary swallowed a huge lump down his throat, sweating the silver polish out of his fur. “But that won’t happen, will it?” Poodle’s shades glimmered from one side to the other, reflecting the trembling guide dog in them perfectly. Gary trembled as he placed his sweaty paw onto the slate, signing the NDA’s right after which were promptly placed away as they absorbed into the glass slate’s database.

“Excellent. Sabre is rather deep into Velocity Headquarters. Not a lot of animals are allowed down there, so you shall be escorted by his top HenchFurries. Each one will take you deeper into Velocity’s core where Sabre resides. They’ll make sure to protect you, and indeed Sabre, from harm.” Gary nodded once again as he was way too ridden with anxious adrenaline to form a coherent sentence. “I’ve just sent a message to your first escort and she’s making her way here as we speak.” Gary was about to thank Poodle, but she vanished in the blink of the eye, leaving the gormless guide dog waiting alone but thankfully for him not for very long.

A collection of dazzling lights manifested next to the ever-unaware Gary and swirled around until it formed a silhouette of pure light that eventually dimmed as it amalgamated into physical reality. Standing right in front of Gary was a perky light purple lynx with her hands firmly placed on her hips. She wore a gradient pattern loose shirt and cut jeans and was wearing what Gary considered to be a rather charming charm necklace of a planet. He took a mental note to enquire on where she bought it from. “Heya, Gary! I’m Harper. Harper HenchFurry! Sabre’s deep inside the core of our Headquarters, so I’m gonna guide ya’ there! Funny how things work out, huh? You’re the guide dog, but I’m the one doing the guiding, teehee!” Before Gary got the chance to register her joke, Harper eagerly grabbed his hand and startled him out of his skin in the process. “Come along now!” Gary was dragged behind as Harper skipped along the corridor completely contrasting herself against the rugged menacing wolves that surrounded her. “Uhh, I could really do with cleaning myself up first...” Gary hopped on his last remaining flip flop, trying not to drag Harper down with him. “Oh? I thought the silver fur was your out-there expressionist style or something but sure, there’s a shower right outside my place. I’ll show ya’ to it then you can come meet me, yeah?” Harper was too occupied elsewhere to give Gary eye contact. “Sure thing.” Gary was just about to gain his balance but was suddenly thrusted into the air as a blast of energy emitted from Harper’s oversized glossy boots. “Alright, next stop, Harper’s space station! SPACE BOOTS ACTIVATE!”