A New Pack

The heavy service doors of the industrial district kicked open, and the freezing, toxic rain of the Neon Narrows washed over them.

They collapsed into the alleyway, bathed in the flickering pink light of a noodle stand advertisement. Kira dropped to her knees, her chest heaving, her cybernetic arm dented and sparking slightly from the brawl.

Jax slumped against the wet brick wall. With a trembling hand, he reached up and yanked the neural-cable from his temple.

The connection severed. The overwhelming flood of canine sensory data vanished, leaving Jax gasping for air, clutching his head as a massive migraine bloomed behind his eyes.

"Jax!" Kira scrambled over to him, her face pale with panic. "Jax, look at me. Are you fried? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Jax blinked, the neon lights slowly coming back into focus. He looked at his cousin. She was bruised, drenched in rain, and smelling like burned ozone, but she was smiling. She was alive. She was whole.

"You're holding up three," Jax croaked, a weak, genuine laugh escaping his chest. He wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. "And you're too loud."

Kira let out a breathless laugh of pure relief and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight, bruising hug. "You absolute idiot. You crazy, reckless, brilliant idiot. I can't believe you synced with them."

"You told me I needed to get out of my comfort zone," Jax muttered, returning the hug fiercely. The heavy, suffocating guilt that had anchored him to the past for three years finally evaporated. He hadn't failed her. When the fire came, he hadn't frozen. He had taken the risk, and he had protected his family.

A wet, rough tongue dragged across Jax’s cheek.

He opened his eyes. The five cyber-pups were swarming them. Without the sterile environment of the Bio-Dungeon, they acted like completely normal, exuberant puppies. They tackled Kira, playfully biting at her metal arm, their tails wagging furiously. The large male with the yellow eyes sat directly in front of Jax, tilting his head and letting out a soft, happy yip. The blue nodes on their temples glowed with a warm, steady, peaceful light.

"Well," Kira grinned, scratching two of the pups behind the ears. "Looks like they imprinted on you, Alpha. What are we going to do with five cybernetically enhanced wolves?"

Jax looked at the pups, then up at the towering, neon-drenched skyline of the city. The future didn't look quite so dark anymore.

"I guess," Jax smiled, resting his hand on the yellow-eyed pup's head, "our two-person crew just expanded. Welcome to the pack."