Continuing the tale of Patient #307. - Parce
Ponder and Mauler could barely stand from exhaustion. That day of training had been the most brutal so far. But at the end of it, Commander Pincher congratulated them and told them to follow him.
Limping on sore feet and throbbing joints, the two of them let him lead them to the uptown district, where Tenber joined them. He was back in his “Umber” black dog disguise. The four of them were let into the Chugg Corporation headquarters, the tower that was so tall it could be seen from the Quarry. They rode the elevator to the eighty-eighth floor—the penthouse office.
The office was in near-total darkness aside from a plate glass window with the blinds half open. Not that Ponder would have been able to see much anyway with all the smoke in the room. Beside him, Mauler coughed. The two dogs kept their heads low. The smoke didn’t bother Ponder, but it must have been awful for their animal noses.
What he could see was a desk. It had a polished top and sides made from the dark oak of the southern forest. The trim and the legs were black iron, like the bolts that secured it to the floor. Long metal spikes stuck out at the corners, and the front was adorned with the Chugg Corporation logo. The pig snout was wrought in three dimensions, with its tusks sticking out enough to present a hazard to anyone standing in front of it, as Ponder was now.
The surface of the desk had only three decorations: a small flower in a pot, an ashtray, and an engraved nameplate that read C. CHUGG, C.E.O.
Through the smoke, Ponder could only see a silhouette with massive shoulders, holding a cigar. There was something unnatural about the way the figure’s rheumy, yellow-green eyes penetrated the darkness so Ponder could look into the pinhole pupils. The only other detail he could see was when the light from the window occasionally reflected a glint of gold from a ring, button, or cuff link.
Ponder was not afraid. The only emotion he knew anymore was rage. The urge to throw himself across the table and bury his iron hooks into those eyes. But he knew enough to keep himself in check.
He heard a catch in the quiet breath of the black dog behind him and remembered what he had been told. Tenber had been here before, had made it all the way up to this penthouse office on his own. And even though he had dropped all his limitations and taken his strongest form—a form neither Ponder nor I had seen—Tenber had been unable to kill the creature behind the desk. It was only by a stroke of good fortune that this monster had never known what hit him.
So Ponder swallowed his anger and bowed his head. Mauler did likewise. They held that position while the boss eyed them in silence.
It was Pincher who finally broke under the tension. “Mr. Chugg. The new trainees have passed every test.”
The cigar traveled from the ashtray up near the unblinking eyes. The boss took a drag, and the dull orange glow illuminated the dour face of a boar with drooping jowls and short, curved tusks. The gaping pig nostrils blew an acrid cloud that made Pincher and Mauler’s eyes tear up.
“Congratulations,” said Chugg. “You’re part of the family now. Sit down, both of you.”
Ponder took a chair, noting it to be made of the same dark oak as the desk. After a second of hesitation, Mauler moved to the other chair.
“Pincher has told me good things about you both,” Chugg said. “Mauler, there’s no one who can take a hit or dish one out better than you. And Ponder, they say you don’t flinch—blood, pain, screams, nothing phases you. Here’s the thing: none of that is impressive. I can find strong warriors and cold killers whenever I need them just by throwing some money around. What I really value, what’s really hard to find around here, is loyalty. Do you understand?”
Mauler looked to Ponder, who shrugged. “We have done everything asked of us. Our lives are here now. We have no reason to betray you.”
“I should hope not. You know, when we first struck this deal, I was expecting you to fail. Not in the way you think. I knew you would be able to handle Pincher’s training. I was sure you wouldn’t go through with the execution. But you did. You have shown me loyalty and taught me that I can trust you. But that has to be a two-way street, you know?”
Ponder nodded.
Chugg took another long drag. “So I’m gonna give you a little dirt on this company. Some secrets I don’t want to leave this office. That way, you’ll know the Chugg Corporation returns your trust in kind.”
Chugg swiveled his chair around with a long creak. When he turned back, he set three lowball glasses on the desk and uncorked a clay decanter. Into each glass he poured about two ounces of a thick fluid, almost black with the faintest shade of red. He picked up a glass and waited for them to do the same.
“I despise almost everything about sheep,” Chugg said. “But there’s one thing Arghast did right when he made them. He gave them fear. It leaches out of their pores and stains their coats. It rubs off on everything they touch. They leave fumes of it hanging in the air for hours wherever they go. And it is damn delicious.”
His nostrils widened and he sniffed his glass with a long, low grunt. Wreeeeeeeek. Then he took a sip.
Mauler brought his glass to his nose as well. He recognized the acrid, metallic smell right away. The fur on his back stood straight up and he pulled away. “Sheep’s blood.”
“That’s right, Mauler. Drink up. It’ll keep you strong.”
Ponder pulled down the bandages wrapped around the lower half of his head and drank the entire glass without taking his eyes off of Chugg. Mauler followed the example and forced himself to do the same.
“Good boys. You must be thirsty after the day you’ve had.” Chugg took another sip. “I love fear precisely because I can’t experience it for myself. It’s one of the few things in this world I don’t understand. But it illustrates the helpless stupidity of sheep. Don’t they know their purpose? They should consider it a great honor to feed a higher-order creature with their flesh. It is what they were made for. Don’t you agree?”
Ponder nodded. Mauler did nothing.
“But all things come with a cost,” Chugg continued. “In my case, an opportunity cost. I’ve discovered a different use for sheep that runs counter to their purpose, at least in the short term. Do you understand what I mean?”
“No,” Mauler said. This time Ponder did nothing.
“You’re aware that sheep were used for free labor before the pigs came along, yes?”
Ponder nodded.
“We pigs—the few of us who go around on two legs—we have this blessing from our god. Toxid protects us from all physical harm so we can carry out his will unbothered by the hazards that such a small group of elites would normally suffer: wars, revolutions, assassinations, you know. Toxid keeps me from being unseated here so that I in turn can keep him fed. That was our first goal in establishing dominance over this world, you know. Securing a food source for Toxid.”
Chugg paused to take a drag from his cigar and then drink from his glass. “Here’s the problem. When we first arrived, Toxid drew his sustenance from all the death and agony we inflicted. That was fine. The war alone made him fat enough to sustain him for a decade. But one day, almost twenty years ago now, he started demanding meat. Suddenly, we had to hunt. But we had to be smart about it. Dogs and birds would have been poor choices. They wouldn’t put up with that, you know. But sheep… they’ll look the other way when their own kin are being killed. Always have. It’s in their nature. But as soon as we started having to make sacrifices, I was planning to improve the process. It was time-consuming to be constantly hunting for sheep to throw into Toxid’s jaws. What was the point of the great gift we were given if we weren’t building something worthwhile with it? Yes, I dared to dream beyond Toxid’s purpose for me. I wouldn’t be spending my days sniffing around the fields, looking for prey. I found ways to put the other animals to work and hand the sheep right over to us.”
“Professor Caper told me a great deal about your methods,” Ponder said.
“Caper is a useful idiot,” Chugg said. “He thinks he’s a clever little rebel, but everything he’s done has made my job easier. Did you know the cloning project was originally his idea?”
Ponder leaned forward. “I did not know that.”
“Oh, yes. We helped ourselves to his research back in the day. It was exactly what I needed, not only for enforcement purposes as you’ve seen, but to solve the issue of feeding our god forever.”
“You have plans to clone sheep for Toxid?”
“That’s the short version, yeah.”
Ponder tilted his head. “Why have you not done that already? You could have left the original sheep alone years ago.”
“Two reasons. One, it’s not perfect just yet. You’ve seen how shoddy the clones are. Toxid would never accept flesh of such low quality. And to be fair to him, neither would I. Second reason is that we’re never going to leave the real sheep alone.” Chugg leaned forward and blew a cloud of black smoke out through his snout, lowering his voice to a growl. “Not after what they did to my boy.”
Ponder and Mauler both kept completely still, not sure how to answer.
Chugg didn’t wait for one. “We’re making progress on those clones, though. You should have seen the first ones we tried making. Only one of those has survived to this day. You know Entomber, don’t you?”
A nauseating spasm ran through Ponder’s body. “Entomber is a failed clone. Extraordinary.”
“He disgusts me to no end,” said Chugg. “But he, too, has his uses. Toxid is very fond of him, for one thing. That was actually a huge boon when I was first pitching my new business plan.”
“A business arrangement with your god?”
“Yeah. Listen to this, you’ll love it. I had the idea years ago to develop a facility that could house and nourish thousands of cloned sheep at a time. Problem was, I needed to focus on the work. I made the arrangement with Toxid so I could hold off on personally making sacrifices so I could build this company instead. I needed to become an employer of thousands so the rest of the pigs, and society as a whole, could be put to work creating the conditions to fund the cloning research and the construction of the facility. And I made it happen, thanks to Entomber. He was the other part of my plan. He acted as a proxy for me, hunting some sheep here and there to take the edge off Toxid’s hunger. But we took some steps to make sure the sheep thought the deaths were their own fault.”
“Chugg Pharmaceuticals,” said Ponder.
“That’s right. We developed Vexylam out of Entomber’s own acid poison. It causes all kinds of problems. Inflammation, tumors, fatigue, heart failure. Anywhere it reaches the body, it attacks. But it’s mixed in with stimulants and painkillers so they feel better in the short term. We tell them Entomber will find them if they stop taking it, when the truth is it makes them put off a smell that makes them easy for him to track. But he knows to leave them alive as long as they take it. They live a little longer, work a little harder, putting ever more money and raw materials in my accounts so the sheep farm can be built. But eventually, they all get sick… they can’t work… and then they’re mine. Every time.”
“What about Dopemol?” Ponder asked.
“Oh, that came next. It was designed purely to lull sheep into a stupor so we could lock them in the facility and draw blood for clones whenever we wanted. We field tested it on a few subjects, including you, Mauler.”
The beast let out a quiet growl.
“Is this facility in process?” Ponder asked.
“Yes. Once the project is finished, we’re going to manufacture a big health scare to close down Fleece City and move all the sheep into the Megatropolis. We won’t need money anymore, so we’re converting the main branch of Chugg Bank & Trust into the sheep farm. One floor at a time. Those of us in the know are calling it the ‘Chugg Center for Purification.’ We told the rest of the pigs it’s an emergency shelter for them, but they won’t be using it. We won’t need them anymore either. Or birds or dogs, for that matter. It will be just the Chugg family enjoying the fruits of this land and fattening their generous god for all time.”
“Brilliant,” Ponder said. “I have great respect for your vision of the future and your will to carry it out.”
“Kind of you to say,” Chugg said. “Everything is in place except for the clones. We’re still working on getting perfect sheep clones. We might have to skip that step and go with what we have, though. Toxid has been getting hungry and impatient. I don’t like to think about what he might do if something were to happen to Entomber before we could get the sheep farm off the ground. And there are other problems coming up.”
“What sorts of problems?” Ponder asked. “Perhaps we can help.”
“I would hope so, because that’s your job. There’s a new clinic out in the plains, on the other side of Fleece City. The sheep running that place are doing a pretty good job of keeping sheep healthy without using my hospital. It’s a tradeoff, because they’re definitely cheaper and are helping my workers stay productive. If I were looking at it from a pure profit motive, the Whole Hogs clinic would be a big plus in my book. But I have to keep my god fed for the sake of my own hide, and the sheep have been going to Whole Hogs instead of getting Vexylam prescriptions. That’s a pretty big problem.”
“I agree,” said Ponder. “What would you have us do?”
“For the moment, nothing,” Chugg replied. “I’ve tasked Mayor Wilter with coming up with some PR reason to ruin the clinic’s reputation. Once that’s done, Entomber will be dispatched to execute its owners and bring them to the boneyard for consumption. You two will be on hand to make sure there are no survivors. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Ponder and Mauler said at once.
“Good, then you’re all dismissed,” said Chugg. “Except you, Pincher. I want to talk to you alone for a minute.”
Ponder’s eyes scanned the grounds for cameras as soon as they exited the main door of the Chugg Corporation headquarters building. The three of them crossed the finely cut grass of the grounds and ducked around the corner of the neighboring Cybernetics building.
“Trap,” Mauler said.
Ponder sighed. “Of course it is a trap. They still do not trust us. All this time, the only reason they allowed Healer to build his clinic was to put us in this situation.”
“We stop them,” said Mauler.
“I have to think about this,” Ponder answered. “If we stop Wilter and Entomber, we will expose ourselves as traitors. But if we do nothing, Healer will be killed.”
“Don’t do anything rash,” said Tenber. “Maybe there’s a way we can warn them. Letting the clinic get destroyed might be enough.”
“No, you heard Chugg,” said Ponder. “He specifically wants Healer to be punished. This is about us. We must move now. Chugg has revealed his weakness. The only thing that can kill him is his god. If we destroy Entomber first and stop the sacrifices altogether, we can turn Toxid against Chugg.”
“Just hold on,” said Tenber. “Something’s not right about this. It can’t be that simple. Chugg wouldn’t hinge his entire plan on Entomber. Besides, think about what Healer would want. Would he have you blow your cover to save him? Or would he want you to stick to the plan and save the rest of the sheep, even if it means you might have to sacrifice him?”
Ponder whirled on Tenber and jabbed a wooden finger in his face. “The other sheep do not matter. They need a custodian because they are not capable of taking control of their own fate. If they cannot stop what Chugg plans to do to them, they deserve it. Only Healer and Dreamer matter. For those two, I would throw the rest of their pitiful kind into Toxid’s jaws myself.”
Tenber didn’t flinch. In fact, he leaned in. The two of them glared at each other, inches apart. “You’ve lost it,” he said. “The pigs broke you. They made you just like them. I should have seen it when you told Mauler to kill that sheep.”
“Get away from us,” Ponder said. “We no longer need you.”
“That’s not up to you,” Tenber said as he glanced at Mauler. “What’s it going to be, big guy? You don’t have to go along with this. We can find another way.”
“There is no other way,” Ponder snapped. “Mauler, do not listen to him. He would let Healer die.”
Mauler looked between the two of them with his ears pinned flat against his head. After a minute, he slunk over to Ponder’s side.
Tenber shook his head. “Well, I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Get out of here,” Ponder said. “We will do this without you. And without Healer. We are going to spring this trap, and you will not stop us.”
Healer,
From the very day of my inception, I have been caged. First by the ropes from which I found myself hanging on the mountainside; then in the talons of the Reverend Specter; then in the underground passage by Professor Caper; last of all, the Megatropolis dungeon. Some of these were at your behest.
But now, at the moment of my ascension as a member of the Chugg Corporation’s enforcement arm, I see that the only real cage has been the one I placed around myself. I could have walked free and chosen what to do with this world at any time. I let you tell me to wait because of my own doubt. And all this time I have followed your plan because I trusted your judgment more than my own.
No more. Mauler and I are going to do what is right in our own way. Do not think I bear you any ill will. You, more than anyone else in this tiny world, had my best interests in mind. You were the only one to want to know me as a living being rather than as a tool to suit your ends.
To pay back your kindness, I want to set you free in turn. Do not concern yourself any longer with the reckoning of the Chugg Corporation. Turn your focus to your clinic and to those you love. I will take care of the rest in order to preserve your innocence and your reputation. The less you know, the less you will have to lie when the pigs come calling. That is, if enough of them are left to do so.
When next you see Professor Caper, tell him he was right, but that he did not take his stewardship far enough. It is not me who needs a cage. It is the multitude of sheep that blithely ingest what pills they are told to without asking what they are putting into their bodies.
You are wrong, Healer. Your people will never “wake up” and rise against their swine overlords. They will always have a dictator. If they can manage to have a benevolent one, they will thrive. If they continue to unquestioningly follow evil, they will be consumed. And they will deserve to be.
Do not look to your fellow sheep for salvation, my friend. Look to me. And look to Karkus. Praised be the War Hound.
Ponder