It slowly walked over to us, it's metal paws clanking against the floor. Its artificial skin gleamed in the light of the flickering lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Its tail and ears were unnaturally straight since they were lined with metal bolts that made a glass shattering creak every time the bolts were to rotate. It spoke to us in a bone-chilling mechanical voice the seemed to make your soul rattle.
     "It is masters order to put you on patrol of city after meeting. Come. Now."
     It stared us down with its cold, blank eyes as we padded to the door of the corridor.
     Dusty looked at me, his face blank. I took the lead to the headmaster's office with the guard close behind.
     While we walked past the dogs that had yet to be 'changed', they stared at us in sympathy. They were chained up to a shock collar that electrocutes the wearer until they stop making noise. I couldn't blame the dogs that were looking at us because most dogs that go to see the so called 'master' never see the light of day again.
     A young Lab looked at Dusty's wounds on his flank and accidentally let out a small whimper. The little Lab's collar emitted a radiant blue color, making its body tremble in fear. As the electricity surged through its body, it cried out to its mother that was watching in silence. In less than a heartbeat, it went stiff and lay motionless.
     The guard dog stopped by the dead Labrador and scooped it up in its jaws, gripping it tightly with its sharp, metal teeth. I winced as some blood trickled down the guard dog's lower jaw and spattered onto the floor. It glared at us and moved the Lab to the side of its mouth.
     "Move. Master waiting."
     After walking to the last room of the corridor, we nervously went into the master's room, where we saw the walls and floor stained with blotches of blood and a series of claw marks. In the corner of the room, I saw a tall male human lounging in a chair, faced toward the back window where a dog fight was taking place in the courtyard. Next to the human was a four foot tall, black German Shepherd that had not been transformed. The dog's muzzle was grey with age, meaning the old dog had been here awhile. The dog also hadn't looked like any one that I've ever seen before and I didn't take any chances.
     I took a step closer to Dusty, making our shoulders brush up against each other as the guard dog slowly shut the door and sat next to the German shepherd. When Dusty looked up to see the German Shepherd, he stood still and held his breath.
     The human turned its chair to face us. He was very thin and wiry. His face was crooked and withered down to nothing but a paper white sheet of flesh and bone. He cleared his throat and started speaking in the human language.
     The guard dog blinked. "I be translator. Master say you to not attack human to regain standard privileges. You obey?"
     Me and Dusty looked at eachother and nodded nervously. The guard dog spoke back to the human, which studied us carefully and looked at the dog sitting silently beside the chair. He spoke again with his voice slow with coming age. When he stopped speaking, he looked back at the fighting dogs.
     "Master say you two is to obey humans. Will be consequence if not to obey. You must obey humans to not be punished. You obey?"
     Dusty and I nodded once more. Dusty suddenly took a small step forward and asked "When are we going to be on patrol again?"
     I couldn't believe that Dusty was standing up to one of the mechs. I then understood why Dusty would want to go out on patrol. The cell was moldy, humid, and smelly after all, but maybe he was planning an escape?
     Like last time, the guard dog translated what Dusty said to the human. The human looked at Dusty suspiciously and spoke slowly to the guard dog.
     "Master say in approximately 3 hours and forty-seven minutes you will sent to midnight patrol... Also says subject 2625 will go as company so you do not try prohibited acts. You obey?"
     We nodded again. This time, it was my turn to ask. "Who's subject 2625?"
     This time, when the guard dog translated, the human just chuckled and spoke in a low voice.
     "Master says subject 2625 is 99% wolf. This subject is relative of yours. The subject name be Coal. If you are wonder where subject 2625 is, is next to master.