"Do you know the story of Laika?

No, not the one in space. The other one..

It was an experiment with body replacements. A continuation of decades old research, now fueled by new technologies. A team of elite surgeons and engineers wanted to see how far they can get this time.

The engineers have perfected their robotic automatons as much as they could but controlling them was too difficult. AI was flawed, remote control not always possible.

They wished to combine a living organic mind with a robotic body.

They started the experiment with animals. Dogs, to be exact. They can be easily trained for their task. They are loyal. And there were plenty of them.

During the gruesome procedure they severed off the animal's head and attached its brain to an external blood supply and a machine that pumped out oxygen. Then, they simply wait until the animal wakes up.

Most of them never did.

Those who did wake up from the anesthesia didn't last more than a few hours at most. Many were left in a state between life and death, technically living due to the machine, but non-responsive.

There was one survivor, however.

It blinked. It barked. It licked its nose and bit the hand of a man who was poking it for too long to test its reflexes.

It was scared and confused, but it was alive.

A success they said.

They named the dog Laika, after her space-traveling sister, as she too, will lead mankind to new horizons.

After confirming that the dog is indeed alive, its brain functioning and undamaged, they started with the second phase of the test almost immediately.

The engineers already had the new body ready. It was a massive humanoid form that will now host the machines attached to the head at its core, protected by the strong armored shell, with the head mounted on top, hardwired by its brain to the mech suit for control. The entire thing was powered by three large batteries on the back. One burning at a time, the other one recharging by solar power, and the last as a backup to ensure the machine will never run out of power. The perfect creation.

It took them another 14 hours to wire Laika's head onto the mechanical body and safely connect everything.

All of this was of course done only for them to try and build a new weapon. It was never about anything else than getting an advantage over other nations. Once the animal tests prove to be successful they would move on to human subjects. Then, war.

But they only managed to build this one.

The robotic body, with Laika as its new owner wasn't secured that much at the time. They didn't expect her to be able to move the thing so soon. But she was a smart girl. They, blinded by their desire to play God.

Maybe Laika's brain wasn't as intact as they thought. Or maybe she simply wanted to get revenge for her mangled kin and her own body. We're never going to know for sure.

What we know is that breaking through the lab's security defenses is nothing when your body was made to withstand a missile strike.

None of the personnel inside the lab that night made it out alive. Bullets only managed to scratch the paint off the mechanical body and enrage the dog more. None of them were able to shoot her head to get the angry beast down. Or maybe the scientist couldn't bring themselves to kill the thing they worked so hard to bring into this world. Her rampage was stopped only by the military called on site who didn't care for such things as capturing the animal alive.

Nothing like this was ever attempted again. Once the information got out, the public outcry was too great to keep the research going. The laboratory lost its funding and eventually shut down in later months. Some even say the scientists deserved what happened to them that night.

Laika's body was never found, not more than a few pieces of her mechanical suit. She was buried under rubble when one wing of the facility collapsed under the military attack. At least it's what they say anyway."

...

"The dog's howl still keeps me up at night..."

profile code by Lyonid

art/overlay by atempause

story by atempause

thank you demon for letting me adopt the pet