Page 13 of Seamus: Unconventional
“His eyes were closed. I just came out to tell him you’re on your way, Boss. They said he’s paralysed. He was still for three, four seconds.”
I shake my head. “Who are you?”
“IT for Ops, Pres. I’m from Delta but trained at ABSZ IT. Delta doesn’t do Ops like ABSZ or Honor.”
I nod not sure why he’s here. Delta is the satellite Club. “You’re moving to Maestro?” Just saying the name feels foreign. Who calls a Club Maestro?
The kid nods. “Yeah, Pres. I’m your IT Control Lead here. Phoenix, Honor or ABSZ will run BSC Control. They’re like monitors but they may jump in.”
I nod again and look at Cort.
He smiles. “He’s right, I'm here and he knows not to put hands on you if you’re alone.”
The kid nods fast. “Never again. That was like a lightning bolt down my spine.”
Shit. “It’s effective. What’s your name?”
Now he looks embarrassed. “Seaton, Pres, everyone calls me Circuit.”
“Circuit. Good name for IT, I guess. The K-9s are chipped to me. Together we see all around us. When I’m alone, I send or get intel from them. Alone, I disable any threat before it’s a threat to more than me. Don’t ever put your hands on any of us without a warning. Alone, their reaction to hands on them may be deadly.” I note color draining from his face.
“Roger, Pres. Everyone needs that so I’ll make sure it gets out.”
My eyes flick to Light. “Get with Circuit and give our SOP and the warnings we put together for the workers. Use the tiers so they see the difference between you, K-9, working and service.” My eyes find Circuit. “Don’t call them dogs, they’re trained ranked classified tactical operators that have had more training than you.” I wait for the roger before I look away.
Light’s chuff and focus on Circuit makes Cort laugh. “Amal sent your book over. Add what needs to be in it for the chip and chipped dogs then send an alert that it’s done to Amal. Tell me the tier thing. I see different jobs but never heard of tiers for K-9s.” He doesn’t give me time to talk or acknowledge the Club book, so I send it to Light.
Light sends a roger and walks away with Circuit so I walk answering the flying giant. “Military K-9s aren’t all the same. Working K-9s like mine, elite like Prometheus, Zeus, the South American K-9s go through thousands of hours of training before they meet their handler. They’re selected for exceptional sensory abilities, ranked, learn language and specialized skills right alongside their handlers based on the human operatives skill set. The K-9s that are operatives are the highest tier. They get discharged, retire with medical, placed with the handlers, the family or military. They aren’t adopted at the local shelter. They need jobs after retiring like any other soldier. Purpose is important for them all but the first tier is trained to think and react based on protocols. They aren’t waiting for orders to move. They think and plan for themselves based on objectives just like their handlers.”
He slows his pace. “I see that. Blue is Security, Thrasos is a Protector.”
Those labels will make this easier, I just learned it, but everyone here understands them. “Exactly. Every level is important because it fills a job need but some of those jobs have a level of skills that don’t easily transfer from soldier to civilian. There’s no way Mase or Falcon could run a construction crew daily. They have a training that requires more intellectual engagement from them that didn’t leave when they changed jobs. The next tier down is like the DOD trained dogs, they’re equipment or classified as a tool. Then the agency dogs or PD dogs. PD are similar to military but protect only. Assault isn’t their objective, it’s always assault as a way to protect only. They don’t have kill orders trained into them. After the job, they need a new purpose where protection is built in. The others can ranch, mascot, or retire.”
He sits on a bench overlooking the little man-made lake. “You went to farming.”
I smile. “Sort of. Drug cartels are all over. I was hiding but knew it wasn’t for long. Nothing is safe when you’re so close to corruption and greed so the border seemed logical.”
He chuckles. “You picked Texas for a job?”
I shrug. “I didn’t grow up here. The stories I heard were from Allies more than US units. They painted the cartels and local politicians as easily manipulated. It’s not like I could be the greeter at Walmart. My partners need the work too.”
His head shakes. “You always call them partners. Is that the tier thing?”
I nod. “It is, Boss, because they’re soldiers as much as I am. They’re better trained than me but will never hold the level of freedom I do to reach the level I want at any job or status in community.”
His head angles and eyes turn to a steely blue. “Because they’re dogs?”
“Yeah. They don’t talk in a way people pay attention to, have few rights, although in Texas, they had more rights than kids and women.” I stop when he huffs but he doesn’t say anything so I go on. “You can’t tell me Zeus isn’t smarter than the governor of Texas. It’s a state that has a huge GDP but poorer people than I saw in third world countries. They make money and take more in federal aid than half the south.” I shake my head when he smiles. It’s the truth. Some of these partners are smarter than me and I have no problem admitting it. They got more training than I did.
“The failing power grid alone is enough to convince me. Zeus trains Badass Lead lessons.” Cort is a very smart man.
“Shadow and Light showed me.” I’m impressed with all Zeus does.I’m glad he never got chipped but he’s from a different study.
The quick turn of his head from the lake to me has me on alert. “How does the chip work? I want real life scenarios.”
Since I thought this was a night of him explaining the new Club, I didn’t agree to but have finished training for and even have a new book on, I gladly talk about how we see. The giant isn’t happy with basics. He wants what we see and how the connection works for us all.
It’s a good night with no distractions but Shadow with the boys and Leon pictures. Light sends me the scheduled move set for tomorrow. The beds are in and the boys look happy enough in the medic room at Honor so I relax into the conversation and even show him on the new Lead glasses. He picks it up quick and sees that with the glasses and our ability to interface through the chip to them, he may not need a surgically implanted chip wired to his brain. I then explain the problem with that wiring if someone with nefarious intentions finds out.
