Chapter Eight~ Syd's POV

It must have been a strange sight for most people there that day. Jack Bristow walking into the SD-6 office carrying a small white dog.

Some people turned and stared at me, others just chose to stare at the floor.

Still, my father, being my father, didn't let anything phase him. He walked straight through the room, past all the curious employees, and into the tech lab. Sloane and Marshall where there discussing something. They looked up when he walked in.

"Marshall, I need the Rambaldi device, now." He said placing me on the table amongst wires, microchips, and PC boards.

"Um... yes Sir. Of course Sir. Oh, what a nice dog. I used to have a dog, you know. A collie, named Lassie. But she never saved anyone from burning barns. Except she did almost start a fire once..."

"Marshall!" Sloane snapped.

"Sorry," Marshall muttered nervously, looking away from the death glares coming from both Sloane and my father. Sloane looked at dad expectantly.

"Sydney was changed by the Rambaldi device just like our technician," dad explained.

Sloane quickly glanced from me back to dad, "You're certain of this?"

"Yes. This dog had been lingering around my house for a couple of days now. My house keeper brought it inside to call the animal shelter. However, I left my laptop on that morning and I found this typed on it," he explained handing Sloane a piece of paper. 

 I couldn't read what was on it of course, but I was sure it was a similar version of my message to Vaughn. Leave it to dad to come up with a plan in the time it took to get from the warehouse to Credit Dauphine.

I was so anxious to return to normal again that I hadn't even considered how my father would explain how he found out I was dog.

Sloane took a cursory read over the paper the looked up. "Marshall get Jack the device!" He ordered.

"Oh, right. The device." Marshall turned red and reached behind him, producing the wooden box. He handed it to my father with words of advice. "Remember not to touch the top hand outline."

I couldn't have said it better myself if I could talk.

"How is this used to reverse the effects?"

Marshall flipped it carefully to the back and showed my father an engraving at the bottom. It was a small, etched in bird. In a picture next to it, a person stood, though my dog vision couldn't make out details.

"Just press the hand.... or... whatever.... of the animal to this little circle between the bird and the human. And poof! Back to normal, just like magic."

My father nodded and gently picked up my paw, placing it to the indicated circle while Marshall watched in awe.

  A strange, tingling sensation ran up and down my spine. My whole body went numb. There was an odd snapping noise, and suddenly I could see clearly again! Or... could I?

I blinked. Darkness. I blinked again. Nothing. I stared.

My eyes began to adjust and see outlines. As my vision finally cleared the first thing I caught sight of was an enormous spider crawling over my belly.

I quickly brushed it away and crushed it into the ground with the heel of my shoe. I stood up, groaning as a pain shot through my back

Wait.... I stood! And I was wearing shoes! I WAS HUMAN AGAIN!!! Me, Sydney Amanda Bristow! I was human!!! A homo-sapien, human being, person, whatever! Human, not dog!! Only two legs and good eyesight and no tail!

But now to the bad news. I didn't know where the hell I was.

I looked around. There were no buildings to be seen. I was completely surrounded by trees, however it wasn't a forest. The trees were all in neat little rows and the air was fragrant with eucalyptus. A citrus grove.

That meant I was probably still close to LA. 

 With an abnormally trembling hand, (ah, the wonder of hands!) I reached into my pocket and pulled out the cell phone I remembered I'd put there. Carefully, I turned it on praying that the batteries weren't dead.

It finally came on and showed that there was some strength in both the battery and the signal. I thanked every god that could have been on duty at the moment and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" the person answered.

"Dad..." I began shakily. "I think it worked."