I'M FAST AS F*** BOI!

[-What do you mean you don't know how you are getting to town? Isn't it obvious at this point???-] Albert had drool falling out of his mouth as he did an impression of Kim, [-Clearly, we take the doggies. I know you know how to ride a sled, what is the problem?-]

Kim thought about the change the dogs had gone through...and what if they didn't love him? What if his dogs had hated him, wouldn't they be monsters that could rip his face off with ease?

[-Bok-bok..bWACK…...BOK-BOK-] A loud speaker could be heard, [-Paging Dr. Chickenshit! Paging Dr. Chickenshit!-]

Kim just nodded his head, he was Dr. Chickenshit.

"The bears used to be the only thing to REALLY worry about while sledding, but...how are we going to keep safe if we run into some sort of Goblin camp every 5-minutes, ya' know?"

[-Kid, have I steered you wrong?-] Albert had a smile and shooed away Kim's concerns.

"Yes. You ABSOLUTELY have steered me wrong." Kim gestured for him to keep talking but a silent retreat was sounded from Albert.

"That is what I thought, now, I can take the sled but the babies would have to be up for it. You have the little orb things all set up right? If one of my babies goes down, we can just summon them back? How much Mana, how long does it take, how close do I have to be to the corpse? There are incredibly important happenings going unnoticed by you, kick it into gear…please."

Albert was silent for a moment, [-You are awfully serious all of a sudden, I see why you were put in a leadership position. Sorry, off track. I did run a test, the orbs have the current Mana Echo of the beasts. It will have to be updated each level if they are going to be reconstituted at their highest strength.-] A large sigh was let out, [-So, you don't have to see the corpse as technically you aren't interacting with that. What you can do is copy from the 'saved data' that is inside your body and is bound to your very own Mana Echo. This is THE BIG ONE in terms of potential spending. Being able to reconstitute from a template is usually something only Bonded Warlocks with strong demons can do, or a dungeon…..anyway, TLDR: You are good.-]

Kim nodded, "Nice, okay." He let out a loud whistle that got Boss and the gang out and into the snow.

"Okay, Boss, we are headed to town, think you can get the boys and girls lined up?"

Boss nodded his head in affirmation and got the bags of lazy bones in order. The lead was himself, behind was Sarah and Jimmy. Jimmy had a hard time and needed a solid pace to copy or he would go too fast. Then Mr. Alverson behind his girl with Killer, they both set excellent paces. Samantha and Karmen came next, they were stronger gals.

X and Shade had to be together or X would cause trouble…and lastly, Max and Diesel being the Wheels of the team.

Kim looked at the dogs/wolves lined up, they had to have their harnesses stretched to maximum for them to fit. Heck, Sarah even had a look of despair on her face when she saw how much weight she had gained, but maybe that was his imagination playing tricks.

"Okay, double check before we set off. Food, water, cutting tools, money, valuables, gun, knife, backup knife." Kim muttered off into his own head.

[-I believe you have retrieved everything, but it will be a difficult trip at this time.-]

Kim looked out to the dark, "Yeah, it is going to suck, but the alternative is being a sitting duck. You know what they say about the early bird, he gets the worm." Kim had a moment of contemplation, "But I suppose the early worm gets the bird too…"

Albert did a simple nod.

The glazed look on Kim's eyes left, "Okay Boss! LINE OUT!"

Boss trotted forward, the gangline was tightened immediately.

Kim braced for takeoff, "BOSS, TOWN, HIKE!"

The team's casual effort, combined with their improved and Ethereal Musculature, caused the sled to take off like a rocket.

Kim hung on, but for a moment he felt the sled swing from a power imbalance. As he looked up and was about to halt the dogs, he noticed that they had already grown accustomed to their new bodies.

They were Veteran Sled Dogs, or Sled Wolves now.

Kim looked at the ground that was disappearing around him, from behind he could barely even see his home, they were making a killer pace.

"BOSS, EASY!" He called, but the dogs did not respond.

Kim scoffed, they were showing off, "BOSS, HIKE!!"

Usually, on a decent trail and at an acceptable pace, you wouldn't get jostled around THAT much, but Kim was hanging on for dear life.

He looked at the ground, it was just a sea of blackness with white streaks passing by.

[-BAD MOVE KID-] Albert yelled from the safety of Kim's head.

They were easily traveling 25+ Mph, an impossible pace. Kim was even worried that the structure of the frame would be damaged if they hit a large rough spot, but despite his reservations, he trusted his team to do their job.

They made it to town in 20-minutes, almost as fast as if they had taken the car.

Kim was frosted up, but the babies seemed to be enjoying the snow and the dark.

[-Yeah, they are nocturnal creatures now. They are right at home.-]

They pulled up to see a large group of people standing guard. It seemed that Fairbanks had changed with the times, for once.

Kim came out of the total darkness into a floodlight they had set out.

"Who is that?" Kim heard one of the younger men say.

The Sheriff waved at him, "Nice to see you Kim, glad you made it." Robert glanced at the dogs and noticed they had changed.

Robert nodded, "I figured you would handle it well. Most of the folks are passed out, which means that we are on call."

Kim nodded, "Any sightings of monsters yet?"

Robert shook his head, "Not quite yet, the Voices seem to think we are having a grace period, but we have been taking what they are saying with a grain of salt. We can't afford to not be prepared."

Kim nodded and was about to end the conversation when Robert put his arm around him.

"You know, the Voices are able to talk to each other, everyone and their Mother will be heading here. It is the default option for a "social species" apparently. We have some fighters and some helpers, but what about your dogs? My AI is going nuts, and I am sure most people will be getting information like that. Just keep that in mind, stubley is dead."

Kim gave him a knowing look and glanced around, "I figured that out already. Mine is VERY sassy…"

Robert just laughed, but Kim noticed a calculating look in his eye. He was probably being coached to do certain things, but this seemed genuine as Robert has been around too long for power grabs. Most people would just do whatever he asked anyway.

Kim thought and felt a course of action, "Let me know if you need help, I am going to go get my dogs some rest….we made it here in 20 minutes…" Kim just let that number linger in the air.

Robert's face went through a few shades, "You live...over 10 miles away, that is…"

He looked away, the world was different.

Kim nodded, "I'm the fastest Musher to ever live."

They both nodded in silence.

He pulled next to the road and got his dogs out of their harnesses.

They would have to walk, wait, "WALMART!"

The dogs and Kim headed up the road, he was getting strange glances but people seemed to be calm near the wolves.