The woman held me, stroking my back as she always had. "Toffee didn't do it on purpose. That man was the one in the wrong, touching whatever he pleased. And he looked at me strangely, too. Toffee must have been trying to protect me. Toffee's still the best. You know, Jia Jia's dog Chocolate didn't react at all when someone stole her wallet on the street. And they call it a purebred."
The man forced a smile. "Oh, I see."
"My sweet baby, you're so clever, protecting Mommy now. Such a good boy. We'll have beef today." The woman rubbed my head.
At the word "beef," my tail began to wag. But I was thinking about what she'd said earlier.
That strange feeling had come over me again.
I could make out a vague consciousness.
I knew perfectly well that I hadn't attacked the man to protect the woman. I simply hated the smell on him. It was like paint. At the same time, that vague consciousness in my mind had recorded what happened. The woman didn't mind me attacking people. I could attack people I disliked. More accurately, not only could I attack my own kind, but I could also attack people I disliked. Those creatures, much bigger than me, weren't really any different from me.
I knew this thought was dangerous, very wrong, but I couldn't control it. That vague consciousness wasn't under my control.
It was gradually taking shape, growing clearer and clearer.
It didn't know what it was doing, but I could tell.
It was a process of learning, an unconscious attempt to test the limits. It was figuring out what I could and couldn't do. So far, apart from attacking the young couple, there was nothing I couldn't do.
The unconscious behavior ended there. Next