Chapter Text
Lab Pet
Ever since Jungle Pocket's unexpected victory at the Japan Cup, and Agnes Tachyon's subsequent inspiration to start racing again the two have never been separated. Her constant experiments always needed a test subject, and Pocket gladly agreed to each and every single one. Whether it'd be to make sure Tachyon wouldn't isolate herself again, or if Pocket merely wanted to become the strongest with her experiments is up in the air — only Pocket knew the answer herself.
During the afternoon of a warm spring season, Pocket was yet again summoned to her lab. Her pace is hesitant, still thinking about her prior experiment resulting in her gut glowing a radioactive green for the entire weekend. She'd do anything for her after all, but she'd hate having her precious training time be wasted again. Upon sliding the door open and entering the Alchemist's chamber, Tachyon is seen fixated on her Laptop. She quickly shifts her gaze from the screen towards her eager guinea pig, her red eyes twinkling in excitement: “Ah, there you are, Pocket-kun! I was worried you wouldn't be willing after our 'small incident' with the stomach medicine”.
The Athlete forces out a smile behind her anger at the downplaying of the latest experiment. Her glowing gut as impossible to hide, and she had conspiracy theorists trying to net her due to looking like an alien with it! Gritting her teeth, she takes a deep breath and calms down, approaching the slender umamusume cloaked in her lab coat. Tachyon gazes at her, studying her demeanour and movements carefully: every single bit of data is important to her research, no matter how miniscule.
“Have you heard of Winthrop Kellogg?” the scientist asks her, “more importantly, his book 'ape and the child', hm”? Pocket stops her approach for a moment, confused at the question: “Kellogg? You mean… The guys that make the cereals? What does he have to do with… Monkeys? W-… Wait, what does this even have to do with your research?!” she blurted out, scared her next experiment will end up in catastrophe. Tachyon just laughs at her response, holding her stomach with one hand and her cheek with the other as she does.
“My my, you truly are fitting for my upcoming experiment … But no, that is not the Kellogg you were thinking of, my dear Pocket-kun. Winthrop Kellogg was a psychologist who studied the behaviour of intelligent animals, but more famously he did an experiment of raising two Pan troglodytes as his own flesh and blood, akin to humanising them. You would know them as Chimpanzees.” she kicks against the desk, pushing her chair with herself towards a whiteboard. As she starts writing down strange graphs, she continues to speak: “You see, he wanted to know what gapped the intelligence of Man and Beast. But upon rigorous study, I realised what he has done wrong! He tested it on Beast, but not on Man!” Tachyon turns around to gaze at the bewildered Pocket, slightly stepping back in fear of her implications. “Wha… What do you mean… What the hell do you want from me this time?!”
Tachyon gives her a gentle, but domineering smile as she turns around to open a drawer standing underneath the whiteboard. She rummages through the contents, and a faint rustling of metal is heard. “There it is” she exclaims in a calm, albeit excited manner: her breath was staggered and her desire to laugh audible between each breath. Pocket steps to the side to see the item being pulled out: a large leather collar, coated in red, with a shiny oval tag — of which she cannot read the words etched on it. Not only that but alongside the collar is a ring, attached to it is a black leather leash. Tachyon holds the collar firmly, presenting it to Pocket. “You told me you'd do anything to become the best, haven't you?”
“I… I… I di…” Pocket stammers, struggling to find her words. She gazes at the leash in fear, but also awe. Is she implying she wants to turn her into a mere animal? And yet, her legs move on their own, following the command of her piercing eyes to get closer. “Good, good! You're already learning. The experiment will be simple, but it will be maintained over a long time-frame… Now don't worry, my dear Pocket-kun! It won't hinder your desire nor your capabilities to train, but things will change. For now on, you won't be an umamusume any more. You will be an animal — no, not just an animal.” she brandishes the collar with both hands: “Sit.” she commands the brute standing in front of her. Pocket's eyes widen, her heart thumping irregularly. “I… You can't just command me like th-” Tachyon interrupts her, her voice getting insistent. “I said sit”. The words ring through Pocket's head like a concussion, warping her vision into a blur. Why? How is this happening? Did tachyon spike her from the latest experiment? The thoughts of resistance scour through her mind, and yet, she sits down on her knees.
The alchemist giggles to herself “Yes! Fantastic! I've never had a guinea pig this agreeable before!” she grabs her chin, shifting it upwards to meet her gaze. With a fell swoop, she wraps the collar around her neck, tightening it just enough to have it be a constant sensation of having it press against her throat, but not tight enough to choke her in any way. “From now on, you will be my dog, Pocket-kun. What better way to test my hypothesis than to pick the most obedient animal of them all?” Pocket's heart is racing. Her hands were so slender, so thin — and yet they were so soft, every touch around her throat and chin felt like magic. Surely this must be why she agreed to this, right? There can't be … any other explanation. She tried to compose herself, darting her eyes away from hers. They were so beautiful from that angle, it made her struggle to think. “Well so… This sure is an interesting idea Tachy…” she stood up, her faked confidence was obvious, but the scientist always found her 'fake it till you make it' attitude endearing. “So if we're done here… I'll just stand up and take this collar of-”
Tachyon immediately grabs her arm that was aimed towards the collar, pouting “No!” she exclaims, “you are supposed to keep the collar on twenty-four-seven until I tell you to take it off… With exceptions of sleep and shower periods, of course”. Pocket turns her eyes back to hers, and sees the goofy girl that she was used to all this time. Why did she feel… so different moments prior? So… natural? As if a spell was broken, Pocket is left confused. A lingering desire to return to that dynamic sticks in her mind, despite her best efforts to repress it. “Got it… All I've got to wear is this collar, right? Sure is a strange experiment” she forces out a laugh, putting her hand behind the back of her skull. The realisation that she'll be collared for all the world to see is making her beet red in embarrassment. Especially as she grabs the tag on the collar, which reads out her name, and her owner seemingly being… Tachyon.
“Well, I'm going to run late for training Tachyon… I'll see you later! Bye bye!” she runs out of the lab, her breath stricken. What the hell did that collar do to her? There must be some sort of drug laced on it, that's the only explanation for what just transpired there, she thought. Tachyon looks out to the open door, clasping her hands together over her knee. “I already received such amazing results in such short time … You truly are fit for this, my dear Pocket-kun…”