Generator Dog
"Huff, huff, huff! Boss!"
I was planted in the seat that had all but become my permanent post, scanning the surroundings like a living security camera in case something was amiss, when Maru came trotting up. She must have just finished one of her epic runs. Her fur was puffed out every which way, and she was panting hard, trying to bring her spiked body temperature back down.
"What's up?"
"That thing won't turn! I'm running and it won't turn!"
"That thing?"
"The running thing!"
The moment I caught on to what she meant, I got up and headed for the treadmill we'd set out for the dogs. It was an unpowered model, the kind where you drove a tank-tread belt along with nothing but your own legs. With no motor to fail, I couldn't imagine what there was to break, and sure enough, from the outside it looked perfectly fine.
"Looks fine to me."
"But it won't turn!"
At that, Maru hopped onto the belt and threw herself into it, whining as she strained to shove it forward. Just as she'd said, though, the treadmill only lurched once and refused to move.
"I thought that sound was off back then."
Right after we'd installed it, the noise the dogs made when they ran hard—Maru included—had sounded ominous. And now here we were. Shaking my head, I shoved the treadmill back and forth several times just in case. Of course, a treadmill that wouldn't turn didn't suddenly start turning because I pushed it.
Still, reluctant to give up, I peeled off the cover. Maybe it was the sort of thing a simple parts swap would fix. Whether it was from messing around with science kits as a kid or not, I was a man who could at least take a simple machine apart and put it back together!
"Ugh……."
That confidence shattered on the spot. The moment the cover came off, broken pieces spilled out with a clatter. The bearings holding up the roller had shattered, their little balls rolling everywhere, and the roller itself was worn down something awful. Fixing it would mean replacing practically every part inside.
"Yeah. I doubt the people who built this ever imagined a dog would run this hard."
What kind of golden retriever clocks forty-three miles an hour? She wasn't a horse. What made Maru more impressive than Cheongho was her speed. At first she'd been a little slower than him, but she ran every single day, and not just ran—she kept going until she was utterly spent, and that had only made her faster. There was no way an ordinary treadmill could survive Maru, whose running left her species behind, going all out.
"Maru. We can't use this anymore."
"Whaaat!"
She reacted as if she couldn't believe me, but no matter how she tried, the treadmill wouldn't budge, and at last she gave up. She curled up beside it, thoroughly dejected.
Like she's lost the whole world…….
Drooping there without an ounce of energy left, she was enough to make anyone watching wilt right along with her.
"Nothing else for it."
I gave her a rough pat, then headed into the café and immediately called over the bigger members of the staff.
"Got a job that needs doing—anyone want to help? Something heavy needs lifting. Fifty bucks cash, first three!"
"Me!"
"One ready and willing worker, reporting for duty!"
"Boss, I'll do it!"
"I—! Ah, dang……."
Hands shot up before I'd even finished. Money really was the greatest motivator of all.
"All right, you three. Let's get to work."
After years side by side, the staff and I were practically older and younger siblings by now. I led them back out to the treadmill.
"This thing's wrecked, so it has to go. I'll call a scrap dealer to come pick it up—you just need to haul it outside. After that we're bringing the big cat wheel back out, the one we used to have."
"Yes, sir!"
The three of them answered with gusto, shoved the scattered parts roughly back inside, and shut the cover. Then they put their strength together, hoisted the treadmill, and strode off with it. They'd been hired with an eye on their builds, after all—people sturdy enough to handle our animals, whose stamina and power were no joke, or to throw out customers raising hell with everything they had.
"Hnnnnngh!"
But the moment that size-matched strength made the treadmill vanish in a flash, Maru let out a terribly mournful sound and started whining. Broken or not, watching it disappear, she looked like someone who had just lost a lifelong companion.
"Don't worry."
I soothed her with a gentle stroke until she settled. She went limp, heartbroken, and rested her head against my leg. I kept petting her like that, and before long the three who had gone to dump the treadmill came hurrying back.
"Boss, we got rid of it. Want us to bring out the cat wheel?"
"Yeah. I'd appreciate it."
"Just a moment!"
Maybe because a brief bit of effort had earned them fifty bucks, they took off at a run. A light sheen of sweat had formed on their faces, but the smiles never left their mouths.
Soon a rumble reached me, and the enormous cat wheel began to come into view. It was a little heavier than the treadmill, so they were hauling it in on a hand truck.
"Waaah!"
The instant Maru saw the cat wheel being dragged along on the cart, she shot to her feet and started wagging her tail like mad. I could practically feel the wind whipping off it.
"Hey—hey! Maru, move!"
Unable to contain her joy, she tried to climb onto the wheel while it was still on the truck. It teetered, about to tip, and the staff lunged to catch it and shove her back down. Was it really that good? Even as I wondered, I hurried to stop her.
"Maru! Come here! Now!"
When I barked it out, she tucked her tail and came running straight to my side. Of course, even then she couldn't take her eyes off the cat wheel.
"They'll set it up if you wait, so just stay put."
"Okay!"
Only then did she plant her rear on the ground.
Swish, swish, swish.
Needless to say, sitting down didn't mean her tail had stopped. It was still sweeping the floor, hard and enthusiastic as ever. And whether it was because of that not-quite-urging from Maru, the three of them got the cat wheel installed at once. They unloaded it from the hand truck and drove the supports deep into the ground so the heavy body wouldn't tip. Anticipating how fast it would spin, they even gave the axle a generous coating of lubricant.
"Boss, it's all done."
"Good work. Here—your bonus."
"Whoo!"
I handed each of them a fifty-dollar bill, and they headed back into the café, delighted. I let out a small laugh at the sight and gave Maru a little nudge toward the wheel. She bolted for it as if she had been waiting her whole life.
"Yes! Yesss!"
She leapt onto the cat wheel and took off at a run, and a long rattling whir filled the air. She wasn't about to claim that sprinting tasted delicious the way gym rats swore that wrecking their muscles felt good, was she?
……Just don't break before I can buy a new one.
More than that, though, I had the distinct feeling the cat wheel wouldn't last, and I shook my head.
"Don't smash that one. Run at a reasonable pace."
"Okaaaay!"
KR-KR-KR-KRACK!
"……I said reasonable."
A sigh escaped me on its own as she sped up the instant I told her to take it easy. I was going to have to order a new one right now. Searching for dog treadmills with durability as the priority, I headed back toward the café.
I kept glancing up from my phone, half convinced the wheel under Maru was about to fly apart, when one of the staff sidled over.
"Boss."
"Yeah, what?"
"Watching Maru on that cat wheel gave me an idea. What if you hooked a generator up to it?"
"……A generator?"
I looked at him like he'd lost his mind.
"Just spinning it for nothing feels like a waste, you know? She's turning it that fast—stick a generator on there and it'd be fun, right? You'd get something like a gigawatt Generator Dog nickname stuck on Maru."
"……And what kind of nonsense is that?"
I stared at him, dumbfounded. Then I opened my mouth again.
"We're doing it. Right now. Go buy the materials! I'll expense it, so get everything!"
Hook up a generator? There was no passing that up. I chased him out the door. Buy it all before the hardware store and the electrical market closed!
"Huff, huff! Boss, I bought it all!"
The employee I'd driven off wasn't gone long. He came back with an armful of assorted parts and materials clutched to his chest.
"You can't install it alone, right? How many do you need?"
"Uh, four including me ought to be plenty."
I picked another first-come-first-served trio from the staff, and the four of them—including the one who'd majored in electrical work—latched onto the cat wheel.
"Auuu……."
Maru, robbed of the wheel all over again, voiced her complaint, but I had no attention to spare for it. A generator!
The staff tinkered away, bracing the wheel and mounting a motor, and before long a finished product took shape.
"Oh……. A true engineering-student special."
"……What else was I supposed to do? It works, though. The function's solid."
The result did look like an engineering homework project, but the function itself seemed fine. Slap some vinyl wrap on it later and it would be presentable enough.
"We put a power meter on it, and a bulb for a test run. We already tested it, so all that's left is for Maru to get on."
"Maru!"
At the word that we were ready to start, I called her at once. Whether she sensed that she could run again or not, she climbed straight onto the cat wheel.
"Run!"
She took off the moment I said it.
"Ooooh!"
"The light's on!"
As soon as she started running, a faint glow came up in the bulbs hung around the wheel. They flickered as if they might die at any second, but as Maru picked up speed, the light grew brighter.
POP!
"Agh! It blew!"
The moment she really opened up, the bulb couldn't handle the electricity her power was producing, and it burst with a bang.
"Boss……. It's putting out 350 watts."
"How much is that, exactly?"
"You know those little solar generators stuck on apartment balconies? About like that. A small engine generator would be around 700 watts."
"So two Marus and you've got a small engine generator?"
"Yes."
"……."
I watched her running with everything she had and lost the ability to speak. Was that a dog, or a generator? Unlike me, struck dumb, the employee came over with eyes sparkling.
"Want me to hook up a safety cutoff and a battery, and mount something like a phone charger? We could decorate the area with bulbs, too. I think it'd look nice."
"……Go buy it."
Thanks to the employee who had studied electrical work, our café gained a generator…… no. A Generator Dog. And, as a bonus, outdoor lighting and a phone-charging station to go with her.