Roll Call

"Heizi!" Trainer Lao Wang's voice echoed across the empty training ground, carrying a hint of undeniable authority.

Heizi, a German Shepherd with a glossy black coat, immediately pricked up his ears, though his tail unconsciously drooped. He stood there alongside three other police dogs, Xiaobai, Dahhuang, and Huahua, awaiting today's routine training session. The sun beat down from directly overhead, and the ground of the training field was hot enough to burn their paws.

"Heizi, recent training records show a significant decline in your execution of the 'tracking' command. Have you forgotten our duty as police dogs? We are here to serve the people, not to slack off!" Lao Wang pointed at the tablet in his hand, which was filled with meticulous records of each dog's training data.

Heizi lowered his head, letting out a low whimper from his throat. He didn't understand why he had been unable to catch up to his targets recently; he had been trying his best.

"Xiaobai!" Lao Wang called out again. Xiaobai was a lively Beagle, who usually loved to run around.

"Xiaobai, your obedience training is still failing! You always look around, and even chased a butterfly during training! How can you perform your duties like that?" Lao Wang sighed, his voice filled with disappointment.

Xiaobai stuck out his tongue, as if to say he knew he was wrong.

"Dahhuang!" Lao Wang's voice grew even sterner. Dahhuang was a strong Labrador, usually steady and reliable.

"Dahhuang, your bite training has been poor recently. During the mock capture of a criminal, you hesitated and even licked the 'criminal's' hand! You must remember, you are facing an enemy, not a friend!" Lao Wang’s brow furrowed.

Dahhuang whimpered, his heart filled with grievance. He just thought the 'criminal' looked familiar, like Lao Zhang next door, so he couldn't help himself for a moment.

"Huahua!" Lao Wang called out to the last police dog, Huahua, a small, quiet Chinese Rural Dog.

"Huahua, your explosive detection performance is the worst. You actually picked up a toy teddy bear during a mock explosive detection, instead of the explosive! Do you know what this means? It means that you could cause an entire operation to fail during a real mission!" Lao Wang almost roared.

Huahua trembled; it really wasn't intentional, she just thought the teddy bear was cute.

After Lao Wang finished his reprimand, all four police dogs hung their heads in dejection. Then, a new instruction came over the loudspeaker: "All police dogs, please proceed to the medical examination center."

The four police dogs were taken to the medical examination center, where the staff performed a series of tests on them. Blood was drawn, temperatures were taken, and heartbeats were listened to, all just like a human physical.

After the examination, the doctor announced: "All police dogs are physically healthy and meet the standards for police dogs. However, there are psychological problems, and psychological counseling is recommended."

So, the four police dogs were taken to a psychological counseling room, where they faced a young counselor.

"Do any of you have anything to say?" the counselor asked with a smile.

The four dogs looked at each other, unsure of how to begin.

"It's okay, take your time," the counselor encouraged.

Heizi was the first to speak. He said that he had been wondering lately what he was actually chasing. Was it a real criminal, or just training equipment? He was beginning to doubt his very purpose.

Xiaobai said that he thought the outside world was wonderful, that he wanted to see it, and didn't want to be stuck in this training field forever.

Dahhuang said that he thought the "criminal" looked like Lao Zhang next door, and that his affection had been instinctual and without any malice.

Huahua said that she felt useless, that she couldn't even distinguish between explosives and toys.

The counselor listened to the four dogs' confessions, and a meaningful smile appeared on her face.

"I understand your confusion," said the counselor. "Actually, you are all too concerned with rules. Rules are inflexible, people are not. You should learn to follow your own instincts, instead of blindly obeying orders."

The four dogs listened, half understanding what they were hearing. They still did not know what they should do.

At this moment, a new order came over the loudspeaker: "All police dogs, immediately proceed to the capture site. The target is an escaped criminal, code name 'Lao Zhang'!"

The four dogs understood instantly. They started running towards the capture site.

This time, Heizi was no longer confused. He locked onto his target and bit down on "Lao Zhang's" clothing. Xiaobai stopped looking around, and was the first to charge, knocking "Lao Zhang" to the ground. Dahhuang no longer hesitated; he bit down hard on "Lao Zhang's" arm, this time without licking. Huahua held onto "Lao Zhang's" pant leg, refusing to let go.

"Lao Zhang" was successfully captured. The four dogs had done a great job.

Lao Wang happily patted their heads, praising them for being great dogs.

Just as everyone was cheering for the four dogs' success, in the police station's monitoring room, a uniformed man was rapidly deleting surveillance footage.

The man muttered to himself, "They're such a nuisance. I thought I could just find some scapegoats to cover this up, but these dogs are smarter than I thought. Looks like I'll have to try a different method next time."

The last frame of the surveillance footage froze on the distorted smile on the man's face as he deleted the recordings.