Hideout

The assignment this time around was to create an environment following a theme, and put a character inside of it. I was assigned the hideout and I had an idea that I felt would work well with it. :D I created a decent small story to explain the setting, a human character, and an anthropomorphic character. But before I get to the story, here's the inspiration refs for the room and Rika:

                                      

The thumbnails: 

Rough sketch of the room and character placement:

And the final product!

Year 2020: Pressure is rising within the military to create an intelligent and mobile weapon for what the world feels could be another world war. Branching into medical science, a secret laboratory base has commenced research into genetic mutation in the hopes of getting a head start. Research has already been conducted upon which DNA would best be mixed together to create new life. There are hopes that a new highly controllable species can be created to fulfill the militaries purpose.

Year 2080: The experiments started sixty years prior had succeeded in testing multiple breeds of dogs which culminated in the selection of Rottweiler, German Shepherd and Doberman DNA to be mixed with hand selected human genetics, using mans best friend to fulfill their needs. After a few tricky first generations, the perfect balance of DNA was found and the program began the refinement of the new species. Dubbed on paper as simply S.C.'s (Specialized Canid), the new species flourished and met all expectations in the controlled lab tests. This resulted in them quickly launching the department into perfecting the new species as well as beginning field tests, Requiring specialized personnel. "Handlers" were quickly trained on the care and maintenance of this new breed of "working dog" and their unique needs before being assigned a partner. In the most recent litter to mature, there were six Doberman type S.C.'s born; five black, and one female "fancy" color. The fancy pup was one of a short list of off colored Doberman units in the program, possessing a dilution gene that resulted in her being dubbed a Blue. Early on in the project, all colors had been tested, but it was found that when the dilution gene mixed with the human DNA, it resulted in specimens with too many health issues. This was later removed with further perfection of the DNA mixtures, but at that point the dilution gene had almost been removed from their sample pool and the focus shifted to simply keeping a single color to keep them all uniform in appearance. Naturally, it was debated by the lab technicians if the blue pup should be kept at all, but upon determining that she was healthy and without serious flaws, they allowed her into the program. 

Present year, 2098: Having matured completely and fulfilling her basic training, the young blue has recently been released for field testing. Her handler, Adam Branford age 27, has proved to be very skilled at working with the blue during controlled tests and has been permanently assigned to her; and is already very attached to his new working partner, naming her Rika. He has been scolded on multiple occasions for spoiling her slightly, treating her as something of a younger sister at times with occasional gifts of toys and treats, but as this never had a negative effect on her or her performance during missions it has been allowed to slide for the time being. Having just been assigned their first field mission, Adam and Rika are currently getting established in a nearly abandoned, rundown apartment building that will serve as their hideout and base while watching their mission's mark. Waiting for the predetermined date a month from their arrival doesn't seem like a challenging thing to do for them at this point, and their minimal supplies seem like more than enough comfort. Once they attack their target and complete their mission they won't leave any evidence of them living there behind. Keeping Rika quiet and entertained in the rickety building takes up most of Adam's time aside from his observations of the target and reviewing the mission brief, and both of them are optimistic for returning to base successful and receiving another mission. 

All in all, I really liked this assignment. I think I achieved the grungy look I wanted in the room, but I think it could still be improved upon. I really like the story though, and I would like to pursue it further.