PACK OBSERVATION REPORT 11: THERMOREGULATION & "THE SPLOOT"
SUBJECTS: Unit Gemini (A-993-W / A-992-L)
OBSERVER: Facilities Manager (Compiled by Dr. Aris Thorne)
AEGIS Facility Alpha is maintained at a standard human comfort temperature of 72°F (22°C). This is appropriate for personnel without dense double-layered coats covering their entire bodies.
Unit Gemini possess dense double-layered coats covering their entire bodies. For them, 72°F is functionally a tropical climate. They are chronically, persistently, quietly overheating — and have been since the day they arrived.
Unable to regulate core temperature through perspiration the way human staff can, both Specialists have developed environmental compensations.
1. The Tile Seek:
They are almost never found on carpet by choice. Given any option, they gravitate to polished concrete corridors or laboratory tile — surfaces that draw heat away from the body on contact. They have identified every cold floor in the facility and rotate between them with the quiet efficiency of people who have thought about this a great deal.
The Sploot: The floor-cooling strategy reaches its fullest expression in a posture the Facilities team has taken to calling the Sploot — a specific position in which the subject lies flat on their stomach, both legs extended fully behind them in a frog configuration, maximizing the surface area of the belly and inner thighs in contact with the cold floor. It dissipates heat efficiently. It also looks, to anyone who walks in unexpectedly, like two highly trained lethal assets have simply given up and melted under the conference table.
New recruits are advised in advance. It does not fully prepare them.
2. The Server Room Compromise:
On Tuesday of last week, Unit Gemini was reported as missing from their scheduled location for approximately forty minutes. Security located them in Server Room B.
Server Room B is maintained at 65°F for equipment preservation. Wulfsige was seated on the floor reading a technical manual. Luca was asleep on top of a cooling vent, one arm draped over the edge, expression of complete satisfaction.
Rather than evict them, Facilities has placed two beanbag chairs in the corner of Server Room B. This is now their unofficial secondary breakroom. Staff have been asked not to schedule non-essential maintenance during their off-hours.
Panting is the most efficient cooling mechanism available to canine biology. Both Specialists have access to it. Only one uses it in public.
Following a formal recommendation from Dr. Thorne, the thermostat in the Specialist Quarters has been adjusted to 66°F.
Result: Sleep quality metrics for both subjects improved measurably within the first week. HBI cortisol baselines during sleep dropped to their lowest recorded levels.
Side Effect: Human staff visiting the Specialist Quarters now require a jacket. There is a hook by the door with a spare one on it. Wulfsige installed it himself.
End of Report.