Fifteen

The Master Blondie was lounging when he walked in, followed by the containment units being hauled by mindless robots, which were then stood, each pod, human-sized, on the stone of the garden where Iason had chosen to meet him.

Katze did a bow of respect, apologizing immediately for arriving much ahead of schedule although he'd only been an hour or so in advance.

"That is fine," the Blondie waved off, standing to begin his inspection of the merchandise brought him by the former Furniture. "Are these the ones?"

"Yes. As requested," Katze replied.

Frosted glass. The Master reached his gloved hand and wiped off the thin ice encasing the surface of one pod, peering in but slightly to see the contents, at a fresh, young face, sleeping with the hands folded just beneath the neck.

Light brown hair, soft features, a lithe and almost female build but not totally feminine. They all looked like dolls in the light of the early morning; an outline of very supple flesh like a pet's but then the truth was far removed from that. These were Furniture. A trinity set. Brothers...triplets. The next and newest stewards of the Mink household.

The Blondie examined each container, eyeing the triplicate faces before him with ruthless inspection, examining for flaws and satisfied only when he had found none.

"Have they been made according to my instructions?"

Katze considered and ran over a mental check list before responding, "Yes. To the letter, Master Iason."

Perfect. If that would be the case then the Blondie was nothing short but satisfied. However, as he looked at his ever loyal friend, there seemed to be something bothering the scarred overseer.

"If you're meaning to ask me something then by all means, go on ahead," it was a direct query Katze immediately retorted to.

"Why did you have to design them in such a way Master?"

As expected, his former Furniture was worried of the matter as he should be, but that would have been unnecessary. Before the Blondie had requested the manufacturing, he had doubled, no, triple inspected the design, ensuring the final products would be clean, with any trait, behaviour or gene that posed as unruly or unpredictable removed or entirely eradicated. That also went without saying that they had been made eunuchs, though not through castration as was traditionally done with boys taken from Guardian in Ceres. They were born in that state...

But then the design was already perfect to begin with, being actually based on the old god's will, these new 'Furniture' to be created in such a way they could be elites in their own rights. Jupiter wanted to make sure his heir would not have any trouble at all so he likewise left it in his final schemes that instead of getting the new stewards from the norm resource, they would be made.

Only Iason added a bit more into the old god's plans for good measure, altering the structure of these special Furniture to become something else upon necessity. It wasn't for the purpose of extravagance. He did this for Riki's sake as easily as it was for his.

"But they are stable, are they not? Besides, the trigger for the response has also been programmed properly?"

Katze searched for the answers within himself again, deciding that the Master was actually right. He had been there throughout the process after all. When these three had been created, he was constantly on the monitoring end.

"They are," replied the redhead, yet he still reserved his doubts as he still had more orders to fulfil, strict requests of which he intends to see to until the very end. As he had done before.

Silence.

Katze eyed the small life monitors attached to each pod as Iason once more looked over the specimens, a graceful form in his azure suit walking to and fro, finding it amusing how the differentiating aspect to the triplets he requested had only been limited to hair length.

The long-haired one was named Katrice, as indicated on his label. The one with the shortest crop was Kantre. Then there was he, Katron, a beauty who perhaps shone more brightly than the other two did although they all shared the same countenance. He had that spark that seemed to glow despite his state of sleep. He was the most perfect one.

"Him," Iason pointed. Katze was lost at the statement for a moment. The Blondie repeated, "I want him to be Riki's personal Furniture."

"Katron?"

"Yes."

The redhead understood. It was a rather anticipated choice. Of the three manufactured Neu-Furniture as they had now dubbed them in the Markets' more secret labs, Katron was the most intelligent and by far exceeded the requirements by miles from his twins. He was meant to be the ring leader of the three, the Alpha of the Pack strictly speaking.

How Riki would find him however, is another question yet to be answered. Plus it's been figuratively ages since this House has had any serving Furnishings, not to mention the couple who now resided here had been asleep for a year that the idea seemed to have been lost along the timeline...

But servants are needed. To Neu-Jupiter and his stunning Exclusive, there was to be a requisite for slaves. As it should be.

"Then I shall wake them up immediately," Katze volunteered.

Iason merely smiled, looking at the sleeping faces of his newest acquisitions.

--

He stirred, slowly, hands blankly reaching for the space beside him but finding it empty, nothing but the faint scent his Master had left and the other little signs that the Blondie had been there.

Riki gently sat up, cradling his head, a sudden ache assaulting his senses and making his head spin, only to realize it wasn't just his head but his entire body that hurt. Although this was obviously welcomed by the Pet. It was a good sign that they were mated once more, the Blondie's body leaving such an impression on him that he had blushed recalling.

He blinked to clear his vision, looking around and noticing that this was not that place. He was no longer in Jupiter's Tower.

"When'd I get here?"

Soft sheets, an oversized bed, carpeting and intricate drapery...four corners with an unusual sense of grandiose and luxury: the den of a pampered prince.

"How'd I get here?" the Pet asked aloud, a question meant for himself.

"Master Iason carried you home, Master Riki," but someone supplied him the answer.

He almost jumped, if not for thinking the better of it and instead asking, "Who...Who are you?"

"I am Katron," the other replied. He let the Pet see his rather charming face as he moved towards the subtle light, the mannered expression and that delicate overall feature. He was younger than Riki was, but had a knowing fire behind his dark or chocolate eyes. "...and I am your Furniture."

The response caught Riki by surprise. "You mean you're the Palace's Furniture?"

"No Master. I meant…" Katron made a bow. "...I meant your personal Furniture."

The Pet scratched his head at that, shifting from where he was wrapped in the silk and comforters. Belatedly he realized he was still naked, the immediate recollection of Iason taking him many times over last night bringing the colour rising to his cheeks yet again that he damned it. The Furniture took note of this with a faint smile that Riki likewise noticed. He remedied the situation, "Pets can't have Furniture..."

"Not unless you're Neu-Jupiter's Pet," a familiar voice responded.

People have been making a habit of interjecting to his queries lately in this way, comments and information getting tossed to him from a darkened corner here and there. It was somewhat unnerving.

Riki looked around to find the source of that voice, the owner of which easily slipping himself to view, the scar on his face a prominent mark that burned as easily into the Exclusive's memory as was the expression of a manner of kindness on his face. What was absent was the signature cigarette. He still had his same crop of red hair.

"Katze!"

--

Katron took the time to find a suitable fresh robe and draped it reverently over Riki's shoulders before bowing his head to Katze, "Excuse me Sir" and exiting quietly through the doors to attend to his other chores, mindful to return later for the Pet's other needs if there be.

The Exclusive still could not believe it, seeing the face of an old acquaintance...how long has it been? He couldn't even remember when it was that he last spoke to anyone he knew.

"What are you doing here?"

His fingers blankly grasped the edges of the silken wear left him but the thing annoyingly slipped. Damn, it appears his strength has not yet returned. His head was a little up in the clouds. The Blondie had did him over well last night indeed, refusing to let him go.

"Let me," Katze moved closer and had no qualms about helping, which made Riki flush a bit at the attention. Of course the man had been Furniture before so he was knowledgeable of what functions being one entailed.

"Thanks."

The Pet didn't move from where he was, still just sitting up in bed, his long black hair loose and free. It made the redhead think about the day he unconsciously unfurled those hidden wings, and with a smile chose to answer the question flung to him earlier, "I'm finishing up on some installations in the garden, and deliveries. Master Iason's orders.

"Are you surprised?"

He did however leave out the fact that the installation actually had to do with the house's defences, guessing that whatever it was that was now being added further into the interior of the Palace was nothing that should concern Riki. These were to be secret things after all.

"Yes. Kind of. I didn't expect to see you," the Exclusive admitted, scratching his head, feeling a little awkward. "Is Katron...from Guardian?"

Katze figured as much that Riki would ask sooner or later.

"No. He was manufactured."

The response shocked the Pet.

"Manufactured? But I thought Furniture were..." he let it trail off, recalling his same response when he had first thought a Pet and a Furniture were one and the same, before he had been made aware of how the trade was often done for the latter with Guardian.

This was confusing. Why had it been the case this time? Was this a new fad in Eos? To produce for its confines test tube made Furniture?

The redhead supplied. "Not in this case. Your Master wanted more for you than the runts picked up from the Slums."

At that, Riki frowned, instantly glaring. "But I'm also one of those so-called runts from the Slums, Katze." And so are you, he was supposed to add, but did not.

"Sorry," the ex-Furniture immediately apologized, thinking the remark to be a bit excessive in this case. Yet it was undeniable that the Riki now sulking in front of him was no longer the Riki Iason picked up from the debris of Ceres years before. Well, not entirely anyway. He was still who he was but merely enhanced as a result of Jupiter's favour. "Don't you feel different though? Don't you feel different now?"

The Pet looked at the other with confusion. He did not know what Katze was getting at, and undeniably was just as perplexed. He recalls part of being able to interact with that thing he now knew to be called as the System, but he totally seemed to have slept through the whole process. He couldn't remember what else happened. Neither the day after Dana Burn nor the days before he woke up. It was all a blur.

"I still don't get all this..." Riki confided to Katze, finding it easier always to talk with the man than he ever did with the Blondie, his Master. "Do you know...what happened?"

Katze did not.

"Master Iason could provide you a better explanation, but I do have a job I need to attend to with regard to that…"

More questions in those obsidian eyes. Riki looked at the redhead with his brows knit with speculations, "What's that?"

The redhead smiled and replied, pocketing a hand as he rummaged around for a light, "I'm actually here to tell you about your Exclusivity."

--

Left alone, the Pet wandered through the floors of their new palace home, recalling with much embarrassment how he'd reacted the first time. Now that he's taken a closer look at things, at their new haunt and its epic grandness, it seemed foolish of him to be startled like that somehow.

"Master Riki?"

He had not noticed they had caught up with him, and when he had turned, they were already standing there, the triplets of the House, Neu-Furniture according to Katze who had earlier given him a head's up about these three. They looked similar to each other yet different, the one assigned to him in particular, (Katron was it?) appearing to have an intellectual spark that distinguished him from the two…

"What is it?" the Pet replied.

"Would you like to eat first? Or would you rather be bathed? We already have everything ready," it was Katron who spoke on their behalf, as anticipated.

Four years ago, Riki could not even contend with the idea of being served or pampered, the so-called 'doting' Mimea said of his Master a thing he technically shunned as a lie, hating the fact when other pets thought otherwise and were so jealous. Now it didn't seem bad at all, especially since these three will help to keep him company from now on.

So according to Katze, he was what was called the Exclusive, or a Pet who will live out the rest of his life by his Master's side. But what made him indispensable still eluded him, as many things did lately. And the freedom, as far as the term was concerned, for Riki appeared like a sad prospect.

Freedom...

What did that really mean now? Was it the same as it meant for him then?

"Master?"

Riki knew he'd drifted, and with good reason. He was feeling a bit unhappy today, the tendrils of a slight sense of lonesomeness creeping into his soul. As if everything was wrong. As if the only aspect correct in all this was his Master...

"I think I'll bathe," the Pet sighed. He wondered what Iason was doing at the moment, and when he'd actually come home. Great. Now he was thinking like a Pet. This wasn't promising. "I want a good long soak, if that's okay," Riki frowned, suddenly weary from something he couldn't comprehend. He felt saddened. He felt very dejected to an extent...

Katron took mental note of that, seeing the bother evident in his charge's eyes. But instead of saying it, he just gave him a most pleasant smile, as if that alone was enough. In this case, it sort of was...he and his siblings still yet to know what this special being before them was like. He was programmed that way after all. To be cautious. To observe. To serve in the end.

"Yes of course, Master. Anything you wish," the Furniture bowed, before gesturing towards the direction of the bath, the other two immediately leading the way for them like acolytes once the Pet started walking towards it.