Twenty-Three

It was the day later and the day before the Pet Auction.

The atmosphere in Midas had fast become an ecstatic mess as many visitors flocked from even the far reaches of the Garan Star System and the Commonwealth, intent on being part of at least a bit of the action, rumours of the so-dubbed Jupiter Lovers exaggerated to near legendary proportions, catapulting the name of Iason Mink and his former mongrel of a Pet to a status heaped with romanticism, slum dogs and even those amongst the aristocracy viewing their once-forbidden affair as nothing short but that of star-crossed lovers, with a fairytale story ending blessed by none other than the old god of Tanagura and Amoi himself.

And true to his word, Iason has proven to be a worthy heir, whose presence was now quite highly anticipated that the masses collected themselves into one large fervent throng, to witness his attendance to what the media had now popularized to be the Pet Auction of the Century…

Katron stood there wondering for a few minutes, grimacing at the mess that now occupied the Masters' Bedroom even before his twins entered and in the same way stopped, eyeing with similar undisguised dismay the state of the all too resplendent quarters of their Lords was in. It was easily the most beautiful of all the quarters in the house what with the carvings and gold and embedded gemstones, yet some evil wind had blown through it seemingly, and carried with it this muddle.

"What happened here?" Kantre quirked a brow, seeing all the expensive clothes belonging to the Pet of the House scattered in heaps on the carpeted floor alongside the numerous footgear now in missed matches strewn all over.

Katrice frowned, throwing his plaited hair to one side as he beamed "Even the walk-in is in chaos," having checked that part of the suite and finding it in the same manner as the rest of the room.

Katron could only begin to think why, sighing in utmost dismay, but then remembering that he had something else to do, asked his brothers apologetically, "Can you start tidying up in here then? There are still preparations for dinner to be had" as he folded the clean, rather enormous towel he'd carried in from the cabinet storage.

He added, "I still need to get Master Riki out of the pool."

--

Katron's main responsibility in the Palace was the Pet, though he also acted as Iason's official butler and the leader in charge of the Trinity, steering his two lesser brothers towards the right direction when it came to matters of the house and its upkeeping.

He was a brilliant young mind and highly-precocious when made, as opposed to common Furniture, trusted for his capabilities such as knowing how to implement some advanced forms of interaction via the terminals and other programs in the Palace, easily manipulating them when it was needed to keep everything in tip-top-shape, the temperatures always ample, the lights and cleaning spot-on, right on top of the best executed service of any household on the entire planet. Their Lords lived essentially stress-free.

One could say he was the most special of the three, programmed and trained to make the most with his well-endowed IQ (enough that he could be a little elite himself), doll-like looks a match to that intellectual aura, injected with so much bioengineering that even the labs at Tanagura who boasted of making smarter androids and chimeras would have their heads spin in the face of his specific yet complicated design.

Or rather, their specific yet complicated designs, as his two brothers themselves, though falling short of the Trinity head's mental characteristics, were at par when it came to all other things including that certain programming unique only to them. Even Aisha's Floor Leader in charge was no match, could not even, for the life of him, command these three to subjection… truly, the envy of all Furniture, and part of the pride of the most powerful House in Tanagura.

But of course, as exciting as it was to bear the responsibility of doing more than anyone else, in the Home of Neu-Jupiter no less, Katron, as popular himself with the other elites for his good work, was still most certainly happy to just be Riki's personal Furniture, because the Pet treated him as a being, even if the other Master of the house, the superior of all Blondies, when it came to it, could care little of them still but as ornaments or as defensive instruments that not only cleaned and decorated the Palace, but protected it.

He had already been punished before in fact, for something the Blondie deemed as unacceptable, and up until now, Katron had not the slightest of ideas as to what the reason why...

"Had there been a storm in your bedroom Master?" the Furniture had asked first thing as he walked over to the chairs, grimacing again, down the pile of wet things on the marble as he held the towel and waited for the Pet, Riki staying in that one place for a while already, continuing to rest his head against a folded arm, while the other extended forward and with a hand drew wet circles on the tile.

Earlier, Riki had jumped into one of the infinite pools of the Court after a few heated laps around, or was it more like free-falling, stopping himself mid-air and allowing gravity to take the rest, getting his wings and all soaked through before he stripped to his birthday suit and stayed there skinny-dipping, wading briefly for a good part of an hour before he just threw himself against the edge and appeared to have fainted.

Katron at first thought the Pet did actually fall asleep, and was worried that he had in fact or worse, but then at close inspection was revealed to only be contemplating with a wet head buried into his arms.

Katron could only guess that the wrecking of the room had happened even earlier before this sudden bath, perhaps because something had been troubling the Pet. Katron could just feel something was bothering his charge. So he continued to check.

"Master Riki, are you all right?"

The Pet had actually been recalling half of what Raoul had said to him during his inspection before the Furniture came in, but did not really want to dwell on it much as all he could do now was accept it. But then he just couldn't forget it either…

--

"I've never seen such complicated bioengineering. Truly, Jupiter has gone through an excess in effort to restore you," said the Blondie.

"What does that mean? What exactly did he do? Did he transplant my mind into a different body or something?"

Raoul somehow found it amusing that the Pet could think of it like that; it was truly just simple understanding, but what had he expected? Although it is impressive, for him to be wary of something like that... for Blondies and other elites were usually created that way, the truth that only the brain in them was ever the organic part of their entire anatomy.

He glanced at the findings he had compiled into a small virtual screen before proceeding, "Think of it this way: the explosion at Dana would have completely obliterated you and Iason, but Jupiter interfered. And in this said interference he preserved whatever was left of you both -physically, mentally, I'm still to determine the rest but... it was from this that he had created the most basic of anatomical building blocks, never mind how insignificant the size, it was from which that he had re-engineered the new body you now possess."

Raoul thought he'd lost the Pet somewhere with his explanation, but to his surprise Riki asked back, "So it's more like complicated Regeneration? Is that what you're saying?"

This made the Biochemist think to himself and reconsider. He half took back what he'd earlier said, about Riki having just simple understanding. No, to begin with, he had such a high IQ unbecoming of Pets so perhaps he'd already been further schooled all this time? Though by which Jupiter, it made the other curious. "Yes. He had not transplanted you or Iason into any other preexisting body, instead, just allowed the normal function and division of your cells to take over and from it allowed the body to take shape into the form it's meant for..."

Regeneration. Then did that mean nothing was really changed about him? If so, what about Iason? Raoul provided the answer.

"But then he's Jupiter," he added. "He had not allowed his creation to be so simple as he meant you both for greater things…

"This is where I myself am baffled," he admitted. "Never have I seen cells that are both complexly organic yet in a way virtual, as if each of them had been converted to the most complicated of nanomechanical designs which in turn have been imbued with the capacity to interact with the System. Then there is the matter of your wings, and some other characteristics that had been added to your being. Things we just could not study with what simpler means we have this day and age."

"Added?" Riki shifted from where he sat on the inspection table. "And what do you mean by that: 'just could not study'?"

The Blondie replied in a rather straightforward manner, scanning through his findings in a clerical way before looking back up at the Pet. "I'm saying it's impossible.

"For some reason, we can't bank or preserve your cells even if we put them in cryostasis, making the thought of further research difficult.

"Your blood, flesh samples, and everything alike that we carve out from in you dies and rots away the moment they are extracted, as if in defence to being taken out from you, they chose to decay instantly.

"As if Jupiter never meant for you to be replicated. You cannot be cloned."

So that actually explained why throughout the check-up, a tube had stayed inserted into Riki's arm. It was to obtain fresh samples? And another thought on top of that, when Raoul said replicated, did he actually mean that the elites where planning to make copies of him or of Iason? Or was it just Raoul?

"So?" the Pet held his suspicions.

"So?" Raoul leaned in close enough it reminded Riki of Iason. He blushed without wanting to and instantly turned away, his body on automatic.

The Blondie smirked at that but straightened, as if it did not happen, "So, you must by now have an idea of how extremely special you have become.

"Iason knew of this already, as he had come in for this same check-up last week."

That made Riki look up in surprise. He didn't know that his lover had gone in for these examinations; he had not told him! Or was it that Iason intended for Riki to find out on his own that way it was easier for him to cope with it?

Raoul further emphasized. "You both...are two of a kind…

"No one else like you two exists or will ever exist in all of Amoï."

It wasn't as depressing as it needed to be though the ache he'd felt after all of it was said and done had mellowed his reactions, wanting to discuss it with Iason because there were some things he wanted to further learn about, this time, from his lover himself. And if what Raoul said was the truth, then didn't it actually mean that Tanagura had something to worry about?

If something were to happen, heaven forbid, then Iason could never really be replaced!

--

Riki gave a grunt of frustration as Katron looked at him curiously. But why the hell does a mongrel like him worry shit of Tanagura? He is a Pet. These things were the troubles of elites. Then again, he considered, his only love now was an elite.

"Damn…" Riki sighed. He'd have all of eternity to discuss this with himself. That aside, there was something else that needed his attention, a concern which needed his immediate decision: "I don't have anything decent to wear!" and his wings thrashed up before sinking into the pool, water splashing, surprising Katron who, after a few seconds of confoundedness, slowly broke into peals of honest laughter when he realized what the Pet just said.

He found it hilarious…the reaction a normal thing between them now in their interactions.

"Hey, don't mock me," Riki narrowed his eyes from where he was still soaking in the pool, crossing his arms under his chin and resting his head there again.

The Furniture stopped himself, but his midsection was already hurting from all that laughter. So all this was because of that event? He was just glad it wasn't all too serious of an issue.

"This has something to do with the Pet Auction?"

Riki sighed again, letting his arms slide into the water until only his chin hung on the edge of the pool, "I don't have anything suitable for it" before he himself totally sunk in.

In a gasp of air the Pet re-surfaced with a toss of his head. Katron waited for Riki to get his bearings before responding, "But your raiment are all expensive and quite exquisite, Master. Why wouldn't any of them suit you?" he called out.

The Pet slowly pushed through the water like an elegant black swan, heading towards the edge where the stairs were, gently ascending to drag his soaked wings with him. Thanks to a month's worth of nakedness during his training days, and getting pushed to shamelessness in many a Bacchanalia previously, despite standing stark uncovered in his full beauty, he felt just fine in front of the Furniture, the latter having seen him this way countless of times anyway.

Katron automatically spread the large towel for him, but Riki refused to let himself be dried by the other, taking the soft wrap to do it himself. His wings would need at least some flying around before completely getting dried out, otherwise, they'd need all three Furniture and an hour or so. He regretted diving into the pool without retracting them.

"I just want to look extra special for Iason. But I'm at a loss. He told me to wear what I want but trouble is, I'm such a klutz at preparing for these things. I'll end up making shit out of it."

The way Riki moved told of independence that, as opposed to other pets, he could survive even without the aid of anyone. That gleam alone reminded Katron how they all saw him to be so unique and why they respected him dearly for his honest strength and infallible spirit.

Riki flicked his wings up to shake off some of the water, dropping the lengthy towel behind and holding it both ends to wrap his lower body with. Then that's when Katron saw it, the strength he had been reminded about earlier, infused in the way Riki's beautiful spine curved, in the way his back arched so gracefully. Above that was the stunning shock of dark feathers, and the refusal of his sable wings to lose their splendid gleam as they stayed beaded with moisture.

Something struck him immediately, "Master wait! Hold that stance!" and he stopped the Pet in a heartbeat.

"Ah what?" Riki did not understand it but he paused, throwing a confused glance over his shoulder at the Furniture.

Very slowly Katron smiled, his equally lovely features glowing with the blush of certainty, the familiarity of a friend.

"I think I'll be able to help. I have an idea."