“Markos, can you hurry up and just Pick One? The crying is giving me a headache and you’ve already got six of them. Do you really need another?” Nathaniel complained with an exasperated sigh. He looked mildly inconvenienced and I can’t say that didn’t please me. We were making our way through the nursery of a brothel somewhere in Korea, I forget where exactly. It was warm, humid and grimy. A layer of dampened dust coated nearly every surface and the children all screamed for their parents.
I tried to sympathize with them. Their assigned caretaker lay dead in the corner, her blood smeared on the walls and seeping slowly into the cracks between the floor tiles. She should never have tried to fight us, we asked so politely for entry into the establishment, though I suppose there may have been some kind of language barrier. Regardless, with the distance that the nursery was built into the forest it was likely that no one would hear them crying or come to tend to the infants for the remainder of the day.
“I would like to choose ten this time, you can’t rush these decisions. You know very well that none may survive the training.” I told him patiently. He was young and impulsive, he didn’t understand the process. Choosing a pet is an important decision as they will remain with you for the rest of their lives and serve your every need. I suppose I should have considered myself lucky to have such a noble escort for the choosing. However we had been friends for so long that it was only natural that he should accompany me.
This was the third choosing I had participated in, the previous ones had not been successful. You see, it’s very difficult to judge the will of an infant, however any older and they may pick up unwanted habits. Of course, I tended to make choices based on aesthetics, so perhaps that’s where the fault lay.
“We’ve been to hundreds of places. It can’t be this hard to choose.” He muttered impatiently.
“Why don’t you choose one for yourself ‘your highness’?” I teased him, giving a mock bow.
“Don’t call me that, it’s not even accurate.” Nathaniel responded irritated, his ears warming with embarrassment, “I don’t want a pet, I’ve told you, and father, and a hundred other people that I won’t partake in such an idiotic tradition.”
“Your genetics leave you little choice if you are to have children.” I reminded him to which he glared back at me contemptuously.
“I’m not going to have children.” He stated in a matter of fact tone.
“You will change your mind.” I mused confidently, he was barely a man, too young to be making statements like that.
“I won’t.” He said with a shrug.
“I think you’re just afraid that you won’t be good at choosing. Your brother chose well on his first try. His pet seems very well adjusted, I think she will make it through.”
“He chose 50 of them. Of course one would survive.” Nathaniel scoffed.
“Two have survived thus far actually.”
“Whatever. We both know he prefers Molly.” He stated nonchalantly, then I noticed him stop beside a crib, “Markos. I think you would like this one.” He commented.
“Oh?” I’ll admit I was curious, this was the first time he had made any kind of suggestion. Moving over to stand beside him I wasn’t sure what to expect, I thought for a moment that he might be playing a trick on me. That was until I looked into the crib. There lay an infant girl with blonde hair, she was clothed in little more than rags crying so hard that her eyes were screwed shut and her white eyelashes were clumping together. She stood out infinitely from any of the other black haired children.
“Another albino?” I asked curious as I picked her up to try and soothe her. I won’t lie, her unusual appearance had already made the decision for me. I’m somewhat of a collector, and all of my other choices had been based on rarity as well.
“No, I believe it’s leucism. Her eyes are still pigmented.” Nathaniel corrected.
“How can you be sure?”
“Her eyes were open when I approached, she only started crying after I looked at her.”
“Aww is that so little one? Don’t worry, Nathaniel makes all the ladies cry.” I spoke to the child, rocking her back and forth until she quietened, “That’s better.”
“If you’ve made your choice can we go now?” He prompted, not acknowledging my playful comment.
In return I ignored him, “Baek Kyung-ja.” I read the name tag for the girl, “That’s an ugly name, we’ll call you Calla from now on, yes we will~” I nuzzled her nose with mine. Baby humans like that and bonding is a critical part of raising a pet. She looked up at me with wide brown eyes devoid of recognition, she clearly wasn’t happy to be held by a stranger. Though she would get used to it with time.
“Callu, Cally, Callé, Callo, Calle, Callí. I thought you were going to run out of letters.” He taunted rolling his eyes as I spoke in a baby tone to the girl.
“I ran out of English letters.” I admitted as we made our way out.
Unfortunately we happened to come face to face with a man returning to check on the nursery. He noticed us, saw Calla in my arms and started to shout at us in a language I didn’t care to understand.
“Can you take care of that?” I asked Nathaniel, gesturing to him that I was with child and simply couldn’t do anything. He looked at me dejected but pulled the sword from his waist nonetheless to handle the situation.
***
Once the choosing is complete, the children are handed over to the Caregivers where their every need will be met. These little humans will become our companions, so it is important that they are well provided for. They will be dressed, fed and bathed by servants for the entirety of their lives. It is necessary that they are compliant in this process and any child who makes too much fuss about it will be retired to the meat farms.
The infants age quickly and before you realize it they are walking and talking. At this stage, they are moved to the crèche. It is a large padded room, complete with set heating and plush flooring. These rooms are designed so that children of the same age are grouped together and they will sleep in there as they please, though typically they bunch together. This eliminates the need for blankets or bedding and allows the caregivers to leave them unsupervised during the night.
It is traditional that they should remain in the same crèche until they are assigned officially to their masters. Still I made sure to visit all of mine at least once a day though Calla was already my preferred as she looked the best in the dresses I bought for them. We had discovered some time ago that taking the children around with us can promote bonding.
As such, I would often take Calla for walks through the halls and gardens. It was an activity that coincided well with my daily duties and as Nathaniel often joined us it allowed me the opportunity to speak freely with him while Calla played among the foliage.
“Your brother seems more stressed these days?” I commented.
“Perhaps. Since father’s last visit he has become quite determined that the institute should increase it’s patient limit. He’s obsessed with upping the supply of meat and contracts. He’s even sending me out to collect from orphanages.” He grumbled laying back on the grass to look up at the sky.
“Too much work for you?” I jested.
“Way too much.” He agreed with a laugh as he looked over to me, “How are your pets fairing?” He asked now.
“Mmm~ Cally failed her obedience test.”
“She was the first or the second albino?”
“The second one. The first, Callu, is still quite promising.”
“Ah, and the others?”
“Well, Callo failed the intelligence test. Callì failed all three of her combat tests so I had her put down and Calle was mistakenly beheaded.. So now I am down to only three.” I explained.
“But this one is your favorite?” He asked curious now.
“Indeed she is.” I smiled, “She is mon petite poupée. She wears everything I ask the caregivers to give her and she is top of the class for combat.”
Nathaniel looked as though he would answer when we were interrupted. “Master Markos! Master Markos! Look! I brought you a flower.” Calla announced from across the garden her dress fluttering out behind her as she ran back over to us. She stopped in a rush of fabric, her cheeks flush from the effort and her hair tangled with twigs.
“I can see that.” I said plainly. I didn’t want to encourage this kind of useless behavior, though I also didn’t want to discourage her affection.
“I brought one for you too Nathaniel.” She stated delightfully offering him a second flower.
“No thank you.” He responded calmly, “I’m sure Markos would like two though.”
In response the girl looked to me unsurely. This was a good sign, it meant that she was more willing to follow my instruction than his.
“I would love two.” I encouraged and she smiled broadly, of course I had to punish her immediately. I hit her with the back of my hand across the face, though I was careful not to break skin. She looked surprised for a moment, tears welled in her eyes but she sat down on her knees obediently. “You know you mustn’t smile.” I reminded her.
“I’m very sorry.” She apologized, keeping her head down. The caregivers had taught her well, but not well enough to strip the emotion from her yet.
“It’s fine.” I sighed, I thought then that perhaps she wouldn’t make it through the training. They test for emotions and I was sure she would fail if I didn’t correct her consistently. “Go now. Back to your room, don’t delay.” I instructed and she hurried to follow the order, holding her cheek as she did.
“Did you really have to hit her?” Nathaniel asked, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. He had always been weak in that way. He believed the humans shouldn’t suffer. He even convinced his brother that ‘stressed meat tasted bad’ so that the livestock were treated with care. Some days it bothered me that he was granted the power he had by virtue of his birth.
“Have you ever trained a pet Nathaniel? They don’t listen to simple words alone. You must punish them as necessary.”
“I would take a different approach.” He stated simply as he got up, “Achaicus is looking for me, if you see him, don’t mention that you’ve seen me. I don’t want to deal with him today.”
“As you wish.” I agreed though I had little choice. As someone who outranked me, I was intended to do as he asked. Our society runs off power. The more power you have the higher your standing. At one time many centuries ago, we were ruled by a single family. However, when the patriarch of that family died the monarchy fell apart.
Many had been willing to follow him, only him, and they didn’t accept his heirs as legitimate. When he passed several families demanded their own independence and it so happened that Achaicus and Nathaniel’s ancestor was one of those few. You see, their family possesses abilities that surpass many of us. It’s legend that their relative eliminated twelve of the other families and the remaining eight noble families fell into line. He agreed to allow them their own governance and his sons followed that lead for generations.
They are not exactly royal, however the power they wield is unrivaled and the consequences of it still echo through the generations. Many other families sought after that same power and it was discovered that through selective breeding similar results could be achieved. No one realized until it was too late the cost.
Females who represented the genes were unable to give birth safely. Many died and with our preference for male heirs our entire species nearly became extinct. Those of us now who have the genes have few choices when it comes to mates. Nathaniel and Achaicus, like myself, will have to breed with humans if we are to have any hope of continuing our lineage.
The fastest solution was to take female humans of breeding age.. but human untrained women proved to be too.. difficult. They rebelled against advances, learned and exploited weaknesses, killed themselves, or our children. Some even had the audacity to escape and bring back an entire town of iron welding barbarians. It was chaos. My great-grandmother was one of these women and she killed my great-grandfather with an iron pike.
This is how it became necessary for us to create ‘pets’. While they are children, as repulsive as they are, they can be trained and they won’t rebel against us later. Any who show signs that they may cause trouble can be dealt with swiftly as they are no threat at that age. Of course there have been some mistakes made in their raising over the decades.
For example, we tried keeping them isolated from one another initially, however that had significant negative effects on their psychology. One entire choosing was ruined as all the children became extremely anxious and melancholy. Similarly we found that they were inconstant need of stimulation. Unlike our own children, who can be left unattended for hours without problem, the human children developed behavioral issues where they became most unruly. As a result several of them had to be put down as they were unmanageable.
***
In the years that followed my own choosing I found myself faced with a problem. You see, they had reached the age of 10, yet three still remained. Calla, Callu and Callé. Each had their own unique qualities, Callé had vitiligo, she was compliant and malleable. Callu was intelligent and could anticipate my needs excellently. While Calla was still top of her class in combat and extremely placid.
I had hoped that the acceptance test, in which we show each of them the slaughterhouse where we process our humayne meat, would break one of them. However each reacted variably though minimally. Callu seemed a little shaken by the experience, though blood did splash on her. Callé didn’t respond at all, and Calla became very quiet. To be eliminated they needed to take marked distress to the situation, though none of them did.
It is not permitted that anyone may have more than one pet past the age of 10 as the risk they pose increases. I would have to make a choice on which two would be terminated. In this matter I chose to seek Achaicus’s help as he had been faced with a similar situation in his own choosing. I arrived at his office early and knocked before entering.
Inside he was at his desk looking over paperwork with a drink in hand. Molly sat gracefully beside his desk, perfectly still as if she were part of the furniture. She was indeed well trained. She had graduated two years prior when she was only 19, this is significant as typically, they didn’t graduate until 20, however she was exceptional.
“Achaicus.” I greeted him with a polite bow as I was expected to.
“What do you want?” He asked me bluntly.
“If I might, I was hoping to ask your advice on a certain predicament.” I broached the subject carefully.
“What is it..?” I could tell he was apprehensive. I rarely asked this twin for anything.
“You had two candidates for your pet past the age of 10. How did you choose which to keep?” I inquired.
At this he seemed tense and his eyes flicked to Molly. It was odd I thought, he looked to her as if she was some kind of security for him. “I told her I had to choose..” He said carefully, “.. And then I made the decision.”
“Is that all?” I was skeptical.
“Yes.” He responded. I could tell he was lying, though I couldn’t imagine what it was about.
“Very well.” I agreed, it was not my place to argue with him, “Have you seen your brother of late?” I asked now. I hadn’t seen Nathaniel close at hand for some months.
“Yes, I sent him away to collect children from orphanages. He’s busy with that. If you mean to pose the same question to him, I’m afraid he would be of little use. He still insists that he will not choose a pet.”
“Of course. I was only concerned as the last time I saw him, he seemed to be in rather low spirits.”
Achaicus groaned in annoyance, “Yes. My little brother was quite enthusiastic about one of the Orphans he had met. Apparently it died and he has been profoundly upset over it. I cannot understand why.”
It was easy to draw information from Achaicus, especially when he was drinking. “Should we be concerned?”
“No. He’ll come out of it. Now, if that’s all..” He gestured to the door for me to leave.
I did as I was bid and left while allowing my mind to wander. I had known both the twins since they were children. Achaicus was the first born and while they were each unique in personality they were also near impossible to distinguish. Mere minutes separated them in age, though the eldest was always the strongest and the younger one was little more than a spare. Second born sons are more useless than daughters in our society.
They will inherit no lands, titles or social standing and they have little political value. If they had not been born together, the second would never have been born at all. As it were, there was once talk of disposing of the extra. However it was around this time that Nathaniel became inexplicably more capable. It’s said he fought off the would-be assassins single handedly and earned his place. Though I have my doubts as to how accurate that is.
On my way I passed one of the Caretakers in the halls and requested that she bring my three pets to the gardens. I had not yet made a choice, but I knew it was best to make it sooner rather than later as it would only become more difficult with time. I had hoped that seeing them all lined up before me I would be able to decide. Unfortunately I was incorrect.
The three girls were neatly arranged, Callé and Callu were on either end while Calla as the shortest stood in between the two. They watched me with flat eyes, none of them showing any emotion. I really hadn’t expected it to be so difficult to make a decision. “My little pets, you have all done so well. However, the time has come that I may only choose one of you. Now.. I have already chosen.” I lied though none responded and so I continued, “I have decided to choose none of you. I will wait again for the next choosing. What are your opinions, should I change my mind? You may speak freely.”
Callé and Callu looked to one another unsurely over the top of Calla, “I.. Think you should choose one of us..” Callu said softly.
“So do I..” Callé seconded the notion.
“And you Calla?” I requested calmly.
In response the girl knelt, “It’s not my place to give an opinion. The decision is not mine. My desires are of no consequence.” she murmured, keeping her gaze low. Her answer surprised me somewhat.
“I see.” I mused as I took the sword from my belt to raise it over her. Calla didn’t so much as flinch as I cut down the two other girls. I granted them a quick deaths despite their insolence in assuming they would tell me their opinions. A red mist sprayed in the air as I cut their jugular veins and their bodies crumpled either side of my chosen one, their blood soaking into the grass. They gurgled for a few moments before their feeble struggling ceased, then I offered Calla my hand to assist her up.
She took it gently and stood as I directed, “Don’t disappoint me now mon petite Poupée.” I warned her casually and she nodded in acknowledgement. Perhaps she would pass the emotions test after all, for not even the faintest flicker crossed her expression. Then I realized what I had done with a start of annoyance, “Your dress! I’ve ruined it! Those blood stains will never come out.”
***