FSE

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Life can often be likened to the game of Go. Each move, each counter move, serves to further define the self and its place in the world. Unlike chess, which carries the more tactical aspects of capturing a specific piece, the nature of Go is not so restricted, and focuses more on the strategic elements of achieving victory through the accumulation of territory.

~~A beginners introduction to the philosophy of Go

Chapter Five : Let the games begin.

Sitting alone in the driver's seat, Kato watched as a world of neon signs and night clubs slowly began to pass them by. Filled with all manner of miscreants and mischief makers, it seemed as if someone had geared the streets of sector twelve towards attracting exactly the kind of attention he had been trained to avoid. And with his encounter with the elder King having left him more then a little shaken, Kato couldn't even find it in himself to wonder what it was that Johnathan was even looking for.

No point in asking, he thought darkly, It's not like he'd tell me anyway.

Wishing that the Cadillac wasn't so hot and stuffy, Kato started to pant as he rolled down the window. Its air conditioner having given up the fight for life long ago, he had tried to fix it himself, only to find that parts needed were no longer in production. Barring that, he had approached the elder King in the hopes of acquiring a new vehicle, Johnathan's father had adamantly refused, saying that his son could have his pick of any car that he wanted, even one of the new model aircars, when his grades finally started to improve. But rather than do any of the work necessary to appease his father, he had simply contented himself with finding new and interesting ways to cram his family's fortune up his nose.

Glancing into the rear view mirror, Kato felt himself begin to grimace, the tattered leather interior remained as unappealing to his eyes as gray sludge. But what bothered him more was the sight that awaited him.

Sitting alongside Johnathan in the backseat of the Cadillac was a morose looking lackey with nut brown hair and mousy eyes holding a bag of Dust.

Dust, a neural cocktail more effective than Bliss and cheaper to produce; lick it, snort it, drink it, whatever the delivery method Dust would get you high and leave you there. And with none of the unpleasant aftereffects of some of the other designer drugs that were on the market, Dust was rapidly gaining in popularity amongst some of the more wealthy and social elite.

Kato couldn't stand the sight of the stuff, just looking at it made his fur stand on end.

“Those lessons are so stupid.” Said Johnathan. “I mean, what's the point in even going? Chimeras do most of the work now anyways.”

Zack, being nothing more then a simple yes-man as eager to please and thus improve his social standing as any of Johnathan's other so-called friends, simply started nodding his head in agreement with everything that Johnathan said. And as a result, he often had little if anything to offer in the way of real conversation.

“When I'm in charge, I won't waste my time with private tutors and the like. Let the little bastards fend for themselves, that's my motto.”

Rounding a corner just a little too sharply, Kato took perverse pleasure in watching as both Johnathan and Zack had to scramble just to stay in their seats. Yeah, you just keep on thinking that. And we'll see how long the money lasts.

“Watch it furface,” Said Johnathan, once he had found something to hold on to. “Or the next thing on my list after private tutors to get rid of will be you.”

Focusing on the road ahead of him, Kato had to bite his tongue in order to keep himself from trying to correct Johnathan's misguided preconceptions. The reason that employing private tutors was a common practice among many company shareholders was because it acted to ensure that their children would receive the educations they needed to be able to live and work in the upper echelons of society. As future stewards to their family fortunes it was imperative that they know how to manage their assets properly, lest they wake one day to find themselves poorer then they thought they would be.

To put it simply, the rich are taught how to be rich, while the poor are taught how to be poor, just like everyone else.

Kato wanted to laugh, the fact that anyone could actually fail to grasp such a simple and obvious concept . . . the laughter inside him died as he reminded himself that if he had not been an invisible observer to many of those private lessons, then he would be no different from Johnathan. And no different from any other chimera for that matter. But because he had been privileged to bear witness to the teachings that in turn served to shape the lives of those few who had been chosen by the circumstances of their birth to do great things, a desire for knowledge had awakened within him, as well as a need to learn and experience new things.

As much as he hated to admit it, in the ten brief years that he had served the King family as a bodyguard, Kato had had his eyes opened to a world that had once existed beyond his limited understanding of it. It was a world that had been born not merely of politics, but of economics, philosophies and cultures. A world where the fate of an uncountable number of people rested even now on the shoulders of those chosen few. But if it was ever discovered that Johnathan had allowed him to be privy however unknowingly it may have been, to the more dangerous and elusive secrets of life among the established elite, then no matter what his supposed value may be, even the elder King would have him killed out of hand, if only to see to it that their own family's secrets were kept from falling into enemy hands.

Since Kato often saw no future for himself beyond what others had in store for him, he found that he didn't much care to think about what might happen if he was caught, and so continued to conduct his own studies in private anyway.

Dividing his attention between driving and watching as Johnathan dipped his fingers into the bag of Dust that Zack held, Kato couldn't help but watch as he brought them to his lips and began licking them clean. His eyes taking on a tell tale glaze as the drug started to hit his system, a look of unparalleled bliss unlike anything Kato had ever seen before began to spread across his face.

That smile, so like a serpent's, sent slivers of ice running down his spine.

What if there were side-effects no one knew about? Kato wondered. Dust was a relatively new drug after all, and besides, even if it wasn't illegal to test drugs on chimeras, there was no telling what prolonged or even sustained use might do to a person. Not that Dust would have worked on him the same way. With chimera biochemistry being geared towards more sense oriented responses the neural receptors that Dust was meant to act upon were simply much too different from humans to even predict the effects that such designer drugs might have on them.

Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, Kato said with just a touch of warning in his voice. “Maybe you've had enough.” He didn't particularly relish the idea of explaining to Johnathan's father that his son had gotten high on Dust, and worse, the things that he had done. But when it came time to make his monthly report, he was going to have to.

“Screw you,” Said Johnathan. “I'll tell you when I've had enough.” As if to make a point he said to Zack. “Hurry up and give me some more.”

Holding out the bag to him, He had secretly been sneaking some for himself every time he'd thought that Johnathan wasn't looking.

Slumping forwards, Kato simply sighed and wondered why he had even bothered to try. It wasn't as if he could actually do anything to stop Johnathan from doing the things that he did. Being polite never got him anywhere, threatening to tell his father only seemed to encourage him, and quite frankly, he was starting to think that short of beating the living daylights out of him, nothing would ever be able to get his attention.

“Would you look at the tits on her.” Pressing himself to the window, Johnathan forgot all about the Dust covering his fingertips and said. “Pull over.”

Kato looked out the window as well. Leaning against a nearby lamppost was a very well endowed white rabbit chimera. Wearing a tight shirt with a low cut skirt she was standing in a way that allowed her to show off all of her better assets. Kato just shook his head and said. “Your Father would not approve of you consorting with prostitutes.”

“What the old man doesn't know won't hurt him. Got it?” Johnathan readied himself to deliver a powerful kick to the back of Kato's head. “Now like I said. Pull over.”

Ready to refuse a direct order regardless of the consequences, Kato felt an all too familiar tingle starting at the base of his spine. Any further signs of unwillingness to follow orders from him would no doubt trigger the collar's paralysis mechanism, effectively bringing an end to any attempts at disobedience. Which was something that he felt to be a rather ironic design decision, considering that under the circumstances, he was the one currently doing the driving.

Gritting his teeth as he slowed the car to a stop, Kato said. “Understood, Sir.”