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"I want you on your best behaviour, Doggie. We have a very special guest." The tall, lithe Feline wore long, sleek boots, tight, long pants, a military cap, and many straps and buckles about his arms and chest; Doggie only wore his collar.

Gallowtail gave a silent nod, preferring to look at one of the private cells on the far end of the room. Doggie graciously knelt before the uncaring Mare, but then he made a mistake.

He placed a gentle kiss on one of her hooves without even asking permission.

The Rabbit at her side, who was only known as Muffin, gasped in melodramatic hurt shock. Doggie looked back up at his Owner, seeing how disappointed he was. Gallowtail didn't even turn her gaze as she said, "I thought you'd trained him better than that."

"Sorry, Mistress," Doggie whimpered. Gallowtail sighed.

"Gag him."

"As my Lady wishes." His Owner whispered into his ear as the gag was stuffed into his mouth, as he was tied to the cage on the floor with his tail held high.

"The Lady of the Collar is not your Mistress," Muffin told him, "and no male may ever touch her." She turned to his Owner and asked, "So, what do you think he deserves?"

The buckled Feline thought for a while, brushing his fingers along a rack of tools against a wall. "Would it please your Lady to hear Doggie cry?"

Gallowtail gave a quick, tiny nod.

"Then he deserves... The paddle. Then the cane. Then the whip." He picked each tool off the rack, laying them in front of his Doggie's face. "But first..." He stretched his arms out with a long, low purr, and raised the rolled-up newspaper over his head -

"STOP!"

The cell Gallowtail had been watching burst open. A portly, panicky Canine in fancy clothes rushed over to snatch the paper away from the Feline, who danced away from every rushed grab. Both Mistress and pet held their heads in their hands and groaned.

"Calm down, please; we went over this." She reached out, almost touching the stressed Canine, who stopped. "Thomathy, I apologize on behalf of my guest; he lacks respect. We can reschedule."

"Your guest? Oh. It's an honour to meet you. Come on, Doggie." As soon as he was untied and the gag removed, he rushed to his folded-up clothes and looked at everyone in the room with scorn.

"Why did you bring him here? What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

Gallowtail crouched down to the hurt Canine, and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry. I betrayed your trust with a foolish risk. He demanded to be here, to see without understanding, but we're all going to change his mind. It was my idea, and I should not have done this. Thomathy? Please protect him from me."

Thomathy gave a quick curtsy and rushed to follow his pet out of the room.

Muffin went to return the tools and ropes to their proper places, while Gallowtail coldly interrupted the Councillor's demand for clarification.

"He works for you. He said he struggles against a demanding schedule that doesn't care about him. He feels distanced from his friends; his mate. She is also here, training for Ownership, neither wants the other to know. Ireline was planning on arranging them together, but now I think we should just encourage them to talk with each other when they can. Now, what did Ireline say?"

Councillor Langston stopped mid-huff. "I know what - what they said. Are you saying I was the one who forced him here? Why would he deal with suffering with more suffering?"

Muffin stomped up to him and fumed. "Listen to her, you dunce! You've been sucking the intimacy out of everyone's lives, you never listen to anyone, and I went to one of your warehouses! Why would you get people to make too much stuff, then limit it? And you think we don't respect anyone!?"

"Well, clearly I can't be held accountable if someone decides, in confused desperation-"

"Actually, Councillor, many factory workers have similar complaints. They feel as if the nature of work is changing. They fear they may have to accept systems such as yours to survive; systems that treat people as just another form of abstract currency. But in here," she spread her arms, "people know they're understood. Everything they endure must be tailored with care. They are, above all, respected, and their duty is a simple one: obey."

"...and you want to convince me that I'm the evil one here, and that you're all just, what, pretending to be evil?"

"When you put it that way, why not? It's those who pretend to be good who are the troublesome ones."

"But why do people want to trudge down here and-"

"Everyone has their own reasons," She interrupted again. "You came here to prove yourself superior, was it not? That we would try to torture you, but that you would emerge victorious? You know what I am capable of, and you rudely invaded the privacy of another after promising not to. Do you even feel guilty at all?"

"Well, what would you have-"

"Don't look me in the eye unless I let you." He immediately dropped his gaze. "Undress, at least as much as you can. Don't even ask, male. Repulsive as you may be, I'm willing to endure this for your own good." Something in her gaze, the tone of her voice - she went from stern governess to caring matron, seductress to medical specialist, and he'd been letting her interrupt him this whole time.

He was only able to strip to the waist, folding his clothes as she told him to, and laying them in the corner of the room.

"Stand up straight, arms behind your back. Muffin, please fetch me some rope."

Muffin grinned at him as they slid the rope around him, tying his arms behind his back, looping around his chest, the trailing end resting in Gallowtail's hand. He reminded himself that they were only able to do this because he had let them, but it didn't give him the resolve he'd hoped. Muffin tried buckling something padded around his knees, but a tug on the rope brought his attention forward when he tried to look down.

"Eyes front! Muffin, I think Pet here needs a set of blinders as well."

"Okay, Mistress!"

More equipment was slipped on his head, blocking off his peripheral vision.

"On your knees, now. Quick, quick!"

He stumbled forward as his leash was pulled, but the knee pads made his landing soft. At her control of the rope, he pitched forward on his chest, the ropes pressing between him and the floor. Gallowtail brought a hoof forward until he could feel the metal of her shoe press gently against his face.

"Tell me, Pet: how much do you trust me?" He couldn't open his mouth enough to answer, so all he could do was whimper.

"I think he's afraid you want to stomp him, Mistress." Muffin crouched down to watch him carefully. As the hoof was lifted, he spoke quickly.

"I don't trust you enough to put your hooves on me!"

"Then let's walk instead. Come on, Pet, let's go!" She tugged on the leash, too quickly for Pet to be able to get to his feet. She led him around the room, crawling on his knees, his entire torso pulled forward by the rope. He couldn't see where Muffin was, or what she was doing. When he was left gasping for breath, Gallowtail sat down on the cage and asked him again, "Now then, how much do you trust me? Take your time."

"I... I don't know." He pulled his tongue back into his mouth, thought for a bit, and squirmed against the rope. It didn't cut into his skin, but it held him securely.

"In that case, do you think you understand us a bit better?"

"You just tie people up and drag them around on their knees?"

"Oh, we only reserve that as an introduction for the biased and worried. Perhaps you need a simpler question: how do you feel, now? Do you feel good? Relaxed? As if your cares and troubles are long gone?"

He took a deep breath, but Muffin whispered into his ear. "I feel that way all the time."

"I... I feel insulted and frustrated, to tell the truth."

"Humiliated?"

"Wasn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes, but not for the reasons you expect. Once you surrender your ego, you will feel refreshed, at peace with the world. You may even become a better listener. Would you like Muffin to untie you now?"

"Actually," his eyes fell to the ground, "I'd prefer it if you would, or would I have to debase myself further?"

She grinned to herself, but said, "no, you've had your fill." She was careful and precise, effortlessly slipping off the rope while occasionally turning him around. Muffin took the pads off his knees without him noticing.

"I can honestly say it was a pleasure, Councillor. Your clothing is where you left it. Ireline will be ready to receive you in a week from now."

He paused. Trying to hide his rush of revulsion only made it more obvious. "You expect me to return for - for torture from the others?"

"Of course! We wouldn't want a report based on incomplete information now, would we?"

"Science isn't just about proving what you want," Muffin grumbled, "Or ignoring what you don't."

Councillor Langston gave a long sigh. "Then if I have to be locked up here, may I at least-

"We wouldn't dream of it!" Gallowtail feigned offence. "You're very busy, as are we. Take some time to reflect on experiences, ask questions... Consideration. One week from now, at the same time, the Keeper of Woe will be waiting. Muffin, please see the Councillor off."

Walking down the hallway, Langston broke the silence by asking, "May I know your real name?"

"But Muffin is my real name," Muffin said with a sarcastic giggle.

"You know you aren't doing a good job of convincing me."

"Why should I? You'll only hear what you want to."

"That isn't true! That is, if what they said is true, and they'll stop when I say so, then I really have nothing to fear. So I shall return next week, and hear them out. Is that what you wanted to hear from me?"

"It's a start, at least. Well, we'll see you next week!"

As he stepped out into the evening light, the rich Canine thought back on recent events, and felt a strange tightness in his chest that he had never felt before. It made him wonder what he'd have to endure next.