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Andlat Fox and the House of Tomorrow!

Andlat wiggled impatiently as he listened to Jack talk with the head of programming on the House of Tomorrow, the place that he and Jack would be calling home for the next week. Somehow, Jack had gotten them chosen as the test family for a project that seemed straight out of science fiction. Andlat could not remember exactly, but he felt like there were automated houses just like this one in Ace Incredible. Everything seemed so sleek and stylish from the furniture in the living room to the kitchen that made everything for you.

"How about you go explore?" the head of programming, a kindly doe named Gwen, said to him with a smile. She had been full of comments about him being about the same age as her son, who had just started second grade. His embarrassed blushes at being considered a contemporary of some little cub had been mistaken as shyness by her, so she had mostly talked to Jack.

"I'm sure he's quite eager to." Jack said. Andlat got off of the couch, tugging up his shorts before the head of programming saw his undies. "Give me a kiss, kiddo." Gwen smiled as Andlat shyly kissed the wolf's cheek. "Be good."

"I think you'll like the bedroom on the left upstairs." Gwen said, pointing toward the stairs behind her.

"Thanks." Andlat said politely. Jack noticed the fox's paws grab the sides of his outfit as if he had been just about to curtsey, which made the wolf chuckle.

"Atta boy." He called as the fox hurried out of the room. Despite Gwen's suggestion to go to the bedrooms upstairs, Andlat wandered the ground floor first. They had had a tour, but it seemed more fun to get to explore without having to hold Jack's paw the whole time. He opened drawers, doors, and anything else he could find. He discovered that if you left a closet door open for too long, the house's automated systems would gently close it with hardly even a sound. It was a little disconcerting at first, but he quickly grew accustomed to doors closing when his back was turned. The house was not haunted, it was just advanced!

Andlat's jaw actually dropped when he stepped into the bedroom. Ace Incredible and superhero posters hung on the wall, there were plenty of action figures to play with, and even his own TV on top of a bookshelf stuffed full of books and comic books! The bed was a racecar bed, which seemed a little juvenile, but he could get over that. He could be very comfortable here for a week.

Opening the drawers, he found quite a few t-shirts and even colorful briefs with cartoon characters, just like the undies he currently wore. Jack had said that the house came fully furnished and Andlat vaguely remembered filling out a questionnaire about his interests, likes, and dislikes. Grabbing the remote from the nightstand, he flopped down on the bed and started to watch TV.

The door opened smoothly and Andlat looked to see if Jack had come to find him. To his surprise, a robot stood there. It had a vague person shape to it with two ears and a tail, but Andlat could not decide if it was canid or felid. All he knew for certain was that the robin's egg blue robot seemed female somehow.

"Hello there!" Her muzzle moved in a manner that made it seem like she was actually talking, nothing like the slow up and down motion of an animatronic. "The schedule mentioned that we had a little one this week."

"I guess"

"Oh! You are probably just a bit shy. I am a caretaker that purchasers can choose to add to the house for cub care." She smiled. "You may call me whatever you like." She stood there expectantly.

"How about 'go away'?"

"I do apologize, but I have a list of approved designations." She stepped into the room, moving quite gracefully. "How about this? How about you tell me your name?"

"I'm Andlat."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Andlat." She laughed. "I can tell that I will not have to do too much caretaking with you, will I?"

"Not really." Andlat replied with a shrug. The robot looked from him to the television and the TV turned off.

"Much better. We are having a nice chat and the television seemed to be distracting you." She smiled. "What do you like to do, Andlat?"

"Watch TV." Andlat replied.

"Oh, of course." She did nothing to turn the television back on and Andlat found that the remote in his paw did not work. She walked over to the dresser and opened a few drawers.

"What are you doing?" Andlat asked curiously. She looked over her shoulder.

"Well, I have been examining my caretaking programming as you do not seem as eager to converse as the others I have watched." She said. "Have you thought up what you would like to call me, by the way?"

"What are my options?" Andlat sensed that she might keep asking if he did not make an effort to respond. "Oh, I have a few hundred different names on my approved list." She said. "I am meant to be female, so they are almost exclusively women's names."

"I don't know." Andlat said. "I'm bad at making decisions. Can you pick for yourself? You must have a favorite." The robot paused.

"Well, it might take me a while to go through them." She replied. "But, I think I could find something that will work before too long." She resumed digging in the dresser. "Are you able to undress yourself?"

"Yeah. But why?"

"Well, my databanks tell me that a cub lying on his bed in the middle of the day and acting rather irritable may be in need of a nap." She smiled at him. "There are other possibilities, but this seems the most likely." She held up a set of rocket ship pajamas. "I hope you do not mind that I picked out some pajamas for you."

"I don't feel tired enough for a nap." Andlat said calmly. He knew that too adamant a protest would only prove to the robot that he needed a nap.

"I have the combined knowledge of several libraries worth of books on cub care, Andlat. I am considerably more knowledgeable on this matter than you are." She set his pajamas on the bed. "I can undress you if you continue to be uncooperative, but I must warn you that that could very well end with a spanked bottom." Andlat stood up and stripped to his underwear with a sigh. "Thank you, Andlat. Now, you don't need to go potty before your nap, do you?"

"No." Andlat replied sullenly. The robot handed him his pajamas and he dressed quickly.

"I apologize. Potty is a childish word. Would you prefer if I refer to it as going to the bathroom next time?"

"Sure." Andlat replied. "You have a lot of questions."

"I am not used to dealing with such an opinionated cub." She replied. "I want to ensure that you are cared for." She looked him over. "Is something missing?"

"I don't think so." The robot shrugged and tugged back the covers.

"Time for your nap, Andlat. Oh, and I am still thinking of a name. I have eliminated a few hundred names, but there are so many to choose from." She smiled warmly. "I am certain that you do not care about all that." She bent over and picked up his discarded clothes. She gave them a scan. "Hmm. I do not believe these are clean enough for you to wear after your nap. Your shorts have quite a bit of dirt on them, as well as trace amounts of some other substances. Some are quite typical of a boy your age, but others are not." She shrugged and took his clothes to the hamper. "No matter. Have a good nap, Andlat." He watched as she sat down in a chair and began to read a book that she had pulled out of her own body.

Andlat stared up at the ceiling, still not feeling very much like napping. He glanced over at the robot, but she never seemed to notice. Spying the remote back on the nightstand, Andlat tried to sneak a paw toward it

"It is naptime, Andlat." The robot said from the corner. "Go to sleep or lie there quietly. It makes no difference to me." With a huff, Andlat rolled onto his side so that his back was to the robot. He did not know if it was the excitement of the day or if he was just kind of used to getting a nap at least a couple times a week, but he fell asleep before too long.

?

"Time to wake up, sweetie." The robot cooed, gently pulling back the covers. Andlat yawned and stretched.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Oh, about half an hour." The robot replied, smiling. "I have decided to run a bath for you."

"Why?"

"Judging from how dirty your clothes were, I doubt that you are much better." She replied. Andlat stood up and started to remove his shirt, but the robot quickly took over.

"What are you doing?"

"Would you mind just letting me do this, dear? I am quite used to taking care of much younger cubs." Andlat begrudgingly acquiesced, blushing as she had him lie down his back so that it was easier for her to remove his pants and underwear. She looked at his chastity tube with the slightest confusion. "I see someone likes to stick a paw where it does not belong." Andlat's cheeks burned red. "Come along now. I am sure your daddy will want you back downstairs soon." She shepherded him out of the bedroom

"Have you met him?"

"No, I actually watched you nap the whole time. I was able to start the bath from your room." Andlat's nose twitched as he smelled a sickly sweet odor coming from the bathroom. He dug his heels in, but the robot smacked his bottom, making him yelp. "I will carry you if I have to. Little ones need their baths."

"Doesn't smell like a boy's bath." Andlat muttered.

"Come along now!" The robot's mechanical paws slipped under his arms and lifted him a bit off of the floor, carrying him along even as he wiggled and kicked. Sure enough, the tub had an abundance of pink bubbles.

"Let me go!" Andlat demanded, trying anything to get out of the robot's clutches. She did let him go, but only to drop him into the bubble bath.

"Behave like a big kid." She said sternly. "Just because I undressed you like a small kit does not mean you must behave as one." Andlat wanted to splash the robot, but he figured she would hardly even notice. On the off chance he somehow broke her, he did not want to know how Jack would punish him.

Sensing his mellowing, the robot kneeled down and began to wash him. The water barely came up to Andlat's belly button, so he sat there and pouted.

"I do not know why you are being so difficult." She said conversationally. "But I have been conducting research into it. It is possible you are constipated."

"No!"

"My thought exactly." She replied simply. "I did find one theory that I find interesting." She fell silent and hummed softly as she washed the fox's fur.

"What is that?" He asked.

"What is what, my little soggy woggy?" Andlat's ears flattened at the childish nickname. He cleared his throat and redoubled his efforts to sound mature.

"The theory that you found interesting."

"Oh, nothing." She replied. "It seemed less than properly peer-reviewed, to be perfectly honest." She smiled at him. "I hope the water is the right temperature. I can sense temperature to within a thousandth of a degree, but I find it difficult to account for personal preference."

"It's fine." Andlat said. She nodded and kept washing him. She was incredibly thorough, but very gentle. Andlat grew impatient, but she finally allowed him to stand up.

"All squeaky clean, just like a little one should be." She said, wrapping him in a white towel with big ocean blue polka dots.

"I'm not that little." Andlat protested as the robot dried him off. Wrapping the towel around his shoulders like a cape, it fell down to almost his knees, which made the fox feel rather little. He did not mention it though. "Did you, uh, ever decide on a name?"

"I did."

"What is it?" The robot laughed.

"I have heard that some little ones like being naked, but I see through your tricks." She swatted his rump. "Come on. Go get dressed." Andlat led the robot out of the bathroom, but skidded to a stop. The door to his bedroom was gone. Not just closed, but completely gone!

"Where's my room?" He asked the robot.

"Is someone lost? The warm water and bubbles must have relaxed you a bit too much, hmm?" To his chagrin, she picked him up and set the fox against her shoulder, rubbing his back through the towel. "No need to be so excitable. I know the way." Andlat looked over his shoulder and saw the door at the end of the hall open for the robot as she kept rubbing and patting his back. His ears flattened. He had a bad feeling about this.