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"Edison please don't take this wrong, and I certainly mean no disrespect, but I don't think Vrouflings will be making laser disks any time soon. That transistor invention of yours is a start, but to read or make a laser disk you need a computer, which uses millions of transistors. You do know what a laser is, I suppose, since we're using a Vroufling word for it."

"Yeah, we have lasers. You take a ruby rod and polish it on both ends, perfectly flat and in parallel planes. Then you silver one end of it one hundred percent, and the other end not quite so much, and bathe it with really bright light from a coiled xenon flash tube. They're really fun to play with, but kind of expensive, and I have no idea how you could use one to record sound."

"That gets... complicated. You start with a variable intensity continuous laser, not a pulse laser like you just described. And no, I have no idea how to make one of those. And that's just the beginning! If you really want a useful tip, I'd say you should forget the whole computer thing and learn how to make simple analog printed circuits for use in radios."

"Printed circuits?"

"Yeah. They're circuit boards you print all at once, instead of soldering the components in place. They're way cheaper to produce and -- hold on. Am I really supposed to be telling you all this? Won't the Yenta get mad at me?"

Edison laughed "No, they won't get mad at you. They might get upset with Lewis, though. The Yenta really like it when we Vrouflings invent new things, but they have some sort of rule among themselves against helping us too much. We're supposed to do it on our own, or it doesn't count. They break that rule all the time, of course. That's how we progressed from stone knives to lasers in just a thousand years. Still, if Lewis knew how much tech savvy you have, he might have chosen a different musician to recruit. If you want to do him a favor you'll play dumb on that, and not talk too much about the incredibly valuable tips you just gave me." Edison cocked his head and perked up his ears in a disarming border collie way, trying to make things easy, but my own ears pressed flat at the mention of Lewis' name. "I'll think about it," I growled, and Edison murmured "Yes, or course."

I gave him an incredibly valuable tip? Just how smart was Edison anyway? What could he see that I couldn't?

We slipped into an awkward silence, then, until a stir of movement around us drew our attention to a Vroufling orchestra filing into the ballroom. The musicians set up their instruments, warmed up briefly, then swelled exuberantly into the drum-heavy rhythm of a Vroufling spiral dance. Edison shyly reached out to me and asked "Would you care to dance?"

He was not mad at me? Really now! This collie was treating me far better than I deserved. I couldn't seem to stop viewing his people through the eyes of my human past, but that was wrong. I was a Vroufling now, and I would be until the day I died, and then I realized that Edison's incredibly indecent puppy breeding proposal was in fact the most sincere compliment he was capable of giving me.

I took his paw-hand eagerly, grateful for the distraction, and he lifted it to his lips. He kissed it and I stared back at him, flummoxed again. Was I supposed to giggle now, like a schoolgirl? Well... it was all about money so I smiled, and wagged my tail. "Sure, let's dance," I said. Together we walked arm-in-arm onto the dance floor where other Vrouflings, and even some Yenta, were organizing themselves into a spiral. And I remembered dancing with Natan, and how much fun it had been, and I smiled to myself as we took our place. I put my arm around Edison's shoulders, and he put his around my waist, and we danced together, my beads clinking softly, both of us spinning and dipping in synchrony with the other couples in the spiral. It felt really comfortable to dance with Edison. His eyes where so bright and intelligent looking, his expression so happy as we danced together, our tails wagging, that it just made me feel happy to be a Vroufling bitch and to get to experience something like this. I was actually dancing with a real genius, and he was even a nice guy! I sighed, fantasizing for a moment about being a mother to the puppies of a genius inventor... then caught myself and growled, softly, flattening my ears in exasperation. Dammit! Vroufling bitch mommy hormones? Must be. I never thought that way when I was a human male!

Edison nose-booped me, drawing me suddenly back to the here and now. He looked into my eyes and said "You seem distracted! What's on your mind?"

I sighed, and forced my ears to perk up brightly. I replied "Nothing," and shook my head in bemusement. I was trying, really I was, but I was still having troubles coming to grips with what I was thinking and feeling in this collie-woman body of mine, especially after having just come out of heat, and now I was pregnant? But this was my life now... I pulled Edison closer to me, not wanting him to think he had displeased me, and put all my attention to dancing, and flirting, and enjoying the moment that was now.

This first dance was a Vroufling change-spiral, meant to break the ice and let strangers get to know each other, so when a sudden chime rang we all stopped, and took the one nearest to us as our new partner. My new partner was a Dalmatian who said his name was Ergor. "I'm Larry," I replied, and we stepped up to each other and began to dance. He complimented me on my scent and beauty, and I complimented him on his grace as a dancer. And it was true! One day, perhaps, I'll be able to dance like that too. I went through several more Vroufling partners, and every one of them complimented me on how beautiful I was, and on my scent. And that made me wonder if my new body had been designed this way, just to attract guys... But I had to admit it was a lot of fun. Every Vroufling around me had a wagging tail, to one degree or another, some of them just like my own. And every partner I danced with seemed so handsome, just in a different way as a different breed... I guess it was all those hormones, again. I mean, the scent of the all the male Vrouflings around me, and dancing up close with them and, well, it really turned me on. I kept flashing back to when Natan was making love to me, and I just couldn't help but smile and giggle a little at the memories as we danced.

My next dance partner was a Yenta, in some kind of medieval garb that looked like something a prince would wear. And he had a purple cloak clasped by a silver rose brooch. He also had those oddly small shoes like Lewis wore, and at this point I was pretty damn sure that Yenta had cloven hooves for feet. He bowed low, and took my paw-hand in both of his, and said "You must be Larry! Lewis' new protege. His guardian was telling me about you. She said you have his eyes... and it's true! Who would have guessed? She gave me this token for you."

He reached in a pocket and brought out a pendent necklace -- a tiny jade-green fox on a golden chain. Or maybe it was a collie. Too stylized to really tell. I leaned forward at his gesture and he slipped the chain over my head, but when I tried to thank him for it he shushed me gently, and said "Some other time, perhaps. My name is Narcelia. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The couples around us swept into movement and we did too, and as we danced, some things occurred to me that I really wanted to know. And now might be a good time to get some answers. I leaned close and asked "Narcelia... why did the Yenta create Vrouflings?"

Narcelia raised his eyebrows in mock surprise and replied "So bold! Is it always the human custom to ask such questions while dancing?"

I dropped my ears in embarrassment and told him "No. It might be considered bad manners."

Narcelia laughed and said "Bad manners! Don't you know we Yenta melt into a puddle of sulfurous ichor at the touch of bad manners? Or perhaps I'm lying about that. A duel is the way we deal with such slights. Yes, we should have a duel. If you win, I'll be dead for a few hours, and if I win you die the real death. Does that sound like fun?"

I growled "No."

"As you wish. And the answer to your question is no secret. It's like this: Vrouf was originally a sort of dinosaur theme park and biological test world. We Yenta ran it that way for quite a long time, but interest in the project gradually faded and a thousand years ago, more or less, a group of us had the opportunity to buy it for a very attractive price. We left the dinosaurs alone, mostly, and created the Vrouflings to live here too."

"Yeah, but why?" I asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

Narcelia sort of shrugged, and replied "Well, some of us think you make great pets."

I could only stare, my mouth gaping wordlessly. We make great pets? I was brought here as Lewis's new pet? My vision blurred and I stumbled, almost falling. Narcelia caught me and said "Hey! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," I managed weakly. "It's just a pregnancy thing," I lied, offering up the first excuse I could think of. I got a hold of myself and went back to dancing with him. I'm Lewis's fucking pet? That explained a lot!

"Oh, you're expecting! I'm so happy for you!" Narcelia said, grinning a snaggly-toothed devil smile. "Do you know how many yet in your litter?"

"Um, no. I'm told four to six is typical, though..." I thought again about a crib full of a half-dozen crying, yowling little puppies that constantly needed to be wiped and changed...

"Well, I wish you luck," he said with that demonic-looking Yenta smile, and then the chime rang again and we switched partners.

My next dance partner was a big Rottweiler type, about as big and muscular and dangerous-looking as they come. He was much taller than I was, and looked strong enough to throw me across the room. We bowed to each other and began to dance, not even asking each other's name. As a male I might have been intimidated but now... I found all that muscle rather nice - sort of comforting. I held him close, savoring the big male's scent, but I was burning with questions now. I couldn't help but look up and ask him "Are we all just pets in a Yenta petting zoo?"

The Rott smiled down at me and said "Lovely lady, they are so far above us... I guess it sometimes seems that way. But think of all the things they've given us!"

Well, that didn't exactly jibe with what Natan had said earlier. And now I was starting to wonder what was really going on. But the spiral kept moving, and we kept dancing, and eventually I ended up right next to Natan, who was partnered with an obviously pregnant pure white malamute bitch. And I couldn't help but cock an ear and listen to their conversation.

Her name was Arcta, and Natan was the sire. I watched from the corner of my eye as he asked her how their pups where doing in her womb, and she told him they where doing fine and she was so happy she had been given the chance to have Natan service her. The contract had been honored without a hitch, she said, and she had already received her first payment, and she was really excited about her new job as a breeder bitch.

I turned away from the happy couple, my ears burning at what they had heard. I wanted to slug him! But then the chime rang and it was our turn to dance with each other. My emotions where in such turmoil at this point I was actually starting to cry a little as I stepped towards... the father of my puppies. He was grinning at me, tail wagging. I whined softly and at once his ears dropped in concern. He stepped up to me, his familiar scent at once comforting, and licked the tears from my eyes. He said "Larry! what's wrong? Did someone hurt your feelings?"

I took a deep breath and let it out with a deep sigh. I asked him "Natan... is there somewhere we can be alone?"

"Sure," he replied, giving me a worried look. "They have private rooms. Come on, you can tell me all about it and I'll stick my foot-paw up his ass as painfully as possible." He smiled at me then took my arm in his and led me away from the dance floor, and towards an intricately engraved bronze door with a desk beside it manned by a poodle-guy in a tuxedo. And that's when I realized that every Vroufling I had seen at this ball had been a pure-breed of one kind or another. But what did that mean for our puppies? I put my hand-paw to my lower belly and sniffled. God, I felt so alone on this world, stuck in this strange dog-woman body. Except for Natan. Thank God I at least had Natan.

We walked up to the desk and Natan said "Room, please," and the servant-poodle said "Room 9," and handed us a bronze skeleton key. As we walked away I thought Really? A bronze skeleton key? But of course, the whole place was patrolled by insanely high-tech robots, so a genuine crime would be really difficult to get away with.

I was beginning to feel better as Natan led me to the room, but I still had so many questions, and my emotions where in such turmoil as he opened the door and then, "Wow," I breathed, staring at satin and silk and handcrafted woodwork everywhere. Queen Elizabeth's bedroom must look like this! It even had exquisite Vroufling art on the walls!

Natan closed the door behind us then turned to me and growled. "Who was it? And what did they say?"

I sighed, at a loss on how to break the news to him. I asked "Natan, are we pets?"

Natan blinked, clearly confused by my question. "Um, I'm going with no?" he replied in his deep gravely voice. Then he said "What do you mean?"

"Well, a Yenta told me the reason they created Vrouflings is because we make great pets."

Natan stared at me, ears flattened to his head, and sighed "Look, Larry, all that matters is that we are alive. And that we have each other. Nobody really knows why the Yenta created us. They won't say."

"Narcella was ready enough to talk about it."

"Narcella was yanking your tail. He does that. Everybody has a theory, I suppose. I'm pretty sure we where made for a purpose, though."

"Fuck!" I yelped, and once more tears came to my eyes. I was a fucking theme park exhibit! "Larry, are you alright?" Natan asked, clasping me on the shoulders and looking me in the eyes. I laid my head on his shoulder and whined, softly. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me, swaying me gently. "Larry, Larry, it's okay. If you want, I'll kick that Yenta in the nuts for you."