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Splicer had spent the better part of a month with his parents, Laguna had gone back to the facility to make 'preparations' but refused to explain beyond that what he meant. Splicer didn't mind, he got to use his own bed and talk with his parents more, he even had his siblings fly in as well so Splicer could re meet them all. He was loving everything, he spent the days out in the woods hiking with his siblings, hunting with his father. He drank the evenings away over an ever-running poker tournament they were running, despite knowing how to count cards, he was still somehow the worst at the table, much to his family's delight. He knew it wouldn't, it couldn't last forever and just before heading out for another hike up the mountain, he saw Jack and Blaine standing in the walkway. He knew it was his time to leave, he didn't want to but with a few tearful goodbyes and promises to come back soon, he joined his two former partners, now a strange new group of the various pieces of Evertech.

...

Splicer had arrived at the gates of the large manor, weeks had passed since his visit home and the subsequent return to the facility. He was told to pack all his belongings in his briefcase, he was wearing his ring and watch. He triple checked his suitcase for the fifth time that day making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. His old collar, the suit, the dildo and his knife set were all accounted for, with the addition of his black card which was directly tied to his debt account.

He wasn't sure why he was here, he didn't know where here even was, or why he had everything he owned in his paws. The gate opened once he stepped up to them, the wrought iron gate with a decorative C in the center slipped away, telling him it was time to move forward. There was no red box but he knew where he had to go. He took the long walk up the driveway, walking past a few fountains and gardens, he saw a familiar badger trimming some of the hedges. Joven looked up at him with an enthusiastic wave.

"Hey! Puppy! Good on ya for signing on!" Joven called out before turning around and getting back to work. He was naked, naked except for the white thing around his waist. Splicer blushed and turned his head away, not realizing that Joven was that kind of fur. He put an extra hop in his step not quite ready to process that realization.

"Oh hey, it's our new puppy!" The excited blue kobold answered the door when Splicer knocked, bouncing up and down. Dakota was wearing a onesie with a pacifier clipped on, this was less than a surprise to the wolf. But it confirmed his suspicions of where he was, Laguna's true home. He brushed passed Dakota still not wanting to process the oddity he's already experienced, there was a green glowing line on the floor for him to follow, and he had to know where it led.

He followed the line in his eyes until it came to a stop in front of a door, he reached out with a shaking paw and opened it, stepping inside. He saw a large crate against one wall, a mirrored panel in the wall, hiding a closet beyond its smooth surface, an ornate coffee table sitting in the middle of the room, and a smooth box, for dispensing food into his dishes. It was the same room as the facility only larger, and with a few other additions. One of the walls had a large chalkboard with a whole selection of different coloured chalks, he figured Laguna must be tired of needing to replace furniture. In one of the corners of the room was a large tub, looking more like a hot tub with how deep it was, Splicer began drawing a bath right away, as he set to work filling his chalkboard with tally marks.

Five hundred and seventy three, his bath was ready. He slid into the hot water and focused on the blinking red light on the corner.

Laguna really went all out on the immersion I guess. Splicer slid under the water.

He sat on the bottom for as long as he could, he rose, he sank.

Am I? Ok with this? No, I'm just... making the best of a bad situation... Splicer rose.

But, is this really a bad situation? He didn't have an answer for himself, he sighed as he kept playing with the idea back and forth, trying to make a decision between his exercises, he was still undecided by the time the steaming water had gone cold.

He got out and dried off, making sure to put everything he had away into the closet and leaving the knife set and sharpening stone on the table. The door to his room slide open and Laguna entered.

"So, do you like it? I didn't want to scare you with a whole new set up, but I have to admit, recreating that room cost you a fortune..." Laguna had his arms crossed looking at the wolf kneeling at his table, sharpening his knives.

"Cost me... a fortune?" Splicer pulled up his debt total, the number in his eye was double what it was last time he checked. He felt a whine rising in his throat and he stopped his sharpening.

"Oh, don't be such a baby about it puppy, we both know you need to sleep in your crate..."

"Not true, I spent the rest of my vacation sleeping in my old bed I'll have you know." He didn't let the badger's teasing get under his fur anymore, he went back to sharpening.

"Yeah, but we both know where you're most comfortable after all."

"So is this it, no more facility?"

"Well there's still all the other furs keeping it running, and you'll still be sent there every so often for testing and the occasional trial, but if you're complying, I see no reason to keep you there full time. I'm much more comfortable here, and really the only useful things you did out there was tending the garden and cooking. Those spreadsheets I had you balancing weren't even real..."

"Bastard..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, sir..."

"Better... So is that it, you're ready to call me sir?"

"I'll still call you what I want, when I want Laguna."

"Very well... puppy, I won't force you to if you don't want to."

Splicer was honestly pissed, hundreds of thousands of numbered cells flashed through his mind, all of them just a bunch of nothing, nothing he had toiled over for over a year. His fur was starting to bristle.

"So then, about my debt... I still gotta buy out my contract after all..."

"Of course, of course, you can work around the house doing whatever you see fit or ask someone who's above you what needs to be done. Which for the record, is just about everyone here... You'll be paid well, I'm sure you'll be pleased."

"Whatever you say..." Splicer was still seeing red, so many numbers...

Laguna left the puppy to deal with his rage alone, he was safe from any sort of retribution but still, he could almost see the blood inside the wolf's veins crackling with electricity. Splicer raised a claw and placed it to the ornate mahogany table, drawing a deep line through its surface.

Old habits die hard I suppose... Splicer was satisfied, despite it being his own property he was scratching.

...

He fell into a nice rhythm, he wasn't forced to do anything, usually. Sometimes if he spent too long doing nothing in the garden Joven would bark orders at him to get him off his ass and working, which he didn't mind at all. He liked working with the gruff badger, he had gotten used to the sight of his unusual outerwear and found that despite the rough surface they were rather pleasant to chat with, provided Splicer was working at the same time. He would join Aurich in the kitchen to cook meals more often than not, still learning as much as he could about cooking. He thought the facility's kitchen and pantry was large, but this place was downright excissive, the pantry was the size of a small library.

"Well puppy, welcome to the real deal. How does it feel for it all to be official?" Aurich said as they both sat crossed legged on the counter.

"I dunno Aur, I still plan on leaving eventually you know..." Splicer leaned back with a sigh.

"Of course you are, I'll miss you when you finally pay off that debt, how long will it take? Thirty more years?"

"Shut up, I'm actually making a good dent in it, my wages are insane here." Splicer wasn't lying, the debt was steadily decreasing. Laguna was probably sweating at this point.

"I suppose they would be, I don't really have a wage, sir Laguna just buys me whatever I want."

"Yeah, I suppose we're not all so lucky..."

...

Splicer was dusting a hallway, doing a bit of the butler duties he was asked to deal with that day, his debt was down to a reasonable number, he was going to be well and truly gone within a month's time. Finally free of his blue brand and nanites. He was dealing with a somewhat cheapish looking vase when he saw the blue kobold tearing down the hall, he knew something was about to happen. As he passed by the wolf, Dakota flicked his tail out, knocking the vase of the display table it was on.

Come on! You'll have to try harder than that. He caught the vase, balancing it on his foot.

That wasn't going to do for Dakota, he needed to make sure the vase was broken if he wanted Aurich to give him extra dessert that night, he kicked a scaled foot out sending the vase crashing into the wall, shattering it into pieces beyond repair. Splicer didn't expect that to happen so by the time he reacted the vase was well and truly gone.

"You motherfu-" Splicer began, about to tear into the small kobold.

"Hey what happened?" Laguna stepped into the hallway, right on time.

"Puppy did it!" The blue kobold flashed his tongue at the wolf before tearing off down the hall again, disappearing from sight.

Fuck, what a farce... "Come on Laguna, we both know you planned this... what are you, a poor sport or something?" Splicer huffed out knowing the next move that would happen.

"Puppy, that was one of my favourite vases..." Laguna couldn't care less about the vase, he literally just went out and bought the first vase he saw for this exact purpose.

"Come on... you can't be serious." Splicer whined out, pleading for mercy.

"Can't be helped, I'll have to add the emotional value of the item you broke onto the real value as well."

Splicer gagged as he saw his total skyrocket to the highest number he's ever seen, Laguna watched with smug satisfaction, knowing the number he set it to was well above any reasonable amount, but what the puppy didn't know was going to hurt him.

"No, please, sir, this... can't be real... NUMBERS DON'T GO THIS HIGH!"

"Well you know, it's hard to put emotional value to number after all. I had to guesstimate a bit."

Laguna was instead putting the number to the emotional value he had for the wolf, he couldn't just let his puppy slip away so soon after all, or ever. Splicer was left reeling alone in the hallway, he got a broom and dustpan out with a shaking paw and cleaned up the remnants of his freedom off the floor. He grumbled to himself in his nightly bath about the bad luck that was forced upon him, but he couldn't blame Dakota, he was used to the badger's set ups at this point and should have done better to protect himself.

Oh well, what's another few years of service? Splicer sank below the water, about to do another rigorous round of breathing exercises to clear his head.

He rose to the surface, there was an unfamiliar otter in his room now, he hadn't heard them enter as they stood there, in awe at the wolf's strange routine, he counted forty repetitions at least. Splicer had grown an innate distrust of otters over the last two years, but he still tried to stifle the bristling of his fur, he had caught glimpses of this one before, and he had a slight idea of who it was in front of him, Laguna's husband.

"Hello, puppy, or would you rather Splicer?" The otter asked him, it had been a long while since he had heard his true name.

"Splicer, if you would, but puppy if you'd rather."

"Well Splicer, my name is Nate, although I'm sure you knew that already. I'd like to welcome you to our house. I heard of the unfortunate circumstances of your pet hood long ago, I hope you're not too bitter about it."

The taste of his old life still weighed sour on the wolf's tongue, he missed it but he couldn't say he felt any ill will towards this otter, it was mainly his husband's fault in any case.

"I can't say I'm too enthused... but, aside a few issues... it, hasn't been, awful." Splicer chose his words carefully, he didn't want to give the wrong impression either way of how he felt towards his continued imprisonment. Despite the change of location, he still knew, based on the brand on his thigh, he wasn't free.

"Of course... I'm glad you're adjusting well!" Nate felt a little better about the situation, he really preferred his pets to be happy and aside from a light irritation he sensed in the wolf, he could tell they were at ease around him.

"Yeah, I mean, one day I'll be gone. I promise you..."

"Do you really believe that?"

Something about the otter's eyes made Splicer pause, he was never actually asked that question whole heartedly, it was always a stinging jab at him by Laguna or Aurich, but Nate's tone was genuine. His voice caught in his throat as he looked at the water below him. He dipped below, giving himself time to think. When he surfaced the otter's eyes hadn't changed, why were they so full of empathy? He wasn't used to that look anymore.

"I-I don't know what I believe anymore..."

"I see, please make yourself comfortable and don't work too hard. Your debt can be chipped away at slowly, and if you ever feel you need to talk to someone, I'll be here..."

Nate was gone, the wolf was shivering, tears formed in his eyes, he wanted to cry, he did cry. The compassion of the otter was something he missed most above all. Everyone else had some sort of smug teasing undertones when they spoke to him, not a malicious teasing, but it was teasing all the same. He sank, feeling the tears mix into the lukewarm water. He had almost forgot the sound of his own name on his someone else's lips. That night, he slept in his crate, drifting off.

"My name is Splicer..." He drifted off to sleep, feeling the otter's warm words lulling him to sleep comfortably.