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[b][u][center]The Domesticated

Chapter 8

Sponsored by DuskCypher

by Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]

Brecht supposed that he should have seen that coming. The sudden murder attempt was something that would have been bred out of the more local Domesticated, even before they started their training. The ones that were born in human lands had learned long ago that humans were the ones in charge, and they knew better than to turn their arms on the ones that cared for them and ensured that they were better fed than the wild animals that they had surpassed. The ones from the wild, however, were still so attached to their old way of life that it was something of a miracle that they learned how to speak, let alone how to actually respect their new owners.

That, of course, was the official line on things. Unofficially, Brecht was still annoyed, even a little angry at having a gun turned in his direction. However, he understood that the hyena was still lost in the need to be back home, as impossible as that was.

[i]Even if you went back home, would you be able to be part of the tribe any longer?[/i] he wondered, looking over his shoulder to the part of the house where Eku was being kept. [i]I imagine that you would be isolated in short order. All the knowledge that you have, all the understanding of the world outside, would that do any good for you or your people? Or would you just be considered a madman?[/i]

There had been other Domesticated that had been released back to their people in the past. It had been an experiment that certain radical members of society had insisted on, to see if there was a way to prove that the Domesticated belonged among their own people, that they could be accepted back, even those that had been born among humans. It had been done, more as a sop for them than anything else.

It had, of course, been a total failure. Not only was the culture between the two different, not only were the born-Domesticated exposed to a life that they couldn't adapt to, but those that were returned after short-term imprisonment and no more than mild training were treated as utter madmen. Those tribes out in the distance had their own ideas of how the world worked, and those that returned to them brought ideas that didn't make sense. It was akin to someone claiming that they had spoken to God hoping for the credence that scientists had these days. It just didn't work.

Releasing them to the wild just wasn't an option. Once they were taken and exposed to the rest of the world, too much had changed. Brecht knew that the hyena would understand that, eventually, even if it took years. He hoped that it would take less, but he knew that it was not likely.

He sighed. So much for an easy sale.

[i]I might have to cheat with this one...[/i]

There were ways to incorporate greater loyalty with the collar, ways to enslave someone more utterly through different chemical applications. So far, he had kept the collar to a very mild use, enhancing the hyena's libido or ensuring that he couldn't move. Either of those were easy enough to handle, and they were something to be expected, Taking it further than that, however...

He had seldom used the collar like that. There had been a couple of rapid sales that had required it in the early days of his career, before he had gotten around to learning the finer points of Domesticated training, but it had been one of those things that had haunted him for the rest of his life. It did not create a true mind control system, but rather a sense of hazed, drug-flooded mental states, where the Domesticated in training had little choice but to obey, mostly because they were too high to be able to do anything else.

That would have been bad enough, but long-term use of those drugs inevitably led to mental deterioration, to the point where the drugs had to be fed to the Domesticated in question constantly just to keep them in that happy haze so that they didn't realize that there was something wrong with them. Those that found out...

Well, it wasn't a good time. Usually destructive, too.

[i]Not unless it's a last resort,[/i] he thought. [i]That doesn't work well with a security-trained Domesticated, anyway.[/i]

Shaking his head, he walked down the halls to the communications room. He sat down at his desk as Nina walked in shortly after, the mouse well-aware of the schedule. As he got comfortable, the naked female bowed over the phone that she'd brought along.

"I have all the information that I could find here, Owner."

"Alright. What are we dealing with?"

"A trust fund man, Owner, as you expected."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. How much is he worth?"

"Sixty million, Owner. Inherited, all."

"Hmmm..."

"He used to be worth one hundred million, Owner, but his spending habits diminished that by a large extent."

"Hmmph...Did he stop on his own, or was he made to stop?"

"I believe that legal measures were taken by the family administrators, the butlers specifically. They wished to ensure that the young master, as they called him on the phone, did not leave himself destitute before his thirties."

In other words, the young man was something of a wastrel, probably dedicated to his own comforts, possibly to the point of doing a few illegal things just to have the sort of fun that he wanted. That was not always a good, reliable buyer, but at the same time, that kind of money was hard to resist. Brecht tapped his fingers together in consideration, humming softly to himself.

"Do we have a name?" he asked.

"One 'Alton Schelton,' Owner."

"Hmmm..."

"Do you recognize the name, Owner?"

"I have heard of the Scheltons, but that's not saying much. Most of the wealthy families move in the same circles."

"Do you wish me to dial him, Owner?"

"In a moment."

He wanted to make sure that he had the right sort of questions in mind. Someone that didn't have much in the way of responsibility save for what was forced on him was someone that would seldom make a good master. He needed someone that would treat the Domesticated that he sold well, and if this was going to be a proper sale, he needed to lay down some ground rules. That said, this was someone that needed to be forced to stop spending money, and that meant that he needed to take this carefully. One step too far and too fast, and the deal might evaporate before his eyes. Too slow, and he would not get the concessions before the sale was due to be done.

Brecht tapped his fingers together three more times before nodding to himself. He held out the phone, Nina tapped the screen, and it was dialing before it reached his head. It rang three times before it was picked up.

"[i]Hello, Schelton residence. Might I ask who is calling?[/i]"

That sounded like a purring sort of voice, and he imagined that it was a Domesticated that had been given the chance to act as an answering machine. Not one of the better-trained ones, either. There was a lilt to the purr, suggesting that this one hadn't had the training to imitate human speech as well as some of his own wares. He pushed his personal judgment to the side and continued.

"This is Brecht, the trainer that your master was watching yesterday."

"[i]Yes, sir. I remember the name being mentioned.[/i]"

"I want to have a personal chat with your master. Is Alton available?"

"[i]He may be, sir. Allow me to ask.[/i]"

"I'll hold."

There was no hold music, of course. He didn't expect one that hadn't been trained to control their voice to be able to control the phone very well. He tapped his fingers on his desk idly as he waited, making eye contact with Nina. She took out a little notepad, writing something on it before holding it out to him.

[i]Anything you need, Owner?[/i]

He wrote back.

[i]Nothing yet. But be ready to fetch the accounts, if needed. Also, inventory, and training times.[/i]

For all that he had been in this business for a while, he didn't have all that information in his head. Records had their place, and in this case, the place of records was to remind him what he didn't want to remember all the time. Timetables and more were probably going to be needed for this.

The sound of footsteps on the line preceded the return of the feline voice. It was just slightly breathy, and sounded a little embarrassed.

"[i]Um, Owner Alton may be a trifle indisposed at the moment.[/i]"

"He's fucking one of his Domesticated, isn't he?"

"[i]I, um, I cannot say, sir.[/i]"

"That's a yes. Tell him that I called, and tell him that if he wants to talk business about the hyena, then I need to talk to him now. Otherwise, he risks a genuine auction, with buyers equaling his purchasing power and with less restrictions on them."

"[i]I, um, sir...[/i]"

"I would tell him. Do not let him let this deal get away from him."

"[i]...Yes, sir.[/i]"

The voice disappeared again, and he looked at Nina. She was smiling, probably believing that they were on track. He refused to believe that they were doing well until he heard the good things from the buyer. In this case, he had every reason to believe that they were dealing with something of a flake, and -

"[i]Hello? You're the dealer, right?[/i]"

There he was. Alton Schelton. He certainly sounded like a younger man, someone that was both hurried and nervous at the same time, the sort of person that nobody wanted in their classrooms, or in their boardrooms, because they were obviously not paying attention and just waiting for the chance to get back to what they had been doing previously. He shook his head. This was going to take a bit of work.

"Hello, Alton. You might remember me. Brecht."

"[i]Yes, yes, the one with the hyena. I remember. How much?[/i]"

"Steady."

"[i]I want him.[/i]"

"I've gathered that, but we have terms to discuss first."

"[i]What's the terms? I just want him, so sell him to me. How much do you need?[/i]"

"That depends entirely on what you want him for."

"[i]Oh. That's all?[/i]"

"That, and how long it takes to train him for that. I am not selling someone that is going to be discarded within a year for a different model. If you get someone from me, then you will never have to replace them. Or, at least, not until they are aging out of the system entirely."

"[i]They can age?[/i]"

Brecht slowly pulled the phone from the side of his head. Nina stared at the mobile as much as he did, the pair of them grateful that they weren't on video for that moment. The very idea that someone could be that stupid as to think that the Domesticated weren't immortal...

Shaking his head, he brought his thoughts back together. That had been a bit of a mental bomb, but he had to continue.

"I apologize. I have never been asked that before."

"[i]Well, I am good at thinking through to the heart of things.[/i]"

[i]Oh, joy, arrogant as well. This is going to be fun...[/i]

"I suppose you might be around others, Alton. For me, it's more that I have never been asked that question because it is a rather obvious one. The Domesticated live and die like the rest of us, and they are not unlimited. They have a similar lifespan to our own, and they do gradually slow down as they get older. However, provided that you treat this hyena well, you will likely receive a good thirty to fifty years of use from him, all other things being equal."

"[i]Hmmm...that's a long time...and a lot of responsibility.[/i]"

Barely holding back the urge to slap himself, Brecht looked at Nina and pointed at the phone, a 'see what I have to deal with' gesture if ever there was one. She mouthed an apology, and the call went on.

"It is, but that is the price that you pay for a Domesticated. There are many upsides to having one, and they are well worth the investment of time and effort."

"[i]I suppose I can have the servants care for him when I'm not using him.[/i]"

"Using him?" Brecht cocked his head to the side. "I was of the understanding that you were more interested in him as a security-trained Domesticated. Has that changed?"

"[i]Well, not entirely, but my servants refuse to allow me money for more sluts. I mean, I want a whole harem, but they demand that I be satisfied with twenty. Can you imagine just how boring that gets after a month?[/i]"

Spoiled, arrogant, and so far past the pale that he was already regretting making this call. It would be better to hang up on Mr. Schelton and get back to doing other deals, to finding other buyers.

At the same time, he knew for a fact that he needed that money. The sheer influx of cash that even 250k represented was something that would allow him to go for more niche, valuable markets, and that would be better for his business in the long run. More to the point, it would go a long way towards injecting some much-needed quality into those markets before the cheap, drug-trading Domesticated barns started getting worse. They were breeding them so fast and drugging them so hard that there was no way for them to really grow. They were the lowest-quality Domesticated on the market, the cheapest, and the most common. Most people didn't have the chance to buy the better ones because they just didn't see them.

But if he could break in on that...

[i]Think about the potential for the future. Do not explode. Do not give in to the rage he is making you feel right now...[/i]

"I can see the frustration there, Alton, but are you actually looking for someone security-trained or not?"

"[i]Well, I don't currently have one, but I would like someone I can fuck, as well.[/i]"

"I see."

"[i]Just haven't had someone like that, you know? Someone big and musky, someone with a nice fat ass like that.[/i]"

"I don't believe that the hyena currently has a fat ass, but there are exercises we can make him do that will build it up."

"[i]Fuck yes. Do that. Make sure that he has a big, fuckable ass, and those balls. Can you make those bigger? A bit muskier, too, so I can really get into that part of the fantasy?[/i]"

"And what fantasy is that, sir?"

"[i]The fantasy of a real feral beast, that's what. You gotta know this right? You train them all. I mean, hell, you do well with this one, and I'll fund you to get even more of the ferals. I want to see those bitches just get into it, to show them how much better humans are.[/i]"

There was the crux of it. Alton Schelton was one of those that not just played the human supremacist, but genuinely believed it down to the bottom of his soul. That was not someone that he would normally ever sell someone to, particularly someone that was as troubled as Eku was, but the combined offer of that much money as well as the fact that the hyena almost shot him just a moment ago made it an offer that he actually considered.

He tapped his desk a few times as he considered the possibilities. There were obvious problems with selling someone to someone like this, particularly if they weren't entirely trained. Someone that had to be a security officer was someone that needed to know how to fight, how to work against other Domesticated as well as other humans. They needed to be trusted with weapons, something that Eku obviously couldn't be just yet, and they needed to be able to take orders and - and this was the difficult part - how to give them, as well, particularly to other humans. There was an art to that, and not all Domesticated knew how to do it.

More than that, though, this would get a great deal more complicated if Eku was supposed to be a sex-toy as well. That particular role required almost the opposite style of training as the security officer training did. They were supposed to be relatively submissive - able to play the dom if their owner wanted that, but mostly submissive - and they were supposed to be very eager to please, very eager to take whatever was handed to them and work with it. That sort of training was completely at-odds with the aggression that was needed for the other role.

And more to the point, it was dangerous. The two of them combined would mean that the aggressive, possibly homicidal security officer was regularly intimate with its owner. That, in turn, meant that there were infinitely more opportunities for an assassination compared to the other situation. Eku, or someone like him, would have dozens of chances to kill their owner, and that...that was entirely too real a possibility just then.

"Are you certain that you need him trained for sex as well as security?" he asked.

"[i]I'd call it a dealbreaker if he wasn't. That's my main thing, you know.[/i]"

"I see."

"[i]So, how long's that gonna take? A couple of days? I can wait that long, but -[/i]"

"If you want proper training so that your handlers will believe what he's really there for, then you need to give me a minimum of two weeks."

"[i]Two weeks?![/i]"

"At minimum. Proper training for a believable security officer takes at least that long, and sometimes longer. It will be best if you do not expect him before the end of the month."

"[i]That's fucking bullshit! It doesn't take that long to train a sex slave![/i]"

"Does it take that long to teach them how to hold a fun properly, Alton?"

"[i]I - what?[/i]"

"A Domesticated trained for security has to be certified in firearms handling, as well as a number of other dangerous tasks. If you want to have a Domesticated that has that sort of talent to the point where your people will believe that he is actually trained, then you need to give me that time to not only train him in how to use them, but how to use them in such a way that he doesn't put you in danger. You wouldn't want him to reach for a gun while the pair of you were in coitus together, would you?"

"[i]...What's coitus mean?[/i]"

"...Fucking."

"[i]Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah, that'd be bad.[/i]"

"Correct. Which means that you need to listen to me, and hear what I have to say. I am going to train him properly, right up to the point of what you desire, but that means that you need to give me the time to see it done. Otherwise, you will not be getting anything, and you will likely wind up dead. Do I make myself clear, Alton?"

"[i]...Yeah. Yeah, you do. So...a month?[/i]"

"Approximately, yes."

He looked Nina in the eye, and she offered him the accounts. Provided that the military contract came through properly, they should be just about fine for the rest of the month, though it would mean hoping that the rest of their projects brought in more profits than expected. He would have preferred to have Eku's sale done earlier, but he knew what he was dealing with here. This sort of entitlement always needed special handling.

But if Alton backed out...well, so went the various deals that he needed. He waited, keeping quiet.

"[i]...I can wait a month. But no more.[/i]"

"I can ensure that he will be trained by then."

"[i]You better. I want the best goddamn fuck slut and slave possible.[/i]"

"You will receive the best from me. That's what I do."

"[i]And make sure that you get him good and sexy for me before you sell him.[/i]"

"He will be a fine Domesticated."

"[i]Oh, just call 'em what they are. Slaves. Sluts. Beasts.[/i]"

"I will see to it that he is trained. You are not paying me for my words."

"[i]I haven't paid you for anything yet, and I'm not paying anything until I get him.[/i]"

"Yes, yes, I know. Now...is there anything that I need to know about what you want from him? Sexually, that is?"

"[i]Oh, right, uh...I made a list here, hang on.[/i]"

Shaking his head, Brecht muted his end, looking up at Nina. The mouse didn't look best pleased with the situation, and he didn't blame her. It was something of a crappy one, all things considered, but they didn't have much in the way of options. He shook his head at her frown.

"Don't look at me like that."

"It's going to be a horrible sale."

"It's going to keep the rest of us afloat."

"You're willing to send someone that fragile to him?"

"Not entirely willing."

"Then why are you doing this, Owner?"

"Because it gives me a month to find another buy if I absolutely have to."

"..."

"We need the money, but we also need to keep him interested as a back-up plan. Otherwise..."

There were many buyers out there, many that wanted their own Domesticated. Most households had either a cheap Domesticated for labor or for sex, but not both. Those that wanted quality, however, needed to buy from someone like him, and that meant paying the premium price. That meant that the Domesticated on the lower tiers often ended up being treated less well to make sure that their prices weren't that high, and that meant that they were often replaced by those that used them too harshly.

Alton Schelton was someone that was guaranteed money, and if there were those that were keeping him from becoming an absolute idiot with his money, that meant that there would hopefully be some oversight into how he treated his Domesticated, as well. There was no guarantee, but it wasn't as hopeless a sale as Nina was thinking. However, even he was willing to take a look for other buyers. If there was someone that could even offer the base bid of 250k rather than the 500k that Schelton seemed willing to go to, he would take it. It would be a little rougher, but he would take it to keep from giving this asshole someone like Eku.

There was something to him that rubbed him the wrong way. He had dealt with various human supremacists before, those that took it further than 'unenlightened animals vs enlightened humanity' and took it to 'natural slaves and natural masters.' Brecht, for all that he operated in the system, knew that it was a matter of luck that humans had gotten to their place at the head of the pack the way that they had. The fact that they had all the power was more down to the technology that they had and the fact that they were in a much better place with numbers now, too. If they lost either of those advantages, then the whole race for equality would take a massive shift.

It was a good thing for his business that the Snatchers hadn't taken to shipping weapons to the various tribal people just yet. They were more interested in feeling good about stopping the Domesticated being enslaved in modern society than keeping any others from being pulled in, more interested in disrupting the trade and doing what they thought was good than they were with actually helping the beasts.

[i]Beasts...[/i]

He sighed, rubbing his forehead. Schelton still hadn't come back to the phone just yet. He was starting to think that the little shit was going to keep him waiting all day long before he finally heard the other end pick up.

"[i]Sorry about that, was trying to find where I hid it.[/i]"

"You had to hide it?"

"[i]My servants look everywhere for this shit. Always spying on me, I swear.[/i]"

[i]Can you find a better way to recommend against you ever, ever owning another one of the Domesticated? I don't think you can.[/i]

"[i]Anyway, I got the list, so, you ready for the kinks I need him to have?[/i]"

"Yes. Read them off."

"[i]Alright, I need him to like feet. I want him to have a thing for sweaty human feet. I want him to positively drool over them, to love the smell of a human, so that he can't help but get hard and wanting the minute I walk into the room, but I really, really want him to focus on feet. Can you do that?[/i]"

"It's doable."

"[i]Great. And I want him to be nasty, like, can't get rid of all his musk nasty.[/i]"

"That will be a little more difficult. Would you be satisfied with an implant that simulated that, so it can be turned off and on?"

"[i]That...might be better, but fuck...[/i]"

"It will be done. Anything else?"

"[i]Ass slut. Both for taking it up the ass and fucking mine.[/i]"

"...That is...different."

"[i]I'm real different, Brecht. And -[/i]"

He rubbed his forehead, knowing that this was going to take a while. Nina disappeared for a moment and came back with a cup of ice and whiskey. He nodded his thanks, sipping the drink and doing his best not to think about what else was going to come down the verbal pipeline before this was done. He doubted that it was going to be fun.

#

When the conversation was finally over, he put the phone down with every bit of care that he could muster, mostly because he was afraid that he was going to throw it across the room if he didn't censor himself. Nina was still standing on the other side of his desk, and she looked a bit pale beneath her fur. He sighed.

"It's not looking good with this one."

"You're going to be doing a lot of training, Owner."

"Yeah...and a lot of training that will fuck him for other buyers if I start too soon..."

That was the downside to the pre-training that Alton was asking for. The security-training would work for those that wanted an officer, but not for those that wanted labor. It could transition for bodyguard training, but not necessarily quickly or easily. There were a number of things that could and would go wrong with that, and he rubbed his forehead as he tried to think of a way forward.

Eku was going to have to take sex training, there was no doubt of that particular statement. It was just a question of whether Eku got the full force of that now, or more towards the end of the training. As much as he would have preferred to take his time, to give the hyena the chance to learn all the security-guard stuff before he got pushed into the other realm, he knew that he didn't have that option. He grumbled under his breath.

"Owner?" Nina asked.

"We'll start with pheromone induction tomorrow, give him the chance to start getting used to being turned on by smells all the time. Not something that I'm looking forward to, either, but we'll make it work."

"I'll have the shower skipped on your schedule then, Owner."

"I'm sure that you will..."

Shaking his head, he leaned back in his chair. This was precisely the opposite of what he had wanted out of this phone call. He had hoped to find out that this Schelton guy was going to be a good fit for his Domesticated. That...was not the case, nor was it the case that he would want to sell to this man anytime in the future. However, for the sake of his business...

[i]I really should look at going independent...just open up my own market or something...[/i]

That had been something that he had considered in the past, something that had been an option before the massive boom of cheap-sellers out there. He might have been able to target a couple of niche markets, but with all the bills that he had with the massive estate outside, and the various losses that he would take without the official connections that he had, it would be difficult.

But people like Schelton tempted him to try it. If he could just get through this...if he could just be sure that Schelton wouldn't cause problems in the future. The number of 'if-only's that he had to deal with were growing bigger and bigger, and he hated it.

"Nina?"

"Yes, Owner?"

"I'm going to sleep on this. In the morning, tell me if you can think of a better option here."

"I can think of several now, Owner."

"I know you can. But tell me in the morning, after you've weighed all the things that are happening with this one."

He got up from the desk and started making his way to bed. For all that he felt emotional about this now, he wanted to take some time to see if it was genuinely this bad, or if it was just something that he was feeling bad about. A few hours of sleep, even, should give him a hint as to what the truth was.

Brecht reached his bedroom. Unlike some of the other chambers in his house, it wasn't particularly grand, nor was it well-appointed. He had a public one that he showed off from time to time, one that he used for the purposes of putting a Domesticated in their place, but this was not that. This was simple, almost more of a cell than a proper bedroom, with just enough room for the bed and a place for his clothes, with nothing else. The only amenity that it offered besides the furniture was a charging port in the wall for his phone.

He plugged it in and laid down, taking off his shirt and pants. His underwear was sweaty, but he needed to leave that as it was for the training on the morrow. If they were going with pheromones, then he needed to ensure that Eku was going to get a proper nose-full of them. The fact that he had been fucked notwithstanding, the hyena should be more than ready for the rut once Brecht got started with him.

The human was just closing his eyes and was in the process of drifting off when his phone rang. He looked down at it, saw that it was coming from security, and shook his head. He picked it up, put it to his ear, and groaned.

"What is it?"

"[i]Owner, we have Snatchers.[/i]"

"Put them in the holding cell for tomorrow."

"[i]No, sorry, Owner, I mean we have Snatchers fleeing the estate.[/i]"

He sat up slowly, sliding his legs back over the bed. He grabbed for his pants.

"Which ones?"

"[i]Muto and Eku, sir.[/i]"

"..."

"[i]Sir?[/i]"

"Mobilize a search unit, now," he said, jamming his legs into his pants. "Get our best hunters read, and then meet me in the armory."

If they thought that they could just come to his estate and take what belonged to him, then the Snatchers had another thing coming. But it was anger second, practicality first. The Snatchers always operated under the same sort of routine. They would come in, grab some Domesticated, and then they would head back to wherever they were operating out of. Somewhere between twelve and twenty-four hours later, the Domesticated that had been seized would be released back 'into the wild' without any way of tracking them. They would never be seen again after that, and all his time, effort, and expenses would be wasted, since it would be unlikely that either of them would ever find their way back to him.

[i]Well, Eku...looks like you'll get to see what other humans are like before you're sold...[/i]

[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]

Summary: Brecht has a chat with a potential buyer and has a massive headache by the time that he's done. Then there's a bit of a disaster.

Tags: No sex, nudity, human, anthro, mouse, series, modern, slavery, master/slave, slave negotiations, money, worldbuilding,