Social Order

Part 3

Sean refused to settle down. He searched every corner of the tube for weaknesses. Nothing. It was flawlessly built. Meant to keep contained all manner of beings. Banging his fists on the tube in frustration, he had no choice but to relax. The tube was built similar to a coffin. Only instead of bedding, it was a weird comfortable gel material that form fitted to him. He hated that it was more comfortable than anything he had ever slept on. Most of the pets were napping as the truck traveled. None of them looked as afraid as he was. Nervous maybe, but for the most part they were calm and content. Staring across from him, he saw the Angel man running a hand over one of his wings. He was picking off loose feathers and shifting around a lot. Tight spaces didn't seem to agree with his wings. It was only as he looked him over that he noticed that every tube had a square paper taped to it and a red stamp with the Trader's symbol. Taking his time to read the paper on the tube to his left, he figured it out.

Pedigrees. These pets weren't just pure bloods of their species, they had gone through special training to be here. They were trained pets ready to find owners. He wasn't surprised that his own tube didn't have those marks of approval. The truck came to a stop after what felt like hours. The door rolled up, blinding Sean temporarily from the sudden brightness. While a middle-aged man in a white lab uniform rushed up the ramp with a tablet. He scanned the Angel's tube with a small pen, telling some Red Cyclone workers in grey uniforms behind him. "Take the Celestial to lot three." Two men jogged up to quickly unstrap the tube and very carefully carry it out. The man scanned Sean's tube and Sean banged on the lid violently. The man jumped back, giving him a bitter glare, before telling the others with disgust. "Oh... This is the Slum Mongrel they told us about... Great. He didn't even collar him... For fucks sake. The ignorant scum ball. Take this... This mutt to the bathhouse. We can't sell him covered in fleas..."

Two more Red Cyclone men rushed up to unstrap his tube and he threatened them loudly. "LET ME OUT SO I KICK YOUR ARSES!" The man in the lab coat ignored him but told the men firmly. "Make sure you muzzle him too. He won't sell with a mouth like that." Sean thrashed in the tube, trying to get the men to drop him. They didn't. They carried him to a lift that took him up a few floors in just a few seconds. Through a beautiful pink door that opened on its own; he was carried into the steamy bathhouse decorated in pink and blue tiles. Sean stared at the small open rooms with tubs where some pets were getting baths. Some pets perked up their heads from message tables to look at him with worried eyes, but just as quickly forgot about him. The men carted him into the farthest room that wasn't nearly the glamour show he had seen. The tiles in here were grey and the room was empty of anything. The most it had was hooks and shelves with collars and bars on the far wall. The men set the tube down as two other men moved into the room carrying large bath baskets. Sean swallowed in horror. The two new men looked human... except for their purple skin and eight arms!

One of the creatures set his basket down, gesturing for the delivery boys to leave. The other creature moved closer to look him over with pink colored eyes, tsking loudly as he told his companion. "What a mess they gave us, Octas. He's filthy. It will take us hours just to scrap off the first layer of that dirt. Damn it." Octas stretched his arm out at an inhuman length to lock the door with his handprint, answering his friend coolly. "Cleaning him isn't the problem. It's controlling him. These beasts put up a lot of fight. First thing we'll have to do is collar him, Madix." Madix nodded, stretching his arms out to grab a steel collar from his basket. With another hand, he reached out to tap a steel circle on the floor, revealing that it was a steel post as it rose into position. From the post, Madix pulled a retractable chain and locked it to the collar in a way that Sean didn't recognize. It looked magnetic... but he was positive that it wasn't that easy to pull off. Popping the collar open like a claw, Madix told Octas calmly. "Alright. I'm ready. Let him out."