Meeting Merle, Redux

Ch 1- Food, Tradition, and Humans.

I suppose it was a nice day when I went to get her. A bit cloudy, sure, but it wasn't cold or raining. It was an hour long drive to the dealer and the clouds meant I didn't have either sun in my eyes. It was the best I had learned to hope for on Ueme. Jeiko was a much nicer planet, I had definitely taken it for granted.

   
I had already started to miss Jeiko, and not just for the weather. I missed the food, my family, the humans. Still, tradition held true. I was sent to Ueme just the same as Grene had, as everyone in my family had, from my great grandfather to my siblings.

   
When I was three quarters of the way to the dealer, I spotted a few restaurants on the side of the road. As eager as I was to rush my way to my destination, I was hungry. The kicker was the sign above the place, which read, in large, neon letters, "Jeiko cuisine". I had been in Ueme for less than a week, but being so far from home had made my homesickness so much worse.

   
Inside was less than nostalgic. The décor was reminiscent of where I'd grown up, but in a fake, overly dramatic way. Our planet's banner was stained and hung upside down, the traditionally metal cutlery was a cheap plastic. My family had always been a traditional one, but I couldn't imagine many of us from Jeiko wouldn't have our stomachs turned by the blatant disregard to thousands of years of progress and history.

   
I took a seat and punched my order into the ordering device, skimming through the disturbing hybrids of Ueme and Jeiko food that made up the menu. Nothing used the right ingredients, looked quite right, or was described correctly.

   
The food wasn't nearly as bad as it could be, but I didn't enjoy eating any of it. Everything I tasted was off, every mistake or inaccuracy stood out to me like they were a red stamp on a piece of art work. Still, I ate every piece and thanked my server as I paid.

   
Back in my vehicle, I continued speeding down the road. It was just a few minutes before the "building" of the dealer was within full view. It was really a huge series of cages more akin to a zoo, full of nearly every pet species available on the planet. From Jeno to klomkis, and of course, humans.

   
Humans were generally considered a semi intelligent species. They had societies, language, art, and science. Still, they lacked the requirements to be considered a fully intelligent species. They had yet to colonize a second planet, discover another intelligent species, or live alongside that species. They were afforded more rights than an unintelligent species, but weren't given the rights of a canum intelligentes, such as myself.

   
Still, my people had long since regarded humans as a wonderful companion and loved friend. Although known for violence and an irrational nature by many other intelligent species, Jeiko people valued their potential for kindness and loyalty over any traits they exhibit in the wild. The importation of wild caught, untamed humans was largely banned on Jeiko several decades ago due to the cruelty they experience in capture and transit, only leaving captive bred humans. Ueme, however, had no such ban. Despite being Jeiko's sister planet, Ueme had few of the traditions of Jeiko. Humans were any other house pet and the cruelty they experienced on Ueme was inflicted with little regard to the care they would be given on Jeiko.

   
Before stepping through the gates of the Dealer, I had to prepare myself. Take a deep breath, prepare myself for the conditions the humans would be in. They were housed outdoors, regardless of weather. The patches of soil that surrounded the walkway were muddy from the weeks of rain the planet received. A glance at the enclosures holding other animals showed the cages to be floorless, leaving them in mud pits half the time.

   
Finally, I came across the humans. They were separated by gender, females on the right and males on the left. My heart sank when I saw them, despite my mental preparation. Both groups huddled in the back corner of their cages when they saw me, cowering in their muddy clothes and only peeking for a moment to watch me. It was sickening to see them treated so poorly and my mind flashed back home for a brief moment after seeing them.

   
I could just see Lyndsey. Instead of goofing around and pestering Aspin or Jak, cowering just where the humans in front of me were now. The human I've seen sob after stubbing her toe would be covered in mud and hiding.

   
Well, tradition was tradition. I called an employee over and let them chose the human themselves. They most likely would chose the one they wanted gone the most, the one they liked the least, or perhaps just the easiest one to catch. The humans all ran, of course. Humans are slow, though. It took thirty seconds for one of the humans to be caught, a female. They didn't even try for a male, but judging by how aggressive many of them seemed, that was for the best.

   
I tried to stay cold, keeping my distance from the human they caught and ignoring her sobs and tears that had started the moment they touched her. They carried her all the way to the the cage I'd set up in the back of my rental car, dropping the muddy, sobbing, and all together depressing girl onto the blankets I'd thrown inside.

   
She wasn't expensive at all, the salesperson offered her at a discount because she'd apparently been there for ages. I started home with the heater turned up. She was shaking nearly nonstop, and while I knew it wasn't all the cold, the warmth seemed to calm her at least a little bit.