FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

[Author's note: if you don't like the first part, try skipping to the 2nd part]

Doulos Laboratories

"... a slight shift in the hormonal balance can completely alter the behavior of most dogs. A small increase of one hormone and a decrease of another can turn even the most aggressive canines into submissive slaves. Of course there was some protest by various religious groups, but ultimately scientific utilitarianism won over religious idealism and slave pacification was embraced by society."

The otter tour guide then walked across the hall, her flock of tourists scuffling around her. She was dressed neatly in a stylish company suit, her face looking kindly as well as matter-of-factly. The attention of the group was then turned to the large photo on the wall, picturing a grey wolf whose ears were lovingly caressed by a panthress in a lab coat.

"This experiment is particularly well known by the public. On the photo you can see a lupine that underwent the pacification treatment. He had been captured in the wild, and as you can imagine, was quite savage when he was first brought in. For over a millennium people have tried to tame the wolves and submitting them into slavery like all other canine species after the second empire, but none had succeeded until then. Toby, the name that was given to him by his handler, was the first of his species to fully accept his life in servitude, something that would not have happened without the pacification treatment."

The tour guide went on:

"After Toby, the treatment was quickly put on the market, and after less than a decade over ninety-three percent of the slave population was pacified. But not until after the combination with genetic modification did people fully realize the potential of pacification. Plants and cattle were already modified extensively by then, but slaves were still bred like centuries before. That brings us to the next part of our tour, if you could step this way please..."

People crowded through the door that she held open, entering a large hall. One of its walls was completely made of glass, behind it were several dozen of barrel-sized containers. The otter again stepped in front of the group and continued her story.

"Geneticists were able to eliminate most of the undesired genetic traits of all canine species, like shedding and diseases, but they could also permanently shift their hormonal balance so that the pacification treatment was not needed at all. Later, when artificial incubation technology for cattle emerged, applying it to dogs was but a small step. "

She then looked at the transparent containers behind the glass, in which tranquilly floated small puppies. Besides the umbilical cord no other apparatuses were attached to the yet-to-be-born puppies, and despite the machine's high-tech nature it looked quite unlike your usual science-fiction movie. Every now and then one would contract his little paws or tail, as embryos are prone to do. These puppies were in one of the later stages, their fur already slowly waving in the fluids.

"Genetic alterations cannot be patented by law, but understandably the research for doing so is quite costly, so the big companies thought of another way of protecting their products. Instead of breeding dogs they genetically sterilized them and incubated them in artificial wombs. Now their carefully modified canines could only be purchased at their company, and to this date almost no natural breeding is practiced anymore. Now the companies' big investments were safe"

The otter paused shortly before continuing, allow everyone to absorb the information for a while.

"At first, dog slaves were specially tailored as the customer demanded. Fur color, eye color, height and to a certain extent even the character of each dog could be altered to each customer's wish. It proved of little success, however, as all the dogs breeds became a variation on the same theme. "People wanted their dogs to be unique, with their own unique fur pattern and body shape, so the corporation scientists soon came with a solution. They mapped all the genes that were not involved with health or other important processes, and allowed random mutations to occur in these genes, just like would happen normally. This way all canines were equally healthy and functional, but all had their unique appearances, and their prospective owners could pick from many different looks..."

One of the puppies was a husky with bright blue eyes and black and white fur pattern. Soon he will be born and raised by one of the companies handlers. He will remember nothing of his time here when he will be sold, however. No dogs ever did, the solution that is injected hours before they are bought made sure of that.

Doulos Slave Market,

Four years later

"And that finalizes the payment mister Richardson, I'll send you a copy of the contract at the address you provided us. You can take all of the complementary equipment with you right now, and may drive your car to the loading bay. On behalf of the Doulos company I thank you for your purchase and wish you good luck. "

"Thanks, have a nice day."

Daniel put the pen back on the desk, put on his coat, and grabbed the large box. It was Saturday and he was in no particular hurry, yet he walked slightly faster than normal. The tiger was excited to see his newest acquisition, so he wasted no time in getting back to his car. The box was nearly too large to put in the front seat, but after some coercion it was lodged securely between the dashboard and seat. When he drove the car to the loading bay he was disappointed to see a red car still being loaded. A fox was handed over some papers by an employee while a vixen was doing something at the backseat.

The tiger slowly drove his car behind the red one, but after seeing the vixen closed the car door and walked over to the other fox joining in the conversation, he turned off his engine. Daniel figured he might as well have a look at the complementary products the company had provided him and opened the box. In it were several items, the one on top was a black collar. The striped feline had to adjust his glasses to read the tag that hung from a D-ring. It read the name he had chosen, its backside stating that the collar's wearer was owned by him. A small metal plate was embedded on the inside, something he figured to house the collar's electronics.

The starting of an engine broke his concentration, and upon looking through the windshield he saw the fox couple driving away. He put the collar back into the box and drove to the spot the red car had been. After opening his side-window and exchanging the customary good-days, he handed over the papers to the bear employee. A few moments later he returned with a colleague carrying an unconscious husky body on a gurney, the husky wearing nothing but short cargo pants.

While his fellow-employee lifted the husky into the backseat, Daniel signed and exchanged the last paperwork. The tiger got out of the car and buckled up the unconscious husky, after which he patted the canine on his head and removed a droplet of drool hanging from his muzzle. He quickly got in the driver seat again, looked back and smiled at the newest addition to his household before starting the engine and driving off. It was still a long drive home.

After about an hour of driving a soft groan interrupted the swooshing sound of cars, prompting the tiger to look at the backseat through the rear mirror. The husky's furry ear twitched as he slowly lifted his head and elicited another groan.

"Finally awake sleepyhead?" the driver asked the canine, to which the dog opened his eyes and looked around with glassy eyes and uttered: "mmphf, where am I?".

"Well, you're in my car of course"

"Who are you?"

"I am your owner, Master Daniel..."

The husky was confused; he could not remember who he was, or how he got here. In fact, he could not remember anything at all. He tried to shrug of the haziness, but when he moved his arms his wrists were pulled back together by something made of metal. He looked down to see a set of handcuffs binding his wrists, and uttered:

"Am I a prisoner?"

"No, silly, of course not, those are just to keep you safe. Don't worry, they'll come off as soon as we're home."

Daniel knew that in this state his slave was still very open to suggestion, the stuff that they had given him erased most of his memory but tranquilized him as well, easing the transition to his new surroundings. The husky seemed to take it in quite well and finally asked the question the tiger was waiting for.

"What's my name?"

To which he replied with a smile:

"You are Jasper"