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A familiar clicking sound rang out, and Sam stuck out his hand, catching a piece of popcorn chicken in his palm. The door to his room closed, trapping Sam inside until the next time Ellie or her mother decided to let him out. Sam exhaled as he went over to the wardrobe before changing out of his clothes, which still smelled like the human park. He glanced at the bed, at the lump under the blanket representing Raindu, and went to shower instead of disturbing the ferret. As the hot water washed over him, a sigh escaped from his mouth.
Lately, Et Serpentium was feeling more like home than his actual home in the city. Then again, his home in the city technically—if one were a stickler for rules and the law—wasn’t his home. Back in the city, there was no one who cared about him; no one paid him any attention except to avoid him lest he get too close to their pockets. In Et Serpentium, someone greeted him with a smile and a treat every day; it was no wonder why everyone in the human park looked so happy compared to the talentless he met in the city.
Sam sat down, on a stone bench he had requested from Ellie a while back, letting the water flow over him. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation for a while before focusing on the space between his eyebrows, visualizing a field of made of candy. In there, he saw a black ferret poke its head out of a patch of edible grass. “Hello,” Sam said to the ferret in his mind, his body remaining completely still under the flowing water.
“Sam,” Raindu said, its voice inhuman, as if pieced together by harmonizing different sounds made in nature. “Hello.”
“How are you doing?” Sam asked as he took a seat on a squishy bench. He wasn’t quite sure if whatever he was sitting on was supposed to be a bench, but if it didn’t want to be sat on, it shouldn’t have been at butt-level.
The black ferret grabbed a candy flower and bit one of its petals off. Raindu blinked its mahogany eyes at Sam. “Good.”
“Alright,” Sam said and slapped his thigh. “Well, I should get going now.”
“Okay,” Raindu said as it chewed on the petal and watched Sam stand up. “Goodbye.”
Sam exhaled and turned his attention towards his breath, breathing in deep, holding it for three seconds, and exhaling for three seconds. He opened his eyes, and the stone floor of the shower greeted him. Droplets of water splashed against his feet, still at a comfortable level of heat. Sam focused on his root chakra, concentrating as he used Toughen. His muscles hardened in an instant, and Sam’s body became as rigid as a statue. A second later, he deactivated the technique. He repeated the process, focusing on shortening the amount of time it took to harden his muscles.
Sam lost track of time, and eventually, his grumbling stomach broke his concentration. Whether it was the sound or the hunger gnawing at his innards, it was hard to tell which one had distracted him the most. He lived as a talentless; he knew what hunger felt like, but after abusing his body with Toughen, he found the hunger he had felt in the past like a tutorial for newbies looking to compete in the starvation battle royale.
Sam rushed to the food corner, tracking water on the ground as he went, leaving the shower running. He pressed on the wall, and a bowl of fried rice fell from the ceiling. It landed on the counter without bouncing as if the impact had been perfectly absorbed. Despite how hungry he was, Sam stood clear of the counter until after the bowl was firmly in place, a habit he had learned from a rather painful experience. He grabbed the spoon and shoveled the food into his mouth, chewing on pieces of meat that burst with savory and salty flavors.
After eating several bowls, Sam felt the hunger subside, and he exhaled as he sat back on a cushion—once again provided by Ellie—and lay down; it was a large cushion, allowing him to stretch out all his limbs without a single part touching the ground—benefits of living alongside giant creatures. The average reptilian was seven-feet, but Sam had seen much, much larger ones, but he didn’t dare look up to see how tall they were lest he make eye contact. Ellie had warned him about it, and he’d rather not disappoint her. Their training sessions together were especially vicious when she was upset.
Sam’s brow furrowed as he stared up at the ceiling. The hunger he had felt wasn’t normal. Acquiring a technique so easily definitely seemed too good to be true. Everything had a cost, and the cost to use Toughen was his satiety. Maybe if he had continued using it despite the hunger gnawing at him, he would’ve died. Maybe this was why Ellie thought humans died of old age at twenty-eight; what if the techniques were costing humans longevity to use? Well, as long as he ate after using Toughen, it’d be alright, and if it wasn’t alright, then it was up to future Sam to figure a way out of that one.
Sam leaned back and pressed on the wall. A bowl of soup fell down from the ceiling; it landed perfectly in place, and Sam got back up to grab the spoon that came with his drink. He wasn’t sure what it was called, but it was delicious and the recommended item by Ellie. She said his diet was too simple, so she changed it up for him; Sam was almost certain she just wanted to see his reactions to different types of foods.
Sam burped as he got up and went over to the bed, flopping onto his back and resting his forearm over his eyes, blocking the light from view. His breathing slowed as he relaxed his body, surrendering himself to sleep. His room was at the perfect temperature, allowing him to rest at ease without having to fuss with blankets. The lights turned off, something they always did when Sam passed out; he wasn’t sure if it was connected to him being on the bed or if Ellie or her mother were turning them off manually, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he was always being monitored.
Not long after Sam fell asleep, the counter in the corner of the room flipped over, causing the empty bowls on top to vanish within the structure, cleaning the surface. The wall silently slid open, and Ellie tiptoed into the room, her movements silent like a ghost’s. She made her way over to Sam’s side and stared down at him with a silly grin plastered on her face. With practiced movements, she lifted Sam up with one hand and her tail. Then, she lifted up the blanket, readjusted the pillow, and placed Sam down before tucking him in. She glanced at the bundled-up pile of socks that was underneath the blanket substituting for Raindu, and she shrugged, leaving it in place.
Ellie stared at Sam’s sleeping face for a bit, smiling to herself before lightly pressing on Sam’s nose with her finger, being careful not to puncture his skin with her claw. She whispered, “Boop,” to herself and looked around before skipping out of the room, the door closing behind her as she left.
Several hours later, Sam’s eyes opened, and he sneezed. He sniffled, sucking in his snot with a draining sound. A furrow appeared on his brow as he pushed off the blanket he was sure he didn’t have on before he fell asleep. Sam sat up and yawned, not caring too much about the mysteries of the room. He had already accepted he wouldn’t understand how some things worked, so he wouldn’t put too much pressure on himself to figure them out.
The door slid open, drawing Sam’s attention. Ellie waltzed in with a tray containing a bowl and a glass of orange liquid. The smell coming from the bowl caused Sam to gag, and a bright smile appeared on the reptilian’s face when she saw him. “I brought breakfast for you, Sam!” the reptilian said as she stopped by Sam’s bedside. She placed the tray, with supporting legs, onto the bed, trapping Sam’s legs underneath it. “Surströmming!”
Sam stared at the bowl of goopy fish that looked like they had been fished out of the sewers and smelled like it too. After staring for a bit, he raised his head and met Ellie’s gaze. Her green eyes seemed to stare straight through his body, and a shiver ran down as his spine as he lowered his head and picked up the spoon. Rather than rejecting Ellie, eating the bowl of whatever it was in front of him would surely be a less unpleasant experience. As Sam ate, Ellie grinned and beamed every time his expression changed, and when he was done, the reptilian clicked her bracelet and placed a piece of popcorn chicken onto Sam’s palm. “Good job!” Ellie said. “You finished the whole thing. Did you like it?”
“No, sundak,” Sam said.
Ellie laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “I could tell,” she said. “I’ll bring something better next time, okay?”
“Please do, sundak,” Sam said. He wiped his mouth with the provided napkin and took a drink from the glass of orange juice. It was not orange juice. Rather than sour, the taste was savory, causing Sam to raise an eyebrow.
Ellie beamed and traced an arc in the air, following the contour of Sam’s eyebrow. She chuckled to herself and picked up Sam’s smelly bowl before throwing it across the room. It landed on the counter in the food corner, bouncing and clattering along the surface. The reptilian nodded at her handiwork and flashed her teeth at Sam. “Are you ready for a fun day?”
“Yes, sundak,” Sam said and climbed out of bed. He changed into something sturdy but easy to move around in. “Are we training?”
“No,” Ellie said from the snack corner. She was munching on a hamburger while waiting for Sam to get ready. “Since you won three times in a competition, I’m taking you to the HKC headquarters!”
“Hooray,” Sam said, assuming the HKC headquarters were a good thing from Ellie’s excited mannerism. “How should I prepare, sundak?”
Ellie swallowed down the burger with her second bite, her razor-sharp teeth making quick work of the snack. She jumped and slapped her tail against the floor, propelling herself towards the exit by bouncing on the appendage. “You’re so derpy when you’re curious,” she said. “It’s great.”
Sam watched Ellie bounce out of the room. It would’ve been even more great if she could’ve answered his question before leaving. He shook his head before grabbing a bag from the wardrobe and packed it with drinks and calorie-dense food.
“Sam, hurry up!”
“Yes, sundak,” Sam said, raising his voice. After making sure there was still a lump under the blanket, Sam headed out the room. He didn’t close the door behind himself, mainly because he didn’t know how. After making his way out of the house and onto the floating levistone where Ellie was waiting for him. She tapped her feet against the vehicle, and it zoomed off, speeding over the limit from the start. Sam couldn’t resist using Toughen to make sure he’d be safe even if he were thrown off the vehicle if it came to a sudden halt. Even though it’d make him hungry later on, he packed his bags for a reason. However, if using Toughen actually consumed his lifespan, well…, at least it wouldn’t be a levistone accident killing him.
“When we’re at the HKC headquarters, you have to be on your best behavior,” Ellie said, looking at Sam while still speeding down the road. “I’m going to leave you there by yourself for the day. Play lots and have fun, okay?”
“Okay, sundak,” Sam said. As someone who was a bit of an introvert, he had enough playing yesterday at the human park, but since Ellie had told him to have fun, then it’s what he’d do. He just hoped it’d actually be easy to have fun at the HKC headquarters. Unlike human park, HKC headquarters sounded a lot more foreboding; after all, members of the HKC were staunch supporters of neutering their pets. To Sam’s relief, he hadn’t been snipped yet, and neither Ellie nor her mother had brought up the subject, so he decided to keep mum about it. …What if the neutering happened at the HKC headquarters instead of the vet?
“We’re here!” Ellie said. The ride was short, impossibly so if road signs were followed.
The levistone descended, and Sam stepped off of the vehicle onto the ground. Ellie hopped off the vehicle as well. She went up to the building, which was a cube with blank faces, and pressed on its surface. An entrance appeared as part of the wall sank into the ground. “Follow me, Sam!”
Sam stared at the ground and followed behind the small reptilian. Most buildings in Et Serpentium were made of the same material, and the floor tiles all seemed to have the same pattern carved into them. He wasn’t sure if they were even tiles or solid blocks of stone making up the ground. After walking for a bit, the two arrived in a hemi-spherical room with seven doors arranged in a circle—including the one Sam and Ellie had entered from.
In the center of the room, there was a circular counter with seven graylings managing it, one facing each door. Ellie walked towards the grayling and stood on her tiptoes to see over the counter better. “Hi,” she said to the grayling. “I have an appointment for Sam.”
The grayling pressed on the counter, and after a few seconds, it nodded. “Yes, I see it, sundak,” the grayling said. “Please head to door number seven.”
“This way, Sam,” Ellie said walking away while turning her head to look up at Sam to make sure he was following her. She led him to one of the doors with a plaque on it; he presumed it said seven, but he wouldn’t be able to write it out of memory if asked. Ellie placed her hand on the door, causing it to open. “Sam, be good now, okay? There’s no need to be so nervous.”
Maybe he wouldn’t have been nervous is he knew what was going to happen. Hadn’t people always said humans’ greatest fear was the unknown? If he knew he was going to be neutered, at least, he would be mentally prepared for it—and plotted an escape plan with Raindu. “Okay, sundak,” Sam said and held out his hand when he saw Ellie reaching for her bracelet. As expected, the reptilian clicked on it and passed him a piece of popcorn chicken.
“I promise I’ll be back, Sam,” she said and patted Sam’s thigh. “Wait for me, okay?”
“Yes, sundak,” Sam said and glanced at the open door.
Ellie pushed Sam’s thigh, causing him to stumble. “Go,” Ellie said. “Bye, have fun!”
“Goodbye, sundak,” Sam said to Ellie before going through the doorway. The door closed, and Sam found himself submerged in darkness. Then, the floor shifted, Sam’s innards lurching upwards as he accelerated downwards. After a few seconds, the falling sensation came to a halt, and a door opened in front of Sam, light and sound rushing into the room he was in.
A furrow appeared on Sam’s brow before he walked out of the room, entering the new one. It was like he was at the human park all over again. There were humans standing around tables. There were two humans sitting across from each other at every table, and between them, there was a boardgame. Sam looked around; to his surprise, there weren’t any reptilians or graylings. To his even greater surprise, he saw a familiar face: Dee. She noticed him as well, waving at him to come over to one of the crowded tables.
“Hey, Sam,” Dee said, meeting him halfway. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Hello,” Sam said. “I wasn’t expecting to be here either.” He looked around. “Speaking of which, where exactly is here?”
“Did your owner drop you off without telling you what was going to happen?” Dee asked. “Reptilians tend to do that.” Dee gestured around. “What does this place look like to you?”
“The human park,” Sam said.
“Close enough,” Dee said and flashed Sam a smile. “For us, it’s fun and games. For the reptilians, it’s an extensive exam to learn about their human pets more in-depth.” She gestured towards the corners of the room with her eyes. There were green orbs in all of them, including the floor corners. “Everything about us is being observed: who we interact with, whether we spectate games or play games ourselves, how we go about securing a spot in a game, how you behave when winning or losing.” Dee nodded. “Everything. Of course, the results don’t really matter unless you’re trying to make your owner think you have a certain personality type.”
Sam nodded. “I see,” he said. “It looks like you know a lot about this place.”
Dee nodded in return. “Whenever a reptilian gets a new pet, they throw them in here,” she said. “Even if you’ve had you’ve been here before, if you get a new owner, they’ll send you here again to verify. Conveniently, it’s also one of the cheapest forms of daycare, so if a reptilian is busy, they’ll drop their human here for the day.” She grinned at Sam. “That’s why I’m here.”
“I see,” Sam said again, displaying his expertise in carrying his end of the conversation. “Has anyone ever gotten hurt during these exams?”
“Sure,” Dee said. “Sometimes there’s violence because some people feel pressured to excel because terrible things will happen to them if their owners find out they’re mediocre. Humans usually step in to figure things out though; the reptilians don’t interfere with us at all in here.”
“Interesting,” Sam said. He glanced at the boardgame on a distant table. Ellie told him to have fun, and if he sat around waiting for the day to end, the reptilians would probably report it to her. Sam looked at Dee. “Do you want to play a round?”
“You’ll lose,” Dee said and smiled, “but if you’re okay with that, I’ll play a game or two with you.”