Page 5 of No Strings Attached

Alved moved on and tossed his hand dismissively toward the next cage. “Trawg. I’m sure you’ve seen them before.”

Bahbi had, looking at the happy canid wagging its tail against the rock floor. “Companion animal?”

The trawg woofed and stood, tail accelerating so much that the back half of his body was in movement. “Yes! I’m called ‘Friend’! Thank you for giving me such a nice cage.”

While the other occupants hissed, spat, and cursed in disgust at the eager trawg, the female spoke up, “Holy shit, that’s a talking dog!”

The trawg turned toward her and said, “Yes! I’m called ‘Friend’! Can we be friends?”

“Oh…right. Those sounds were really similar to the ones it made the first time…it’s just a regular dog with parrot skills, right?” She looked disgusted. “Fuckthis place…and fuckallof you. Fucking black lab-shaped talking space parrot.”

“I’m sorry you are mad. I’ll try harder to be a good boy,” said Friend.

The trawg looked downcast and Bahbi couldn’t help trying to comfort him, “She can’t understand you, yet. Don’t get upset by what she says, Friend.” The trawg perked back up a little.

Alved looked at him incredulously, “Don’t fuckingengagewith the merchandise.”

Bahbi hung his head in acknowledgement of his screw-up.

Before they had stepped forward enough for Alved to reference the next cage, a slim but muscular, beautiful, and naked male stepped forward, “I am Caussus, and it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance. Please let me know if thereis anything that I can do to make my captivity less onerous for you or your master.” Caussus gave a little bow, then stepped backwards from the bars.

Friend wagged his tail and said in an awed whisper, “He’s a very good boy.”

Caussus turned to the trawg and bowed, a slight smile on his face. “Thank you, sir, and I am sure that you will make a wonderful companion.”

Alved turned to Bahbi, “Servant clone from the labs on Zilla. This one is fully trained and accredited.”

“Don’t all those sales go through The Trade?”

“This onewasacquired legally, then re-acquired under somewhat different circumstances.” Alved shrugged and moved on.

In the next cage, Bahbi could barely make out a sparkling green form in the darkness at the back of the cage. Alved jerked his chin and said, “Mineralite from Dim. This one’s emerald. Hasn’t moved since arriving.”

“Should someone make sure it’s alive?”

“The cage sensors say it is. We had to bring in a specialist to calibrate the sensors for that guy.”

Alved pivoted 180 degrees and faced the farthest cage on the opposing wall. Inside was a giant snail, suckered to the front of its cage. There were trails of slime coating the interior bars on each side. Alved grimaced and pointed, “Big snail. Doesn’t talk. No idea where they’re from, but I think it’s a delicacy for some of the buyers. You’ll have to give it a hand at feeding time.”

Bahbi’s eyes raised in shock.

“I’ll show you. At least you won’t have to worry about this guy.”

The next cage held a patchwork male, seemly comprised of pieces of many different aliens, and held together by cybernetic prosthetics. He made Bahbi’s mind hurt, just looking at him.

“This one’s feeding and elimination are handled by the machine behind him, we just have to make sure the tubes stay connected. He’s in stasis mode right now, but he can be awakened with a wake word. All his physical movement capabilities are shut down until after purchase.”

Bahbi was aghast and hoarsely said, “It looks like he’s made from several different species. What could someone want to buy him for?”

“Heismade from several distinct species.Deadones. Whoever buys him will do it to learn the reanimation technique.”

Bahbi was speechless, so Alved moved on.

A chubby, grinning giant greeted them from the next cage. He waved a hand at Alved and Bahbi, and Bahbi smiled and waved back before he could catch himself. Alved scowled at him.

“Mush brain. Don’t think it can talk. Hell, he can barely feed himself and find the hole to shit in. But I guess he’s got some kind of special talent that means he’ll fetch a nice price.”

“Does he have a name?”

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