Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2022 21:51:58 +0000
From: Dave Arnold <bigstuddog@live.com>
Subject: Earth's New Masters Part 32 Gofer's Tale Chapter 7 Busted

Earth's New Masters Part 23 Gofer's Tale Chapter 7 Busted

I hope you are enjoying my work.  If you like it let me know at
bigstuddog@live.com.  It always helps to have some feedback.  That's the
only payment most of us writers on this site receive.

Speaking of payment, if you are able to help support Nifty.org please
donate what you can.

Earth's New Masters Part 23 Gofer's Tale Chapter 7 Busted

Mouse/Gofer's time with Ansulm and Aelwyn gets worse. Can't the poor little
CBH ever catch a break

The next three years were hell. Aelwyn took every opportunity he had to
abuse and intimidate me when Ansulm wasn't around. That plus having to hear
them making white pee together every night, and hearing Aelwyn flattering
Ansulm every night, knowing it was false flattery. Hearing Ansulm eat it up
like it was the truth was even worse. It was getting to be a bit much to
take.

It really bothered me for the first few months. I really liked Ansulm and
the time he had been spending with me. But as I started to be less and less
responsive to him he began to spend less time with me. He would still tell
me I did a good job cleaning the house and that my cooking was getting
really good. But he wasn't spending time talking to me, all that time was
now taken up by Aelwyn.

Usually in the evening after I cooked dinner and cleaned up I would go to
my room with the books I had taken out of the library. Ansulm had
encouraged my interest in the library. Once he asked "So Mouse, what kinda
books do you like to read?"

"I don't read so much as look at the pictures Sir." I lied because I knew
Aelwyn was staring straight at me. Plus I still didn't think I should let
him know that I was smarter than the other CBHs. For that reason I always
brought books with plenty of pictures in case he asked to see one. I kept
math and literature books buried on the bottom of my book bag and hid them
under my mattress when I got home. I had been teaching myself math every
evening while they talked about running the school. After the Dog Gods had
been here for two and a half years I had worked my way up to trigonometry
and I was reading as many of the books that had been considered classics as
possible. Ansulm had been true to his word, what was in my room was mine
and he didn't snoop around.

Aelwyn on the other hand made it a point to snoop in my room anytime he was
in the house without Ansulm which fortunately wasn't often. Once he found a
trig book and "A Tale Of Two Cities" under my mattress and called me into
the room.

"What are these?" He asked.

"Books Sir." I replied trying not to look nervous.

He gave me a short sharp punch to the stomach and as I doubled over he
said, "Don't be a smart ass, I know they're books. But you lied to Ansulm,
you said you only looked at the pictures." He flipped through the books and
continued, "These books don't have any pictures in them at all. Ansulm
won't like the fact that you're lying to him." He grabbed me by my hair (we
had been allowed to grow it out a little since the Sheps had been here) and
pulled my head up until he was looking me in the eye, "I'll keep your
secret as long as you continue to stay away from Ansulm. If I were you I
wouldn't let anyone else know you're reading books like this..." He
finished as he let go of my hair and pushed me to the ground.

I really hated him, maybe even more than I had hated Fred. At least Fred
was honest about his dislike of me, well any of us CBHs. Aelwyn acted like
he wanted everything at the school to work to Ansulm's face and undermined
whatever he could behind his back. But Ansulm was so busy that he didn't
appear to notice these things, he just trusted Aelwyn.

Not long after that Ansulm decided to give us IQ tests. Ansulm had decided
that he wanted all of us CBHs to take IQ tests to determine just what our
capabilities were. "Sir I would love to be the one to administer the
test. I know it's a really important job, but I know I can handle
it. Please trust me Sir." Aelwyn begged eagerly.

"OK, if you think you can handle it. We are going to have to scrounge
around to find appropriate IQ tests. A Shep IQ test just won't work for
them. You know the average Shep IQ is about 400 while the average human IQ
back before the Collective was only 100. I looked it up and this will give
you an idea what the scores will mean. Humans who have an IQ over 140 are
considered geniuses. Those of 120-140 are considered very superior
intelligence, and those with 110-119 superior intelligence. I really doubt
we will get anyone testing out in any of those levels, I just threw them
out to you for reference."

"I doubt we will get anyone even in the normal range of 90-119, but I hope
I'm wrong. Maybe Mouse here will be able to get into the bottom of that
range. Sometimes I think that he's smarter than he lets on."

Aelwyn's hackles raised a bit at this. I was becoming better at reading the
Dog Gods. "I think it is just wishful thinking on your part to think there
is anything special about the Mouse. I think he's marginally smarter than
the rest and he has a small bit of initiative, but that's about all.'' He
said dismissively.

"Please don't talk like that in front of him." Ansulm said admonishing
Aelwyn. "He is a sentient being, and he has feelings. But I think you're
wrong about him. I think he's a lot smarter than the others, he's just gone
through an awful lot. Anyway 80-89 is considered low average, 70-79
borderline impaired, 55-69 mildly impaired and 40-54 moderately impaired.

"Got it Sir! I'll find the materials we need. You can count on me Sir."
Aelwyn said sycophantically.

For the next week that seemed to take up all their time. Which was good
because Aelwyn was always with Ansulm which didn't leave him time to abuse
me. There was even some time in the evenings when he had to go out into the
city and get the tests printed and get other supplies which actually left
me with some time alone with Ansulm. Surprisingly he didn't talk much about
the upcoming test with me. I think it was because he didn't want me to
start getting nervous. On the few evenings that Aelwyn was gone it was
almost like when Ansulm first got here. But I knew it wouldn't last.

After breakfast on the morning of the IQ test Ansulm got down on one knee
in front of me and said, "Mouse the test you're taking today is REALLY
important. I want you to make sure you do your best on it. It will be
really important for your future. I expect you to do better than any of the
others. I know you can." He said, then he hugged me.

I didn't know what to do. If I did well on the test Aelwyn would make me
pay. He may even turn me in for lying to Ansulm and hiding the math and
literature books. Ansulm had told me that telling him the truth was the
most important thing. If he knew I was lying to him and hiding things from
him I would be in huge trouble. At least that's what Aelwyn had said. He
said I was a typical human, I had no honor and Ansulm would hate me if he
found out.

But if I did poorly on the test I'd let Ansulm down. Then there was part of
me that still didn't trust letting them know how smart I was. Maybe Ansulm
was more like Aelwyn than he let on. I just really didn't know what to do.

But I needn't have worried, it was all decided for me any way. I should
have known Aelwyn wouldn't leave anything to chance. The test was in a
large classroom that held 100 students. Each desk had a card with an
identification number on it. The Dog Gods had tried to give the CBHs names
but they were uncomfortable with names so Ansulm finally just let them keep
their numbers. I was the only one that had a name. Even though a mouse was
just a small insignificant animal or maybe because it was I liked that my
name was Mouse. But anyway they all sat at the desk that had their number
on it. My desk in the front left hand corner had a card with Mouse on it so
I sat down at it. I noticed all the other desks also had a test booklet on
them. Mine just had the name tag on it.

"Mouse." Aelwyn called me up to his desk. "Here is your test booklet and
your answer sheet. I already filled it out. You will sign your name on it
and turn it in as it is. You will NOT change any of the answers. Do you
understand?" He asked. I just looked at him in shock. He reached down,
grabbed me by the balls and squeezed hard until I doubled over and asked
again, "Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir." I finally replied through gritted teeth. He let go of my balls
and I took my booklet and my pre-filled out answer sheet and sat down at my
desk to daydream for the next three hours. He explained to the other CBHs
what they had to do and then went up to his desk and read a magazine while
the test was going on. After I signed my name on my test I sat at my desk
daydreaming as the rest took their test.

After three hours were up Aelwyn got up from his desk and said. "Times
up. Everybody put their pencils down, close your books and set your answer
sheets on top of your books. Mouse first collect all the answer sheets and
bring them to me and then collect all the test booklets.

I did as I was told and then I was dismissed to go back to the house. I
went to my room and got my trigonometry book out and started working
problems. Getting lost in math always seemed to help me stop thinking about
my problems. Right before lunch I went out to the kitchen and made some
hamburgers and french fries for our lunches.

Ansulm got to the house first and when he came in he immediately came up to
me and asked. "How did the test go?" I just shrugged. "Mouse as long as you
did your best, that's all that matters. I just need to know what you're
capable of..." He said and hugged me. I did my best not to cry, why
couldn't I ever be allowed to just be who I was...

It took a week to get all the students tested and for the results to come
back. That morning when we got to the office there was a stack of manila
envelopes on Ansulm's desk. He leafed through them, opened one of them and
looked over the contents. Ansulm called me up to his desk. I stood in front
of his desk. "Well Mouse the results are back on the IQ test and you scored
an 85. You were the only one in the school that scored over 70 but I was
really hoping you would have scored higher for your sake. I know you did
your best, I guess I just had my hopes up too high."

"I'm sorry Sir." I said my eyes to the ground.

He got up from his chair and came around the desk and put his hand on my
shoulder. "Mouse you have nothing to be sorry about. You've been through so
much, I don't know how you're doing as well as you are. Maybe part of it is
my fault, things have been so hectic that I haven't been able to spend as
much time with you as I wanted. You've done a great job keeping my house
clean and your cooking is getting really good. You won't have a hard time
finding a job when you graduate." He hugged me and I instinctively went
rigid. He let me go, looked at me and shook his head. "I'll do my best to
get you into the best situation I can when you turn 16."

I shrugged and asked, "May I go to the library Sir." Normally I liked being
in with Ansulm while he worked but right now I wanted to be anywhere else
but here.

"Of course if that is what you want to do." He answered a bit of melancholy
in his voice.

I didn't mean to hurt his feelings but I just had a hard time facing him
after all of this. I walked out and went to the library. I stayed there for
two hours while I gathered my composure and headed back to his office.

I sat in his office until there was about 20 minutes until lunch
time. Ansulm pulled something out of his top desk drawer. It was about 5
inches long and 2 inches wide. He pushed a button and started talking into
it. I moved closer to get a better look. Normally I didn't ask questions
but this time my curiosity got the better of me. Plus Aelwyn was busy
getting the elementary kids through the lunch lines so I didn't have to
worry about him getting upset that I was talking to Ansulm.

"Sir what is that?" I asked.

"It's a digital recorder, I just got them today. I talk into it and when I
rewind it and hit the play button it plays back what I just said. I use it
to dictate what I want my secretary to type up for me. Here let me show you
how it works." He said. He put the recorder in front of my mouth and pushed
the record button. "Now say something."

"What should I say Sir?" I asked.

He hit the stop button and then the rewind button and finally the play
button and my voice came out of the recorder. "What should I say Sir?" Just
like I said it. "It even has a voice activated mode." He added.

"What's that Sir?" I asked

"When it's in voice activated mode, it won't record anything until you
speak. Then it stops 5 seconds after it no longer hears anything. That way
when you are dictating you don't have to turn it on and off all the time."
He paused for a second then continued. "I have three of them, that way I
can give one to the secretary and while she is typing up what I dictated I
can use one of the others to dictate other stuff. And I still have a spare
if one breaks." I stared at it in fascination, the beginning of a plan
forming in my mind. Ansulm noticed my interest and said, "You want to play
with one for a while?" He grabbed the extra one out of his desk and tossed
it at me.

I caught it and said, "Thank you Sir!" I looked it over and played with all
the buttons. While I found the device interesting, the opportunities it
presented were even more interesting. At about 5 minutes before Aelwyn was
supposed to show up to meet us for lunch I said, "Sir I'm going to go and
get lunch started."

"What are you making us today Mouse. Never mind just surprise us." He said
then added absently as he looked back down at his paperwork, "I'll see you
in about 5 minutes."

I went back to the house and sliced up some chicken breast into chicken
fingers, breaded it and fried them up and heated up some corn, mashed
potatoes and gravy to go with it. It was already frying when Ansulm and
Aelwyn walked into the house. They walked into the kitchen and Ansulm said
"That smells delicious! I can't wait to eat." I could see Aelwyn's face
contort a little in jealousy, which suited me just fine.

"It will be done soon Sir. Another 5 or 10 minutes and I should have it on
the table." I replied and then grabbed the plates and silverware to set the
table. They were sitting at the table discussing the fact that the CBHs
were still resisting eating anything other than the gruel they had grown up
with, despite the fact that they had been trying to wean them onto regular
food for almost 3 years now.

"I don't know why we are bothering. Eating regular food stresses them out,
it's too many decisions for them to make and besides the gruel is easier to
prepare." Aelwyn argued.

"I know but we have to stretch their boundaries. Mouse has learned to love
all types of different foods. Maybe they'll just take a little longer to
come along." Ansulm said. I know he was at his wits end trying to deal with
the rest of the CBHs. Aelwyn always seemed to know just the buttons to push
to make him despair about succeeding.

"I think eventually we are going to have to accept that humanity is just
not all it's cracked up to be." Aelwyn rebutted. "Just because we're half
human doesn't mean humans are noble, maybe more of our personality comes
from dogs than we think."

"I disagree. Those ferals we've just recently discovered are nothing like
these CBHs. They are bright, ambitious, and have as much of a zest for life
as we do according to their masters." Ansulm said becoming defensive.

"Oh come on, its just like whenever someone has a pet, like one of those
Querlycs back on Eden. Their owners always insist they have Shep qualities
that we know a they don't possess. They can mimic their owners but they
really don't have any honor, or real intelligence. I'm beginning to think
the humans are the same way." Aelwyn shot back.

"I guess we're just gonna have to disagree on this one. Besides I'm
starving and Mouse is bringing out lunch." Ansulm ended the argument as I
brought the food out. Even though it ended I could still feel Aelwyn's
animosity directed at me. Which was fine, I was counting on him getting
really pissed at me.

I brought the food out and set the chicken fingers and mashed potatoes on
the table and went back in to get the corn and the gravy boat. They had
already loaded up their plates with the chicken fingers and potatoes when I
set the corn and gravy down. I filled up my plate too. Ansulm always waited
until I had a chance to get my food too before he started to eat and he
expected Aelwyn to also. Aelwyn always resented this so I made sure I took
my time loading up my plate.

"Hurry up Mouse, I'm starving." Aelwyn said irritation in his voice.

"Aelwyn please have more patience, he took the time and effort to cook this
wonderful lunch, the least we can do is wait for him." Ansulm chided him.

This had Aelwyn livid as he glared at me, I just gave a little smile as I
continued to load my plate. I was going to try to get his anger to build. I
finally finished and we all dug into the lunch. There wasn't much talking
at first as we all ate quickly to take the edge off of our hunger. Then
Ansulm broke the silence and said, "This is delicious Mouse."

I usually took complements in shy silence, but this time I wanted to get
Aelwyn really angry. So I said, "Thank you Sir, is it really that good?"
Aelwyn was pretending like he wasn't paying attention but I could see him
getting angrier by the moment.

"Yes it is! You're getting really good at cooking. You've got it seasoned
just right, the breading is crispy but the chicken isn't overcooked. The
potatoes are creamy and there are no lumps in the gravy. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you Sir. I'm trying to get better." Normally I would never say
something like that but I knew it would piss Aelwyn off that I was drawing
attention to myself.

We finished up lunch and after I cleaned up and put the dishes in the
dishwasher we headed back out to work. As we were walking back into the
school instead of walking behind them I walked right beside Ansulm on his
left side. I was making sure I pushed all of Aelwyn's buttons. Ansulm even
put a paw on my shoulder as we walked. I went into his office with him
while Aelwyn had to go back out into the school to make sure things ran
properly. At the last second I turned my head over my shoulder and smiled
at him. He just about lost his composure there, but I was soon in Ansulm'
office with the door closed.

I did as much as I could to help Ansulm that day, running errands, bringing
him records from the filing cabinet, (which he was previously unaware that
I was capable of finding) and even volunteering to give him a shoulder rub.

"Sir you look tense, when Ralph the Overseer was feeling tense he always
had me rub his back and shoulders. He said it was called a massage."

"That would be great Mouse." He replied letting out a sigh, "I am a little
tense now. I have a meeting with The Alpha after dinner and I'm nervous
about that. I have to discuss the results of the testing with him. He's not
going to be happy about how low all of you scored, but he's a fair and
honorable Shep. If anyone want's to see mankind restored more than me it
would be Woden, it's his main priority."

I walked behind him and started massaging his shoulders like Ralph had
taught me to do. After a minute I asked, "Will Aelwyn be going with you?"

"No and I'm sure it is going to upset him. He's an ambitious young Shep and
he's been bugging me to introduce him to The Alpha. But Woden is a busy,
busy Shep, he only has time to meet with senior staff, not low level staff
like Aelwyn." He moaned as I massaged a deep knot between his shoulder
blades. "Damn you're good at this, why didn't you tell me before that you
knew how to do this?"

I wanted to say, "Because the scumbag that you're sleeping with would kill
me." But instead I said, "Sir I'm just a CBH, we don't always think of
these things."

"Why am I having a harder and harder time believing that." He mused.

"Maybe Aelwyn's right, maybe it's just that you want to think we are more
than we are..." I said as I worked on another knot. This was probably the
longest conversation I had ever had with Ansulm. I mean we had talked for
longer than this but it was usually him talking and me listening.

When I finished up it was an hour before quitting time but I asked. "Do you
want me to go and start dinner now Sir. That way it will be ready when you
get home and you can go see the Alpha quicker."

"That is really showing initiative, Mouse. Wait until I tell Aelwyn how you
are turning the corner. So much for his stupid theory." He replied and I
was hoping he would do just that.

I left and headed back to the house. I had brought a cookbook from the
library and thought I would try something different. I decided to make Beef
Stroganoff, which was a little more complicated than anything I had made to
this point, but I thought I could pull it off. I followed the instructions
and while it was simmering I boiled some egg noodles to pour it over when
it was done. By the time the table was set the egg noodles were ready to
drain. I had timed it just perfectly, right as I poured the drained noodles
into one serving bowl and the Stroganoff into another and carried it out to
the table Ansulm and Aelwyn walked into the door.

Ansulm was the first to enter the dining room and said, "That smells
wonderful! What did you make this time?"

"Something called beef stroganoff. I found the recipe in a cook book I
found in the library. It's a little more complicated to make but I wanted
to try it. I hope I didn't screw it up Sir." I said, throwing in a little
CBH uncertainty in at the end.

Aelwyn was really steaming now. "That wasn't very smart Mouse. If you
screwed it up there won't be time to make something different before Ansulm
has to go to see The Alpha."

Ansulm came to my defense. "Aelwyn calm down. I want him to take more
initiative. He is going to be leaving the school soon and his new employer
will be glad if he can take responsibility." He chided Aelwyn and smiled at
me. "If it doesn't taste as good as it smells I can always grab a burger
and fries on the way." He said as the piled egg noodles on his plate and
then ladled the stroganoff over it.

Aelwyn and I both followed suit. I was the last one to fill my plate and as
I sat down Ansulm got himself a big fork full of stroganoff. He started
chewing it. Then he swallowed. This is delicious Mouse. I wouldn't have
thought you would be able to pull off a dish this complex, but it is
perfect."

"Thank you Sir." I said before tasting a fork full myself. It was really
good but I didn't eat a lot. I didn't want to be full this evening. We ate
in silence for a few minutes like we usually did, but instead of Aelwyn
breaking the silence like he usually did, this time Ansulm did the honors.

"I guess now is as good of a time as any to tell you Mouse. I told you when
I took this job that I would let you live in this house if you kept it
clean. Cooking wasn't part of the deal, I added that on. I am going to pay
you in a lump sum when you graduate for all the cooking you've done here. I
figure that you've earned 1 Eden Credit per meal which when you graduate
will be about 3,250 EC (author's note, approximately $32,500 in today's
money).

"Isn't that a bit much?" Aelwyn asked angrily.

"For meals this good I think it's a bargain, especially since he is cooking
for the both of us. I don't see why it concerns you anyway Aelwyn, I'm
paying it out of my own pocket, not from school funds." Ansulm
replied. Aelwyn wasn't used to being contradicted and his temper was rising
just like I had hoped.

We finished eating and while I started to clean up they went into the
living room and sat down. I could hear Ansulm talking to Aelwyn. "Mouse is
just full of surprises today. I was all tense about having to go see
Woden. Somehow he sensed it and gave me the most exquisite back massage. He
got every knot out of my back. Maybe if you're nice to him you can get him
to give you one when I leave."

"I think I'll be fine without one." Aelwyn said shortly. It was obvious
that he was miffed that he wasn't going to get to meet The Alpha. I'm sure
he was even more miffed that I gave Ansulm a massage.

When I started to clean up I intentionally spilled some water on me,
soaking my sweater. I walked into the living room where Ansulm and Aelwyn
were relaxing before Ansulm had to leave. "Sir I spilled some water on me,
I'm gonna go to my room and change."

Aelwyn snorted in derision but Ansulm said, "Don't worry about it, it's
just water it won't ruin the sweater. Go in and change."

I went into my room and got out of my wet sweater. The Dog Gods keep the
house at 50°F because their thick double coats make anything hotter than
that too hot to be comfortable. But that means that I have to wear sweaters
or sweatshirts around the house. Ansulm made sure I had quite a variety of
brightly colored pullover sweaters to wear around the house and in his
office. None of the other CBHs wore colored clothes. Ansulm tried to get
them to wear them, but when they did wear them they got sick with worry. To
them CBHs were only allowed to wear stately gray.

Before I put my new sweater on I got some tape and taped the digital
recorder to my right chest muscle, turned it on voice activated and pulled
the bulky sweater over it. I went and looked in the mirror. Even though I
knew it was there I couldn't see it. I walked back out of the room and went
to finish cleaning up after dinner. I got all of the leftovers put away and
was loading the dishwasher when Ansulm called into the kitchen.

"I'm leaving to go see The Alpha, I should be back in an hour or so."

"OK Sir." I said, then added, "I hope things go well." Then I finished
loading the dishwasher. When I was done I walked into the living room where
Aelwyn was watching TV. He called to me. "Hey Mouse get your sorry ass over
here."

I walked over to him and asked, "What do you want?"

He reached out and grabbed me by the nuts and said, "Don't you mean "What
do you want Sir?" As I screamed out in pain.

"Let go of my balls... Sir!" I yelled out.

"Why should I, you disrespectful little cretin. I told you to stay away
from my meal ticket." He said as he twisted my balls, causing me to scream
again.

"Please quit twisting my balls Sir!" I begged. The pain was excruciating
but it would be worth it. I screamed for effect. He finally let go of my
balls and I doubled over in pain. "Why do you hate me so much Sir?'' I
asked.

"You aren't significant enough to hate. I don't give a damn about you
humans, you fucked up your world and blew your chance. It's our time now."
He said with complete disdain.

"Is that sorta like you being too insignificant to meet The Alpha?" I
asked.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He barked, his anger visibly rising.

"That's what Ansulm said. He said you were desperate to meet the Alpha but
'Woden is a busy, busy Shep, he only has time to meet with senior staff,
not low level staff like Aelwyn.' I never realized you were so low level
that you couldn't even talk to The Alpha." He lashed out, punching me in
the stomach. I let out an, "Oooph" as I doubled over.

"That's not true..." Aelwyn sputtered, not able to think up a rebuttal.

"You need to do better than punching me in the gut to make me fear you." I
said as I caught my breath. "The overseer's used to whip me with the cat
until I couldn't stand up straight, but then they had enough balls to leave
a mark."

"You motherfucker. You think I'm afraid of you?" He said as he hauled back
and hit me in the eye. I saw stars as I fell to the floor from the impact,
but it was exactly what I wanted.

I got up and said, "I wonder what Ansulm will think of my black eye?"

"He'll believe me when I tell him you ran into the door. You're just a
stupid CBH, he'll believe me before he believes you. Now shut up and get in
your room before I really have to hurt you."

I didn't argue, I hoped I had enough on the recorder to nail the bastard,
although I wasn't sure if the Dog Gods would find it a big enough offense
to punish. I know the Overseer's wouldn't, but I was hoping that Ansulm
would have more honor than that. I went into my room and untaped the
recorder from my chest. It hurt like hell when I pulled the tape off, but
it would be worth it. I hid it in a rolled up pair of socks and put it in
the back of my sock drawer, just in case Aelwyn came into my room nosing
around.

I needn't have worried, he was probably too worried that if he came in
after me he wouldn't be able to control his temper. I'm sure he was busy
trying to think up an alibi. I decided I would stay in my room and let my
black eye mature overnight before letting Ansulm see it. I was too wired to
read or do trig problems so I picked up my book on Yellowstone National
Park and leafed through the pictures. I wished I could see something like
that, but I had never seen outside of the school fence before except on TV
or in pictures.

It wasn't long before Ansulm came back. As soon as he walked in the door
Aelwyn asked, "How did the meeting go?"

"Well The Alpha wasn't happy about the test results. He's having a hard
time believing that humanity has devolved this far this fast."

"Maybe it wasn't what it was cracked up to be in the first place." Aelwyn
said.

"The Illuminati and the Overseer class were quite intelligent and
functional when we got here, but they're all dead now. We have to be able
to get these CBHs functioning. Speaking of CBHs, where's the Mouse?"

"He wasn't watching where he was going and he ran into the door to his
room. He just about knocked himself out. He's probably too embarrassed to
show his face." Aelwyn said derisively. "Besides I really want you. Please
take me now." He added as I could hear him leading Ansulm into his
room. And I had to listen to him lie to Ansulm about how special he was
while they made white pee together. I could no longer imagine Ansulm when I
made white pee, I just associated him with Aelwyn too much, but I imagined
a bigger faceless Dog God now when I made white pee. I shot it onto a towel
and threw it into the hamper. It always seemed to help me sleep. And I
needed something to help me sleep, especially after listening to those
two. But even with that I still had trouble sleeping, I was so anxious for
part two of my plan.

I woke up early, got dressed and fished the recorder out of my sock
drawer. I slipped it into my pocket and headed out to the kitchen. I had
breakfast ready before the Dog Gods got out of bed. I had just put it on
the table when they came out of their room smelling of white pee. The
coffee had just finished brewing when they sat down at the table. I had my
back to them. I grabbed the coffee pot and turned to fill their cups. That
was when Ansulm saw it for the first time. "What the fuck happened to your
eye Mouse?"

Before I could answer Aelwyn said, "I told you last night he ran into the
door." I think Ansulm wanted to believe that's what happened, I don't think
the wanted to think of the repercussions of the alternatives. I didn't
comment otherwise, which drew a big grin from Aelwyn when Ansulm wasn't
looking.

I cleaned the kitchen and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Aelwyn went to
the elementary barracks, which was supposedly his house, but he never
stayed there, while we went to Ansulm's office. Ansulm sat down and I made
him a cup of coffee while he read his newspaper on his laptop
computer. After half an hour he was ready to start his administrative
work. I got him a couple of file folders and while he was going over them I
pulled my recorder out of my pocket.

"Are you enjoying playing with that?" He asked with a smile and I nodded my
head. He looked back down at his work and I rewound it to the beginning and
pushed the play button. Aelwyn's voice boomed out, "Hey Mouse get your
sorry ass over here." Ansulm's eyes shot up to me at the sound of the voice
and got bigger and bigger as I played the whole recording. He came over to
me and grabbed the recorder. I wasn't sure how this was going to play
out. Was he going to erase it or was he going to confront Aelwyn. He sat
back down at his desk and replayed it a frown on his muzzle. He rummaged
through his desk and to my confusion pulled some cable ties out of one of
his desk drawers and sat them on the top of his desk. "Mouse please come
behind the desk and stand beside me."

As I moved over to him he pushed a button on his phone to activate the
intercom and said "Aelwyn please come to my office immediately."

In about 30 seconds Aelwyn came running into the office, and in his most
sycophantic voice asked. "What's the emergency Sir?" And with that Ansulm
hit the play button. When he heard his voice on it all the blood ran out of
his ears, his muzzle dropped open and his ears flattened. His nearly
constantly wagging tail was tucked up between his legs. As the recording
was playing Ansulm got up from his desk, picked up the cable ties and used
them to secure Aelwyn's paws behind his back.

"Do you have anything to say to your 'MEAL TICKET'?" Ansulm asked with more
venom then I had ever heard from him. Aelwyn just stared blankly ahead,
still in a state of shock. He got on the phone and tapped in a
number. "Please send a couple of MPs to my office, I have a prisoner for
them to incarcerate." He hung up the phone and glared at Aelwyn.

"It's bad enough that you pulled the wool over my eyes. You had me
convinced that you loved me and looked up to me, but I guess I'm only a
meal ticket to you. But I could forgive that. I can't excuse abuse of
power. Especially abusing someone as completely helpless as Mouse, after
all he's been through."

When the MPs finally got to the office, Ansulm just told them in disgust,
"Get this filth out of my office. Please put him in solitary until I have
time to deal with him." They frogmarched him out and as he was going out
the door, he turned his head with one pleading last glance to Ansulm, but
Ansulm was staring daggers at him. I was out of Ansulm's sight to I smiled
at him and flipped him the bird.

When Aelwyn was gone, Ansulm turned his attention to me. He stepped in
front of me and knelt down on one knee like he always did when he wanted to
talk to me eye to eye. He hugged me and I went stiff. He put me out at arms
length so he could look me in the eye when he talked to me. "You should
never have gone through that Mouse. How long has he been abusing you?"

"Since the day he arrived Sir."

"That should never have happened, Sheps usually have much more honor than
that. Believe me he will be severely punished for this. I'm sorry I failed
you Mouse."

I stood there rigid and replied quietly, "It's OK Sir, I'm used to it."