^Paolox3_

XY-N

Chapter One
After the Fire

He watched from the forest as the big building burned. It was so bright and he could feel the heat all the way back to the trees were he hid. He knew they'd be angry that he was outside the fence, but he was scared and he didn't know what they'd do with the building burning down and the all the CareBots offline. He thought he was lucky to get out, and he was. When the computer systems had failed and the Voice said to abandon the Facility, they had all ran. The fence had stopped some of them, and the Adults took them. He didn't know where they were taking them, but he was afraid of Adults. None of them had ever hurt him, really, in fact there were all usually nice to him. Something in his head told him to run from them, though; all of them but for Mr. Rick, and he didn't know where Mr. Rick was. He probably burned up in the fire. He sighed.

He watched the Facility burn. He was warm, hidden, and he felt safe. He didn't think anyone would miss him, since Mr. Rick and the Carebots were the only ones he ever saw and the Bots were just that – Bots. They didn't feel or anything. Mr. Rick felt, though. He felt more for him and was nicer to him than he was to any of the other Bios. That's what they called them all – all the kids in the Facility. Bios. Bios didn't have Implants. Everyone had Implants, all but for the kids in the Facility; even Mr. Rick had Implants. He was an Adult, too. And he had stuff on his head that he called 'hair.' He had shown him a picture once, called it a "HIRESCAN". It showed him what a Bio looked like inside and what an Adult looked like inside. It was so different in the pictures. But now Mr. Rick was gone, the Facility was gone, and he was alone in the woods. He decided he better leave and not make the Adults mad at him for hiding. He'd never been in the woods before, but it felt nice so far. There wasn't anyone near him, and he didn't hear anyone else in his head or feel like they would feel. He was himself for once, and he liked that. Usually the only time he could be was when everyone was asleep or he was alone with a Carebot. Carebots didn't do that to him like real Adults or other Little Ones did.

He decided to start walking. It was a warm, nice night anyway and he always wanted to see what was outside the fence. He'd been looking at the insides of the Facility for ever since he could remember and just staring out at the fence and the trees beyond. The trees seemed to call to him, and they went on and on 3; and he really wanted to see them up close. Besides, someone was sure to find him. Every day it was the same thing. Wake up, wait for the Voice to say to get out of bed. You got up and went to the shower room with all the other Bios. They all looked the same, but some were different colors on the skin and some of them had different colored eyes, but they were all the same build or age, or close. The showers would come on and spray you down. That was fun, with all the nice smelling foam all over you, tingling, and then the hot water would spray you off and the Voice would tell you to go and get dressed and get morning rations. His only clothes had always been a very tight and soft white suit with a big black "N" on it. It fit him from neck to toes, including his fingers. When he put it on, only his bald head stuck out of it, unless he pulled up the hood which would shrink down to fit his head. The door would then pop open and a Carebot would take you to the big room where you got a little cake that tasted really good. It wasn't big, but it was good and it filled you up.

Then Mr. Rick would come and see everybody, talk to the Carebots, and then you'd do 'schoolwork' he called it. Said you were getting educated so you could grow up and help work and make the World a better place and leave the Facility. No one understood it, but they did the work. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was dull. After a while, another cake, more work, then playtime and another cake. More playtime, study time, then bed. Every day. Mr. Rick would go away after lunch, but he was there again the next day and sometimes at night. You never knew where he'd show up at. The Carebots would talk to you, if you asked them stuff, but that was about it. Then one night the alarms had all gone off and everybody was up and the Voice said to run, abandon the Facility. It was an emergency, the Voice had said.

Now that he was finally in the woods, he had no idea what to do.

He just kept walking. They had studied nature, all the other Bios. He knew about forests, crops, and how the World used to be and how it was now. He hoped they were ok as he walked, especially K6; K6 had been the nicest one in the dorm. It was dark, but he wasn't afraid. So he just walked. His suit would protect his body from the sticks, thorns, etc. You couldn't hurt a suit, and he smiled at that thought, pulling the hood up and listening as it shrunk down to fit skin-tight over his bald head and to keep his ears warm.

"What do you mean, one's missing? Which one?!" Rick Abrams screamed.

"We haven't confirmed all the remains yet, sir," the officer was saying, "There are 12 charred bodies we've recovered. We have 35 accounted for, and that leaves one. We're still looking for remains in what's left of the Facility, but the scans show no organic remains left. There's a heat trail fading off into the woods, near the break in the fence, but it's weak and the animals' trails are masking it. All we can do is look when the Recons get here since the handheld units can't cope with it."

Abrams wrung his hands. He wasn't supposed to get attached to any of the boys – no, Bios – he wasn't to think of them as Human, even. They didn't rate Implants, and they probably wouldn't live past 20 or so if they didn't; they were Bios, not boys. No one did, not without Maintenance and Implants. The BioGenic Wars had seen to that, but Kadens the Unifier had come to power and ended it. His common sense and his medical knowledge had probably saved Humanity. Abrams thought hard, the coprocessor deep in his brain running through thousands of scenarios a second. His main processor was heating up, and he realized he was only minutes away from a reboot. He didn't want that either, since it usually gave him a splitting headache and his memory would lose the last two minutes. Ever since he had received his secondary processor at age 12 – since all Approved little ones were born with a primary one – he had had a tendency to overload. His parents had requested extra chips for him, but they couldn't rate high enough for them. He still couldn't. He just had to calm down.

But HE was missing. He couldn't help it – Rick Abrams was attached to a Bio that wasn't Approved, wasn't his, and wouldn't live past 20 or so anyway. He'd been trying to adopt him, but the tests had said that the Bio known as "XY-N" wasn't worth certifying. He wanted him so badly. All the other Bios loved him, and he was such a good one. There was just something about him that made Abrams feel alive and so good. Of course he knew what that was, but it was a secret. If anyone knew, it would be the end for both of them. And now he was gone.

He shook his head and watched the Officials scanning, as the hovercraft flew over to assume the search. If nothing else, he thought with a chill, poor little XY-N was considered as missing Biomass that was a wasted Resource. He hoped that they didn't find him. It was a slim chance, but perhaps the little fellow might make it to the Old City, where there were districts of Unapproveds that lived and worked and sometimes had little Unapproveds of their own. Maybe someone would take him in, since they wouldn't let Abrams have him. It was so stupid. He had had his request in for a Clone for years now, since he was Approved himself and healthy, but even though he could pay for it, the fact that his balls were bad and he couldn't make an Approved little one the biological way was a stumbling block. His Approved little one would have the same problem, even with in vitro procedures, and the Clone REALLY would. They were still debating it. Rick wasn't hopeful though. It was a Defect, and Defects were to be weeded out.

He watched them put out the fire of the Facility. He actually liked his job here, taking care – with the Carebots, of course – of the accidental little ones or orphans of other Approveds. Usually, the Approved little ones, born with processors in their brains due to the Nanobots that they received while still fetuses, were adopted out fast to good homes. Unapproved Bios weren't. They just showed up. They were left there, brought in by the Officers, etc. It was better than being found by Dealers or Hunters, he knew, but it wasn't much of a life. If a little one was a pure Bio, no Implants, then the little one couldn't be expected to live much past 20 until a Bio-remnant or Residual from the Wars got to him. Usually, Cybernetics were the only cure, and Nanobot-infected Approveds always lived to be healthy Adults since the Nanobots reproduced and adapted to keep the Host alive. Most of the pure Bios didn't, and died slow, lingering deaths. The ones who did live were made to live in the Old City, but their numbers were growing. It was a good sign that Nature was coming back to take over, and many were living to 30 lately.

But HE was gone. Rick thought of him as "Xyn", although he didn't have a name. Unapproved Bios never did. His parents had died when he was very little, the padd had said. Rick had found him on the doorstep one morning. He was Human, and the scans showed he was pure Bio. There was no processor in his brain, no Nanobots in his blood. He was just another Unapproved Bio, male, infant, intact 3; and amazingly – perfectly healthy. He was put in dorm 11 with some other male Bios and labeled as "XY-N". "XY" meant he was male, and "N" was his designation. He had been the 14th inmate of dorm 11, so all of his white one-piece body suits had had a large black "N" put on them. Rick thought of him as a real Boy though, one he wanted to have certified and upgraded to Approved status via Implants. But they wouldn't allow it. Xyn, as he thought of him, had failed too many scans and tests. He was just so normal. He was labeled a waste of Cybernetic Resources, but at least he would be given the chance to live and labor and try to contribute. But without Implants and a processor, how could he compete with Approved Little Ones? To the System, Xyn was just another piece of meat unless he could prove himself otherwise. If he didn't, he'd probably die from something by 30 or less, just like most of the rest. Abrams then looked at the bright side of it – at least some rich bastard with a malfunctioning Approved Little One hadn't come and requisitioned Xyn for "parts" to repair the Biosystems of his own ailing Approved Little One.

It made Rick Abrams sick to think of it. How many times had a Bio in his care been taken away, and brought back with a bandage on his lower back or an eye missing? Or worse yet, a whole limb? He remembered XY-c2 from last year. Poor thing. He had come back minus an arm AND a kidney. A few weeks later, his genitals had been taken, leaving no trace that he was an XY. Abrams shuddered, remembering how the poor little thing had begged, when the Bots took him a third time, to just kill him. He had never come back. But was it any better to be lost and in danger of being found by a Hunter or Dealer? There was a huge market for young XY Bios, and not for just 'parts' either. It was a no-win scenario.

But the fire was being put out. The survivors were being transferred. The Recyclers would come soon. Rick Abrams sighed, feeling a terrible emptiness somewhere inside of him. Then, for the first time in years – not his father had died – Rick Abrams, Approved Adult Male and Administrator of the Facility #32, stood alone and felt a tear roll down his cheek. He turned to face the forest and whispered, "I love you, Xyn. Be well."

It had been his turn to go look for food, and he didn't like it. Even though he knew they all had to take turns and take the chance of a Hunter finding you and turning you over to a Dealer, it was his turn. Jayk decided that he didn't have to like it, though. He crept out of the old building and made his way out of town via the storm sewers, through the ruins, across the flats, and out into the forest. The hike took him about an hour, but the forest was in full bloom with spring and there was a lot to eat there. Besides, Hunters never thought to look in the woods; they always hunted in the Old City, roaming the back allies and empty warehouses like demons looking for lost souls to drag down into Hell. Jayk smiled as he entered the forest, a kind of calm detachment coming over him as it always did when he went there. The forest smelled good, and the dew was still wet all over everything. He soon found a bush loaded with some kind of blue berries, and knew from experience that these were good to eat, even if they did turn you teeth and mouth all blue! Jayk smiled. At least he HAD teeth, and they were all good. In fact, two of them, the ones on top next to his 'beavers' as everyone else called them, were too good. They were too long and too sharp, and he frequently bit his lower lip with them. They were good to have in a fight, however. He could have worse Bio Mutations though, so he didn't mind it. He had the customary number of arms, legs, fingers – all but for one that had got cut off by accident – eyes and ears, etc and he was happy about that too as he began to denude the bush of its fruit, rapidly filling his sack with the sweet berries to take back to the others.

Then he felt it. Someone was near.

Life as an Unapproved Bio – and not Implants – especially as a little Runaway in the Old City, had trained his senses well. It wasn't a Hunter though, that he could tell. His slightly pointed ears were very sensitive, and he could hear the breathing and leaves crunching as whoever it was came closer. It was a measured walk. He cocked his head. Good breathing. Clear head. Small feet. The sounds came closer. It had to be another little one. He sniffed at the air and wrinkled his nose. His heart skipped a beat as he smelled disinfectant and soap! He himself hadn't had a bath in at least a month, and the smell of soap was odd to him. Whoever it was was small and clean and healthy. He crawled under the bush and waiting, popping berries into his mouth and swallowing them whole. He might be sure, but he wasn't stupid either. He had made mistakes before, and he wasn't about to make another one.

Xyn felt him from a long way off, of course. There was another little one up ahead, and he was happy. He was eating something, and Xyn realized that he too was hungry. He had been walking all night, but he wasn't so tired that he was going to pass up food. He knew from his studies what he could eat and what he couldn't, and he had always wanted to try real food. From what his feelings were telling him, the little one up ahead had detected him and he was hiding. Xyn could feel the fear coming off of him in waves. A few minutes later, he found the bush where the little one was hiding. It had blue berries of some kind on one side of it. The other side was picked clean. Xyn looked at the small footprints on the soft ground. Whoever was hiding under the bush didn't have shoes, and Xyn wondered how his feet could have taken the walk. He was glad of his suit again, and pulled his hood down as he stepped into the sunny patch and began to pick berries.

He popped one into his mouth and gasped. It was strange. It didn't taste like anything he had ever had before, but he liked it. He continued to eat, and evaluate the feelings rolling out from under the bush. When he was full, he backed up a bit and sat down on a fallen tree, his suit-protected feet swinging back and forth. "You can come out, I won't bother you," he said to the bush.

There was no reply. "C'mon, Jayk, I know you're in there. I knew about ten minutes ago."

There was a gasp, then rustling. A little one not much bigger than Xyn came out from under the bush dragging a backpack with him. He was dirty, and smelled bad, but he was also scared. Xyn felt a wrench of pity for him, then a wave of jealousy. This Jayk person didn't like him, and that bothered him. Xyn thought that everyone liked him. "My bush, I found it. Don't try anything, or I'll tear you balls off!" Xyn flinched. This little one was now angry.

"I'm sorry," he offered, "I was hungry. I'll go away." Xyn jumped off of the fallen tree and turned to go. There was something up ahead, he could feel that too. Lots of people. Maybe someone there could help him.

"Wait!" the other little one called, "How'd you know my name?"

"I don't know, I heard it in my head like always," Xyn explained.

Jayk gasped. Then he looked closer at the intruder. He was smaller than himself, probably eleven or so, thirteen at the very most. Jayk could only see his head, but since he was perfectly bald and in a white suit with a black letter on it, that meant only one thing – this little one was a Runaway from a Facility. And it appeared that he was also a Psion. "What color am I thinking about?" Jayk demanded.

Xyn faced him. They were going to play, it looked like. "Blue."

"What number?"

"Pi, no, wait, 'e'," Xyn replied happily, "You know math?"

"Yea, I do, some," Jayk replied. Xyn could feel the apprehension, fear, then suddenly – concern. This little one was worried now. Xyn let his feelings stretch out to this Jayk person, and when he did, he shivered. Tears formed up in his eyes, and he started to tremble. He hadn't done it often, only when he was exposed to real people. Of course, he did it with Mr. Rick all the time, but he was gone now. He didn't really count the other little ones in the Facility; he was with them so much that he was just used to them all feeling back and forth. Too used to it. Yet he'd liked them well enough. He had really liked Mr. Rick, but he wasn't so sure he liked Jayk. Jayk was afraid of everything, it seemed. Xyn swallowed hard and wiped at his eyes.

Then he felt it. Jayk was toying with him, and Jayk was mad. Xyn had no idea what to make of it.

"I'm sorry," he choked, "I didn't mean to 3;" then he turned and fled. Jayk would be even madder now, just like the Approveds who came to look at them in the Facility sometimes. They'd talk to you for a while, look you over, then read your evaluations. Then if they even thought you had a Mutation or were feeling at them, they'd get like Jayk. Bios who couldn't do it got adopted sometimes and taken home with the Adults, but no one took Xyn. That hurt.

Xyn ran. Fortunately, Jayk ran faster.

He could feel Jayk behind him, and he knew that Jayk was stronger and faster than he was. It was only a moment before Jayk tackled him, throwing them both to the soft cool forest floor. Jayk sat on top of his prey and studied him. He was wearing a white body suit, which was just as good as armor if it came from a Facility; in fact, Jayk thought the suits were only a myth. Much better than the short battered green tunic that he wore. He was also perfectly bald, and his white teeth and small ears were also both perfect. No points, no fangs, actual color in the irises of the eyes. Jayk reached down and touched Xyn's smooth head. He himself had never had a haircut, and his long black hair was pulled back and tied up into several braids that Shar often fixed for him. Feeling Xyn's shiny scalp stirred something within him. He pulled his hand back. "Runaway?" he asked.

"There was a fire," Xyn replied. "I just wanted to see the woods and I got lost."

"You a Bio?"

Xyn nodded. "Pure."

Jayk whistled. "No Nanobots?"

Xyn shook his head. "I'm 'normal' they said. Too normal."

Jayk laughed. "Buddy, you're NOT normal! You might not have any Implants or Cybernets inside you, but you ain't normal! You know you're a Psion?"

Xyn was confused. He could feel Jayk's elation now, and his concern as well. "What's that?" he asked. "Is that why no one wanted me?"

Jayk rubbed a rough and dirty hand over Xyn's bald scalp again and then felt his round ears. He was staring into the Runaway's eyes now. "Blue and gray," Xyn offered, "and no points?"

Jayk blinked. "Stop it! I don't like you inside of my head digging around. You mean you don't know what you are?"

Xyn just didn't understand. This strange Mutant XY shifted his emotions so fast it was hard to keep up with him.

Jayk got up off of him and offered a hand to help him up. "I thought I was an Orphan XY. You don't like me, do you?" Xyn asked.

"I'm scared of you, but you know that already, don't you?" Jayk demanded.

Xyn looked down at the ground and nodded. "I can't help it. What did you call me?"

"Psion. You can feel other people's feelings, hear their thoughts, amplify their emotions. You're the most dangerous Mutation there is, you know," Jayk replied.

Xyn blinked at him. "Dangerous? Me?! I never hurt anyone! And I'm NOT a Mutant!"

Jayk nodded. "Yea, you are! They find out, man, they'll kill you, or worse – zap your brain and make you a zombie or something and use you for parts for some little rich Approved brat."

Xyn didn't understand it, but he could feel it. He remembered XY-c-something or other, the little one who never came back one day; they used him for parts. Jayk was terrified of that. He knew how he COULD understand it though, but Jayk wouldn't let him, he knew. Jayk was too scared of him. There was a face in Jayk's mind, a little one with red hair and white eyes. He was blind, and Jayk took care of him. Jayk wouldn't think his name though, but Xyn could hear the cries for help, feel Jayk's helplessness. The blind little one was being taken by someone, and Jayk couldn't help him.

"You're afraid they'll do that to you, and me," Xyn said, "come and take us, hurt us. Like they too him from you."

"WHO?!" Jayk demanded, "Dammit, man, stop that! What's your name anyway?"

Xyn shrugged. "Don't have one. My designation was 'N' at the facility, but Mr. Rick called me 'Xyn' because of my male designation and the 'N'. You know, x-y-n. He said it 'zin'."

Jayk sighed. "Ok, Xyn, listen up, buddy. What you can do is dangerous to you, and those you do it to. You might not know it, Xyn, but you're packing around a weapon more dangerous than any stunner or blaster right inside of your HEAD! You can know what others feel, what they think, hell you can use it against them! What a Mutation! Shit, all I got was pointy ears and fangs."

Xyn's eyes were wide at that. He had realized something. "Is that why nobody wanted me?"

Jayk nodded. "If they knew it, it scared them." Then Jayk realized something. He could almost feel it himself and it was coming from this strange, bald Runaway. "You really miss this 'Rick', don't you, Xyn? I bet he knew about you and hid it. I think he wanted to keep you." he stated.

It hit him suddenly, and he was unprepared for it. Jayk's words had hurt this strange fugitive, hurt him badly. Whoever Rick had been, he had been close to Xyn. Jayk suddenly felt his eyes tear up and his throat tighten. He dropped to his knees amongst the dead leaves and freshly sprouting weeds and grass and sobbed. He could hear Xyn crying as well, and although it was not his own emotion – it was Xyn's – he was projecting it out to Jayk. Jayk realized that Xyn was terribly frightened, had lost all of his friends, and had never had anyone but this Rick person love him. Now that was all gone. He knew how it felt. Tentatively, he reached out a hand to Xyn, a hand that was missing a finger. Xyn took it, and Jayk pulled him close. He let Xyn cry on his shoulder for a while, one hand on his bald head and the other wrapped around him. Xyn was trying, Jayk could tell, not to overpower him. He wasn't doing a very good job though, so both of them just sat by the bush and cried for a while until it passed.

When they had both recovered, Jayk stared at him. "Help me fill up my pack. It's my day to find food and you can come with me. I'm sorry I said that, I didn't mean to set you off."

"OK," Xyn replied, wiping at his eyes, "Where we going?" Xyn asked. Jayk was guarding his thoughts now, and Xyn was hurt by that. Jayk was still afraid of him, but concerned too.

"Back to my friends in the Old City. You can stay with us, maybe. Tell you what, instead of me trying to explain it, you can meet Shar. She's a Runaway, but she's got Implants and she can handle you if anyone can. You can have her explain it."

Then he realized that it was probably a mistake, but he couldn't leave someone as naive and innocent as this Runaway out here in the woods or alone in the City. But Shar would handle it – Shar could handle anything.

Xyn nodded and helped Jayk fill up the pack. When they had stripped the bush of its blue fruits, they moved on to a tree with purple globe-shaped fruits hanging in clumps all over it. It took them a while to fill the pack, and the sun was high in the cobalt blue sky as they started back for the City. Jayk was thinking of this 'Shar', and the image of a Queen came to Xyn's mind. He didn't look any deeper.

The sun was getting hotter as they made their way out of the cool forest and onto the flats. They had walked for a long while, stopping now and then to pick more wild fruits as they could find. Jayk didn't talk much, but Xyn had a feel for him. Xyn had a feel for everyone he met, and he knew that Jayk didn't like it. When they reached the edge of the trees, they stared out across the flats to the ruins beyond. It didn't look all that far, but the walk took about half an hour and it was hot. Jayk finally spoke as they entered the ruins. It was a haunting place, tumbled buildings and abandoned things – strange things Xyn had never seen before – bearing mute testimony to a civilization that had very nearly destroyed itself. It was quiet, though, and Jayk was the only thing Xyn felt.

They made their way cautiously through the old buildings which smelled of damp decay. Jayk's eyes darted this way and that, and rounding a corner, he put down his pack. "I gotta take a leak," he announced, turning from Xyn and starting off a ways. Xyn felt shame coming off of him, and turned his back. A vision came to his mind then, one of Jayk lying on a wooden table and trying to scream as a man with a knife cut into his crotch, slicing away his parts that made him an XY. Xyn heard the stream of urine hit the ground, and felt Jayk's shame keenly. He didn't look. He knew Jayk had had to squat to go. An XY could do it standing up. Jayk couldn't. His own bodily needs, he knew, were being taken care of by his suit. If he had to go, he just went and the suit would take care of it, vaporizing his wastes and discharging the particles.

"You got away from them," he stated in his clear voice.

"Who?" Jayk asked.

"The men who gelded you, I'm sorry," Xyn replied, "I can't help it."

Jayk sighed. "It was a long time ago," he said flatly, "I healed."

Xyn nodded. There was more – frustration. Jayk had another Mutation, he saw. "You age slow, don't you?" he asked

Jayk nodded. "Fuckin' Mutations. I've been a little one longer than most live to be, at all."

"Do you relive it every time you go?" Xyn asked, feeling he had to know. Jayk hurt so bad inside, he thought he could help. If only the young eunuch would let him. Funny how Xyn had only now just noticed it.

"I relive it every night. Shar usually wakes me up when I'm crying"

Xyn moved without thinking. He reached out and touched Jayk's dirty cheek, letting all the compassion and need for a friend that he felt flow into that touch. Jayk's eyes went wide, he tried to resist, then collapsed, sobbing, into Xyn's arms as the full force of Xyn's will struck him. "Why me?" he choked, his voice hardly a whisper, "Why did the Hunter have to find me and let the Dealer cut me up? Why did he do that to ME?"

Xyn saw it all as he held the shaking little one in his arms. He saw Jayk, younger, being grabbed by an Adult somewhere in the Old City. He felt the stun charge hit him, and felt himself being carried, paralyzed, like a sack of stuff to some dimly lit place where another Adult – a healthy one with Implants – looked him over like a piece of meat. "Very nice, Dallen," he heard the voice say to the Hunter, and heard the clink of gold changing hands. "Very nice indeed. A cut here, a cut there 3;" then the whir of the scanners 3; "and full Bio too! Not a Nanobot in him! Now, we just get rid of those damn XY things of his, freeze 'em, then sell THEM to a bidder for his own mutated or malfunctioning offspring! He'll be so much nicer without them! What a beauty! Look! Look at his teeth and his pointy ears! Beauty Defects! Ye Gods, the gold he'll bring once he's gelded !"

Then he paused as the scanner beeped shrilly. He gasped.

"A Slow Mutant!" he cried. "This one is priceless! He'll stay little for 3; for who knows how long?" His voice was exulting. "And whoever buys his parts can use them to sire more Slow Mutants like him – or Clones! We're set for life, Dallen, you and I !"

Jayk was crying.

It was a confused welter of emotions as Jayk, in Xyn's mind, was laid down and stretched out. The Dealer cut him without drugs, without technology. All he had was a sharp knife and he used it to sever Jayk's XY-parts in one sweep, as men and boys had been cut into eunuchs from Time immemorial. He called for someone to come and take them to Cryogenics, and put out an ad on the Network for a Buyer. Jayk was trying to scream, but he was stunned. His mind was alert, his body was frozen. Then the Dealer sprayed something on his ruined crotch and it began to heal, fast. It burned, it hurt 3; and then the embarrassment as the memory jumped to being looked at, naked, by Adults. They were Approveds, mostly healthy. Jayk was healed, his groin smooth and clean and no one could tell he was ever a real Bio XY. A force field box was holding him, and he couldn't move as the Adults leered at him, some of them touching themselves. All he could do was stand there and cry. He looked almost like an XX, but they didn't want XX's. They wanted cut XY's. Funny, but Jayk remembered, as Xyn learned, of being clean and warm and fed. He was in a nice bed, but with an Adult. An XY Adult, and the Adult wanted him to do things, DID do things with him. It hurt sometimes, but sometimes it felt good and there was so much shame. Then he was running down a dark corridor, and she was there beside him. Shar. The one who braided his hair. The one he told Xyn about, Shar with mostly Bio and only some Implants. Shar, who was a Psion like Xyn. Shar, whom they were going to see. Shar, the Queen in Jayk's' mind. There were screams, sounds of blaster fire, then the running in the trees and the trip in the stolen flyer! Then jumping, falling, splashing into a river or lake as the flyer burned up on its crash to the ground. Then home. That memory was foremost and strong – home, and Shar and the other little ones. And him, the one with red hair and blind eyes of whose name Jayk wouldn't allow Xyn to touch.

Then it was over.

Xyn had seen memories in others' heads before, but none this intense. He simply held Jayk and felt what he himself wanted – a friend, love, somewhere to be. Jayk looked up at him, his dirty face streaked by tears. His black hair was still braided, and he smelled bad, but Xyn felt for him – felt TO him – nonetheless. Reluctantly, his own unenhanced Bio mind no match for Xyn's powers, Jayk yielded. His slight body shivered as Xyn's feelings flowed into him. In his mind, Jayk seemed to hear, "I'll love you," over and over. He knew that Xyn was a Psion, and he knew what Psions could do to you. For all he knew, it was a trick. Yet he couldn't help it. His heart stirred, and he saw – so Xyn saw – that little face that was always there for so many years. After Shar had rescued him from the Adult who liked little cut up XY's – e-XY's as he had called him by, and not by his name – she had found HIM as well. He had been just some little abandoned one who was a Bio and a Defect. He was blind, his eyes totally white. He was just out wandering aimlessly when they returned home to their lair at the edge of and far below the Old City near the border to the ruins. His other senses, though, were razor sharp. He could hear a rat breathing at a block away. He had heard them coming from two blocks distant.

Jayk had taken one look at his blank little face, his slight frame, his flaming red hair and pale freckled skin – and had instantly fallen in love. The little one was safe from being used by Jayk though, since Jayk was cut and had no parts down there anymore. He was an XY, a Defective XY, but he was still a Bio and homeless little Bios had to stick together. Aside from his eyes, he was free of other Defects and had no outward Mutations. Jayk had been ashamed of himself for thinking such thoughts, how bad he wanted to do to him what the Adult had done to him in bed, until Shar had said that anyone who went through what Jayk had would feel the same way. Shar had used her Psi on him that night, easing his pain and shame and helping him to understand his feelings and frustrations.

"Sometimes, XY's like other XY's," she had said, "But you're an e-XY now. You're different. You can't be an Adult Man now, and you're a Slow Mutant. You'll be a little one, and a eunuch, for a long, long time, Jayk. Perhaps hundreds of lifetimes. Other Bios would grow up, become men, their Biochemicals shifting – but not YOU. The same rules don't apply to YOU. If you truly love him, this little one, then love him without regret. You needn't be alone," Shar had advised him.

And he saw that face in his dreams, long after the Hunter had taken him 3; Long after Gods knew what became of his little blind XY friend. No, beyond friend. Beyond family, although Jayk's memories of family were infantile and dim. Shar had instilled that in them, somehow with her Psi, and Jayk worshiped her for it. What she had created for Jayk was priceless, and now it lay broken. What had eased the pain of his gelding was now gone, and his heart was almost as barren as his groin.

"Tell me his name," Xyn whispered.

Jayk sobbed again. "I can't. P-please don't k-kill me, Psion!" Jayk wailed, "I know what you saw, in my head. I'm sorry 3;"

Xyn held him tighter. Jayk was now more afraid of him, desperately afraid. He would not probe deeper, though. Jayk didn't like him, hated him in his mind. Worse yet, Jayk hated himself. No, not hate for Jayk, Jayk the XY – hate for Jayk the eunuch, who wanted to do what e's could never do. Xyn poured out the love that he had in abundance, a gift Mr. Rick had called it, but Jayk couldn't take it. Would never take it. His XY-parts had been stolen by a Dealer, but his heart had been stolen by a tiny and blind XY Defect with no name. Xyn sighed and released him. "I can't MAKE you feel, Jayk, I WON'T," he offered. "And I didn't see anything YOU did. Only what they did TO you."

Jayk sat there and cried for a while, then he stood up, wiping his face on his tattered sleeve. "I guess I deserved it, or you did. Follow me, the sewer pipe we want isn't far from here."

They climbed down the rusty iron rungs embedded in the bricks. When they reached the bottom, Jayk pulled something from his pack and put it on his head. It was a band with a small light on it. "Follow me close, Psion," he ordered, "Almost home." Xyn was glad of that, as he was very tired from the long walk and the heat of the flats. So was Jayk.

Xyn felt his elation, and felt, dimly, the presence of others up ahead. One of them was strong. It had to be Shar, and he could feel her feeling him back. He smiled. The light on Jayk's head bobbed and skipped as they walked. Other than an occasional rat, they encountered no one. The tunnel they followed sloped down, and Xyn could hear the water running. "We're just under the City now," Jayk explained. "No one knows this place. Not yet." They stopped when they came to a large door, its surface pitted and rusted from years of dampness. There was a large wheel in the center of it. Jayk spun it once. It spun back.

"You got pointy teeth?" someone asked in high piping voice.

"All the better to eat you with," Jayk replied, and Xyn realized it was the password.

The wheel spun and the door opened. "You got food, Jayk?" a small boy asked, wheezing badly..

To Xyn, he looked to be the ugliest little one he had ever seen. He wondered how someone with so bad of Mutations could live, much less sound so happy! The boy's back was slumped a bit, and his arms were too long. His left eye was a clear, glassy and sightless globe. His incisor teeth were longer and pointier than Jayk's, and his white hair was long and stringy, pulled back in a ponytail. His ears were very small, and he limped badly. He also coughed a lot. Jayk handed him the pack and put an arm about his slouched shoulders, helping him along. Xyn could feel some kind of friendship coming off of Jayk, and absolute trust coming from the badly Mutated XY.

"Who's the Runaway?" he wheezed.

Xyn shivered as he watched the blue/green veins in the Mutant's chalk white skin pulsating as he spoke. He coughed again.

"This is Xyn. Well, x-y-n, he calls himself 'zin'. Xyn, this is Dan," Jayk introduced them.

Xyn offered his hand mannerly. "Nice to meet you, Dan," he said, but Jayk swatted Dan's hand away.

"Don't. Not until Shar goes over him. He's a Psion."

Dan gasped. "Shar will eat him alive!" he piped, then coughed. It sounded as if his lungs were giving up fast on him. If he were an Approved XY, Xyn thought, they'd fix those.

"Shar will decide," Jayk stated, "But he didn't kill me. I THINK he's nice, but I ain't sure."

Xyn sighed and followed them. It seemed that there was nowhere he could go where anyone would want him. Silently, he thought of Mr. Rick and silently cried. No one saw his tears in the darkness, but someone felt them.

"Who cries?" came a soft, feminine voice from ahead. It had an edge to it, however.

"I bring you a visitor, Shar, and food for the day as was my duty," Jayk announced.

Dan limped off with the backpack, and Xyn felt slight feelings of happiness coming from at least three other minds. He didn't dwell on it, however.

"Who is this Psion that comes with you, Jayk? Did he overpower your mind and make you bring him?" Xyn could feel her mind powering up, and he realized in an instant that she could crush out his consciousness like he would swat a fly. He lowered his defenses and gave in. She didn't like him either. It was all too much for Xyn – the fire, losing everyone, being lost, finding Jayk and these others, then realizing that they all hated him. He had tried to help Jayk, and Jayk had spurned him. He looked up, his vision blurred by tears, as lights came on. He saw her – Shar – the Queen of Jayk's mind, and he fell to the grimy floor. She was tall and lean, and muscular for a XX. She was dressed in a tight black gown that reached to the floor, and he long black hair was curled tightly down to her waist. Her eyes were also black and glittering, and her skin was the color of sun-blaster sand on the beach. She moved with infinite grace, and her hips swayed as she stepped closer. She placed a hand at her ample bosom, and overpowered Xyn effortlessly. The last thing he felt was a brief flash of pity.

He heard voices. With his ears. He listened.

"Is he dead?"

"No, exhausted."

"What's that?"

"Too tired to move."

"Did Shar do that to him?"

"No, stupid. She's watching him though."

"Did she Psi him?"

"Probably. He's dangerous."

"Why ?"

"Shar says he's an Orphan Psion."

There were three of them, and Jayk and Dan weren't among them. Slowly, Xyn opened his eyes. He was cold. The lights were on, and he could see them. Three little ones. Two XX's and one XY. The XY was the smallest, about his age, but he had a Blaster. Xyn held his mind steady, not daring to feel anyone. The two XX's looked at him. He looked back, but didn't speak. They probably hated him too, he thought. They were both pretty, he noticed, and didn't seem to have visible Mutations. One was blonde, the other brown-haired. The XY, like Jayk and Dan, had pointy ears and fangs. He must have eaten, because his fangs were stained blue. It seemed to be a common Mutation. Xyn tried to sit up, but realized that he was tied down. He sighed. "Don't make any funny moves, Runaway, or I'll blow your XY-parts off!" the little XY threatened him.

Xyn didn't reply. He desperately longed to be back in his warm bed at the Facility, where Mr. Rick would come sometimes and hold him. Mr. Rick loved him more than his own life, he knew. He didn't mind when Xyn felt him, or felt to him. They both enjoyed it, and they both knew that they loved each other. Xyn sniffed. With his own Psi repressed, he was all alone.

The two XX's leaned closer. "He's crying," one of them said.

"Probably a trick," the other said, "Wait for Shar."

"Here she comes!" the XY with the Blaster piped excitedly.

Without trying, Xyn felt her coming. She was so strong. "Maybe she'll kill me," he thought, and he found that he didn't care. He let his tears flow again, but felt compelled to look up at her. As he did, he flushed as their eyes locked. Shar could see all of him. They had removed his suit! He lay there, helpless and naked, as her Psi lashed out at him again. His head began to hurt as she dug in, probing here and there, sifting his memories. She read him like a book. He didn't try to fight back. He just took it. He was embarrassed to be naked in front of strangers who hated him, and wanted nothing more than to just disappear. He wished the XY would shoot him.

"None of that," Shar ordered, her voice softening, "Tears are not permitted here." She reached down to wipe his cheeks, her hand lingering for a moment. "Untie him," she ordered, "He's no threat to us." The two XX's obeyed her. "Adele, Tyra, leave us," she ordered. To the XY with the blaster, she said, "Kefe, you remain." Then she turned back to Xyn.

Xyn closed his eyes and sighed. He was unbound, but still naked and he longed for his warm suit. Shar felt that. "You'll get it back soon enough, little one," she said. "I'm sorry to have hit your mind so hard, but Jayk said you were a Psion, like me. One of us cannot be trusted and must be tested. I never intended to harm you. Apologies." Her voice was softer now, and something in it made Xyn want to stay near her.

"Jayk hates me," he choked, not knowing why he said it.

"Jayk hates himself," Shar countered, "and you tried to help him. I have tried. No one can help him. Not since Scot was taken, that is."

Xyn didn't probe. He knew better. "Was Scot the blind little one?" he asked.

Shar nodded. "A Hunter took him while Jayk watched. I could hear his mind screaming, but none of us could help. We can only hope Scot was placed with a kind Master who repaired him."

Xyn didn't know what to say, the vision of Jayk being gelded coming to mind. He saw the knife again, felt the pain, and he knew that Jayk was close. "Enough!" Shar shouted to the shadows, "You're hurting him, Jayk!"

"He hurt me," Jayk replied, stepping into the light. He was dirty as when they had met, but his fangs were white and flashed in the light that shone on him.

"He was only curious then tried to help you, fool! Is it wrong to have a loving heart and to seek someone to share it with?" she admonished.

Jayk hung his head. "I'm past help."

Shar sighed. "There's no talking to him when he's like this. Shut it off, Xyn, don't share in his pain. It won't help either of you. I sense a great love in you, Xyn, a love that's lost its counterpart. In fact, what I feel in you is much like what I feel in Jayk. We work together here, as you can see. Stay or go, the choice is yours." And with that, she released him. Xyn sat up slowly, then folded his arms about his knees. He really missed his suit. It was then that one of the XX's, Tyra, he thought, came back in carrying it. He smiled at her.

"Here," she said flatly, "we took the N off of it. No sense in advertising."

Xyn thanked her, to which she snorted and left. "How does it fit on you? I have heard of these Facility suits in the past, but thought it rumor." Shar asked, genuinely curious. Xyn laid the suit out flat on the table and then laid himself on top of it. The suit immediately recognized him and flowed like liquid up and over him, encasing him in itself like a new skin. Only his bald head showed. There was a soft beep and a hiss from somewhere inside the suit. Xyn sighed and smiled. Shar's eyes were wide.

"Amazing," she breathed, "but why such miraculous technology on an Orphan?"

Xyn shrugged. "They adopt us out, use us for parts, or make sure we live to be Adults and release us. The suits protect us. We're valuable, sort of, I think." With a shiver, he remembered C2. Shar gasped.

"Monstrous!" she exclaimed, reading the vision from Xyn's mind.

Xyn nodded. "I think he died the last time they took him."

"Lucky kid," Jayk muttered, stalking away.

Xyn watched him go, not daring to feel at him. Jayk hurt, but Xyn hurt as well. Although he was surrounded by others, he was still all alone. He turned back to Shar, whose eyes were glittering and golden, yet still a mystery. "I have to go," Xyn said softly, his voice full of sadness, "You all hate me."

"I have no reason to hate you, Xyn Psion," she countered, "yet I have no reason to trust you. Did a Hunter send you? Jayk knew better than to bring you here."

Xyn gasped. He needed to know more about these Hunters, and the City, but he didn't dare ask. Shar could melt his brain if she chose, and he knew it. "I thought he might like me," Xyn offered, "But I was wrong. I saw what they did to him, in his head. He saw into mine. I guess we traded pain – my being alone, his being cut. After that, he told me to follow him. I didn't trick him, honest. I'll just go now." He turned, hanging his head.

Then he heard a cough. He looked up and saw Dan, the ugly little one with so many Mutations. He was coughing hard and his nose was bleeding. A small hand was at his chest, and he was deathly pale. Xyn heard Shar gasp, saw her run to him. She took him in her arms, and Xyn felt her Psi reaching into his body and mind. "No!" she wailed, "Oh Gods, no! Kefe, run and get my bag, the big one with the drugs in it."

Kefe passed his blaster to her free hand and ran.

Xyn gathered his courage and sent his own Psi out. He had never felt Death before, and it stung through his eyes like a hot circuit overloading. Queen or not, better Psi or not, Xyn pulled himself upright. He didn't know what all he could do, or why they were so afraid of him, but he had reached the point of not caring. This dying little Mutant XY, Dan, didn't want to die. Despite his miserable little body, he wanted to go on living – because he was happy! As Shar held him, Xyn felt that.

"Strip him naked and put him on the table I was on," he ordered.

He sent his Psi out to Jayk, searching 3; 'Come back 3;' he demanded.

Shar gaped at him, yet as her own Psi probed his, she nodded. She saw his plan in his mind. As she carefully pulled the dying Dan's clothes from his thin body, Xyn gasped. He was so pale and weak. Xyn could count his ribs. There were small sores here and there all over his body. He coughed, and blood ran from his gray lips. She laid him out on the table, and Xyn stared at him. His XY-parts were small, but normal and all there. Then Jayk entered. His dark eyes were wide, and his mouth agape. His fangs just touched his lower lip, and he was shaking. "What's wrong?" he cried.

"Your friend's dying," Xyn replied calmly, "and I don't think I like that."

"What the fuck can YOU do about it? He's been sick for a long time." Jayk demanded, and Xyn saw the image of the blind XY rising in his mind.

"Only this." Xyn stated flatly.

Deliberately, he removed his suit. There was no 'taking it off', he merely stepped out of it. It made a hissing sound as it slid off of his own pale skin. Jayk was staring at him, jealous Xyn knew, jealous of his XY-parts since Jayk was a eunuch – not XX, not XY 3; and doomed to it for centuries, perhaps. But Xyn focused on Dan, who was scarcely breathing now. He laid the suit out beside of Dan's naked little body and rolled him over onto it. Shar stepped back and gasped as the suit enveloped him, hissing and beeping as it enfolded him. Xyn pulled the hood of it up, and only Dan's face showed. His breathing stopped. "NO!" Shar and Jayk screamed in unison, reaching towards him. Xyn, however, froze Jayk with a thought and stepped in front of Shar.

Kefe returned with the bag, but Xyn held up a hand.

"Wait." he said.

Slowly, the suit 'realized' that it had work to do. It was built to sustain the wearer, and as little Dan drew his dying breath, Xyn reached into his mind with his Psi. "LIVE!" he ordered, as the suit pumped a year's worth of drugs and nutrients into Dan's body. It began to heat up, evaluating its new wearer and beginning repairs. It changed from a soiled white into a glowing pale blue.

Dan gasped, his lungs flooding with bronchio-dialators and antibiotics. In seconds, years worth of Bio Remnants and Leftovers were purged from his dying body. His color improved, his breathing eased, and the suit seemed to expand as his thin frame filled out. He turned onto his side and coughed, expelling a shocking amount of bloody phlegm. Xyn smiled, unconscious of his own nudity. "Leave him in it for one day, then take it off of him," he said flatly.

"How is this possible?" Shar asked, her voice awed.

"My suit's new," Xyn explained, "They're good for three years. Well, probably two now with Dan in it once it fixes him. I was a good candidate for parts, and they wanted to keep me perfect, so I got a good suit. In a day, he'll be perfect, and he might stay that way." Then he sighed. "That and the Administrator liked me." Somehow he couldn't say the name in front of them.

"Why did you do that?" Jayk asked in a choked voice, and Xyn saw into his mind. He was confused – why had Xyn done it ? What if he had to do it ? Could he do it ? If the choice were his to be made again, who would the Hunter take ? Again, the blind face 3;

"Because he was gonna die and he didn't want to. He loves you. All of you."

Dan whimpered, closed his eyes, and rolled over. He relaxed, and Xyn and Shar knew that he slept. His groaned softly, his breathing easy and free of wheezing. "It can't fix Mutations. It can only work with what it has. It cures, heals, adds water and nutrition and stuff. Tomorrow, I'll put it back on and leave." Xyn stated.

"I thank you, Xyn Psion," Shar replied, inclining her head to him.

Jayk gasped. Shar never bowed to anyone!

"Can I have a blanket and a bed now?" Xyn asked, "My head really hurts bad and I'm cold."

"See to it," Shar said softly, as she picked up Dan and carried him off to his own bed.

Jayk motioned to Xyn, and the naked Psion followed him. Jayk looked back every now and then, and Xyn could feel his jealousy. "He could have mine, if he'd just like me," Xyn thought. Of course Xyn knew all about sex and reproduction and sexual intercourse, but he wasn't interested in it – not yet. He thought someday he would be, but for now he didn't want sex. He wanted a friend. He just didn't want to be alone.

He realized that he had NEVER been alone before.

Jayk led them to a larger room with a bright light and a large bed. There was an old rug on the floor, and several tattered blankets on the bed. The only other piece of furniture was a large bookcase, filled to overflowing. "This is my chamber," Jayk offered, you can stay with me for the night."

Xyn sighed, feeling that Jayk was doing this is out real gratitude, and a sense of obligation. He also felt the jealousy and the plain fact that Jayk still didn't like him. He trusted him now, and was in awe of him, but he didn't like him. Xyn got into the bed and covered up. The blankets were rough, but the light gave heat as well and he was warm and covered. He watched as Jayk pulled off his battered tunic and stood there. Xyn looked at the braided hair, the pointed ears and fangs, down the dark but dirty body to the empty and smooth crotch where Jayk's XY stuff should have been. He remembered XY-c-whatever his number was. They looked the same, only Jayk was darker and more muscled. Xyn was, in a strange way, jealous of him. He felt the apprehension as Jayk got into bed with him, staying near the edge and turning his back to him. He felt the Memory as well, the Memory of the Adult and his bed 3; Jayk in that bed, warm and soft and clean – and so ashamed of himself. And although his head hurt badly, Xyn watched it play out in Jayk's mind. He could feel the eunuch – was that the word ? Eunuch ? – trembling. e-XY? Eunuch ? The Adult was saying it to Jayk in his Memory, but Xyn stopped there. He sighed.

"Jayk?" he asked.

"What?!" Jayk snapped at him.

"If you or Shar is going to kill me in my sleep, do it fast. My head hurts bad, and when I sleep, I'm not Psy-ing on you or anything. The suit won't fix your Mutations. It won't bring back your finger or your XY-parts, so don't try. It only heals and sustains. It won't round off your ears or teeth, either. You're YOU, Jayk, like it or not. So if your gang wants the suit, take it. I can live without it. If you let me live through the night, I'll go away at dawn." Xyn stated flatly. He then closed his eyes and shut off his mind, as Mr. Rick had taught him to long ago. The soft whistle of his breathing, slow, told Jayk that he was sound asleep.

One singled tear escaped Jayk's slightly almond-shaped left eye as he turned to look at his bedmate. Indeed, he could kill him with one hand, or one bite to the throat. This Runaway Psion was smaller, weaker, but not naive. And although he wasn't a Psion like Shar or Xyn, Jayk felt that Xyn didn't expect to live through the night and had just accepted it. In fact, in light of how Xyn felt, Jayk realized that this Runaway had given his life for a Mutant little one that he had only just met.

"Why would you do it?" Jayk whispered to himself, all confused. "How can you have so much love inside of you for others you don't even know? Gods, you'll be dead in a day up there in the City, dead or in a Hunter's flyer 3; like Scot 3; like me, like I should have been the second time."

Jayk didn't want to go to sleep, and he yawned. He fought it every night, and every night the dreams came back. Not even Shar could stop them. He felt his eyes drooping, and soon he was asleep as well. While Xyn slept the dreamless sleep of the totally exhausted, Jayk slept the sleep of the tormented who can never rest. He whimpered softly as he dreamed of the stunner hitting him and the big man picking him up in his huge arms. He dreamed of flying for a long time, until they landed and the man took him somewhere, having long since blindfolded him. He felt himself being stripped, bathed, examined, scanned 3; and then the voice saying, "Look at him!" Then came the cutting – they stretched his stunned body out on a table and pulled off his blindfold. The man was holding a small, curved knife and Jayk knew what he was going to do.

All he could do was cry as the Dealer cut him. The small knife cut his manhood away in one smooth movement, and they laughed at his pain and tears, telling someone they would sell IT to someone and how Jayk was worth a fortune to them. He watched them drop his cut XY-parts into a Cryo-container and take them away. The tears flowed down his face from his almond-shaped eyes as they worked on him, making him heal up fast and smooth with some kind of Medtool. Then came the display, the showing off of their new object – Jayk 3; or as they all called him, 'the new e-XY toy'. He was standing in a force field and they looked at him, they bid on him. They said things, dirty things, Jayk knew.

He wanted to wake up so bad, but couldn't know if he were dreaming or not.

Then one of them took him home with him. He was an average Adult, Approved, healthy, a few Implants, but all man. Something, he made a point of telling Jayk, that he would never be. He had kept Jayk in a nice little room with a soft bed for several days, bathed him, felt him, made sure he ate and rested. Slowly, Jayk began to think that maybe he wasn't going to hurt him, part him out, or something worse. Even if he did keep the heavy chains on his ankles and the shock collar around his neck, he was still good to him. But Jayk had been wrong. The Adult had bought him for a reason.

One night, about a week after he brought him home, the Adult whom Jayk had been ordered to call 'Master', took the little eunuch to his own bed. Naked and afraid, ashamed of his mutilation, Jayk had watched his Master undress. He had never seen a naked man before, and he gasped. Before him stood something that he instantly knew that he wanted to be, and could not. He also knew what Buyers did with little ones like him, once they cut them up. Jayk began to cry and beg.

Gently, his Master took him in his arms and held him. He held him as Jayk imagined a father might hold his son. The bed was warm and soft, and soothing music was playing in the background. Jayk was so frightened that he was trembling and gasping, but the Master just held him, his hands moving over his slightly darker skin and feeling his smoothed crotch. "Listen to me," the Master was saying, taking Jayk's face in his huge hands and staring into his dark eyes, "I don't want to hurt you. But you know why I bought you?"

Jayk nodded.

"I will do with you as I wish, little slave, whether you like it or not. I had desperately hoped that it would not be like this, but it will be – one way or another." He stroked Jayk's hairless body and played with his braids and touched the points of his ears and fangs. He smiled and softly kissed Jayk's cheek, a slight peck. "Sex, as men know it, is lost to you now. But sex for a eunuch is something you can have and enjoy, if only you submit to it, little one. There needn't be shame in your pleasure, and as you pleasure me, it will come to pleasure you too – and come to own you as well."

Jayk was crying openly, clinging to the Master who was about to hurt him. Gravely, he nodded and let the Master lay him back on the soft bed. "I will provide all your needs and wants, my little Mutant. And since you're a Slow one as well, it can go on and on 3; for years." And with those words, he lay beside Jayk and touched him all over. Jayk found himself shivering, but not from fear, as those large hands moved over his smooth skin. He knew exactly where to touch Jayk , so that the feelings would make him twitch and shiver. The Master's mouth found his, and he kissed him deeply. Jayk's tears still flowed as his Master guided his braided head down to his own manhood, which scared Jayk very much. It looked large compared to his own that had been taken from him, and he knew what the Master wanted of him. Reluctantly, he took it into his mouth.

"Watch the fangs, Mutant," the Master said softly, "One eunuch in the house is enough!"

Jayk gagged slightly as the Master's enormous organ filled his mouth. His hands guided Jayk's head up and down on it, pushing it into his throat and pulling it back. It seemed to go on forever, and Jayk began to taste something strange, something not unpleasant. He continued his duty, then suddenly, his throat was filled with his Master's hot discharge as he arched and stiffened, groaning in pleasure. Jayk thought that the Master was dying, in fact, having never seen an sexual climax happen in person. But he continued, for fear of angering his Master. If he died, he died – so what? The fluid filled his mouth, and since a large hand held his head in place, he was forced to swallow it as his mouth filled. The taste was strange, but as starved as he had been on his own in the past, Jayk swallowed it without question. He didn't stop his sucking, however, even after the Master's organ had become limp in his mouth.

When the Master withdrew from his mouth, careful of his slave's fangs, he turned for a moment then turned back and rolled Jayk onto his stomach. "Please, no, Master," Jayk begged, his nightmare spilling over into reality and making him cry out. Xyn was too deep in exhaustion, however to help him. As the Master in his nightmare rubbed something warm and slimy onto his butt, the Queen of his reality heard his mind crying out.

The Master waited for a moment, touching Jayk here and there and rubbing his large hand over Jayk's ass and his smooth crotch again and again. Jayk saw through his tears that he was getting hard again, his penis swelling to that frightening size. He knew what was next. Slowly, the Master pulled him up a bit so that he was kneeling before him.

As the Master's dream penis, huge and painful and once again fully erect, entered his virginal hole in the dream, the Queen's real Psi, soothing and calm, entered his mind. The Master's penis filled him, impaled him, and he cried out in agony. The Queen's Psi filled him as well, pushing the Master aside and sponging the hurt away, pulling him back to a calm, safe place. He felt shame, he felt comfort. He felt pain, yet he felt pleasure.

He awoke with a start, gasping and shaking, his skin wet with sweat. He looked over at the little one in the bed next to him, and as a dog shakes off water, he shook off the nightmare. He saw, then, just how beautiful of an XY that Xyn was and thought of his old Master taking the little Psion as he had taken him so many times.

Jayk shivered again, ashamed of himself for thinking it. He couldn't let Xyn leave.

"In time, you grow to like it," Jayk thought, "And when you want it and can't have it anymore, you go mad like me."

And as he did every night, Jayk cried softly for a time, hating himself for the pleasures that he had learned to take while pleasuring his Master. With a wave of self-hatred rising up within him, he thought of how he had grown to expect it, even to enjoy it, as his Master filled him in whatever way. And of course, his Master had been right all along.

Jayk lay there watching Xyn for a long time before he too drifted off again. He dreamed of knives and blood and the Adult – his Master – and his soft, clean bed. He dreamed of the shame, of the feelings of pleasure, and finally of the blind little XY who used to sleep where Xyn now was.

Yet he dreamed alone.

NEXT PART