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From: "Stasya T. Canine" <stasyatk9SPAMUNDESIRED@juno.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} (rev  rp) BioMates - Introduction (1-3/3) M-Wolfess zoo	(Stasya T. Canine)
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Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 23:10:03 -0500
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M/wolfess zoo

---

Bio-Mates - The Introduction
by: Stasya T. Canine

---

Chapter One - The Ad

---

People Wanted:
Do you enjoy the outdoors?
Do you work well when unsupervised?
Do you enjoy the idea of working with animals? For more details: Contact 
'Bio-Partners': partners@biolab.nml

--

That was it.  No address.  No phone number.  I didn't need them. I already
knew about the Bio-Partners.  Ever since I was a kid I had known I wanted
to go to space.  My one undeniable skill is that I get along well with
most animals.

Oh, I tend to forget that some people think I can write reasonably well.
Apparently not well enough to offer me any compensation.  Forget writing
as a career.

In our history class we had spent a week discussing the original BioLab
project.  Over one hundred years ago wolves and horses had been
'enhanced'.  After the techniques had been perfected, many other species
had been enhanced.  As part of the history lesson, we got to watch a vid
of the original Pony Girls and then had the option of seeing a live
performance by some of the members of the current Pony Girls chorus line.

That was the day I decided I wanted to be a Bio-Partner.

Somehow.

I'd waited years for one of their rare advertisements.  My patience had
been rewarded.

* * *

"Fill out the forms on this disk.  When you reach the end, you'll be told
what to do."

After I settled at one of the tables with the other candidates, I inserted
the disk and  scanned the list of questions. "Incredible", I mumbled.  "Is
there anything they don't want to know about me?"

After hours of answering questions, I got to the last page.  I thought I
was numb and unable to be surprised - but I was wrong.

One question remained.  One simple instruction.  "Answer the following
question in any way you wish and save your work.  Wait for your
instructions to appear on the screen."

I stared at the question.  'Are you bothered by people who have sex with
animals?'  I slyly glanced at the other people who were answering the
questions.  I couldn't tell if anyone else had reached the last question.

I leaned back and thought about my answer.  As far as I knew, nobody was
aware that I wrote fiction and posted it on the grid. Should I keep my
secret or should I finally admit to what I had been doing?

I thought back to that long ago history class.  I remembered how we had
talked about the early days of BioLab and how the machinations of the
original project leader led to the eventual discovery of the then secret
project.

The lesson was clear.  I decided to be honest.

"No, I am not bothered by the idea.  In fact, until now, I have never
admitted that I use a nym and write, as well as post, such stories on the
grid."

I saved the work and waited.

My wait was a short one.  The screen flashed to get my attention. I
hesitated.  In spite of all my dreams, now that I had taken the last step
on the path - I wasn't sure if I wanted to know...

Enough!

I stabbed at the accept key.

"This is Sophia.  Thank you for being honest, Fyrenth.  We've been hoping
you would join us.  Remove your disk and bring it through the door.  I'm
waiting for you.  Incidentally, the final question is tailored for each
person.  Welcome, Bio-Partner."

I fell back in shock.  I had been certain that *nobody* had linked me to
the writer 'Fyrenth'.

I was in a daze as I removed the disk and went over to the door. My hands
were shaking but I managed to open the door and walk into the small
office.  The door sighed shut behind me and I heard the distinctive
'thunk' of a security lock.

"Hello Ted.  Toss the disk in the trash."

I dropped the disk in the trash, braced myself against the wall, closed my
eyes... And sighed.  "I should have expected something like that last
question and now this."

The wolfess sitting on the desk raised her head.  "No.  We deliberately
find ways to startle anyone who gets this far. Resilience and adaptability
is required in a successful Partner. We need to know if a person has it
*before* they take the final step."

"May I sit down?"

"No.  Follow me.  We'll relax and talk during the trip."  She jumped down
and led me through a door.  As we walked down a corridor, she explained.
"This is only a recruiting station. From here, each person who is accepted
is escorted to The Farm. There, you will be allowed to settle in and
eventually find a partner."

"Until you find your partner, I will be your guide and, if you wish it,
your companion."

Things had happened too quickly.  Instead of answering when she paused and
glanced at me, I nodded.  She resumed walking and I followed her.

At the end of the corridor a transport was waiting.  "Luxurious", I
commented after we had settled and it started moving.

She sighed and looked out the window before answering.  "Humans who make
it this far are rare.  We pamper them outrageously."

I chuckled at her choice of words.  "We?"

She turned and studied me.  Something was going on behind those brown eyes
and she wasn't bothering to hide it.  "We."  Her ears twitched slightly
but I had no idea what that movement meant.  In a few days I would
discover that her odd ear twitch was her way of laughing or showing
amusement.

"Bio-Partners is an operation that is funded and run by animals, not
humans.  Does it offend you to learn that for all practical purposes, we
'use' humans?  The partnerships are real and often deep.  That doesn't
change reality.  We need you more than you need us.  Of course we take
special care of those few who are able to treat with us as equals.  It
won't be long until you find out what price you've paid to join us.  This
luxury is something we all need and share."

She sighed deeply and closed her eyes.  "In the coming years you'll learn
to appreciate having a place you can call home - or something like this
transport, a place where you can settle and relax for a brief period."

"No, I'm not offended.  Surprised though."

Without opening her eyes, she commented.  "We don't make an issue of who
controls things.  Ever since the biostructs were granted equal legal
status with humans, we quit listing our species in any public records."

I gazed out the window as I thought about her words.  "You make the rest
of it sound pretty bad."

Her mild retort was simple.  "I speak of reality."

I nodded slowly.  "Fair enough."

We watched the landscape in shared silence.  As evening overtook us, we
talked of many things.

"Sophia?  How did you learn of my nym?"

She smiled.  "Anyone can be traced.  Your style of writing has been
analyzed.  Eventually we were able to link it to you. Once we knew who, we
waited and hoped you would  follow up on your plans to apply.  The ad was
deliberately released only in your area and we hoped you would see it and
answer."

"You had no way of knowing it but your stories are very popular and many
of the Bio-Partners enjoy them."  She hesitated.  "*I* enjoy them."

She settled with her head in my lap.  I reached down and started petting
her.

She continued.  "Many of us are waiting to show you the differences
between your well written fantasies - and reality." She raised her head
and looked at me.  "Are you ready to learn?"

This was all too much for me.  Nothing was happening as I had expected it
to happen.  "I guess so."  I fell silent and tried to sort out my thoughts
and emotions.

"Sophia?  How do you decide who will guide the new applicants?" She had
hinted at wheels within wheels.

"How else?  While you were answering the questions, the air around you was
constantly sampled.  Those samples were passed to a room full of
Bio-Partner teams and unpaired Partners.  Your reactions were discussed
and eventually one of the unpaired Partners was selected from the species
your pheromones indicated that you are most comfortable with.  After we
talked it over, we decided that I was the one who was the most emphatic in
feeling that you 'smelled right'."

I shook my head ruefully.  "Nothing is what I expected.  I didn't even get
the chance to see if 'love at first sight' is true. 'Love at first smell'
seems to be closer.  I'm so confused that I don't know what questions to
ask."

Sophia sighed and increased the pressure of her head in my lap. "You don't
smell confused.  Your hands aren't either.  Listen to your body when it
speaks.  It will take special effort for now but eventually it will become
as natural to you as breathing."  She paused and then whispered.  "At
least that's what the already partnered humans tell me.  Part of the time
we spend at The Farm will involve you learning enough so that you will
know what questions you want to ask."

"Direct, aren't you?"

"Honest.  Just as you had to be when you answered the final question."

"You have a point."  I paused and 'tasted' the feel of my next word.
Yes... It felt right.  "Partner."

Sophia opened her eyes and looked at me.  I could tell she was feeling
something that was special to her.  "Are you sure?"

"You say I am.  It's time I started living my fantasies."

She shivered slightly as she closed her eyes and relaxed. Sometime during
the night, I leaned back and fell asleep.

That was how a glorious sunrise found us.

We were already comfortable with each other and willing to begin walking
through life...

Together.

* * *

Chapter Two - Transported
---

Since I'd spent most of the night sleeping upright, with Sophia's chin
resting on my leg, my sleep had been uneasy.  I had awakened when she got
up to go to the bathroom.  After she'd finished, she had padded back and
made me get up so she could change the couch I was sitting on into a bed.
We resettled and I didn't wake up again until I smelled food.

We were working our way through breakfast when I realized I hadn't asked
how long the trip would take.

"As long as it takes."  Sophia was relaxed and nonchalant.

"That doesn't make sense.  Any place on Earth can be reached in less than
36 hours."

"True.  If you are in a hurry.  I'm not.  Are you?"  She finished the last
of her food and settled on her haunches.  I knew enough about canine body
language to realize she was smiling with her whole body this time.

"Huh?  Why wouldn't I be in a hurry to get started?"

She looked away and then back.  "Do you remember the final step I
mentioned yesterday?"

"Yes."

"You're in the middle of it.  When you agreed to be my partner, you linked
your life to mine.  Where I go, you go.  To some degree, my work
determines what you will be doing while I am working.  In this case, you'd
be learning on the job.  I'm in security.  My career has been on hold
until I could find a partner."

She hesitated.  "Actually, I've deliberately kept my career on hold. You
see, in my spare time, I'm one of the few biostructs who writes. I wanted
a chance to see if we are actually compatible with each other."

"You mentioned that you want to get into space.  There is an opening for a
security team on one of the geostations.  I meet all the qualifications
except one.  I'm unpartnered."

"I'm sorry, Ted.  That's one of the prices you pay as a Bio-Partner. You
can choose your hobbies and what you do in your spare time.  Your career
is linked to your partner's."

"Do you still want to be my partner?  If not, we go from here to the Farm
and look for new ones.  Say yes..."

"And our next stop will be the BioPartners' launch facility."

My first reaction was anger.  I felt tricked.  What about my dreams? I
wanted...

What *did* I want?  What did I know?  I'd been so focused on becoming a
Bio-Partner that I hadn't put much effort into figuring out what I would
do once I reached that goal.

Skills?  What skills?  I got along well with animals.  I suppose I had
vaguely figured I would go into some sort of animal related work if I
hadn't been accepted.  I could write but I was realistic enough to know
that I wasn't good enough to live on whatever I could earn as a writer.

The adrenalin surge slowly faded.  I looked down at my clenched hands.
"How many never finish the last step?"  I raised my head and looked into
brown eyes.

"At your age?  Fifteen percent make it this far.  Of those, roughly fifty
percent never finish the last step.  The odds get worse as the applicants
get older.  They aren't much better for the people younger than you are.
At best, only twenty percent of the original applicants make it to the
last step.  Those are averages of course.  Some years are better than
others.  We don't make any sort of effort to let people know the truth. We
need all the applicants we can get. Admitting the high failure rate would
only discourage people from applying."

I nodded.  I was beginning to understand Sophia's comments about pampering
and prices.  "Do all the Biostructs treat potential partners the way you
do?"

Her answer surprised me.  "No."

"No?"

Her posture shifted slightly.  She sagged and then raised herself. "I told
you I'm in security.  That means that I and my partner will be routinely
trusting each other with our lives.  Whoever that partner is, they *have*
to be able to think clearly when they are dealing with the stress of an
unexpected situation.  Our lives, and those of many others, might depend
on how we react.  Panic *during the problem* is not a viable option."  She
grinned.  "Afterwards, when the situation is under control and others have
taken over, we can panic as much as we want to."

"I see."  I did, too.  It was obvious Sophia was far more experienced than
I was.  Harder, but she had to be.

I think what frustrated me the most was learning that by agreeing to
become Sophia's Partner, I had unwittingly agreed to let her make my
career choices for me.  I didn't even get the chance to look at different
careers and see if I was interested in them.  As long as I stayed
partnered with Sophia, I'd be in security.

The only way to get a chance to choose my career was to break last night's
promise to Sophia.  I didn't want to do that.  Last night, being next to
her had felt more right than anything I'd ever done before.  I couldn't
bring myself to believe that 'feeling good about being around her' was
enough of a reason to stay now that I knew that if I did, I would never be
able to choose a career based on my own desires.

I tried to figure out if there were any other, and better, reasons for me
to stay partnered with Sophia.  I needed a reason that would help me feel
useful.

Wait.  Something she had said.  What was it?  Something about my hobbies.
Had she been trying to tell me something?

I replayed her words in my mind.  Oh.  Really?  I get to choose my
*hobbies*?

That's when I turned my full attention back to Sophia.

"You said 'We've been hoping you would join us'.  Why?"  I held my breath
as I stared at her.

"Because you write.  We want you writing for us.  About us.  As we are and
as we see..."

"Ourselves and the world around us."

I was shaking again but this time it was because I was afraid a long held
dream was going to be offered and then taken away.  "There have to be
partners who write.  You said *you* are a writer."

Surprisingly, she turned away and looked out the window.  "I write. There
are a few others.  Not enough of us."  She sighed.  "There are never
enough of us."

'There are never enough of us.'  Something about that simple sentence
bothered me.  I'd heard it before.  Where?  When?

She can't be!  No way!  Yet...  The phrasing.  How come I hadn't seen it
sooner?

"Tialira?"

Her head jerked around to face me.

I was numb.  Sophia was Tialira.  *My* Tialira.  My virtual lover who had
been there for so many years.  Supportive.  Gentle.  A fellow writer who
waged war against all the false perceptions that still existed.

I rediscovered my voice.  It broke when I finally found the words I
wanted.  "Would you have told me?"

She ducked her head.  "I don't know.  I was afraid of how you would react.
 I didn't want you thinking I used that to pressure you into staying.  You
have every right to resent what I've done."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  "Several years ago, I made
Tialira a promise.  'If we ever get the chance, I'd like to be with you so
we could see if we really could be close friends after meeting in person.
If we managed to stay friends, we would see if we cared enough for each
other to become lovers in real life.'  Tialira made the same promise to
Fyrenth."   I shrugged even though I knew she wouldn't see it.  "I made
that promise to the *person* Tialira and the image I had built of her - in
my mind.  I knew the real image would be different.  Life on the grid
taught me that If I loved the mind, the shape of the body doesn't matter."

"Since I still love Tialira, you, I'll have to learn to ignore the package
you're wrapped in.  I don't think I'll have much trouble doing that.  I've
written about it, now I get to live it. "

"That's something I knew I'd be dealing with if I was accepted.  I never
expected to have to deal with it so soon.  I was expecting a gradual
building of a relationship.  I never dreamed that I would find myself with
the chance to confirm one that already existed."

She nodded without looking at me.

I held out one of my hands, palm up.  "Well?  Is this the chance to keep
our promises?"

Her eyes flicked in my direction.  Slowly, one of her front legs came up.
She laid her paw in my hand.

"Yes."

* * *


Bitch/M zoo k9-pov
---

Tialira's Song
Bio-Mates - The Introduction
by: Stasya T. Canine
---

Words from afar
Blaze brightly
On the screen of my life.

Where is he?
Who is he?
Is he for real?

Lonely.
Oh, both of us,
So very lonely.

Carefully, I search.
I must *know*.
Dare I find out?

I whisper his name.
It gently rolls from my tongue:
"Fyrenth."

I dream of a touch.
Any touch.
*His* touch!

Is he for real?
Could he be mine?
In our dreams, fulfilled?

Gently.
Very gently.
I ask without asking.

Then...
Discovery!
He's real!

Pain.
Agitation.
Unsure.

He's human.
I'm not.
Much danger of failure.

Days
Turn to years
And a promise is made.

"Fyrenth."
In my deepest parts.
I whisper his name.

Would he?
Could he?
Will he?

His scent overwhelms me.
He's near
Yet so far.

Words from nearby
Blaze brightly
On the screen of my life.

"Fyrenth."
I whisper his name
Etched so deeply, on my soul.

Contact!
Welcome!
Will our future begin?

Scents.
Overwhelming.
Tell of chaos within.

Before me.
Beside me.
Together!

"Fyrenth!"
A whisper within.
A dream, reborn.

A future suggested.
In the chaos of now,
A mistake maybe made.

Scents overwhelming
Tell of shock,
And surprise.

My eyes turn away
To help hide...
My fear.

Inward I turn.
Can *he* read *me*
That well?

"Tialira."
He knows!
He knows me!

The scent
Of confusion
Tickles my nose.

But not do I smell
The scent
Of rejection.

"Tialira."
Spoken in darkness
It tells of his love.

Words from next to me
Blaze brightly
On the screen of my life.

More words
Do we share
And speak of our past.

Of promises made
And chances to learn.
We speak of it all.

"Tialira."
"Partner."
"Together, we two."

Fears, unfounded.
Replaced by a future
Well founded.

A gentle touch
Binds us together
And tells of our love.

"Tialira."
"Fyrenth."
With tenderness spoken.

Words from within
Blaze brightly
On the screens of *our* lives.
---

Stasya T. Canine
chapter one originally posted: February 12, 2001

chapter two originally posted:  February 17, 2001

minor revisions, both chapters:   December 24, 2003

Tialira's Song originally posted:  April 16, 2001

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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