Pet Deposit
Slicer Beast: Any animal who has been altered from birth to have unusual abilities due to genetic or metabolic modifications which can, though possibly won’t, be passed on to the next generation.
GloFish: Genetically modified pets which glow under a black light, originally developed as part of a project to create fish whose color changes when in the presence of toxins in the water. See: Splicer Beast
Opening of the article “And you were worried about Genetically Modified Corn.”
A couple of weeks after escaping the lair of Mister Lizard, later Lisa and Emilia had met for coffee and walked into a pet store together, Davy and Juicy having had their first vet visit in Chicago. The vet had confirmed Juicy was a female and Davy was a male, and both were also now microchipped and had GPS locators under their skin since pet splicer beasts were targets for pet kidnappings. Due to their size and ability to project ‘destructive forces, both now also had the paperwork on file to identify them as proto kaiju.
Because government bureaucracy doesn’t question if a one-hundred-gram lizard could crush a car with their foot or not, they just cared about things being triplicate.
Juicy was an adorable little class-0 Kaiju according to paperwork, a status none of them had known existed.
. “Let me grab a cart,” Emilia said. The tiny ‘boomer gecko’ was riding on her shoulder, wearing a tiny version of a halter with a leash, something she’d not been crazy about having put on her at first.
"No problem." Lisa said, “I’m going to look at that décor.” The realtor walked over to a display of plants, thinking some of them might be good to add to Davy's indoor pond, which was essentially a kiddy pool she'd set up in her basement, thankful that it was heated but otherwise unfinished. It made a great place for the little guy to spend his evenings. She’d thrown down a bit of indoor, outdoor carpet so he wasn’t dealing with the concrete floor all the time, and it was becoming cozy, by lizard standards.
The bright white Level 1 Kaiju, type Crocker Spaniel, was looking around excitedly; and was getting a lot of looks. “We’ll look at toys soon buddy,” she picked a few plastics floating lilies and a couple of bamboo with weighted bases, tossing them in the cart when Emilia squeaked one up to her. “How’s Juicy settling in? We didn’t get a lot of time to talk before the vet visit?”
"She’s not thrilled with the little tank we have for when we can’t pay attention to her, but otherwise well. Well, enough, that she gave birth." Emilia said mildly.
“What!” Lisa whipped her head towards the redhead. “Juicy laid eggs!”
"No, apparently she gives live birth. And, apparently, it’s a parthenogenic process, which I had to look up. She's a cloning plant. We called the vet, and they confirmed it’s not a terribly unheard-of trait in most geckos, and actually the only method of reproduction for some."
Lisa looked at the lizard who, somehow, managed to look smug. “How many babies did she have? More to the point, how did Ryan and Carl take it?”
"Two, and pretty well, after freaking the hell out. We called the Vet, like I said, and he doesn't think she'll do it super often since making babies is more energy reliant than making a new explosive tail though she could, theoretically, do it multiple times over the next six months."
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“I assume the babies are back with the boys. Are you keeping them? How big are they?
"Oh, not very big at all. We'll probably keep them since they might carry grenades around with them. We were planning a terrarium for this one, so we went bigger. Basically, there's a five-hundred-gallon enclosure Carl and Ryan built from thick Plexi and reinforced wood, that they've lined with ceramic tiles. Ryan's been researching, and intends to make it 'bioactive', so kind of a really tiny version of the domes."
That sounds super cool. I’m going to have to come see that. My basement is unfinished, so I’ve been turning it into a playroom for Davy. It’s got a little pool in it, and some indoor and outdoor carpet. Cassidy even offered to help in finding me someone to make him a basking rock.” She smiled. “She’s also making him a full body winter parka so he can go out with me in the winter. The lack of fur is a bit of an issue.”
"I'm guessing you got the heat lamps and such so he can chill under them too, even if he's warm blooded. It's got to be comfy."
“Only a couple, in a corner with his pillow. I am having a custom crate made for him that will have all his lights. Otherwise, it would cost a fortune.
"Oh yeah, I imagine so. Those lights aren't cheap. But at least we can be confident neither need that special lighting. What is it, UV something?" She shrugged it off.
Lisa walked over to the toys, tossing a heavy-duty chew ball to Davy, putting a second one in her cart along with the tag from the first. “The doctor said that most likely Davy will only grow another foot or so in length, so that’s a relief. Though as he gets bigger, they think he’s going to be able to hold more charge.”
"Even two or three without falling asleep is enough to make the average enhanced leave your house alone." Emilia said. Then she froze. "Wait. Those?"
Before Lisa could look, she heard a sound that sent a chill up her spine. "tooo kayyy!”
She whipped her head around, her eyes catching the blue and red shape of several small versions of the lizards that left her with a new scar on her right thigh. "It's those psychotic little bastards!”
A shop attendant overheard them. “They aren’t the friendliest of the geckos, but they are beautiful and the second largest of the gecko family.” The salesgirl said, mistaking their horror for awe. Davy dropped the Kong ball he was chewing on and the plates and made a grumbling noise. On his tail spines he started to glow softly.
“No Davy, No!” Lisa hissed, rummaged in her purse and pulled out a pack of homemade jerky. “Davy look! Chewy!” She tossed a big chunk at him, the white crock’s head snapped towards her, the light going out as he bounced for his favorite treat. He caught the meat, and started chewing happily, sparks running along his scales for a moment as he released the building energy harmlessly. "I'll take him outside." Lisa said, hurrying out with her pet.
Emily looked at the shop person. "We had bad experiences with a lot of these things, recently.”
“Oh? Yeah, they can be pretty bitey, but with enough time and attention they can be tamed down. Don’t know who’d let a lot of them run loose, though.” The shopgirl said though she didn’t offer to get the lizard out. “They are good for experienced keepers. It looks like you and your friend are both that, we don’t see many crocodilians in here, and I don’t recognize your gecko either.”
"Oh, Davy's a sweety, and Juicy is a smart girl." She smiled. "We learned a lot recently, kind of a spartan training in rewards to reptiles."
“Well, if you need any help let me know, we have lots of Pangea flavors if your girl likes fruit. Or is she an insectivore only? I don’t recognize her specie.”
"A little of everything, at least as far as her stomach is concerned, so I'd love to see those options." Emilia avoided the implied question while she agreed, glad that no one was commenting, or apparently had noticed since no one had run, how close they came to the shop being blown up by a tiny kaiju.
“Right over here, we also have supplements!” she said.
Lisa led Davy back a few minutes later, keeping him far from the offending geckos. I got him calmed down, I think if we avoid, they who shall not be named, he will be okay.
"Great, that makes one of us."
Lisa gave her a smile, well let’s load up, you’ve got Juicy’s babies to buy for too. I’m going to be getting a ton of those big rawhide bones for him to chew on.
"Probably a good idea." Em agreed.
Davy chirped wagging his thick white tail happy people where talking about him.