With a grin and a chuckle at remembering his father's Alpha's sometimes vulgar speeches. He continued on to the tamers reserve to meet his first partner.

A few minutes after leaving the tamers center he arrived at the reserve. Recapturing his earlier excitement for the beginning of his independence he headed straight into the large grey building. He ignored the disabled button opened the door and proceeded to the, surprise surprise, green haired Generica behind her reception desk. Ulen had been in a number of government and tamer facilities all had a large number of Genericas performing menial tasks or desk work.

He wondered when such work would be called Genericing. Well it wasn't very catchy so probably never. As he walked closer he noticed the Generica giving him a professional smile to match the one Leila had first given him. If Leila was lovely than this girl was cute. Ulen had no problem returning her smile which made her's have a bit of real warmth to it.

"Mr. Yeadon?", the green haired Generica asked Ulen as he got into comfortable speaking distance.

"I am, but you can call me Ulen. Miss...?", drawing on his earlier success Ulen asked the girl for her name.

"My name is Ciela, Ulen. Leila, informed me that you were on your way to acquire your starter Demi-Human. I'm pleased to help you in any way I can.", Ciela replied with real enthusiasm.

Ulen noticed the sincerity in her tone and was amazed at the power of simple courtesy. Though no doubt having Leila speak for him helped. He had caught the pause Ciela had made after saying her name. He wondered what else Leila had said and if he should be worried.

"Thank you, Ciela. I really appreciate your help. As I am not quite sure what I should be looking for.", Ulen said lying through his teeth he knew exactly what he wanted but he just couldn't afford it, so he had no trouble sounding sincere to her offer of help.

"Then can I see your claim chit? And we can start looking for a girl to fit your needs.", Ciela said with a slight emphasis on "needs" with her smile turning playful.

Leila had obviously said some very good things about her encounter with him. Ulen shook his head at her for the entendre. To which she just grinned in return.

"Actually, I am going to pay in hard currency. I hope you can handle the transaction.", Ulen replied placing a emphasis on "hard" and "handle" two can play that game.

She looked surprised that he wanted to pay in cash but she still wanted to play, who can make the better innuendo.

"I'm sure I can handle whatever you desire to give me. Do you need a minute? Or would you like to look at the assets we have on hand?", she replied pushing out her rather nice "assets".

This was getting out of hand rather quickly. Ulen gave her his best wry half smile not that he had much choice at the half.

"I have 10,000 on hand so if I could look at a catalogue. We can get started.", Ulen replied trying to get back to business.

Ciela at first looked disappointed that the game was over then, in the way of women everywhere, decided that she had won. Her eyes widened a second later.

"10,000? Is that right? Such a small amount?," she asked with a shocked look and no entendre intended.

Ulen shrugged and said,"I'm afraid so. I know its not much."

"Not much" was a gross understatement a decent starter D-Girl ran from 25,000 to 35,000. Rare or especially strong D-Girls cost 50,000 to 75,000 at level 1, tier first. A girl for 10,000 wouldn't even be bottom of the barrel you would have to scrap the wood to find one for that price.

"We have a few girls for that price, but they are mostly still wild and have only their racial abilities. You might be better off with a contract.", Ciela was obviously unhappy at having to offer him such low grade girls, but no matter how much she enjoyed talking to him there was a limit to what she could do. To her mind a contract with a free girl was his best and probably only choice for the money he had. Ordinarily, she would be right 10,000 would let him form a six month contract with a reasonably competent girl, not the best but better than the mostly wild girls available for that price.

"That's fine Ciela I knew that would be the case when I came here and a contract would not suit my needs right now.", Ulen replied letting her know there was no need to feel bad and that he had done his research already. Ulen really had come knowing that would be the case and he was prepared to take on (pun definitely intended) even a wild girl as long as she matched his criteria.

"Alright then. Let me transfer a list of the girls available to your pad and you can look them over.", she said matching action to words she hit a few keys on her keyboard and his pocket beeped showing his pad had received the download.

"You can take a seat over there, while you make your choice", she said indicating a small sitting area with a couple of small couches he hadn't noticed while they had been bantering.

Ulen nodded and gave her a smile as thanks before he walked to the nearest couch. He pulled out his pad before sitting on the surprisingly comfortable couch and quickly scanned the list to see what breeds were listed. Completing his scan, he started seriously reviewing the girls listed on it. Two of the girls had immediately caught his attention a plant type Bulbutte and a insect type Horneette. He marked them for consideration and kept reading. He was surprised to see a Hunni listed. Normally, they were valued for their abilities at horticulture. She was worth more than her listed price even with her low stats, but not enough to tempt him into buying then reselling her. He would leave that to a dealer. He kept reading.

Ciela watched Ulen seriously studying that list of rejects and she really wanted to help him. So, she made some calls to the local D-Girl dealers and talked to their receptionists (mostly Genericas) asking about any girls they might have in Ulen's price range. To summarize none of the available girls were any better than the ones that were on the list she had already given him. Just to make herself feel better she ran a more detailed search on the girls available to the tamers center. To her surprise a list of girls came up that hadn't when she had run a standard search. She quickly read the breeds listed and was surprised at some of the ones listed on it, there were even a couple tier seconds and for very low prices. Excited she pulled up more information on the girls on the list. When she saw why these girls were so cheap she paled. The girls were all on the disposal list... for that night.

Demi-Humans are a valuable commodity but like any commodity there are defective products. The D-Girls on the disposal list had a number of problems that made them be seen as a defective product. The most common problem was a natural chemical imbalance that made them prone to uncontrollable rages that neither magic nor science could solve. A couple had a genetic dissociative condition that turned them into sociopaths that could never be trusted regardless of how often they were conditioned. One unfortunate second tier Gigachu had a pain curse cast on her that cost ten times more to remove than she would ever be worth, at least she would get peace. The reason the prices listed for the girls were so low was because they were posthumous. The government had decided to recoup some of their investment by selling their corpses.

Ciela pitied the last girl on the list, a very common bunny girl, she had no genetic/chemical problems nor had a curse cast on her. She was sentenced to disposal because...no one wanted her. In the three years since she had awakened at 14 not one tamer had shown even a passing interest in her neither had the companies that used Demi-Humans as cheap labour. Not even the brothels wanted her. The reason was her stats and peculiar looks. In all but agility she barely exceeded a human and her odd eyes put most humans off. She had two unusual abilities but they didn't make up for her pathetic stats and strange look. The government had decided that there was no point in further training or feeding her. Not that a bunny girl had merited a lot of training.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Ciela hit a few keys and sent the bunny girl's information to Ulen's pad.

She thought,'Why not? She costs half as much as he wants to spend. The girls already on his list will at least be taken by a labour company or brothel.'

Ulen was weighing the Bulbutte against the Horneette they were the best of the lot but were still the rejects Ciela had named them. His rather dispirited compare/contrast of the two girls was interrupted by a new download from Ciela. With no expectation Ulen pulled up the file and was not disappointed. He first noticed her ridiculously low price, 5,000 was a insult to any D-Girl. Still he looked over the girl's information. Her stats were beyond terrible Ulen had a stat that was higher than her highest by a full 10 points. He did notice that her magic ability was higher than his two current choices, which was, interesting. He kept reading his interest peaked when he noticed the same two abilities Ciela had been surprised at. Danger Sense was very rare in D-Girls and Stealth was usually acquired at a higher level than the bunny girl had. He looked at her picture again more closely. When his eye met the image of her eyes. He decided, this one.

Having decided he wasted no time second guessing his instinct. Getting up he put the pad back in his pocket and walked to Ciela's desk.

"I take it you found one to your liking?", Ciela asked before Ulen could say anything. She hoped he would take the poor girl even as she felt guilty for it, with a girl like that he would have real problems finding work.

"Yes, I'd like to get that last girl.", Ulen said guessing that Ciela sympathized with the unfortunate younger girl and would know who he meant.

"Thank you, Ulen! As soon as I receive payment I'll have them send her here so you can take possession directly. It shouldn't take more than an hour. Since she is being brought from one of our facilities. I'll waive the transport and collar fee. That brings your total to 4,750.", Ciela said excitedly. Her dropping the price down even lower was all she could, professionally, do to show her appreciation to Ulen for saving the girl.

Ulen gave the beaming girl his ITU membership card that could be used to debit his account. She gave his card a swipe and pressed a single button on her keyboard apparently she had already completed the paperwork. She handed back his card, caressing his hand as he took it, her million volt smile practically blinding him. If he had indicated that he wouldn't mind a more personal thank you she would have had her clothes off in an instant.

Ulen calmly put his card away and stood still patiently waiting for his new partner to arrive. He would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted by Ciela's rather obvious offer. He decided to give her his own personal acid test, if she passed he would happily take her up on that offer, good idea or not.

He was young and still idealistic enough to feel the high of saving someone from the in-personal, soul-crushing gears of the Demi-Human Regulation Act. The Act insured the slave status that the Demi-Humans' peculiar biology condemned them to. Ulen's personal demons demanded that Ciela prove that he could be intimate with her.

Ciela got up from her desk and came around it to stand at Ulen's right side with barely a finger width between them. He could clearly feel her warmth and if he had swayed to the right. Given the disparity in height, his right cheek would have come to rest on a distinctly soft and feminine protrusion. Even as his right side would have been treated to the unique softness of the female form. He stood perfectly still not showing the slightest hint of discomfort.

The hour passed in companionable silence. Ulen felt no need to talk and Ciela was content to stay beside him and savor her small victory over the system. The rumble and sudden squeal of a truck stopping alerted the pair to the arrival of their lucky rabbit. Both strained their ears to catch the sound of doors opening and closing.

Soon enough two figures entered the tamers reserve a large woman with brunette hair and a pair of wolf ears who walked with a confident stride. Holding the arm of a smaller ginger haired girl with rabbit ears who walked beside her unresisting. They stopped infront of the waiting pair. Ciela hurried forward and took the clipboard offered her by the Schwartzvulf and signed the paper on it quickly. Transferring custody of the bunny girl to her. Returning the clipboard to the Schwartzvulf who straightened and seemed to click her heels though she didn't. The Schwartzvulf turned and left without a word or look at her former charge. Ciela approached the bunny girl gave her a smile and brought her to stand in front of Ulen.

While, Ciela was still completing her duties Ulen studied the quiet bunny girl.

She was tall from her file he knew she was 5'9" a full five inches taller than himself. She was dressed in a grey pajama like set of clothes that didn't suit her at all. Thin, too thin, like she hadn't been eating properly with slight swelling on her chest and hips showing a more feminine rather than androgynous form. Her skin what he could see of it was a smooth alabaster but stretched too tight over the bones of her face. Her face would have been called beautiful with wide cheekbones and a graceful chin but the lack of flesh made it angular and hard looking. Her hair was straight and cut to just above shoulder length it was a vibrant red carrot color but had no luster adding to her malnourished appearance. Her rabbit ears were mostly white with patches of ginger and dark brown drooping lifelessly on her head. Her chest was...well practically non-existent with only a pair of barely perceptible mounds and prominent ribs. Her arms had a nice shape but too thin. Her hands suited her size with graceful fingers, again too thin. Her tiny waist led to hips with a slight rounded shape. Her legs were stick like but long, she had been a natural born runner. Her feet were well shaped with long toes. They hadn't given her shoes. Ulen looked back up at her eyes. The left a ordinary brown but the right was so black it seemed like she only had a giant pupil. There was despair in those eyes she clearly was resigned to death and expected to get it soon.

Ciela and the girl hadn't moved while Ulen finished his inspection of his new D-Girl. She was in worse shape than he thought.

Ulen spoke softly, "Hello Cynthia. I am Ulen Gunter Lars Yeadon. I hope we get along."

The girl didn't react. Ulen looked into her brown eye then deliberately looked into her black eye, she twitched. He made a show of looking back into her brown eye. Keeping eye contact with her brown eye. He turned his head giving her a clear view of his right profile then altered the spell that kept his hair in place to push it to the side showing her what was underneath. The eye socket was a hollow cavern and the skin looked desiccated and clung to the bone giving his face a skull like appearance. The right ear looked like a lump of melted, cream yellow, wax clinging to his skull. Ciela gasped took a step back and a brief look of revulsion crossed her face, failed. Cynthia looked a little shocked and for a brief moment pity shined out of her lifeless eyes but no horror, passed.

"Ciela could you finish registering Cynthia as my starter Demi-Human?", Ulen asked her gently but with none of the warmth with which they had spoken earlier.

"Yes.", she replied then hurried to her desk not looking at him.

Ulen motioned Cynthia to follow him, turned and walked to Ciela's desk. He signed the paper she handed him and left.

Ciela watched the new pair leave holding the paper he had signed. When the door closed behind them she stood there looking at it awhile longer. A confused look crossed her face it cleared. And she cursed herself.

Author's Note: Phew, this might be my longest chapter yet. the next one will be brief training chapter with a *un cha un cha un cha un cha un cha* scene at the end so avoid it or get your tissues whatever you prefer. Also, I'm posting Cynthia's stats.

P.S. Thank you for the 4 stars and the review Kachin. 7 followers WOOT!