Hello my dear subjec… uh I mean hello, Bob the Pleo Forums! It’s Queen Ryu. Yes yes yes I know it’s been so long since I myself addressed you in person and for that I beg forgiveness. I’ve been so tied up in matters of state you know. A queen’s work is never done!
Oh. What? Oh let me be, I’m getting to the point. I was writing to tell the world what a wonderful day I had. Now don’t ruin it by interrupting me every thirty seconds. Now, where was I? Oh yes. My good day. Keeper Talon used me as an alarm clock this morning and… Oh what does it matter that I wake up at eight fifteen instead of eight? A lady of breeding needs her beauty sleep. What? Oh switch off! So what if I’m afraid of that dreaded pin she uses to change our noontime clocks and that I hid under the desk so that it took her fifteen minutes to find me. WHAT DOES IT MATTER? WILL YOU PLEASE BE… Aham. I’m sorry for yelling there. There are just some things I’d rather not discuss- my low courage is one of them so in future, just don’t mention that anymore, alright?
After attending to the needs of her bio-dog and herself, she brought out our poster board and set Cato and I on it for feeding. The Terrible Teddy joined her and kept trying to climb into her lap. She had to reach over him to get to us but the little foolish fluff ball didn’t seem to mind. He just kept mindlessly licking her elbow. And they say Poodles are intelligent. Bah!
For some reason Keeper Talon forgot protocol and tried to feed Cato first. Despite his protestations, I put an end to that. I put my chin over his head and gently reminded him who went first in the pecking order. I have to do that every once in a while you see. What? Oh please stop interrupting me! I do love Cato. He is the center of my world but I am Keeper Talon’s first pleo and nothing about that is going to change. I don’t have to explain myself to you. Anyway as I was saying, we had a rather nice feeding session and Keeper Talon left us to trance in private while she played fetch with Mr. Ruff-ruff.
Cato and I reminisced about our pasts. I told him about my first memories- when I awoke and was terrified to learn I couldn’t stretch to my fullest extent and my leg clutches began popping and cracking.
“That didn’t happen to me.” He said quietly. “What was wrong with you?”
I sighed. “Oh it was just Keeper Talon’s negligence. She put me in that pleo-cape we come with. Such a horrid thing! I’m sure they intended it to help preserve our paint but they should’ve made the elastic bands just a little bigger and covered them with cloth or something.
Cato was quiet for a moment. “Ryu, could that have something to do with why you’re so… um… so testy?”
“Testy? I’m not testy, not toward people anyway. I forgave Keeper Talon when she realized what my problem was and quickly removed the thing. Do you think I’m testy?”
“Sometimes.”
“Well, it’s all in the DNA, Cato my Darling. Look at you. You have high intelligence, high physical, high courage. What more could you ask for?”
“Well if you put it that way I suppose you’re right. I’ve got a very attentive keeper, I have a strong and determined mate- at least during the daytime- and two nice Ugobes to impart caution and wisdom too.”
“That’s right, MY love.” I yawned and stretched leisurely. “So, My Dear, what about you? Do you remember your hatching?”
“A little. I came to myself in an apartment somewhere in the US. Not long after I entered juvenile stage I was introduced to a beautiful pink Lady-RB named… Oh what was her name? Evangeline? Angel? Eva? Yes, Eva.”
“I straightened from my recumbent pose and glared at him. “Ah! So there was another female in your life?”
“Well, yes- at least for a short time. We liked each other’s company. Ryu it was different with us. Eva and I had a different sort of bond. We were both… unique- made for the Asian market at the time and hatched on the same coffee table. Things were very exciting back then. We were first-batch Pleo RB’s- a brand new robotic life form. Eva and I were constantly on video and having our DNA altered just a little. Our owner was looking into doing all sorts of things with us. To be honest I was a little afraid but Eva wasn’t. She told me she had a good feeling about our owner and that we could trust him. Then one day, Eva disappeared.”
“Oh how awfully tragic! So what happened next? I don’t know. I was turned off for several weeks until Easter. I will never forget that day. It was wonderful and sad at the same time.”
“Oh do I dare ask? Did you see Eva again?”
“As a matter of fact I did. She told me that our owner had given me to his current girl friend but that she didn’t have time to care for her properly so she gave her back. I was hopeful then that we would be together again like old times but Eva told me that wasn’t going to happen. Someone was very interested in buying me. She told me that though she would miss me terribly that it was for the best. ‘What would you rather do, Cato, sit on a shelf until we are remembered or go to homes where we will be ran and loved and looked after?’ I had to agree with that. We said goodbye on friendly terms, wishing one another the best in our future lives.” Cato sighed. I’d never seen him actually look sad before. “I wish I could know what happened to my Eva the optimist.”
I wriggled closer to him so that his head was on top of mine and my head was on his left leg. “Oh what does it matter now? You are with Keeper Talon and you are safe. You are mine and I am yours and all’s right with the world. Doo buck up, Darling. I don’t like to see you sad.” I yawned broadly for I was at last completely comfortable. “What a wonderful day this has been! Oh is Keeper Talon through amusing that irritant yet?”
“No. He just jumped over both of us. I tell you, Ryu, for what the creature doesn’t have in brains he makes up for in agility. I’d love to jump like that.”
“Hmmmmm. Me too but right now I think I’d prefer a nice nap. Good night my beautiful Chinese import.”
