I do not own Chaotic nor anything related to it. It belongs to TCDigital.

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The Magazine

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It's the day after Hera's birthday, early morning. "Come on, honey," I say, shaking Isis's shoulder. "It's time to wake up."

Isis growls and pulls the blanket over her head.

I shake her again. "We need to talk to-"

Isis slaps me with her pillow, then covers her face with it. "I feel sick," comes her muffled voice.

Well, looks like I'm going to have to delay the talk with Hera. No point forcing it when the more rational of her parents has a monster hangover.

I slip out of bed and put some clothes on. Nothing fancy, just a robe. I'm not appearing in public quite yet, just checking up on everyone.

Hera's still asleep when I check in her room. I'm not surprised. She's starting to sleep through mornings, and she did go to sleep rather late last night.

Jupiter, on the other hand, sounds like he's up and moving in his room, metal clanking against metal, his voice grunting in time with the periodic noises. Early morning has turned into workout time ever since he turned thirty-two...

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Four solans ago:

Breakfast in the morning with my family. Even in a world as fantastic as Perim, there's still things like this. I'm reading today's paper while waiting for my food, a white porridge that reminds me of cooked oatmeal, to cool.

"Hey Mom, Dad?" Jupiter says suddenly. "Can I get some exercise equipment for my room?"

I look up from reading the newspaper. "Something wrong with the soldiers' training room equipment?"

"Probably not heavy enough." Hera nudges her brother's arm. "Am I right, or am I right?"

"Yeah yeah, mind your own business," Jupiter retorts, pushing Hera back.

It's a funny image. Jupiter's only thirty-two, but he's already as tall as Hera. Despite that, he still very much acts like the little brother in their relationship.

"All right," Isis says, "cut it out." Hera and Jupiter stop pushing each other and turn back to their food.

I fold the newspaper and set it aside. "If the weights available aren't enough to challenge you, I suppose I can commission some heavier weights."

Jupiter shakes his head. "I'm talking about equipment like Humans had on Earth. Adjustable weights, specialized furniture, things like that." He holds out a sheet of paper. "I drew a floor plan for it already."

I take the paper and look at it. It's a kind of blueprint of Jupiter's room, with his bed, shelves, and other thing all on one side. More than half of the room seems dedicated to gym equipment.

"Jupiter, this is impressive and all, but..." I hand the paper back. "I really can't justify using treasury money to fund this."

"I'll pay for it," Jupiter says with a wide grin.

Isis, Hera and I all stare at Jupiter. Hera mentions, "You don't have that kind of money, do you?"

I add, "Jupiter, a lot of the equipment you have in mind doesn't actually exist. Not in Perim, at least. It's going to be very expensive to have a smith forge all of it."

"Ashmet's already said he was interested in making them," Jupiter says brightly.

"Ashmet," I repeat. He's Al Mipedim's most successful blacksmith. "When did you talk to Ashmet?"

"Mudeenu took me to see him so I could learn how all the weapons were made," Jupiter explains. "I showed him my idea and rough drawings of the things I want, and he's excited about it."

"It's still a lot money to commission all of it," I say.

"It's cheaper if I help make it," Jupiter says, "and Ashmet has a job opening this summer. I'll earn my own money to buy it, and I'll get it cheaper for helping make it."

I glance at Isis. She shrugs and says, "It's a good idea for him to learn a trade, something besides and in addition to being a soldier."

I nod. "Just make sure you don't hurt yourself."

"Yes!" Jupiter hisses.

Hera bats her eyes at me. "Daddy, can I convert my room into a spa?"

"Dream on," I mutter, and Hera laughs loudly.

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Present day:

Ever since he got his equipment, Jupiter been a bit of an exercise nut. Combining that with his earlier than average growth spurt has had a dramatic effect on him. He's a little more than seven feet tall now, getting taller each day, and he's gone from being relatively thin to a muscular beast. He looks like a Mipedian well into adulthood, rather than one about to turn thirty-six.

Huh. With with all that's gone on about Hera's birthday coming and going, I haven't really spoken to Jupiter about his own birthday yet.

Well, he's awake now, I guess. I knock on the door. "Jupiter? May I come in?"

I jump a little at the sound of something heavy hit the floor. I hear footsteps clatter and metal clanking. Eventually Jupiter's deep voice calls out, "Sure."

I try to puzzle out what I just heard for a moment before opening the door.

Jupiter's room is filled with various exercise machines. For example, there's a bench press, and over there's a chin-up bar. On the wall there is a rack of white towels, as well as a hook that holds Jupiter's daytime outfit.

Jupiter is sitting naked with his back to me on a bench by the farthest wall, doing arm curls with a pair of barbells. He never wears clothing while exercising anymore, ever since his growth spurt made him quickly outgrow three different sets of gym clothes over the course of a month. There was a time when that would have bothered me, but that time is far in the past.

"I just realized that we never discussed your birthday coming up," I explain as I close the door behind me. "Is there anything you want to do?"

"Not really," Jupiter mutters without turning around, still lifting his weights.

I raise my eyebrow. "Okay then. Do you have any special requests for your birthday?"

"Not really," comes the mumbled reply.

Several alarm bells are ringing in my head. Jupiter simply doesn't act like this. "Well, I have a suggestion then. The Earth's Ambassadors' theater troop is going to be in Al Mipedim that day."

Jupiter doesn't seem to react at all. All I hear from him is, "Okay."

I blink. "Um, would you like to watch a few of their performances?"

"Sounds good," Jupiter says without the slightest change in his weightlifting.

Now all the alarm bells are ringing in my head. Jupiter loves Earth's Ambassadors' performances: variations of popular stories from Earth such as Lord of the Rings, Robin Hood, and Harry Potter. The fact that they were going to be here should have had him bouncing off the walls with excitement.

I start taking careful note of everything. It might be something harmless, but I'm not taking that chance. I'd never forgive myself if I ignored this and something happened to Jupiter.

Those weights Jupiter's lifting have fewer weights than he normally uses. He could be aiming for low weight, high repetitions, though. A few of his benches are askew, though, like he bumped into them while moving quickly. Was that the sound I heard earlier? His bench press, though, it's usually closer to the door, but now that I look at it, it's two whole feet to the left from where it usually is. It's also... wet?

Jupiter turns to look at me when I approach the bench press. His eyes dart to the machine's base. I guess I know where to look. I step around the bench and lift it up a little.

There's a crumbled book under the bench press, along with a bottle. I pick the book up and smooth it out.

Jupiter drops his barbells. His voice is higher than usual when he whimpers, "Please don't be angry, Dad."

The book is a magazine, or as close to one as can be made in Perim. The page it's open to shows a picture of a Human woman lying down in a provocative pose. She's completely nude.

I pick up the bottle. There's a clear liquid in it. It's cap is slippery and hard to hold on to.

I start to laugh. I'm so relieved that, of everything that could have happened, this is all it is.

Jupiter blinks. "Dad?"

I wipe my eyes. Wow, I'm laughing so hard I'm crying a little. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself, then hold up the magazine and the bottle. "Jupiter, I'm a little disappointed that you wasted your money on pornography." I glance at the bench press's seat. "Wow, it's going to take a lot to get that out of the fabric."

Jupiter cringes. He'd be blushing, except that Mipedians don't blush and he's naturally bright red anyway. "I'm sorry."

I close the magazine and set it down, then grab on of the towels hanging on the wall. "Here. Clean yourself up. Then we'll talk."

Jupiter takes the towel and wipes his right hand in it, then rubs the towel in between his legs. After he's dried off, he drops the towel on the floor to his right.

I sit down on Jupiter's left. "Son, I understand what's going on."

"Yeah?" Jupiter still looks embarrassed.

"Yeah," I reply. "You've learned what puberty is already, right?"

Jupiter nods. "It's why I'm getting taller so fast, why my voice is getting deeper, and why my- why certain things are getting bigger."

I point at Jupiter's chest. "Well, while it's doing that, your body is also creating a lot of hormones and chemicals. They're the things telling your body to change, but they're also making you interested in things that you weren't before." I reach back for the magazine and hold it in front of me without opening it. "For example, you're feeling a strong urge to procreate."

Jupiter blinks. "Pro-what?"

I sigh. "You really, really, really want to have sex."

Jupiter cringes again a little. "Right..."

I wave the book up and down a little. "And because you can't do that right now, you've been looking for alternatives, such as masturbating to pornography-"

Jupiter grits his teeth. "Dad..."

"You need to be able to call these things what they are," I explain. "Anyways, I want you to stop using these books. If you spend to much time with them, you'll have a hard time treating a real woman right when you have the chance."

Jupiter hangs his head. "Okay."

"Good." I pat his back. "Now put on some clothes. We're going to clean house."

Jupiter looks down at me. "Do I have to get rid of all of them?"

I nod. "It's too strong a temptation to leave lying around."

Jupiter nods unhappily and stands up. He puts on a loincloth, then shows me where he'd been hiding his books.

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Up next: The Question of Age

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Here, have a memory.