Chapter Four

"This is no help at all."

Muttering in frustration Neal glanced up from the laptop at Peter who had spent the past two hours standing perfectly still like he was guarding Buckingham Palace. Looking at the unfocused look in the Animula's eyes Neal could see why they were assumed to be souless. Peter appeared completely disconnected with his surroundings as he stared at nothing. It was disconcerting to have him standing in the room looking like a breathing statue.

There was some information on the history and lore of Animula from ancient times when they were often revered as conduits to the gods, to their persecution during the Dark Ages, right up until about the Industrial Revolution where they were prized for their math skills as businesses boomed. Through out everything the only constant was the idea that they had no identities of their own. As babies they never cried, as children they never learned to play or form any kind of attachment. Since their golden rings around their irises didn't develop until puberty one of the early tests for being Animula was to pull them away from their mothers to gauge if there was any reaction.

Modern day information was nearly impossible to find. Once the Animula proved themselves to be highly profitable commodities very little research into the phenomenon was done. There was an in utero test for Animula, but no information as to how it worked. It was the Market that offered the testing and the information was mostly geared towards explaining the benefits of selling off the 'defective conception' rather than seeking abortion. The most detail Neal found was an article from the sixties postulating that the apparent personalities and emotions that developed in their teen years was a 'learned behavior', much the way you could teach a parrot to speak.

There was nothing that Neal could find on how to best care for or treat Animula. They were praised for being docile and obedient, but at the same time there were specially designed collars that you purchase for 'added security'. The Market site offered private instruction to new owners at time of sale or when registering a new acquisition if they were bought 'off Market'. Neal knew already that all Animula needed to be registered with their current owners, something he was already trying to figure out a way around. The last thing he needed was letting the government know he sudden had an extraordinarily expensive creature living in his house.

Most of the other information Neal could find was geared towards areas that Animula excelled in and their businesses uses. With a mind for logic and an eye for patterns they had a talent for stock selection, financial management, commodity predictions, investments, and detecting fraud. Each Animula had their own strengths and weaknesses in these fields, but an almost instinctual understanding and talent for math appeared to be universal among them.

"Peter." Neal called.

Neal got the same reaction that Cheng did, Peter jolted slightly before he focused his attention on him. It seemed to take him a little longer to snap out of his trance than it had with Cheng. He still gave Neal the impression that it took all his energy just to remain standing. He had offered Peter a seat but he had made it clear that he would rather stand.

"Yes, Master Neal?"

"Just 'Neal'." He pressed, he really didn't like the 'master' title. "What's 3,825 times 3?"

"11,475." Peter replied instantly.

"Divided by 5?"

"2,295."

"Nearest whole number square root?" Neal asked trying something harder.

"48."

"That's amazing." Neal smiled.

"It's nothing a calculator can't do."

"Just because a machine can do something doesn't mean it isn't still impressive when a human does it."

"I'm not human."

"Right, sorry."

"Besides, you didn't check my answers." Peter added. "For all you know I could be wrong or just lying."

"Are you?"

"No."

"Good enough for me." Neal chuckled. "I don't plan to keep you around as a calculator anyway."

"What are your...intentions?" Peter asked carefully.

"Intention?"

"How are you going to use me?" Peter clarified. "You are not the typical private owner and I assume you don't own a company."

"I don't even have a job." Neal said proudly. "Who is a 'typical private owner'?"

"Men with more money than they know what to do with." Peter replied with a slight dark edge to his tone.

"Was Cheng 'typical'? He didn't seem to be using you for financial advice, and you did nothing to protect him from me when you suspected that I was running a con."

"It wasn't my place to protect him."

"Really? I would think that would be exactly the kind of thing Cheng would have wanted from you. Did you want to get away from hi..."

Neal was interrupted as there was a quick knock at the door. He assumed that it was Mozzie, he was really the only one who even knew where he lived. Neal called out to let Mozzie know he could come in, but when Mozzie tested the door it was locked. Neal was about to get to his feet to unlock it, but Peter was already headed towards the door. Neal smiled to himself as he let Peter answer the door, he hadn't told Mozzie about the new addition.

Peter opened the door, stepping to the side as he did so to allow Neal's guest to enter unchallenged. Mozzie walked inside without even questioning how the door opened and went straight to the kitchen table where Neal was sitting, although it quickly became clear that it was the open bottle of red on the table that had captured his attention. Neal just waited with an amused expression while he waited for Mozzie to figure out they weren't alone.

"Since when do you lock..." Mozzie stopped as he realized that it couldn't have been Neal who unlocked the door.

Mozzie turned around to look at Peter who was closing the door and locking it once more. Mozzie's breath hissed across his teeth when Peter turned around and revealed his gold stained eyes. Neal motioned for Peter to step closer. Peter did as asked but when he was about five feet away he stopped when Mozzie took a frightened step back. Closing his eyes briefly Peter looked once again like he might pass out, Neal was about to ask him if he was feeling well when Mozzie turned an accusing glare on him.

"Neal, what the hell is going on?" Mozzie demanded. "What is he doing here?"

"Mozzie this is Peter. He's an..."

"I know what he is, Neal." Mozzie interrupted sharply. "The question is what is he doing here?"

"I sort of won him."

"This was winning?" Mozzie asked rhetorically. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"Moz..."

"No, I don't even what to know. This is a very bad idea, Neal."

"My feelings exactly." Peter muttered under his breath.

"Did you just talk back to me?" Mozzie asked surprised. "Neal, this is insa..."

"Calm down, Mozzie." Neal said he got to his feet, this meeting was not going as he thought it would.

Unaffected by Mozzie's negative reaction to him Peter just got that far away look in his golden eyes that Neal hated to see. Neal wasn't even entirely sure why it bothered him, but there was just something so heartbreaking about the way he would just zone out. Reminding himself of Peter's nature Neal told himself again that he couldn't compare Peter's behavior to his own. He had said it himself, he wasn't human so didn't think like a human and he couldn't be expected to act or react like one. Neal was surprised by how strongly Mozzie was reacting to him.

"Neal, you don't want to have anything to do with Animula, he will be nothing but trouble."

"Have you met one before?"

"A long time ago." Mozzie responded cryptically. "They can't be trusted, Neal. You need to get rid of him."

"No way." Neal shook his head. "This is an perfect opportunity, we can finally get in close to the big fish with him. Peter is an instant boost to our credibility."

"He's a white elephant." Mozzie countered.

"He's a powerful status symbol."

"I don't care, I don't like it." Mozzie pressed. "He's going to be an expensive pet if your little scheme doesn't pay off."

"Your friend is right, Master Neal." Peter suddenly entered the conversation. "Not to over step my bounds, but can you even afford the taxes on me?"

"Taxes. That's cute." Mozzie mocked before turning back to Neal. "He's funny, I wasn't expecting him to be funny."

"Wait...you...you're not even going to register me?" Peter asked anxiously. He may have appeared disinterested in the conversation before, but he was fully paying attention now. "Master Neal, you have to transfer me into your name."

"No can do." Neal replied. "That would open me up to all sorts of IRS scrutiny, plus I probably can't afford your taxes."

"I could report you for this, it's illegal to keep Animula without registering them with the National Board within three days of purchase. The penalty is four years in prison and a hundred thousand in fines."

Neal was a little surprised to hear a threat from Peter and didn't react immediately.

"Go ahead and report us." Mozzie retorted icily. "Good luck on the auction block after you do, Old Man."

Peter shot Mozzie a look that caused Mozzie to take a step back fearfully. For a second Neal was afraid that he was going to have to step in and physically stop Peter from attacking his friend. Neal was starting to wonder if he needed to corrected Peter's somewhat subversive behavior in some way, but he had no idea where to even start. He didn't feel that physical correction would help the situation any, and from what he understood of Animula it really shouldn't be needed. However despite his efforts this morning to educate himself Neal had to admit that he still knew very little of Animula.

Neal was at a bit of a loss because he hadn't expected Peter to have anything that even resembled fight in him. Everything he'd been told before and read this morning stated that Animula were naturally docile, and willing servants that had little interest in their own futures, but he wasn't seeing any of that in Peter right now. There was something just below the surface in him that kept threaten to break through. Neal started to worry that it was because he wasn't a strong enough Master to make Peter feel comfortable. He probably needed more structure and rules to relax. Before Neal could decide how he should react Peter sighed heavily and returned to looking sightlessly down at the floor again.

Neal was just noticing how labored Peter's breathing was when Mozzie stepped up and took him by the elbow. Mozzie pulled Neal to the far side of the apartment and reduced his voice to a whisper. Neal was fairly certain that Peter could still hear them, but he didn't look interested anymore. Looking more carefully at him Neal thought that Peter suddenly looked a little paler as he stood motionless except for the shallow rise and fall of his chest. Mozzie distracted Neal once again by tugging on his arm to get his attention.

"Neal, you have got to get rid of him, he's dangerous." Mozzie hissed.

"What? No he isn't. He just needs to adjust, this has to be stressful for him, but he isn't going to hurt me."

"He will if you don't prove to him that you're willing to hurt him first."

"Don't be ridiculous. Even if he was as dangerous as you seem to think adding a fear of pain to the situation isn't going to help. He'll settle in once we give him a job to do, he just needs a task to focus on."

"Neal, wake up, Animula don't behave because they want to, they do it because they have to. They are only kept by the elite and big companies because they are the only ones who can control them."

"Mozz..."

"Trust me on this, if you are going to insist on keep him, put a collar on your dog before he murders you in your sleep."