The first place that Rogue visited was the pet shop that she has spotted. Uncertain what the policy was on such things, she had left her fuzzles in her quarters.
She looked around inside. There were a few human pets, but primarily there were Ka'millians and Fuzzles. Rogue stopped at the Fuzzle display and admired the little furballs at play.
"Cute, aren't they?" said a voice behind her.
Rogue jumped and turned.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," said the clerk "I'm Mitchel."
"Rogue," she replied. "And yes, they are cute."
Mitchel grinned.
"Very loyal, socialable creatures."
"Ah didn't realise you could get spotted ones."
"Sure, and stripes," Mitchel pointed. "That happens when the parents are of two different shades. Well, when they don't merge. So, a blue one and a yellow one could give you various shades of yellow, blue and green; solid, spots or stripes."
"And two red ones can give you various shades of red."
"Yep..." Mitchel nodded curiously. "Know anyone the case applies to?"
"Ah have a red one, and muh... muh boyfriend also has a red one. And they had six kids a few months back. Three reds, a pink, a magentah and a white."
"White!" Mitchel exclaimed. "Really? They're quite rare."
Rogue nodded.
"Yes. Her name's Zurinah."
"Y'know you could breed her."
Rogue frowned.
"Ah don't know..."
"Don't get me wrong," Mitchel said. "It sounds a little nasty, I suppose, but Fuzzles are like cats and dogs - they have similar lifespans and people pay more for the rarer colours, shades, so on, so forth. I mean, well, a white one... well, the spawning of white ones is pretty rare in itself, and unless you find a male white somwhere, you probably couldn't breed a solid white one. But, white would most likely get you the lighter colours, or even white spotted or striped fuzzles."
Mitchel wondered if Rogue knew about the true talents of a white. He should probably tell her if she didn't.
"It would feel weird... breedin' Fuzzles for money..."
"Well, you've got, how many at the moment? Your original, and... you still have the kids?"
Rogue nodded.
"Well, sooner or later those kids are going to have kids of their own. And as adorable and otherwise wonderful as Fuzzles are, they will become a handle."
"Ah know what you mean," Rogue replied thoughfully. "Actually, Ah have asked a few of muh friends if they wanted any, but no one's been particularily int'rested. And Ah have ta admit, Ah've gotten rather fond of them..."
"We do," Mitchel agreed. "But friends and family are all the same to Fuzzles, so while they'll miss you, they'll get along just as well with other Fuzzles as with the ones they grew up with. Anyway, don't let me talk you into anything you don't want to do. Just thought I'd suggest it."
He paused, then decided he'd better tell her.
"Do you know about the... the true nature of whites?"
"How they're sorta the Fuzzle embodiment of good? And blacks are the Fuzzle embodiment of evil?"
"I guess you do."
"Zurinah had a battle with a black a few month back," Rogue looked sad. "She was mopey and othahwise not herself for quite sometime, but she's started ta return to her ol' self."
"Thanks good," Mitchel nodded. "That's something else to be careful of though... for every white born, so is a black. But that only applies to the solids. Spotted or striped whites don't really count. They tend to be a little more caring than your average Fuzzle, but not as far as the solid whites."
"Ah suppose black spotted or striped ones are the same... except they're nastiah?"
Mitchel paused.
"I would guess so, but I've never seen one," Mitchel replied. "Heck I've never even seen a white one, just spotted and striped whites. Most people try to avoid breeding black if they are ever unfortunate enough to get one."
"Ah can understand that. You've nevah seen a white? You can meet muh Zurinah, if you'd like. She's not with me at the moment though... Ah didn't know what the rules were regarding pets."
"Oh we carry them around with us all we want," Mitchel smiled. "But generally we keep them out of more sensitive areas where they can get up to mischeif. But since you have so many Fuzzles, maybe I can interest you in a few things."
"Oh?"
Mitchel took her over to the wall with the sign "Fuzzle Accessories".
"Now, this is a little playground."
"Ooooh," Rogue gasped as she looked it over. "Oh wow, I can see them having fun with that!"
Mitchel grinned.
"And of course, Fuzzle bags, although you probably already have one of those."
Rogue nodded and the two continued discussing fuzzles for a while.
"Ah suppose the playground is rather expensive," Rogue said, looking over at it wistfully.
"Hmm, well, expense is all about perspective."
"Oh?"
"There are exactly two other shops that sell playgrounds on the station. Their playgrounds are different from mine, but they're probably all about the same price range. So really, the prices on these playgrounds are probably about average. What determines if they're expensive or not to you, is what kind of money you have on you."
Rogue smiled.
"Point taken. Are American dollars accepted up here?"
Rogue hadn't been charged for her room or anything, and it was starting to feel weird.
"Just about everything accepted up here," Mitchel grinned. "But some places prefer to trade in credits - which is the local currency, if you will - or just plain, simple barter. YIRAAS isn't interested in taxing, they just want everyone to pay their dues, and they're happy. Their cover is a financial insitution. But I guess you would know that."
"Well, Ah'm a mutant, not an alien. So no, Ah didn't know."
"Really? Well, there you go," Mitchel replied. "I wouldn't have picked it, but it sure explains some stuff you didn't know. How'd you end up with a Fuzzle?"
"Muh power... whenever my skin touched someone elses Ah... Ah hurt them," Rogue was unwilling to tell the full extent of her 'hurting them'. "But Fuzzles are all fur, so it was thought Ah might actually be able to touch them without killing them. And a good thing for Libahty - muh first Fuzzle - that the theory turned out to be correct."
"I see."
"So, muh fuzzles are one of the main reasons why Ah wanted to come here. Learn more about them."
"Well, you couldn't have come to a better place," Mitchel nodded. "I've been breeding Fuzzles since I got my first one when I was ten. I had a neighbour who got one as well, we split the litter between us and traded with other breeders and stuff... been doing it ever since."
"Ahh, so that's why you're so int'rested in getting me involved. but I never would have thought of Fuzzles as... as... as trading cards."
Mitchel burst out laughing.
"Well," he chuckled. "I suppose it could be looked at like that. But unlike trading cards, we're not really interested in getting the whole set, or anything. We're interested in the Fuzzles themselves, learning about them. And in my case, making a living off them. But if I kept all the Fuzzles I bred, caring for them would be a full time job. But in any case, Fuzzles aren't... they're picky about their partners. Sure, they're friendly with each other, but rest assured, if I try to match a blue and a red, and they don't get along, the... the attempt won't work. They don't operate on instinct alone, unlike other animals. Anyway, if people didn't take an active interest in breeding Fuzzles, people - like you - wouldn't get any."
Rogue nodded.
"Don't think Ah'm not int'rested. Ah'll just have ta think about it."
Mitchel nodded.
"Sure," he said.
Rogue had a great day that day, looking around the station and meeting people. That evening, however, she looked around her room, making sure it wasn't a mess (even though she had only been there a day and hadn't had any time to make a mess) as Mitchel was going to be coming over.
The door bell rang and she hurried to answer it.
"Hi," she said cheerfully, "C'mon in."
"Thanks," Mitchel replied. "I brought my Fuzzles."
"Mine are using my quarters as a playground."
Mitchel chuckled.
"They do that."
Mitchel and Rogue sat down in the lounge and Mitchel opened up his fuzzle bag.
"Here we go. Max is this lovely blue one," he said, pulling them out.
"Ohh, he is lovely!" Rogue admired.
"This green and yellow spotted one is Tina. Gary is the orange and blue striped. And Justin is the maroon one. I also have a purple one at home, but Sally's pregnant and won't be moved," Mitchel said.
"Well, Ah'll point mine out to you," and Rogue pointed to each of her as she said their name, but as it was, they were all coming over to play with Mitchel's fuzzles. "Libahty, Scarlet, Rory, Rusty, Zurinah, Rosah and Caleb."
"Wow," Mitchel said admiringly. "They sure are beauties."
"Thanks."
"Liberty, and whoever the father are good stock."
"You make them sound like cattle," Rogue frowned.
"Sorry," Mitchel replied appologetically. "My power is microkinesis - it operates on the celluar level, you could say, and effectively means I can read DNA."
"You can read DNA?" Rogue gaped.
"And do minor repairs. You could say its akin to healing, but either I'm not particularly good at it or there are distinct limits on my capabilities, because minor repairs are the most manipulation I can do."
"What do you mean, minor repairs?"
"Oh, well, sometimes genes can be damged. Hence why sometimes people can be born blind or deaf or other such things."
"Oh."
"Anyway, I may not be able to turn a blue fuzzle red, but I can figure out the best way to breed a blue one to get one that's blue with red spots."
Rogue smiled.
"Cool. Can you get fuzzles with more than two colours?"
"Fuzzle breeders the world over have been trying to do that for decades. Some say it can't be done, but that doesn't stop us trying. Of course, there have been a number of frauds."
"Frauds?"
"Yes. Now, I know a Light Manipulator, who's a bit of a dodgy sometimes. He can change the colours of his fuzzles on the surface, but he can't change the genetic colour. So he might turn a blue fuzzle red, but any children of that fuzzle would have blue genes," Mitchel grinned wryly. "He doesn't like to trade with me much, because he knows I can catch him out."
"By reading the DNA of his fuzzles?"
"Exactly."
"Cool."
Mitchel grinned, then pointed.
"Aww, look at that. My Gary seems to like your... Rosa, is it?"
Rogue nodded.
"Gary's my newest. I've been trying to find a partner for him," Mitche gave Rogue a sideways look. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a trade? I'd gladly give you one of the fuzzles at the shop for her..."
Rogue gave him an alarmed look.
"Umm, well..."
"I'd be happy to trade any one of your fuzzles, if you're interested. And I'll throw in the playground, just to sweeten the deal, as they say."
"Ah... Ah don't know..."
"Don't let me bully you into anything. Just think about it," Mitchel said. "And while you're thinking, let me tell you a bit more about breeding fuzzles. Fuzzles tend to pair off quickly, and are slow to breadk up, as it were. After a long seperation, they may take another mate - they don't do long-distance relationships all that well if they're around other fuzzles. They can easily mate for life with the one partner, though. And I actually prefer this on some levels, because fuzzles are happier with a lifemate, than with a few different partners. So be careful. Also, fuzzles can get a little picky about their partners. You'll know within a couple of weeks if a fuzzle couple will work."
Rogue nodded.
"Okay, now, the gestation period is two months. They're fully mature at around seven months, but you can take them away from their mother at about three or four months. And they never have more than one litter per year, until they reach their seniority."
"Okay. What... what colour fuzzles would you suggest for mine?"
"Well," Mitchel said thoughtfully. "It really depends on what you want. You can try to specialise in the red shades, as it were, or you can pair them off with different colours."
"Different colours."
"Okay," Mitchel grinned. "Well, in that case, anything you want. I'd suggested matching Zurina with a fuzzles that has spots or stripes - more likely to get some white on the baby fuzzles. Just remember, though, white is rather a recessive colour, so don't be disappointed if you don't get very many kids who have white. Usually, though, I just let my fuzzles meet a group of perspective partners and see who they seem to get along with the most. Being all red, I'd probably match them up with blues, yellows and greens."
"Any others Max's pretty shade of blue?"
Mitchel grinned.
"I happen to have a couple of his and Tina's last litter still."
Rogue gave Max a wistful look.
"It's very tempting."
"Well, like I said. Don't let me talk you into anything you don't want to do. Take sometime to think about it. And feel free to come back to the station anytime you want to sell any fuzzles. Because believe me, you will not be able to look after too many fuzzles at once. I limit myself to three litters a year, maximum, knowing that the litters will be born at different times of the year."
Rogue frowned.
"Then if Ah were ta swap three of muh fuzzles, counting Libahty, Ah'd still end up with four litters a year."
"But I assume your boyfriend has Liberty's partner?"
Rogue nodded.
"So as long as they're separated Liberty won't have another litter, and when they're together again, you'll have your boyfriend to help take care of them all."
"True..."
"Anyway, just think about it for now. And get back to me before you leave the station."