Echo

There were those who stepped into the abandoned labs.

Some sought wealth or to sate curiousity, but the defenses of the corpse were more than enough to stop them.

Then came the new scientists. Where there had only been one before, now there were many. Where the original sought only to improve beasts and seemed to serve the citizens, the new wanted to experiment on both.

Predators that were violent and nearly blind, with the only breed among them calm enough to be trusted by a trainer locked into a frozen faint whenever anything unusual could happen.

Hounds that lacked any loyalty in their hearts for those outside their species, with thumbs curiously like those of a human and the intelligence to use them.

Beasts that enslaved those who took them in, unable to so much as think of harming the small creatures. And to leave them would leave them to harm, would it not?

Literal copies of existing beasts, such as moles that were little more than moles with larger eyes and claws, unable to dig through anything but the softest soil.

And many others.

But, these scientists knew the true measure of power was in what they could obtain for those longing for something special. They offered special versions of the beasts that completely eclipsed those who were given out freely, allowing the wealthy to pay even more for unique versions lacking the flaws of the free. Those who stayed in the labs paid dearly for these special beasts, and those who where the echo of the old labs began to gain in wealth.


Some sought wealth, and to sate curiosity, and these slid into place so smoothly that the defenses of the labs recognized them as new masters.