No sooner had Yarro grown to an adult did the dragon want his cyborware, along with Kinya. Forgeron and Kasatka had plenty of money now, but the dragons informed them that they came with a free minor token when they were born. Spikes! I want three of 'em, two behind my eyes and one on the tip of my nose! the semizappy red announced as the quartet made their way to the 'ware installer's shop.

I'm kind of partial to the lumi-wire myself, it looks very interesting. the purple said as a pair of dragons passed in front of them, adorned with the stuff. The two bear-shifter riders eyed each other in amusement. "You can get anything you want, just make sure it's minor 'ware...and it won't interfere with your battling skills." Forgeron and Kasatka informed their respective bonds. Once at the shop, the pair left their dragons to peruse the displays while they went down to a newer shop with a large neon sign above the door proclaiming the shops name to be "The Automaton Emporium".

Kasatka took no interest in the robotic pets, she had her own real couple to care for. Forgeron, however, was fascinated. He explored the shop and marveled at the crafter's skill with the metal and wiring, examining a partially disassembled pet on the counter. It came as a real shock when a feminine voice said behind him, "Are you just going to ogle our stock or are you going to buy anything?"

He whirled around and came face-to-face with a copper orb floating a few feet above the ground, blue "eye" slowly focusing in on his face. "I was thinking!" Forgeron said defensively, stepping forward. "Well, don't hurt yourself." the orb said, floating off. It took a moment for Forgeron's mind to register what she'd said. "Hey!" "The ordering console is over there." she gestured to a computer set in the counter and floated off down a back hallway. Vrolo chuckled softly, "This is the once mighty Forgeron, jumping at floating metal balls?" Forgeron growled so convincingly in his human form that Vrolo shut his mouth and snorted.

He continued to mutter darkly under his breath and quickly entered in what he wanted, the dog-like ones were particularly interesting looking. Once finished, he cast a wary glare about the shop, in search of more wise-cracking orbs floating about, before he exited and met up with his mate. She was looking distinctly green in the face. "What is it?" he asked. "Oh, I just watched them finishing up on Kinya...It wasn't a wise thing to do..." As she looked like she was going to throw up, Forgeron gently escorted her away. The dragons could catch up later.

It wasn't until much later that Yarro turned up, carrying with him Forgeron's custom 'bot. "Forgeron, you ordered this?" Kasatka demanded as the dragon carefully deposited it upon the floor of their apartment. It was a beautiful piece of work, a bluey-white marked with silver leopard spots, just as he'd requested. The bear-shifter knelt beside it and ran his hands over the skillfully welded joints, there was scarcely a height difference between plates.

Kasatka huffed, along with Analil and Forgeron's temporarily forgotten rukel Vrolo. "Don't see what's so special about it...s'just a spotted dog..." he kept muttering darkly under his breath. Well, turn it on! Yarro said eagerly, forgetting to draw attention to the three new spikes which adorned his head.

"Yes...where's the blasted switch?" Forgeron searched over the robot until he found the switch under a panel on it's chest. He quickly flipped it and closed the panel, both he and Yarro taking a step back as the cybordog became animated. "Hello!" it said in a friendly voice. It gazed in a politely curious way around at them before it spoke again. "Which one of you is my master?" "I am! I'm Forgeron!" Forgeron said excitedly and knelt back down next to the dog. "Hello, I am cyborbot ARC1002. What is my name?"

Forgeron blinked. "Isn't it ARC1002?" he asked. Yarro and Kasatka had both quickly lost interest in the cybordog, the semizappy red went with her to find Kinya, leaving Forgeron, Vrolo and the cybordog alone. "Well, it is my default name and registration number. I can chose my own name, if you were to provide some selection." He stared around the room thoughtfully, drudging up all of the names he'd ever heard. "Well...snow...ice...spot..." Vrolo sniggered at the last idea, his blue-green eyes twinkling. "Well, do you have any better suggestions?"

"Well..." and he said something very offensive. "No! Not that!" Forgeron bellowed, and glowered at the white-silver rukel. The cybordog jumped back a step, blinking with surprise. "Not that...how about...mountain? Tundra...stone..." "I like that one! The one before the last, Tundra!" It's tail began to wag vigorously. "Tundra it is then." Forgeron said and rubbed a hand across Tundra's shining head. It's metallic tongue lolled out happily. "Now, we just need to decide on a gender..."