Baby Sitter

Unexpectedly James went from tagging along on this adventure that Ted was having to becoming a baby sitter. It was a big job. Not only was this a big baby, but his energy was so high that James had to literally run around in circles just to avoid being beat to death with the little tike's games. The chimp didn't know when to hold back or what was rude. It liked to make farting noises and blow kisses.

In general these were just baby behaviors that were, from a certain perspective, cute and endearing. But for James it was a crash course in babysitting that he was not psychologically ready for. Once the baby's mother knew that James was okay with it, the mother even seemed to push the baby onto James. It was a reverse in normal motherhood style that was difficult to understand at first.

"She wants you to form a contract this her baby. Less intelligent animals don't form a bond with their children or don't understand when their babies are tamed. But these chimps are well aware of what it means and want their children to have better lives."

Yuan explained the motivation behind the troop's actions, and then he also added,

"And we also reward the mother, father, and the whole troop with food when a chimp is contracted."

To James it seemed like the park ranger was pushing the baby onto James, too! 

"Well, let's see how it goes."

Non-committal James didn't say much.

James hadn't been thinking about a chimpanzee when contemplating contracting a more intelligent animal. But as he thought about it now this baby chimp was probably the best of all possible pets for him to figure out what his [Fertility] ability really did. Obviously, Yuan could communicate with these chimps, and they even seemed to be able to have a relatively high level or complicated conversation. If he learned their language he could probably understand even more. Potentially this chimp could communicate even better through the contract bond once James tamed him.

The problem was that James had to think of his mouse pets. There was no synergy between a chimp and mouse. As far as he knew mice were prey for monkeys. Once this chimp became his pet it would be different. He could just tell his chimp not to eat the mice. It was really simple. But the best tamers always looked for the synergies between pets. Whether it was in a fight, for production, or utility. And wracking his brain James could not come up with a synergy between his mice and a chimp. 

Come to think of it mice were pretty low in terms of hierarchy. There weren't many animals who could form a synergy with a mouse.

'Rats could work well with mice, once I told the rats not to eat the mice. But there is really not that much difference between a rat and a mouse.'

Rats would have a higher combat rating, it is true. How much more of a combat rating, though? The most pressing concern he had right now was figuring out his ability. It was causing too many problems and disrupting any plan he had for moving forward. There were too many sequelae from its passive effects.

In between running around trying to keep the baby chimp entertained James had a lot of thoughts about his next pet. In the end he couldn't tame this chimp today. First he would have to test himself to see if he even had the ability to tame again. After taming so many mice he might be unable to form a contract with any other animal ever.

'I guess I can use SPAM to get myself tested.'

SPAM had the super deluxe version of a review center. It would also be nice to have Kareen and some of her progeny tested. Kareen had to either have an innate power or a bloodline for spatial manipulation. It would be good to have her tested to see her details. The problem was that James didn't want her to be tested. At least not by SPAM, the government, or any association. The reason why was that he wanted to keep the fact of her ability to manipulate space a secret.

If it had been two months ago he would have been overjoyed if his pet had spatial capabilities and would have wanted to make them available to various institutions and definitely to the public. But now as their master and after having tamed so many of them he sort of had their tendency to be secretive. Thinking about it rationally he justified these thoughts by thinking what it might be like for Kareen or any of her children to be studied and tested. He didn't want them to be taken advantage of.

The only way to keep them safe would be to watch over and care for them while they grew and developed not only their own spatial skills, but also their society. Because, literally, James was now solely responsible for all of them.

'Unfortunately, I formed a primary contract with all of them. I can't just let them by used and abused, now.'

Promising in his heart to watch over all his pets James felt a reluctance knowing that for now he had to let this baby chimp go.

That was the other thing about this baby chimp, what kind of care and environment could he provide even if he could form another contract. The only reason why things were working out for Wilbur right now was because he was young and because he had found a mouse society that he enjoyed. Supporting his mice would take everything he had and everything he would ever make.

It was great that everyone was happy, but really the care was lacking in a big way. Most people only had a few pets for a reason. Sensitive to the energies of the world a contracted pet could evolve. But it cost money and it took time. Just thinking about how much money it would take to evolve all of his mice made James despair. That was not even considering how much time it would take to uplift all of them individually. 

'I can only contract another pet if that pet provides some kind of ability to take better care of everyone including that pet itself.'

Having decided, James sealed off his heart to a certain extent. Still continuing to play with and mind the baby, but he had to face facts. This wasn't the right time.

While playing and thinking all these thoughts Jason could see that Ted made great progress forming a contract with a female juvenile gorilla. Ted's choice wasn't the female infant, but a half grown or what you might think of as the teenage years for a gorilla, if there was such a thing. It surprised James that Ted would contract an older animal, but as James was learning Ted was always certain of his decisions.

Once the contract succeeded even the gorillas were excited and started grunting among themselves. This willingness of these more intelligent animals to allow their children to be tamed was new to James. The mother still came up and hugged her daughter and they shared a few moments. Mother and daughter were not dead. Both were receiving gifts, one in the form of food and the other in an immaterial form, but would cause far more changes.

In the end their parting was not a sad one. Instead the gorilla troop somehow choose to celebrate. 

Yuan told them that the troops children often came back and visited. Of course these events involved many gifts so the gorillas had learned to look forward for another chance to see their babies all grown up and powerful. In many cases much more powerful then any of their former troop.

After about an hour everything was completed and they started back. Both Ted and his new pet Cerei were sluggish and distracted. They touched each other often and were inseparable. This was often the case right after a taming. Both sides had to deal with the new reality. In Ted's case his enthusiasm and passion for Cerei and what they could do together must be a boon in their shared tamer bond.

Once they came back to the troop of taxi chimps the baby's mother scooped him up and held him for a few moments before they left to go back to the main campus. Again the strangely smooth ride back on the mother chimp was soothing.

After arriving back at the end of the forest closest to SPAM's main buildings there was an awkward scene. The spokesman chimp screamed at James and Yuan when James let it be known that he would not tame the baby.

"Are you sure?"

Yuan asked him.

"Yes, the truth is that I can't provide for him right now."

Giving a no answer alone would have been insulting to the chimps they could pick up on human social cues, it was obvious. James had to have some kind of justification in this adversarial environment.

"Are you sure? SPAM will provide you with everything you need. They are all really enamored of you right now. I have never seen chimps so excited to allow a bonding take place."

The ranger tried to push James a little.

"Really? But still, I just can't, I have other commitments. Tell you what, just tell them that if I can I will return later. I like the little guy. It would be great to grow with him."

"Alright, hold on. Let me tell them."

Turning back to the leader chimp and the mother, Yuan went back to talking in noises.

Some time later he finally finished.

"Wow, that was intense. I have never seen them like that. They finally are calm and will leave on their own. Thanks for staying until this was all figured out."

Wiping sweat from his brow Yuan sighed after giving them the conclusion.

Ted was fine with the extra time he had with Cerei so it was just James that was standing in the middle of all of those chimps not knowing what was being said.

Walking with Ted and James back, Yuan made a comment.

"You won't have much time. Baby chimps are a hot commodity. I know he seemed like a ball of energy, but once tamed chimps are so intelligent it is easy to channel their energy. I know many trainers who evolve their baby chimp right away so that the baby can fit into a human life style right away."

"It is just that I already have quite a few pets. I can't provide the evolutions and skills that I want already. I can't justify taking on another pet until I can provide a good life for the pets that I already have."

Explaining a bit more, James gave some more details that he hadn't wanted to say earlier.

"Oh, I understand that. As park rangers we end up contracting a lot of different animals for one reason or another. Mostly to save their lives, but also to be able to study and care better for our charges. So I know intimately how much it costs to take care of and evolve pets."

Yuan understood James' choice much better now.

"But, if I can find a way to make it work, I will come back as soon as I can."

Out loud James said some comforting words, but inside he despaired of ever being able to make progress.