Max woke up early again the next day, and he had a headache. He managed to untangle himself from the pile of furry limbs and bodies and crawl out of bet. He made his way to the bathroom and found there was an analgesic in one of the storage drawers and took a couple of them. He showered, blow dried his hair which was now past his shoulders, trimmed his goatee and put on his robe. He padded silently to the kitchen unit and made a pot of coffee. He poured himself a mug and added way more sweetener than was healthy and sat on one of the chairs facing the view of space. He sat and wondered how his son was doing, he thought on his new family and what they might be up to and he thought about Dream and what shi must think about all of this.

In a little over three years, he had gone from a socially awkward introvert to being mated to two morphs and having a child; from ordinary and a tad chunky, to slightly attractive and in shape; from shy and quiet to singing in front of groups of people. The question was, how much of this was really him and how much was genetic tinkering and programming? Was he really still the old JC from years before or was he really a completely new person? Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew when Swytch woke up even though his thoughts kept circling themselves. It wasn't until Swytch hugged him from behind and put hys head on Max's shoulder that he came out of his revelry. He leaned his head against Swytch's. Swytch knew what Max had been thinking and instead of saying anything, hy simply lent hys love and support to him.

"Coffee?" he asked quietly.

"Please; it seems someone's loud mind woke me up early again," hy said with a grin.

"Sorry, love; just reflecting on everything that's happened. Sometimes, I wonder who I really am anymore, you know?" he laughed. "I guess everyone wonders that. That, and why am I here? What was I intended for? The usual existential questions people ask the heavens," he said quietly.

Swytch was quiet for a moment before responding, "I think everyone has some kind of purpose, but I also think that if you knew before hand, you wouldn't be able to respond honestly to it. Just remember that no matter what happens, your family will be here with you; I will be here with you." And hy hugged Max tighter.

Max reached up putting a hand on Swytch's arm ruffling the fur there and nodded, "Oh, I know, just feeling introspective this early, I guess." Max stood and headed to the coffee pot and poured Swytch a cup adding the amount of sweetener and creamer hy liked and brought it back over to hym, sitting down again.

Swytch sat on hys haunches beside him and they both watched the stars light the blackness of space for a while just enjoying being close to one another. It wasn't long before a sleep tousled bunny trudged into the room and collapsed in Max's lap and started to snore lightly again.

"Seems someone doesn't like sleeping alone," Max commented.

"Seems like someone wakes up way too early and needs a reason to sleep later," muttered Jackie from Max's chest.

Max leaned down and kissed the top of Jackie's head affectionately, "Don't you threaten me with a good time you sex crazed lapine.

"You haven't seen sex crazed yet, just wait until my heat starts," she threatened still not moving from his lap. Max took a sip from his coffee and then concentrating, set it on top of Jackie's head with a grin. "Perfect height for a coffee table."

There was a minute of silence while Swytch tried without much success to not laugh and Jackie said, "If I have hot coffee run all over my head, you are going to regret it Mister. Move the mug or there will be trouble, you albino, hairless goof."

"Awwwww, you're gonna hurt my feelings!" Max said but removed the mug with a grin.

Jackie finally moved enough to give Max a kiss.

"Augh! Morning carrot breath!" Max pantomimed wiping a smell from his nose with a grin.

"THAT'S IT, WHITE BOY!" And with that Jackie knocked Max's chair over backwards pouncing on him.

"MY COFFEE!" Max exclaimed as the mug went flying.

Things degenerated into wrestling and a little rough love making for all three for the next little bit. Sex doesn't have to be all romance and heavy petting you know. Sometimes a good rough tussle works better than coffee anyway.

Swytch and Jackie headed off to their respective jobs leaving Max to find his own entertainment for the day. Max bundled up, why the frack was it so cold on this station anyway? He wandered the station without any real destination in mind. He checked out a few shops and even picked up a few gifts for people back home. He tended to wander aimlessly throughout the station seeing what there was to see. One of the odd things about the station was that there was a definite lack of humans. The majority of the staff on the station were morphs of one species or another. It didn't really matter to Max either way; it was more just a curiosity than anything else. Unlike back on Chakona where he garnered more than a few hateful looks, here on the station everyone seemed to be either Fleet or Corps or a dependent thereof. The worst he received were a few polite stares. There was one section he meandered through that garnered him the majority of stares, a habitat section a bit unlike the one he lived in. The doors were spaced more closely together and the rooms seemed to be single occupancy and smaller. It seemed that everyone here was wearing civilian clothing and the variety of morphs was strangely quite diverse and a few of them were oddly shaped. Shrugging he continued walking not really noticing that either the morphs quickly retreated to their rooms or stood in the hallway watching him with curiosity. Finally, he found himself in the center of the habitat area in a small park-like garden. There was a large tree growing tall in the center and deep green grass carpeting the floor in every direction. There were large rocks here and there, and a small stream gently flowed across the area. It was quite peaceful and quiet here. Max took off his boots and his socks and walked barefoot over the cool grass towards the tree. Sitting down against the tree he let out a long sigh enjoying the feel of nature on his skin. If he had been better informed, he would have known that humans were requested to not visit this particular area without specific reason to do so, but being as he wasn't in the know, he leaned back against the tree and nodded off.

Max wasn't sure how long he had slept for but when he woke up, he was no longer alone in the park. In fact, he was very far from alone. Everywhere he looked, there were morphs around him. Some sitting, some kneeling, some standing and all of them watching him. There were morphs of every conceivable species, horses, cats, dogs, wolves, foxes, rabbits, ferrets, lions and tigers and bears Oh My... When they noticed he had awakened several sat up straighter, the kneeling ones bowed on the grass to him, the standing ones stood at attention and they all waited.

Max blinked. "Umm, hello?" he said for lack of anything better to say.

There was a murmur of responses ranging from 'Hellos' to 'How may I serve Master?' Max was at a loss but then his brain started to get traction as he paid attention to what he was seeing and hearing. There were voluptuous morphs, and handsome morphs as well as some of military bearing. Starbase 241 was meant as a place for liberated morphs to get help to re-integrate into society and all of these around him had the bearing of slaves. Max mentally kicked himself; he must have wandered into the housing section for the liberated morphs and as a human, instinctual programming had kicked in for the majority of them. Great, he was probably going to catch eight levels of hell for being here. Way to go Max, next time pay attention to where you're going.

"Please, everyone relax. I didn't mean to wander into your homes and I probably shouldn't be here should I?" he asked no one in particular.

Oddly enough one spoke up; an older looking goat morph from the grey in his muzzle and the long beard hanging from the end of his chin. He had well-polished and curled horns on his head that circled back and around towards the front again. Max vaguely remembered reading someplace that a ram's age could be judge by the diameter and spiral of their horns. The elder morph stepped forward wearing a comfortable looking set of robes and bowed slightly towards Max.

"We rarely get human visitors here, Sir. While not prohibited, it is strongly discouraged. As you can see around you, for many here, their programming will take much longer to break than others. Humans were what we were bred and created to serve so..." he gestured around to everyone bowing and standing at attention helplessly.

Max felt severely out of depth here and the only thing he was garnering from his empathic senses was a feeling of deference towards him and, from more than a few, an urge to please. Max was sure they wouldn't hinder him if he wanted to leave, but the majority of them seemed happy to have him there whether that was programing or not was another story. "Umm, everyone, please be at ease?" he said hopefully. Almost instantly each and every one relaxed to Max's relief. He was going to be in SO much trouble...

"If you would like to, please everyone, make yourself comfortable," he said trying VERY hard not to make anything a command. A few of the ex-slaves looked confused but more than a few did relax, either sitting on the grass or 'copping a squat' where they were. Max relaxed a bit more but noticed that the more militant looking of the morphs had assumed what was known as an 'At Ease' posture. Max looked at them for a moment, and then catching their attention, he said, "Let's consider this a no hat, no salute area? If you're here, you're off duty OK?" The one who seemed to be acting as the lead for the militant group looked at Max for a moment and then nodded. He motioned to the others and they all assumed more comfortable stances and actually smiled at him. That was SO much better.

"Umm how is everyone enjoying the station so far?" Max asked curiously.

Everyone seemed to defer to the elderly goat morph who seemed to have taken the responsibility of spokesman on himself. "Honestly, Sir, most everyone here is bored and a bit lost at what they should be doing. Very few of us had this much idle time where we came from and this level of idleness is foreign to us. There have been more than a few fights break out due to feeling uncomfortable with our positions here," he said.

"They just leave you to your own devices all day, every day?" Max asked.

"Some days, we have classes to learn things that pertain to a free society, at least those of us with the intelligence to do so, other times we have examinations to help determine how they can best help us but honestly, we are used to work, we are used to serving." He looked uncomfortable as if complaining to a human went against everything he had been taught but he forwarded on with a few of the ex-slaves looking at him like he had lost his mind. "To be honest, Sir, we are bored."

Max looked around at all of the faces looking at him, some with eagerness, some with fear and even some with a touch of hope. "How many of there are you?" Max asked.

"In this section, there are 42 of us. There are other sections, but they are the more extreme cases; extreme modifications, extremely low intelligence, and the like," the old goat responded.

Max scratched his head thinking for a moment. "I should have had more caffeine this morning, my brain is running slow," Max murmured to himself absently and before he could say more than "Wait, no!" two of the morphs in front of him jumped up and took off like a shot leaving a bewildered human sitting there. "What did I say?" he asked plaintively.

The old goat chuckled. "You made the mistake of wanting caffeine even without forming it as an order or request. As I said, most of us were bred to serve. I'll wager you'll have coffee in your hands in less than five minutes." It was actually three minutes & 15 seconds when a set of twin Siamese cat morphs were back, one with a carafe of coffee and the other carrying cream and sugar and a saucer. They knelt back in front of him again, one setting the saucer and cup down while the other poured coffee into it. The one with cream and sugar looked at him expectantly and Max sighed. This was a mistake because both of the felines instantly looked distraught and Max felt their intense unhappiness in his mind suddenly. Max held up his hands in a placating gesture toward the felines who perked up a bit and looked at him expectantly again.

"Two sugars and a splash of cream to cool it," he said hesitantly.

The condiment bearer smiled happily as she doled out the sugar and lightened the coffee a bit and then offered it to him with a slight bow.

Max bowed his head a bit in acknowledgment and said, "Thank you, very much, but you did not have to do that. I am grateful for your hospitality, though." And he sipped the coffee. It was amazing... Max blinked at the coffee cup and then back at the twins. "This is the best coffee I think I've ever had," he said in a stunned voice. This had the effect of making the twins smile and purr in happiness. "Thank you, very much." And with that Max enjoyed his coffee. Once he had finished he put the coffee cup down and the twins gestured for a refill. Max hesitantly nodded and they happily refilled it, their purrs growing in volume. "Have you spoken to anyone about your needs Mr... I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name and I should have asked, it was very impolite of me."

The goat morph looked at him and smiled in a fatherly manner at him, "It is quite alright, I'm willing to bet you didn't expect to wake up from a nap to a crowd of ex-slaves watching you," he said with a chuckle. "My name is Tillman, but most everyone either calls me Tilly or Papa."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Papa?" he asked curiously.

Tilly looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "Most slaves are created for their Masters and so the idea of parents is a foreign concept. One of our classes here explained family structures and how the father or papa is normally the eldest of the family and the one that speaks for the household and so the younger ones started calling me Papa, so it kinda stuck," he smiled. "To answer your question though, I've tried to talk to the few people who actually come down here but so far I've had no luck. Perhaps you could say something?" he asked hopefully.

Max sipped the coffee thoughtfully. "I'm not sure what I could do, technically I'm here for treatment myself."

That received a few surprised starts from some of the ex-slaves. Max looked at them. "Humans don't always treat other humans very well either. It's not just morphs that get used or abused," he said a bit bitterly. "I was... tinkered with myself. Programmed for something that not even I know about yet, so I can sympathize with your plight a bit. Tell you what, make a list of everyone and what they specialize in and I'll see what I can do?" he said hesitantly.

There were many smiles around the group and soft murmurs of appreciation. "Thank you Sir, we would appreciate just being useful again," Tilly said.

"Please just call me Max. I am no one's Master and I'm fairly certain I don't rank a Sir status." He looked around for a minute. "Did they give you any kind of entertainment?" he asked curiously.

"Yes Sir," Tilly said with a teasing smile. "We have access to vids and music and books. Some of us are taking classes and trying to learn how to fit in, but for most of us, it will be away from humans probably since breaking that particular set of instructions is turning out to be far harder than most thought it would," Tilly said.

Max dug his PADD out of his pocket and looked around. "Are any of you musicians or music lovers?" he asked.

A few of the morphs raised their hands.

"I have a collection of very old music from Earth from before the war. If you'd like copies, I'd be happy to give them to you," he stated. He was offered someone's PADD and he transferred as much of the music over as it had room for. "Share that with whoever would like a copy. I'm trying to get the old music back out in the universe if I can."

"Yes Mast... Umm Max," the fox morph said.

Max beamed a smile at him. "Good. Now I should probably leave before I get in too much trouble for being here." This proclamation was met with a few frowns and sad looks. "Or... I could hang around for a while? I don't have anything else to do really." This was met by more cheerier demeanors so Max spent the rest of the day just talking with the ex-slaves. Some of the musicians brought out instruments and an impromptu jam session was held. Food seemed to magically appear beside him when he got hungry and there was always a beverage close at hand. Max felt bad for this but everyone there was smiling and happy so he put it out of his mind for the time being. As it got late, someone gave him a PADD with the information for the various ex-slaves and their specialties for him to take with him. When he finally did manage to leave, it was with several hugs, a couple of awkward kisses on the cheek and many handshakes. A few bowed still, but he replied in turn and this seemed to please them.

When Max made it out into the hallway leading away from living area he had been in, he wasn't really too surprised to see a security detail there waiting for him.

Max sighed, "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" he asked forlornly.

The head of the security detachment, a wolf morph shook his head, "You ARE in a restricted area, Sir. We are supposed to take you to Lt. Commander Dreamspirit though."

Max made a face. "Shows what you know, that still means I'm in trouble in one way or another." And he followed the security detachment towards a certain butt chewing he was sure.

Max walked in the middle of the security detail like a kid going to the principal's office. It wasn't his fault they didn't label areas well. I mean really, they could have put up a nice big 'do not enter' sign for crying out loud. He crammed his hands in his pockets trudging between the security trolls. Well that wasn't fair, just because he was in trouble didn't make it their fault. He sighed. Where were they taking him anyway?? He followed the lead security individual and when he saw the name placard on the office he was being taken to and winced, he muttered, "Oh fuck me..."

The lead security person rang the chime to the office door.

"Come." a voice spoke out of the door speaker. Dream sat silently behind hir desk with a very blank expression on hir face as shi watched Max get escorted into hir office.

Max tried REALLY hard to hide behind the burly wolf morph when they walked in. "Ma'am, we caught a 'visitor' in the ex-slave quarters on deck 12 section Alpha 3. We didn't go in as soon as we could have because our orders were to not stress the ex-slaves. This human spent about 5 hours in there with them. I had security command forward the video from the cameras in that section to your terminal for review." He sidestepped knowing Max was behind him revealing the white-haired human who looked like he had been discovered cheating on his homework. He waved lamely.