It was quite remarkable how much things had changed for the better in just a few years. Barely half a decade ago, Mark and Owen had both been afraid that the entire world was going to hell in a handbasket, entire countries backsliding on decades, if not centuries, of progress.

That a company such as DIQ had managed to survive the resurgence of puritanism and gain so much prominence during those trying times escaped comprehension. Owen had puzzled over it a lot in the years since but he was still every bit as baffled now as he had been then.

Perhaps if the more level-headed voices of humanity hadn’t ultimately won out, DIQ might have been just another corporate casualty, one the sex-positive company carcasses that dotted the annals of those years’ history.

Had Owen known the truth, maybe he would have run from the storefront that had caught Mark’s eye screaming. But the truth was so inconceivable that neither young man could be blamed for being blind to it.

DIQ did not survive because the progressive cause rallied behind it and kept it afloat, no matter how much the company liked to push that angle. In point of fact, the world had gotten as far as it had in the last five years because of DIQ, even if they didn’t advertise it. After all, DIQ had no reason to reveal to society at large their designs for a new world order.

What DIQ did advertise, day in and day out, were the sexy, submissive boys that could be rented out for certain periods of time. DIQ revolutionized sex work and prostitution, especially when it came to submission and dominance. These days getting a pretty slave boy was as simple as purchasing a contract for one on the DIQ website, or from one of the brick and mortar locations.

These days, it was as if the airwaves were thoroughly saturated with DIQ adds. The jingle was so catchy that even Owen, who was somewhat leery of the company, often caught himself humming along to it.

It wasn’t hard to see why DIQ had become such a household name in the last few years. Somehow, they always knew just the right way to push their message. No one Owen knew found the constant barrage of advertisement annoying in the least, and even his own opposition to the company was only the result of his principled stance against any one company getting too big.

Even Owen had to admit that DIQ did nothing in moderation. Every new product and every new service came out to critical accolades. And even though it made him feel like a little bit of a corporate shill, the cute DIQ underwear that Mark had gotten him for his birthday remained one of Owen’s guilty pleasures.

For the two young men, tonight was supposed to be date night. At least, until a new DIQ shopfront that Owen could have sworn wasn’t there when they went to the mall a week ago, attracted Mark’s attention.

The glowing sign above the door, which said "DIQ Build-A-Boy," rang a bell in Owen’s head. He’d only heard about it in passing. It was one of those shops that hadn’t been advertised as broadly as DIQ’s others. But from what he remembered, it was supposed to cater to a particularly niche crowd.

The slogan of the store, apparently, was "build your perfect pet." As far as Owen could recall, Build-A-Boy was apparently supposed to allow a customer to pick and choose physical and mental characteristics to find their perfect submissive.

Frankly, Owen thought it was just a thin veneer, marketing bullshit designed to mask a sophisticated matchmaking algorithm under the hood. He had no doubt that it was an amazing algorithm. This was DIQ, after all. But there was no way that it was anything more than that. It was the only way that made sense. Technology had advanced considerably in five years, but he was certain DIQ couldn’t create submissives to-order.

Even though the garish lights, the colorful displays, and the boys in various states of undress behind the front display of the shop attracted Owen’s attention, he would have much rather not gone in. Only problem was that Mark seemed so eager to take a look that it seemed he had no choice but to go.

Walking into the store, Mark and Owen were immediately blasted with a cacophony of music and colorful flashing lights. It was disorientating. Overwhelming. Owen quickly got Mark over to a nearby post until the two of them stopped swaying.

Looking around, it appeared as though there were a few other people browsing the front of the store. It was much like any other DIQ location, the shelves being populated by porn and sex toys, but there was a very clear "buy this for your dream submissive" vibe from the selection of merchandise.

Owen took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Are you okay?" he said, stroking the back of Mark’s head.

"Y-Yeah," Mark murmured, gently pushing away from Owen’s chest. He had a small smile on his face, a faint pink tinge to his cheeks. "J-Just a little dazed," he said.

Owen leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Mark’s lips. "Does that help?"

Mark nodded. Then, he looked around. Something didn’t quite make sense to Owen’s eye. If this was a location where you were supposed to "build-a-boy," he couldn’t really see anywhere you could do that. And there didn’t appear to be any employees around to ask at the moment.

Not that Owen would have gotten a chance to, anyway. Mark gasped and pulled on Owen’s arm. "Owen. Owen, look! They’ve got a puppy boy!"

Puzzled, Owen glanced in the direction that Mark was pointing. Sure enough, there was a human-sized cage that he hadn’t noticed at first. Inside, there was a naked boy wearing nothing but a leather harness, puppy hood, and chastity cage.

Owen felt his cock twitch in his pants. The boy was pretty in every sense of the word. He was slender, cute, and with a nice butt to boot. He had no objections as Mark pulled him along toward the pup.

"Oh he’s so cute!" squealed Mark, the pup wiggling his butt as they approached. He yipped, and Owen felt his heart melt in his chest. Adorable. "Who’s a good boy?" said Mark, reaching between the bars of the cage to stroke the puppy boy’s erect cock. "Who’s a good boy? You are! You are!"

Owen watched Mark interact with the pup, his cock steadily rising in his pants. He certainly didn’t regret coming in, now. He could already imagine Mark dressed up similarly, wiggling that cute bottom of his for Owen’s pleasure.

"It looks like you boys have taken a shine to little June over there," said a voice from behind Owen that made him jump. As he turned around, he came face to face with a beautiful man.

The man’s dark hair was streaked with silver strands, his jaw covered with a light dusting of salt and pepper stubble. The man’s eyes were bright, the corners creased with lines from what was probably a lifetime of smiling. He seemed dignified, almost stately, and yet somehow he wore a uniform that marked him as one of the employees of the "Build-A-Boy."

"O-Oh, yeah," said Owen, briefly glancing over his shoulder as Mark continued to play with the pup, June as the man had called him. "He’s a very pretty boy," he said, not really knowing what else to say.

"He certainly is," said the man, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "My name’s George," he said, holding his hand out. "Are you boys looking to build or buy today?"

"Uh, actually, we were just taking a look around," said Owen, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I don’t think we could afford it even if we wanted to," he said. And if he was being honest, the more time he spent here, the more he was coming around to the idea of owning one of DIQ’s submissives.

"Nonsense!" said George, clapping a calloused hand on Owen’s shoulder. Owen looked at George’s hand and followed the older man’s arm all the way up to his handsome face, heat rushing to his cheeks. "We believe that no one should have to fork over an arm and a leg to get their dream boy," said George.

"The company’s gone through a lot of work to balance the books in a way that lets everything in here stay affordable, even for young men who look like they’ve just started out," said George. "But, if you’re really not interested in buying anything today, would you be interested in having a tour of the building station? I’m sure you boys must be dying to know how and where the magic happens."

"You’d do that for us?!" said Mark. Owen jumped. He’d been so caught up in George’s kind eyes that he hadn’t noticed Mark come up behind him. "We’d love to!" said Mark.

Although he was a bit annoyed that he wasn’t consulted before Mark agreed to the tour, Owen had to admit that he was more than a little bit curious how this place worked. "Alright, then!" said George. "Follow me."

George led Mark and Owen to the back of the stoor. There were a few doors back there that said "By appointment only. Please book an appointment at the Build-a-Boy website at least 24 hours in advance of visiting." Owen certainly hadn’t expected that.

"Oh, so if we do come back and want to make a purchase in the future, we’ll have to make an appointment beforehand?" said Mark, as he slipped his hand into Owen’s.

"Well, technically," said George, putting his hand on the knob of the leftmost door. "But that’s just what corporate wants us to say. If we’re not too busy, feel free to drop in. We could probably accommodate you after a few minutes."

"That sounds great, George," said Owen. He glanced at Mark, who looked to be deep in thought. That almost always spelled trouble. Owen certainly hoped that Mark would consult him about getting a submissive before making that investment.

"Anyway, boys. Without further ado, I present to you, the inner workings of Build-a-Boy," said George, twisting the knob to push the door open.

There was a bright flash of light as Owen and Mark stepped through the threshold. They were in a small room with a viewing window through which they could see a naked boy standing in a plain white room. "This is the room where we let our clients pick the kind of body type that they want their boys to have," said George.

George reached over toward an LCD panel on the wall beside the window and brought up a display. There were bars and dials in the interface, that seemed to change the body of the boy standing behind the mirror as George fiddled with it. The boy didn’t just change in weight, but in height and proportion too.

It was amazing. Mark’s eyes were wide in wonder. Owen’s jaw had dropped at the sight. It had to be a rendering. But the boy was so realistic. None of it made any sense.

"We have a few presets," said George. "This is one of the most popular ones," he added, pushing a button on the interface that produced a body very similar to June’s.

"I can see why," Owen breathed, taking a few steps toward the glass.

"Alright, boys, come on. We’ve got a few stations to get through," said George.

Owen glanced at their guide and saw that he was already across the room, standing at a door leading further in. The two of them made their way through the door as another bright flash of light went off inside the room.

"What is that?" said Owen, trying to blink the afterimage out of his eyes as he and Mark walked to the center of the room. For some reason, everything looked slightly bigger. Either that, or he was smaller. Come to think of it, his body felt slightly lighter than he was used to.

"Oh, sorry about that," said George. "To save some energy we keep the lights off in these rooms. But unfortunately the system hasn’t quite been calibrated properly yet, so it tends to start out way too bright. We’ll get it fixed, though. Don’t worry about it."

Owen shrugged. That made sense, he supposed.

"This is where we set the boys’ attitudes and temperament," said George. Behind the window, the same boy from before was still there, but this time he was closer. His facial expression changed as George fiddled with another LCD panel next to the window.

"Playful, bashful, and docile" are the most popular attitudes, from what we’ve seen," said George, inputting those options into the system. The boy blushed and ducked his head as soon as the changes came through. It was cute.

Beside Owen, Mark was practically vibrating with excitement. "Can we have one, Owen?!" he said, "he’s so cute!"

"Maybe we can save up for one," said Owen, patting Mark on the head as they followed George through to the next room.

There was another bright flash. Owen shook his head and blinked. "You okay?" said George. Owen looked up at the older man and blushed, feeling the heat rush to his cheeks as he nodded.

"In this room, we let the client choose the kinds of clothing their boy will be in. Most of them choose to keep their boys naked, or dressed in very revealing clothes. Chastity cages, harnesses, and collars are also pretty standard fare," said George.

As George fiddled with the panel in this room, the boy from before switched between multiple outfits. He seemed almost shy as he covered himself when he was left completely naked. He was even cuter when the system left him in only a little thong.

What really got Owen going was the last setting, though. The boy ended up wearing just a harness and a chastity cage. The boy’s cock was straining against the metal and leaking profusely. Owen felt a pang of envy, curious to know what it might feel like.

George led Mark and Owen through the next door. Again, the lights flashed brightly. This time, when he finally managed to blink the afterimage out of his eyes, Owen shivered. The room was suddenly chilly. It felt like there was a draft coming in through somewhere.

Owen tucked his hands under his armpits as George introduced them to the next station. "A lot of clients like to keep their boys dumb. It makes for a happier submissive. This is where we let them set their boys’ IQs. Let’s put it at the smallest setting. This is the most popular one, after all."

There was another door, and another flash of light. Owen didn’t quite remember what he was doing anymore. Only that he and Mark were following George. "Here, we set how horny the boys are," said George. "Of course this one is almost always set to the highest," he added.

There was another door, and another flash of light. Owen bit back a quiet moan as the afterimage faded from his eyes. His entire body felt hot. His cock strained in its cage. He wracked his head, trying to remember what he was doing. But he couldn’t. "Having some trouble, boys?" said George. "It’s a lot to take in, I know. But in this room we set what kind of submissive the boys become. Let’s go with pup for this one."

There was another flash of light. Owen bumped into Mark as the two of them crawled into the center of the room to sit on their haunches. "And this is where we finalize all the changes," said George, pushing a button on the panel beside the window as yet another flash of light blinded the two boys.

"So, what do you think?" said George. Owen blinked. His eyes were watering. He felt like he was missing something, forgetting something, but he wasn’t too good at doing the thinking thing.

Owen tilted his head as he saw a pup staring back at him from the shiny wall in front of him. He tilted his head to the other side. The pup in the wall did the same thing. He raised his paw. The pup raised his paw, too.

Wagging his tail just like the pup in the wall, Owen dropped to the floor and barked. The pup did the same thing, but Owen didn’t hear the other pup’s bark. That was weird.

Owen crawled forward. He sniffed at the other pup and sat back when he realized that he couldn’t smell anything. He barked. The other pup was trapped in the wall! He pawed at the shiny surface, trying to get other pup free, but it didn’t work.

"They’re wonderful," said a voice. It was an immediate distraction. "It’s always a pleasure doing business with you, George," said the man. Owen looked up at the person holding the end of the leash clipped to his collar.

"Mark," said the man. There was a quiet yip. Owen looked at the source of the sound. It was another pup! He looked somewhat familiar, but Owen couldn’t remember why.

"Owen," said the man. Owen wiggled his butt, feeling a flush of pleasure at having his name called by the man. Was this his new master? He’d always wanted a master! He barked excitedly and scrambled toward the man’s legs, nuzzling the man’s calf.

"Wow, you sure are excited to see your new home, aren’t you?" said the man. Owen sat back on his haunches and nodded, letting out a little bark. "Well, I don’t think there’s anything left for us to do here. So, why don’t we get on our way to your new home?"