mr. x watched billy riddle walk into the office. riddle was dressed in a dark blue polo shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, looking tanned, healthy, strong.

strapping, to use an old-fashioned word from mr. x's youth.

"sensei." billy bowed his head.

"how are you doing, son?"

"i've thought it over."

mr. x waited for the answer, surprised by how much he cared about what it was going to be.

"i want to work for you."

mr. x smiled. "that's good, son. that's real good."

"so what do i have to do? are there papers i have to fill out for the academy?"

"it's a bit more involved than that. and the academy isn't really going to be your employer."

"but i thought you said?a"

"billy, there are a few more things you're going to have to understand. and there's the little detail of an initiation."

"you mean hazing? because that's no problem. i've been through a couple already. for football."

"it's a little more hard-core than that, i'm afraid. but don't worry, i got through it and i know you'll do fine. i'll tell you what you have to bring with you, and i'll be by your side. the whole time."

after all, watching the omega go to work was not something to be missed.

"sensei, i, ah..." riddle cleared his throat. "i just want you to know, i'm not going to let you down."

mr. x smiled slowly, thinking this was the very best part of his job.

he stood up and approached billy. putting a hand on riddle's shoulder, he squeezed the bones and stared into the wide blue eyes that met his.

billy slipped nicely into a trance.

mr. x leaned forward and carefully removed riddle's diamond earring. then he took the soft lobe between his thumb and forefinger, massaging it.

his voice was low and quiet.

"i want you to call and tell your father that you are moving out, effective immediately. tell him that you've found a job and that you are going into an intensive training program."

mr. x took off riddle's stainless-steel rolex and then pulled the collar of the guy's shirt open. he reached inside, following the platinum chain billy wore around to the back. he released the necklace, sliding the links free until he captured them in his palm. the metal was warm from lying against skin.

"when you speak with your father, you will remain calm no matter what he says to you. you will reassure him that your future is a promising one and that you have been chosen out of many applicants for a very important role. you will tell him that he may always reach you on your cell phone, but that it will be impossible for him to see you, as you will be traveling."

mr. x ran his hand over billy's chest, feeling the pads of muscle, the warmth of life, the hum of youth. such power in this body, he thought. such marvelous force.

"you will not mention the academy. you will not reveal my identity. and you will not tell him that you are coming to live with me." mr. x spoke right into billy's ear. "you will tell your father that you are sorry for all the evil things you did. you will tell him that you love him. and then i will pick you up and take you away."

as billy breathed deeply in peaceful surrender, mr. x remembered his own induction ceremony. for a brief, passing instant, he wished that he'd thought more carefully about the offer he'd accepted decades ago.

he'd be an old man now. an old man with grandchildren, maybe, if he'd ever found a woman he could have stood to be around for any length of time. and he would have had an average life, maybe worked at one of the paper mills or at a gas station. he would have been one of a hundred million other anonymous men who were bitched at by their wives and who drank with their buddies and who passed their precious days in a haze of ambient dissatisfaction because they were nothing special.

but he would have been alive.

looking into billy's vivid blue eyes, mr. x wondered whether he had in fact come out on the money side of the exchange. because he was no longer his own man. he was a servant of the omega's whims. the top servant, as it were, but a servant nonetheless.

and he would never be mourned.

either because he never stopped breathing... or because no one would miss him after he took his last lungful.

he frowned.

not that any of that mattered, however, because there was no going back. which was something riddle was going to learn firsthand tonight.

mr. x released riddle's mind and body.

"so are we clear?" he said softly.

billy nodded, dazed. he looked down at himself, as if wondering what had happened.

"good, now give me your cell phone." after billy had handed the thing over, mr. x smiled. "what do you say to me, son?"

"yes, sensei."