Kyan's memory was faint. She remembered a lot of pain, but wasn't sure about the source of it… it had seemed to have subsided, anyway.

Lying on her back, she lifted her head. Immediately, she felt all of the pain rushing back to her body and she dropped back to the floor. Suddenly, she began to remember what had happened.

Kyan had been working, as hard as she could. But that wasn't much to the others. Though both of her parents had been prime specimens of the Augment race, Kyan hadn't been passed some of the key genes required for fitting in amongst her people. The most obvious of these was her slower muscular growth. By Earth's standards, she would have been quite normal- an average, boyish build, but on the muscular side. Beside her people, though, she looked scrawny. The others didn't like this- she couldn't work as hard or for as long.

She'd just made a simple, small mistake. She always expected a scolding, but today had been a particularly frustrating day… she didn't last very long against their superior strengths before she passed out.

Now she began to cough, and rolled to her side. She could taste blood. A rustling of clothing went unnoticed between her coughs.

"Are you awake?" came a soft, female voice. It shocked Kyan- friendly voices were hard to find- but she didn't dare to move if she didn't have to.

"Where am I?" croaked Kyan; her mouth felt unusually dry and unclean. Water was hard to come by, but she never felt like this.

"Building A. Singh quarter."

"Oh! Miss Marla!" Kyan sat up in a panic- the very name Singh could do that to anyone here- and gasped at the aches that overcame her, hugging her knees and whimpering quietly. She prayed Khan was nowhere nearby to see her weakness.

"Hold on." Marla helped Kyan take off her heavy robes, dusty with sand, so that she could look at her wounds. Kyan removed her leather gloves and boots, setting them on top of her robes. She then rolled up her leggings and began counting the dark bruises on her shins. They were all over her- bruises, cuts, and scratches, and her head throbbed.

"Why were you outside without your mask?" Marla frowned. "It's a miracle I found you before the eels did." Kyan shivered at the thought. Her parents had met that fate years ago.

"I-I don't remember…" Kyan admitted, touching her tongue to the sides of her mouth. Sand. No wonder she was so thirsty.

"I bet you don't," Marla sighed, looking at the young girl's injuries. She began applying some sort of treatment to Kyan's arm. "At least you didn't break anything…"

"Miss Marla… were you a doctor on Earth?" She blinked.

Marla laughed. "Nowhere close to it. We all have to learn new things out here, Kyan."

"I-I guess… but…" Kyan grimaced. "People like me don't really have any purpose."

"Kyan… we need every person we can keep."

"Wouldn't my death mean one less mouth to feed?" questioned Kyan, shaking her head. "Miss Marla, I-I really am so grateful for you taking care of me- but… is there logic in it?"

"Stop pitying yourself. There's another reason why I rescued you, Kyan." Kyan frowned, blushing. No one had really said anything like that to her before.

"W-What is it?"

Marla wrapped Kyan's arm with a rough bandage and sighed, knotting it at the end.

"Your parents' studies and textbooks are still intact, correct?"

"O-Of course!" Kyan tilted her head to the side. "But… what can I do with them?" Kyan's parents had been biologists- after the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI, their work had been limited, but they had begun studying the eels that infested the deserts of their practically-destroyed planet… eventually their subjects had been the death of them.

"As you know, we have no biologists left. The last just died last week… We need someone to do this job, Kyan."

Kyan blinked. "I don't have any training or anything, though! I-I'm not a very fast learner, and—"

"We all have to rise above to survive, Kyan. You can take this opportunity or just continue to be a bottom of the line lackey." Marla narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure I will someone who would jump at the chance to do this." Kyan turned red and swallowed hard, her throat aching.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Marla! I'll… I'll try my best to do a good job." She bowed her head, which still throbbed with pain. They both heard a door close in the hallway outside.

Marla's expression softened, and she patted the young girl's back gently. "You don't have to fear me. I'm only harsh when my husband is around… it seems he just left."

"He heard all of that?" Kyan whispered, her eyes widening. That was the last thing she wanted. As far as she was concerned, Khan was more frightening than death itself. She considered the worst way to die aside from by his hands was by eel, and at least then you were too insane to care if you were dying, not to mention a friend could convince you that it was a good thing. But Khan liked to torment his victims slowly, to humiliate them in front of their peers. Her parents had warned her: do not anger him. His victims begged for death long before they ever received it… it was Kyan's biggest fear. Even worse, her parents had named their daughter after him as a sign of devotion- for Kyan it was even more embarrassing to be so weak. She was sure it didn't make Khan too happy with her, either.

"Don't worry," Marla insisted. "I'll keep you safe."

"I do not know why you're saving me… but thank you," said Kyan. She began to get dressed again, careful to avoid extra pain. "What shall I do first?"

"Go to your quarters and retrieve all of your things- including your parents' things. You'll be under my orders, so you'll be staying here in the spare room."

"Spare room?" Kyan had never heard of anyone having a spare room. There was barely enough room for everyone as it was.

"It was to be our son's." Marla looked away in shame. "Go."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Kyan pulled on her protective mask and scurried out the door.

Kyan had very few possessions of her own. Basic supplies- clothing, a canteen, a bedroll, as well as a few tiny trinkets- heirlooms of sorts. Most of her parents' things she'd bartered for more useful things, like clothing, but all of their research and books had stayed. She had no idea why no one else had taken them, but now she was glad they were still hers.

While still miniscule, her new room was probably twice as big as her old one. No one dared to question the logic behind it- if Khan wanted a room left empty, it was. Nobody wanted to suffer for asking.

"Did everything make it?" Marla asked from the doorway. Kyan nodded.

"Yes ma'am. What would you like me to do now?"

"Rest. Tomorrow you will begin your work." Kyan frowned.

"Rest?" She'd never been told to rest before.

"I would enjoy it while it lasts, Kyan."
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"