Prologue
Undisclosed location
The room was dark, but warm. Optimal conditions for our kind, the humanoid thought as he stared across at the strange creature opposite him.
He took that back immediately. He didn't want to think that thing was one of his kind.
Truth to be told, he wasn't exactly sure what it was. Its long arms ended with viciously sharp claws. Its eyes, especially in this light, looked like red dots. And its voice, especially when it was speaking to him, sounded like...
It's speaking to me! The humanoid cursed internally. A slip of attention in a place like this could mean death, if not worse.
"So, we have finally laid our hands on you. However, the time and effort it took to get to this stage has been rather inconvenient. In fact, it was rather...shocking."
The huge beast let out a chuckle, deep and loud in this small room. The humanoid thought it best to keep silent. He wasn't going to give in to this hulking giant, and he certainly wasn't going to laugh at his jokes.
"Yes, indeed. One could say your defence of your colleagues-"
"Friends! They were my FRIENDS! And you...you murdered them, you sick, twisted-"
"Quiet!" The creature's voice was not loud, but it was forceful and it certainly got its message across. The humanoid fell silent. He'd cracked, he shouldn't have let the monster get to him. If they weren't going to kill you before, they're certainly going to do it now, you idiot!
"As I was saying, one could say your defence of your colleagues was quite noble. For us, however, it was very irritating, though it did show you were an excellent fighter. And then you tried to make your escape! It's a good thing we caught up with you, isn't it?"
"So, are you going to kill me now?" The humanoid wasn't sure if saying that was a good idea. But I want to know, he thought to himself as he stared into the beast's metal face. His metal face...
"Kill you? If we wanted to kill you, you'd be dead before you even set foot in here! No, we don't want to kill you. You're far too useful for that."
Internally, the humanoid sighed with relief. It's not over yet,though, he reminded himself. He wasn't sure what the "useful" bit meant, but he could have a pretty good guess.
"However, we can't have your loyalty splashing around like a Cheep Cheep out of water. You must swear full and total allegiance to us, or else you know what's coming to you. Is that clear?"
The humanoid swallowed. He didn't like the sentence he was going to say, but if he wanted to keep his head on his shoulders (so to speak) he was going to have to play along for now.
"Yes...Registeel."