A Tentacle Kind of Story
- A look into the lives of Sligs
(Set one month after Forbidden Tentacle)
Nathaniel grew up to be a happy Slig. He enjoyed the company of Brak and Sanrak, he also made quite a few new friends.
One of his friends was Kozu. Kozu is a happy Slig who enjoys the finer things in life like Chocolate and Sweets. He also drank plenty of fruit juice. As any good Vykker will know, all of this will cause havoc with the teeth. A few weeks after he met Nathaniel, he had to excuse himself from the lunch hall and head for the Vykker Dental Labs as fast as he could.
The Slig workers got their Medical and Dental bills paid, so he was in a hurry to get his problem sorted. He stepped into the Vykker office and got an appointment. The Vykker entered the room and looked over him, "So what seems to be the problem". Kozu held his mouth, "Some kind of toothache". The Vykker nodded, "Okay, please lie down on the dental chair, and put this on". The Vykker handed Kozu a kind of muzzle, this muzzle allowed Kozu's tentacles to be pushed out of the way, so the Vykker could examine his mouth.
About half an hour later, the job was done and Kozu was relieved. The Vykker approached him, "The painkillers will wear off in an hour or so, I recommend you taking some more. Remember not to eat as many chocolates and sweets. If in any doubt, simply brush your teeth after every meal. That way, there is no risk of any plaque forming. I recommend Flub Mouthwash as well, goodbye". The Vykker ushered him outside.
Kozu headed to the barracks, eager to sleep so that the numbness of his mouth would subside.
One of Nathaniel's other friends was a former junkie. His name was Degby. He had experienced many different drugs over his years of service. He started with some of the more harmless cigs like Scank, Paraboom and Treebark, but then he went to the more hard drugs like Splatterbrain and Whacksok.
He hadn't really tried rehab before, since he didn't really like Vykker's very much. The drug use had really gotten to him now though, he was starting to have shakes, hallucinations and other health problems. He was running out of moolah as well, and he knew the bosses wouldn't be happy about that. He was prepared to give it all up and go cold Paramite.
He pulled a few strings with Veggo, one of the main prison guards. There was a solidary confinement cell free, so he asked if he could be put in there for a week to cure his Whacksok addiction. The guard kindly let him stay in the cell until he was cured. The last night was the hardest though, Degby was really shivering by the final day... he had a hallucination about his childhood that he wouldn't talk about with any other Slig.
He's back with us now and he's remained clean off the drugs for a long time. Now we only stick with the softer stuff like Treebark, and only when we can't sleep.
Even though Veggo was a prison guard, he often felt sorry for a lot of the Sligs who ended up in the cells. Quite often it was a Glukkon on an ego trip who sent them down there in the first place. Veggo smuggled in a few cigs and sleepers for the Sligs in exchange for a bit of company and talking. For this, Veggo was respected by a lot of the Sligs in the factory. Veggo got several promotions and is currently the leader of the prison guards.
Often he would come into the solidary confinement area, handing the prisoner a small portable games console that they could play to pass the time quicker. On the second to last day, he would take the games console back, so that management wouldn't find out. He was highly respected and even feared by the younger Sligs. People would be happy to do favours for him in return.
Gert was a teenage Slig who was still learning at the Young Sliggies Academy. He wasn't the brighest tool in the shed, but he was surprisingly loyal and friendly. He enjoyed listening to rock music and wore a pair of headphones most of the time. He was currently shopping in the nearest retail outlet. He was picking up some typical student food; beanz, instant noodles and Paramite eggs. He was planning to wash this all down with a few bottles of Scrab Smasher. His best mate, Wirez was around the same age. He enjoyed playing games a lot on his laptop. His favorite game was SligWars, a game set a thousand years in the past when all of the Sligs were having civil wars and stuff. He really enjoyed the strategical element to it. He was a gaming pro, often going online and winning against most people. He always beat Gert, so they often did co-operative mode instead.
Gert was just not into videogames as much as Wirez. They still had plenty of fun together though, they would often play Slig dancing games (these come with a metal dance mat) or play card games like Poker or Blackjack. It was especially funny when they were a bit tipsy first, not that they ever drank more than one pint anyway.
Westy was an older Slig in the barracks. He started off as a promising rookie who went to discover his talent at Slog mastery. He was assigned to be the head Slog trainer. Quite often he would teach rookies how to use their Slogs better and help out with some Slog problems. When he walks around on patrol, you'll rarely see him without a Slog or two. He even takes them on walks sometimes. Nathaniel was very happy to get his first Sloggy and he's on very good terms with Westy... Always ready to listen to a new piece of advice.
Sanrak didn't take to Slogs as well as Nathaniel. He found them to be scared of his metal arm and overly demanding. It was too dangerous for Slogs where he was anyway. Zulag 7 is notable for it's high-security, with good reason. Scrabs, Fleeches, Vykker experiments... sometimes Sanrak wondered why he still worked there. The moolah was good though and he sort of owed it to them, after how they gave him a new arm.
Sanrak heard a noise, he tensed his body and turned around, gun aiming at the noise. "Wait up!", he could hear another Slig's voice. A Slog ran towards Sanrak and started whining. Westy ran into view, "Ah, sorry about that. This little Slog is a right handful". Sanrak smiled, "You got that right... so, what brings you here?". Westy, "Thought you might want to know, they say there is a big storm on the way... you'd better go inside with that arm of yours". Sanrak looked at his arm, "Oh yeah... thanks".
Sanrak walked indoors, "Oh well, don't want to become a lightning rod out here".
Veggo and Baxter were the first to arrive on the scene. It seems as though one Slig was fighting with another one. Veggo stepped forward, "Alright lads, enough of the fighting". One of the Sligs was holding the other up by his head, he turned to Veggo. "Drop him", Veggo held his baton threateningly. The Slig dropped the other Slig. Baxter went to the Slig and put handcuffs on him. "Ahem", he took out a piece of paper from his pants pocket, "You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence... or something like that". The Slig raised an eyebrow, "Come on, let's go". Baxter walked away with the Slig.
Veggo stepped forward, "You alright kid?". The younger Slig nodded, "Yes, thank you... I'm Hane". Veggo nodded, "I'm Veggo. So, what was he beating you up for?". Hane moved nervously, "Well, he was trying to find out where I get my Parabo stash". Veggo raised his eyebrow, "You haven't talked to a lot of officers have you?". Hane shook his head, Veggo shrugged, "Look... Parabo is only a Class 2 substance, but you still need to try and keep better control of it. I recommend you cut back and stick with Paraboom instead, some of the higher quality varieties are surprisingly good". Hane nodded, "Thank you". Veggo smiled, "I'll let you off with a warning, just take it easy ok?".