Disclaimer: I don't own Starbound, or any of the content of the mods used with this story.
Author's Note: I would like to go on record once more and warn the viewing audience that this story contains graphic material and very adult themes, including slavery, torture both physical and psychological; as well as touching on some rather delicate subject matters such as rape, domestic violence and Stockholme Syndrome. Please note that these subjects are covered only for the sake of the story, and the opinions of the characters within do not reflect my own opinions on the matter. The following story is a work of fiction.
Pretty Little Psycho
Prologue
I crossed my arms and tapped my upper arm as I waited. That was really the worst part of this job, actually... the wait. If I wasn't waiting on those lazy-ass Hylotl workers on the dock to load my damn cargo, I was waiting for this fat-fucking Avian to count out my coin. He worked slowly intentionally, I just know it... he loved to watch me writhe, and was going to take his sweet time to get me out and on to my next destination. I bored holes into the back of his head as he hummed that same damn earworm of a tune he always did when he counted out pixels. I think he can't keep track of what number he's on unless he's humming.
"Any day now." I grumbled at him.
"Relax, Lysylla. The world's not going to end, you know..." He turned around and handed me my card back. "Here you go. One Pixel Chit, another hundred thousand heavy." I motioned to take the card before he mentioned how much he credited my account.
"Wha – a hundred k? The contract was for two. What fuckin' gives?"
"Aye, it was. But your contract isn't over."
"D'fuck do you mean it's not over. I have a strict A-to-B policy, and I don't divert." He opened his tree-trunk arms in that carefree expression he always did when he was trying to screw me out of a payday.
"Lys... come on, it's me we're talking about here. I wouldn't have asked you to do it if I wasn't damned sure you'd see it through. B'sides, if you manage to get our guests to their destination within the hour, I can promise you my client will be more then happy to shell out an additional three to four hundred thousand – cash-on-delivery, mind – for your hard, earnest work." I blinked at him. God I hate this fucker. He talks in circles – more so then most Avian – and is just a general pain in my tail. I snatch my Pixel Chit from him and look it over.
"...where are they going?"
"That'a girl!" He smiled, turning back away from me. "You'll want to deliver them to the Protectorate Headquarters, D-Dock. A contact will be there to help you offload our guests to their... refrigerators."
"Refrigerators? Who's the client?"
"Grand Protector Greenfrond." I shivered. I'd met Grand Protector Greenfrond only once... and that once was fuckin' enough. Floran creep me out... Greenfrond is a whole new category of creepazoid I don't want anything to deal with. The whole time we spoke, he kept eyeing me like a piece of meat.
"Lemme guess... Greenfrond is fond of the... kind of game that can fight back." The Avian broker laughed and nodded.
"Got it in one, girl. But don't go blabbin' that to everyone, kay? The Grand Protector likes to keep his culinary preferences secret. You know how the Terrane Protectorate frown upon the Floran's cannibalistic tendencies." Can it even be considered cannibalism at this point? I mean, Floran don't usually eat other Floran... I say usually because a starved Floran is a dangerous, unpredictable creature.
"Eh... at least this is the least convoluted curveball you've thrown me... I'll talk to my guy in the TP. He can get me in without the usual full cargo scan."
"Wouldn't count too much on it, Lys. Most Protectors – guards or otherwise – are on full parade mode for the Graduation Ceremony."
"Dammit, that's today!?" I blurted out. "Fuck me sideways!" It was now going to be nearly impossible to get them inside without a heavy bribe on my part. I was going to have to turn on the ol' Lysylla Charm... and I hated doing that. "Fuggin'... my day today, ain't it."
"Yep." He turned curtly and waved his stubby little donut-grabbers good-bye. "Ta, Lys. See you when you get back." I grumbled some kind of confirmation before shoving the ramshackle wooden door open and stepping out into the street. I took a deep breath in of the dirty, contaminated air as I walked back to my ship. This is the real Earth... the dirty reality the Terrane Protectorate hides beneath it's convenient little glittering lie up top. The shanties are stacked so close together, it's almost impossible for me to walk without bashing my shoulder against a two-by-four, causing me to shift endlessly as I move. The dirty air plays greedily with my gentle, medium length pink hair... christ wind... you wouldn't think the wind would be as strong as it is, what being forced into cramped corridors that it is... but I suppose that only serves to make it even stronger.
My choice of attire attracts more then one look as I break into the mainstreet from the alleyway I was in. I'm dressed – in a word – scantly; a black corset hugging the few curves I do have, mixed with the pair of elbow length gloves – I assure you not necessary in my profession, but still fun – which adorn my arms and the black fishnet stockings attached to the joint underwear/garterbelt which hugs my waist. Am I dressed in any shade of practicality? No. Do I look like something out of some fat otaku's wet dream diary? Fuck yes. But I don't care. In my line of work, I deal with one... maybe two people a day that aren't chained up aboard my ship, a gag in their mouthes and a heavy leather blindfold over their eyes. I promise that sounds a thousand times more interesting then it is.
See... I'm a slaver. And I'm not talking about the cutsie-tootsie 'indentured servitude' kinds that I know Avian and Hylotl governments still employ. I make no illusions about what I do. I'm the 'club you over the head and drag you aboard a ship in chains' kind of slaver... but then again, I'm just the transport girl. I don't do the clubbing, or dragging... I just do the moving.
I shove past a pair of vagrants begging me for loose pixels... shove off, guttersnipes, I'm a busy woman. My ship is still parked in the three hour or less parking spot I squeezed her into, the hatch open, but not dropped to allow every Tom, Dick and Harry aboard my ship. I advance upon the ship and hollar inside. "Ai! Open up!" I call to my ship's AI – ironically named Ai – who confirms by opening the ship's hatch for me. Ai is a boot-legged SAIL unit I purchased from my Protectorate inside-man about three years back after some heavy bribing and promising six ways to sunday that I wasn't going to be getting caught with it.
"Welcome back, Lysylla." Ai chirps to me. Ai's the only real conversation I get... and the most important woman in my life. I smile back to her little digitized picture on the wall – smiling... something I don't do a lot of – and take my seat in the cockpit of the ship. "Is everything in order? Our guests are still secured in the Guest Bedroom." 'Guest Bedroom' is a cute, cheeky little name I gave the cargo hold... which got it's name after Ai almost gave me away by telling me the status of the slaves in the cargo hold. I had her begin to refer to any non-crew member of the ship as 'guests' and the cargo hold as the 'Guest Bedroom'. Wasn't making that mistake twice.
"Yeah, I know..." I mused, checking all the levels in my ship. "Seems there's a Part Two to this whole thing... fuckin' wooooo." I balled my hands into fists and gave a sarcastic cheer, waving hands in front of my face. "See if you can't jack into the Protectorate network and tell me which checkpoint has the newest guard... and failing that, see which one I haven't already seduced my way past." A chirp as Ai confirmed.
"And failing that, Lysylla?" I rolled my eyes.
"Surprise me." Ai could be cheeky sometimes... which made her just as loveable as it was intolerable. Regardless of the flaws, I loved all the things she helped me with.
"Confirmed. Stand by." A dull whumph echoed in the ship.
"D'fuck was that?" I asked, looking around.
"Siesmic activity. The plates have been quite active of late. I have detected no fewer then three seismic tremors in the past three hours."
"Shit..." Pushing the seismic activity out of my mind, I went back to the problem at hand. "Ai, begin pre-flight check. We're going to have to sneak past the checkpoint to deliver our guests to Grand Protector Greenfrond." A beep in confirmation. "How's their vitals?"
"Within nominal levels. Elevated heartrate in most – however, one seems to have fallen into a zen-like medatative state." That was good. She was going to chew through less food then the others. I wasn't planning on them staying long, but I still have to feed my guests. People don't buy slave corpses... well... Greenfrond might, if they're fresh...
Whuuuumph...
The rumbling caused me to look up again. "Jesus, what's with all the tremors... I felt that one." Ai went quiet. "Ai?"
"One moment, Lysylla... I am checking the validity of a hunch." Uh oh. They warned me about this when I got her... when an AI has a 'hunch' it usually means they've been dedicating processing power to checking the surroundings... which usually meant they were looking for something.
"What's on your mind, Ai? Talk to me."
"Seismic activity has been increasing in the past twenty years – that much is public knowledge. Most believe it is the continental plates buckling under the weight of the Great City, however others believe a far more disturbing theory. Are you familiar with the Universal Creation Theory?"
"That's the... shit they taught me in school about the... Cultivator and the... fuggin'... Ruin, right?"
"Confirmed. Many who believe this theory state that the Cultivator was unable to destroy the Ruin, simply sealing it away. Some doomsday cultists believe that the Ruin shall return one day to finish what it started."
"Okay, I don't get it... why does the fuggin' Ruin have to do with earthquakes?"
"The Ruin is a planet-destroyer." I scrunched my nose up at the thought, going back to the console. Fuel, good... coolant, good... waste disposal functioning, good... Giant purple tentacle, check... Wait...
I looked up from my console to look at something that caught my eye. As though it had eyes I couldn't see, a giant, puple-hued tentacle was waving back and forth in front of my ship, almost staring at me. "Uuuuuuhhhhh... Ai?" I couldn't take my eyes off it. "What the fuck is that!?" Just as these words left my mouth, I felt the whole ship lurch. "Fuggin' hell! What hit us?"
"Nothing, Lysylla. The ship did not move... the planet did."
"Get us out of here." I tried to keep my composure.
"Lysylla, if I begin launch proceedures now, we may not be able to clear before we are consumed."
"Then skip the pre-flight check then..." I muttered back, trying to remain calm.
"It is ill-advised to skip pre-flight check, captain." Suddenly, a much larger tentacle – easily the size of a skyscraper plus – erupted from the ground, sending concrete chunks in all directions. "Ah." Ai mused gently. "Beginning liftoff proceedure. Skipping pre-flight check." I knew something like that would motivate the stubborn AI. My fingers flew across the control panel, trying to take some of the slack off of Ai to boot up what systems I could. A few systems – namely the FTL drive – had to be spooled up manually, while most others were slaved into Ai to activate. Once everything I could turn on was on and booting, I began to pilot the ship off the ground.
"Lysylla, the FTL drive is reporting a maintenace issue."
"Yeah well... it can go suck a chode, can't it?" I responded. "I'm not going to risk getting dismembered if I can avoid it, just because my FTL drive likes being a dick." Besides, with all due luck, we won't need our FTL drive immediately. We could stop off on the moon for some maintenance and...
…
I wonder what's going to happen to the moon if the Earth is destroyed...?
Aaaaaaaaah not the time, not the bloody time! The buildings disappeared below my vision as I caught a gimpse of how bad it really was. Huge tentacles were sprouting out of the ground, some smaller ones swatting ships out of the sky like flies. I watched the Terrane Protectorate's pride and joy – an absolutely hulking ship called the Amarthine Sky get crushed in two by one such tentacle. "Shiiiiiiit we need to go. I just watched one of those things crack the Amarthine Sky open like a god-damn peanut!"
"Lysylla, we should attempt to secure survivors before fleeing. There could be people who survived."
"We are securing survivors, Ai! There's you... and me... and everyone in the hold, look, survivors!" I answered sarcastically as the engines flared to carry us into orbit. "Mission done, people survived, let's go." I knew it wasn't what she meant, but I've never stuck my neck out for other people in the past... I wasn't about to start now... especially since it could literally get me killed. For the first time in my life... I wanted to be as far away from Earth as I could.
My ship's engines flared and we began to race for the stars, the blue of the sky slowly starting to fade to black. Mere miles from the atmosphere – from safety – the entire ship lurched, the hull buckled and an alarm blared in the cabin. "Phhhhhuuuuuuck what was tha-at!?" I whined. We were so damned close.
"Extreme pressure near the ship's midsection... external cameras confirm a tentacle has grappled us."
"Shit, it's going to split us in two!"
"Unlikely. The tentacle is of the smaller variety."
"Small or no, it can – and will – destroy us." I instantly throttled all the way to full, the ship lurching once more as we tried to break free. "Come on... Come on..." I pleaded with the ship to break free... to just... snap the tentacle off at it's base and let us carry off into space safely. After pulling twice, I heard the engines spool down, a 'Overheat' warning flashing on my console. No. No, I was not dying today. Not like this, anyway. There was only one – admittedly extremely stupid – thing left to do.
I redirected all engine power to the FTL drive, and disabled the fuel limiter. "Lysylla... what are you doing?"
"Trying to get us the hell out of here." I answered as I began to activate the – remember broken – FTL drive.
"The ship's FTL drive is-"
"I know, Ai!" I finally lost my shit and barked back. "I fucking know it's in need of maintenance, if we get out of this and it breaks, I give you full permission to bitch at me until doomsday! But until that time! - I need it now to get us the hell out of Dodge!" She went quiet for a moment.
"Confirmed." FTL fuel limits were usually put into place, because FTL jumps were still a sort of imprecise science, so putting too much Erchius into the engines could send you like... into next year... but they'd get you out of a pickle. I heard the tell-tale sound of the FTL spooling up – making a hell of a racket of it – before the engines fired. The ship lurched again, the tentacle doing a damn good job of hanging on.
"Darlin' come on... I just need a good pull! Give momma a good pull!" One more pull and the sound of bending and protesting metal echoed once more in the ship. "Come on, darlin'... hold together just a bit longer... momma loves you... momma loves you...!" I spoke to my ship, hoping all the love in the world would make this dumbass plan of mine succeed. There was no turning back. Sliding the toggle all the way up, I opened all the fuel injectors, in essence speeding up as high as I could go. There came a great, unearthly yell from deep below – like some great beast in the throghs of pain – before the altimiter began to climb. "Come on! Go! Goooo!" I cheered it on. I probably should have throttled down.
In a second the tentacle released it's grip on us and we were flung into space instantly at full speed. I was whipped out of my chair and hurled through the still open door, my body crashing four times on the deck before I was hammered into the wall near the transporter, my body hitting the durasteel deck like a lead balloon. At that point in my life, I was confident I was dead. After all, I was just tossed at the speed of light and faster into a durasteel bulkhead that was three feet thick at it's thinnest point. I broke my back at least, or maybe cracked my skull open and I was bleeding on the floor, dead. I didn't care how it happened, but I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was dead.
Kzzt. Bzzt.
Sounds I could only barely hear slowly pulled me out of my coma, a cool sensation running down the back and side of my head. Slowly lifting my heavy head, I looked around, one eye blind to the destruction. Whole panels on the ship were blown out, broken wires and severed connections sparked endlessly as power was fed through them. I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly found that – along with a few other faculties – were a bit beyond me right now. I looked down, noting I was previously lying in a small pool of blood – mine, if I were a betting woman – which was also the cause of my blind eye. Wiping the blood from my eye, I found I was able to see out of it – thankfully – and it would survive the day.
"Ai..." I finally managed to grumble out, looking around. "Status report." I waited for her chipper voice to respond, but I would find it lacking. "Ai?" I looked over to her wall panel, the flashing 'REBOOT REQUIRED' sign visible even from here. "Awwww, shit..." I swore, slowly struggling to find my feet. "C'mon..." I grunted, my legs refusing to cooperate. With a great amount of strength on my part, I finally managed to stand, my shaky and unsteady legs forcing me to brace myself against the wall as I made my slow way towards Ai's control console. My vision swam as I moved, my eyes unable to focus on one point in space... dammit, I've probably got a concussion. Despite having been knocked out for god knows how long, I was exhausted beyond belief... wanting nothing more then to just... fall asleep and never wake up.
A hand fell on the console, fingers struggling to find the command to initiate Ai's reboot function. Blinking and opening my eyes wide, I forced myself to focus. C'mon, just a few seconds... A clunk echoed in the ship, followed by a loud hum, the reboot command executing flawlessly.
"Reboot Complete." Ai spoke. "Are you well?" She asked instantly.
"Fuggin'... no... I'm bleeding, I think I've got a concussion, and I just want to sleep."
"I believe there are some emergency medical supplies in the storage locker." I struggled to remember if I still had them there or not, and after a moment of recalling, I do remember there being a fairly large stash of them. I was always a careful one. Shuffling my way over carefully to the storage locker, I cracked it open and looked inside. Sure enough, there was a large medical kit sitting there, ready for use. Snatching it out of the wall, I dropped it to the ground and sat right next to it... Christ was I tired... "Do try to stay awake. There is a ninety eight percent chance that you will not wake from any coma until those wounds are healed."
"Ah know..." I grumbled, words slurring. "S'why I'm doin' my best." Opening the medical kit, I went right for the adrenaline. Hopefully the boost to my system would keep me awake long enough to start sorting out these wounds. I hate needles... Jamming the syringe into my leg, I felt the rush of adrenaline course through my system; not only would it dull the pain, but would also keep me awake... hopefully. Breaking into the medical kit more, I began to pull out needles, pain killers, gause bandages... pretty much anything I thought I would need. "Ai... do you have any medical records I could use? Because I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Of course..."
To make a long story short, Ai walked me through how to bind the minor lacerations I had, as well as how to properly treat a concussion – which just boiled down to me taking it easy for a while and reporting to Ai any time I had any abnormal condition. By the time I was done, I was already regaining my balance and the fuzzines in my eyes was beginning to clear, so it looked like I was only suffering from a minor concussion, so I should – in theory – be fine in a couple of days.
"How's the vitals on our guests?" I asked Ai after stuffing the medical bag back into the locker, a long strip of gauss wrapped about my head to stop the bleeding.
"No serious injuries detected. It would appear as though their restraints kept them from suffering the worst of the traumatic injuries."
"Lucky-fuckin'-them." I growled. "What's our location."
"Unknown." Ai came back instantly.
"Do an overlay scan of the nearby stars, and cross-reference it with all known starcharts. We have to have some kind of clue."
"I already have. The composition of the constellations and stars do not match any constellation data we currently have. I can, however, inform you that we were in full FTL burn for three hours and eighteen minutes from the time of ignition to reboot. From that information, I can extrapolate an approximate location... one moment." Three hours and eighteen minutes? Fuck me sideways, the longest FTL jump in recorded history was only an hour and a half one way... we made that trip both ways and then some... God, I can only imagine where we are... on the ass-end of the galaxy. "Calculations complete. According to my approximation, we are ten thousand, eight hundred and ninety nine light-years from Earth; and over eight thousand light-years from Terrane Protectorate controlled space." I paused as this information sat in my head. Ten thousand light-years... that's farther then any member of the Protectorate has ever gone. The 'civilized' universe was behind us, and all that lay ahead of us was virgin, unexplored territory. "However; there is one more detail which complicates matters."
"We can't get any more fucked, so... what's up?" I tried to smile away the problems, but they just weren't going away, no matter how much I grinned.
"Due to the shock which shut down my system-" Ai began. "I am unable to back-trace our path. We are ten thousand light-years from home... in an unknown direction. At that range, I do not have to tell you that we can't simply 'pick a direction' and 'hope for the best' as it were... as when we reach our destination..."
"We could still be two to three thousand light-years off..." I finished.
"Correct." I sighed.
"Okay. What's our current suggested course of action?"
"I can see only one: we repair the ship, and make the best of our situation. Perhaps find a habitable planet and settle upon it."
"Oooh, yay. Terraforming." I rolled my eyes, holding my head. "A'ight... no use putting it off anymore. Let's go check on our guests." I began to shuffle my way to the back. "Ai, prime the ship's self-destruct and teather it to my vitals. If I happen to die in the next few minutes, I want a back-up plan." There came a pause and a beep.
"Self-Destruct primed. Ship Captain vitals registered and tied to self-destruct." I wanted to make damn sure I had all the leaverage in the world against these slaves. Slaves where unpredictable when they were let out of captivity... which is why they were only allowed such under heavy guard – men and women in full Solarium or in the even more secure case Impervium armor. UGH! I had an opportunity to purchase a set of Impervium armor, and like a moron, I passed it up! God damn hindsight!
Pressing my hand to the biometric scanner, the little lights flickering on as it acknowledged my fingerprints. With a hiss, the door opened and the hanging little light in the center of the room clicked to life. I didn't go back into the cargo hold much; I didn't really like putting my face out for the slaves to think as the one to stab if they ever got the chance. The cargo hold was dark – even with the light in the center – and decorated cutely in a dungeon motif. Along the two walls on either side of me was eight slaves – one of each known, civilized race – chained to the wall by their arms and legs, kneeling on the floor. The conversation lit up instantly, as they didn't hear the door open.
"...ing you, whoever the hell was flying this ship is dead! They're dead, and we're all going to die here, if we don't figure a way out of these damn chains!" A quick, cursory look told me my entire haul was all female – which I was told at the beginning, but confirmations are nice. I said nothing, simply looking at everyone. They were blindfolded and chained to the wall, so my presence went unannounced for a moment. I had to be very careful with these chicks... I've learned in my rather long tenure in this profession that there are three kinds of slaves. The first – which I like to call Ease, because they're bloody easy to work with. Ease are slaves who are consigned to their fate; they know that there's no chance they'll escape, and have accepted that if they do a good job, they will get infinitely better treatment then ones who struggle and fight with their masters. Ease are what I make my bread and butter on. They're easy to transport, they're easy to sell, and if you have to release them from their physical bonds for any reason, they are almost guaranteed not to stab you in the back when you're not looking.
The second type are a little number I've taken to calling Firebrands. Firebrands are the exact opposite of Ease slaves. Whereas Ease are consigned to their fate, and have given up all fight; Firebrands believe that the more they struggle, the more they make their master's lives difficult, the higher chance they have to escape and be free. Funny fact about Firebrands, is their openly rebellious attitude often has the opposite effect, causing their master's grip to tighten and their chances of escape – or of an easy life, for that matter – to quickly close. Some clients revel in the chance to break Firebrands of their beliefs, and I know... er... knew... one such who made a living out of turning Firebrands into Ease, then reselling them. He... he was a wonder to behold.
And the third type... the kind you've always got to be wary of... are the Switch Hitters. Switch Hitters are dangerous if you don't know what to look out for. Switch Hitters start off pretending to be Ease, but are actually Firebrands. They attempt to lull you into a false sense of security before killing you when you least expect. Thankfully, they almost always have a few character flaws that make them easy to identify for those of us – such as moi – who have been in this game long enough to know the ticks. Switch Hitters like to pretend to be broken slaves; like to say all the yeses and noes that a broken slave would... but they often can't control their bodies. A Switch Hitter will flinch – if only for a tiny second – when asked to do something they really don't care for. Ease slaves don't care. They have admitted that that is their lives now, and will do it without so much as a flinch of negative. Also, Switch Hitters sometimes forget their 'Master' and 'Mistress' when addressing those in authority.
"But... we can't get out of them..." A smaller, more demure voice addressed the hot-headed one. "They are secured to the wall, and very well kept... not a hint of rust upon them."
"That's the kind of attitude that will get us dead! We don't need a damn puppy, we need someone to get us out of here!"
"Are we all alright?" I finally spoke up, my voice carrying far in the stone-lined dungeon. I heard the fire-filled voice – assuredly a Firebrand – gasp and shut up real quick, wondering how much of that conversation I heard. "I mean, we must be... we're all talking about escape here..."
"I have to apologize for her, Mistress." Came the demure voice again. "She doesn't understand her place." Ease.
"Quite alright. Most talk about escape once or twice... lemme just take a look at your bonds here... make sure nothing was...jarred loose in our butt-clenching escape from Earth."
"E-escape?" Came the demure voice again. I walked down the lines and saw a Hylotl figure who owned the voice. "We... were told that was our last destination." As I answered her, I checked their chains, just to be sure they were still secured.
"Yeah. Escape. See... ya'll need to start figuring out what diety you made happy... because we're all exceedingly lucky... you more then me, of course. See, ya'll were bound for Grand Protector Greenfrond's dinner table." I heard a voice gasp. "But... some giant tentacle monster the size of a planet saw fit to stop that by... well... destroying Earth." Silence fell across everyone.
"You... you're lying!" Came the human in the rear. "Nothing that big exists!"
"Trust me, Daisy Duke." I spoke to the human. "I know what I saw, and I wouldn't believe it either if I didn't see it myself." She went quiet. "So here's the situation we're in. Our ship is damaged, in dire need of repairs. We are currently in orbit over 'Fuck-If-I-Know-Whereistan' some ten thousand light years from Earth's last known location. So here's what I need... I need a few trustworthy souls to join me on an expedition to the planet." It had been a conclusion I had come to just a little while ago. My ship was not equipped for a long-haul mission like this... I didn't carry enough food for myself for long periods of time, let alone eight others. So, we would need to secure a food supply first. Then, worry about repairs to the ship.
"And before I take volunteers, I do have to mention something..." I crouched next to another slave and played with the collar about her neck. "You can feel those nice, heavy collars you're wearing, right? See... those are bomb collars. They're designed to prevent slaves from escaping, but in my case, I make sure to give you those pretty collars... to make sure you don't stab me in the ass when I least expect it. I've tied my vital signs to the ship's self-destruct – and by extention – your collars. In short, if I die, you all die with me." I stood up.
"I thought I recognized that voice..." The slave who's collar I was playing with spoke. "You're Lysylla Schatternae, aren't you? The 'Pretty Little Psycho' the Travelers have been trying to catch for years." I figured it would be another Felin who would recognize me. I squatted down a bit and patted her head.
"Well look'it you. All smart in figuring me out. What gave it away? The bomb collars? Tying my vitals into the self-destruct?"
"All of it. You're... insane." She spoke simply. "You're wanted in a hundred systems by a hundred different factions!"
"I imagine it'll be quite a few more by the time we're done here." I mused idly. "Anyway, yes, that's me. So that begs the question, cutie..." I lifted her chin up. She was fair-furred, her body covered in short, dark hairs. "Does that mean you won't help me?"
"Of course it does!" She spat back. "You buy and sell lives for a living! You make your life on our misfortune! Why the hell would I help a criminal like you!?"
"Mm, the way you say 'criminal' has my heart all a-flutter." I played with her, stroking under her chin, which caused her to pull away.
"Don't touch me, you pyschopath!"
"Mistress..." Came the demure Hylotl again. "I... I'll help you."
"That's a good girl!" I smiled, clasping my hands together.
"Don't help her, what are you doing?!" Came the other Felin. "She's just using you, don't you see!"
"Good girls who help me... are helping themselves. I promise if you help me, I may even let you out of your bonds for a bit." I shrug. "Who knows, maybe they'll be a nice warm bed in it for you, too." I squatted back to the Felin. "Whaddaya say?"
"I'll never help you." She growled with determination. I grinned.
"Starvation it is, then. I have to conserve all the food we get for people who are actually working. Sorry sugar, can't afford to feed a layabout." I took to my feet and dusted my knees off. "Alright, I'll need one more person to help, who's up for it?" Everyone fell silent for a moment, some moving their heads around as though they were thinking. "No one?"
"Floran will help!" A voice chirped from the back. I crossed my arms and smiled, sauntering over to the chained Floran. "Floran iss good hunter! Floran find many good meats! Floran bring them back and cook them nicely! Or not cook! Floran not know how meat is preferred." I crouched down in front of the Floran. Even tied and blindfolded it was easy to tell that she was a huntress by trade. Scantly dressed – even by slave standards – she bore the mark of a hunter on her forehead.
"Hunter, huh?" She nodded.
"Yess yess! Besst hunter in Floran'ss tribe!"
"Pretty good with a spear?"
"Very good with sspear!" I lifted her chin so our eyes would have met, were she not blindfolded. My other hand went flat over her chest, over her heart.
"Good at tracking? Not being seen?"
"Floran good at tracking. Prefer not ssneaky, but sstabby."
"Prefer to charge your pray, huh?" She nodded. I didn't catch any hiccup in her heart's rythym as we spoke, so she's either too dumb to lie, or telling the truth.
"Floran like fight, not ssneaky."
"So... you're good with a spear... and a good hunter?" She nodded. "Sounds like a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. What's to say you won't turn on me the second you get a spear in your hand?"
"Floran good hunter... but Floran also like living. Floran not want head to go boom." I want to make something abundantly clear right now: I am not a fighter. I have never lifted a weapon of any kind in my entire life. If this Floran decided to turn a spear on me, I can almost promise you, I wouldn't survive it.
"And what if I took this collar of?" I asked a hypothetical question. "What if I were to remove this collar, and give you a spear?"
"Floran not know where Floran is. Maybe planet hass people... maybe planet not have people... not rissk Floran willing to take. Right now, Floran may not like sslaver... but Floran know sslaver Floran'ss besst chance at ssurvival. Floran help in all wayss Floran can." Her heart never flinched awkwardly as she spoke... she was about as honest as a woman can get. I reached over and tore the blindfold off of her eyes. "Ah... bright..." She looked up at me with those big onyx eyes of hers and smiled. "Floran give you promisse."
"I know. That's why I'm giving you your chance. Do not make me regret it." She shook her head as I unlocked her binds. With her still in my eyesight, I went over to the Hylotl who was all submissive earlier. "And you..." I spoke to her. "Hylotl." She perked up. "Why should I let you help me?"
"B-because Mistress..." She stammered. I already knew her kind... she was an Ease, I could tell right out of the gate. I felt like grilling her just to make it fair. "I'll do whatever you ask of me to please you. I'll... I'll walk out of the airlock in FTL if it'll make you happy! I give you my everything, my mind and body and soul and... and... everything."
"Even if you didn't want to?"
"My needs are secondary to yours."
"And if I asked something terrible of you? Sent you to your death knowingly, ravaged your body against your will?"
"I would smile and say 'yes Mistress'." She was stupider then hell... but loyal without question. Reaching up, I unlocked her binds and took off her blindfold.
"You're dumb... but I know you won't betray me." Going about undoing their leg binds as well, I ordered them to follow me. "Follow me, stay close and listen to what I say... and we'll all be fine." I paused over the Felin. "I was serious about her, by the way. She starves until she repents."
"Yes, Mistress." The Hylotl bowed a little to me. Heh. Could get used to this.
"Ai, begin landing proceedures."