"Human"
Rembrandt's eyes snapped open as he heard the voice. Quickly he moved into a seated position, turning to face the Kromagg watching him from beyond the clear force field. It took him a moment to realize the maggot never spoke aloud, he heard it's voice within his head. Thinking about it, the voice sounded like Dr. Henry's voice. This Kromagg must be the same one who used that persona to try and manipulate him. He recalled then that they had the ability to speak through telepathy, which is why they normally had human interpreters. The man with one eye came to mind, as well as Mary.
He wasn't entirely sure how long it had been since the Kromaggs revealed themselves with their slipup. He didn't exactly have a watch or a view of the world outside, but he figured it had been at least a day. Upon learning the truth Rembrandt refused to play their game any longer. He allowed them to manipulate his mind for far too long, even allowing them to make him question the very existence of his friends. With a strong determination he decided this would happen no more. The Kromagg simply watched, its sunken eyes focused intently on him as it waited for him to answer.
"Maggot" Rembrandt finally replied, his voice bitter. Eyeing the Kromagg from the uncomfortable metal bed he didn't move, waiting to see what it planned to do. After a moment it spoke, it's voice once again ringing in his own mind.
"I have questions, human. Things I do not understand"
"Oh yeah, like what?" Rembrandt bit back, eyeing the Kromagg with hatred. Of all the things it asked about, what he heard was the last thing he ever expected.
"Tell me more about your friends. I wish to understand the bond you share. I wish to feel it, to make a friend"
"You want to make a friend?" Rembrandt asked, his voice laced with disbelief. He soon chuckled, shaking his head as he let out a loud sigh.
"You Kromaggs are really scraping the bottom of the barrel if you think this lie will ever work. But sure, why not? I'll humor you. Let me tell you about the time we landed on a world where men could carry a child, and the professor saved the baby I was carrying…"
To Rembrandt's surprise, the last three days, or what Rembrandt assumed was three days, largely consisted of conversation with the Kromagg previously known as Dr. Henry. Their meetings lasted longer and longer with each visit, the Kromagg wishing to know more and more about his friends' adventures and wishing to better understand the family dynamic that surrounded him and his fellow sliders. Rembrandt enjoyed sharing stories about them, reminiscing about the many adventures they shared, and just how many times they saved each other's butts.
To his surprise the Kromagg never asked about the timers, or about anything that could lead to discovering his home Earth or its coordinates. He still felt skeptical, but continued to humor it as it asked for more and more information about his friends. One day, it surprised him with a question he'd have never expected.
"Will you be my friend, human?"
Will he WHAT? What kind of question is that? This Kromagg manipulated him, practically tortured him. Even now, he watched him from beyond the force field, eyeing him as if he were inferior. Rembrandt refused to play this game.
"You do realize friends don't keep friends in cages?" Rembrandt bit out, watching the Kromagg with distrust. It simply watched him for a moment, as if it were contemplating his words, then abruptly turned and left.
Rembrandt groaned as he opened his eyes the next morning, snapping them shut again as an unexpected beam of sunlight blinded him from a nearby window. Despite the fog still enveloping his tired mind Rembrandt nearly jumped from his sleeping position on the foreign bed, realization dawning on him rather quickly. This was not his cell.
He rubbed his tired eyes, taking in what appeared to be a small hotel room. He felt an inexplicable joy at seeing something other than the cell's current dark grey or its previous blinding white walls. Without wasting a second he rushed to the nearby window, looking out at the hustle and bustle of the city below.
The cryin man cried real tears of joy as he soaked in the color of the world around him. The life wandering by on the streets below. The clear blue sky, the green of the grass and the many colors of the vehicles driving by on the busy streets below. How was this possible? He wanted to turn around and look but found he couldn't peel his eyes away from the beauty of the simple San Francisco street.
Finally, after a short while he forced himself to look away, returning his attention to the small hotel room. In it sat a small bed, a desk with a lamp, a tv and some chairs. For a moment he considered that it may be more mental manipulation, they had turned the Kromagg prison into a mental hospital before, after all. Before he could contemplate further, however, a familiar and unexpected face entered the room, smiling at him as he closed the door and approached.
"Ah, Rembrandt, you're finally awake. I'm glad" The Kromagg, currently in the form of Dr. Henry said, voice soft and kind.
"Why are you using that face again?" Rembrandt questioned immediately, looking uncomfortable, "what's going on here?"
The doctor's face shifted from the kind look to one of guilt, then to resolve. It happened quickly, but Rembrandt noticed the shift in his face as each emotion passed through.
"I believed using this form would bring you comfort, Rembrandt. I helped you escape that prison. We are on another Earth. You need not worry, I covered our tracks. The Dynasty will not follow"
Rembrandt blinked, absorbing the information and slowly shaking his head. Hold on a minute. Was this even real or was it a lie? Was this some attempted manipulation? Why on any Earth would a Kromagg of all things help him, why would he want to be his friend, especially after torturing him?
"No, this can't be real" Rembrandt muttered, eyeing the false doctor with obvious doubt and a hint of rage.
"Rembrandt, this is real'' Henry replied, the look of guilt returning as he stepped closer to the Cryin man, "Perhaps if I were to help you understand. Do you remember the day your friends showed up? The day I first revealed that I was a Kromagg and had my interpreter offer to remove Mallory's tracker implant?"
Rembrandt nodding that he did remember.
"That was real. Your friends managed to break through that world's shielding, or so we made them believe. Everything you and your friends experienced since landing on the conquered world was planned by the Dynasty"
"What do you mean?" Rembrandt asked, his voice laced with confusion and uncertainty.
"We grew tired of waiting, Rembrandt. The Dynasty isn't stupid, we know how impossible it would be to return home through random sliding. The multiverse is far too vast. We tracked you down using the implant in Mallory, then redirected your wormhole. As you landed on the conquered world, we initially planned to capture you, using the 'escaped slaves' to draw you in. As you helped them and revealed your secrets we learned your timer was much more advanced than when we met previously. You could store coordinates and track gateways, as well as open gateways at your leisure and even return home if you wished it. This horrified the Dynasty. We also realized if you hadn't returned home despite having these new features you must have been aware of the tracker implant. That is when we concocted a new plan. Three of you would remain among the slaves, where you would be slowly manipulated into trusting them, while a fourth was captured and manipulated into revealing the timer's new features and how they function. I was tasked with breaking your mind and learning its secrets. Once broken, your friends would be allowed to rescue you, believing they broke through the worlds barrier on their own. That is why we permitted them to attempt your rescue once. I was certain you would not go with them, but even if you had our plan would have succeeded. Since the slaves removed the tracker, and your friends trusted them, you would have no reason not to return home. Once you traveled to your Earth we would track your wormhole and conquer it."
Rembrandt felt as if it were suddenly harder to breathe. Did this Kromagg bring him to a world where the air was thinner? No, that couldn't be what was happening. All of this information being unloaded onto him all at once, it was intense. If it hadn't been for this Kromaggs help, they may have unknowingly brought doom to Earth Prime.
"But why me? I'm no scientist. I could never explain how the upgrades work." Rembrandt choked out, swallowing hard to try and moisten his dry throat.
"It had to be you, or the girl. Mallory would undoubtably require the wider humans assistance when it came to discovering ways to break through our worlds shielding. We had hoped to learn something of use from you, despite your limited knowledge. Regardless, had we not learned anything from you, we would have simply kidnapped Mallory once your Earth was conqured. One of you had to be captured, to keep the remaining three with the slaves. Why not try to learn your secrets while in our care?"
"Well, it sounds like you had every route planned out. Is that why you helped me? Is this some trick to make me trust you just so you can conquer Earth Prime?"
Henry only smiled sadly, his visage shifting until he once more appeared as a Kromagg soldier. His outfit black with red stripes, his eyes sunken and his face much more that of an ape. His voice remained the same however, echoing once more in Rembrandt's mind.
"I am known as Unit D-245089. I helped you because I wish to be your friend, human. You experienced things I can only dream to have experienced. Friendship, loyalty, a family's love. These things do not exist within the Dynasty. I wish to feel these things too"
"Now why would a Kromagg ever wish to be my friend? Why would you want to experience friendship or love if your entire race is built on manipulation and violence?" Rembrandt bit out, glaring at the Kromagg with heavy distrust. Much to his surprise, the Kromagg smiled, though it wasn't one of joy. He appeared sad, or as if he accepted something he otherwise wouldn't want to.
"I am defective" was his simple reply.
"Defective?"
"You do not know the Dynasty's history, forgive me. As I am sure you already know, Kromagg Prime was rife with war and violence. What we told you, during your previous capture, was that we banded together when we discovered sliding. Because of our combined hatred of humans"
"Yeah that's right" Rembrandt nodded.
"That is not the truth. Even with sliding, our race was violent. The only reason the Dynasty exists today is because of cloning"
"Cloning?"
"Yes. By the end of the war, very few Kromagg remained. Despite our advancements, we were almost extinct. That is when one Kromagg utilized the technology at his disposal and discovered a way to mass produce his own clones. The first batch were heavily defective, resembling humans much more than Kromagg, though they shared our natural cruelty. These were used to win the war, but they were not true Kromagg. He banished them to another Earth and worked to perfect the technology, creating a vast new Dynasty of only the most pure of Kromagg clones. With only he and his new clone army remaining, he swore to conquer the other dimensions. With cloning at his disposal, he had an endless arsenal of replenishable soldiers. Our lives did not matter, all that mattered was our continued success in enslaving the humans and conquering other worlds"
"But...why?" Rembrandt asked, breathlessly.
"Our race is violent. We destroyed ourselves, why would we not destroy you too? There is no reason, beyond our needless desire to conquer" the Kromagg replied, "all clones are programmed with this prerogative. However, every now and then one clone will be born defective, like me. A clone that will feel emotion beyond the needless violence and hate, but will not understand them. Your stories of your friends, your journeys, they helped me to understand. I wish to experience these things. I wish for friends, those who will miss me if I expire. I could never explore these emotions before, like I wished to do. If we are found by the Dynasty we are quickly disposed of, we are considered weak, too human. The original regretted letting the first batch of defective clones live. He foolishly believed they would expire on their own, without the ability to clone as we do, but they thrive. They have built their own false Dynasty, surviving through rape camps and breeding with human females. These defects are a disgrace to the Kromagg race. To prevent further disgrace we are to show no mercy to newly discovered defects"
Rembrandt felt a wave of emotion crash into him at this plethora of information. They were all being manipulated. It was as if the Kromaggs thought several steps ahead of them, like a game of 4D chess.
He felt anger form in the pit of his stomach, a great rage directed toward the Kromagg in front of him, as well as the race as a whole. They manipulated him and his friends, continued to do so now even. The one in front of him lied to him, practically tortured him, and despite this Rembrandt also found he felt a great...pity.
This Kromagg was forced to hide among his own people, believed to be defective, even believing it himself. As if having human emotion was really something to be killed over. These Maggots were monstrous, and he could only imagine how this Kromagg must feel. Granted this entire story wasn't some attempted manipulation in itself.
"You aren't defective, just because you have feelings," Rembrandt said aloud, surprising the Kromagg, "What made you decide to help me? Am I the first human you've felt pity for?"
The sadness on the Kromaggs face seemed to grow as he asked this. He shook his head.
"No, I have pitied you humans since the day of my creation. But I could not show it, or I would have been disposed of."
"Then why act now? Why help me if it will reveal your true self?"
"Because I finally understand it. I've always felt the emotion, but I could not fully grasp it. To truly care for another, to love is to be willing to sacrifice. To change, to grow. Like you, and your sliding friends. Your stories, your experiences, they have inspired me. I want to feel that too. So I made the needed sacrifice to save you. Once the Dynasty learns of my betrayal they will wish to destroy me."
Rembrandt looked uncertain, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He sat on the bed, placing his head in his hands. What if this was another lie? That's all these Maggots ever did was lie, trick, manipulate. But what if everything the Kromagg just shared was true and he genuinely regretted his actions, having been forced to hide his entire life? His mind harkened back to April, the little girl he met on the world with the happiness drug. How she had been forced to act constantly happy, even to the point of laughing as her grandmother passed, in secret fear that said drug would be forced upon her. The thought of it made him feel sick. Did this Kromagg feel the same?
"Are you alright?" The Kromagg asked.
"Yeah...no...I need a minute" Rembrandt replied, "This is too much to deal with. I need to think. I don't know what to do."
"That is fair" The Kromagg replied with a nod, "For what it is worth, I am sorry for how I treated you. I was afraid, but no more. When you are ready let me know. I have a sliding device with me, programmed for the Earth at which your friends are being kept. Together, we can save them."
He turned at that, morphing back into the familiar face Rembrandt knew as Henry. He opened the door, turning back to look at him briefly before leaving the room and the uncertain Rembrandt behind to gather his thoughts.