True facts: I was eating a bag of Lay's ketchup chips earlier and I realized... oh yeah I forgot to update this. *updates*
Among the Colony
Even though he was feeling an immense amount of fear, he'd already resolved himself. Whatever the Tallest decided to do with him, as a descendant of the ones who experimented on the Irkens, it would be what he deserved.
A lump formed in his throat. He clasped one of his wrists and held it close to his body to keep his hands from trembling as he followed behind the Tallest.
They were on board the Tallest's ship. It was a very large vessel. The walls, floors, and ceilings were pink in colour.
Surely he was going to be tortured... he couldn't think of another reason why the Tallest would bring him here.
His mouth was dry. He couldn't swallow. As soon as they left the hallway and entered a separate room his eyes squeezed shut and his body stiffened, bracing himself for the pain he expected to receive.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and his eyes immediately snapped open.
"You're not even listening to me, are you?" the Tallest questioned him with a scowl.
"Sorry..." Sevai whispered, lowering his head even more.
The Tallest rolled his eyes as two sharp metal appendages sprang from his PAK.
"Lift your head and don't move for a sec."
"What are you planning to do?" he hurriedly questioned.
Perhaps if he knew how he was going to be tortured he could mentally prepare himself for it.
"Just do what I tell you," the Tallest insisted.
Sevai shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to see it coming, and he slowly raised his head.
Decapitation would be fast and relatively painless at least...
He felt the metal strike the band around his neck, and it fell to the ground with a clang. He opened his eyes and stared down at the black band lying at his feet.
There was no pain which meant the bands weren't activated.
"Now hold out your arms and stop moving around," the Tallest told him, and this time he obeyed without question though he struggled to keep his arms completely still as they were trembling uncontrollably.
The sharp points of the PAK's appendages struck the bands around his wrists at the same time, and they joined the other one lying on the ground.
He rubbed one of his wrists before switching to the other.
"It's kind of stupid the Vortians didn't notice these things weren't working anymore," the Tallest commented while retracting the metal limbs back inside his PAK. "They've probably been deactivated ever since you got electrocuted."
"I wouldn't let them touch the devices..." Sevai admitted as he touched the place the band had been around his neck. "They were also busy creating a translator so they could understand me and my kind. I suppose they were too focused on that project to investigate the bands while I was unconscious..."
Why did he feel the need to defend the Vortians so much...? The Tallest didn't appear to be angry towards them at all.
"You should've noticed at least. It's your people's technology," the Tallest commented humorously before moving to sit a a nearby chair.
It looked rather comfortable... the Tallest could even put his feet up if he wanted.
There was another chair beside that one, and Irk's leader motioned him to take a seat.
Once he was seated the Tallest pressed a button on a remote he had, and the screen in front of them flicked on.
"Aren't you going to ask me for information...?" Sevai questioned.
He was curious about what was playing. It looked like there were two puppets engaged in some kind of superficial argument.
"Will you give me any if I do?" The Tallest asked, flicking one of his antennae forward then back again.
"I cannot..."
"Then what's the point?"
The Tallest didn't say anything else... instead Irk's leader seemed rather content to watch whatever was currently on the screen.
Sevai kept glancing between the Tallest and whatever was playing. He wasn't sure what he should be doing.
"I'm not sure why you want me here..." he finally admitted.
He clutched one of his arms close to his body and nervously clicked his mandibles together.
The Tallest could torture him anytime. It was a frightening thought.
If he was going to be injured or maimed, he hoped the Tallest would just get it over with...
His gaze shifted to the Irken's PAK. He wished he knew what Irk's leader was thinking, but without his technology he didn't have the ability to hear the Tallest's thoughts.
"Your people hate you, don't they?" Irk's leader spoke in a casual manner.
His eyes hadn't even left the monitor. There was a colourful bag filled with a small round food in the Tallest's hands. It hadn't been there a moment ago... had the Irken been hiding it somewhere?
"I'm not sure 'hate' would be the best description of their feelings towards me," Sevai responded, feeling a little defensive.
He reflected on the Tallest's words for a moment. Perhaps he was just trying to deny the idea because the thought of it was too painful.
"However... it isn't an inaccurate statement..."
"And you owe me for saving your life," the Tallest continued.
"My life is already forfeit... but I'm not ungrateful you decided to help me..."
"You might as well stay here then."
"My people will not allow me to live-" Sevai started to protest, but the Tallest interrupted him.
"It's the same for me. Your people want my followers reprogrammed, and they definitely want me dead."
Irk's leader shrugged before shoving a handful of whatever he was eating in his mouth. He chewed for a few moments, then swallowed.
"You're pretty much in the same situation I'm in. The Vortians are nice enough, sure. They probably offered you a place working in their labs or something right? But you being there will likely make them a bigger target than they already are."
The Tallest turned to him, and their eyes met.
"Tell me, what kind of punishment would your people give to a species harbouring one of their fugitives?"
The Irken smirked.
"My guess is total destruction."
He wasn't wrong...
"Are you giving me a choice...?" Sevai questioned, searching the Tallest's expression.
"Not really," Irk's leader returned his attention to the monitor and leaned back in his seat. "I saved your life, so you owe me." He was quiet for a little while. Then he spoke again: "Since you don't have anything to pay me back with, you can repay me by becoming Irken property."
Sevai's breath caught in his throat. What did this mean? Was the Tallest planning to treat him like some kind of object?
"Your property...?" Sevai repeated; his voice barely rising above a whisper.
"Yeah, but don't get weird about it," the Tallest confirmed as he dug for another handful of the food inside the bag.
"I see..." Sevai mumbled, clutching the mark on his upper arm.
Would the Tallest mark him as well...? He'd never been in good standing with his own kind, but he never thought he'd be treated worse than a slave.
"Then I suppose I should start calling you my lord... or my master."
The Tallest choked what he was chewing on. He coughed a few times to clear his throat. His antennae fell flat as he turned to look at Sevai. He was scowling.
"I told you not to get weird. That sounds weird. Call me "Tallest." That's my title, so that's what you should call me."
"Should I say "my Tallest" the same way your followers do?"
"No. I told you to call me "Tallest." Weren't you listening?"
"I suppose I'm not worthy of using that term...?"
The Tallest sighed and dragged a hand down his face while his other hand rummaged for more food in the bag.
"My followers are shorter. By a lot. Your people made mine so it's different. You're not an Irken drone."
Irk's leader ate another handful of the round white stuff before continuing: "Tallest" is actually the more casual version of 'my Tallest.' It's what willingly subjugated people, allies, and even some unwillingly subjugated people call me. So for you, you'd just use "Tallest" and nothing else. Understand?"
"Yes..." Sevai agreed.
He hesitated, but he needed to know if he would be forced to receive another tattoo or something similar since he already had one from his people...
"Your property has your symbol on it..." he finally managed to say.
"Stop making it weird!" The Tallest insisted, and he nearly dropped his bag of food. He cleared his throat. "Property isn't the right word... a slave then? Does that sound better? Slaves don't wear the Irken insignia... I think? At least some of them don't."
Slaves were still property though weren't they?
It was probably better not to argue over words and their meanings with the Tallest...
The Irken dug inside his bag a little more forcefully and brought another handful of food up to his mouth.
"I still don't understand what you require of me..." Sevai admitted, dipping his head. He wanted to know what was expected of him so he could avoid making mistakes in the future. "Are there tasks I need to complete...? How would you like me to conduct myself...?"
"Since your people destroyed our... my Empire, the only work my followers have right now is soldiers' work, and survival stuff," the Tallest responded, shrugging.
"Then... what should I do...?"
He didn't like this kind of uncertainty. It made him feel uneasy.
"I don't want your dna messing with my peoples' programming, so you'll stay near me," the Tallest answered him. "You'll do drone work mostly... but since you're tall and your body is compatible with our PAKs, that might change later."
"Drone work?" Sevai repeated in confusion.
If he recalled correctly that included a wide variety of tasks. Would he be expected to do them all?
The Tallest held out the mostly empty bag of whatever he was eating. "Do you want some?"
Sevai slowly shook his head no.
Irk's leader gave the bag a small shake. "Then go throw this away."
Sevai accepted the bag and began looking around the room for some kind of disposal unit.
"Throw it out into the hall," the Tallest instructed. "A janitor or someone will pick it up."
"Shouldn't I complete this task properly...?" Sevai questioned.
The Tallest squinted an eye at him and crossed his arms. "For a slave you sure ask a lot of questions."
"Sorry..." Sevai apologized, keeping his head down.
"There's not a lot of food on board right now. The bag isn't completely empty. Someone will want it," the Tallest explained. He frowned at Sevai who was now staring at him wordlessly. "Well? Are you planning to eat that or not?"
Sevai carefully shook his head in response before moving to complete the task. He didn't want the Tallest angry with him... he had a bad habit of always asking too many questions however, and no amount of threats or physical pain had been able to correct this.
As soon as he placed the bag outside of the room, three smaller Irkens appeared from around the corner and snatched it up.
Sevai watched them run off before stepping back and allowing the door to close.
Was food really this scarce...? The Tallest had been eating without showing any signs of concern, so he didn't think the Irkens were currently experiencing a food shortage.
But then his people had taken away the Irken's home world... of course. He squeezed his eyes shut. Irk's allies were either dead or scattered around... there were currently no Irken owned planets... where could they possibly get food from...?
In the past, all Irken drones would provide food for their queen. They would search for it endlessly... if none could be found, they would offer themselves to be eaten.
"Tallest..." he began as he opened his eyes and turned towards where Irk's leader was currently sitting... only the Irken wasn't there anymore. Instead the Tallest was drifting almost right in front of him.
Startled, Sevai stumbled backwards and nearly bumped into the door which slid open again.
"I hope you're not going to keep being this slow," the Tallest commented. His arms were folded over his chest and he was scowling.
"Well, come on," he said as he brushed past Sevai into the hallway. "I've got people to call and orders to give."
The Tallest was likely heading to the control room then...
Sevai tried to keep up, but his body wasn't moving as fast as he wanted it too. His limps felt heavy and he was nearly dragging his wings.
Laes was too overwhelmed by all of the activity to pay attention to everything that was happening at first, but he knew they'd landed on Vort a while ago.
He was whisked away pretty quickly by a team of Vortian medical scientists probably?
They ran some tests and scanned his brain a few times.
Now he was waiting in a small brightly lit room.
The Irken, Bandeval, was waiting with him. Lard Nar was too.
Even though there were two other people in the room besides him, both of them were being pretty quiet. He was starting to get the feeling they probably didn't like each other very much since they hadn't even made eye-contact with each other yet.
It was actually starting to feel pretty awkward.
"So um..." what should he say...? He'd already tried and failed to make conversation twice. Maybe he wasn't asking them the right questions... but what should he be asking about?
"Can you guys fill me in on what's been going on here...?" he tried a much broader topic than the current weather or who this 'Veena' person was.
Bann was watching him from the doorway while Lard Nar was standing beside his floating cot. Neither of them seemed very interested in answering this question since both of them were staying quiet.
He breathed a sigh. Why did this feel so familiar...?
The worst thing about being in this prison is not being able to talk to anyone all day.
The awkward silence was starting to remind him of his time at the prison. Lard Nar hadn't talked very much then either... wait... Lard Nar was in the prison with him...?
Well, they were coworkers, so they were probably put in the same wing.
"Ok, you guys are starting to scare me a bit..." Laes admitted, fidgeting with the bed sheet.
"Sorry," Lard Nar immediately apologized as he moved closer to the cot. "I was just thinking... you don't remember anything about the jungle planet or what happened to you in the prison or anything... do you?"
Jungle planet...? What was Lard Nar talking about?
His expression must have given away his confusion, because his former co-worker placed a hand on his and offered a reassuring smile.
"You don't need to remember those things..." Lard Nar paused for a moment, biting his lip. "Some things are better forgotten..."
"Uh..." Laes just stared at him wordlessly for a few moments. "Well... I mean... if you think so..." he spoke as he slowly pulled his hand away.
Lard Nar was pretty much a stranger... touching someone's hand was a weird gesture for a stranger or even a coworker... only... had they known each other better before maybe?
Wait... what kind of relationship did they have exactly...? They weren't together right?
He was pretty sure he didn't like guys like that... did he maybe before though? Was that possible?
Even though he was missing a large chunk of his memories, he had a strong feeling he'd been single for his entire life.
He'd just live with that assumption until someone told him otherwise... yeah.
"Those experiences helped make him who he is," Bann muttered, and his antennae flattened even more. "No one has the right to rip away his memories... to alter him like that..."
Lard Nar turned to face the Irken. "I know you're upset he doesn't remember who you are... but you should be thinking of his emotional and mental well being."
"Do you think they should have made him forget his parents? Or his sister?"
Lard Nar let out a sigh and rubbed his temples. "No... of course not... that's not what I'm saying."
Laes stared at the Irken. He had a sister...?
"All I'm saying is we should focus on getting the more important memories back," Lard Nar said. "There's no need to worry about the painful or traumatic ones..."
"Yeah. Sure," the Irken continued to scowl as he pushed himself away from the wall. "Pick and choose which memories you think are the most important for him. That sounds like a great idea: letting someone else decide what he's allowed to remember."
"You're twisting my words..." Lard Nar responded in an even tone of voice. He didn't appear to be getting riled up at all, but Bann definitely was... and now the Irken was leaving.
"Hey, uh, wait?" Laes spoke reaching out a hand, hoping this gesture would stop the Irken for some reason, and it did surprisingly.
Bann's large red eyes narrowed at Laes who offered him a meek smile.
"Look um... I understand you're upset... really... having someone you know lose their memories must be super annoying... but... well... I'm going to do my best to remember whatever I forgot..."
Bann breathed a sigh as he closed his eyes. "You're not annoying... you've never been annoying..." His eyes opened, but they were looking past him. "I'm just angry I didn't get to you before they messed around in your brain... that's all..."
The Irken clenched his hands into fists as he turned and promptly left the room.
A Random Fact: Bann is seeing a similarity with how Lard Nar is approaching Laes' forced memory loss and how the Invaders are reprogramming the Irkens, but he's not going to be honest about why he's angry because that would require him to be honest for a change, and he's bad at that.