6

Orion was awakened, not by the sound of the door opening, not by the voice that ordered him to wake
up, but to a sharp kick in the side. The boy had been sleeping heavily, and now yelped as his eyes flew open.

He would get used to this kind of thing in time, but for now it was a shock, and the bound child stared up at the
simian, unfocused.

"I said wake up, hoo hoo!" the simian growled, hauling Orion to his feet by the scruff of his neck.

When Orion shrank back, he shook the child hard and drew him back. "Don't move," he growled, and the
frightened child obeyed. The simian took a key and unlocked the child's manacles and fetters, as he would not
be wearing them. It would be one of the only times he would not.

Orion rubbed his sore wrists as he was dragged out of the cell and brought to a chair. The mutant
shoved him into the seat, almost too large for him as it was made for adults, and used the leather straps to strap
him in. Orion was crying quietly again, his body stiff with fear.

The simian said nothing at first, only looked at the boy. Then he brought out a metal medkit and gave
the Thunderian child a full medical examination. He was testing him, looking to see how healthy he was, how
strong he would be, and how tough. He looked for defects like hearing problems or bad eyesight, but the child
was very healthy. He knew Blackmoor had been cautious disciplining him, but he did not have to be so. The
boy would be able to take more severe punishment without it injuring him too much to work. He could not be
punished as harshly as the adults, but nearly as much so as a human adult. Humans were pitifully weak, in the
simian's experience.

When the monkian Mutant was done, he walked around to face the boy again. "My name is Monkrion,
and by the end of this week, you will hate me." He laughed. "It won't even take that long. However, you will
never call me by my name, brat, you will call me sir anytime you speak to me. What's your name?" He knew
his name...that was not the point of the question.

Orion scowled and glared tearfully at the ground. A second later he screamed in mingled pain and
surprise as his head snapped back from a blow to the face. Utterly shocked, he cast his eyes up to see what had
hit him, and saw the simian had in his hand a thick leather strap. once he had gotten over the shock, Orion began to cry hard.

"Quiet," the simian commanded in a low, but intense voice. When the child did not quiet, as he did not
expect him to do, he smacked the boy in the back of the head. Orion yelped. "I said quiet," Monkrion repeated
in the same firm, cold voice. He kept repeating the phrase, and smacking then child if he did not stay quiet.

Orion's mind was feeling fear, panic, and he had begun to sob but the simian did not quit hitting him,
and although he was not hitting him hard, it was giving him such a headache; his head was pounding as if
someone had hit it with a hammer. "I CAN'T!" he shrieked in frustration, and had only been struck again for it.

"Quiet, cub."

Finally Orion had clenched his teeth, desperate not to let his sobs escape. He had tried not to cry before
and not succeeded very well, but these circumstances made it impossible! his chest hitched violently as he struggled to stop sobbing, not wanting to be hit anymore, not wanting to be hurt again.

"That's better," Monkrion said in a calm tone. He did not hit the boy again, although his noise level was
not at the point he wanted it. He would work on it. It was enough for the first day.

The Mutant waited until the
boy's choked-sounding, restrained sobs calmed, and he only hitched in his chest. He waited until his breathing
had slowed down, although tears still streamed from his eyes. "Now," he said again, tapping his other hand with the leather strap. "Let's begin again: tell me your name."

Orion had not looked up once, but stared miserably at the ground when his eyes were not squeezed shut.
Now he opened them but did not look up. He kept his teeth clenched, but again stammered his name, as he had
to Blackmoor.

"That's better," the simian said, patting the boy's head. The cub flinched form him, he was happy to
see. He feared him. "See what happens when you do not obey? You get hurt. That wasn't so bad, telling me
your name, now was it. How old are you?"

"F-f-five." The boy spoke in a carefully controlled voice, terrified to yell, or even sound like he was
yelling.

"Good. You are Thunderian, what clan are you a part of?"

Orion sniffed, thinking for the first time in a long time of the incident a year ago, where his lack of
clan had gotten him into a fight. "I d-don't h-h-have one," he said, almost feeling ashamed as he did.

"You're a mutt then. Even more worthless than the other Thunderians." He had said this on purpose, to
see what the cub's reaction would be.

Orion looked up, his expression hurt, and surprised. "I-I am not!" he protested. "I-I'm not a mutt,
a-and-and—"

WHAP! Monkrion had struck Orion again with the leather strap, making his scream. "You never contradict a taskmaster, wretch! And you never yell at one. Is that understood?"

Orion had screamed again, but this time did not cringe away, he looked up at the simian, screaming now
in his frustration, anger, and pain. "I'm not worthless!" he shrieked. He was thinking of his father,
remembering as if it were only the previous night that he had picked his young son up, embraced him, and told
him that his own worth was in his heart...to never forget it. "I'm not! I-I have WORTH! My papa says so!"

Monkrion snarled, putting away the leather strap. The cub needed to be taught a harsher lesson, it
seemed. "Your 'papa' is nothing but a worthless, feline filth," he spat, undoing the child's bonds and roughly
grabbing his both wrists in one massive hand. "And you, listen to you, you're nothing but a squalling little
piece of trash. He shook the cub hard at his protest, a repeat of what he had just screamed at him. "You are
nothing here, Thunderian. Nothing. Here on Plundaar, your kind are hunted down in the streets and shot like
rabid dogs. The highest Thunderian 'noble" is lower than the most wretched Mutant slave, brat. That puts you
down with the beetles that live in the shit."

Orion gaped at him as Monkrion finished releasing him from the chair. Never had anyone spoken to
him like that; never had anyone said such awful things to the child. He was too shocked to say anything
as the Mutant dragged him to the opposite wall, to a slightly hollowed out portion of the stone floor with a drain
in the middle of it. The child stammered, trying to find something to say, but his mind had been given too much input, and he couldn't think right. it was too much.

Monkrion tied the boy's hands tightly behind him with a length of rope, and turned on a faucet leading
to a short hose, which he used one hand to guide into a large basin. His other meathook hand kept a firm grip
on the scruff of the boy's neck.

When the basin was full, Monkrion turned off the water, and shook the cub, forcing him to look up at
him. "You will learn to obey. You will learn not to speak back. You NEVER yell at a taskmaster, slave! You
never yell at ANY Mutant! You never argue with a Mutant! This is for talking back to me, boy." Dragging
Orion forward, he forced him to his knees and shoved his head underwater.

Orion held his breath as a reflex. even as he tried to fight. But the strong simian was not even moved
the slightest bit by the small boy's struggles. Orion's mind began to panic, as it took only a moment to realize
he would be held there. Was he going to kill him?! Don't kill me! the boy thought desperately. The water
seeped into his nose, making him feel like he was drowning He had never been in the water much, as he did
not know how to swim, and this was a new feeling for him; an awful sensation.

Just as the poor child thought he could not hold his breath any more, Monkrion hauled his head up, the
boy choking and crying at the same time. Orion gasped for breath.

Monkrion had watched the boy's back, watched him trying to breathe. He was trained for this purpose;
he knew what to look for. "This is for contradicting me," he growled. He thrust the boy's head under again.

NO! Orion screamed silently in his head, and tried again to fight...but again could not. After an eternity,
he was brought up again, only having time to gasp in one breath before he was shoved in again.

When he was brought up, his struggles becoming weaker in his exhaustion, he was sobbing. "S-s-stop
it, stop it, s-stop it, stop it..." he sobbed hysterically, his eyes closed, his fists clenched.

Monkrion smiled nastily., This was the reaction he wanted. "Too bad, cub. You talked back to your
betters. You talked back to a Mutant, cat." And he shoved him under again.

This happened seven times before Monkrion hauled the sobbing boy to his feet, his breathing labored
and desperate, his small chest heaving. The cub was soaked from head to toe, shaking violently, and sobbing
hysterically. "Quiet. QUIET!" When the boy did not, he shrugged and dunked him one more time, eliciting a
terrified shriek before he was forced under. When he brought him to his feet again and commanded him to be
quiet, the boy had, as much as was physically possible. His teeth and hands were clenched, his eyes tightly
closed as he shivered uncontrollably. his sobs came out muffled. "You're causing me hassle, little filth," he
growled. Orion said nothing. "I don't think you will eat tonight, and will not sleep."

Orion said nothing still, too busy concentrating on not making noise so he wouldn't get dunked again.
That had been the most awful thing he had ever felt. He still panted for breath, feeling desperate to get air into
his lungs.

Monkrion nodded in approval and dragged the boy to a small metal stool bolted to the floor. He chained
the boy's hands to two loops on the sides of it, his feet were strapped to two of the stool's legs, forcing him to
sit on it half hunched over. Leaving him, he called on the radio for the one that would take over his shift while
he slept, and a Reptilian Mutant swiftly arrived. Monkrion instructed him to strike the child on the back with
the riding crop if he caught him beginning to fall asleep, or if the child lay his chest on his legs instead of sitting up
in the hunched over position.

The Reptilian nodded maliciously as Monkrion left the room to sleep.

Orion had cried hard for a long time as he sat on the stool, but soon he began to calm down, only
whimpering occasionally as his breathing returned to normal. Now he began again to feel the welts on his sides, and his swollen face where he had been struck so many times.

The Reptilian did strike the boy, hard, any time he began to do either of the things Monkrion did not
allow. It made the boy scream but kept him awake each time. The cub did not sleep that night.

Monkrion dunking Orion
Dunking

Chapter 7

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