Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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Wares

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The soft, quiet darkness is interrupted by a bright light in my left eye. I flinch and try to turn my head away, but it's like trying to move through cold syrup. Now the light is shining into my right eye. Rude.

"...possible it has been given too high a dose..."

The light's in my left eye again. I'm going to tell whoever that is to leave me alone so I can sleep. Once I figure out how to move my mouth.

"...irregular pupil dilation is also consistent with a concussion..."

Right eye again. I'll give you a concussion if you don't knock it off. My arm isn't listening.

There's a different voice now. "Pierre says you've got something that might be able to get him fit for market."

The first voice again. Something... not quite Human about it. "A Minor Flourish mugic would certainly do the job. It will cost you, of course."

The light's gone. I can see again. Kind of. Danian in front of me, his big red bug face in my own face. Way too close. I try to push him away, but my arms are stuck behind me.

"Five percent of his sale price," says the Human voice behind the Danian.

The Danian turns. I'm looking at the back of his head now. "I do not think you understand the value of a mugic casting, Human."

"I don't think you understand how much this guy is worth to your people. I can spin quite the sales pitch."

The Danian turns back to me. He's rolling his large, amber eyes. "You think throwing an overweight adult in with the rest of your wares will make the adult more enticing to a buyer?"

"Do you know why he's all chained up like that?"

Chained up? Oh. That... that explains a lot. And is that a muzzle on my mouth?

The Danian squints and looks up and down at me. "It cannot possibly be so dangerous to warrant these restraints."

The Human's voice sounds irritated. "Trust me, you guys pop one of those parasites into him, and he'll be worth twenty mandibles in a fight."

"Mandiblors."

"Yeah, whatever."

The Danian's mandibles click together a few times, and his antennae trace around my face. "Is this your explanation for the injuries your group has sustained?"

"It was a nightmare bringing him in." A spitting sound. "Burned through a day's dose of paralytic poison in two hours, put up a fight while only halfway conscious-"

The Danian snorts. "It sounds to me that you were not careful with your tools."

"Yeah, whatever. I know what I saw."

The Danian's eyes look at each of mine in turn. "Ah, it seems it is awake. Let me show you how to properly administer the appropriate chemicals."

A sting in my neck and the world fades out again.

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"I can confirm the Human's claims."

My head isn't swimming like last time, and my thoughts are clear. Must have gotten that mugic cast while I was out.

The Danian voice continues. "This creature did indeed metabolize the low-grade poisons much faster than others of its species, and it was able to act and defend itself somewhat while merely semiconscious. I do not know if this is purely a resistance to the hunting poison, or if this particular Human has resistance to poisons in general."

And now there's a blindfold in addition to the chains. Great. I try to loosen it with my eyebrows. Nope, whoever tied this knew what they were doing.

A different Danian voice, lower and rougher, replies to the first one. "That makes the high price at least make more sense."

A Human's voice, the same one from earlier. "Then we have a deal?"

A bark of laughter. "Keeps those reins taut, Human. I still need to examine the merchandise, and besides that, the boss has the final say."

I feel a large hand grab around my arm and squeeze a little, then slide up to my shoulder. "Do Human muscles not grow with training?"

"They do," says the other Danian.

"Which means this Human demonstrated that strength with little to no conditioning. Interesting."

The hand slides to my chest. Where's my tunic? Those fingers are touching bare skin. I try to squirm away.

"Steady heart rate. A little high." A chuckle. "To be expected, really." The Danian pinches and squeezes my chest a little. "A lot of hair on it."

"It is an adult male of the species, not an adolescent."

"I see. That is actually good news."

"What?" the Human and the other Danian say in unison.

"Ah, you were out here advising the hunters, so you would not know." The Danian chuckles and pokes at my stomach. "I see that we would not have needed to make so many preparations for assimilation."

The other Danian voice growls, "Tell me what is going on."

The fingers stop prodding at me. "You heard about that registry plan, right? Boss thinks that will make the usual methods of collection dry up quickly, so instead of simply selling off the adults, why not breed them?"

I hear the Human choke a little. "Wait, I don't think I need to hear any of-"

"Brilliant!" interrupts the other Danian. "A stroke of genius indeed. However, the boss is not by any means a biologist. Are you certain it was he who came up with the idea?"

"I do not know, and I do not care. I simply follow orders. So, does this Human have what it takes?"

I inhale sharply as the Danian's large hand abruptly starts rubbing my groin. I try to struggle away, but again, the stupid freaking chains!

"Holy shit," mutters the Human.

The Danian whistles. "A little above average length and girth. Now I wish I could purchase this one myself. Imagine the size of it post-assimilation." He lets go of me. "I will inform the boss about- Oh, Boss. I was about to get you."

There's no response. The silence stretches for a long time. Finally, the third Danian speaks, and ice shoots through my body at the sound of his gruff voice.

"Remove its blindfold."

The blindfold comes off. Standing in the doorway, lit by torchlight, is a tall, light-blue Danian. His muscles are large and tense, but his exoskeleton is smooth, unlike a soldier's. Two of his four arms are folded over his chest, one is on his hip, and the other rests against the doorway.

The creature's yellow eyes narrow as they lock with mine, and a grin forms on his face. "So..." He takes his weight off the door frame and steps forward. "What do we have here?" Another step forward, exaggerated, muscles rippling deliberately.

My heart is beating fast, trying to fly out of my chest. I can't turn away because of these chains, can't try to run.

The large Danian pushes the examiner to the side and kneels in front of me. He places his hands on my shoulders and squeezes a little. He leans in close and breathes softly into my ear, tongue flicking at it a little.

"Prince Osiris of Al Mipedim," he whispers. "King Rha of the Broken Edge. Inquisitor All-Sight. Hero of the M'arrillian War." He slides his face into my vision and grins. "But you aren't any of those names right now, are you?"

The Danian suddenly presses his mouth over my mouth and nose. I squirm and try to twist away as his tongue forces its way into a nostril. Suddenly we part, and I gasp for breath through my nose. Through... both nostrils.

The Danian fishes a small stone from his mouth and grins wide. The spying ear. He holds the device between two fingers in front of my eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Michael," the Danian breathes as he crushes the stone effortlessly.

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Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.