PURGATORY
CHAPTER FOUR
Prying Eyes
Another electronic buzzard sounded and a flood of female prisoners shuffled through the room and out another. Engrossed in their going ons outside, very few women immediately noticed the new prisoner in her blazing orange jumpsuit. Seeing the fresh meat huddled against the wall, most moved on without a second thought.
It was not long until a human straggler strolled up to the maiden wearing the orange jumpsuit. Catching the lone maiden and any asari for that matter that had not given permission to be touched, off guard was a woman lifting her chip upward. The closeness immediately sent waves of caution to the Prothean Expert.
The short red headed human leaned on the wall directly in front of the asari. Quickly glancing about ensuring there were no asari around, the human cooed, "Hey beautiful. What's your name?"
Momentarily ignoring the human's brazen attempt to speak with the new asari, the perched warrior mused, "This little one would be such a delightful treat." But as her mind progressed, her infatuated grin faded. "That means only one thing, the new blue beauty would be certainly be the Warden's type too." And for the unusual colored asari, that could spell potential trouble.
In a heartbeat, the onlooker knew what had to be done. A fake cough ripped the attention of the two prisoners far below up. The human's cool and relaxed posture instantly melted into a near nervous wreck as she removed herself from the wall. The human said nothing else to the blue beauty before she left in a hurry.
To Liara's surprise, that was all that was needed. A cough she muttered that is all it took. I can not imagine what would happen if she used her biotics. Further enticing the maiden's curiosity is when the senior asari simply walked away like nothing had happened. With the sudden influx of more inmates shuffling through the space, it became impossible for Liara to track the mystery woman's movements.
Focusing solely on her rescuer, the professor didn't see Officer Bowman come back to her side. Nearly making her jump, the officer asked, "Ready to go?"
A few minutes later and the two were outside in the pen. At first, the asari was blinded by the brighter lights outside.
"Yeah that takes a bit of getting used to."
Shuffling a few feet ahead of her, Bowman also disclosed, "Thanks to the Eclipse Sisters, we have a state of the art lighting system. On designated days, the lights are switched to each species' sun for maximum exposure. With twice as many days for asari then everyone else."
The human seemed disgruntle about her statement. "But hey, when you're forking the bill, I guess you can do whatever you want, right?"
The sudden question to her stirred the maiden from her own internal thoughts.
Not particularly paying attention to the guard, Liara snapped, "Yes of course."
Rolling her eyes realizing the new asari hadn't heard a word she said, the guard instructed. "Ok this is where you go on your own."
"What? My own?"
Yeah she heard that part. They always hear that part muttered the human. "You heard me inmate, off you go."
Taking a few more leisurely steps forward, the corrections officer knew the new prisoner wouldn't go far from her side; not yet at least. A quick glance at the group of asari off to the side who seemed to have no interests in the fresh meat, the human decided to have a little fun.
It did not take long for the guard to implement a secret agenda of her own, even in this uncharacteristic prison.
Walking past a few obstacles in the middle of the enlarge exercise arena, Bowman purposely led her new baby duckling across the pen and into hazardous territory. Following the only source of security she had since coming to Purgatory, Liara soon found herself in a section of the yard that had a large number of humans standing around.
Still trying to understand how things worked around the prison, so she would actually live to see another day, the professor watched as her escort had unexpectedly been handed something by one of the older humans of the group. Liara's first instinct was that it was a bribe, but quickly dismissed the idea believing she was being too stereotypical.
Causing her head to spin, the Prothean Expert heard a number yelled out behind her. "10!" In front of her another woman called out, "15" then "20". The digits kept rising from various women as the maiden tried to figure out why they were randomly shouting. It wasn't until a rather tough looking woman stepped forward. Outstretching her hands to ensure she had everyone's attention, the human smacked her lips at the exquisite body of the asari. "Hold on ya'll." The stranger began to circle the maiden.
Across the yard, a level higher than the humans, an asari haphazardly rolled over onto the railing. It took her a second to figure out what was going on the other side of the pen. Speaking to the group of asari next to her but not to anyone in particular, the newly focused matron said, "Hey, there is a newbie over there on the human side."
Another dark skinned matron yawned without even looking, "Why should I care?"
The original matron's concern seemed to be growing. "Because it's a asari, that's why."
The arrogant asari, who unlike most of the matrons and maidens around her, did not display any facial markings. To many, they felt it was this reason she carried a chip on her shoulder. Although nearly 450 years old, the matron had never settled down with a tribe long enough to receive the tattoo crest and belong. Over exaggerating her amusement, the jilted asari provoked the other women around her to laugh as well. "Like I said, why should I care?"
Had her skin been a standard asari color, the careless matron would have seen the concern asari's skin boil blue.
The skilled fighter knew that although she was a suburb warrior, she couldn't possibly take on the entire human population at the prison alone. Moving towards the closest stairs, the former huntress spat, "Damn it Morty. We don't abandon one of our own."
A quick glance at the beautifully young asari was all the younger matron needed to make up her mind. "Not my problem."
"40" The woman circling the confused asari jubilated. The crowd gathered around them gasped at the high number. It wasn't until the same red head who she had encountered earlier said, "No one's ever paid 40 quid for a toy before."
The casual statement finally made things click in the maiden's mind. Oh Goddess they are bidding on me. The Prothean Expert tried to escape but with a quick glance over at the asari gang who made no effort to retrieve one of their own, the bidding continued.
Further horrifying the asari was when the crowd separated a bit to let a particular women step forward. She took her time looking the blue beauty up and down. "Wow now that is sweet.." Laughing over her shoulder, the short haired brunette announced, "The asari gang will do anything for this fine piece of ass."
Shouting out over the crowd noise, the woman's British accent shouted out over the noise. "FIFTY quid!"
The mob got louder as they discussed among themselves at the outrageous offer. Liara desperately tried to find a way out when the group suddenly got very quiet. Parting like the red sea, a physically fit woman stepped out to the center of the circle, where only Liara and the woman bidding on her stood. "What's up Brook?"
Panic filled the human. Stammering on her words, the woman who was referred to as Brook turned around slowly. "Hey Ash." She pretended to be excited to see the approaching woman who was now inspecting the asari like a piece of meat. "What's going on here?"
"Oh nothing"
"Really? Bidding on fresh asari meat not 50 feet from their turf doesn't sound like nothing to me." Ash got right into Brook's face, "Looks more like a dumb thing to do if you ask me." Liara stood very still much like the human women around her. She swallowed hard as she wondered what on Thessia would happen to her next.
The young maiden's mind swirled as she recanted the horror stories of what prison life was like. Trying hard not to show emotion, which she was actually quite good at growing up in the Benezia house hold, the asari pondered, Oh Goddess, what is she going to do?
Realizing she would be unable to signal for help, including Bowman who was busy counting something in her hand with her back turn, because she was blocked by the horde of women around her. Ash's dark locks flowed as she walked around the circle slowly making it bigger. The maiden could tell in an instant that Ash was a soldier at one time. Her body language screamed it.
"Ash is out there now."
A small amount of disbelief filled the arrogant asari's voice. "I thought she didn't get out until tomorrow."
With her back turned away from her fellow asari gang members, the worried huntress chewed on her bottom lip. "We have got to do something." Frustrated when there was no answer, the older matron started, "Morty...
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Seeing that she had stunned her fellow asari by the sudden outburst, the matron softened her tone out of necessity not because she wanted to. "I hate when you call me that." Reining in her temper, the pale blue asari questioned, "Besides, what do you want me to do?"
"Never abandon one of your own" A voice came behind the group causing everyone to look.
"Aria" Stammering, the pale blue matron asked, "What are you doing here?"
Not amused, the matriarch declared, "Evidently saving my gang from your antics." Not allowing her second in command to finish her apology, the lavender asari gazed in the concerned matron's direction. "How is she doing?"
Without having to explain the situation, as Aria always seem to know everything anyway, the huntress answered, "Not good."
Shooting a very disappointed look at her second in command, Aria turned back to the troubled asari. "Go after her."
"Yes ma'am."
Calling to the skilled warrior nearly half way down the stairs already, Aria offered, "Shiala, be careful."
Smiling warmly like she would an older sister, Huntress Shiala replied, "I will."