Hey hey hey! It's Monday, which means update day!
In today's chapter, we're gonna be meeting some new characters. Since the last chapter was a bloody fight between a poor teen and a bunch of starving carnivores, this chapter is going to be a bit of a break from the angst. I hope that this chapter manages to be interesting. It's purpose is mostly to introduce new people, as well as develop the characters I've already got.
So I guess, without further ado, on with the show!
Chapter 4
The day he fought the lions, Megatronus developed a base principle; fight for your life, and sacrifice anything necessary in order to live. However, his young friend, who he had not forgotten about, despite the Trainers goal to make the slaves forget everything about their lives before they became gladiators, Orion Pax, had developed a different base principle, that was similar enough to Megatronus' principle to lead them to fight for the same cause, but different enough that the way they went about fighting for that cause differed dramatically, leading to their eventual conflict against each other. Orion developed his principle sometime after waking up in the medics bay after fainting from exhaustion and malnourishment the day he was forced to work all day on Alpha Trion's experiment without break for either food, water, or just plain rest.
When Orian began to wake up, he heard a voice he didn't recognize shouting at someone.
"I don't care if he's your slave!" The voice shouted. "He could be your test subject for all I care; you can't treat a child like that!"
The voice belonged to an obviously angry man, who Orion could make out a blurry outline of through partially open eyes. He found himself in a surprisingly comfortable bed, with an actual pillow, warm sheets, and he was dressed in a hospital nightgown that was certainly more comfortable than the burlap robes most slaves were given to dress in. There was a cold, wet cloth on his forehead, which felt nice against his heated forehead. His throat was still very dry, however, and he quietly moan out for water, hoping the doctor would hear him despite his quiet voice.
"I need to get this experiment done!" Shouted a voice that Orion did recognize. The voice of Alpha Trion "If I'm working, so is he!"
"But you were not working that day!" The other voice quickly responded, sounding angrier than Orion had ever heard a man sound before. "Yet you left him for exhaustion! You didn't give him any food the day before, and barely let him sleep, yet you still expected him to function without breakfast or at least something to drink when you forced him to overwork himself!"
"I can do twice the amount of work he does in a day in the same situation I put him in!" Trion argued back.
"You fragging, aft-brained, moron!" The doctor shouted back. Orion had never heard someone insult a member of the high council like that, no less add a Primian curse word to the insult. "You're immortal! You don't need to worry about things like personal health! This boy is a child! A mortal, small, malnourished, traumatized! His family was murdered in order for him to get here! And only God knows what those knockups at the slave sails did to him! And even if he was lucky enough not to suffer abuse of some kind from their hands, he was still branded! You think he wouldn't have nightmares about that!? About any of that?!" Orion's vision began to clear a bit, and he was able to make out the doctors face, which was bright red with anger. "Did it ever cross that vainglorious brain of yours that maybe, just maybe, this child should be treated like a human being!? That any of your 'slaves' should be treated like a human being!?"
"You dare use that tone of voice to a member of the high council!?" Trion snapped back, but Orion could tell he didn't have anything else to say.
"I am a member of the high council, not to mention the head of medical affairs!" The doctor promptly responded with little hesitation. "Anything that involves the health of another citizen on Primas falls under my authority, and I can say whatever the frag I want to whoever the frag I do please, if it means the difference between a human beings life and death!"
Orion was finally able to see clearly. He could make out the shape of the doctor who was protesting in his favor. He was a somewhat short man, though not short enough that it would grate on his dignity, and he had long, white hair, which he wore in a braid, square glasses, and some white hair on his chin. His white hair had a few leftover carrot-red streaks, probably from before he started to grey. He had the look of a stubborn old man in his bright green eyes, with a vibe that screamed "Go ahead and make me angry! I dare you!"
"Water," Orion was finally able to mumble out. The angry doctor turned to the little boy in the hospital bed, his bitter emotions immediately leaving his eyes, being replaced with a look that reminded Orion of a grandfather.
"Hey, kid," He said with a smile, before grabbing a small cup of ice cubes, and dropping one into Orion's mouth. "Just let that melt a little. You've only been out for a few hours. I'll give you some food as soon as you seem stable enough,"
The cool liquid of the ice felt miraculous on Orion's tongue, and the melted water soon flowed down his throat, eliminating the dry feeling. "What happened," he spoke out, his voice raspy and quite.
"You collapse from over exhaustion," The doctor simply explained. "Alpha had invited me over for some brunch, when I found you unconscious in the lab. I took you to my house for care. Your going to need to rehydrate, have some food, and a lot of sleep before I let you go,"
"The water," Orion spoke out, remembering the pitcher he drank from in the lab that caused him to dry heave. "Master's lab water. I drank it,"
The doctor gave Trion a glare that could've board holes into his body. "You lab water?" He questioned.
"I had placed some chemicals in it earlier, for experimental purposes. I didn't think the boy would actually drink it," Trion tried to explain himself, hoping to avoid having the doctor yell at him again. As much as he hated to admit it, the doctor was a very intimidating person.
"Of course he drank it!" The doctor snapped, however, looking angry again. "You didn't give him any clean water to drink from!"
"Who are," Orion didn't finish the question. The amount of energy it took for him to speak was massive. But the doctor understood anyways.
"Doctor Ratchet," He told the boy. "But my friends just call me Ratchet. And what's your name?"
"Orion… Pax," Orion spoke out quietly.
"Well Orion, have no fear. Your in good hands," Ratchet replied calmly, with a smile that made Orion believe him.
A week later, Orion was released from the medical bay, though he was placed on work probation for the next two months. He had to eat three healthy meals a day, get as much sleep as possible, and do little work that either required standing, or required him to be around toxic fumes. This meant that Orion got to spend most of his time reading and learning, something he very much enjoyed.
Alpha Trion was watching the boy read, a festering feeling of guilt building up in his stomach. If it had been anyone else, any less honorable of a man, who lectured Alpha about how he treated his slaves, than he would've laughed in their face, and called out their hypocrisy. But instead, it was Ratchet, the newest member to the council of immortals, who had ran the hospital for a long time. And Ratchet was a good man. Nobody liked to be called out for their faults by a good man, and if they where, they had better try their best to fix their mistakes.
"Orion," Alpha said to the young boy, using his first name for the first time since the boy was sold to him. The young, small redhead peeked up from his book. Alpha Trion took a deep but quiet breath through his nose, and continued. "I've been thinking that my actions towards you may have been, well, inhuman," Orion looked at the old man curiously, biting back the snide comment he was thinking of saying. When the boy gave no response, Alpha Trion continued. "The way I was raised; I was raised to think that slaves were much like Energon, extendable forces of energy to be used. Clearly that is not the case, and I am ashamed to say it took the overexertion of my new lab assistant to see that,"
Orion shifted in his seat, saying nothing, unsure of what direction this conversation was supposed to be going. Without a word exchanged between the two people in the room for a long span of seconds, Alpha Trion finally spoke up.
"My point is," He said, "that I think I should start treating my slaves more like people, as Ratchet suggested,"
Orion nodded, unsure of what to say. "So, what now then?" He finally asked, supposing that it wouldn't be too great of a risk to ask questions.
"Well," Alpha Trion spoke, rocking back and forth from heel to toe. "I was thinking that maybe you would like a day to go out in the town. I know a store that sells pastries that you may like to eat at, and there are always plenty of kids your age at the park," Trion explained, before smiling. "So what do you say, Orion? Would you like a day to get out of this stuffy old house?"
Orion lept to claim the offer for two reasons. One was because he feared saying no to his master. The bigger reason, however, was that he hadn't been outside at all in the time he'd been working in Alpha Trion's mansion, since, between lab work, chores, studying, and sleep, he hadn't been able to go out to even the garden. The idea of going to a pastry shop or a park excited him, especially if it gave him a chance to see the streets of the famed island of Primus he had read about in his father's old library.
Soon enough, the two males where on the streets, Orion taking in the sights and Alpha Trion simply trying to remember the direction to the pastry shop they were supposed to be going to. Orion had been given proper clothing to wear for the day out, instead of the burlap sack most slaves wore, or the hospital gown he had kept with him as something comfortable to wear whenever he could get away with it. Now, he wore a proper cloak and tunic, as well as actual sandles on his feet. He was given a pair of thin, black gloves, in order to cover up the brand mark on his hands, allowing the young boy to walk around freely without the worry of getting harassed by slavers. Orion felt a rush of joy as he and Trion explored the streets, as he felt the wind on his face, the sun on his head, and the beautiful smell of fresh air, as aromas of flowers and foods filled his nose from the street vendors as the attempted to sell their things.
Orion began to wonder if his thankfulness over actually being let outside or treated like a human being should make him angry. It probably should, but he decided he could save the anger for later; he was finally getting some joy, he wasn't about to let it dissipate.
Alpha Trion guided him into one of the pastry shops, where an old woman sat at the counter, ready to give out the food to her customers.
"How do you do, Beta?" Trion asked the woman, tipping his hat.
"As fine as I can be, Alpha," The old woman, or Beta apparently, said back, a warm smile on her face. "And who is this young man?" She asked, looking towards Orion, the same warm smile plated onto her features.
When it appeared Alpha Trion was not about to answer for him, Orion felt a swell of joy at being able to tell the old woman his own name. "I'm Orion Pax," He said confidently, smiling at the woman.
"Orion," Beta hummed, testing out the name. "Well, Orion, what would you like to eat today?"
Orion looked at the variety of sweets in the display window. He finally settled on a large chocolate cookie, and some warm milk to go with it. The boy happily grabbed his food and started eating by the nearby window. Alpha Trion, meanwhile, hung back to talk to Beta.
"I didn't know you adopted," She said lightly, smiling at the red-haired boy consuming his cookie.
"No, I didn't adopt the boy," Trion corrected her. "He's actually that slave I told you about; the one who's helping me with my experiments,"
"He's your slave?" Beta whispered in surprise, keeping her voice down in order to keep Orion from listening in on the conversation the adults where having. "Why are you buying him sweets as if he where your friend?"
"The boy got sick earlier, and Ratchet gave me a good lecture on treating slaves like humans," Trion explained. "I'd be a fool not to listen to the doctor,"
"Well, I'm all for treating a slave fairly," Beta told him, an edge to her voice suggesting that she was about to give her old friend a warning. "I treat my Arial in such a way; give her breaks between work, small wages for extra effort, and some decent clothes and sleeping quarters, but you can't make a slave think they are on equal footing with you. It will only end badly; all history suggest this,"
"I'm not giving the boy equal footing," Trion informed the old woman. "I'm just giving him a chance at having a good day. I have to say, even I am guilty for underestimating the importance of a slave's general happiness. While an average farm hand or houskeep can be replaced, slaves like Orion Pax are difficult to come by. I may never find someone like him again, so I have to keep him healthy. I assume your Arial is as important to your work as Orion is important to mine,"
"I've never met someone who could cook like she can," Beta confirmed, a spark of pride in her voice. "But I can keep her happy without allowing her to forget her place,"
Once Orion was done with the pastry, Alpha Trion guided him towards the park, where he would give the boy a chance to exercise a bit. The boy almost lit up upon seeing the sprawling greenery, and the small group of boys playing in the grass with a ball. Orion immediately ran up to watch them play.
One of the boys who was playing; a large, muscular boy with dark brown skin and short hair strung in dreads; eyed Orion at the edge of the playing field, and immediately smiled. "Hey! Our teams are even now!" He shouted to the other boys playing, before grabbing the ball and running up to the red-haired boy on the side. "You wanna play?"
"I don't know this game…" Orion mumbled hesitantly, suddenly feeling inadequate in front of the boy, whose hand lacked the brand mark of slavery.
"It's easy," The boy said with a shrug, either ignoring or not noticing Orion's discomfort. "You just try to get the ball to the other side of the field, and keep the other team from getting it across your side,"
Seemed simple enough. Even still, Orion wasn't sure how to interact around a free boy. The brand mark on his hand seemed to simmer, as if it was being burned into his skin all over again. The small boy took a deep but quiet breath through his nose, and tried to remember how he felt around other people before he was subjected to slavery. He tried to re-kick those instincts that made him want to reach out to people, shoving away the new wall that had been forced in front of him. "Alright, I guess," Orion mumbled.
The dark skinned boy didn't need another word, and immediately grabbed Orion's gloved hand and pulled him onto the field, handing him the ball. "Start running!" He said, before taking off, leaving a confused Orion to try to figure out what he was doing.
Before he could register anything, a larger boy tackled him, before stealing the ball, and declaring "I got it!"
"Nope!" A boy on Orion's team immediately shouted, jumping on that boy, and the next thing Orion knew, he was being shoved into a tackle pile as twenty or so boys began to wrestle each other for the ball, which was proving ineffective. Using his small size to squeeze between crevices, Orion was able to get himself on the pile of kids.
Suddenly the ball was at his feet. He turned to see the dark skinned boy who had invited him into the game squeezing himself out of the pile. "Get it to the other side!" He shouted.
Orion picked up the ball and started running. He wasn't that fast of a kid, but considering the other team had to wedgie themselves out of a tackle pile in order to go after him, Orion had a pretty good head start. His legs pumped and his breath wore ragged, as he ran through the pain of exertion. But this pain wasn't the feeling of starvation and tiredness, as he tried to work despite having no fuel to run on. This was the pain he felt when he would play games with his brother's in the park, or would chase their cat whenever she got out of the house. This was the feeling of adrenaline, and building stamina, something Orion hadn't had a chance to feel in a long time. It had been so long since he had the chance to just run!
Finally, he crossed the batch of twigs and sticks the boys had used to mark the end of the playing field. The moment he stopped running, he felt his legs give out, and he fell face first into the dirt. He didn't pass out however, which was good.
The other kids playing surrounded him, looking down. "You alright?" The boy who had invited him into the game asked.
Orion struggled to catch his breath, feeling his legs continue to painfully pump even though he stopped moving. His body felt sore. But his mind felt better than it ever had since he lost his family, and was forced into the slave-boat.
Orion cracked a goofy smile, laughing. "I really need to get in better shape!" He joked.
The rest of the boys laughed with him, the dark-skinned boy pulling him up to his feet, and offering him a supportive arm when Orion nearly fell over again. "How long's it been since you had a good run?" He questioned, jokingly.
Orion shrugged. "Awhile. I might sit this next round out,"
The boy laughed, his chest making rapid contractions as he did so. "I won't blame you. I'm Ironhide, by the way,"
Orion must have shown his confusion over the boy's name, because Ironhide decided to explain it. "My parents are miners, and miners have this weird tradition of giving their kids names that sound tough. What's your name?"
"Orion," The smaller boy simply replied, deciding not go give his last name if Ironhide hadn't given his. "Nice to meet you," He held out his gloved hand for a shake.
Ironhide slapped his hand across Orion's open palm twice, before giving it a firm shake. "Likewise,"
Orion silently wondered if the nameless boy he befriended would like Ironhide or Ratchet. He probably would, Orion concluded. After all, the two would soon be fighting the same battle, and young Orion Pax had come to the self-conclusion that battles where only worth the fight if there was someone he was fighting for.
He would gladly fight any battle if it was for his friends.
Yay! Friendship chapter!
So, what I want to do with most of the adult characters, especially the really old ones who've been raised in a slave culture, is to make them good people who don't know that slavery is wrong. Alpha Trion for example; if he was raised in modern day society, he'd wholeheartedly disagree with the principles of slavery, but since he was raised in a society that is built on slave culture, he doesn't see anything wrong with that. As time marches forwards, people learn, so obviously Ratchet, the younger of the two men, would have more of a problem with the slave culture society.
Other than that, we've got a few more characters introduce. Ratchet, our favorite grumpy old medic, who usually needs every item that gets broken. Ironhide, a good friend of Orions, who will be pretty relevant for the upcoming chapters. Beta, who's in the same boat as Alpha Trion when it comes to her views on slave culture. And I know in cannon she's a clerk, but I wanted an old-lady-who-sells-the-cookies character and I didn't feel like making an OC for that part. I will have a few OC's when I need them, but they won't be that relevant to the plot. And finally, we've got the name Arial, hinting to the eventual arrival of a certain "friend" of Orions ;)
I know I said that nobody was born yet, but I'm gonna rephrase that. Not everyone is born yet. Some are, some are not. And some I wasn't planning to be born yet, but just couldn't resist putting them in. Aka Ratchet.
I've got a few written chapters for this story in my databank. Two finished, one halfway through. In other words, the first act will be done in another five or six chapters. Which is a long time respectively, but I'm proud of myself for actually getting finished with an act, since I have a bad habit of starting a story and never finishing it.
That being said, I've put hot coals under my butt, and intend to either finish this story or sell my soul to Satan. The later option is not appealing, so I'm gonna work on this story until it's finished.
Though, that being said, this thing is gonna be long. But what's the fun without a challenge?
Edit: I realized I forgot to add an important detail; Orion wears gloves to cover his brand mark whenever he goes outside. The purpose of this is to keep street slavers off his back. They comprise of bored college-age kids, who are supposed to deal with slaves that break the law, but bored college-age boys usually end up causing trouble, so...
~Mother Universe signing out
