Montmorency De Montmorency knew she was dreaming. She was sitting at a dining table she did not recognize, and around the table were numerous children that each bared a likeness to her in some way, but also bared a likeness to Guiche. They were smiling and taking amongst each other, but she could not understand them, and looking to her side, at the head of the table, was a man with a resemblance to Guiche, but older.
She knew she was dreaming, because this Guiche while older, had the same horrified and fearful expression on his face as when she was abducted. Even worse, she looked own to see her own head on Guiche's plate, and as he cut into it with a knife, his expression changed from fear, to relief, the same relief she had seen when he threw her arm off of his. When he betrayed everything she thought and knew.
She looked at the rest of the table to watch the children morph into monsters with knives for hands, crawling across the table toward her while gibbering madly.
But Montmorency knew she was in a dream, a nightmare really, and so simply closed her eyes.
In that instant her eyes shot open and she found herself lying against the pad of the odd cylinder the bug monster had them get into. Her heartrate was high, and she had to calm her breathing, but that was secondary to the thoughts whipping about in her skull.
How could she have been so blind for so long? How could she have not seen what Guiche was really like? How had she been able to simply ignore every story and trust him at his word, when there had been so much to prove that he was a monster in nobles clothes?
Montmorency let out a resigned sigh at her own thoughts as her heartbeat slowed, allowing her to think a little more clearly.
No, it wasn't that she was blind, it was that the ignored the signs, and it wasn't that Guiche was a monster, but a product of his upbringing, and of those around him. She, and so many others, let him get away with things because of his looks and honeyed words. He was a noble through and through, and not one from a family like her own or the Valliere's who were known as consistently upstanding and respectable.
Montmorency looked to the side, seeing Louise lying her pod thing with a calm look on her sleeping face. With everything she knew that Louise dealt with in the academy, and now knowing what she dealt with at home and what was awaiting her it became so much more impressive that Louise had been as devoted as she had been in the academy. She was one of the academically best students, but because she could not do magic everyone ignored that fact. While everyone was gossiping around tables of tea and cookies waited upon by the commoner maids of the academy, she would often be in the school library studying. And now with their current situation, she still put helping her, helping her feel better, above her own mental wellbeing.
Was it because they had been friends in childhood?
"Maybe, I need to do better," Montmorency mumbled to herself.
"Ah, you awaken,"
Montmorency's head snapped up across the room of glistening while and silver to the insectoid horror that was sitting at a desk looking at some kind of rectangle thing. It took her a second to calm down, but did answer. "I, yes, I am. Should I, not be?" she then asked warily. If these people and monsters were going to betray them, they could have done so when they slept, but now would also be a prime time to do so.
"No, no its fine. Some people simply cannot sleep like others can when dealing with horrible situations," The insectoid thing said as it got up and walked over to the pod. "Would you like to come out and get dressed now, or go back to sleep?"
"You have clothing for us?" Montmorency asked in surprise, only for her thoughts to turn grim and imagine rags and a heavy metal collar.
"Yes, it was made by one of my comrades, and while simple, they should do to protect your bodies and modesty."
"Then please, let me out of this thing," Montmorency said, almost on a pleading tone as she pressed one of her hands against the glass. It was warm, but the curve of it was wholly unnatural and made her feel strange.
"Alright, one moment," The insect said as it touched something just out of Montmorency's sight, and in a second the glass slid into the machine and out of sight. Leaving her utterly nude and out in the open. The creature then stood before and held one of its horrid looking hands out, and after a second it inclined its head. Do you need some help getting out of the pod? If so, then take my hand."
"I- I can get out on my own," Montmorency said quickly as she stepped out of the pod and then found that her body felt good. It did not ache, it did not hurt, in fact she felt amazingly good aside from the fact she was hungry.
"Excellent, then you should likely be able to dress yourself as well!" The insect said as it walked over to a table and picked up a strange case of odd white material. "We were able to make you both some simple garments that will keep you covered and modestly protect you should the worst come to pass. You may put it on here, or if that does not please you, there is a changing area through the door there," The insect said as it gestured go a door on the wall, adjacent to the door into the room.
"I, think I will change there," Montmorency said quickly as she strode aver and took the case from the insect. It was a strange material, smooth and shiny, but not metal or stone or wood. Putting that out of her min though she opened the case to find a odd material within it that was grey and black, but when she touched it, it felt odd as well, smooth like silk, but with ridges and slight bumps that proved otherwise. "What is this?"
"A Second Skin Combat bodysuit. It was all we could make with our fabricator with the materials on hand, and that could fit your small forms."
"Okay but, how does it go on?" Montmorency asked as all she could fine was a long hole along the mass of cloth that, sort of looked like it was both shirt and pants combined.
"Ah, of course. Get in it, legs and arms in the proper places, and then clasp the neck ring, the suit will then close up and conform itself to your body properly."
Montmorency did not expect much from such a description, but walked over to the door in question and entered nonetheless. The room was a decent size, but was little more than just a room with a couple hooks on the wall, and a full length mirror across from the hooks, while the back wall ad a mere bench against it.
"Well, at least there is nothing weird," Montmorency said with a sigh as she set the case on the bench and pulled the garment out. Just as she figured, it seemed like someone sewed pants and a shirt together, and with the material being just a few shades of grey it really wasn't much to look at. "No, don't think that way," Montmorency chided herself. "They are helping us, supposedly,"
Staring at it for another minute she then sighed and looked around for the opening before finding it again and tried to slip into the garment. It was not difficult, and slipping her legs into it felt surprisingly smooth. Pulling it up and putting her arms in proved no difficulty either, and as she slicked the collar around her neck with more than a bit of apprehension she felt the back of the garment seal up around her back. And then the rest of it began getting tight across her whole body. For a bare second she thought it was going to crush her, but then the pressure disappeared and she felt, nothing.
And then she looked art the mirror.
"What in the founder is this?!" She screamed before she burst out of the changing room to see the insect speaking to a now awake Louise. Who now could see the absurdity that was the garment over her body.
The garment was skintight in every meaning of the word. Unlike shirt and skirts that fell over the body it hugged every inch of her form hiding nothing, not the shape of her butt of hips, or of her modest breasts. It did seem to hide her more intimate places, but it left nothing to the imagination.
"That, is interesting," Louise said as she looked at Montmorency with a neutral, undecided stare.
The insect however turned to her and simply raised a hand. "Ah good it fits. I suppose you had no issues then?"
"Of course I have issue!?"Montmorency exclaimed. "This is, what is this even supposed to be!? It is far to revealing!"
The insect tilted its head as it spoke. "Is it not the opposite of that? it shows no skin but that of your head and hands.
"It is covering my hands!" Montmorency exclaimed as he held up her gloved hands. "That is not the point though, it shows off far to much of my body!"
"Actually it shows of nothing, and you don't need to be worried."
Montmorency turned to find Musashi standing in the doorway to the room. "And why would I not be worried when wearing something do, so-" Montmorency stopped, unable to find the word.
"On many places, humans, and humanlike races wear clothing much more, outlandish to what you would be used to I would expect," Musahsi said as hew walked into the room, the door closing behind him. "Because we are on a spaceship however, safety is paramount, and with a lack of cloth like materials these basic Second skin suits were all that could be easily made for you both. They are perfectly normal, and no one will think anything about them."
Montmorency did not believe a word of it, but with how Musashi was smiling and not looking at her in the way some lecherous nobles did, it was hard to say as such. "It still, feels far to little,"
"Just think of it like riding clothes," Louise said from her pod with a soft smile that now looked far calmer than it had in the past days. Just like Montmorency, her skin was now unmarred, and she looked much healthier as well.
"Well, regardless, those outfits are the only ones that were made for you, and we do not carry much in the way of materials for more, planet based clothing," Musashi spoke up. Once both of you are dressed, I was hoping to give you both a tour of the ship, and to answer more of your questions. Would you like that?"
"That sounds like a great idea," Louise said as she pushed against the glass. " . . .How do I get out of this?"
"Ah, let me," the insect said as he walked over, while Musashi spoke
"Good. Once you both are dressed and ready I shall show you around, and then we can really answer some questions. For all of us."