Chapter Eight

The Purchase

What a nightmare, an utter horror, to have to sit idle as the humans around her competed with their money to purchase her. To buy her as an item that they could show off. As some object to be proud of they could waste their money on. Like some tradable object to be bartered and sold.

"Fifteen!" She heard from the upper stadium that surrounded her cage.

"Twenty!" Came some disembodied response from behind her. With each rise in price, so too did her rage grow. She found herself disgusted that she had no say in this, this transaction for her very being.

"Twenty-Five Million." From a feminine voice somewhere in front of her. Astarte was done with this. She gave a quick glance at the box that was holding her. A simple construction, one that may have some kind of weakness. She would find it.

"Thirty Million" Another increase in price.

Astarte noticed that the connection between planes of glass at the top of her prisons looked different than the one she had been in before, like they could be weakened. She moved closer to the wall on her left and raised her tail above her head.

"Thirty-five Million Dollars." Someone else yelled from an unseen location. She did not care anymore; she was focused on her task.

Her tail lashed forward, impacting the glass almost perfectly between the two pieces. She tried again, steadying her aim a bit more, this time she felt that she hit perfectly between the two pieces. However, she found that nothing moved, not even a millimeter under the power of her strike. She decided not to waste her time, she would look for something else to try. It was then that the announcer spoke.

"My my! She seems to be a bit fisty! A good fighter, a great bodyguard for anyone who needs it. Let's say we jump the bidding to fifty million? Anyone!? Come now, a specimen of such power is worth that much, is she not?" The pride that was drooling off the man irritated Astarte with each second that passed.

She moved to the lower section of the cage, wondering if there was some was to slip underneath the floor. She searched for any crack, seam or connection that she could break or force open. They had to have gotten her in somehow and the floor made the most sense. As she searched, the auction continued.

"Sixty million." There were muffled voices through the crowd as the shock that someone would pay that much was coming to light.

"Sixty-five." The response from across the room came.

"Seventy." Another voice.

"Seventy-five million." And again.

"One hundred Million Dollars." A silence took over the room. Astarte even paused, as she had a vague idea of how large that number was. She raised her head to find the source of whoever was willing to pay this much for her. As she looked through the glass, she could see the figures that were hidden in the dark, but she could not smell them, so separating them out was a bit difficult for her.

Then, as if someone had heard her struggle, she watched as a man stood, looked towards the announcer and straightened his coat before speaking.

"Two hundred million, to close the bid sir."

Silence.

Had he just doubled the current bid?

If this human was not bluffing, it was working, every other human in the room was now stone silent, not willing to go any higher than this man.

"Going once!" The announcer decreed.

Silence.

"Going twice!"

Silence"

"Going three times…" He waited a bit longer than normal, probably waiting to see if he could make more money off the 'specimen' before him.

"SOLD! T-two hundred million dollars! Well, what a turn of events!" The man could do nothing to hide the excitement behind his words, he had just made more money in five minutes than a company would in a year.

However, the realization that she had just been bought sank in. She frantically looked for some way out of this box, some way that she could be free. In her desperation, she mentally reached out for her mother.

"Mother? Mother please, I need you. I've been bought at some kind of auction. I... I don't know what to do."

Silence.

"MOTHER! I NEED YOU! PLEASE!" No response, she was alone. 'M…mother…p-p-please." Her words were full of terror and sadness as she could not help but feel abandoned.

A faint hissing sound caught her attention. It was coming from the floor. As the xenomorph looked to the source, she could see the cloud of gas that was now starting to surround her from some micro seam in the floor. Her shoulders dropped as her tail fell to the ground. This was it, there was nothing more she could do. She had been purchased by the highest bidder, some human that probably did not care one bit for her well-being. The feeling that all hope was gone washed over her, she did not know what to do. She raised her head and looked out to the crowd of monsters that surrounded her. With one last second to spare before the gas rendered her unconscious, she reached out once more to her mother.

"P-p-please…"

The world faded to black.

The world slowly started to come back to her. Her sense of touch, her sense of hearing, her sense of smell. All started to come back to her mind with a reluctant calling. Once that she was happy to have, helping her to realize that she was not dead. As her vision slowly stopped spinning within her mind, she started to see shapes as objects form around her. She was…somewhere new. Somewhere that she did now know.

It was not her room within the lab, it was not the test chambers that she had been sent to dozens of times, it was not the horrid cube that she had last been sent into. This was…almost pleasant.

A very high roof was above her. A lot more than she had been used to with her previous room. She looked to the side and saw large planes of glass on three of the walls overlooking some void into space that she could not determine. She looked back to the rood and felt unease, she was not use to so much open space. Other than the brief moment before she was sent into the obstacle course within that large facility space. She never really was able to appreciate that though.

As she moved and raised her head, she was able to see more of the room that she now found herself in. A few pieces of simple furniture peppered the room which opened up into what looked like other section of the living space. Strange object came into view, things that she could not even fathom their purpose. Flat boxes with legs, larger ones with doors on the front, each and every one so strange to her that she felt like she was on a different planet. Which was ironic being a xenomorph.

As the strength came back to her body, she shifted onto her belly and was ablet o get her hand under her to push her body up. Her legs were weak but held her weight as she pushed up and came to a full stand within this new space. She did a quick turn around to gather all the pheromones that she could, being able to see what was around her better.

All kinds of different colors started to highlight around her, some that smelt good, others that were not. Each and everyone were new and, even thought it was a bit frightening, still exciting.

Astarte, feeling a bit safer with nothing around her, decided to explore the space she now found herself in. She explored and touched everything that she could, learning about their texture and structure. There were items that were very obviously for resting upon, if you were human. As well as things that could be used to place things.

All were a bit too small for her to use, but perfect for a human.

Regardless, after exploring the space she now found herself in, her gaze then came upon what seemed to be a door. She had seen some like this within the lab, a taller rectangle with a handle on the right hand side. Her mind instantly snapped to the thought of escape, and her body reacted in kind. She took off towards the door, her clawed feet digging into the wood that had made up the floor beneath her.

She was so close! Thoughts of her mother ran through her mind, as well as a small hope that she might meet her father someday. Happiness once again washed over her mind, a feeling that she had not felt in some time.

However, only a few feet from the door, something went horribly wrong. Her muscles froze, her mind went blurry and she fell hard to the floor. Her body not reacting to any command that her mind was sending to it. She gasped for breath, which was something knew considering she did not need to take a breath very often.

It was terrifying.

As she lay upon the cold floor, something that reminded her too much of the labs from where she had lived so long, she could hear the sound of something approaching her. Something that was approaching her from behind. It must have been in the room behind her somewhere, but how had she missed it?

Regardless of where it had come from, it stopped behind her, twenty feet or so. It was then that her body relaxed and she gained control of her own motion. She found her footing and stood, still facing the door that she was now longing for. Something told her that she would never make it that far. So, she turned to face the source of the footsteps and was not surprised to see a human looking towards her.

This human had the same shape of the one who had stood and yelled out their proclamation of sale, but she could not be sure without knowing their sent. As she faced them, she was able to take in more details about them. Male, probably late fifties, a rather average build and poor posture as he stood looking at her. The two shared a silent moment, taking in the details of one another until the man finally broke the silence.

'Well well, you were worth every penny. Not even five minuets awake and already looking to escape. You are a lot smarter than they said you would be." He looked her up and down as if looking over a steak to be consumed. Something about it made her very uncomfortable.

She lowered her head and began to raise her tail, ready to attack the man and be rid of him, letting her escape this place. Her actions had not gone unnoticed. Just as her tail came to rest above her head, the man's hand came up with an open palm facing her. As Astarte stare came to look upon the strange hand gesture, something within her mind took over and forced her to stop. She froze, her muscles not connecting with her mental commands. Her aggressive thoughts almost dissolved in an instant and her mind cleared of all emotions. Her body relaxed and became warm. She stood without realizing to a more neutral position.

That was when the man let out a loud laughed.

"Well well, they weren't kidding! These implants have complete control over you, don't they? I've got nothing to fear!"

He made another strange hand gesture, turning his palm towards the ground and lowering his hand until it was parallel with the floor. Again, something took over Astarte, and the overwhelming need to lay upon the floor took over. Her body responded and the next moment she was laying calmly upon the cold, wood floor.

"What…what is happening?! How is he doing this!?" She tried to break free, tried to stand and attack the man before her just so she could escape. Her body was able to fight back, not a lot, but enough that she lifted ten or so inches from her position on the floor.

"Ooo no no. We can't have any of that. You will stay where I tell you too." As Astarte kept fighting against the mental control of her body, she did not notice the man produce some kind of blunt weapon from his side. There was a crackling sound just before her entire body flooded with pain.

She let out a shriek of pain as her body began to burn from the ten thousand volts that was now running through it. Because of her biology, it was her exoskeleton that was taking most of the attack, so her hardened, outer shell felt as if it was on fire. It lasted for what felt like forever, but in reality, was only a few moments.

After the pain left, and the man backed away from her, she was able to focus and let the world stop spinning around her. However, the pain never left as her exoskeleton continued to burn. She fought through the pain and attempted to stand once more, knowing it would be the only way that she would be free of this situation. As she did, she looked to the man before her, and to the same hand gesture that indicated that she needed to lay upon the ground.

Astarte fought so hard against the mental attack telling her to do as she was told that her body began to shake in protest. She hated this, she hated the man before her, she hated not being in control and hated that humanity could be this cure. As her rage grew with the passing moments, so did her strength to resist the commands that were being given to her. Her head began to raise once more, this time coming to be in level with the man's chest.

She watched as the pheromones around the man changed to an intense dark yellow. She also noticed that his eyes shot wide as he realized that he was losing control of his new 'pet'. Astarte let out a low, threatening thrum from her throat, letting him know that she would not let this continue.

However, the man was smarter than she had thought. The stick within his hand lashed forward once more, sending the electricity though her body once more. This time seemed worst than the last and her body gave it, collapsing to the floor as her muscles lost all control. She flopped and twitched like a dyeing fish as the volts ran through her still burning body.

Her vision darkened, her feelings growing numb and the man continued his attack for far longer than the first time. Eventually, he pulled the weapon back and allowed Astarte to take a breath. It was short and labored, but it was all she could do as she laid upon the floor, not able to move.

She could hear something sizzling with heat and some kind of smell coming off of her own body. She had never felt pain like this before. It was unbearable. She was only given a few moments to recover before she heard her attacker once more. This time, more aggressive and fuller of hate.

"You will obey when I give you an order. This is not up for debate." She could hear the heavy breathing from him as she slowly rolled to her stomach and raised her head. As her vision came to rest upon the male, he instantly repeated the hand gesture that he had given her before. To lay down upon the floor.

This time, fearing the pain that she knew would come if she didn't obey, she lowered her ebony body to the floor. Following the command that had been given.

Terror and hatred filled her mind as she realized what was happening.

She was being trained.