Work Text:
“Hey, Tyler! Wake up, you fuckin’ wimp! The commander wants you downstairs to help with the freak!” The intercom screeched from the inside of the med bay, waking me up from my mid 18-hour shift stupor. Looking up at my pager, I can see that I’ve been paged over twelve times. Which means that Dad’s going to be pissed. Hope he’s still too tired from interrogating the traitor.
*WHEEZE*
As I slowly scan the med bay, I can still see the soldier in his coma. I’d like to say that my dad ordering his beating is a surprise, but for as long as I can remember, the man has asserted that might makes right. Especially if that means he can beat someone half to death and be praised for it. Herc is still having trouble breathing, even a week later. The fact that it was simply because he said that plants use photosynthesis to eat, not humans. The “commander” decided that was weedfucker talk and proceeded to force everyone in the base to hit him. It was barbaric. Being at war doesn’t give people the excuse to hurt anyone who has a mildly different opinion as you. I’m scared as much as everyone else about being ripped apart by the Affini, but acting this way makes us no better than them.
“Tyler! Hurry the fuck up!” Ugh. Why? Why in the hell does he want the medic down there?
Getting up from my desk, I quickly walk over to Herc’s cot and set up a radio near the edge to keep an ear on him at the very least. Since the commander wouldn’t get actual monitoring devices, as “that’s a waste of good weapons manufacturing”. Fuckin’ stars, we don’t need weapons when we can’t even feed or keep our people alive. Looking over him, I can see his breathing has at least resumed back to normal levels. I take off the O2 monitor that I had on him to give it a little break before the batteries run out again. Moving back to my desk, I went to the drawer which I knew probably didn’t have any batteries, but I’m hoping by magic they show up.
Pulling it out, my prayers were once again ignored. Instead, the only object of importance that was visible was an old photograph. Picking it up, I can see myself before… my father tore me away from my mother. I had a smile that actually implied that I wasn’t dead inside. Mom always was good at getting the best shots, especially when I was with Ellis, my best friend. We had met after my my mom moved after the divorce, and we became inseparable for 9 years. He had been a shy kid, and had issues making friends. He just didn’t know how to talk, and we fell into a friendship. He emboldened me as a kid because of bullying from others, and I became his unofficial “hero”. Something he joked about all the time.
As we grew up, he became less awkward and actually grew into his lanky frame. I honestly just felt I became more of a visual mess. Looking more and more like my father, with his big nose, small eyes, large unsightly jaw, and weight gain. Not to mention the facial hair, which I always hated. I’d shave the one morning and by the next it’d have the same texture of sandpaper. He grew tall and thin, while his features were sharp, they were almost elf like in nature. People would joke that we looked like a pair of fantasy characters, an elf and a dwarf. It sucked to hear it, but Ellis would shut that down when he heard it. He tried telling me he wished he had my height, and I’ll admit I grew jealous because why would anyone want to be five foot four? Still, with Mom and Ellis by my side, I was the happiest I could have been. Hell, there were times I even called myself by my mom’s middle name, Bonnie, just because I wanted to be like her so much. Ellis would entertain me with this too. I loved them both.
Then around my sixteenth birthday, my father decided that enough was enough and that mom had made me a, in his own words, sissy wimp. He swore that he wouldn’t let mom turn me into some kind of weirdo, so he blackmailed the courts and cozied up to the lawyers, and by the end of the month he managed to get her committed. And with no one left to turn to as a minor, he took custody so he could make me a man. At least, his version of a man that is. I remember the last time I saw Ellis. He told me that he wanted to talk to me about something, but when I went to go see him the next day, my father shoved me in the car and drove away. Ellis had almost been hit when he pulled the car out, and he tried to chase after me, but Dad was in an excited hurry to leave. I never saw him again. Dad said I needed to get “real” friends, not ones who’d enable my so-called worst features. I forgot about this picture to be honest. I don’t even know where it came from and how it ended up in my desk of all places. Putting the picture in my wallet, I move to walk out the door as the intercom starts to crackle back to life, no doubt to insult me again.
As I walk by the mirror, I can’t help but flinch upon seeing my reflection. Where there was once a healthy weight, and long hair, there was now only a scarecrow of a figure with a shaved head. My weight was still not in a place I liked, my thighs and stomach had the appearance of someone who was overweight, while the rest of my body looked thin with muscle. There were large dark eye bags that almost seemed a permanent fixture to my ugly face. I now had tattoos all over my skin. Ones I didn’t even want, but I apparently was required to get them for army morale. My work jumpsuit was a bland gray with several patches on the front with weed killer spray painted onto the back. Pretty tacky and ugly if you ask me, but once again, army morale. I hate how I look. I look like a freak. And there's not a thing I can do about it.
Turning down the hallway from the clinic, I start to descend into the depths of the mountain base. When building this star’s forsaken base, Terra had to pick the most inhospitable planet they had ever come across. A little hellhole simply called Ahpuch. A planet that seems to have won the award for Most Insane Place to Build Terran Army Base. The place simultaneously is mostly under sea level but covered in massive mountains and that's not even mentioning the unstable weather events that happen almost daily. At 6:30 AM it could be a full-on hurricane with tornadoes, by 9 it would a snowstorm with hail the size of a full Terran, and by 12, the heat would be causing the seas to steam. About the only way Terra was able to establish a military outpost was to find the tallest and widest mountain and then drill downward, so the weather wouldn’t affect them.
Still though, I can hear the occasional rumbling through the solid rock walls from the thunder and the lightning splitting the seas apart only for the water to rush back as a tsunami. A complete disaster, just like the inside of the base. The constant paranoia and violence that has run rampant throughout the site has been escalating for months now. Ever since the site’s former captain died in the coup. The one my father created when the captain said he was going to call the Affini to here. I may agree with my father that the captain betrayed us but forcing him and his people outside onto the planet. That was... wrong. Just wrong. Within thirty minutes they stopped yelling to be let back inside. Within an hour they started back up again. And five minutes after that it went quiet once more. Since he did that, his favorite forms of punishment become either a massive beating or exile. Which was just an execution by another name. There used to be three hundred of us, but now we only cater to somewhere between fifty to sixty. All in the name of loyalty.
Looking forward, I can see the interrogation room door at the bottom of the stairs. Purposefully set up to be directly next to the infirmary’s elevator, so the injured could be brought up to the doctor if need be. Not that the elevator actually worked. Or that we had a doctor anymore. He was exiled a few months ago for attempting to stitch up a so-called traitor from a beating. That guy was exiled too.
*THWAP*
Fuck. He’s still “interrogating” the girl. I hadn’t seen her yet, but by the sounds of those hits, he wasn’t getting serious yet. Or maybe he was just winding down. All I know is that a couple of our guys went on a three-week supply run and came back with one of the Affini’s... pets? There was a word for it, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was. Regardless, they managed to take one of them and bring them back here. Lord knows how they managed to swing that one, but they dragged the woman here a few hours ago and from all signs, they seemed in good spirits. Not a great sign to be honest. Said that she apparently knew battle plans of some sort.
*THUMP*
“Please... I don’t know what you’re talking about-” I can hear the assumed traitor cried before being cut off by another punch.
*WHUMP*
“Now now, you little wormhead. Didn’t your weed overlords teach you not to lie?” My father seemed to really enjoy hurting her. I know she’s a traitor, but doing this... It’s cruel. Just plain cruel. Still, he needs those weapon plans, and according to his intelligence, this... “weedfucker” has them.
Taking a shaky breath, I walk through the door, only to see exactly what I expected. Spattering of blood on the floor. My father breathing heavily in his older age. His knuckles adorned with black metal. And a heavily injured woman who was quietly sobbing in a chair. Jesus fuckin’ Christ, what the fuck is wrong with him!?
“Ah, you finally got your lazy ass up, huh? Took you long enough.” The commander said with the kind of smirk that said I’ll knock you around later when it isn’t a problem for me. “Wasting your time being a nurse.”
I think he just doesn’t like that I’m supposedly doing “women’s work”. And that my mom was one is probably what makes him such a raging asshole about it.
“Bah, doesn’t matter right now.” He says crouching down to the woman’s eye level, no longer looking in my direction. “Because I’m going to help you.”
“Help... Me?” Walking closer, my father shoots up to a standing position. Towering over me as always.
“Yes. Help you to become a man.” A what? “You see, son... I don’t need nurses in this base. That nursing shit isn’t needed here. Not anymore. Starting now," Punctuating his words by grabbing me by the scruff of my jumpsuit. “You are going to learn what it means to be a man. The previous traitor captain always preached about rescuing and being the better man, and other pansy shit like that, but me-” He got close to my face, forcing me to avert my eyes.
Looking over at the woman, I can see her staring back at me her eyes wide in fear, but not for her. She’s stopped crying and is intensely studying my face. Its’s like she’s more concerned for me than what happened to her. Before I can study her much longer my gaze is forcefully brought back to the commander.
“-I don’t care about being the better man. Because in war, all being the better man gets you is a knife in the back or a bullet in the head. Or in the case of this particular war, a collar around your neck.” He slowly backed up giving me some much-needed space, but I could still feel the glare he held. It was like the rays of both suns outside had entered and were staring me down. “And I’ll be damned before I let my only son, and all of my soldiers end up like his version of better men. No. We don’t need better men. What we need- What I need.” He became deadly serious, with his face shifting to an entirely different spectrum of emotion. “Is for all of you to do as I say, when I say it. I tried to raise you to be a great soldier, but your mother... your mother nearly ruined you with all that flowery shit.”
My mother. She was kind. Beautiful. Smart. I wished I was more like her. Instead, I got stuck looking like him, with her height. Life is too unfair. Especially when it stuck me with him.
“With that said, tonight.” He chuckled, once again with a confident smirk. “Tonight, I’m gonna scrub out all that useless stuff. And it starts with getting that info from that weedfucker over there.” Turning back towards her, the woman has started sobbing again. That’s... weird.
“Now I don’t want you to start yet because I need to gather a few things, so instead...” He walked and grabbed the woman by her hair, pulling her up. “Talk to the freak. See what kind of shit he comes up with?”
He then quickly struts out of the room leaving me with an uncomfortable silence as the woman(?) once again has stopped sobbing and has an intense, yet serene look on her face. She was wearing what was probably a very wonderful dress at one point, with beautiful white flowers spiraling up done a black silken fabric that covered most of her body. The dress was ripped in several places, which looked to have caused from struggling hard. She was tall, I imagine, and yet she wasn’t exactly thin. She had muscles that were clearly visible, with her arms being a particular point of interest. Her hair was an auburn color with a long braid laying over her shoulder. Her face had only one bruise, on her cheek, but she was gorgeous all the same. Probably the prettiest woman I’ve seen in years. Everything on her face just lined up perfectly. Finally, a thin white choker was around her throat which held a small metal ring in front of it.
With that kind of appearance, I can only think of one question to ask. “He?”
“Well,” The woman said slowly still holding my stare. “Why do you think that a man like him would call a girl like me, a male?”
But why would... Ah. Yeah, my father would use that to taunt someone. “I see.” She’s transgender. Which even raises more questions. “You... look like that? I thought...”
“Thought what?” She asked with a certain amount of curiosity.
“N-nothing. Doesn’t matter.” I’m changing the subject from this.
“Hmm. Interesting.” She said thoughtfully.
“What?” What so interesting?
“Oh, nothing you need to worry about yet.” She leaned back, seemingly now unaffected by her injuries. “Anyway, how’s life here? Fun?”
“What are-”
“I mean being in the lone base on one of the most inhospitable planets that even the Affini have come across can’t exactly be a fun time, ya think?” She’s breezing past me with conversation. It’s like I’m not even a blip on her radar at the moment. “The only thing that is missing is flaming horses flying across the skies. Horses are the things with claws, scales and breathe fire, right?”
That’s not right. I think? “I don’t-”
“Nah, you’re probably right. They’re the ones with gills and live underwater.”
What is she even talking about? “Okay, stop! Alright!”
She slowly leans forward while pressing her tongue against the inside of her lower lip. “Ooooh, kitty has some claws when she gets frustrated. Mrow!”
I can feel my cheeks heating up, which doesn’t make any sense because I’m pretty sure she’s making fun of me. “What the hell’s your problem? Don’t you understand the situation you’re in!? All those men outside the door are itching to kill you! If you don’t just tell them what they want to know, they’ll do it too.”
“Pfft. I know that's what they think will happen.” She chuckled.
How can she be so nonchalant about this? The weeds must’ve completely scrambled her head. “Uh, okay... Can I at least have your name?”
I can see a slight twinkle in her eye as her grin widens to a warm, and for some reason, familiar smile. “Thanks for asking, cutie!”
“Wha- I’m not-” I sputtered my words in frustration. And a bit of embarrassment, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to admit it to her.
“My name is Maya Emeria, Third Floret. And you,” Floret? “are Tyler Kemp. At least for the time being you are...”
“Wait, how-” How the hell does she know my name?
“Don’t worry about that right now. Why don’t you start your interrogation? If Mr. Kemp comes back before you get anything beyond my name, he’ll be upset.” She says her smile dropping in sincerity. “And I’d rather you not be harmed. You already look battered enough as is.”
“Alright fine,” We’ll move on then. “What’s a floret or whatever you said.”
“Oooooh~” Maya coos as her eyes start to gleam in glee as she opens her mouth. “That is the best part of the compact. A floret is the pet of the Affini. Which is what I am!”
“…what?”
“A. Pet.” She says with smug pride. Why would she be proud of that?! “Florets are the corner stone of the compact. It’s one of the big reasons the Affini came here. That and, because let’s be honest, we needed some sophonts in charge that actually care about others. Like, we Terrans were going to destroy each other at this rate, so the caretakers of the universe stepped in.”
“A pet?” Alright, I’m a little hung up on the pet part because what the fuck?!
“Mmmm~ You like hearing about the pets, huh.” Maya said making eye contact while biting her lip. “You interested cutie?”
“N-no! I-I d-don’t k-know what y-you’re t-talking about!” It just doesn’t make any sense is the problem! W-who would want to be a pet!?
“Mmhmm~ okay.” Maya teased. Is she flirting with me? “And to answer your new question of, who would want to be a floret, I would. And I love every single solitary second of it. Because to be a floret means that you’re guaranteed to be cared for the rest of your existence. To be loved. To be listened to. To never be alone again. Your owner will be with you forever and you never want anything else. You’ll never want for anything. You can just be your best self. Without a single soul to tell you to stop. That’s why.”
Oh. That sounds… it doesn’t seem to be as bad as the accord made it out to be. But then “Why would the Accord say that the Affini were trying kill or enslave us then? Why not work with them?”
In response, Maya simply raised her eyebrow. “You mean why would the Terran government not hand over the reins to another species that wouldn’t let them be in charge anymore? The same government who continuously pass laws that only benefit themselves while screwing the other 99% under the guise of order. Why wouldn’t that accord not accept help?”
“That’s…” The words catch in my throat as I attempt to come with reasoning or GOTCHA moment, but I can’t think of a single thing. The accord would do that. “That makes sense when you put it like that…”
“Most things that come out of the Affini Compact tend to make a lot more sense when you’re allowed to think about it.” She quips. “Plus, I mean, when you tell a bunch of wealthy elites that money doesn’t mean anything within the Compact, they’ll freak out and try to keep their power.”
“Yeah, I suppose I can see why…” Hold on a second. “Wait, what was that last part about money?”
“Hmm? Oh, about how money doesn’t matter anymore?”
“Yes! That! What do you mean by that?!” Do the Affini have their own form of currency in their society?
“Yeah, so there is no such thing as money and currency in the Affini Compact. They outlawed it as it leads to so many problems, especially things like capitalism. Affini hate all that junk and said we’re good. We don’t need or want it.” Maya explained nonchalantly as though she didn’t just say the most insane thing in the world. At least, it should sound crazier than it does.
“But-but how do you pay for anything? How can you live without some form of currency or reward to incentivize people to do jobs? Their society would fall apart in a matter of weeks!” You can’t just give people stuff for nothing. Society needs a reward of some kind!
“Bon-. Ty-…” Bon? Huh? “Answer me this question. Seriously. Why does society need money?”
“Uh…” Where is she going with this? “Well, you need money to incentivize people to create goods or perform services. Without that, nothing would get done and nothing would be produced.”
“In other words, scarcity breeds productivity, right?”
“Yeah…?”
“The Affini Compact is known as a post-scarcity society. Meaning…?” She said encouraging me to finish the sentence.
“They… have infinite resources…?” That couldn’t be. Could it?
“You got it, Bon.” What is with the Bon? And why does it sound familiar? “The Affini have a device called an atomic compiler which pulls atoms together to make anything you can think of. Clothes, electronics, even piping hot food that just came straight out of the oven. If it’s analyzed it, it can create it.”
Infinite… resources?
“Atoms…” I start to mutter to myself, my brain going a mile a minute with the implications. “Atoms… That’s genius! Atoms are literally an infinite resource that can’t be depleted in a timely fashion. That’s incredible! We could solve every issue plaguing the Terran race with just one of them. Knowing these Affini they probably learned to make it smaller. This is…”
“Incredible, isn’t it? You think that’s amazing; you should hear about the xenodrugs.”
That gave me pause and forced my attention once again to her. “Xenodrugs? Like recreational stuff or medical stuff.”
“Both, you dork.” She snorted then devolved into light chuckling. “Xenodrugs for Terrans can either be used for recreation like Class-As which make every thing feel incredible, or Class-Ns which… well, those can be fun for certain types of sophonts.”
The way she said… why did it send a small shiver down my spine?
“Then the medical ones are stuff like Class-Es which basically act like a sedative or as anxiety meds that can pretty much eliminate anxiety.” Anxiety meds? Oh fuck, I could really use some of those at all times. “Or Class-Gs that are basically like hormone regulation. In my case, I used them as a form of super HRT.”
“What? HRT?” That… couldn’t be real. She was… she looks like that, was it because of of these Class-Gs?
“Yep. You see this body?” She stretches her body forward, letting me catch a much better view than earlier about what she actually looks like. And she’s honestly, like really gorgeous. And I can feel the heat starting to flood to my face once again. “I got this in two months.”
“T-two months? That’s it?” But that sort of thing takes years, and even then, it doesn’t work a hundred percent of the time. Anyone could… I could-
“You okay?” Maya once again has a concerned look on her face.
“Yeah. I’m fine. I was just surprised is all…” Looking away is starting to become a common reaction to when she looks at me.
“Hey.” Glancing over at her, she now looks thoughtful. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?” I don’t know what she means.
“Look, the reactions I’m getting from you mean that you’re at least resonating with some of this stuff. At most, it seems like you really like it, and maybe want to try it out...?”
“No.” This is all too much. She has to be lying. She’s just finding weaknesses.
“No?”
“S-stop it.” I stammered. “I know what you’re doing, and it worked for a little, but no more. The Aff- The WEEDS won’t trick me a-and neither will you.”
“I can tell that’s not you speaking, babe, but you’ll get there soon enough.” Stop! Just stop!
“Let’s just move on, okay!” If I don’t get something for the commander, he’ll probably exile me next. Maybe he’ll even let me head back up to the infirmary. “What can you tell me about the Affini’s weaknesses?”
“...That’s the one you want to go with...?” She asked in mild disbelief as though I asked a really stupid question. I was going to interrupt before she continued. “About the only thing that can harm an Affini to any extent, as little as it is, is fire, but I’m going to be honest with you. They’re a lot faster than a Terran so good luck trying to hurt one.”
That’s... Shit, that’s not helpful at all. “Okay... Then why the hell are the Affini trying to kill us then. If we can’t harm them, then why are they blowing up our ships? Killing anyone who doesn’t surrender? If we’re so powerless, then what’s the point of this war?”
“Oh. Wow.” She sighed. She looked concerned, almost upset at my question. I get not wanting to think about what her rulers do to us, but she can’t be that blind.
“Look, I know you don’t want to believe-”
“Accord propaganda has you wrapped around it’s finger, huh?” Propaganda?!
“Propaganda?! People have died-”
“Sophonts.”
“What?” The fuck is that?
“Sophonts. The term the Affini used to describe any intelligent life is sophonts. Not people.”
“What does that have to do with-”
“And to answer your actual question, the Affini have never blown up an Accord ship intentionally. Most of the time if a ship is blown up or a sophont dies, it’s more often to do with a Terran doing something stupid, like dying for the cause or usually “sacrificing” themselves.” She explained without a care, seemingly more focused on me than anything. “And to assuage your concerns over the number of sophonts who die, that number is incredibly low. The Affini don’t want anyone to die. They want to protect us. Save us. Love us.”
That... No, that doesn’t make any sense. There’s no way. “You’re either lying or-or you just don’t know the truth. Why the war then?! Why start a war?!”
“Another misconception, Tyler.” I physically flinch hearing my name come out of her mouth. Suddenly her posture becomes more relaxed. “Sorry. Do you not want to be called that anymore?”
“I...” I’ve never liked my name. It was apparently my grandfather’s name, but when anyone says it, I can’t help but feel wrong. “Let’s just table that question for now, okay?”
“Subtle, Bonnie...” I hear her murmur to herself.
“What did you just call me?” Snapping my head towards her, I can see a surprised look on her face. Like she didn’t mean to say that. How does she know about that name? No one should know about that! “How do you know that name?! Who told you about me?!”
*BANG*
In walks the commander, with what looks a crudely thrown together surgery table covered in a tablecloth. The man’s 6’4” frame barely contained by what can only be described as the smaller previous captains done up in an almost pastiche general’s uniform. The only reason it doesn’t look comical is because the man would easily kill you if you said something or laughed. He’s also decided to put on a lab coat for some reason, but what was scaring me was the large, deranged smile he had on his face.
“Well, did you find anything out, son?” The commander asked in a far too jovial tone.
“Um...” I really hate how excited he looks. What’s under that sheet? “She just said that the Affini can’t be hurt and they don’t kill anyone...”
“Bah.” He said dismissively hitting my arm. “That’s because you were asking like a woman. And since you’ve seen that doing that will get you nowhere...”
He grunts as he pulls off the sheet revealing various sharp tools, both mechanical and manual in use. “Now, I’ll show you how to ask like a soldier.”
“Wait, dad, you can’t be-”
“Quiet, boy! Do as I say and maybe you’ll actually learn something useful for once!” He angrily snapped, glaring at me. “Trying to help you understand war and all you can do is whine.”
I can't stand it when he yells. Or when anyone does for that matter. It doesn’t even have to be directed at me, and I’ll just start to freeze. Feeling my arm start to shake, I quickly grab it to stop it from being noticeable. Not that dad ever noticed anything that wasn’t in front of him. Looking over to Maya, I can see her not looking at The Commander’s torture table, but she’s once again staring at me. She notices watching and gives me a comforting and mouths the words, “it’ll be okay”.
Why is Maya of all people comforting me? I had just yelled at her and all she’s focusing on is me. This… monster is about to start torturing for information that I’m pretty sure doesn’t exist, and all she can think about making me feel better.
Why?
Why am I such a coward?
I hate this.
I hate myself.
I hate everything that makes me.
I hate my lif-
*BOOOOOOM*
What the hell was that!?
*OOOOUUUIIIWWWOOOUUUIIIWWW*
The alarm is wailing now! What the fuck is going on?! Did one of these meatheads play with the explosives again!
“Dobson!” The commander yelled into his radio in anger. So, he doesn’t know what’s going on either. “What the hell was that?!”
The two of us held our breath for what felt like hours as we waited for Dobson, or really anyone for that matter to answer. The seconds wore on as all we heard was nothing. Not a peep, when normally nothing could shut these guys up. It scares the hell out of me, and probably the commander as well, not that he’d ever admit it.
“Dobson! Any soldier on duty, respond!” Why is no one saying anything?! The commander’s face is frozen in anger and desperation as he holds himself up on his torture cart. If I’m being honest, it also looks like a teensy bit of fear is coming through. Looking over to Maya, I can only say I see the smuggest smirk on her face as she once again watches with comforting eyes. Suddenly I hear the radio start to crackle and static as though someone is attempting to make it work. Her eyes suddenly widen with excitement, and her smirk becomes a full-blown smile. Why would she…
Wait. A floret would only get this excited for one thing.
Oh no.
“Well, I may not know any cuties named Dobson,” A sultry, deep voice spoke coming across far clearer than any sound should when coming through the radio. “But I suppose I more than qualify as a soldier for you, petal~”
And just like that, all my fears came real once a voice spoke over the radio.
My father’s eyes go wide in disbelief as he realizes he’s speaking to an Affini on the other end. Still, he’s nothing if not stubborn. And a dick. “Identify yourself weed.”
“Now now, let’s not call each other nasty names, unless that’s something you’re interested in. Which if so, do I have an Affini who would love to make you their floret~” The voice could possibly be from a man or woman. Do Affini even have the same genders as us? “But to give you an answer my name is Alstro Emeria, Fifteenth Bloom. They/Them. And I believe that YOU have a sophont that belongs to me.”
The commander looks back towards Maya, who holds his gaze, wounds and all. Unafraid. Almost challenging him in a way. My father turns on the radio with a sneer. “Yeah, I think I know who you’re talking about. And I don’t know, what’re you gonna give me for returning the wormhead?”
“Commander Tyler Kemp the fourth, I would suggest, quite politely may I add, do not call my floret such a disgraceful term.” Alstro’s hypnotic voice lowed to a near growl, like a beast ready to kill.
“Or what?” My father challenged the voice. Like an idiot.
“Hmm, with that attitude, why don’t we play a little game?” Alstro spoke with teasing, yet sinister tone. “For every time, you either insult or harm my floret, your new owners will give you another bio-mod, whether or not you want it.”
“I’m not gonna be a weed’s slave, you should know that!” My father seethed in anger.
“Oh~ I’m sure that you whole heartedly believe that petal,” Alstro teased. I could see the vein in the commander’s forehead vein grow larger by the second. “But then again, many ferals such as yourself become just the cuddliest and clingiest florets, and I for one, can’t wait to see what kind of floret your new owner will reshape you to be.”
That vein has now grown large enough that I think it might actually burst, and yet The Commander still attempted to keep an even tone. He was shooting for sarcastic but seems to be hitting an almost pouting demeanor. “What, am I not good enough to be your personal zombie?”
“Oh my~! So forward!” Alstro laughed, which must have some sort of hypnotic layering done to it because I should not be blushing from it. “But no, petal. My vines are here for only my brave little floret and her adorable pinnate. And I’m afraid that having you there would be detrimental to their blooming.”
Pinnate? What’s that? Looking over at Maya, for the first time since I walked in, she wasn’t staring at me. Not studying, not giggling. She was looking away from the both of us and blushing.
“But don’t you worry, little sawgrass.” Alstro giggled. “Your owner has already done the necessary paperwork and will be picking you up from the vet when we get back. I’m sure his collar will look positively precious!”
“RRRAAAGGHH!” The commander yelled smashing the radio against the wall in a rage. If he ever hated only one thing in this life, it would be being condescended to. The Affini naturally seem to be hitting every button of his to set him off. Glaring back at me and the floret, he yells once more at me. “Tyler, keep a watch on the freak! Me and the boys are gonna burn that thing to ashes!” He then proceeds to speed walk out of the room, locking it with the automatic system.
Walking over to the monitors on the wall, I start to scroll through the different camera feeds to get some idea of how perilous the situation we’re in. All the while, Maya’s giggling starts up again and breaks through the tension. “I know who his owner is going to be, and he is going to be in for a very rude awakening. Or a nice awakening, depending on how you look at it.”
“How can you make jokes about this?!” We’re all about to be brainwashed and all she can think of is to make jokes!
“Because you all are freaking out over nothing.” Maya chuckled at me, once again a smile on her face. “Just like every other feral group, you all think you’re going to be brainwashed or turned into fertilizer or for some reason think that the Affini are going to send you to some mysterious and sinister mine!”
“Hey, mines are a scary prospect! No one wants to toil away, working without end!”
“Uh-huh… discounting what I already told you about the compact, remind me, which society wants their sophonts to work without end and without pay so their bosses can be wealthy?”
Shit. “… The Accord.”
“Exactly.” Why does her smugness not bother me that much? “Regardless, pretty much everyone on this base has been deemed as a feralist, and will be going to loving habs with their owners after Mxtriss finishes up here.”
“Mxtriss?” This words and titles are getting to be a bit much.
“Yep! When you’re a floret, you tend to call your owner by a title. Some go by the standard mister or miss, while others, like mine, go by a more formal title like Master or Mistress or Mxtress. Some even go all the way to God or Goddess, but that’s not too common.” She was excitedly explaining, like whenever she talked about the Affini. “Either way, the Affini take in what their florets opinions are on the matter and make a decision from usually. Not that many remember after the Class-Bs they administer.
Oh yeah. The xenodrugs she was talking about earlier. I don’t think she mentioned the B variant. “Class-B does what exactly?”
Maya titled her head back. “Ooh, that one alters memories, more often than not to erase them.”
“Wait, they can erase memories!”
“Are you really surprised by this point, cut-…” She cuts herself off, but I can’t help but think of a possibility. One that could fix me. Maybe make me not quite so miserable. “Hey, you have serious look on your face. What’s up?”
I’m not quite sure how to even ask this. “I… C-could… I-is it possible to erase the memories of a certain person?”
“Yeah… Can I ask what person?” How do you even talk about this.
“They’re… They’re name is Ellis, and I just…” I couldn’t help but imagine his face. And all that managed to do is depress me again. Perhaps the Affini would help me with this. Since I’m already doomed and all. “He was an old friend, and every time I think about him, I just… get depressed is all. And it’s been happening a lot lately. Hell, I even found this old photo of us. Not even sure how it wound up in my desk, but…”
“C-can I ask why would you want to forget a sophont like that? They sound like you really cared for them.” Maya stuttered slightly, but my thoughts were still on Ellis, so I wasn’t super aware of what’s going on.
“Well, I mean… I haven’t seen him in years. And the last time we spoke… I don’t know. I just feel like if they really wanted to talk after so long, they would have sent a message or something.” I can feel my eyes moisten slightly as I spoke. “I miss them, but if I forgo them maybe… I would want to stop bothering them. I mean, he was smart. Real smart. And good looking too. By now, he could be any type of person he wanted.”
“I-it sounds like you r-really care about them.” Maya’s voice cracks slightly.
“I really do, and at this point… anytime I think about them, my heart just hurts.” I’d do anything to see him again, but chances are he doesn’t even remember me, let alone want to see me. I’d just be a burden on his life. “I just want to stop hurting at this point.”
“O-o-okay. Yeah. N-no problem.” Maya choked out. I get she’s empathetic, but she sounds like she’s nearly crying.
“Okay, I think that’s enough, my silly little petal~” The crystal-clear voice of Alstro Emeria, Fifteenth Bloom flowed through the speaker like sweetened honey. “You know I won’t allow to deliberately hurt yourself like this. I would be a horrid owner if I did.”
“Mxtress!” Finally, looking back towards Maya, I can see a few tears running down her cheeks while she had been attempting to suppress the sound of her sobbing.
Uh, what’s going on right now? And why do I suddenly feel a lot more upset at seeing her cry?
“Shush shush, my little white knight. Mxtress is making her way down to you as we speak.” Fuck that’s right! The Affini is heading right towards me and I can’t run from inside the room. But why am I trying to run to begin with? What’s going on here?! “And while I go about putting the rest of the base to sleep, I think it is the time to start being a little more honest with your pinnate. Keeping this to yourself is clearly harming your mental wellbeing.”
There’s that pinnate word again. Wait, am I the pinnate? I’m the only one here, so it has to be me, but that doesn’t explain what the fuck is going on right now?!
“B-but Mxtress! She s-said sh-she wanted t-to forget about me!” Maya wailed, completely and openly weeping at this point. “I knew it! I knew sh-she d-didn’t want any-anything to do with me!”
Wait.
“Now, Maya. Your pinnate never said that about you. She simply is confused about her own feelings at this point. Now just breathe slowly for me, petal~. In and out.”
Hold on one second-
“B-but you even left the picture in h-her desk t-to ma-make it more romantic and-and-and-”
Maya couldn’t be-
“Yes, my sweet honeysuckle, but things rarely go the way we plan, do they. That’s what makes it oh so fun. Our dear Bonnie, just needs time. I’m certain she loves in just the same way, but this is a lot for her to take in-”
“Alright, will somebody explain what the hell is going on here?!” They’re just talking over me and not explaining what is going on! Pinnate? The picture? Forgetting Maya? Bonnie?! “What are you two not telling me?! I want to know RIGHT NOW!”
A silence passed through the room, as both the mesmerizing voice of Mx Emeria and the vocal sobbing of her floret, Maya ceased at the same time. I looked toward the speaker for some sign that this mysterious voice would enlighten as to what the hell is going on, but only silence. Which probably meant that she was waiting for Maya to speak up. My eyes moved over to her to see that not only were her hands and legs free of her previous bindings, she was attempting to rub the tears from her eyes. Looking at her sent another pang in my heart, and I had a feeling why.
“Maya… A-are you… were you El- Were you the one I think you are?” Stars this is such an awkward way to ask, but goddamn am I not sure how to go it.
Maya looked at me in my eyes, and I could see them. Brown eyes that in the light looked like amber honey. Everything about her may have looked completely different. Her personality may have inverted. But those eyes are the same since the last day I had seen her. Even the emotion is the same. Desperation. Hesitance. And a third emotion I hadn’t realized had been there since I last saw her ten years ago. Longing.
“Yes” She choked out from behind her hands.
I felt my legs fail, and nearly crashed onto my knees. Every cell in my brain told me that this should be a trap. The Affini could have easily made this poor girl think she used to be Ellis. I could be in a simulation for all I know. But as I stared at her, I could only see my best friend. Every single solitary sense of familiarity I could point out. The birthmark on her neck that we joked was the only thing she received from her mom. How she a longer than average fang that would sometimes get caught on her bottom lip when she pulled her mouth tight. The same scar just above her eye that she received when we jousted in grocery carts.
It’s all him. And now it’s all her.
Before I knew it, I had crawled over to where she now sat on the ground waiting for me to say something to her. Bringing my hands to her face, I wiped away one of the tears that managed to evade her own hands. Looking at her, I could only say one thing that came to mind.
“We never stood a chance, did we?” If the Affini can do all of this, just because it’s romantic, then there really is no way in hell any of Terra ever had a chance at winning this stupid fight.
“Nope.” Maya lightly chuckled, now holding my hand in place on her face. “But then again, would you really want to?”
And for the first time in years, I managed to smile. “Nah. This is way more fulfilling.”
“It’s cause your such nerd.” She giggled.
“And because you’re such a dork.” I… giggled as well? That’s a new one.
Maya’s eyes kept staring into mine, as though she wanted to ask something but was hesitant to do so. Out of fear perhaps?
“Hey.” I prompted.
“Hey?” She questioned.
“All those years ago… what were you going to ask me?” It’s a question that has been burning in the back of my mind for years, and I have a feeling I know what it was.
“I… I don’t know…” Maya started, attempting to look away since our revelation but she didn’t find much leeway with my hand in the way.
“Maya.” Bringing her back to me. “I think I know what you’re going to say, but I want to hear it. From you. Please.”
She slowly breathed in deep and exhaled at the same speed. “Bon. I…”
“…Yeah?”
“Bon. I’ve been in love with you since we thirteen. All those years ago, I was going to tell you.” She said slowly, looking for any sign of possible rejection. “And I was going to ask you if you felt the same way… And I might have mentioned the being trans thing as well…”
Was I in love with her? If it was Ellis, I think I’d have a rougher time coming to terms with that, but now?
Thinking back on our time when we were younger, I can’t help but to be reminded of the memories we undoubtedly share. All the injuries. All the fights, of which there were very few. All the jokes, of which there were many. All the quiet times where we just sat staring at the three suns on Gallus. Now that I think about it, she frequently was hugging or hanging off of me in our teen years. Why didn’t I notice that? It’s kind of obvious- Wait. Did I not notice because I was doing the same thing to her?
Suddenly, I can feel all the heat rush to my face all at once, no doubt making me look incredibly sunburnt. What was worse is that I now couldn’t seem to articulate my words very well in that state. “L-love… W-well I… B-but y-y-you… Are you really… S-stars…” I couldn’t even look at her in her eyes anymore at my sudden onset of realization slash embarrassment.
“Oh Bonnie~” Oh, come on, don’t use my name- I mean that name. “Where’d all that confidence go, cutie~? You were talking such a big game earlier. Talking about how you knew what I was going to say, but you can’t even piece your words together.”
Oh stars, don’t tease me about it! “W-well, I-I just-” Sticking out a single finger on my lips to silence, the look she gave me was not one I was ever familiar but able to recognize. Hunger.
“Shhh. Words seem to be really hard for you right now, so why don’t I speak for the both of us.”
Work, mouth, work! “Uhhhhhhh” Oh, come on!
“Stars, you’re so cute when you get flustered like that.” Maya giggled now being the one holding my face up, forcing me to look at here. “Oh, I cannot wait to see how look once the Class-Gs finish running through your system. More than that, I can’t wait to see how you act when you start to love yourself.”
For the guy who’s been perpetually sexless most of his life, this is starting to get to be too much for me. I’ve never had such a beautiful woman flirt with me so openly before. I don’t know what to do. I can’t form my words correctly. I can’t look away from her. My heart is banging inside my chest.
Wait. Banging?
*BANG*
“Well look at this. My own son being the faggot I always knew he’d end up being.” My head spun around so fast, that it nearly felt like whiplash. There, standing in front of the now closed torture room door, was my father. Panting, with his face red with anger and sweat. “You fucking pathetic weed fucker. Consorting with the enemy! Trying to kiss a tranny freak at that! Where the hell did I go oh so fucking wrong?!”
Shooting you from my position, I attempted to speak to explain the situation that I’m sure wouldn’t have work, but before I even got his flew right into my face. Knocking me back into the wall, and crumpling me to the ground. My face was erupting in pain as my own blood dripped down my face. Looking back to wards that man, I could see him stomping towards with a fury of only seen when he drank.
“You fucking freaks! Always gotta insert yourselves in everything.” He attempted to kick her in the side, only for Maya to move out of the way with adept reflexes I didn’t think she’d have only for her to be struck in the face by his fist. She fell to the ground, but for whatever reason it doesn’t seem to be bothering her all that much because she immediately attempts to scramble back up. Unfortunately, this led to his foot connecting with her stomach and sent her flying into the opposite wall from me.
Crawling forward, I can feel myself barely move as not only the pain from the commander’s hits is affecting me, but also the exhaustion of my long shifts has caught up as well. I can’t let him hurt Maya. Not when I just got her back! It’s not fair!
As my in vain effort to stop the man proceeds slowly, I see what looks to be an object of my father’s lying on the ground behind him. This particular object is something that always scared me to use, but I’ll be starsdamned before I see Maya get hurt! As crawl over to it, I can hear and see my father gloat as he pulls out his large trench knife from its sheath.
“I knew my idiot son would be the death of this place eventually, but to see him try and kiss a wormhead like you…” He spat in disgust holding his knife in front of Maya. “Fucking disgusting! I should have never let that mother of his get a divorce. Divorce me? Try and destroy my genes! After that went through, I was the laughing stock of the military and now… And now my own fucking kid wants to prance around with the weeds. Wear dresses. Kiss other freaks like you. He’s always made me want to puke, but I tried to help him. I tried to fix him, but no! All of you deviants had to enable him, make him think he was perverted like all of you… you deviants! You can’t change who you were born as! He was born a boy and he was supposed to be a man!
“He never was much a man, but for stars fucking sake, YOU! You’re the one who finally broke him! A fucking pervert in a dress is the thing that finally sunk his garbage sensibilities, well no more! I wonder what he’ll finally do when you die, gasping for breath as I slide the blade into your chest. You think he’ll get angry? Try to kill his dear old dad?” He sneered clearly reveling in Maya angry and terrified face. “Nah, you’re probably right. He’ll just cry. Cry like the pathetic faggot he always was and will be.”
Raising his knife to stab downward into Maya, a noise broke through the tension.
*CRACK* *BOOOM*
Both Maya and the commander froze at the noise before slowly looking back to me. There was me struggling to stand, holding up my fathers antique .410 pistol. One that I’m pretty sure at least broke or sprained something, but my adrenaline is far too high to think about that at the moment. I narrowly missed him as the slug whizzed right past his head and into the wall behind him, leaving a large dent in the metal. As I stood there I knew that the Affini probably aren’t gonna be happy about me shooting at someone, but I’ll be starsdamned before I lose Maya again.
“Get away from her.” I said shaking partly in fear and the other in anger. I’m over him always deciding that he knows everything. I’m just sick of his shit!
“Who the fuck do you think-“
“I SAID GET AWAY FROM HER!” I screamed as loud as could, which, while I don’t think scared him, did surprise him because I never yelled, at him or otherwise. He turned around and slowly walked forward a few steps with his hands raised. The look on his face could only be described as the midway point between caution and a snarl.
“Now, I don’t know what you-“
“Drop the knife.” I wasn’t going to wait for him to try and weasel his way out of this. I finally got him to listen and I’m not giving any leeway.
“If I drop the knife, how about you-“
“You’re not talking your way out of this one!” I’m so fucking done! “Every moment- every solitary second of my life, all you’ve done is try to turn me into a robot who’ll parrot whatever you say. And You have ripped everyone I’ve cared about- everyone I loved so you could be happy! I hate you! I hate everyone who’s like you! I hate this entire rebellion-”
“Tyler, what the fuck-”
“I’M STILL FUCKING TALKING!” He always tried to yell over me, even if it was just correcting on something as basic as math. He always has to be heard. He always has to be right. I run my hand through my nonexistent, another of a long list of things he forced me to do, making my anger burn ever brighter. “You know, I can’t wait for the Affini to get here! I can’t wait for them to fix us. To fix Terra! And if it turns out that they really are gonna kill us or enslave us or brainwash us, at the very least… At least I won’t have to deal with you.”
“…Son-”
“So, when I tell you to drop the knife, I EXPECT YOU TO DROP THE STARSDAMNED MOTHER FUCKING KNIFE YOU SONOFABITCH!” I’d said my piece, and I guess because he couldn’t fathom that I would ever stand up to him, he finally dropped the knife. Maya was sitting against the wall, looking far more worried than happy that I defended her. She looked really concerned.
“We can talk about this, Tyler-”
“No, you know what, dad! No more talking! Or is it only when your life depends on it! We didn’t talk when on my eighteenth birthday when you signed me up to be in military. Did we? No, I don't think we did! We didn’t talk when I overslept at seventeen. No, we didn’t, did we! You just beat me around for over an hour!” The shaking in my hands and body was reaching a fever pitch, and yet my grip was iron. My finger was once again on the trigger, and I couldn’t help but keep the barrel aimed at his head. Why did he hate me? Why couldn’t he just be happy that I was alive? “How about when you had Mom committed and fucking abducted me?! Huh?! Did we talk before or after you punched me for crying about her?! REMIND ME FATHER, WHEN THE FUCK DID WE EVER TALK?!”
“Okay.” He breathed in slow, probably attempting to calm me down, and not aggravate me unnecessarily, especially considering the gun aimed at him. “I see that I was far too rough with you. That’s on me, but right now, the weed is in the base and we need-“
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Now he cares! “WE?! This has never been a “we” situation. It’s always been a “you” situation! I’m sick of being talked to this way by you of all people! I’m sick of my life! I’ve wanted to die for years now, and because I was too much of a coward I couldn’t do it. But can you guess what I can do now? I COULD FUCKING KILL YOU AND RID THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE OF YOUR ROT!”
As I pulled the trigger, I shut my eyes by reflex, not because I didn’t want to see the fucker’s head explode, but because the noise still freaked me out. Time seemed to almost slow down as the mechanisms shifted and locked into place. I could hear the commander scream as he saw the muzzle flash, knowing that he would die like so many others he had executed. I could swear that Maya was calling something out, but I don’t think it was my name. I didn’t hear the slug hit the wall either. All I heard was… was something else? It sounded like… music? No, not music. Like rain drops hitting a leaf in the forest. A leaf? More like a drum. But a higher pitched drum.
What… what is that sound?
“I believe that that is quite a bit enough that, thank you.” A deep, yet unequivocally feminine voice flowed through the air from behind me. The presence was undoubtedly something large, but I didn’t feel any fear from it. It was almost comforting. “I do understand that you needed this bit of catharsis, but I simply can’t allow you to harm another sophont. I suppose is my fault though, I should have gotten here faster.”
Turning around, all I can see at first are a tangle of white and black vines that seem to be filling up a good portion of the room behind me. As I start to move up though, I can see these vines coalescing in a singular upper half. Various pieces of white and black bark are positioned in such a way that it gives of the appearance of ancient Terran knight armor. The arms though looked far thinner that regular, with four arms instead of two and only what looked to be four digits instead of five. The digits definitely resembled Terran finger, though the thumbs looked just a tad too long. Moving back the chest, it appears completely flat but with a feminine and masculine undertone that blended to get her seamlessly. The shoulders had what looked like two white bonsai trees sprouting from them. Their neck was similarly thick, and yet gave off the appearance of being thin, with the vines upward and over the head like the hood of a jacket. Underneath the hood was something entirely alien, with no facial features being visible other than one large multicolored eye. It was constantly shifting from several colors at once to one to six to hundreds and then back to one.
They were completely and utterly “The most beautiful being I’ve ever seen…”
“ Well well well ~” The being before me giggled. Or was it chuckling? Or was it laugh- “My floret was quite correct as usual.”
“…huh?”
“Maya did say you were positively one of the cutest sophonts I’d ever see.”
Cute…? Is it hot in here or is it just me? “Cute…?”
“ Oh my ~, It appears as though my biorhythm has completely made you mushy. What a treat ~”
“Treat…?”
“ Oooh ~” The Affini cooed starting to softly pet my head with a vine. It felt good. Words are hard. “This mission may have gone off the rails towards the end, but I can confidently say I am more than happy with how it ended. What say you, Maya?”
Somewhere behind me, I heard Maya agree with the Affini, but I was still have a really hard time concentrating on anything other than the music and petting I was receiving. I felt so at peace. Still, I feel as though some sort of anger is attempting to desperately claw its way out, which is making me frustrated but then both of these emotions get squashed down. Is this that Class-E that Maya was talking about? Oh my stars, I want this to last forever.
“Oh petal ~, what’s wrong?” What’s… wrong…? Nothing. Nothing is wrong… I think? “Oh dearie, you’re crying.”
I… am? Reaching up to my face I can feel my cheeks wet with the tears. I try to wipe them away only to feel vines soaking them up. Looking back up, while they may not have an actual expression, it feels like I already know what they are feeling. Concern. Content. Happy. “It’s okay, Mxtress is here to help.”
“Mx… tress?” That sounds familiar. Who said that earlier?
Suddenly, I feel a pair of arms encircle from behind. Not this Mxtress, but that should be… Maya? “Yep. Mxtress! Well, mine to be specific, but I don’t mind sharing with you.” Then I feel a pair of lips touch my cheek before retreating, just as quickly as they appeared. More face heat again.
“That’s right, my little damsel. My little knight would love to share me.” Share…? What’s does she mean by that? “Hmmm~, Maya you never mentioned that you’re pinnate got flustered so easily. It’s absolutely delicious.”
“Oh, she showed a little of that in high school. Whenever girls talked to her, she’d always freeze up and get real quiet and blushy. It was always really cute when her face got red and she started to stammer. Stars, I missed her.” Maya sighed dreamily still hugging me from behind. “Anyway, what do we do about that guy?”
Turning slightly, I looked down to see my father, snoring gently on the ground, completely oblivious to what’s going on around him. Slowly looking back up at the Affini, I could feel a slight bit of fear at what I’d done to him only for it to be once fought off by the drugs. My face must have been confused because Mxtress talked to me right away.
“Don’t worry, my little damsel. That man I had not been harmed in the slightest, he just sleeping off some Class-Zs at this point. And because I have a feeling you’ll ask. No, he will not be able to hurt you ever again, so you don’t need to ever be scared of him again. Mxtress will make sure of it, okay? ” Those words poured over and through me, back and forth like pendulum before finally nestling themselves firmly inside. They speak the truth.
“O-okay.” Usually, I’d question what just happened but honestly I don’t like arguing so I’ll just be quiet. Yeah. Quiet is good. Quiet is nice.
“Such a wonderful seed~ I can’t wait to bring her back to the ship. She’ll be so happy.” Mxtress giggled excitedly.
“I told you Mxtress! All she needed was a hero and she’d bloom faster than even me!” Maya chirped, now also receiving pets from the vines. “Though… I wish I had stopped that man before he had hurt her.”
“Oh posh pish, my little hero. You played your role to perfection. If anyone is to blame for Bonnie’s injuries, it would me for playing around for too long.” Mxtress sounded sad. That’s kind of bumming me out a little, but as I feel a whimper start to climb up my throat, I’m suddenly picked up in their arms and held like a pet. It was nice. “Still, I do believe allowing her some catharsis with her father will have helped immensely, even though it ended up with managing to get a shot off. Still, without me disassembling that weapon, this could have gone much worse.”
“Things can always go bad, doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it in the end though!” Maya giggled now also being held on in of the opposite arms, though she was sitting far more normally than I. Normal? What is normal anymore? Watching her I can see the bruise and blood she had, which seemed to affect my anxiety because Mxtress once again noticed.
“I suppose I should explain that, Bonnie. You see Maya is not actually injured, you don’t need to be worried.” They then start to peel of something from Maya’s skin. It looked semi translucent, with a golden hexagonal pattern shimmering as it was removed. Underneath, where there were bruises, there was blemish free skin. Not a cut, bruise or even scrape was found. “This is a special little creation of mine that I call Fighting Skin. All you do is put it on over a sophonts skin, and when ever it is hit a correspond fake injury will appear. I had created for a film that Maya wanted to make, but I desperately didn’t want her to get hurt, so I made this. Turns out I made a very useful item to protect florets or for traps on naughty little ferals.”
“You… You’re working as an actress, Maya?” She had mentioned it a few times when we were younger, but I didn’t know that’s what she wanted to do.
“When I feel like it, though we needed to cast the romantic lead and when I learned that you were only a couple light years away, well…”
“She had been very forward about us finding you for as long as I had had her. Which would be about… 3 Terran years, I think?” Mxtress sounded pleased with herself. For what, I don’t know, but I wasn’t gonna argue. “And once a little fishy spilled the beets about where they’d come from, well we just had to come find you.”
“When did you guys…?” They planned this? How?
“I can answer that one, Bon.” Maya had made her way over to me and was currently making an attempt to snuggle. I squeaked a bit as she nuzzled right next to me. “We’ve been stationed over Ahpuch for a few days, so Mxtress made her way down to scope out the the place and managed to Class-H a few of the guards. Then we got them to bring me in and distract everyone while Mxtress set about setting up Class-Z canisters around the vents.”
“Most of what we wanted to happen did, other than that man trying to drag you down here and hurt Maya. I didn’t know he was that cruel.” Mxtress said in mild disgust, before switching back to giddy excitement. “His new owner is going to love breaking him. I’ve heard his favorite type of florets to collect are former rebel leaders. She says they break the sweetest. I head she even had a name already picked as well.”
Mxtress then exited the room with Maya and I comfortably tucked into their arms as another Affini went in to collect my father. In fact, it looked like several Affini were working through the base, picking up sleeping rebels along. I think a few of the men were snuggling the vines. Not that I can blame, they are very comfortable. And they Affini were all cooing every time. As I laid there, Mxtress and Maya chatted about various topics, such as different acting techniques, or how cute I was, which I still have a hard time believing but sure. They kept talking over me, like I wasn’t there. And I’ll be honest, I kind of like it. It’s nice to be around conversation, but not have to be apart of it. Just head empty. And happy quiet.
Still though, “Um, Mx… tress?
Mxtress’ eye snapped to me, and while they may not have any concrete expressions, this is one I could feel. It was think in the music they produced and I had already seen Maya portray it earlier as well. “Yes, my sweet damsel ~”
“Um… feel free not to answer, but I have two questions for you.” I still was kind of confused on some stuff.
“And what would those two questions be?” Mxtress asked curiously.
“Yeah! What’re they, cutie?” Maya also seemed to now be curious about me.
“What’s… what’s a pinnate and why do you two keep calling me she?”
********************
Four Months Later
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“Bonnie! Wake up, sleepy head! We’re gonna be late!” Maya laughed, attempting to wake me in a semi-respectful way. These days, while I was significantly more energetic, I still tried to sleep in most days. Even with all xenodrugs Mxtress has me on, I’m still not a morning person. I just look good while doing it now. Even if Maya tried to wake me up every morning like this, only to be pulled off by Mxtress. Speaking of which, I felt Maya being pulled up and away from with the telltale biorhythm entering our room.
“Maya, my sweet. Must you wake up your pinnate like this every day? I worry they’ll start getting frustrated soon.” Mxtress teased, knowing that I would never get upset at Maya.
“That’s cause it reminds us of when we were younger and she’d always wake me up for a sleepover.” I answered my voice light and feathery. I think my old voice used to be scratchy and whiney before the Class-Gs, but Mxtress scrubbed that kind of depressing stuff from my brain. I’m forever grateful for that. “Besides, I don’t mind. It just lets me feel her rubbing up on me, when she does it.”
Suddenly my sleep mask has been removed, leaving me exposed to the bright lights of our hab. And also, exposing me to Maya, which was the bigger concern to be honest. “Oh~ Looks like my little bunny has got a bit of sass this morning. Tell me, does me being here excite you? Or is it because I’m on top of you?”
“W-well, I, um.” Drat, without my sleep mask I’m useless against her. And based on the fact that Mxtress was currently filming us meant that I wouldn’t be receiving any help any time soon. I still haven’t gotten over being flustered around pretty girls. Mxtress and Maya both say it’s because it’d be too much of a travesty to get rid of that quirk.
“Oh, my little bunny is stuttering again. Oh, tsk tsk~” Maya smirked her foxes grin. After we had gotten off of Ahpuch, Mxtress quickly found out that her florets had the personalities of two very distinct animals. Maya got a fox because she was cunning, playful and could go full on predator mode if she wanted. I was apparently a bunny because I was skittish and horny most of the time. I mean it makes sense, even if I wish it didn’t some days. “Does bunny need a little bite again? Should I give you another matching set on your sides? Or maybe a few nips on those perky breasts of yours? Decisions, decisions. So many choices, so little time.”
Normally, I’d have a retort loaded and ready to go, but against Maya all I can do is faintly whimper as her warm breath hits the front of my neck. “Ah! I know~ Your. Pretty. Little. Neck.” She then lightly sunk her teeth into my throat, making me quiver and shake as reward for being her little bunny. After Mxtress realized about our personalities, she quickly decided that we needed the correct biomods and went about scheduling our surgeries. Those happened about two months ago, and Maya took full advantage of it. She was now sporting two rather large foxes' ears and a very fluffy tail she loved to show off. She had fur covering her arms and legs, which were now digitigrade as well. Her claws, which could cause some pain, were relegated just to that, and never left much of a mark. As they were purely meant for me.
“Ah~ Thanks for the meal, bunny.” She said licking her lips, while no doubt admiring the multitudes of hickeys she left, rendering a shivering and moaning mess. This was how I usually woke up these days. Her teasing me most of the day, and then satisfying us later in the evening for a few hours. Standing up, she went to the closet and grabbed a few clothes before walking into the living room. “So cute~”
As I laid there in my floret bed panting already feeling like I’ve run a marathon, I can’t help but once again silently thank the Affini for rescuing me. And for my thanks, a few vines curled around my limbs and moved me to a standing position. Mxtress was standing in front of me currently editing here newest “film” for the Affini showcase. Florn, but not quite Florn I’ve heard it described as.
“Well, now~ That was an exciting and delicious way to start your day, right Bonnie?” Mxtress said happily. They loved us both so much, especially when we were cuddling like that.
“Yes, Mxtress! I love Maya so much!” I panted, still trying to catch my breath. Due to my being a very late sleeper, they’d gotten in the habit of puppeteering me in the morning to get me dressed and ready. My mind was awake and all, I was just waiting for my body to catch up.
“I’m so very aware, petal~ Now, chop chop, let’s get you ready for the day. We really wouldn’t want to be late. It’s taken a long time, and I know you wouldn’t want to wait for much longer.” Mxtress quickly went about the routine. Brushing my teeth. Brushing my, wonderfully, long hair. Getting me dressed and ready to go out. All of that lovely stuff. Maya got dressed and did those things on her own, so I was able to satisfy Mxtress more “clingier” aspects of owning a floret. Not that she would mind if Mxtress did those things for her, but I clearly enjoyed so much more. Especially the part about getting dressed. Now that I’m not wearing a gray boiler suit all the time, I’ve found that I have an impossibly difficult time choosing any type of clothing. It’s just so hard to remember what goes with what, that eventually my anxiety ends up far too high. Mxtress and Maya are just better at this than I am, and the best part is is that they don’t insult because I can’t. They may tease me once in a while, but they don’t hold it against or make me feel stupid for the things I can’t do. It makes me feel warm and gooey when they treat me like a pet.
As I stand in front of the mirror admiring my outfit, I can help but focus on how different I look when I first arrived here. My once shaven head was now a full head of hair that reach to the middle of my back. My weight had gone down considerably, and while there was some pudge, it didn’t bother me anymore. I think that’s just because the rest actually went to places, I wanted it to be at. Like my hips and thighs for one. Apparently, I was actually a fan of the bottom-heavy look as my half particularly muscled with healthy fat, while my upper half was thinner, unquestionably feminine. I had retained my short stature and had actively gotten shorter, now standing at a far cuter five foot. The biggest change was still the rabbit biomods with the large floppy bunny ears and fuzzy tail along with the fur. My arms looked very close to a white rabbit without being all the way there, while my legs simply looked like large rabbit's legs. Mxtress also made sure to remove all of the tattoos I had from before. A lot of them said hateful stuff that I didn’t want anyway, so she was more than happy to get rid of them. Now my skin was clearer than ever.
And despite all that, my face is still my favorite part of my new self. All of the features that I had thought were from my father, in actuality were my Mom's that was buried beneath unhealthy weight, stress, not enough sleep and above all else, never learning how to apply make-up. Speaking of my mother…
“Bonnie!” Maya scampered back into my room and picked me up, surprising me greatly. “Common, your Mom is waiting at the bagel shop! Let’s go! We haven’t seen her in years!”
Once the Affini learned about what my father did to my Mom, the quickly went into action and scoured the galaxy to find where she had ended. They eventually found her, but she hadn’t been in the best of shape, so they opted to help her heal before they reunited us. We did call each other once she’d been recovered enough, and we’d decided to meet up once her ship and ours crossed paths. She met someone during that time, and she wanted to introduce us to her. Apparently, she’s an old friend that I met while I was living with her? Said I used to call her Auntie Luisa, and they recently had moved in together. Mom was really happy talking about her and hearing again definitely made me cry. But then my crying made her start to cry, and by then both of our partners realized we were far too alike.
“Come on! Come on!” Maya shouted, practically carrying me out the door, while Mxtress followed our speed, which for was just a leisurely stroll.
“Slow down, girl! They’re not gonna leave if we don’t show up right at 10!” I shrieked while chuckling at the same time. “It’s my Mom, she wouldn’t leave.”
“I know that but think of how funny it would be if we waited at the café before your two Moms got there, and they didn’t know it was us!” Maya still had a bizarre sense of humor, but…
“That’s a damn good idea, babe…” I whispered as she set me back down. Looking back, we see our Affini strolling before stopping and noticing our stances.
“Girls…” They warned with a smile knowing what we were about to do. And considering how the last time we did this, we both ended with scraped knees she had reason to. “Don’t you dare…”
“Last one is a rotten egg!” I shout taking off down the pathway as Maya runs next to me laughing. Mxtress it appears, may be just giving as a head start but we’re florets so it’s okay to take advantage of it.
“If I remember correctly, you were the rotten egg, babe!” Maya shouted next to me, starting to fall behind.
“It’s not my fault! I didn’t even know that being trans was a thing before fifteen! You already had it figured out!” I actually didn’t figure out about being trans until I was a month on Class-Gs. Embarrassing. "Why do you even think that's funny!"
“That cause you’re so cute when you’re slow, bunny!” She yelled attempting to catch up to me. Looking behind I can that Mxtress has now decided to enter the race as her vines start rushing forward.
“Since I’m beating you then, am I still cute?” I snarked back at her. Stars, I love her.
“Nope!” She laughed as she started to fall behind again. “You’re the most beautiful being I’ve ever seen!”