14 Penny
The guards held me like I was going to pull away and bite someone, but my body was as heavy as a sack of potatoes.
My muscles screamed for a little aid as they dragged me down the hall into an elevator, and up to another level of the station.
I vaguely remembered the details of the next floor.
I’d been there before, but just like my current visit, I was hardly able to take it all in.
The lights were dimmed to an ugly orange-yellow color and as I walked, I could feel the somewhat rougher texture of stone taking over the smooth slate of a metal floor.
We came to a glass door that slid open as soon as we arrived and inside, the bastard himself stood with another of the same species.
He and the guards exchanged a few words before the fourth spike-headed figure moved in with a silver device in his hand.
He held it close to my aching body, letting a laser of blue light skim from my head to my toes.
It all reminded me too much of the first day I opened my eyes and found myself on that damn rock.
More words were exchanged and then the leader of the whole operation, Pek-Tol, waved a hand and groaned as if irritated by the whole situation.
I felt dehydration chiseling away at my insides, making me feel unsteady.
The rations of water they had been giving me weren’t enough.
The food wasn’t, either. I had no idea what was in it, but the past week or two of eating what they gave me was not doing me any favors.
Not that I could ask anyone what it was that I was getting fed.
More words were thrown about the room and escalated into some kind of argument until finally, Pek-Tol gestured again like he was trying to swat at a fly.
The guards diverted me from his office and back out into the hall.
Two doors down, I saw a small, brightly lit room much like the first white cell I woke up in.
I struggled weakly against the guards, but they barely noticed my efforts.
“I just need food and water,” I mumbled, not wanting to go back into that white box.
For all I knew, I had an intolerance to something in the air. Maybe something in the water itself. Maybe my ankle was worse than I thought and there was some kind of infection. I was in space, after all. There could be any number of airborne pathogens or things that I couldn’t process.
The guards said nothing and instead, opened the white cell and tossed me inside. I stumbled onto my hands and knees, too weak to scream my frustration.
“Just feed me something other than bullshit,” I groaned, turning to look at the door as it slid closed.
This time, the door wasn’t just a white wall, though.
It was a glass barrier that, as soon as it was latched, lit up with all kinds of readings.
A yellow human figure showed up on the surface with symbols and flashing designs all around it like the whole room was reading and diagnosing me.
The space was barely big enough for me to stretch out in, so I doubted it was for prolonged containment.
It was a medical observation chamber. Looking down, I could see little lights pulsing on the pure white floor from my knees and from my fingertips and wherever else I touched, the same lights danced around in response.
I couldn’t read the symbols on the wall, but I had a hunch they were medical terms.
I felt like a racehorse.
They needed me healthy and working. Otherwise, the next game would be a disappointment. It would be too easy. Pek-fuck would lose an investment.
“Dammit,” I exhaled, crawling to the corner where I could curl myself up against the wall.
The air was too cold. My body was too tired. The floor was too hard. My stomach was too empty.
I was an animal they didn’t know what to do with. They didn’t know my dietary needs. My climate needs. Nothing. And I had no means to tell them.
I buried my face in my folded arms, pulling my knees to my chest. The brightness of the cell was a stark contrast to the muted light everywhere else and it was already giving me a headache.
Survive or don’t. Those were my options. So, uncomfortable as I was, I just let the minutes tick by, waiting for the next uncomfortable situation to arise.
Thilar
Three rotations had passed and Penny was not yet back in her quarters. Her cell sat empty, the environment silent and unlit. I stood against the wall where I had the best vantage point and stared, my thoughts like a storm compared to the stillness of my body.
“Maybe she died,” Sunhai said.
My eyes flicked subtly in her direction to see regret quietly weighing on her face. I could tell she thought of Penny as something of a pet, just like Pek-Tol did. The difference was that Pek-Tol was only interested in the credits.
“She is alive,” I said.
“How do you know?”
I wasn’t exactly sure how I knew, but I was certain she was alive.
“Pek-Tol would not let something so lucrative go so easily.”
Sunhai groaned and slumped down on her cot, crossing her arms. “I had hoped that the khof karr would work faster than this.”
“Relax. If Penny is unwell, there will be no games.”
“I could use the exercise,” she said under her breath.
Patience, I chanted in my head. Patience was rewarded. Rashness was a gamble. I counted every second. Every breath. One, two, three… four-thousand, four-thousand and one…
Then, like a sign from our ancient gods, my khof karr buzzed lightly against my palm. My eyes dropped from Penny’s empty cell for the first time and I opened my fist, glancing at the tiny device. A dim, green light skimmed the border of the diamond once. Then twice.
My eyes lifted again when I noticed a subtle flicker of lights down the corridor. The khof karr buzzed again in response, low and hungry. By then, I knew. I just knew. Another pulse slid along the hall, sharper this time, enough to draw Sunhai’s attention.
I moved without thinking, sliding the khof karr beneath my wrist. Four prongs snapped outward, precise and quick, finding the old scars where they once sat.
Finally.
They locked on with a sting and the pain bloomed into something exhilarating.
The device settled against my skin, and suddenly I was more.
Awareness surged through me in wave of violent clarity, like I’d just clawed my way back to life.
My vision sharpened to a razor’s edge. Every sound separated and deepened.
Even the air changed, becoming layered with scents I hadn’t known were there.
Something was coming. And now, I was ready for it.
The lights pulsed once more, brightening a degree before they shut off completely and everything went silent. A low, electrical hum I’d almost forgotten was there suddenly disappeared as the port powered down.
“Thilar?” Sunhai said, eyes narrowed.
My vision widened, taking in any miniscule traces of light as my pupils enlarged and separated every significant shape with a dim but discernable outline. I raised my hand toward my collar, forcing my fingers under the metal.
“What are you doing?” she whispered sharply.
With a low growl, I tugged the metal away from my neck, snapping the device in two.
The warped pieces fell to the floor with a clank.
Textured webs of fitted armor erupted from my khof kaar, conforming to every part of me like muscle and sinew, metallic red in color and layered with protective fibers.
“Power is down,” I said. “There’s no signal to activate our collars.”
Mekah was under threat. The systems had been hacked and I could feel in my bones that I was no longer alone on that forsaken rock.
Sunhai flashed a quick smile and reached for her collar, digging her fingers beneath the metal band. After several futile attempts to pry it loose, she muttered a string of colorful profanities.
As the armor spread across my body, encasing me from head to toe in a fusion of biotech and augmented organic material, fury churned inside my chest. Rage and hatred mixed like volatile chemicals, threatening to ignite.
I could tear this entire place apart.
But that would be reckless.
I needed to focus.
I clenched my fist, feeling the exosuit reinforce and harden around my knuckles. Drawing my arm back, I drove it into the barrier.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the surface at the first impact.
The second strike shattered it.
The barrier exploded with a deafening crack, thick shards crashing to the floor. I ducked through the opening and into the corridor as voices erupted from the surrounding cells. Prisoners shouted, howled, and pounded against their confinements, the noise swelling into chaos behind me.
“Thilar,” Sunhai said, placing her hands on the glass. “Come on. I got you that khof kaar. Without me—"
The lights flickered back to life, but only at half capacity as the backup power systems booted up. I peered down the hall as the large doors slid open and three shikari guards stormed out, immediately spotting me and the mess around my feet.
They quickly pulled their rifles off their backs, aiming them in my direction and firing in quick succession.
Their poor aim saved my armor from doing most of the work, but what few shots hit me ricocheted into the walls and the other cell barriers, including Sunhai’s.
It exploded inward, creating a hole just large enough for her to squeeze through.
As she ducked out, I shoved her back inside and charged the reckless guards.
They continued firing, each shot less effective than the last. When I slammed into the first guard, my shoulder launched him backward into the doors.
The second spun to fire again, but I ripped the rifle from his trembling hands before he could fire.
Turning with the motion, I drove the butt of the weapon into the side of his head hard enough to snap the rifle clean in half.