#lu'en

The Stars are (from left to right): • City planet, • Where they first land (The Roes), • Faejha, • Then Gorm! (where the story starts) And yes I am having fun hiding the galaxy in random artage. :3

⭐ Available on:  ⭕ Redbubble - 6️⃣ Society6 - ➰ [Tee]Spring

     “We’re in a storage rental,” He didn't look at me, choosing to give the ramp controls and his jacket all of his attention, “Once I get in contact with my buyers, we split our winnings and you find a life for yourself.”      Is that what was unnerving me? I frowned, “But- we’re a good team?”      He sighed, seeming annoyed he had to explain himself, though at least he looked at me this time, “You were an in. Now you're free, and will have plenty of cred to get you on your feet.”      The oxygen seals hissed while I stared at him, “But...”      He turned again, starting down the ramp in his bloodstained jacket, “Come on. This place is well traveled and there's lots of folks in the ship trade. We’ll find you something with a living area and you’ll be good to go.”      I stared quietly at the panels in front of me, my mind spiraling for a moment before I followed him to the ledge, scowling, “No,” I stated with as much confidence as I could muster.      He looked back at me, seeming taken aback by my directness, “No?”      “No,” I responded, holding the confidence but letting my tone soften ever so slightly.      His hand moved up to rub his forehead in frustration, “Alright, what do you think you want; you want all the goods? Is that it? To pull it out from under me?”     “I want to stay... With you.”      His hand left his face and he looked at me, dark eyebrows furrowing as he appeared to inspect me with his own scowl. Then he straightened and crossed his arms, “No.”      My heart was in my throat, expression melting with the fantasy I’d formed around us. I couldn't respond, I had no response, but my mouth opened with the urge to. He continued to observe my reaction with a steeled expression, his head tilting ever so slightly as if subtly urging me to push. Finally, but frantically, I forced out the words, “I’ll do anything.”      He pinched his lips together disapprovingly before sighing. “You need a stronger backbone,” he stated bluntly, gesturing for me to follow, ”And if you’re sticking around, you're getting a bot to keep an eye on you. No questions.”      My grin came back and I blurted a “Yes sir!” as I rushed to follow him further, noticing then that the jump engine wasn't with us, “What happened to the big thing?”      “Not here,” he said, of course, while heading toward the door opposite where the ship had entered. He pointed to the door to our left, “That’s a rental room. Occupy yourself with the holofeeds or something while I’m gone.”      I sighed and started for the indicated door, only really realizing how much blood I’d accumulated upon catching my reflection in it. I looked for the bathroom from there, hoping it’d at least have better towels than the last place.      Thankfully, these rooms were relatively clean, but not devoid of staining in the corners; and the bathroom had both clean, dry towels and tiny soaps, which I used to wash the blood from my hands first, not wanting to leave a mess while I went through the drawers and cupboards for what I had to work with. Finding nothing extra, I used the tiny shampoo that waited for me in the standing shower, and the bar of soap I took from the sink.      While I washed, I tried to think of what to expect of the outside world. How different was the trade? What do normal people do with their lives? Could I learn any of that from the holofeeds? How far from Gorm’s star had we even gotten? It was only as I was lathering that I realized my collar was missing, and like missing a tooth, I kept impulsively reaching for where it should have been, anxiously drawn to the empty space.      Once clean, I stepped out, wrapped myself in a towel, and went directly to the screen in the main room. I was much too curious to dry off in the bathroom when I could be figuring things out. I had to at least keep up and I couldn't do that without information.      I spun through channels, looking for someone facing the screen specifically; those were usually news adjacent which, theoretically, would have to say something about the location at some point. I dried myself while I listened and, frustratingly, came to the conclusion that even though they spoke in common, nothing they named sounded familiar. I was just as confused as I’d been upon entry, just cleaner. ___      I saw him enter the garage before he saw me, the window doing its job of letting guests keep an eye on their cargo. He was carrying a box that seemed to be full of some kind of techy junk so I met him at the door, opening it for him, “What’s that?”      “For you, after I make sure all the bugs are squashed.” he said as he entered, going directly to the table.      I peeked around him and into the box as he set it down, “A bot?”      He pulled out a tech screen, “And a window to all the information you can think of. So-” He pulled it away as I’d unconsciously begun to reach for it. “After I make sure the coding is safe. You’ll have a thing to learn life shit on.”      I nodded, pulling my hand back and holding it with the other, “What about your back?”      He huffed, “The bullet was removed, the hole was resealed with fresh Vyta foam, and the top was covered with a Second Skin pad. You can relax.”      I nodded again. The second skin meant he wouldn't need to have it looked at again for a while and time was all that was left for his healing.      He looked past me to the screen, then focused back on setting out the tech, “We’re south-east of the core on a star map. Gorm is east-east. Direct to the core makes it-”      “Easier to be tracked,” I finished for him, my hand drifting back to the empty space over my collar bone.      “Yes. And your collar was thrown out an air lock.” he added before sitting at the table and focusing on the tech, “Watch whatever on the holo, I don't need silence to focus.”      I nodded and took that as my sign to return to the couch.      Besides room service bringing us food, the rest of the day was spent trying to occupy myself with shows while he did his tech thing. I may have also fallen asleep there out of a mix of boredom and wanting to stay in the same room.

Mood Music:

     “Yea, yea, food first.” he said with a light chuckle, pulling up to a microphone on a window and giving it his attention, “Spiced Kine, just brown it, a 2, Citrus juice and Dark Caffe.” he said before using his Comcard to pay the bot.      It responded with a chime before the meal was passed out in a basket by a mechanical arm.      He took the food bag and passed it to me, “Hold this a sec,” he said before retrieving the cups to put them in holders so we could pull away from the window. Once he found a space out of the way, in a nearby motel lot, he parked, did something with his Comcard, and took the fiber bag back to pull out a wrapped chunk of meat. He passed everything else back, “the rest is yours.” he said, taking the paper off the top of his to eat it like a candy bar, careful not to mess up his suit.      Accepting the package back, I took my turn to look inside, pulling out a box of some sort of fried prawn and yam chips; way more flavor than I was used to, “This smells amazing,” I marveled, picking at the chips first; they would cushion anything in the frying mix.      “Don’t get too excited. It’s cheap.” he said, starting on his own meal while pulling back into traffic, heading directly toward the big highway. “So. I see you’ve been climbing.” he said, trailing off with a quick glance in my direction, seeming to expect an explanation.      I tucked the chip in my cheek to answer quickly, “Not intentionally.”      He hummed, ruminating on the response till I was done chewing and reaching for another chip, “Explain.”      I hesitated, nibbling on the edge of the chip nervously while I tried to find an angle to explain it from, “He wants me to keep the spirits in his throne room up. Or people distracted. Cause I’m less obvious or something.”      He nodded, going quiet while he ate.      Recalling the delivery he made the day before, I stopped eating and frowned, “About the hands...”      He stopped chewing to glance toward my face, probably trying to get a feel for my thoughts on the matter, “Right, you saw that.” He stated as he looked away, “They’re in the back seat.”      I twisted to look at the cooler before turning back to him, “Why?”      He shrugged, weaving around a bit of traffic, “Urgu said hands, I brought hands.”      My eyebrows furrowed at him and I grazed on more chips while psyching myself up to ask more; eventually repeating him with, “Explain?”      He gave a smirk, “It’ll be a message to the mine’s old owner. A bouquet of his Right-hand’s right hands. Your master is trying to move up in his own world.” he explained.      I sat quietly, taking the thought in while I ate, pausing to ask, “Any ideas on the burnt one?”      He shook his head, “Some of the miners got free. I assume it’s related.”      I nodded and we both fell silent, picking at our food.      He finished first, crumpling the paper and dropping it in the vehicle’s garbage processor before drinking from his Caffe, “What do you think of it?” he asked, before clarifying, “The burnt one.”      After a slight apprehensive whine I responded, “Seen it before.” I replied between fried prawns.      “Oh?” he asked, sounding genuinely caught off guard but keeping his eyes on the vehicles around us, “Where? How?”      I gave a bit of a wince at the original memory before deciding to skip those details, “Looked like an Umbra burn. Power source woulda been another person.”      He went silent, dark eyebrows pinching together as he nursed his Caffe.      Worried he might start thinking I was trying to fool him, I added softly, “I know people don't always believe it's a thing, but I have seen it.”      He shook his head, “No, I know. Kindred are a nuisance. It’s probably how some of the miners got out too.” he said, going quiet again.      I found myself staring out the window at passing lights, we were quite a ways in the air. The silence gave me long enough to finish what I could of my food before setting the leftovers in the bag on the floor and giving my own drink some attention.      “Hey,” he said, tossing a fuzzy blanket at my head, “Slide down your seat a bit. You’ll be a good alibi so we can’t have you seen here.”      I nodded and put my cup in the holder so I could curl into the floor space without spilling, pulling the blanket over my head so I could still see him. I could feel us starting to descend and weave around build-mounds, probably approaching his destination and needing cover which was found when we turned into a tunnel.      He spun the vehicle in place to settle into park facing the exit, wasting no time in pushing his seat back to reach into the storage for what ended up being a long black fur vest with a hood, a black skull mask detailed in red, and leather gloves. He shrugged the vest over his clothes and pulled the gloves on; the hood, once up, distorted the appearance of his horns. He flashed me that smirk before putting the mask on and reaching back for the cooler, pausing to look at me as he rested it in his lap, “Wanna see before I go?” he asked, patting the cooler; I could hear his grin.      I stared at him, it was definitely not a question I expected to get, but, “I uh… Sure?” I was curious!      I could feel his amusement second hand as he wordlessly popped the lid open. I don't know what I expected, but it definitely wasn't five-hands-tied-at-the-pinky surrounded with actual carnivorous flowers, even if he did call it a bouquet.      My eyebrows came together as I realized what I was looking at and couldn't help but give a soft snort of laughter, “It’s a hand-off.”      He busted out laughing, clearly caught off guard by my joke, and I took to grinning ear-to-ear at the accomplishment. “You’re going to get us in trouble,” he said playfully after settling down, as if he wasn’t the one delivering body parts. “Wait here,” he added before climbing out of the vehicle to take the cooler somewhere.      I stayed there, on the floor, in the blanket, with nothing but my thoughts and my juice, so naturally my mind wandered; Why hasn’t he made a move on me? Am I not good enough? What if I made the first move? Why does he keep me around if not for… the more time passed, the more my thoughts spiraled into, What if he doesn’t come back?      As if on cue, the vehicle chimed, started up, and began driving itself, prompting me to peek out of the blanket. My heart was racing, I didn’t know where I was or where this vehicle was taking me but after making its way around what felt like a rather sharp turn, Vee climbed in. “That went well,” he said in a jokey tone as he closed the door. He wrestled himself free of his disguise as we sped off.      “Oh?”  I asked.      “It went as expected, left the package at the drop point, no fireworks.” he said with that confident smirk.      All these red flags and I still found myself saying, “We could kiss.”      That smirk faltered as he looked at me, clearly unsure of how he wanted to respond, “You don't get that enough?” he finally asked as he took the wheel and turned the autopilot off.      I looked down at my drink, not sure how to respond to his counter, so I sipped at the juice sheepishly. His emotions had muted so I couldn't really sense enough to guess the thought processes behind his rebuttal. I didn't know what to do with these emotions, let alone communicate them.      “Well?” he pushed.      I panicked and pulled the blanket over my head, “Not from anyone I like,” I squeaked.      He was quiet and I felt the vehicle turn, prompting me to peek out again. His jaw appeared to clench and relax as he considered the revelation, his uncertainty palpable. An e-cig was pulled from his jacket pocket so he could take a long drag before finally speaking again, making the cabin smell of Bakko and cotton candy? “I show you severed hands and you’re still interested,” he seemed to be talking to himself, no doubt taken aback by my lack of sensible priorities. He glanced to me and I pulled the blanket back over my face in time to feel the vehicle come to a stop and settle into park, “You can stop hiding, we’re here.”      “Here?” I asked, emerging from the blanket again and moving to look outside; we were at the motel we’d parked at earlier, “Is this-?”      “Don’t get excited. It was the most obvious place to take you on record. We’re already signed in. Bring the garbage; gotta make it look like we’ve been here a while.” he said before getting out and heading for the room.      I nodded, grabbed up the bag and empty cups, and followed.

Mood Music

     I rushed them, grabbing the closest one by the collar of his clothes and yanking him off his feet. I threw him to the ground before swinging the chunk of wood for the next’s head; it knocked him out. I swung back for the last one on his feet but he’d had a bit more time to block the board.

     Startled curses fell from the lips of the remaining two as they tried to counter my assault. I swung for the head of the one trying to get to his feet to keep him down. It connected with a clonk, but the one standing was able to grab my wrist and pull me in, pinning my arms to my sides to disable my blunt weapon. I dropped the board, but I threw my head back into his face and his grip faltered enough for me to grab the multi-tool on my belt, pop the blade, and jab it into his ribs, he yelped - they asked for this.

     I heard the crash of trash from the door followed by another man’s voice, “The fuck-?!” was all I heard before darting off, and I had run most of the way to my sanctuary before I could think. Unfortunately that was also when I realized I had probably lost my shoes back there.

     If I couldn't get those back, they’d be harder to replace on my own, but I still opted to return without them.

Mood Music:

     A vehicle of some kind flew past the balcony, catching my eye as I closed the fridge, prompting me to move closer to look out, but not far enough to open the doors. There was a decent flow of traffic as far as I could tell which meant I wasn't isolated if he didn't return; a pro as well as a con.

     I didn't want to be still long enough to think about being alone so I wandered away from the door towards the previously unidentified room; the bot following along behind me, just out of reach.

     The room looked like an office on one side with a desk and several wall-mounted screens. On the other side was some mechanical equipment I inspected curiously. I figured it was for exercise but couldn’t make the mechanisms move for the life of me.

     I was grateful it wasn’t a second bedroom at first, but eventually, the cycle’s light began to fade to night and I slept alone regardless.

___

     Screens became my life for the first few cycles. When I wasn't trying to parse some societal norms from its media, I was people watching from the balcony, or rummaging through the things left behind - even the locked ones after the first handful of cycles. I found documents with conflicting information, and weapons in the weirdest of places; behind chairs, holstered to the underside of tables - I even started poking at random objects when moving a tray in the kitchen made a section of the cupboard pop down with more weapons. It wasn't the only time it worked either! a small army could have stocked up here.

     I observed traffic to identify rush times and directional patterns. I’d have to go out there eventually; the meal bars were getting low and the meat was starting to grey. I could feel time fraying the thread of hope I had been clinging to.

     Cautiously, I moved my people watching to street level with a multi-tool clipped under the button-up I'd made a dress out of. I followed the traffic, stopping to ask what folks did for fun around here on the way. I was informed of some street lined with clubs only a couple blocks away before they added that I could probably get into some for free if I flirt with the right people - while looking me up and down in the process. It sounded like some things weren’t so different here; another pro as well as a con. I, of course, pretended not to notice and they didn't push a reaction, but I still crossed the street to avoid being followed too close.

     I poked my head into a couple bars, trying not to stand out and leaving before I could be bothered about not ordering. I idled by the wall of the dance floor and ruminated on how to proceed, only interrupted by a server coming over to say someone had bought me a drink - which I accepted. I’d have to find someone to attach to if Vee had left me here; another in a history of broken hearts for all I knew. I had a sip of the drink, somewhat disappointed that it wasn't something harder. I could sense something in him that he wouldn't show though, and I wanted to draw it out. Perhaps I had already scared him off by trying. Oh how I hoped he’d show up to prove I wouldn't need another, but I was running out of time.

     Everything began to feel heavy, and the room kept going if I turned too fast. I realized quickly that I was in danger and had to get somewhere away. I didn’t know who was safe so I opted to attempt sneaking out the back, but I was met halfway to the road by a vulture of a man whom either caused or sensed my predicament. Two others came out of the door behind me and it became apparent that they were working together, and they could tell I was out of touch, making it known with the words they used to pull my attention.

     “You look lost” said the one between me and the road, all of them moving closer with unsettling looks in their eyes.

     With hominids being much smaller than Guarm, it felt a lot less imposing of an interaction in comparison, but I still felt small, “I’ve dealt with bigger things than y’all three combined,” I hissed.

     Of course, I still found myself shoved against a wall with the three of them blocking me in. “You wanna give us a demonstration?” They laughed.

     My vision flashed and spun with the impact and I found myself lagging against the vertical surface. My body was better equipped to handle filtering substances than other hominids but I still didn't know how long it would linger. I could potentially manipulate them away if I could lock onto the right emotion but with how my mind swam, it didn't appear to be an option.

     I wanted to fight. Things were supposed to be different. This wasn't what I wanted at all. I wanted to go home, whatever that meant. Or him. I wanted Vee.

     I was made to face them, one on either side gripped my arms to prevent resistance and to keep me upright. “Oh yeah, it's got her reeling” sneered the third, exposing himself just in time for my peripheral vision to fade out.

     I closed my eyes. Maybe it'd hurt less to pretend it was just a game with Vee. No strangers. Just him and me.

     And someone holding me up… to help?

     That didn't make sense.

Mood Music:

     “Blight, ride,” he said as we stepped outside, and the bot chirped before a nearby vehicle revved up. It hovered in front of us and the doors popped open, he gestured for me to get in and set the box on my lap before closing the door.

     I found myself holding my breath as he made his way around to the driver’s seat; worried he might send the car off without him, I only relaxed again once he’d closed the door and strapped in.

     “You're getting tense,” he commented while pulling his e-cig out, passing it to me as he continued, “We’ll be home free before dark.”

     I accepted the e-cig gladly, whatever he had in it always took the edge off, “Safe yet?” I asked, looking back to the port.

     “Yes. But we can talk when we get there. It’s more effective to silence an unmoving location.”

     I of course nodded and watched what I could see of this world from the vehicle. We flew over red dunes to a solid lane where he took the controls and eased us onto the wheels. I watched the star set, and the sibling planet glowed as the sky darkened. ___

     We reached a bustling city past the hills, and after winding through a maze of lanes we finally pulled down into a parking garage under what looked like rentals. The buildings here were much smaller than Gorm’s, and cleaner in many senses of the word. The air didn’t feel so heavy either, even the spirits seemed lighter before the door closed behind us, muffling my senses.

     With the scenery cut from view, I looked to him; just in time to catch him look away and act as if parking required his utmost attention. “Almost,” he said, prompting a restless huff from me. He seemed amused.

     We pulled up in front of the hall of elevators and he took the box from my lap, “Bot’s got the parking. C’mon,” he said before climbing out with the tech. I followed suit and once the door was shut behind me I heard him give the command, “Blight, garage.” The bot chirped and the vehicle drove off to pull into a space near the back corner. When I looked back, he was already disappearing into a lift; prompting a panicked squeak from me as I rushed to catch up.

     He was holding a button by the door when I stumbled in, stammering a quick, “Sorry.”

     He released the button and the doors closed. “Don't be,” he responded, pointing to the buttons on the door, “this one goes to the rental floor. Remember it too,” he suggested as he pressed it.

     I nodded as the doors sealed and the lift began to move; it felt slower but smoother, airy. I couldn't tell if it was the elevator, gravity, or purely my mind playing tricks on me so I didn’t dwell on it for very long.

     Once on our floor, he led me to a door on the left and opened it, urging me inside with a finger to his lips before giving the bot its usual command once the door had shut behind us, “Blight, silence.”

     I waited just long enough for the tone to drift off, “Now?”

     He was already lowering his hand from its signal, “Sure.”

     “The fuck can Blight do that scared that guy so bad?!” I blurted, still bewildered by what I had seen not too long ago.

     He stared at me, also confused, “What do you mean?”

     “At the garage. You said Blight’s name and the guy stopped asking questions.”

     He stared a bit longer before busting out with laughter, confusing me further until he got to explaining, “It’s what Zathian’s call exiles. You’re a displaced person, therefore an exile of sorts. He stopped asking questions because he knows I won't elaborate on such things.”

     My eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully, “Are you a-”

     He cut me off to repeat, “I won't elaborate on such things,” but with a bit more force.

     I gave a disgruntled huff but dropped it, letting myself look around. It didn't appear very lived in, “So where are we?”

     “Your new home.” he said, tension in the air dissipating with the dropped topic. He moved to check a delivery cupboard where a small package waited for him, “And the part I needed is already here, so I can get your bot up and running.” he added, closing the mailbox to wander further into the flat.

     After the briefest bout of conflicting thoughts, I decided to keep on his heels, “What happens after?” I asked before I could register my fear of the answer.

     Unsurprisingly, his answer was a non-committal, “One thing at a time,” but the dejected huff I gave in response drew his attention back and he sighed, “I can’t teach you everything myself so I’ll need to pick you up a tutor-bot, but I need to source it. You’ve already proven you can think on your feet, so that shouldn’t be an issue. That’s all I’ve got for you right now. Ok?”

     It was my turn to sigh before responding with my own, “Ok.”

     He turned away again, pulling a chip from the package and plugging it into a flat, box-shaped hunk of tech which he also plugged his small screen into. Prompts popped up on the screen and he moved through them quickly with several loading bars scattered into the mix. Some boxes popped up that he quickly entered data into, some censored some not - they seemed like command prompts.

     When it became apparent he’d be at it a while, I wandered off to learn the layout of the place. It was built much like the humanoid rentals but the layout allowed for a small hall of extra rooms which I wandered down. Beside the workshop was a bedroom bigger than the ones I’d seen in the rentals, a cleanroom at the end of the hall complete with shower and washing machine. Across from them was another room but the door was closed, and since I didn't want to get into trouble for going someplace I wasn't allowed, I moved on; hoping it wasn't a room I'd be separated into.

     I ended up wandering past the kitchen into the living area, looking over the powered down screen before my eyes settled on the balcony. The railings were layered in something metallic.

     “Lu’en,” I heard him call from where I’d left him, and I rushed back.

     “Yes?” I asked, stepping up beside him; the bot hovered over his hand now.

     “Name it.”

     I looked it over quickly, searching my mind for something that might make sense for a bot.

     “Say it out loud,” he told me, tapping a key on his screen.

     “Sparky?” I suggested - the bot made several chirps as its programming came online; I looked to Vee for approval but he was already focusing on the screen again. I reached up to anxiously fidget with a collar tag that wasn't there anymore, the motion catching his attention again.

     He didn't look long before resuming the complicated techy stuff, “Collar is back around Asher station. He can’t track you.”

     I nodded reflexively but had been more concerned with figuring out what to think of the empty space. I knew I should have been glad it was gone but something about it felt wrong, “Habit,” I replied. My mind spun as I stood there awkwardly, falling into my own uncertain thoughts which were only made louder with the amount of silence blanketing the space between us, “How do I know you’ll keep me without a tag?”

     He looked at me, seemingly having to pause in his attempt to wrap his mind around the question, “Tags are for slaves.”

     “What am I?”

     “Freed,” he responded, returning to the tech.

     I frowned; he was avoiding the question so I adjusted my approach, “I don't have a natural crown like yours, but a king needs a queen, does he not?”

     He straightened with pride from my flattery, but instead of responding, he hit a few buttons more on the bot and it gave another chime, scanned me, then hovered over to my side. “Bot’s done,” he said, ignoring my question. “A part is fried so I’m going to have to source that but-” Blight signaled an alert interrupting him, and he looked back to the screen, “But I have to handle this!” he said, seeming a bit too relieved to escape my questions. He grabbed his bot and rushed past, heading into the closed room and exiting with a loaded weapon harness and a jacket.

     “When will you be back?”

     “I’ll be back when I’m back.” he responded quickly, slipping into his shoes, “Don’t wait up.” he added, closing the door behind him.

     I stood there in silence. Alone.

Mood Music: