Chapter 6 Revelations
Chapter 6: Revelations
The tram stopped and Praxus stood, carrying Delaney out onto the platform and down the steps. Delaney took in the area that they were in now. Unlike where they had started, this looked more like the upper floors of the TPN building in downtown Mackinaw. A large open area surrounded by offices, the only difference was rather than a reception desk, there was a tram station. Dozens of potted plants were in the area that they were in, along with more affini than Delaney had seen in one place. "Where are we?" Delaney asked, glancing up at Praxus.
"This is the command center of the Everlasting Dawn," Praxus walked up to a door and tapped a code into the keypad next to it. The door silently slid open and the pair entered a corridor. "We are meeting Captain Trisetum in the situation room just off the bridge. There is still a lot of stuff happening and a lot of moving parts to this operation. We did just capture your home world, after all\~"
"I still am impressed at how you just swooped in and basically said mine." Delaney was done speaking before she had processed what had come out of her mouth. That's not what we wanted to say... We wanted to stay quiet, she thought. That Xenodrug that Praxus had given her was potent and fast acting. "How long does this Xenodrug last?"
Praxus smiled at Delaney, her thorny grin slightly predatory. "Until I give you the counter agent, little one." A vine gently rubbed Delaney's back. "Not to worry, I'm not going to do anything to take advantage of you." Praxus stopped at the threshold of a door and looked down at her unofficial ward. "I expect you to be on your best behavior; nothing less will do."
"Yes, Mistress." Delaney spoke, and before the words were out of her mouth, her eyes got wide. That is not what we meant, Delaney! She's not our owner... yet. Praxus' vines that held her all slightly wiggled. "Yes, Ma'am." Delaney squeaked out. Praxus smiled down at Delaney and then opened the door and entered the situation room.
There were several Affini around the large table in the center of the room, a hologram of Terra floating in the middle, with a smaller, apparently scale, hologram of the Everlasting Dawn floating in orbit around the planet. Numerous other Affini craft also orbited, with thousands of smaller holograms either going between the surface and various vessels or between vessels. Suddenly, a Terran voice could be heard over the din of the Affini speaking in their musical notes in the room.
"Delaney!"
Delaney looked around for the source of the voice, and when she found it, she wiggled because she wanted Praxus to put her down. Once she was on the ground, she ran toward the girl that shouted her name. Two very proud Affini watched the reunion.
"Allie..." Delaney reached up and wiped a tear away. "We thought you were dead..."
Allison glanced back at an Affini and smiled. "I almost was..." she turned back to face Delaney. "After the TCN had moved us to the CNS Triumph, we got captured by the ACS Everlasting Dawn. We can get together if my owner and your owner allow it." The Affini that she had looked back at came over and stood behind her.
"If your owner allows what, little princess?" The Affini asked. "And did you 'properly' introduce yourself? Some things have changed since the last time you met with your friend."
"Oh, sorry, Sir," Allison's voice was quiet, before she glanced up at Delaney again. "I'm Allison Trisetum, First Floret, She/her pronouns," She smiled. "And this massive oaf behind me is Captain Alvis Trisetum, Sixth Bloom, He/Him pronouns and is also my owner."
Delaney looked at the Captain and Allison before speaking. “I’m Delaney Wilson, independent, she/her pronouns and this is Praxus Rapiloni, Sixth Bloom, she/her pronouns.”
"Not a floret, yet," Allison glanced at Delaney and smiled. Her long brown hair was in braided pigtails, a style that she had rarely worn before now. "I'm not going to lie, becoming Master's floret was one of the best things that happened to me." She looked happy, happier than Delaney could recall having seen her in a long time.
"Let's go over into the conference room so we can take care of what we need to do," Captain Trisetum slipped a vine in the ring on Allison's collar and led the girl toward a door on the far side of the room. Praxus wrapped a vine around Delaney's wrist and followed the Captain into the conference room. Praxus closed the door. "Please have a seat, Miss Wilson."
Delaney looked at Praxus and then held both of her arms up, the universal signal for 'uppies'. Praxus picked up Delaney and sat her in the chair. We're getting to used to being picked up and carried, even though Mistress doesn't seem mind to keep picking us up... Praxus' vines withdrew, leaving her in a much taller than normal, but otherwise Terran sized chair. Allison was placed in a chair next to Delaney and the pigtailed girl looked at her former boss.
"First let me tell you that you're safe, no harm is going to come to you in the Compact." Allison reached over and laid a hand on Delaney's. "I already told Master what I know, Master is going to be asking questions to fill in the gaps in our knowledge."
Delaney glowered at Allison. "I don’t know what you told them, but I only have limited operations knowledge. I was in charge of the pool of reporters..." she replied, her voice flat. Praxus, who was standing behind her to ensure she didn’t fall out of the chair, gently rubbed her back.
“Little one,” Praxus said forcibly, vines coiling around Delaney’s body to emphasize just how small and vulnerable she really was. “We are giving you a chance to come clean and share any information you have in regards to the operations of the Terrestrial broadcast systems. Do not mistake this allowance for us not simply breaking your will and you would be powerless to resist. This is us giving you a chance to realize just how small you are.”
Delaney simply froze, suddenly terrified of what Praxus could do to her. She had been in the office when Praxus had subdued Jason and that had not been anything for the Affini. She suddenly realized what the years of conquest of the Affini had given them: a mindset that every other species in the universe was inferior and should be subjugated. “You will answer the Captain’s questions, you will do so truthfully, and you will not get a choice in that matter. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?”
Delaney, and the chair she was sitting in were picked up and spun to face Praxus, who now had flecks of gold, orange and red in her eyes. Praxus' tone and general demeanor were calm, but showed that she was not to be trifled with. "Yes, Mistress..." Delaney's voice was quiet, almost inaudible. It's over... Delaney thought to herself. We're going to get forcibly broken and domesticated and we will lose everything we have worked for...
Would Natalie, Kirsten and Lilly understand what had happened and why? Would it matter? Would they get domesticated for her actions? Would she get to have any say so in the terms of her own domestication? The chair was spun back around and now faced the table again. Captain Trisetum sat on the other side of the large mahogany table and he was looking at her expectantly, like he was waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry, Sir," Deference is the best course of action here, Delaney thought to herself. "If you asked a question, I missed it. Could you please repeat it?" Time to use those journalistic skills...
"Sure thing, little one," Captain Trisetum said, a grin on his face that showed teeth made of what looked like wood with a white veneer. "I asked how you were finding the Everlasting Dawn."
"Well, I've not seen much of her, but I hope to see some before we head back planet side, Sir." Delaney brushed some of her hair back behind her ear and glanced at Allison. "And I'd like to catch up with Allison. A lot has changed since we last saw each other." Allison smiled and Delaney turned her attention back toward the Captain.
“I hope that Praxus takes you to see some of the sights on board,” Captain Trisetum smiled. “And I’m sure that you and my dear Allison have a lot to catch up on." He pulled a datapad out of somewhere and looked at it. "My questions primarily involve the very rudimentary system that was set up in a feeble attempt to keep us from broadcasting anything into the terrestrial systems. Are they still online?"
Delaney looked at him for a few moments before speaking. "No." Why are we telling the truth? It's not like they are going to jail us or something... "They aren't. They were taken offline by my former boss, Jason, in an attempt to sabotage the system to prevent it from falling into your hands."
"I see..." Alvis skimmed something on his datapad with one set of his eight eyes that were all glowing a sapphire color. "Are you able to bring them back online or are all of the transmitters no longer functional?"
"I'm honestly not sure, Sir." Delaney knew the basics of how the system worked, but not the detailed internals of the shutdown procedure. Delaney looked at Alvis' forehead above his eyes as she couldn't decide which set to look at. "I have some documentation in my office in Mackinaw City, and I can look at it when we get back to the surface."
“Can you send any info you find to me, please?” Alvis smiled. “What are your thoughts on florethood?”
“Yes, Sir, I’ll send any information I am able to locate to you. In regards to the question about florethood,” Delaney paused to get her thoughts together, completely not expecting the question. “It’s strange to me. The idea of being someone’s property with no rights or autonomy is kinda repulsive; but on the other hand the thought of having someone ensure that all your needs are met and you're taken care of and not having to worry about those trivial things is appealing.“ She glanced at Allison, and then up at Praxus. “I’ve already been informed that I’m going to become a floret, and that it will happen sooner rather than later. I’m scared of what that future will bring for me, but at the same time, I’m tired. I’m tired of being the one that is always in charge; the one that decides all the things. Sometimes I just want to not be the one taking care of others."
"Signing my contract was the best thing I ever did." Allison provided her input, causing Delaney to turn and look at her.
"Yeah, but the other person that you really had to worry about was Eric..." Delaney responded. "I have Natalie, Kirsten and Lilly to consider in any decision that would take me out of being the one in charge."
"You've mentioned Eric before, princess," Alvis said, turning a pair of eyes toward Allison, and leaving two pair still looking at Delaney, who was still not used to this ability of the Affini. “What is his relation to you?"
"Eric was my boyfriend, Sir." Allison said quietly. "He was conscripted and presumed lost on the CNS Unstoppable Fury. That happened before we were transferred to the Triumph. I wish I knew what happened to him."
Alvis was typing on his datapad. "Let’s see," he tapped the screen some more. “Looks like the Unstoppable Fury was decompiled and the crew was offloaded to the Betariaisum. According to my quick search, there were over fifteen hundred sophonts aboard.” He tucked the datapad back into his body and smiled reassuringly at his floret. “It will take me a little bit of time, but I’ll find out what happened to him.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Allison’s voice was quiet and reserved. She looked at Delaney. “Maybe Sir could help you find out what happened to your brother!”
"I know what happened to her," Delaney said. "Praxus figured it out and told me. We've not communicated yet, but she's been in contact with her owner. Someday we’ll talk again and hopefully meet up.”
Allison’s head tipped to the side in confusion. “Her? I thought you had a brother…”
Delaney smiled. “Yes, her. Apparently after the Republic was captured and she was domesticated, she transitioned. Must have not felt safe enough to do so when she lived with our parents.”
“Given how they have treated your family, that tracks.” Allison said.
"Do you want to be a floret?" Alvis asked, apparently not directing the question at anyone in particular, but Delaney knew that there was only one person in the room that was eligible to be a floret. Everyone else was either an Affini or an already floret.
"I..." Delaney's brain did everything in its power to stop what came out of her mouth next as her words would set the speed at which her independence was taken from her. What are you doing, Delaney Marie Wilson? If you say what is in your head you will end up a floret even before you return to Terra. Once you say it, there will be no going back... Delaney took a breath.
"I want to be a floret. I want to be taken care of and not have to make decisions. I'm too scared to actually ask for it though; I've already been told I will become a floret, but I can't wait for that, I need it now. I need to be free of the stresses of... everything." Delaney slumped in the chair, Praxus' vine rubbing her back and Allison giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I don't know if that makes me weak or strong..." Delaney just looked down at the mahogany table.
"It makes you human." Allison said, smiling at Delaney. She turned to look at her owner and then at Praxus. "Um... If it's okay with the two of you, I'd like to take Delaney on a little bit of a walk." She glanced at Delaney. "I think she could do with some fresh air."
"I'm fine with that," Alvis looked at Allison. "Make sure you take your datapad, and be good.”
"I'm ok with it as well," Praxus lifted both girls out of their chairs, placing them on the floor. "I have some stuff I need to discuss with Alvis. Allison, if you could message me and find out if I'm still here or if I've returned to the hab after you two are done." She glanced down at Delaney. "I can give you the counter agent to the Class D, if you want."
"Yes, Miss Rapiloni." Allison executed a curtsy, causing the two Affini to both smile.
"May I please have the counter agent, Mistress?" Delaney's voice was reserved, as her brain was still trying to process what she had just admitted. A few seconds later, there was a prick in her arm and the warmth as a xenodrug flowed into her bloodstream.
"There you are petal," Praxus smiled, “Be good and call or message me if you need something.” She watched as Allison led Delaney through a door before turning to Alvis. "Are they going to be ok?"
As soon as they were outside of the administration building, Allison led the pair of Terran sophonts to a bench next to a large fountain. As soon as they were seated, Delaney just crumpled into Allison. "I..." Delaney's voice trailed off as she broke down and started sobbing. "I'm done... I can't. I can't go face Natalie or Kirsten or Lilly knowing that any moment could be my last as an unowned person..."
"Why?" Allison asked, her voice full of curiosity. "Is it because you're afraid that they will think less of you?"
"Yes." Delaney sobbed. "Are they going to understand what is happening?"
"Yes," Allison hugged Delaney tightly. "We will explain it to them, Like I said, I’m so much happier now that I am a floret. I've known your family for several years, and I can tell that you're tired. I remember you asking me to watch Kirsten and Lilly at one point, you asked me to watch them so that you and Nat could go have a kids free date night." Allison paused and gave Delaney a kiss on the top of the head, an action that Delaney had done countless times to Kirsten and Lilly. "You've always watched out for me in the same way that you watch out for your family. I've been part of your family ever since that day. It's ok to let someone else take care of you. I know it's hard; I was so independent, so hard headed that I couldn't rely on anyone else to help me when I needed it and when I finally let someone in, I realized how much easier it is. Natalie may be your wife, but she also gets treated like one of your little ones." Delaney sobbed and then, suddenly started laughing.
"I'm going to become the first to become broccoli..." Delaney continued giggling, the giggles finally giving way to her rolling in the grass in front of the bench holding her sides. After a little bit, her laughing stopped and she sat up and looked at Allison. "You know, Mistress has already said something about keeping me in skirts and dresses. I don't know how to feel about that."
Allison looked at Delaney and tipped her head. "What do you mean that you're going to be the first to become broccoli? She wants to keep you in skirts and dresses? I'm glad that Master hasn't decided to do that with me. It's not uncommon for an Affini to pick out everything about their florets clothing. The dresses are called companion dresses after all."
"Kirsten made a comment on the way up from the surface that we were all going to become broccoli, of course she means florets. Mr Trisetum lets you pick out your own clothes?" Delaney asked, rolling over onto her stomach on the grass and just taking in what she could see from her present vantage point. She could see several hab rings, the central core of the Everlasting Dawn which acted like the light of Sol, she could see the direction of the hab unit and if she squinted, she thought she could make out the Nepeta in the hanger bay. "I wonder how common that is..." Delaney mused aloud. "I would imagine that most of the Affini want to control everything about their floret’s lives."
"Some of my friends haven't picked out a single thing they've worn or eaten or really done since they became florets." Allison said. "But that's how they and their owners want it." Allison smiled down at Delaney who was looking up at her from the grass.
"What's it like?" Delaney asked.
"Hmm?" Allison said, she wasn't clear what Delaney was actually referring to.
"Being a floret, not having any rights, your collar. All of it." Delaney sat up and looked at Allison expectantly.
"Well," Allison said, sliding off the bench to join Delaney on the grass. "It's everything that I was missing before I became a floret. Eric tried so hard to be the kind of person I needed, but he never quite understood what I needed. I needed someone to completely take care of me so that I didn't have to make decisions or be responsible for much of anything." She paused, and smiled as a comet shot across the sky. "I am taken care if in a way that is so much more than I have ever been in my life. I get to enjoy my life, I get to do my writing and drawing and I get to do it all the time. I only accompany Master when he wants me to or if he wants to show me off. I'm his most prized possession, I am treated like a princess, scratch that I’m a princess. I get what I want and I am spoiled in ways that I could never be as an independent.”
Allison’s hand reached up to touch her collar. The collar was a one inch tall, eighth inch thick metal band that looked like it was forged around her neck in one piece. It had intricate carvings of flowers, all set with colored stones in their centers. When the light hit it just right, it would appear to shimmer, each of the stones reflecting differently than the ones on either side. It looked very much like a crown would, except around the neck. “Master designed this collar especially for me and it was given to me after my implant surgery. It’s not come off since that day.” There was a sigh that escaped her lips that was one of contentment. It seemed that she was happy with her lot in life now.
Delaney’s head tipped to the left in confusion. "What implant?"
"Um..." Allison paused, trying to figure out the best way to explain the implant to Delaney. “Has Miss Rapiloni not mentioned the implant to you yet?”
"No..." Delaney looked at her friend and raised an eyebrow.
"Let me send her a message and find out if she wants me to explain it or if she wants to be the one to explain it." Allison pulled her comm unit out of a pocket in her dress and tapped out a message on it. "I will tell you that it's part of what keeps me healthy, and the Affini consider it their crowning Xenotech achievement."
Praxus looked out the window and down at her future floret. "Are you sure about this?" Alvis asked.
"I've never been more sure of any thing, Alvis." Praxus said, glancing over as Alvis came up next to her. "This is what I wanted when Allison told us about Delaney and her little family.” The pair looked out the window.
“How long until you have the entire family as pets?” Alvis asked, vines intertwining with Praxus’ vines.
“Once I get Delaney, I suspect the rest will fall in a matter of weeks. She’s done so good at making them dependent on her; just need to transfer that dependence to one of us instead of her.”
“Do you think she’s going to want to keep working once she’s your floret?” he asked, his voice quiet. "Allison misses you."
"I doubt it. I don't think Natalie will either; she's had some issues with some of her coworkers. Not that it will matter, the intelligence community is not really needed any more." Praxus looked at Alvis. "Hopefully, I will be able to convince them to come live aboard the ship, and these florets can be together."
"Hope so..." Alvis said. "How would you feel about Allison and I coming by for dinner tonight with your part of the group?"
"Sounds good to me," Praxus glanced at Alvis with all but a pair of her eyes, those were trained on the florets down below. "If you could send me a message and let me know if Allison wants something other than chicken nuggets, Otherwise, I guess we will see you around seven?"
"Works for me..." Alvis said. "I'm going to get back to it, if you grab Delaney on your way out, give Allison the option of coming with you or coming back up to me. If she goes with you, please let me know." And with that parting comment, he turned and left the room. Praxus followed him out and looked around the command center before heading to the elevator and down stairs.
Praxus, Allison and Delaney boarded the tram and headed back toward the hab unit. “I’m so happy that I get to spend time with you again. I’ve missed you a bunch.”
“Well,” Praxus chuckled, jiggling the two sophonts that sat in her lap. “Given that you are kind of like connivents, you will be spending a lot of time together.”
Delaney looked up at Praxus. “Mistress, What is a connivent?”
“A connivent is two or more florets that are owned by a single Affini.” Praxus said, “In our case, because Alvis is my partner, he is part of the polycule, and that makes Allison a connivent.”
“Is Allie a connivent to Nat, Kirsten and Lilly as well?” Delaney asked, joining hands with Allison.
“Maybe, Maybe not.” Praxus said. “It really depends on how we do the paperwork. If I am listed as an owner for them, then yes, she will be their connivent.” She smiled down at the two Terrans in her lap.”I’m a co-owner of Allie with Alvis, which is why you two will be connivients.”
“Mistress, what is this implant that Allison told me about?” Delaney asked, figuring it was safe to as they were the only folks on the tram.
"I guess I should go see Veloum, I do need to get an implant started for you..." Praxus pulled her datapad out and sent a message. "As for what it is: It is our crowning Biotechnological achievement. Once implanted and integrated within your body it will allow me and your vets much better insight into the workings of your body. It can administer Xenodrugs, it will assist in healing, and it will bring us closer together."
"I mean, we are a ring away from Master and I can still feel him." A smile crossed her face, "and I can tell he knows I was thinking of him."
"We can also do really neat things like link them so that you can receive the training that Allison has, and once you're trained the way I want you to be, we can use your implant to impart that training on Natalie and the others if we need to." Praxus smiled. It's something that we will be talking about tonight."
Five Affini, each with a Terran in their lap sat around a large table in what Delaney assumed was the dining room. She had made this guess because it was behind a door located off of the kitchen in the hab.
Delaney, Natalie, Kirsten and Lilly were all watching as Alvis fed Allison, none of the taps, swirls and gestures going unnoticed. “What is he doing?” Kirsten asked, watching as a vineful of food made its way to Allison’s mouth.
“Feeding her,” Delaney said. “Each tap, gesture and movement means something. I’m going to try to guess what each is and tell you all as we go.” One of Alvis’s vines tapped Allison’s cheek, and Delaney watched as her mouth opened. “A tap on the cheek must mean to open your mouth.” The vine that held the medium rare steak that was perfectly cooked placed the small piece on Allison’s tongue. She sat there, mouth open until a second tap on the cheek, when she closed her mouth. “A second tap on the cheek must mean that she can close her mouth." Allison sat there, just looking at Delaney, her eyes smiling. They watched as a vine reached up and tapped Allison on the chin and she started to chew. "A tap on the chin must mean to chew; and I'm guessing there is some signal to swallow." A few seconds later, a vine gently ran vertically down Allison's throat, causing her to swallow. "Ah there it is... The stroke on the throat means to swallow."
"How did you figure all of that out, Mommy?" Lilly's voice came from across the table.
"By watching," Delaney replied, sticking a forkful of spaghetti in her mouth. "I mean, it's not that hard to figure out..." Delaney glanced at her hand as a vine removed the fork, and then different vines lowered her hands to her lap, wrapping them to keep them in place in the small humans lap. Delaney looked at her hands as she experimentally tried to free them.
"And now, you get to experience it," Praxus said, a humorous tone in her voice, causing Delaney to turn and look up at her.
"Why?" Delaney asked, her mouth still full of spaghetti.
“You just showed me that you need help with eating…” ” Praxus replied, a chuckle in her voice. "But I will feed you so that we can finish up; we have some things to discuss tonight."
Natalie was the first to speak, waiting until after she had chewed and swallowed her food; She had apparently learned her lesson "What do the two of you have to discuss?" She looked from Delaney to Praxus back to Delaney.
Delaney was aware that everyone around the table was looking at her and Praxus. "Uh..."
"Go on, petal," Praxus replied. "You can tell them what you told me earlier today when we were with the Captain." Delaney blushed, and she tried to move her hands to hide her face; her wrists were still held firm by the vines.
Delaney was aware that she was blushing, and she knew that the blush was growing every second that passed. "I admitted that I want to be a floret when we were in with Captain Trisetum. Now, to be fair I was give some Xenodrugs so I'm not sure if it was truthful or if it was something in the drugs that made me say it."
"Given that it was a Class D," Captain Trisetum's voice floated over from the head of the table. "It wasn't the drug talking... It was the truth."
"What's a Class D, and why did Delaney get that?" Natalie asked; she sounded confused.
"A Class D is a Xenodrug that makes the person that receives it tell the truth, regardless of if they wanted to or not. Delaney had some information regarding the terrestrial broadcasting systems that I wanted and I wanted it to come out truthful." Alvis said, feeding Allison another bite. Allison was eating steak, Lilly and Kirsten had opted for chicken nuggets; Natalie also had had chosen spaghetti. Turns out that when you have a device that can create anything you want at will, it's easy to make different things for every one.
"Wait, so I could ask Delaney anything and she would tell the truth?" Natalie asked.
"If she were still under the influence of the D's, yes." Praxus replied. "However at this time, she's not." Another bite of spaghetti was fed to Delaney. "But, it is not your place to try to trip her up by asking her questions when she is under the influence of Class D's, lest you find out what it's like to be in her shoes and not be able to do anything except tell the truth."
"So what happens now?" Lilly asked. "Is she still going to be our mommy?"
"Yes," Praxus replied. "She is going to still be your mommy and she is going to remain that way unless she decides otherwise." Praxus smiled a thorny smile. "She just has a lot of vines to help her manage things now."
"Otay" Lilly said, a chicken nugget floating on a vine in front of her. She smiled as it entered her mouth and she chewed.
"But we're not florets..." Natalie objected.
"Not yet," Nova intoned, a forkful of spaghetti hanging in front of Natalie's face. As it moved closer, Natalie instinctively opened her mouth to receive the spaghetti, but it just hung in the same spot until Natalie closed her mouth and pouted. A few seconds after she had closed her mouth, a vine tapped her on the cheek and the spaghetti went in her mouth as soon as she opened it. Her cheek was tapped again and her mouth closed, trapping the spaghetti as the fork withdrew.
Natalie sat there, mouth watering around a very tasty bite of spaghetti as she waited for the signal to chew. After what felt like an eternity there was a tap on her chin and then eventually a tap on her neck and she finally swallowed. "Good Girl."
"So what happens next?" Natalie asked. The ten of them had retired to the large couches that sat in the main part of the hab. Of the Terrans, only Allison, Delaney and Natalie were awake, and all five Affini sat there, answering questions. Nova’s vines gently rubbed Natalie’s back as she spoke.
"So the next step for Praxus and Delaney will be for them to sit down together and negotiate the terms of Delaney's contract." Nova said. "It's something that all four of you will eventually sit down and do. Although I think Lilly and Kirsten will need help."
"How will it work with them?" Delaney asked. “I mean, they are legally old enough to sign a document, but understanding that document is a different thing entirely.”
“If it is necessary, they will have one of the two, if not both of you, helping them to understand what is occurring.” Praxus replied, her voice musical and echoing slightly around the room. The sound was both strange and comforting to Delaney. Some time within the next few days she was going to be the literal property of the Affini whose vines she currently sat in. Her last act as a free woman, one who had fought tooth and nail, one who had fought up each rung of the ladder to get where she was now, would be to sign her life away. It was a thought that both excited and terrified her, but she was tired. Tired of being the one that had to worry about everything. Tired of fighting.
She wasn’t giving up, she was simply giving the control to a being that had already proven to be more than capable of taking care of her, and her family. She had done her part, it was time to let someone else do the hard part.
Down on Terra, Aspen was waking up from a xenodrug filled sleep. The last twenty four hours had been a whirlwind of activity for the poor sophont. Their eyes were wandering around the room, looking for their ~~tormenter~~ Mistress. Their eyes found her, quietly sitting in the corner, looking at something on her datapad.
She glanced up as Aspen looked around. "Ah good," she said, sliding a datapad across the room with a vine, one that was in slightly smaller and more Terran sized. It looked more robust than anything the Accord had ever produced. The screen was lit, and it looked like it had some kind of a contract on it. The text was in Terran Standard and Aspen had no trouble reading the text on the screen.
Domestication Contract of Aspen Ringgold, First Floret
- Above all else, you, Aspen must obey your Guardian, Incarvella Ringgold, Seventh Bloom in all things. This is for your safety, wellbeing and care.
- Your Guardian, Incarvella Ringgold, Seventh Bloom owns you. You are her property. You do not have political rights in the Affini Compact.
- You do have a guarantee of your wellbeing, as described in § 57 of the Human Domestication Treaty.
- This guarantee of wellbeing does not preclude your Guardian from disciplining you, as outlined in § 61 of the Human Domestication Treaty.
- As the Property of your Guardian, she may add, remove, or modify the conditions of your wardship at any time for any reason within the limits established by the Human Domestication Treaty.
- Your full name Aspen Ringgold, First Floret from this moment forward.
Additional terms that your Guardian, Incarvella Ringgold, Seventh Bloom has stipulated.
- It is unbecoming for pets to swear. You must limit your language as such.
Sign here to acknowledge your understanding and acceptance of these terms.
A blank line sat at the bottom of the document; awaiting a signature. Aspen just looked at Incarvella.
"I'll refuse..." They said, simply. "I am,” a pause filled the air as they tried to remember what their name was; nothing came to them. “A citizen of the Terran Accord and I reject your authority and this sham contract." Incarvella looked bemused; she was going to have so much fun doing this next part.
"You're just going to make it harder on yourself, Aspen." Incarvella said, her voice gentle, and harsh all at the same time. It echoed around the room and within Aspen's head.
“You can’t get away with –” Aspen shouted, thrashing on the bed. A vine flashed across the room before wrapping around Aspen's ankle and poking him in the leg. "Ow! Fuck! You can't get away --" they repeated, their voice cutting off as a Xenodrug was injected into their leg and they fell asleep again.
"Guess we will deal with the contract another day." Incarvella sighed, before gently stroking her florets cheek with a vine. "Sleep well, little one. You'll come around soon... I can't wait to give you the universe." and with that, she left the room, the lights dimming behind her.