Chapter 4: Capitulation
“You can call me Mistress,” Lavandula chuckled. “You can also call me Lavi, Lavandula, Ma’am; as long as your respectful, I am good.”
“Yes, Mistress.” Victoria said, snuggling tighter into the vines that surrounded her. She felt at peace, and that was a new feeling to her. “I have a question…”
‘What’s your question?” Vines stroked Victoria’s long blonde hair.
“Since I know that you hunted down Proxima 20 looking for me,” Victoria paused and steadied her voice. “What’s going to happen to the others?“
“The other nine of your compatriots?” Lavandula asked.
Victoria bit her lower lip as a blush started to form. “Yes, Ma’am.”
There was a chuckle from the Affini, whose eyes started to show gold specks. “Everyone will be given a wardship, and any that can prove to the Affini that is overseeing them, as well as the committee may possibly remain independent. Some may be, like you, selected for domestication based on events in their past. We want every sophont to be happy and safe in the Compact. Is there one person in particular that you’re curious about?”
Victoria blushed and tried to hide her face in Lavandula’s vines. A different set of vines lifted her chin so that the blush was visible. “Yes, Mistress…” Victoria said quietly.
“Who might this person be?” Lavandula asked, a chuckle escaping again; trying to pull the information out of the girl could be as easy as using hypnosis, but this was more fun.
Victoria just nodded. “I’m curious about my friend, Emma. She’s the only one on the station that I give a hoot about. No one else treated me like a human…”
“Would you like to see her?” Lavandula asked, vines tapping away at her datapad. “Looks like she’s not been assigned to anyone for a wardship yet.”
“I would like to see her, yes.” Victoria said. Lavandula smiled and watched as Victoria let out a sigh of relief. She had been worried that a different Affini might have claimed her and that Victoria would never get to see Emma again. It appeared that there was more to this request than met the vine.
“Would you like to go to the infirmary to see her, or would you like to have her brought here?” Lavandula tapped on her datapad while simultaneously
“Um…” Victoria said, quietly. “You’re the one in charge, Mistress.”
Lavandula chuckled, this time a deeper sound than before, more of a rumble. "Just because I’m the one in charge,” Lavandula said, stroking Victoria’s hair with a set of vines. “That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to take your wishes into consideration. Would you like to go see her or have her come here?”
“Can we go see her?” Victoria said, She wanted to get out of the hab; it had been the only thing she had seen since she had awoken. She was getting restless in the large, but very open living space.
“Let me put in a request to see what the folks in the infirmary say…” While she was talking, she was also tapping away on her datapad. “While we wait for them to respond, let’s get you started on your Class G’s… Your file showed that you don’t really care for needles, but I can administer them via injection, aerosolized, or a liquid; which would you prefer?”
“Well, I’m not really fond of needles, but I know you gave me a shot of something after the bath to bring me back up, kind of like an antidote,” Victoria glanced up at Lavandula. “I didn’t mind that, despite not liking needles. Yours was… gentle. Can I try it by injection?” Nothing was said and then Victoria felt a prick in the back of her left arm, and then it was gone.
“There you go, your Class E and Class G.” Lavandula said as her datapad dinged.
Victoria tried to look at the injection site on the back of her arm. “That was easy and there is no pain around the injection site like there is whenever the Terrans would give a shot.” Victoria said, her voice in awe.
“Good girl on taking the injection…” Lavandula stroked Victoria’s hair and skimmed what was sent to her. “Looks like we can go see Emma, But I need to do a few things first. Will you be ok if I go in my office for a few minutes?”
“Yes, Mistress…” Victoria said. “I’ll just sit here and play on my data pad.” She pulled the pad out and sat it in her lap, tapping on it absently. She found herself looking at clothes pretty quickly. She didn’t even notice Lavandula get up and go into her office.
Lavandula glided into her office where she pulled up Emma’s intake file and she skimmed it. It was a little less detailed than Victoria’s file was, but it was still detailed. There were some notes from the head of the station at Proxima 20 about a possible clandestine relationship between Emma and Victoria. Nothing came of it other than some back room talk and it was never proven, and apparently never discussed with either of them, at least officially. No wonder Victoria was concerned about Emma: they were possibly pinnates. Digging further, she pulled up their files from the data from the OCNI, and sure enough, when they took leave, they often took leave together. The head of the station had finally given in and assigned them to the same quarters; his note indicated that it was partially because they were the only two people on the station that were female, and that there would be less sneaking around if they just bunked together.
Lavandula pulled the form to file a Notice of Intent to Domesticate and filled it out. She signed it, but didn’t file it with the clerk. She had to see if the two girls were pinnates first. If they were, she would file the Notice so that the two of them would be together. She sent another message to the infirmary, explaining her suspicion and requesting a datapad that would allow her to see Emma’s vital signs when the two girls were together. She pulled up Victoria’s current readings and saw that the girl was relaxed. Looking at the readings, Victoria was relaxed; something that Lavandula had only seen a few times since the girl had been in her care. Lavandula pulled up the app that let her scan the document and made a digital copy. If they were Pinnates, she would file the document from the infirmary. Digital copies would work until she could deliver the paper copy to the clerk’s office. The Compact still used a lot of paper, but they could also create it without it being an environmental issue. Her data pad dinged and she glanced at the message that had come in. She acknowledged the message and then stood, walking back out into the living room.
When she came out of her office, Victoria was just looking at her datapad, not a care in the world; she finally glanced up at Lavandula.
“I’m ready to go whenever you are, little one.” Lavandula’s sing-song voice rang from somewhere within the mass of vines that made up the Affini.
Victoria blushed at being called ‘little one’ and slid off the couch. Once she was on the floor, she straightened her dress. “I’m going to need something to carry my datapad…” Victoria held the datapad up to emphasize it.
“No one said you had to carry it with you when we leave…” Lavandula chuckled. “We could compile you a purse if you wanted, or I could carry your datapad.”
“It is the same one that I’ve had forever, and it’s always traveled with me…” Victoria paused. “I don’t see a reason to stop that now, dress or no dress…” She tucked the datapad next to her body, her fingers holding on to it. “I’m ready.”
“If you want me to carry the datapad or you, just let me know…” Lavandula said, reaching a vine out and taking the cuff that was on Victoria's left wrist. Victoria glanced down at the vine and then up at Lavandula.
“I thought the leash was supposed to go to the collar…” Victoria said, her gaze returning to the leash. “I’m honestly surprised that there isn’t a way to monitor ones health through the collar and cuffs…” Victoria said offhandedly.
“Who said they didn’t?” Lavandula chuckled, leading Victoria toward the door. The door hissed slightly as it opened; revealing… what looked like a street. Victoria stopped, causing the leash to go taught and Lavandula to turn and look at Victoria who was still trying to process this.
“I…” Victoria's voice trailed off as she looked around. Flowers were everywhere, the hab units that surrounded Lavandula’s hab were massive; she could look up and see the vast expanse of space as well as the occasional edge of a different ring of the Scorpiris. “I thought we were on a ship? This looks like we’re on a planet…”
“We are on a ship…” Lavandula said, her whole body turning to look at Victoria. “The Scorpiris is five of your kilometers long and four kilometers wide when it’s all closed up, like it is now. When it is open, it is eight kilometers wide.” She paused for effect. “And the rings all spin just a bit to give gravity…” Victoria just looked dumbfounded.
“Say, what?” Victoria stammered. She was not believing what she was hearing. The Scorpiris was how big?
“Yes, this ship is massive…” Lavandula chuckled. “Come on, or we will be back in the orbit of Mars before we get there…” Lavandula gave a gentle tug on the vine that was the leash and led Victoria toward where the infirmary was.
“You all can travel at faster than light speeds…” Victoria said, furrowing her brow. “That’s not fair…” She glanced around as they passed a shop on the corner that looked like it sold ice cream. “Ice cream?”
Lavandula chuckled. “Life isn’t fair, little one…” Lavandula reached down and stroked Victoria’s cheek. “Yes, ice cream… The floret that takes care of the shop has some of the best flavors on this ring, I’ve been told.”
“Can we go there sometime? It’s be forever since I had real ice cream…” Victoria asked as Lavandula led her to an elevator. “I shouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point…”
“No, no you really shouldn’t…” Lavandula chuckled, stepping into the elevator, and pulling Victoria along with her. Once they were both in the elevator and situated, Lavandula pressed a button and off they went… Victoria was surprised by two things: the first being how smooth the elevator was moving and the second being the fact that they traveled laterally and then vertically. Lavandula chuckled as she watched Victoria’s face go from surprise to pressed up against the glass, watching things fly by.
The elevator seemed like it wasn’t following any sort of a track or anything it just seemed to be… floating in space. “How…” Victoria said, confused.
“I think the closest thing that you Terrans have is something called MagLev…” Lavandula said, chuckling, causing all of her vines to wiggle. ‘Ours is similar, but without the magnetic part. It would be rather troublesome with the collars that almost all of the florets wear…”
“Like this one,” Victoria pointed at the collar around her neck. “Or the cuffs?”
“Yep…” Lavandula said, as the elevator started to move laterally again. “It would probably actually cause harm to some sophonts, so we had to work around it. This is far more efficient…” The elevator slowed to a stop and the pair of them got off, causing Victoria to look around.
The view was very similar to the one that they started with, only this time instead of habs, it looked like offices and such; the air was thicker too. “Thicker air?”
“Yes, little one. I am actually surprised you noticed…” Lavandula said, “I need to swing by my office and pick up some stuff. There are some documents that we decrypted that I need to look at.” She walked up to a door and opened it. Inside, it resembled a few cubbyholes that had been on Proxmia 20 in the monitoring room. The analysis rooms were set up similarly, but each one only had two people. The lights in the office were dim and no one else was in the room. The plant walked up to a desk and picked up a stack of paper and placed it inside of her body. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Victoria looking around, amazed at what all was in the room. Finally the girl’s eyes stopped on the pet bed that was off to the left of Lavandula’s desk. It was a pastel purple and was large enough for at least two Terrans to curl up in. It looked plush and Victoria found herself what it would be like to curl up in it. “Do you like it, little one?” Lavandula’s voice rang out and echoed slightly in the empty office.
“I do…” Victoria said, blushing and looking away from “I kinda want to lay down in it. Is this so you can bring me to work with you?”
“It is…” Lavandula said excitedly. “It may take a little while before I am able to, but I would love for you to meet my coworkers and their florets.” Lavandula smiled down at Victoria. There was no malice in the smile, it was friendly and it appeared that she really did want to take Victoria with her to work. “I, honestly, didn’t know what you would make of the pet bed, but I am glad to see that you want to be able to lay in it.”
"Can we get one for the hab?" Victoria asked, still eyeing the pet bed under the desk.
"Go on," Lavandula said. "Go lay in it... I can see that you want to..." She released the vine that was holding on to Victoria's cuff and watched as Victoria walked over to the pet bed and curled up in it. A few moments later, there was the sound of steady breathing of the girl; she had fallen asleep.
Since Victoria had fallen asleep, Lavandula moved over to her desk and opened the terminal on the computer and started going through some stuff that was waiting on her. One of the things was from the vet that had given Victoria the once over after she had been brought aboard. She wanted to know how Victoria was doing. Lavandula replied to the message and gave a quick update on her wards status; As well as a request for information as to how Emma was doing. Based on the reports from the person in charge of the Proxmia 20 station, it would be unwise to separate Victoria and Emma. She tapped a few things on the computer and pulled up a listing of where the various people had been located. Sure enough, Victoria and Emma had been found, not only in the same room, but in the same bunk. Lavandula reached down and stroked the sleeping girls form. Victoria slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Lavandula. "Hi, sleepyhead..."
"This bed is rather comfortable... " Victoria said, her voice trailing off. She looked confused, like she had just processed what she said. "I..."
Lavandula chuckled "Welcome to being a pet..."
"But I'm..." Victoria looked down at the cuffs that she was wearing, and then back up at Lavandula. “Never mind…” She knew that she didn’t stand a chance with the argument right this second…
“But you are not what, little one?” Lavandula sang, her voice quietly echoing in the room.
“A pet…” Victoria said… She knew that while she was not a pet at this exact moment, it was the only outcome for her. Any freedom she had was simply an illusion. She knew that Lavandula could simply break her if she wanted; Lavandula wanted her to come willingly. Being a pet and being taken care of was the best case scenario for Victoria; she had twenty plus years demonstrating that she was not really able to take care of herself. The documentation that Lavandula already had proven that. “At least, not yet…” She smiled up at Lavandula.
“You are a floret in all but name at this point…” Lavandula said. “I just do not have my collar on you yet…” A vine slithered over and just kinda hung in front of Victoria. “We need to get heading to the infirmary, come along, little one.” Lavandula used the vine to help Victoria to her feet and then gently led her out of the office and back into the corridor. “Once everything is stable you will be able to come with me during the day.” Lavandula stopped just outside of the elevator. “I have a question for you, Victoria.”
“Yes, Mistress?” Victoria said, her voice demure. She glanced up at Lavandula, and gave a slight smile.
“How would you feel if I filed a Notice of Intent to Domesticate on Emma?” Lavandula asked.
Victoria watched as Lavandula’s vines twitched in a way that she would consider as showing nervousness before tilting her head to the side confused. “What is a Notice of Intent to Domesticate?”
“Well,” Lavandula shifted, trying to think of the best way to describe the Notice of Intent. It was one of the more common forms that got filed with the clerk. “It is basically a document stating that if a sophont either volunteers for or is found to need to be domesticated for their own good, the Affini that filed the notice gets first choice on that sophont. Based on the notes from the person in charge of the station you two were in a relationship, meaning you are pinnates. I want to file the notice in an attempt to keep you together.”
“Pinnates?” Victoria’s head tipped the other direction. Lavandula reached up with vines to straighten it on the girl’s shoulders.
“Do that too much and your head will fall off…” Lavandula chuckled, her voice echoing in the empty space. “Pinnates are special, they are usually a pair, sometimes more, of florets that should not be separated for moral or ethical reasons. One such reason would be if the florets are romantically involved.” Lavandula watched as Victoria blushed. “I don’t want to take the chance of her getting snatched by someone else.I can tell that you two are most likely Pinnates based on your description of her and the fact that the two of you were removed from the station and were in the same bed…”
“I…” Victoria stammered. “I would be OK with that.” She glanced at her feet, and then back up at Lavandula. “I don’t want to lose her, I love her…”
“Well, this way, you will not.” Lavandula said. “Let’s swing by the clerk’s office on the way to the infirmary so I can drop the paperwork off”
“Do you have to file a Notice of Intent for me?” Victoria asked. “I don’t really want to belong to anyone else...”
“I already did…” Lavandula glanced down at Victoria. “I get dibs on you regardless because you’re my ward.” She pushed the button for the elevator. “But you are spoken for…”
The Clerk’s office was a large room that had a few Affini and their florets working in. The florets were either doing things to assist their Affini, like acting as a receptionist or a runner, moving stacks of paper to and fro; at least one was curled up in a pet bed sleeping. The floret at the desk looked up and smiled. “Good afternoon, Miss Trell, she said. Victoria wouldn't have been surprised if the girl had stood and curtsied. “You don’t have your normal stack of stuff, so I’m guessing this is a personal matter.”
“It is indeed, Gabby…” Lavandula’s voice sang. “I need to file a notice of intent on a sophont.” Lavandula reached inside of her mass of vines and pulled out the single page form and handed it to the girl named Gabby. Gabby looked at the form and then at Victoria.
“You’re a very special young lady, Emma,” Gabby said.
“This isn’t Emma…” Lavandula chuckled. “This is Victoria Peters, soon to be Victoria Trell, First Floret… Emma Wilson is very likely Victoria’s pinnate. The squeal that Gabby made caused the Affini that were in the room to all turn and look. “I just want to make sure that when Emma comes up for a wardship, I get her…”
“Pinnates!” Gabby gushed. Victoria noticed that everyone seemed enthralled by the idea of a set of pinnates. "You'll have to bring her by at some point..."
"I will, Gabby..." Lavandula said. "But we need to be heading to the infirmary..."
The trip to the infirmary didn't take much time at all as it was on the deck below where the clerk’s office was located. As they walked up to the door Lavandula stopped and turned to Victoria. "I know that you have read section 57 of the treaty, which guarantees your well being; I do not think you've read Section 61, which covers discipline. Please be on your best behavior..." And with that, she pushed open the door to the infirmary and the pair entered what looked like a normal hospital waiting room.