Captive (Among Us Logic)

The Gnome

Captain

The Ald set his cage down in the storage hold of their ratty little ship. Like the Skeld, a large pile of boxes filled the room and several exits to other rooms branched off from it. Unlike the Skeld, it was poorly lit and smelled like must. Not to mention that, instead of food supplies and scientific tools, this Storage was full of stolen equipment and animals in cages. The strange creatures yelped and howled. Captain glared at his kidnapper.

"What are you going to do with us?"

They didn't answer.

"I know you can understand me," the white Bean went on. "I speak Galactic and so do you. I may be dumb about a lot of things, but this isn't one of them."

"If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut," the Ald retorted. "Or you'll end up like them."

The alien gestured at another cage a few feet away from Captain. Once his eye adjusted to the dark, he noticed the outline of a Bean inside it, a shivering and crying Bean with dirty fur. They tried to say something to him, but no words--in either Standard Galactic or Bean language--came out. Captain looked at them quizzically, then back at the Ald.

"Hey buddy?" he chirped at the other Bean. "What's going on here?"

The other Bean didn't say anything. All that came out of its mouth was a dry squeaking noise. A few more Alder entered the cargo hold, examining the piles of swiped goods from the Skeld. They said things like "nice haul" and "what did you find?"

"Nabbed a couple critters on this run," the kidnapper told them. "Brought down a MIRA ship and--"

Captain held on to the hope that at least some of his friends were on this ship too. He started calling out their names, in his own language so hopefully the Alder couldn't tell.

"Veteran! Ninja! Player! Mother! Gnome! Where are you?" He banged his paws against the bars.

"...Including one really annoying thing," the Ald muttered in the middle of its explanation. "Hold on a second."

The purple alien sprung the lock on Captain's cage, grabbed a fistful of his fur, and pulled him out. Holding him by a paw, it took out a metal band. Captain protested, but the alien snapped the band around his ankle. It locked into place with a very secure-sounding click.

"What is that thing?" he demanded.

"Fuck around and find out," the Ald retorted before stuffing him back in the cage. "And while you're at it, stop mouthing off. It won't turn out well for you."

"Hey boss, did it just speak?" another Ald asked. "In Galactic?"

"Uh, no," the other said quickly. "I was kind of talking to myself, imagining what it's thinking. Anyway, I'm thinking from here we should go to Theron-9 and--"

The door to the cargo hold sliced open and in walked yet another Ald. This one stood a few inches shorter than the others and had slim shoulders. Captain guessed she was a woman; she mostly confirmed it when she spoke in a smooth contralto.

"Gentlemen, we are driving too close to an occupied astro-zone," she said to her peers. "I picked up radio chatter from the nearby craft."

"What did they say, Aurelia?"

"They're government cruisers. From the United Galactic Alliance. From what I heard, they're doing random checks on passing ships."

"Dammit," said one of the other Alder. "Tell Omnicron to change courses. Avoid the government stooges. MIRA's still part of the Alliance, isn't it? Last thing we want is for their goons to find out we stole their shit."