The Beast

The Beast - Part 12

He was heading to his room when Tibi crossed his way, happily surprised he asked: "Why did you choose the Hyee in my room?"

"Aina chose the hostage and she was very clear about not telling you, I can't say more."

"Come on, give me something to tell her." Gabriel was practically begging

"Can't talk about it, just ask Aina if you want to know more." Tibi turned into a room and closed the door behind her. Talking to Aina could enlighten him but if she didn't want to tell him, she wouldn't, plus he would rather talk to anybody else than Aina, so he walked to his room.

Entering he saw the hyee freeze at his sight, and not wanting to scare her, he mimicked her behavior. This staredown fell apart when she started to talk:"Did I do wrong? Are you here to kill me?" It suddenly hit him, he was still wearing the suit. She couldn't recognize him and thought he was another crewmember. He steadily removed the helmet off his head and showed his hands: "It's me please, don't panic. They gave me a suit." He turned his attention to removing the suit, dropping the helmet in the process, the bang it made hitting the floor made the hyee flinch but he didn't notice in his struggle. He turned back to her when he was unable to separate the two upper body plates: "Two things. First, what do I call you, 'The Hyee' can't be what you want to be called. Secondly, can you give me a hand?"

"Z-Zuski, my name is Zuski." she walked up to him and touched his suit with two fingers, causing all parts to fall off him, "Where do you come from? This suit's locking mechanism is standardized all around the galaxy." Gabriel was torn, trust doesn't work without honesty but the earth existing was his last secret.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, especially because I am your gift."

"You are not a gift, objects are gifts you are a person, why can't anyone just get that people aren't things" Gabriel was infuriated about the casual way everybody talked about slavery.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I'll try to be better." Zuski was kneeling on the floor. The sight of her turned all initial anger into sadness, deep sadness. How much does someone suffer before ending up totally broken?

He helped her up, trying to make clear how he felt: "I come from a place that outlawed slavery a long time ago. Seeing such a pathetic practice disgusts me but I am not angry at you, there is nothing you could have done. The captain, Aina, put a bomb inside me leaving me no other choice than to obey her commands, you are an attempt to gain my loyalty b-"

Zuski cut him off: "She told me that I'd face a worse fate than the other prisoners if I didn't try everything in my power to be a good gift, I'm scared of what she means by that." Gabriel saw the fear in her eyes.

"I will tell her that you are the best gift possible but please stop talking about yourself as an object in the future." His fate was currently in Aina's hands but he could still give his best trying to help Zuski get out alive.

"Call me Zu, my friends used to call me like that before, you know, I was taken."

"Alright Zu, how can I help you?" Gabriel was looking for any way to be nice but his alien manners were outdated.

"Food, they didn't bring me any after tying me up." These are words he wanted to hear, a task he was capable of fulfilling.

"Anything else?" He was already standing in the doorway.

"Please, don't forget to tell Aina I'm a good gift, please."

"I won't, promise." He hated Aina for the way she scared people.

He reached the dining hall, where he already found Pin waiting for him.

Pins started to talk: "You are here to bring the girl food."

"Yes, how did you know?" Gabriel got worried.

"Nobody else got tasked with doing so. How is she?"

"Everything I ever wanted, why are you asking? I thought she was MY gift." Gabriel meant none of those words but he wanted to keep cover.

"I have served as Aina's right hand for a solid decade now. This isn't the first time she used prisoners to her advantage, I am here to warn you that she'll tempt you to do horrific things with the girl so you'll think of yourself as deserving of her treatment. Don't." Pin shut down his attempts to continue the conversation and left, leaving Gabriel alone with his thoughts.