The Beast

The Beast - Part 20

He woke up on his own today for once, got dressed, looked one last time at Zu and made his way down to the storage. He found his armor still covered in the blood pattern it got from killing the assassin. Chip was probably still on Taro's cruiser, so nobody was able to perform maintenance on it. He didn't mind, reminding Taro nonverbally that he saved his life would be good anyways. It took longer to fit in alone but all parts snapped into place eventually, starting up the suit. It warned him at the start that repairs needed to be made, but he dismissed it because he wasn't preparing for battle, today was just going to be a talk about his future. He shook himself to get a good feel for the new weight and made his way to the airlock.

Pin was already awaiting him: "I thought you'd sleep longer." Pin's arm was still in bandages but otherwise he seemed fine.

"The nervousness makes sleeping hard but waking up easy, when will Taro be ready to meet me?" He didn't know how long culling a crew takes but he assumed that it took longer than a day.

"He is waiting." Pin stepped into the airlock and signalled Gabriel to follow him.

"I wasn't told about the meeting time. How late am I?" Gabriel's hands started sweating, coming too late to negotiate about selling yourself couldn't be a good start.

Pin didn't answer, he opened the airlock and led Gabriel through the busy corridors of the Big boy. Most nians stared at him when he passed, Gabriel assumed it was either because of his height or the blood stains on his armor but he wasn't really paying attention. His mind was occupied with preparing talking points and arguments about why bringing Zu and Tibi was a good idea.

They arrived at the violet door with the guards on either side he remembered, it was the map room. Pin gave him a pat on the shoulder and vanished in the crowd behind him.

The Guards, already expecting him, opened the door for him. The Inside looked mostly the same but the map was turned off and a desk was set up in it's place. Taro stood up from the couch, leaving Verona behind, and took a seat at the desk. Gabriel sat down on the remaining chair opposite of Taro. He watched him inspect the blood pattern on his armor, not daring to speak the first word.

"How do you feel today?" Taro started the conversation.

"I'm in pain but this meeting is my number one priority." Gabriel wanted to make sure Taro knew how important this was to him.

Taro let his hands fall on the table: "Let's drop the act. I believe in clear communication so how about I give you my perspective and then you'll do the same?"

"S-sounds good." Gabriel didn't know what act to drop.

"The war has created a shortage of two things, ships and competent personnel. I have more money than I could ever spend but my fleet still consists of trade vessels with guns strapped to them, manned by crew that can't repair it without me stopping and hiring local mechanics. That's why I adore working with Aina, dumb people die around her, capable people function and smart people know that they have no future with her. Which one are you?" Gabriel didn't need a degree to know that Taro was using manipulative arguments but it didn't matter as he was right. There was no future with Aina.

"You don't have to sell me on this transfer. I am being bought by you." He said those words with as little offence as possible.

"You got me wrong. You crushed an invisible assassin's head while he drilled poison into you, saving my life. I offered to buy you out of slavery, I want your loyalty. This is a job interview, not a hostage situation." That hit him like a truck and Taro noticed it.

"Aina told me that you are a genetic anomaly with a mutated sense of morality. Is that factual?" Gabriel knew he was given a soft ball to recover and took it.