🇬🇧 𝘈 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶

𝘼 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪

Rupture Farms CEO Molluck and his business partner Alyxia were in the Glukkon's private office.

In the center of the room there was a large desk made of wood and metal painted black, on which documents were placed in an orderly manner concerning mostly the trend of the sales statistics of the largest food industry in the whole Mudos, of which Molluck was in charge.
Fountain pens belonging to a now lost era, were scattered on the work table, next to a marble ashtray containing several Surprisingly Swisher Sweet cigar stubs.

A gray fog-like blanket hovered throughout the room, making it difficult to clearly distinguish the surrounding furniture. Alyxia's eyes were red and veiled with tears from the smoke exhaled from the Glukkon's huge amount of cigars, but she seemed not to be bothered.

Molluck stood intent on observing through a large window the Mudokon employees of the company as they mechanically selected the finest parts of meat, separating them from the scraps.

The Glukkon slowly tapped his right foot on the floor, moving a cigar still intact with his lips from one side of his mouth to the other.

Alyxia had brought him up to date about an unpleasant altercation between some members of the working class that happened the same morning and ended immediately with the suppression of the litigants by a couple of Slig sentries, but Molluck didn't seem particularly interested. He had limited himself to expressing his approval by growling "Great job".

When compared, Alyxia and Molluck were clearly two races from completely different worlds.

Alyxia was a human girl, about 25, with bright red hair between which locks of teal color alternated. She had several piercings on both earlobes, her left eyebrow and one in the center of her tongue. The red lipstick and black eyeshadow on her eyes made her pale skin stand out even more, while the tight black leggings and bodice accentuated the unhealthy thinness of her body.

On the other hand, Molluck was an imposing and disturbing creature in its two meters of height. The shape of his head resembled that of an octopus, while his wide mouth contained two rows of semi-human-looking teeth. His eyes, small and yellow, glowed in the dark like two bright torches and his ears looked like two small hollow tubes. His shoulders, made broad and powerful by the structure of the expensive purple suit, gave him an even more menacing aspect. The Glukkon were ashamed of the appearance of their body, fragile and pathetic and kept it hidden; therefore, they carefully chose tailored suits to appear as intimidating as possible. The suit he wore entirely wrapped his long arms ending in two huge hands, forced into shiny black shoes, aimed at supporting the entire body. His feet and legs, hidden from view, were tiny and atrophied and, consequently, useless for locomotion.

Still, Alyxia didn't seem frightened at all. On the contrary, a careful look might have noticed that the girl was almost at ease with her in the presence of the creature.

Slowly, the girl's gaze fell on the unlit cigar hanging from the Glukkon's lips.

"Do you want me to light it for you, sir?" Alyxia asked in a flat, monotone voice.

Molluck, who was turning his back to her, nodded back, adding "Hurry up."

Alyxia, almost mechanically, took a worn lighter from the pocket of her leggings, turned the wheel and, after several attempts, a small wobbly flame appeared. She walked over to the Glukkon and, standing on tiptoe, lit Molluck's cigar, which had tilted slightly to make it easier for her to reach.

He took two deep puffs and the smoke from the cigar just lit went to join the blanket that now covered the entire room, making Alyxia cough.

Molluck ignored her and walked over to the desk where he sat down. He looked at some of the papers scattered on the table for a few seconds with apparent indifference and said, "Take note, Alyxia. Following the recent movements of the Scrab herds artificially induced by our Slig armed guards, the increase in sales of their meat has increased by 10%. We isolated herds of about 10 each in enclosures located at the edge of Rupture Farms, away from the employees. Each fence has only one gate in front of which two Slig guards will be placed, as a precaution. The leftovers of meat we use, although in minimal quantities to feed them, are in short supply, so I recommend the use of... " The Glukkon stopped and, for the first time, set his sparkling eyes on the girl: "Alyxia! " - he shouted - "are ya listenin' to me?"