Lost

The Reasons Why

She might only be six, but Ilk was no fool. She could tell something had happened.

She heard noises from the corridor outside her door. Footsteps retreating, yells being cut off, something spilling, a creak, and then she saw a pair of golden eyes with slit pupils staring directly at her. Ilk bundled herself in her blankets and pillows. No fighting came. She waited, but the monster never came to eat her. Why?

The next thing she knew dad was next to her, shushing and telling her it was going to be okay. When she caught a glimpse of various Elites swarmed at her door on top of someone, dad placed a cloth over her mouth, instructing her to take a breath. When she obeyed, she felt sleepy and closed her eyes.

She woke up sometime later to find herself alone. Ilk was afraid. Where was daddy? She slowly climbed out of bed, holding her plush irkorse(an Irken mount from the olden days) and made her way to the door, out into the corridor and towards the Massive's bridge. He was there most of the time, and there were occasions he'd stay there up late with Uncle Pur.

However, she heard him inside the medical ward as she passed through there. She could also hear Uncle Pur alongside others.

"You should have let me finish interrogating him."

"Red, you nearly killed him, for Irk's sake!"

"In case you didn't notice, his accomplice did the same to me while he tried to take Ilk! If Larb and Tenn hadn't been around her room- OUCH! Be careful!"

"Try not to move much, My Tallest."

Was daddy hurt? Ilk wanted to step in, but she was curious. What were they talking about? Who had daddy interrogated? Who had tried to take her? So she stayed just outside the door, clutching her doll close and twitching her antenna.

"Weren't you satisfied enough with having rubbed it in his face that his accomplice couldn't touch us?"

"Of course not! I need to know what they want with Ilk! This is not the first time! They almost got her in Foodcourtia...!" Foodcourtia? Was dad talking about the time they had to leave in a rush for a reason he wouldn't explain?

"Look, I get that, but don't you realize it?! We have a Sobrekt prisoner! A bloody sobrekt! Imagine all the information we can get from him!"

Dad scoffed. "You said it yourself, Pur, it's a Sobrekt. Those lizards never talk. They will die before revealing anything."

"We don't have to ask him, we could just put a cable in his brain and suck the info out of him." Ilk imagined Uncle Pur glancing at a random scientist. "We can do that, right?"

"C-Certainly, My Tallest!"

"There, see? You, go prepare the cable-brain thing. You, go sedate the prisoner. You, bring me donuts, all these assassination attempts opened my appetite."

Ilk didn't notice she had moved too close to the door, causing it to open automatically, calling the attention of all within the room. She froze.

"Ilk? What are you doing here, sweetie?" Dad asked, coming closer to her. She noticed some small droplets of dark green on his robe.

"There was a monster in my room, daddy..." she said with a small whimper.

She thought she saw a flash of panic in dad's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. "There, there, it's okay, sweetie, it was just a nightmare," He picked her up and held her close, stroking the back of her head. "Let's go back to your room, okay? I'll stay with you."