The Shrooms

Season 2: The Simple Farmers

(Prince)

Sounds of guns ring in his ears stomping out the chaoticness, the kickback strains his shoulders. He wasn't expecting such force both ways, he was prepared for a slight tap. He isn't too amiable with firearms, the guards and prisoners hungry for his suffering is a reason to become so. He assumed the sounds of firing would cease the mayhem, instead provided a way out for them. Death. Freedom bullets.

Casings cease to drop, the noise settles, guards regain control by beating remaining inmates. They attempt an escape with tech parts weighing them down. Quake, trained in many forms of combat, fight until his punches become stale. The Prince scrambles to avoid a pummeling. Guards surround them having killed or subdued all inmates. 

The only closed-cell opens. A woman emerges with short hair and bronze skin. She nervously rubs her elbows. Guards approach her retrieving their weapons lodged in the corpses of inmates. The closer they get to her the tighter her hands become. The distance is reduced to about four feet when someone leaps out the door ripping the guard's neck wide open. Quake uses the distraction to grab the Prince and run but his feet are planted solid, eyes fixated on the decoy woman. 

He feels a charge of warmth from the woman like she's a burning star crashing out the sky. Her soft features show her youth, early twenties he thinks. The Prince was never good at reading body language due to flaccid social skills, not a trait passed from his fathers' genes. Something about her made him feel optimistic. He no longer sees angry men bent on murder and imprisonment. He envisions the world she comes from full of blooming flowers pollinated by nature, blowing wind serenading singing her beauty. The blood splatter on her pants and boots might have been paint from a hobby of hers.

After carving out the guards' neck, the dagger-wielding man brushes the woman behind him like a protective brother. He glances at the Prince, halting his mobility. The guards signal for back up to come. A standoff commences.

(The Woman)

She stands as Four switches looks between a man wearing a space outfit and a small squad of guards. Blood covers his face, trickling down his neck. The partner of the space-suited man inches his way behind the guards using them as a distraction. Eve leans on the cell door wishing Four can handle the opposition. One guard looks at his wrist gear that blares a green light from it. The other guards then see theirs. They straighten their poster, sheath their weapons falling in a line. As much a line three people can make.

The giant door opens up, Eve expects more guards. To her and Four's surprise, a polished silver android enters the room. He walks to the guards shaking their hands congratulating them on a good job they did risking their safety for the betterment of the planet. He then addresses the two men in space suits.

"Prince Hazu, son of the great King Ras Gu. It's an honor to be in royals presence." The android says.

"Who are you?" Prince Hazu questions.

"I am Jules, King of this planet."

Jules and Hazu continue talking about where they are. Four lunges at Jules mid-sentence. Jules, using one hand, blocks two cuts in succession, uppercuts Four six feet in the air. He lands unconscious. Eve runs to his side screaming his name. 

"Don't worry Eve, he's still alive," Jules says. "What happens now is you all will remain calm and follow my rules. There is a big demand for the shrooms we sell. We need people to farm them, now that's your job, and whatever other scum we scrap up from other planets."

Eve silences her worries realizing there's no way out. She will grow old farming shrooms till her hands turn into callus itself, then fall off its bone. No chance of seeing her parents again, who she wonders what extreme extents they've taken to find her, though she'd be surprised if they got out their self absorbing pity for one another and themselves to do anything. She refuses to think of them in the worst light anymore. She doesn't know what forgiveness is but this is her interpretation. She forgives the lonely nights she was left by them, the night they didn't come home and she was almost murdered by intruders. The morning she woke up choking on smoke because her mom wanted to burn the pictures she had of her dad on her bright blue wall. The time her father left her to be watched by his old college friend, Chad, a name engraved in her head. 

None of that matters here. Eve wants to put her life behind her, drop it into a mental pit of fire watching it burn away from her memories. Only way she can survive. She stands to her feet with the help of Hazu. She thanks him. Jules summons higher level guards in their presence, more armored with staffs as weapons of choice. Eve and Razu allow them to chain them up. Razu's ally defies, kicking, punching, pushing off as many as he can. There's too many and they are intently prepared for battle. They force him to the floor chaining him up. Four gets a set of chains as well.
They all get taken outside to the farm, Jules leads. 

"Eve, Four, no need for an explanation. Guards show the new members the process." Jules says. He looks at Razu and his ally, gives them a nod with a robotic smile.