I have been, apparently, kidnapped. Again.
As if once wasn't enough.
And then 'sold'? Sold, as in, sold like...
I glare up at the man.
"That's not fucking possible." I growl. "I'm no one's slave."
He crosses his arms and leans against the door and his lips curl into just enough of a smirk to show off an over-developed fang. "Looks like it is 'fucking'," he says the word as if it's his first time, "possible. Because you're now property of The Great Xilukulkas. Same as us." He sighs, and waves a hand at me. "Sorry about your luck."
"Who the hell is... Xilu...ku..kakas?" My mind spins. I can't even say his name properly.
The woman sighs, loudly and dramatically. "Llywelyn, that isn't how you introduce someone! Look, she's a little human, you know they don't know anything!" She turns to me and bows her head, "Greetings, my new co-servant. I am called," and then her name sounds like the result of banging on a keyboard with my forehead.
I blink at her.
She just stares at me, as if she expects me to respond. And I- I still don't actually know why I suddenly understand her.
Unless I don't, and that's why she just said whatever the hell she just said.
"What?"
She hums. "I said my name is Amaiyanghnew!" She repeats the name, and it's not any more pronounceable the second time.
I look over to the man. "Why is it your name is normal? Why are you all speaking English except for your names?"
He looks deeply offended. "S'nilia? Normal?? Are you calling my name human-like? The nishi'an disrespect..." He lets out a huff, and then rubs his forehead, shaking his head. "Llywelyn is a perfectly Akutwasian name."
I... have no idea why he's so offended. But he gave me absolutely no answers that I asked for. I open my mouth again, and my voice comes out tired, resigned. "How are you-"
"We're not speaking English, whatever that is." He sighs and shakes his head. "You have Constant installed." He reaches up and taps his forehead with his finger.
Constant...
The language that... they were trying to teach me at the camp. The one that I never learned to speak a single word of? The one that had such guttural, strange sounds that I would be certain no human could ever speak them if I hadn't heard Mia use them?
I-
I suppose the sounds they were making a moment ago were similar to those but- that can't be...
"I can't speak Constant." I say, softly, gaze fixed on the man. "I've never. Learned a single word. For a year and a half. Every single day I was electrocuted because I can't. I never learned a word."
"Mmh." He looks vaguely disgusted, and glances away from me. "That's because of the method they use. If your mind rejects the conditioning, you simply can't accept Constant that way, either."
"Condition...ing...?" I grit my teeth and my hands shake. I have so many questions, but only one of them is pressing down on my mind. "You're saying that they... they were... conditioning us... somehow?"
He sneers and waves a hand. "Don't get your panties in a twist. There's a whole bunch of different ways to get Constant into your head, and that's just how they do it for humans."
"Explain." I don't mean to be... so demanding and urgent. But the word conditioning...
The image of Eric and Mia's blank expressions, of their vacant eyes, of the way they spoke with the same, emotionless voice. It...
Was it conditioning? Did they condition my friends and turn them into someone I didn't recognize? That's what that word implies, isn't it? Brainwashing, some kind of mind control...that's what conditioning sounds like.
His eyes narrow at me, but he shrugs. "For sentient species - like mine - it's a quick process. It just implants the translation matrix directly into your brain. But, for the sub-sapients, like yourself, they do it more like a... hmm. Like an education? They upload the matrix and then 'condition' you to accept it and use it, rather than your native tongue." He shrugs, clearly bored with the explanation. "Well, that's what they say, anyway. But here you are, a sub-sapient human who can't be conditioned. So Amaiyanghnew just did it the sentient way. Boss Man won't mind." He glances at the green lady. "Will he?"
She clasps her hands and giggles. "No, I don't think so! He's so excited about her, he probably won't even care that I took a little initiative. After all, he did leave her in my care."
"Uhh, can I maybe have a moment to..." I gesture at myself. "Catch up to what the fuck you're talking about?"
"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm not used to dealing with sub-sapients!"
"You're a nishi'an sub-sapient yourself..." The man, Llywelyn grumbles.
She does not respond to him. "Okay, so! Constant is! A way we can all speak to each other! And this little device..." She holds up that metal thing again, "is the way we install it. But because sub-sapients are going to be slaves anyway, it's more convenient to just train them at the same time, see?"
To train...
Images of Eric and Mia flash through my mind. Their cold, empty expressions. The calm, tranquil look on Eric's face as he shot Ivan. The smile on Mia's face that always used to be there, how alive she looked before she'd gone and stared so... empty.
The tears in Eric's eyes as he silently pleaded for me to run away, to leave him behind.
Rage burns through my veins, and I have to close my eyes to keep from attacking the woman. "Get the hell away from me." I hiss out.
"Oh. Um. Okay?" She squeaks.
I breathe in slowly and hold my breath. I can't break down. Not here. Not in front of them. I don't even know where I am. But...
The reason...
The reason Eric and Mia are gone. The reason Alistair lost his sister. The reason that Ivan is dead, the reason I'm here and not back home-
It's all because of this.
Because of a damn... because of that stupid language?!
The one that I... could never...
I don't understand the sound that comes out of me. It's. A laugh. A sob. It's both. Hysterical. I don't care. "Fuck. Fuck! All this time. All this time I thought it was my fault. That I- Couldn't- And-!" My voice cracks and my hands fly to my face and I...
My fingers grip into my hair and I hunch over, my body shaking with the force of my sobs. I don't know how long it lasts. I can't stop it. I can't control it. But when I do finally run out of tears, when my eyes are dry and my voice is hoarse from the screaming,
I expect to be alone when I'm finally able to catch my breath. There's been silence in the room, but-
I scream and fall backward because the moment I open my eyes the green woman's face is inches from mine. She's leaning over me and she yelps and pulls back.
"AH! I was just-!" She just tries to close the distance again!
"STOP THAT! FUCKING HELL!" I crawl backward on my hands and feet.
"I'm sorry! I- I was just concerned!"
"Don't fucking touch me!" I snap at her.
"Hey, that's enough." The blue skinned man steps closer. "Don't confuse us with your captors. Whatever s'nilia you've been through that caught Xilukulkas' eye, it's got nothing to do with us. And look at her, human. Amaiyanghnew's too stupid to have done anyone harm except by stepping on them with her exceptionally heavy foot." He scowls at me. "Do you think we're your enemies here? Hm?"
The green woman gasps and throws her hands to her chest. "Hey! I am not stupid! Why are you always-"
"Shut up for five fis'ia minutes, you glittering pebble." he walks closer and just...shoves the woman by the face away from me. "And you. Stop screaming. It hurts my ears. Neither of us want to hurt you. Are you gonna try and hurt us anyway?"
I stare at him for...
A long moment.
But the fact is, if we're all slaves, and this girl next to me is some kind of 'sub-sapient'... then... I...
I still don't trust them. They're aliens. They put this... Constant in my head. I don't. I don't know if I can trust anything. But... I can't say I think they're going to hurt me, either. In fact, the longer I look at Ama...ama...whatsit, the more I think Llywelyn is right and she may just be genuinely stupid.
"Fine. But. Just don't touch me."
She beams at me. "Okay! So! Again, my name is Amaiyanghnew! Go ahead~! You can say it, it's how we can be friends!"
"Are you... kidding me?"
"Ah-! Oh. Is that a no?" She is. Incredibly expressive, for a living chunk of emerald. Her cheeks puff out, as if she's pouting. I don't feel guilty, exactly, but - I...
"A..maiy...ang....awwew...?"
"Incredible..." Llywelyn murmurs. "I've never heard someone pronounce a Kolumer name that poorly before."
"Shut up! You try!"
"Amaiyanghnew."
I stare at him.
It occurs to me that he has. Multiple times now. Said the name.
W-well it was a good retort in my own head, at least.
"Amaighaghanah."
"Stop. That." He lifts a hand and turns over to the green woman. "Give her a nickname to use before my ears shrivel up and fall off."
"Aww. Okay. Um... how about Mia?"
Mia...
That cheerful smile flashes through my memory. One I haven't seen in so long...six months? A year? I can't remember, but I know that-
"No!" I say it too quickly, my voice too high. "Not that one."
"Oh?" She tilts her head. "Why?"
I grit my teeth, "Just. Choose something else."
She frowns, but then nods. "Okay. Then...how about Mira?"
I...
I don't know. Why I hate that idea, too. I hate it just as much. But...
I don't want to explain it. I don't want to think about it. "That's fine."
"Yay!" She throws her hands up and the sound is like a wind chime. "We're friends now!"
I... I do not feel like we are.
"And what is your friend's name?" Llywelyn asks, lazily.
Her green eyes go wide. "Oh! That's right!" She leans forward. I lean backward. "What is your name?"
I... I'm tempted to refuse. But this is. If they are also captives like me, then...
I swallow. "Sarah."
"Sarah!" She clasps her hands together near her face. "Sarah, okay! Now we are friends! Let's stick together, okay?" She beams.
I stare at her.
No. No I will not be doing that.
But I don't get the feeling this girl will listen if I say that.