Ivy woke with a gasp, her vision obscured by a throbbing pain. Looming over her stood a blurry figure that called out in a particularly irritating voice. Judging by cadence alone, the heiress knew she was no longer on Callisto.
"You good there, princess? We thought you were finished."
"I'm not a princess, and where am I?" Ivy groaned. "I thought I..."
The heiress clamped her mouth shut, realizing she was better off saying nothing about her escape. If she were in a foreign place, it proved that her father had been unable to capture his rogue daughter. No doubt Algernon would be relentlessly probing the solar system by then.
Still, there was no possible way the simpleton that knelt beside her could possibly be one of Algernon's spies. He refused to work with primitives.
Not even as an act.
"Thought ya what? Died?" Lila smiled, her warm hazel eyes beaming with curiosity. "That woulda been a shame; I've never met someone with your getup."
"It's not a getup; everything you see is natural," Ivy frowned, struggling to raise her own head.
"Ooh, take it slow; I know not all of us had a smooth ride," the freckled human giggled, brushing aside one of her brown pigtails. "You've been asleep here longer than anyone else."
"My ride was...perfectly smooth, I'll have you know," the heiress lied, her tone becoming more sheepish as she spoke.
"Me personally, I got a truck thrown at me. Oh, and then I got rocked by an alien. Can you believe that?"
"No, I can't," the heiress struggled. "Now get out of my way."
Ivy faltered, noticing her regal attire had been stripped during her slumber. She nearly tumbled out of bed in sheer disgust.
"What is this?"
Alongside the freckled girl, she wore what appeared to be a plaid skirt with black leggings, a tight red vest, and a silver necktie. Upon further inspection, however, it would appear Lila's necktie was distinctly magenta. Such oddities were, however, of little concern to the heiress.
"Where...am I?" Ivy hissed. "I won't ask again."
"Glad you asked. I have no idea."
Ivy's surroundings were those of an old human barracks, with rows of stacked beds and glass windows lining the walls. Even the curtains were made of a coarse red cloth, alongside a set of blinds the likes of which she had seen in a textbook. But quite possibly the strangest feature of all was the building's inhabitants, who all appeared to be young girls, wandering about the red carpet in their nearly identical uniforms.
"An orphanage?" Ivy climbed down from her bed, trying in vain to balance herself with the black sloggers that had been placed on her feet. "It's...clean." She sniffed the air, expecting a foul scent.
"Here, let me help you down." Lila smiled.
"D-do not touch me," Ivy growled. "Why are you even here?"
"Okay, well dang, my bad. Just watching out for the straggler, how criminal of me. But hey, if your trip was so smooth, how come you slept in late?"
The Earthling produced a smug grin. She was being cheeky, a crime that Ivy never had to endure from a commoner.
"Why you-."
Before Ivy could raise her hand, another girl with silver hair strolled past the bedframe, tugging on its foundation before removing a splinter of wood. Such a peculiar sight stunned both Ivy and Lila, who stared in disbelief.
"And who is that?" Ivy sighed.
"Beats me. She hasn't said a word since she got here." Lila shrugged.
The strange girl began to stab a nearby window with her wooden shard, struggling to break its tough surface. Lila rushed over, climbing down from Ivy's bed before approaching the silver-haired stranger.
"Hey, uh, what's your name?" Lila smiled nervously. "And you...might not want to do that."
The girl shot her a cold glare, visibly unsure if Lila deserved a response.
"Sonera..." She hesitated. "Why not?" Her voice was smooth and slow, its depth matched only by the tinge of femininity in its pitch.
"Well, you look like a smart girl. So let me just put it this way. We both know who put us here, and maybe, just maybe, we wouldn't want to alarm them by trying to escape."
Lila tried not to cringe. Her reasoning was solid. Her delivery, on the other hand, was not exactly resonating with the cold assassin.
Sonera paused for a moment, staring at the glass as she pondered her options. She eventually produced a slight nod of sorts before dropping the shard of wood. Turning to Lila, the assassin tilted her head with a curious look.
Eying her freckled prey.
"Oh, uh...I'm Lila. Nice to meet you, Sonera." The Earthling extended a hand.
"You're from Earth," Sonera muttered in a lower voice, ignoring the gesture.
"Indeed, I am." Lila placed her hands on her hips proudly. "What gave it away?"
Sonera refused to respond, her eyes still fixated on Lila's figure. As an assassin, it was her prerogative to understand people who bothered to approach her. It was fortunate then that Lila's profile matched the ferocity of a sheep.
"Okay, well...can I guess where you're from?" Lila retracted her hand akwardly.
Sonera nodded silently, amused by the jovial game.
"Mars." Lila pointed confidently.
"Was it the Russian accent?" Sonera frowned. She was always irked by accurate assumptions.
"Yeah...cheap shot, I know. Most of the colonists were from there when the domes went up."
Lila liked her history.
Loved it, even.
"I want to win this game." The silver-haired assassin changed her expression into something far more friendly. "Let's continue."
"Oh really?" Lila shrugged, uncertain as to why Sonera was becoming more approachable. "Okay."
She could see the excitement in those orange eyes.
"Where is she from?" Sonera pointed at Ivy, who was pouting silently next to her bed. "I could tell you."
"Uhhh...Europa?"
"No. She's from Callisto."
"I ain't gonna lie, I don't know that much about it." Lila chuckled.
"They are into...how do I describe it...eugenics."
"Ah, so the white hair is real."
"Painstakingly so." Sonera cocked her head the other direction. "This is...nice."
"Yeah...you kind of struck me as the silent type there for a bit."
But before Lila could finish speaking, Sonera turned to leave abruptly, as if no longer interested in the girl's existence.
"Ugh, Martians." Ivy rolled her eyes, unable to muffle her complaint. "How typical."
"What's that?" Lila asked as she walked back to Ivy, feeling insecure in her ability to communicate.
"That thing wasn't even talking to you. It was analyzing whether you were a threat or not."
"Uhh." Lila grimaced. "You mean she's cold?"
"No, all Martians are gangsters. That one was probably a whore and an assassin. Kind of like how you Earthborn are all primitives."
"I seem to have gotten you stuck in a rant here." Lila backed away, raising her hands as she gritted her teeth. "Allow me to leave."
"Good." Ivy turned to face the window.
Lila began to wander the room, avoiding every girl she came across before kneeling in front of another bed. It wasn't easy to contain her panic, nor was it getting any easier to distract herself with menial tasks. If she couldn't keep her mind busy, then her insecurities would make way for reflection.
"Don't think about them," Lila muttered to herself, trying her best not to ruminate on what had happened to her family. "Mom would want me to be strong."
"She must be proud of you, the way you helped Ivy."
"Huh?" Lila stammered, looking skyward to see a beautiful girl with strange tattoos, her soft voice practically whispering into her mind. "H-how did you know-."
"I saw you. I was worried she wouldn't wake either, but I...well, I'm not as brave as you. They scare me."
"Well, uhh...thanks anyway. It's nice to know at least someone isn't trying to avoid me. My name is Lila."
"So I've heard." The girl clasped her hands together with a nervous tremble as her angelic voice seeped into Lila's ear. "Mine is Lunae."
"How the heck are you doing that?" Lila's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?" Lunae gasped.
"Your lips don't move sometimes, but words still come out."
"I'm...not entirely sure."
Lila couldn't tell if she was lying or not. The strange markings and impossibly blue hair all but confirmed that Lunae was special. But in her defense, so much had already happened without explanation.
"Oh...well, that's convenient." Lila shrugged. "So what...you were just...watching me fail at conversation this whole time?"
"You tried it with at least a dozen girls." Lunae nodded, taking a seat next to Lila before brushing her own long hair. "I wanted to chime in but-."
"Nah, I get it. You're fine."
"Really?" Lunae beamed with excitement.
"Yeah, some people are shy like that."
"I've struggled to be brave ever since I woke here. I know so little...and it frightens me."
"Join the club, honey." Lila laughed. "This whole thing is obscene."
She could tell Lunae was grateful, even behind the hair that shrouded half her face. But the Earthling's efforts to ally were cut short once again as a loud rumble suddenly boomed from the far end of the room.
"Oh shoot."
Lila had been eyeing that peculiar entrance for some time, but figured it would be better to keep her distance. And for good reason, as the creature that emerged from the doorway was truly monstrous in size.
"Humans," Yrix declared in a jagged voice, silencing the room with her mere presence. "My little students."
For all but Sonera, the alien's presence was a shock.
She could never forget that face.
Stepping into the center of the room with a single stride, Yrix's words seemed to slip effortlessly from her mouthless face, penetrating the minds of every soul she could lock her gaze on.
"Listen closely." The Psion squinted, unveiling a large golden scroll from behind her tall body, its silky parchment long enough to act as a blanket for Lila. "I, Yrix of the Consortium, bring you a decree from his sovereignty, the Emperor. This gilded declaration states that your lives are henceforth, as of this moment, sworn to the Consortium. You will be trained here, in my Aerie, and be forged into Psionic weapons to fight on behalf of your new empire. Fail or succeed, it is all the same; you will give your life for this cause. My cause."
Yrix then began to scan the room, its inhabitants still as the crypt. She didn't require words to understand their feelings, nor did she need another lengthy explanation. Casting the scroll aside like trash, Yrix spoke again, her voice even more piercing than before.
"Those clever among you know why you were chosen to be here. Psionic power. I have searched far and wide for such gifts, and with it, I will hone you into a blade. Whether or not you survive the process is...irrelevant."