#007 - "Pain"
Chapter 1: Trial by Fire
“Woah.” Is all I can mutter as the elevator door revolves open.
Anna’s suite is the definition of spacious, fashionable luxury.
While the color palette fits the theme of Cerro Gordo, the design does not.
Anna has an entire floor to herself, overlooking the entire city through the orange tinted windows. The section around the elevator has the same caramel tiled flooring the lobby does, but it steps down into a charcoal colored carpeted section. The walls are a warm brown with horizontal beams of fine wood accenting the walls. There are illuminated bronze beams seamlessly integrated into the ceiling which flow around and accentuate raised sections housing hanging translucent amber colored stars, which serve as stylish chandeliers. They resemble sharp jacks.
This entire place reminds me of early 60’s American modern design. When American pride was high, and yet to be disillusioned by the Kennedy Assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1968 Chicago Riots, and the gas and emissions crisis of the early 70’s. At that time, America was leading the way in the jet age, the space race, breakthrough innovations in nuclear energy, and the Cold War. They thought the future had nowhere to go but up, so their idea of ‘modern fashion’ screamed: “The future is now!”
As impressive as this place is, as an American, this place makes me feel a tinge sad – Empty even.
Like reading an old diary filled with nothing but broken promises and unfulfilled dreams.
“Please, take a seat and relax for awhile Master. We have an hour to kill, so there’s no rush.”
“An hour!? Why?? Do we really have time for that?? What was all that about diamond-tier?? Are we going to be safe here??”
“Diamond-tier is reserved for high-ranking DRAC politicians, and important investors. While diamond patrons are extraordinarily rare, it’s not uncommon for them to suddenly show up on short notice, nor is it uncommon for them to dress incognito for security reasons. Which is why she never questioned your attire. Right now, the therians downstairs believe I am handling an extremely volatile situation. Nobody wants to come within 100 meters of this crisis, for risk of being blamed for it falling apart. They all know and trust me, so they’re more than happy to hand it over to me entirely.”
“So why are we waiting an hour? Do we really have time for that?”
“An hour gives us enough time to pretend I ‘worked my magic’ to soothe the situation, while still giving us enough time to head back, go to the Armory, go to the Export Box, and escape with time to spare.”
“How much time are we talking?”
“When we first met, we had approximately 8 hours before the DRAC military was due to arrive. We spent approximately 2-hours in the Central Hub due to your panic attack and you explaining your situation to me. It took us roughly an hour and a half to get here with Beryl’s interruption. We’ll spend an hour here, and it’ll take us about an hour and 15-minutes to get back to the hub. It’ll then take roughly a half-hour to get to the Armory and cut over from B-Wing to A-Wing. Finally I left us an hour at max to hit the Export Box and escape, leaving us with-“
“45-Minutes.” I interject. “Aren’t we cutting it pretty damn close?”
“Not as much as you might think. Although I gave us an hour to escape, I expect it to take less than 20-minutes. The ship we'll be escaping in is docked right next to the Export Box after all. With everyone in the Fortune District celebrating, resistance should be low.”
“Still, I’d like to get out of here early to give ourselves a safety cushion.”
“Well… Us staying here an hour is not just for appearances. I also want to make sure that Rubrum is back on this side of the station when things go down. I want as much distance as possible between her and us when the fighting starts.”
“Rubrum? That violet haired Anubis therian? Didn’t she let us go?”
“Yes, but once she’s been issued an order to search and destroy, she won’t have a choice. Her CS will activate and she will stop at nothing to kill us.”
“Eheh… Is… Is she really that dangerous?...”
Anna breathes a small resigned sigh.
“Perhaps I undersold how dangerous she is. Master… She’s a monster.”
-Monster-
Immediately, images of blood-soaked slasher villians, and horrific nocturnal creatures with insatiable voracity flashes through my mind.
I can tell Anna is not using that world lightly. Anna is not a crude person. I have only ever heard her swear once, and that was acting in order to seem frustrated. I’ve never ACTUALLY heard her swear, or use a term as unprofessional as describing someone as a ‘Monster’.
Even I got the impression she was dangerous, simply from Rubrum’s aura alone.
“How bad are we talking?”
“She’s known as Rubrum The Huntress. Daylin Berrick uses her to hunt down high value targets, or as a one-woman calvary in order to break apart an enemy’s defensive position, sending their command structure into disarray. Although her body itself is not as indestructible as a military-spec cyborg, in many ways she’s superior to them. While military-spec modifications might let you move faster than her, have more strength than her, have faster reaction speed than her – Cybernetic enhancements have limits. They can cause an immense amount of strain on the body, especially at higher tiers. Not only that, but apart from some rare cases, the human mind can only handle juggling a certain number of major enhancements at once. Meaning most military-spec cyborgs can only specialize in two or so areas.”
“Whereas… She doesn’t have that limit.”
“Exactly. Everything on her is organic. So her speed, strength, sense of smell, hearing, reaction time, all of it – Is all her. The only limit she has is her physical stamina, which is way higher than both of ours combined.”
While I might not have a standard of measurement when it comes to comparing how dangerous a cyborg is to a normal human, Anna’s words are certainly not falling on deaf ears. The tone of her warning perfectly conveys its severity – If we encounter Rubrum, we will die.
“Well, couldn’t we take the train to reduce our time back?”
“No, they would try to scan your central neural implant to make sure you’re a transit subscriber.”
“Even that’s a subscription!?”
Anna lets out a small giggle.
“Anyway Master, please – Sit. I will make us something to drink. What would you like?”
“Coffee – With a fair amount of cream, no sugar.”
“Got it, I’ll be right back.”
Anna trots off to one of the enclosed rooms of the circular floor. We must be in the penthouse suite of the main spire. To think, they let a slave live in a place like this. This is like something a billionaire would have back home.
I walk down the steps and head toward the lounge area underneath the star shaped chandeliers. The lounge is another step down area, with two sets of small stairs on either side of the partially enclosed section. There are two ivory white expansive leather contour couches across each other, up against a half wall filled with decorative stones at the top.
I step down the charcoal stairs and into the ivory carpeted lounge area, and flop onto the couch.
Screw it, if I’m going to be sitting here for an hour, I’m taking these boots off.
As I take off these torture devices disguised as unfashionable footwear, I can feel the blood returning to my feet. Until this very moment, I didn’t realize just how exhausted I was. Mentally, physically, spiritually, you name it. The soft carpet feels great against my broken feet, and this is the most cloud-like couch I have ever sat in. I lean back and stare vacantly at the ceiling, which is thinnly coated with that luminescent vapor.
A part of me feels like Anna was a gift from God. I probably never would have made it this far without her.
And yet… I’m still very wary of her.
Actually moreso now than before. The fact she tricked Hellman into believing he was her “destined master” for years on context clues alone. The fact she was supposed to be at a VIP party yet she was halfway across the station watering plants. The fact she’s had mountains of preparation all ready and laid out beforehand. The fact I’ve physically watched her lie through her teeth as easily as breathing. To such an extent I might add that, despite knowing that she was lying, I still halfway believed her.
But… I fear what might happen if I press the matter. My gut is telling me she’s genuinely on my side, but my brain is screaming at me danger signals.
I… I just don’t know anymore.
Trying to distract myself, I look around the room.
Behind the couch in front of me, on top of the half wall, there’s a wide curved transparent glass panel with what looks like firework sparklers raining down from it. Is that some kind of screen saver? There’s a remote next to me, so I suppose this must be their version of a TV?... Not as weird as I was expecting, but definitely odd.
I look at the walls, and on one of them, there’s a large mirrored alcove built into the wall filled with glowing glass shelves and figurines. The alcove area is brightly lit up with carefully placed hidden lights around the inner edge. I get up and hobble over to check it out.
Are these anime figures?? They’re all women, and provocatively dressed ones at that! Bunny girls, maids, swimsuits, school girls, nurses, nude cast-offs, young and mature, you name it she’s got it. There’s got to be at least 200 here.
Even in space, waifus can never die I guess.
Is Anna secretly an otaku?
To be honest I used to collect similar anime figures way back before… Um… Umm… Something important…?
I’m still struggling to remember a lot of my past. Mostly stuff that personally involved me. Which you would think the things that are most important to you would be the first things you’d remember. But instead I’m stuck remembering stupid shit like how I liked large scale bunny girl figures. How does that help me!?
I sigh to myself and flop back down on the couch.
As soon as I do, Anna comes back in with a tray of cups, a carafe, and a pitcher of ice water. She taps her foot against the back wall and the center of the floor flips around and raises to reveal a table. She sets the tray down, pouring the milk and coffee into my cup, and delicately hands me it. She pours herself a cup, and gracefully sits down next to me, snuggling up underneath my arm. This seems to be her favorite spot.
Anna notices my boots on the floor.
“I’m glad to see you’re getting comfortable Master, but you know, you can take your mask off. Don’t worry, there’s no ODSS in here.”
“ODSS? What’s that?”
“Omni-directional surveillance sensors.”
Omni-directional surveillance sensors? Is that like the futuristic version of security cameras? Honestly it makes sense. Even where I’m from, advanced 3D scanning was starting to become a thing. It’s only logical that would eventually become more refined. I could totally see that reaching the point where they would be able to map out entire rooms in perfect detail. But does that mean that when I first came out of the storage room, they mapped a full detailed scan of my face!?
Fuck.
No wait. The fact that those secret tunnels exist means that they’re probably not everywhere. It’s possible there was none in that hallway. At least, that’s what I’m going to try and tell myself. Even if there are, the fact that nobody has come for us yet at least tells me they’re probably manually reviewed, not automated.
“A-Are you certain?”
“Positive. This room is often visited by some incredibly important politicians and investors. The Colonel wouldn’t risk everything trying to blackmail someone who, with a single command, could scrub it from the entire Omninet.”
I hesitate for a moment. Is this a trap? Is she trying to get me on recording? But if that was the case, she could just as easily call security. Those robots on the strip appeared seemingly out of nowhere. If she was planning to have me apprehended, she certainly wouldn’t need an hour to do so. She knows my background, so she could have just as easily not told me about the sensors to begin with.
“Please Master?... I would really like to see what the person who owns me looks like…” She says in a cute, pleading voice.
Goddammit, screw it.
I take my mask off, my hair messy with sweat.
I look down at Anna with my own eyes for the first time, and she’s staring blankly at me with rosie cheeks. Her mouth slightly agape in a small “o”.
“W-what is it? Is something wrong?”
Her cheeks brighten.
“O-oh! No! A-ah I’m sorry... It’s just… Y-you’re more handsome than I expected.” She says in small, coquettish voice before quickly looking away.
Handsome? Personally I think I got a bit of a baby face. While I don’t think I’m an unattractive person, I don’t think I’m particularly interesting. Probably my most defining features are my strong jawline and height. But beyond that, wavy brown hair, brown eyes, pretty standard fare.
Silence falls between us for awhile as we enjoy each other’s company. Anna’s body is soft and warm. It makes feel at ease. I honestly wish this moment could last forever. I really don’t want to go back out there.
“So… This is it, isn’t it?” Anna says in a somber tone.
“Yeah…”
“Master, do you… Remember your last name?”
First she asks me to take off my mask. Now she’s asking me what my last name is? Is this actually a trap? Is she trying to incriminate me?
Perhaps sensing my trepidation, Anna explains herself.
“It’s just – Right now my owner is simply registered as ‘Max’. That could be anyone. Once the fighting starts, there’s no guarantee we’ll make it out alive. If… If I’m going to die. I… I at least want it to be in service to my true Master.”
She seems serious about this.
“Is that really so important to you?”
“Master, I know you said that slavery was considered abhorrent where you came from, so you’re probably pretty apprehensive about owning a slave yourself. But I swear to you – These last few hours I’ve spent serving you have been the most fulfilling moments of my life.”
Anna sits back to look at me directly. To be honest, it’s hard to look her in the eyes while talking about this kind of stuff without my mask on.
“Master, we therians don’t actually hate being slaves. In fact, even if we weren’t obligated to be slaves, most of us would still probably seek out a master anyway.”
“If that were true, then why have you spent so much time preparing for this? You’ve obviously thought this through.”
I’ve finally said it. I’ve hesitated to broach this subject, but I need to clear the air between us. Otherwise I’ll never be able to trust her.
Anna falls silent, looking down with shame affixed to her face. Her head turns towards the figures, as she stares to them distantly, deep in thought.
“You know… Throughout my life… I’ve heard stories.” Anna says, eyes still gazing upon her vast collection of figurines.
“I’ve heard that most therianthropes are not owned by large organizations like this. I’ve heard that most therians serve a single master, or spend their life serving as family maids. I’ve heard… That they’re treated like beloved family pets, or even legitimate members of the family.”
I fall silent, as she continues to stare distantly at the collection.
“Eheh.”
She looks down and chuckles to herself.
“You know… At first I believed those stories… I wanted so desperately to be useful to a master who appreciated me. To feel that sense of fulfillment from knowing I was able to be helpful. But as I watched more and more people disappear from my life, I started to see those stories as nothing but a fantasy.”
Anna gets up and walks over to the figures, running her hand across the glass shelf.
“These figures… All of them were given to me by customers I’ve served.”
Anna presses a button on the wall. The panels on the wall slide back, revealing rows upon rows of figures.
Jesus Christ, there… There has to be over two thousand of them. Maybe more.
“But… Doesn’t that mean you made them happy? I mean look at where you live!”
Anna falls silent. The room’s atmosphere grows bleak. All light has completely disappeared from her face.
“No… These figures… They mean nothing to me. There is no emotion behind any of them. Those men only wanted to impress me with their wealth. Everyday I’ve had to wear a fake smile, a mask. But with every man I serviced, I felt pieces of myself being stripped away. I was never being helpful. I was never enriching somebody’s life. None of this matters, all of it is empty. This suite wasn’t built for me because I made somebody’s life better. It was built for the customers. I’ve watched the people I care about disappear one by one, and someday, this suite will belong to some other therian.”
Anna presses another button on the wall, revealing a small display case. Inside there are only 5 figurines.
“Master please come here.”
I walk over to the small, humble display case. Inside are 5 crudely made figurines of therian girls in various erotic outfits. One of them closely resembles Anna.
“These are the only figures I own that matter to me.”
Anna picks one of the figures up. It’s a dog type therian with long light brown hair, golden eyes, and a blue one-piece swimsuit.
“This figure is Petunia. It was made by my friend Kei. Petunia was a shy girl who always tried her best to make friends with everyone despite her fears. She was loyal to those close to her, and could always be counted on if you needed somebody to talk to. She… She died after a customer forced her to take drugs with him.”
Anna puts the figure back, and picks up a bunny type therian with short black hair and black rimmed glasses. She’s wearing a black bunny suit with a tailcoat, fishnets, and heels.
“This is Kei. This figure was started by Petunia, but finished by Sasha. Kei was incredibly smart. She loved to read, and learn new things. At first, to most people, she seemed a little cold and distant. But the more you got to know her, the more you realized she was just akward! Hee hee!”
Anna gives a small forced giggle. Although she’s smiling, I can see the pain behind it.
“She um… She stopped eating after spending the night with a customer who enjoyed torture. We tried to get her to eat, but then one day we found her dead in her room with her wrists cut open.”
Anna puts the figure back, taking out a cow type therian with hot pink hair tied into big fluffy pigtails. She’s wearing a cow print bikini with stockings, has a bell hanging from her collar, and has an enormous chest.
“This is Sasha!” Anna says with a forced smile. Her voice beginning to crack, as her eyes start to glaze over.
“This was the first one of the bunch. Petunia made it! Everybody loved Sasha, she was like a mother to all of us! She always looked out for everyone, and always had a smile on her face!”
Anna’s lip trembles as tears well up in the corners of her eyes. She’s beginning to turn hysterical.
“But for some reason! One day Sasha decided to jump in front of the train!! Nobody knows why she did it! All I know is I remember having to scoop her up in buckets!”
Despite wearing a smile, tears have begun to stream steadily down her face.
Anna puts Sasha back, and picks up the one that looks like her.
“Lior made this one, but I’m sure this little lady needs no introduction, haha!”
Lastly she picks up a therian with horse ears, long light blue hair, a flowing tail, and a metallic silver leotard.
“This is Lior! Yours truly made it! S-she was my best f-friend in the whole wide world! S-she was my light in the darkness! She was smart, brave, caring, and wise! B-but f-f-for some reason, a mercenary beat her to death!”
Her fake smile completely crumbles as she covers her mouth, holding back her tidal wave of pain from completely overtaking her.
Instinctively, I embrace her in my arms.
“It’s… It’s okay Anna… You’re not alone anymore. Your Master is here.”
Anna’s eyes open wide in surprise, and then crinkle up. Her knees give out as she falls to the floor, wrapping her arms tightly around me. She buries her face in my chest, and screams out all of her pain. She’s sobbing uncontrollably, as though letting out everything that has built up over the years. How long has she been alone? How long has she been suffering in silence?
I look around at all the figures displayed throughout the room. Each one of these represent another wound that has been afflicted upon her heart.
I tighten my embrace, as I gently stroke her head.
I’m so sorry Anna.
