Scarlett
“You’re such a good girl!” an elderly alien woman said to me as she patted my head. I was going to tell her that it was embarrassing to be treated like a dog, but I didn’t want to break her heart. She was probably lonely and needed someone to talk to.
“Thank you, ma’am,” I replied as I pulled out my SAD. I didn’t just search the nearby area in an embarrassing manner for head pats. “Now, let’s get to payment. I remember you telling me you were willing to part with seven credits. I don’t know how valuable that cannister was, but a promise is a promise,” I explained.
“That’s right. Thank you for reminding me,” the elderly alien woman said as she transferred the credits over. I nodded as I turned away and continued walking to my target. It’s time I learn the cure. I want to be myself again instead of the freak that I became.
After a few blocks, Gruma asked me, “So, are we going to get anything with that money? Perhaps some food?” She paused before excitedly adding, “Or we could buy some fabric for me to make outfits for us! How does that sound?”
“I like the latter option. And perhaps some chlorine to kill any algae in the pool. I have an idea of something to do,” I answered as I reminisced about my childhood. Do I still know how to swim? Can my new body even swim? That’s a scary question to consider, especially since I loved it as a kid. That would be yet another tragedy of my condition.
We continued walking until we reached a housing complex. The SAD indicated that the defector was in there. I took a deep breath before entering the complex. Remember, Scarlett, all you have to do is ask them how to reverse your mutation. Remind them to tell you where the cure is and how to get it. Once you’re human again, you can then live a normal life. Becoming human is the most important thing. There’s no place for you on Earth if you aren’t. Other than being a mascot. But let’s not consider such a fate.
I walked into the complex and immediately felt like a child. Everything here was twice my height. It was clear this was made for aliens the height of the Qarri. Disgusting monsters. I’m gonna’ have to cool my anger down. Remember, they left the slaver empire. They are no longer associated with the ones who stole my humanity and tortured me for fourteen years. Whoever they are, they’re my friend. I walked to the elevator and reached for the button to call it. I had to jump to press it, which was embarrassing. I could feel everyone staring and laughing at me. I should be glad that I’m slightly tall. Otherwise, I’d have to get Gruma to press it.
Once the two of us were in, I tried to press the button for the fifth floor, but I couldn’t reach it. I shouldn’t have thought it. “Gruma, could you please press the button with the number five one it?” I asked as I pointed at it.
“I know which button has a five on it,” she replied as she reached and pressed the button. The elevator then shot up and stopped at the fifth floor. As the doors opened, we hurried out and leaned against a wall as two ten-foot-tall aliens walked into the elevator. Once the doors closed, Gruma said, “It’s odd feeling small. Is this what it always feels like for you?”
“Once I’m back on Earth, I won’t feel short. In fact, I’m a bit tall for a woman. An average woman is about five foot four inches tall to five foot six inches tall. By comparison, I’m five foot nine, which is the average man’s height. This is by American measures. Other countries are a bit different. A lot of countries have shorter people than my home one, so I’m actually tall back home,” I explained as I thought about how odd I was. I’m a five-foot-nine-inch-tall mutant who looks like a fox that’s all the way across the galaxy from home. I was originally human, which means my parents will probably reject me if this fails. I won’t be able to get a boyfriend if I stay like this. And then there’s the fact the government would cut me up to see how I function. Just a minor detail.
We soon reached the door that my SAD indicated our target was. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. As it opened up, I forced myself to smile. Just fake it. I asked, “Are you a Qarri defector?”
“M734, is that you?” the voice on the other side asked. It was deep yet feminine. The voice wasn’t robotic sounding as it had a strange accent that I couldn’t put my finger on. I lifted my head up to look at the source. When I saw her face, my fears disappeared.
“I don’t go by that anymore. My name is Scarlett Rose Campbell,” I replied as my tail started to wag. Why does that thing always give away how I feel? It’s the one part I want to keep, but it’s not being helpful.
I felt a large scaly hand pat my head. “That’s such a cute name! You sound like you got a kind master,” she said as she turned to look at Gruma.
“It would be dishonorable to lie. I’m not her master. The human named Quentin purchased her,” the Taraxian said as she looked away. I wished she didn’t say that since the Qarri started patting me harder.
“I’m glad another of your kind got you! I was so worried that you would become a test subject again, but I’m glad I’m wrong!” the Qarri defector cheered as she got rougher.
I grabbed her arm and shouted, “Please stop that! I’m not a pet or a slave! I’m a free woman! Quentin may have purchased me, but he immediately got to work emancipating me! I’m legally free! Secondly, I came here for a reason! I don’t want to look like this anymore!” I pointed to my muzzle as a frown grew on my face.
“Why? You’re cuter than you were before. Besides, you don’t look that different from when you were a baseline human. The only skeletal changes were to your head and tail. You are still a human at the genetic level. It’s practically impossible to genetically alter someone enough to change their genus, much less the family they are a part of. In fact, you are a human subspecies,” the Qarri scientist replied as she seemed genuinely confused as to why I was upset.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“On Earth, women shouldn’t have more chest and facial hair than men,” I said as I crossed my arms. “That and the fact I have a vulpine head means no man will be interested in me. But that’s the least of my problems. I’m heading back to Earth. I want to reunite with my family and prove that I’m alive. However, showing up like this will make convincing them difficult. Furthermore, Earth is not used to sapient creatures other than baseline humans. I could be abducted and experimented on in an Earth laboratory. That’s why it’s important that I become baseline again!”
“I see. There’s just one problem with that. Since you were mutated at the age of ten, you went through puberty as a mutant. Due to that, your body has become naturalized to a mutated form. It means that turning baseline again is dangerous. The safest bet is to have a Qarri scientist operate on you to turn you back. We all know that’s out of the picture. The only other option is to find Demutator Serum from a Qarri lab. The risks are many. The most obvious one is breaking into a lab and getting the serum. However, if you inject it into yourself, it has only a twenty-five percent chance of changing you back. Otherwise, you'll die. Are you sure you want to take the risk?”
“I will take those risks. If I’m stuck like this, there’s no reason for me to continue,” I said as I pulled out the Quest Log on my SAD. Whoever created this must’ve loved videogames. The screen looks like that one game Quentin tried to get me to play.
The Qarri defector sighed and said, “There’s an abandoned Qarri lab in the Farz System. Since I doubt you have a wormhole generator or a jump-drive, it’ll take you a century to get there. Perhaps you should reconsider.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to get there. If Quentin and I were kidnapped and transported in a night, then it’s possible for us to go back,” I replied as I inserted the system into my SAD. My map zoomed out to the galactic level and showed that the source was in the south-central part of the galaxy. “I guess I’ll need to inform Quentin about this. He’s planning on reactivating a gateway to get us close to home.”
“Be careful. I heard that war is imminent between the Qarri and the Tellos Republic. If that’s the case, the closest gateway will be in the crossfire,” the defector said.
“We were almost killed by a cyborg bounty hunter. We not only beat him, but now he’s a part of the crew! I’m sure we could take anything on!” I replied as made finger guns and held them forward.
“You’re far more confident than the M734 that I knew. What happened to you?”
“I was freed and joined a crew. Quentin is a good man who cares for everyone on the ship, with the possible exception of the bounty hunter we just got. Zalex is okay, but he’s leaving soon. And as for my friend here, let’s just say we had a bit of a rocky start,” I explained before rolling up my sleeves. “And as you can see, I’ve been eating well and exercising ever since I was freed. Along with that, Quentin and I got into a gunfight on Daraxes. I hate to admit it, but the rush of adrenaline was the greatest feeling in the world!”
“Please don’t get yourself killed! You’re a good girl and I’d hate for something to happen to you,” the Qarri defector said as she grabbed my shoulders.
“Dr. Penaeus, you were like a second mother to me. For that, I’ll forever be grateful. Without you, I wouldn’t be alive today. But you need to let me go. I’m a woman with my own desires. However, you could join my crew as a medical specialist. We don’t have any, which would inevitably cause problems,” I replied as I brushed her hands off.
“I can’t. You know I’m a psychologist, not a surgeon. While I’m great at what I do, I feel like I wouldn’t be that useful on your ship. Furthermore, I’m too dangerous to keep around. The Qarri are hunting me down, so unless you have a state-of-the-art battleship, I fear you can’t risk taking me,” Dr. Penaeus replied as she pulled out her communicator. “However, I’ll give you my number and fifty credits. If you need a therapy, just give me a call.”
Once we exchanged numbers and credits, I waved and said, “Goodbye, good doctor. I hope you remain safe.”
“As do I, Scarlett. As do I.” She closed the door, leaving me and Gruma standing in an oversized hallway. We quietly walked back out of the complex.
Once we were outside, Gruma said, “I’ll go buy some fabrics. Meet you up at the ship.” She then ran off, leaving me alone. I guess I should head back to the ship. That’s unless I want to hang around with the guys. Now that I think about it, that sounds more interesting than what I’m doing.
I was about to give Quentin a call when I saw him carrying a large sack of some alien crop. “I can help you!” I shouted as I ran up to him. He looked at me and started walking faster. I could see he was having difficulty carrying it. I tried to grab the bag, but he scowled.
“I can do this. I don’t need help,” he said as he struggled to keep the sack from dropping. Right before he could drop it, I grabbed hold of it.
“Quentin, you don’t need to prove anything. I know you’re stronger than me. However, it’s very obvious that this bag is too heavy for one person to carry. We can do this together,” I said. He grabbed the other side, allowing us to carry it without issue.
We reached the destination to find Harry and Zalex talking to each other. The cyborg looked at us and laughed. He pointed at Quentin and mocked, “Look at that weakling! He needs a weak girl to help him carry a simple bag! I already carried seven over here!” At least being called a girl is better than being called a dog.
“Harry, please stop it. We agreed to work as a team. Your insults have no place in a team,” Quentin replied as he shot a glare at him. “Besides, your cybernetic enhancements are what enable you to carry those sacks like it’s nothing. To be perfectly honest, you are superior to anyone in any physical field.”
“Excuses. But I’m too tired to argue. I’m going to…” Harry said before his voice trailed off. He turned his head towards an approaching figure. Quentin and I looked in the same direction and immediately flinched. For some reason, the alien approaching us was about six feet six inches tall with red skin. He, as I assumed the alien was male, had two horns growing out of his forehead. He had long claws on his fingers and a whip-like tail. Two large bat-like wings emerged from his back. He had a terrifying smile with teeth sharper than mines. His eyes glowed a sickly yellow. Only one thought reached my head.
“Satan!” I shouted as I pointed at him. He’s obviously not the devil, but he looks like depictions of him.
“My name is Malgorth, not Satan! Why did you even assume that was my name, strange creature? That’s, like, a total bummer, man!” the devil-like alien replied. Why does this alien sound like a Californian stoner?
“Malgorth, what are you doing here? Last I heard, you were headed for some treasure of a lifetime,” Harry said as he stared at the devil-like alien. The alien scratched the back of his head and nervously chuckled.
“That’s the thing, man. I got the treasure, but then I lost it in a game of Sorlok Shuffle. Totally bogus!” Malgorth replied as he bowed his head in shame. “And now I’m running from some kind of crime lord as he’s trying to kill me for not having enough money to cover my gambling debts. It’s, like, game over, man!”
“If we manage to win your prize back, would you be willing to join us? A treasure hunter such as yourself would prove a valuable asset. It would help cover our financial issues,” Quentin offered as he paced the room.
“Yeah, man. I’ll totally join you radical dudes in your righteous journey!” Malgorth replied with a smile. I hope he can shut up. His voice is annoying.
“I think we found our new mission: saving Malgorth,” Quentin said as he typed into his SAD.