I honesty thought about just sitting down and not having a confrontation right away. I didn't want to cause trouble, and I knew if I went down into the living area that I was going to have trouble. A lot of trouble.
It's always nice to make a good first impression. I thought with a smile and kept walking the hobbling walk that the magnetic ankle cuffs allowed. I passed a man who gave me a mean look and I waved at him. I passed a woman that had greedy eyes and licked her lips, so I blew her a kiss and that surprised her. I kept walking and passed a man that ignored me completely and I marked him mentally.
I reached the living area that had been constructed off to the side, just like it had been at the other place, and it also had the same amount of cubicles. Since I had guessed that this mine operated for a lot longer than the last one, the living space limitation was a real problem if they had been funnelling prisoners here for that long.
I didn't know what kind of shifts they had here, either. I probably should have asked a few more questions before coming down here. I thought with amusement.
Half of the cubicles already had occupants and some of them had two women, some had two men, and the rest of the occupied ones had single people and aliens. I came to a stop in the middle of the area and smiled.
“Please tell me there's a female Aviatoma here.” I said loudly with a Presence assist and then I let out a really loud squawk to announce my arrival. Three screeches responded from down further in the mine, then there were several loud bangs, a few more screeches, then silence. I stood there and waited for almost five minutes before the first one came into sight.
“Please, let it be true!” A female avian woman exclaimed as she hobbled-hopped-ran into the living area and then she stopped when she saw me. “No, please.” She said, her voice full of sadness and she felt a deep loss. “No.”
“I knew it was too good to be true.” Another one said as she hobbled into view. “Damn it, human! I'll kill you for insulting me like this!”
“M-move... out of the... way!” A third avian woman panted. Her jumpsuit was torn in several places and her arm didn't work right. “I don't care if he played a recording.”
“You can have the disgusting thing.” The first woman said and turned around. “We better get back to our shift.”
“I'll be visiting you tonight!” The second one said. “Your blood will be sweet as I rip your throat out!”
I ignored their taunts and looked at the third woman. “It looks like they ambushed you.”
“At least they used... the handles on... the laser drills.” She said and came to a stop in front of me. The feathers on her head and forearms were pitch black and you could barely tell they were feathers at all unless you looked closely. Her skin was a bit darker than the others, too.
“Hi. I'm Hunter.” I said and held a hand out to her.
She looked at it like it was going to hurt her and then at my face. “You don't have a lot of experience with magnetic cuffs, do you?”
“Not really.”
“They repel each other and other pairs.” She said. “If you try to force them together... well...”
“How am I supposed to make love to you if we can't cuddle?” I asked.
She opened her mouth to respond when a thick voice spoke from the darkness.
“Get back to work.”
“Who was that?” I asked and tried to follow the Presence back to the source.
“The self-appointed shift manager.” She said and turned around to go back to work.
“Wait, let me help you.” I said.
She laughed. “What are you going to do, hold my laser drill for me?”
“If that's what you want.” I said and walked behind her and put my hands on her lower back. She froze as I dug my thumbs into the small recesses on the sides of her spine. She let out a low warble from her throat before she could stop herself.
“Stop... I have... to work.”
I leaned in close and tweeted into her ear. She trembled for a second then caught her breath.
“You can do that?” She asked, surprised. “What about the cuffs?”
“What cuffs?” I asked and popped them apart and stored them, then put my arms around her as I stepped close and hugged her from behind.
All of the feathers on her head fluffed up and she looked down to see that my hands and feet were free. She couldn't believe it and shook her head. She let out a few low chirps of disbelief and I used Presence Heal on her. I also disabled the explosive in her head and covered the pieces in Presence to stop them from moving around and causing damage.
“No, it's not real.” She said. “It can't be.”
“Get back to work now! You need to fill your quota!”
“Do you want me to carry you now?” I asked and picked her up in a princess carry and she let out a frightened squawk and stared at me. I gave her an award winning smile and covered us in Presence, then I ran. “Where is the shift manager?”
“He's at the mining site.” She said and we arrived there a few seconds later and we had passed the other two avian women.
“That's not possible.” The man said and looked at me as we appeared in front of him.
“I'm assigning myself to (tweet-chirp-chirp-warble-chirp)'s shift.” I said. “Oh, and I'll be staying in her cubicle, too.”
“You'll what?” The avian woman exclaimed. “Wait! I don't have a cubicle!”
“You will tonight.” I said. “Where were you digging?”
“Section six.” She said automatically, because she was too surprised by the turn of events to lie or to misdirect me.
“You need to be properly trained with the use of the laser drill.” The shift manager said.
“She'll teach me as she works.” I said and I plucked the location of section six from his head. “Don't worry. I won't blow this planet up, too.”
“WHAT?!?” They both yelled and I ran from the spot over to section six.
“You can hobble really fast, can't you?” I asked and stood her up next to her abandoned laser drill.
She stared at me and didn't speak for a minute. “You blew up a planet!”
“Well, when you launch fifty ship missiles at a stationary target that's pretty much just a massive explosion that's waiting to happen...” I shrugged. “I learned my lesson.”
She opened her mouth a few times, then she shook her head like a dog shaking off water. “I don't know if being around you is going to be worth the problems.” She said and picked up the large laser drill that was the size of a jackhammer, then she braced it against the wall and turned it on.
A laser shot out of the end and cut into the wall at a seemingly random spot and she made several adjustments to the emitter. A second later, the wall started to glow around the area. After about five minutes, the surrounding rock melted away a hole that was a foot in diameter. Inside the space was an unrefined focusing crystal about the size of my fist.
“Okay, I guess I am going to need more than a physical demonstration.” I said.
She warbled a laugh and took out the large unrefined crystal from the hole and walked over to an open crate. She placed it inside and came back over to the wall.
“How did you get here so fast?!?” The first avian woman asked, then she gasped when she saw me. “What's that doing here?”
“Learning.” I said.
She glared at me and went to her spot that wasn't too far away, then she picked up her large laser drill and started to work.
“I should kill you right now for tricking us.” The second avian woman said as she walked passed us.
“I'd hold off on that, because you're going to feel extremely horny tonight.” I said. “I do a great mating call.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
All three women gasped and turned to look at me. “You lie.” They said as one.
“I can't prove it here, because you've got about six hours left to the shift.” I said. “The last Aviatoma I was with kept hugging herself to try and hold on to the feeling.”
The three of them stared at me, so I pointed to the wall.
“You need to start working or the shift manager is going to yell again.”
They sighed and got back to work. I asked the one I was with how to actually operate the laser drill, and she showed me the range finder to detect a good crystal. Once it found one, you changed the emitter settings to melt the rock around it, then you just plucked it out and put it in the crate.
“How do you dig down to the right spots?” I asked.
“We have actual picks to clear out the rocks and dirt to expose a good area first, then we bring out the laser drills and start harvesting the crystals.”
“You are behind on your shift quota.” The thick voice said.
“I assume a full crate is the shift quota?” I asked and she nodded. “So, if we fill it, we can end our shift early, right?”
“Yes.” She said. “It's never happened before, though. We need a full shift to gather enough crystals.”
“Well, you used to.” I said. “I'll be right back.”
“Where are you...” She stopped talking and sighed.
I showed up at the shift manager and startled him. “How many more laser drills do you have?”
“They are all signed out.” The shift manager said. “That's why we have shifts. Not everyone can work.”
“I guess I would normally be on the other shift, then?”
“No, I just told you that there's not enough drills.” He said. “You would be a part of the crew that digs new areas and clears the melted rock when it's too thick to work around.”
“It's a good thing I assigned myself to this shift then.” I said and ran back to section six. The black feathered woman didn't jump when I appeared beside her, unlike the other two. I used Presence to hold their drills against the walls because they almost dropped them. “Sorry about that.” I said and both of them glared at me, then they realized they weren't holding their drills. They let out startled squawks and grabbed them and I let them go.
“If you really are staying on my shift, we'll have to share the drill.” (Tweet-chirp-chirp-warble-chirp) said.
“Would you mind if I called you Valerie, or Val for short? That almost sounds like (warble).”
Val gave me a look that said she didn't like that.
“I promise that in private, I'll call you whatever you want.” I said.
Val stopped working and looked at me. “Anything I want?” She asked and I nodded. She looked at the other two women and then leaned in close to me to whisper in my ear. She tweeted and chirped and I raised my eyebrows at her. She blushed a little and ducked her head, so I put a hand under her chin and had her look at me.
“If that's what you want to be called.” I said.
“Then you can call me Val.”
“He's domesticating you already!” The second avian woman almost yelled. “You should scratch his eye out for insulting you by giving you a normal name!”
“It's not an insult, though.” I said and looked at Val. “I just rather save speaking in your native tongue for when we're alone.”
“You really can speak it and it's not a recording or anything?” Val asked.
I said a series of chirps, tweets, and squawks to say that I could. I even fluffed my hair with Presence for emphasis. All three women stared at me like they hadn't seen me before.
“Now, let's get this crate filled.” I said.
“It takes time to gather unrefined crystals and it can't be rushed.” Val said. “Plus we only have one laser drill to... Goddess of the Air!” She exclaimed when I made five laser drills appear.
“Shh! Keep this a secret from you know who.” I said and used Presence Hands to check all five drills and put them on the right setting for searching, then I lifted them all up in a square pattern with four on the corners and one in the center. I found three crystals and used the drills to melt the rock, then moved over five feet and used them again.
The three women stood there and watched as I went all along the wall for about thirty feet, which meant I used all five drills six times each and found eighteen crystals. I moved them up the wall and went back along the thirty feet and found ten more crystals. I used twenty eight Presence Hands to pick up the unrefined crystals and placed five in the crate to finish the level, added the padding and protection it needed, then put the rest in.
“What do you do when you have extra crystals?” I asked and stored the drills and then put the top on the crate. I had two extra that I just couldn't get into the crate without them hitting the others.
“It's never happened before.” Val said.
I stored the last two crystals and then turned on the handle on the crate, so it floated up off of the ground. “Ladies, can I offer you a ride?”
“What?” The three of them asked.
“There's no need for you to walk all the way back, right? We have a poor man's hover car right here.” I said and waved at the crate, then turned off the handle and it lowered to the ground. “Val, if you would demonstrate?”
Val nodded and I picked her up by her hips and sat her on the crate. I activated the handle and then easily walked around the area and back to the other two. The other two women had their mouths open in surprise. I waved to the crate and held a hand out to the first woman and she looked like she wanted to bat my hand away.
“Oh, right. Sorry.” I said and created solid blue Presence Claws that looked like bird feet to cover my hands. “This way.”
She was completely stunned at my hands and couldn't fathom what had happened. I picked her up with my clawed hands and sat her on the left side of the crate, then made a seat belt out of Presence to hold her, just in case. I did the same with Val and gave her a seat belt, too. I then tucked both of their laser drills into a bag of holding.
The second woman glared at me and I could feel her hatred that I was copying a male for my own advantage. I didn't bother holding a clawed hand out to her and just waved at the crate. She nodded and I used Levitation to pick her up and put her on the other side of the crate. She let out a startled squawk at the movement, then she felt the seat belt hold her in place. She touched it and looked at me.
“I don't want you to fall off.” I said in explanation and stored her laser drill, then I activated the handle and the crate floated a foot up off of the ground. I walked at a normal pace, which they hadn't seen anyone do in a while, and I took them and the crate all the way back over to the shift supervisor.
“What are you...” He stopped talking when he saw the crate and the three avian women on top of it. “What the hell?”
“It's a shock that people can ride a crate, I know.” I said and dropped off the three laser drills that the three avian women had been using. “Do you want me to bring the crate up to the start of the mine?”
The supervisor couldn't decide if I was pulling his leg or not, because he knew there was no way the crate could be full.
“It actually is full.” I said and tapped the side and it made a solid 'thunk' sound. “Do I deliver it or not?”
“Deliver it.” He said and looked at the three avian women. “You did well to finish so soon and to cover for the new guy.” He said. “I'll put you in for extra rations tonight.”
The three of them let out little chirps of surprise.
“Thanks a lot.” I said and started to walk away.
“Hunter, you did this, not us.” Val whispered. “You deserve the extra rations.”
“You three need them more than I do.” I said. “Maybe some extra food will make the other two less hostile.”
“Not a chance.” The first woman said.
“Drop dead.” The second one said.
“Hey, it's already working.” I said. “You didn't spit at me and that is definitely an improvement.”
Both women fell silent and Val chuckled.
I took them to the living area and that surprised everyone that was there. I deactivated the handle and absorbed the Presence holding them in place, then I helped all three women down off of the crate.
“I'll be back soon.” I said to Val and she nodded.
I activated the handle again and walked at a normal pace all the way back to the start of the mine. Just before I went into the open area, I put the shackles back on my ankles and wrists and then hobble-walked into the space.
“Hey, there!” I said loudly and the two Order members and three guards stared at me. “I'm just delivering a full crate.”
“How?” One of The Order members asked.
“It has a handle and I pull on it.” I said and stopped in the middle of the area and deactivated the handle. “See you later.”
No one spoke as I turned around and hobble-walked back out of the area. Once I was out of their sight, I took off the restraints and stored them, then used Presence Run to get back to the living area instantly. Val smiled at my appearance and the other two avian women let out startled squawks. A few people had gathered around them and had been asking questions about me.
“Before this goes on any further, I need to speak to the biggest, meanest, and most bad-assed person here.” I said.
“That would be me.” A gravelly voice said as they stepped out of the very first cubicle. It was an alien, or at least I assumed it was an alien, because he was nine feet tall and looked like he was made of blocks. His head was a block, his arms and legs were two blocks on their ends, and his torso looked like one big block.
Since the cuffs stopped people from moving their ankles more than two feet part, he had to take baby steps to come out of his cubicle. His hands were held together by two sets of cuffs, since his body was so wide, and a single cuff was so big that I could wear one as a belt. He also had the meanest look on his face that I had ever seen.
“It's really nice to meet you.” I said and gave him a big smile. “I'd like to rent your cubicle for the night.”
“What?” He looked at me in confusion. “I thought we were going to fight.”
“Ha ha! You're such a kidder.” I said and everyone looked around in confusion as well. “No, I just need a bed so I can make Val squawk until she can't speak.”
“We're supposed to fight for living space.” He said.
“I don't wanna live there!” I laughed. “I just want to visit.”
“Fight him!” The second avian woman said and pointed at me. “He's a fraud and deserves to die!”
The big alien took another step towards me and I didn't move.
“I'll make you an offer you can't refuse.” I said.
“Credits don't mean anything down here.” He said and started to raise his huge arms over my head to smash me into the ground.
“I'll trade you one night in your cubicle for the key to your wrist cuffs.” I said with a grin.
The big alien stopped and looked into my eyes. “You have it?”
I nodded.
“Only one night?” The big guy asked.
“Yep! Just one night and you can move your arms like you want.” I said. “I'd suggest keeping the cuffs close by. When anyone comes around, you can put them back on and pretend they still have you restrained.”
“I could kill you and just take it.” The big guy said.
I laughed again. “I could run around you a hundred times before you could hit me with your arms shackled like that. Afterwards? Well, no point in killing me if you already have the key, right?”
The big alien thought about it. “You're not trying to trick me, are you?”
“Naw, if I was going to trick you, I would have led you over to the side there and got you stuck in the depression.” I pointed to the spot. “It would take you all night to walk all the way to the end and get back out.”
“All right.” The big alien said. “One night for the key.”
I took out the electronic key. “I mean tonight. Val can't wait until tomorrow or next week.”
The big alien laughed a huge rumbling laugh. “Tonight.”
I went to hand him the key and then looked at his hands. “Want me to open the first one? You can't turn your hands to use it.”
The big alien nodded and I unlocked one of his wrists, then I held the key out to him. He took it carefully, so that he wouldn't crush it, and used it to open the other cuff.
“Do you realize the power you just gave him?” Val asked me. “Everyone will come to him and offer favors to open their wrist restraints.”
“Yeah, I know.” I said and looked at the big alien. “Plus, he can just claim another cubicle until tomorrow.”
The big alien smiled at me and shuffled off. No one got in his way.
“Then why didn't you make someone else the same offer?” Val asked, confused.
“He's got a huge bed.” I said and took her hand. “Believe me, we're going to need the room.”
Val opened her mouth to respond and I pulled her close and spoke the first three chirps and tweets of a mating call. She closed her eyes and all of her feathers fluffed up slightly.
“Y-yes.” Val said. “Please.”
I led her over to the cubicle and created a Presence Wall to cover the opening to stop people from seeing us. I didn't bother blocking the sound, because I wanted everyone to hear us, and they did.