“Well, I have some good news and some bad news.” Gizzy said while staring at 2 men in a room shackled and hooked to IV bags. “The good news is you didn’t die like the other 6 after the transfusion. The bad news is mostly just for you, because you didn’t die from the transfusion. So you two lucky assholes get to come with us and be our new friends. Welcome to the crew, the food and accommodations are gonna suck and so is the job.”
“I don’t get it.” Said the scrawny humanoid, the left side of his face grafted with metal plates and a fake ear, his eye visibly mechanical, and several gold teeth on that side. He scrunched his beaklike nose and defiantly glared at Gizzy. “So I’m just… free then? For what?”
“Oh you’re nowhere near free, you’re still a prisoner, you just live on our ship because Vicki here has a craving for human flesh and Delmarian blood. Thanks to whatever the shit you are.”
“Chrone.”
“Yeah, I don’t actually care. Whatever, you are bonded with the Delmarian blood. Vicki tried the samples and found it tolerable.”
“She’s drinking my blood?” He asked, looking annoyed and perplexed.
“You’re vampire food, asshole. Livestock. You’re gonna get daily visits from Vicki and she’s gonna vamp suck your neck and leave you on the ground to regenerate.”
“No shit?” He chuckled.
“You seem oddly happy about that.”
“If it gets me out of here, I’ll tolerate it. I don’t think you understand what they do to you here, missy.”
“Call me missy one more time and I’m collecting a leg. You can technically survive and do this job as a limbless stump, you know.”
“You know I came in here real good looking.” He smirked.
“God, I fucking doubt that.”
“This fancy face came as a gift from this place. Guard slammed my head into the wall and drug me 20 feet, took half the skin off, broke my jaw, knocked out 4 teeth, blinded my eye. First week. Not a lot you can do to us that’s worse than The Brick. That’s what the inmates call it here. IronBrick holding station. This is where they keep you until budget cuts and rooms get sparse. Then they take the ones they’re sick of, vent them out, and throw fresh meat in.”
“Well, you’re fresh meat here now, except literally.” Gizzy said turning to the other inmate, who just looked silently depressed. The Icy blue hulking primate stared at the floor without a movement, just staring through his glasses and frowning, scruffy beard overgrowth and buzz cut around the ear line. “So what’s your deal, you scared or just oblivious?” She asked.
“I’m supposed to be food too?” He asked.
“Yep, that’s the idea. Sucks, doesn’t it?” She sarcastically pouted.
“Does it matter? We all live and die.” He said softly.
“Oh no you’re not being executed, you two are gonna be injected with regeneration shots if needed and just keep on healing up. You’re renewable food, not one time use. That’s the whole point of the Bone marrow infusion, the Osirian nanobot shots in the spine. You’re now generating fresh hybrid Delmarian blood, and you heal super fast, like the shittiest super hero ever, or a giant humanoid smoothie-machine.”
“Sounds appropriate.” The big guy said calmly brooding.
“You two don’t seem to grasp this. We’re gonna take you out of one cell, put you in a different cell, and then every single day first thing in the morning you have breakfast and then we turn loose a monster in your cell who just fucks your shit up, leaves you full of venom and missing a liter or two of blood, probably blacked out. You wake up, vomit, sweat profusely and then have lunch. Then the rest of the day is just being in a cell. There’s no field trips, no recreation, no weight room. If you need medical attention too damn bad, unless you’re gonna die from it. And then you never leave the box without shackles and a shock collar. If you get lippy with me or piss me off, I get to beat you senseless because there are no rules, I own you.”
“HA!” chuckled the rodent-like smaller man. “Lady you just gave us the same speech we got when we were thrown in the brick. Except instead of sodomy, we get beat up and bit by a girl. Sounds like an upgrade. What did we do to earn this new cell?” He smirked. She grabbed him by the hair and picked him up. “Did I say to enjoy this, shitweasel?” She said kneeing him in the balls and dropping him. “You think this is a reward? You better start acting like you hate it real quick or I’ll find something you do hate and that’s gonna be a daily addition. Trust me, there’s only two of you, that means very individual attention, and I’m a criminal too. Mass genocide, illegal lab experiments, weapons smuggling. I’m far worse than Vicki is, and everyone has something they hate that can be used to ruin their mood. So screw with me or my crew and I’ll start cutting things off and growing new things in their place, just to see if I can. The best part is that I can clone you back so if I torture you to death, you just wake up fresh for round 2. you may not be yourself, you may clone a little fucked up or pieces out of order, but you see, I don’t care. I read your file, and you’re not a person to me, you’re an object made of edible parts. So as long as you clone back with enough to stay alive and generate blood… that’s fine with me. Keep your mouth shut and mind your damn business and you can enjoy some upgrades, silently and to yourself. We may give you a book or something. I’m either your damn savior or the devil herself, and that just depends on how you act. Trust me, I can make the brick seem like a vacation if you push me. Now you, Big blue. What’s your name?”
“Zhoren.” He said calmly.
“So why do you look so calm, they got you on sedatives or something?”
“Because I accept my destiny. I prayed to the gods to forgive me of my crimes and they have decided my fate has changed. If it is better here, I am forgiven, if it is not, then I deserve my worsening life.”
“Oh here we go again.” The smaller guy said, rolling his entire head for eyes. “This religious shit gets old, we’re not sharing a cell are we?” He asked.
“Shitbird, you open your beak when spoken to. You keep tweeting out of line little birdie and I’ll trim that beak of a nose. And no, you get your own private little hellhole. I can’t torment you both especially in the same room. That’s just lazy and stupid.”
“They call me X, because I never leave a lover alive.”
“No, that’s just stupid, I’m calling you Tweet from now on. Your legal name is now Tweetie Tweets McFuckbeak and I’m never calling you X. What are you, a 2000’s techno remix? Chirp Chirp motherfucker. Sit back in line. No, you know what? Get in the cage. You wanna chirp, in the birdcage you go. The small one. We don’t have rooms set up right now so you get a cage and a bucket. Zhoren, you get to hang out in the room until we’re ready to go. Have fun, do pushups, walk laps, take a nap, piss on Tweet, whatever you want for the next 45 minutes till we move you to the cargo bay."
...
The cargo bay doors opened and 2 crates on forklifts rolled in, Gizzy and Jack driving while Vinn and Nicole watched.
“Seems a bit inhumane.” She cringed.
“Well, they’re not human. This one isn’t even a person, just consider him a steak with a bad attitude.” She said, intentionally jostling the crate and dropping it on the side. Nicole squatted down next to him, noticing the duct tape around his mouth and the boot mark on the fleshy side of his face.
“This doesn’t feel right. Animals get treated better than this.” She sighed.
“Get to know him better, you’ll change that outlook. You know what this guy did? He set a children’s hospital on fire because they had a burn unit and he thought it was funny and ironic. He’s a serial arsonist who likes to watch people burn alive. He’s killed 210 people, half of that were kids in the hospital.
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“…Nevermind, I stand corrected. Do what you do.” She said completely changing her attitude.
“And his name is Tweetie, unless you can find something he hates more, and then you can call him that. He seems sensitive about the nose. Now this big bastard is Zhoren, he’s been behaving so far, and Vicki prefers his blood so we need his cell set up first. We need restraints and a collar, he’s big enough to do damage to pretty much anyone but Vinn.”
“What about Tweetie?” Vinn asked.
“Honestly, I think Vicki can just handle him, he’s kind of a puss and went down fairly easy when I threw a nutshot and if you remember the last time me and Vicki rumbled…BEFORE she went unholy god of death mode, she broke my arm in 3 places and cracked a rib. I don’t think we need to restrain him. She might even prefer he try and scurry away. I don’t kinkshame. But that’s a 500 pound blue raspberry primate and I’m not taking any chances. Bitchbird isn’t a threat in his box, and he’s backup meat anyway. Zhoren’s cell is priority number one.”
“Thank you.” He said quietly. Gizzy paused and looked around
“For what?” she asked.
“Using my name instead of my number.” He said, still staring down at the floor.
“Alright. Anyways, that’s that. We drained the weapons lockers and memory wiped the guards. I’m keeping the forklifts, by the way. And we got food and meds. I’d say that was an easy mission.”
“How many people died?” asked Nicole.
“Less than Vicki has killed in a single feeding. I didn’t keep track of the body count or who was worth calling a person, but it’s a 3X maximum security holding cube. They don’t put you in there for speeding and theft. Those monsters are there to die. That isn't a place you put con artists and people who boosted some shuttle crafts. This is a place you put the worst animals in. Stop thinking of them as prisoners.” Gizzy suggested.
“What did Zhoren do?” she asked.
“I dunno. They only had about half the prisoners on the data sheets. They probably ran out of storage on the data logs and just shortened the files for the older inmates. You can ask him but he’s just gonna lie and say he’s innocent, or tell you something that will give you nightmares. Not the kind of ones you enjoy.”
“70 souls for the price of two.” He said solemnly. She turned and looked him over. “I prepared to send 2 souls to the afterlife, and by the time the smoke cleared I sent 68 more, women and children as well.” He said breathing a sigh of regret. “And I am not innocent of the charges.” He added. “I killed them all myself.”
“See, Nicole. He’s a murderer.”
“What’s your killcount, Gizzy?” she asked.
“Innocent civilians who did nothing wrong, or enemies to stood in the way of a better world? You wanna talk about war and combat, kill or defend yourself, taking down threats to my world and family? If so then I’m the highest scoring monster in this ship even if you added up everyone. Even I don’t kill kids. Jack kills monsters, Vinn defended the innocent, I’ve shed a lot of blood, and even Vicki can’t help her body count. Aside from the last one, they were justified. Even that nightmare you saw in the bar wouldn’t get her thrown in that prison cube, and most people would argue that she’s a monster. You may be the only true innocent here, Nicole, but there are tiers of evil and levels of suffering you don’t understand, and the gap between Vicki and Captain Birdcage down there on the floor is wide and full of lines to cross."
“I didn’t say you were wrong, I just said I don’t like how it feels.”
“Neither does Vicki.” She whispered, making her leave silently and with a stomp.
...
The lights turned on in the cargo bay, both prisoners waking up and expecting their morning beatings. Gizzy stomped into the cage area and stood smiling.
“Wake up dickheads. Your cells are ready. Everything is coded, Blue and pink. Here’s your towel, your roll of toilet paper and a bar of soap. You first Zhoren. I've got something to test out.” She said as Tweetie looked annoyed.
“Hey why does he get blue and I get pink?”
“Because he’s blue and you’re a bitch.” She said giving his collar a test shock on level 2. He grunted and piped down. Zhoren’s cage opened and he noticed Jack standing guard with a rifle ready. “Okay Big blue, first time you get to be useful. Attack me.”
“What?” he asked.
“It’s not a trick, Jack is only there in case I tap out or you try and run. I order you to try and kick my ass as if your life depended on it.” He stood looking nervous and confused.
“I'd prefer not to.” He said calmly.
“I’m not asking, I’m ordering. That is a direct order, kick my ass if you can.” She said standing a good 8 inches shorter and over double her weight.
“I’ll do it.” Volunteered Tweet. He was met with another zap at level 4, knocking him out.
“Do what your told or I'm doing it again.” She snapped. “That goes for you too big blue. I’ll shock you if you don’t.” He sighed, and looking suspicious, stepped forward and threw a punch. It knocked her back a step. She stepped forward, driving a body shot and a double left to his ribs. He grunted, then outstretched his arm so that he could grab her and slam her into the ground. She grabbed the incoming punch and they locked hands, both unable to move one way or another. That suddenly changed when he used his left hand to throw several consecutive punches to the ribs. However, they had very little effect on her. She swung both legs out wide in a split, then curled them up to her stomach. She shoved them into the big guy's stomach, and sent him flying with an OOF. She then stood up while nodding absentmindedly. “Alright that’s good.” She said, looking unbothered.
“What the hell was that for?” He asked.
“Wanted a baseline power reading and I had to file test the new upgrades. This human bullshit is just intolerable, no offense Jack but human bodies break too easy. Carbon fiber bones, few muscle enhancers, just a little buff. Jack, show him to his new home. Tweet, follow me.” She said, grabbing a pistol and leading him the same way.
“He gets a bigger cell?” He complained.
“He’s a bigger prisoner, you know you just upgraded from a moldy-ass rusty 8x6 to a 10x10 with a privacy curtain for the shitter and shower combo.
“We shit in the shower?” he asked.
“Technically yes, but not in the way your nasty ass is thinking. These are military bunk showers. It’s a 3x3 stand up shower and the crapper folds out from the wall, then the sink folds out above that. Now right now you both smell like dead cats , but given where you came from it’s only expected. You’re no longer just storage for evaluation until they decide to kill you. You’re livestock now, and Vicki likes her food clean, so you shower every night, wash your hands and brush your teeth twice a day. If she complains about your hygiene, you get a beating from me.”
“I have a question.” Zhoren asked.
“Go for it.”
“What is the ranking on this ship? I heard someone named Nicole was the captain, but you seem to be giving the orders, and you work for this…Vicki?”
“We’re all old friends on this crew, so technically Nicole is in charge of the ship and I am in charge of the military mission aspects. We sort of co-run the ship, and prisoners are my department. Vicki isn’t in charge, but she is a friend with medical needs and without her needs met, she gets unruly and that causes problems. Plus, I just enjoy fighting so if there’s asses to kick and discipline to give out, I’m the ranking officer. Vinn, Jack, and Vicki answer to me and Nicole, the robot answers to all of us, and frankly you guys rank lower than her so if she gives you orders, you even answer the big tittied toaster.”
“The toaster has tits? Looks like I’m gonna be ordering toast more often.” Tweet smirked.
“Toaster is a derogatory term for robot, and you eat what we give you. Which is going to be healthy meals, and you’ll eat all of it. Remember, we want you healthy, not necessarily happy. Healthy livestock makes a healthy Vicki, happy livestock doesn’t benefit anyone. Shower up, food in 15, then you get to meet Vicki.” She said.
“If I hurt you before, you did order me to but I did not want to.” Said Zhoren.
“Oh trust me, you didn’t hurt me, and she may not look like it, but Vicki can stand her own against me in a fight. Vinn can take either of us apart, so you two are by no means the big bad bastards on this ship. Any of us can easily kick your asses except Nicole, and the 700 pound animal who files his antler down to fit in a helmet…that’s her overprotective husband. Welcome to the bottom of the food chain, ladies. Scrub-addub-adub.” She said, tossing the soap through the bars and activating the energy shielding.
...
Tweet laid in his bed and tossed a rubber ball off the wall for entertainment as the shielding deactivated and Vicki opened the metal bar door and shut it behind her.
“Wow, you’re a pretty little thing.” He grinned. “These conjugal visits are gonna be the highlight of my day.”
“I really prefer my food silent, or objecting.” She said coldly, her eyes going red as she lunged at him, slamming him to the wall and nearly breaking his arm. The scream got Zhoren’s attention as the energy shielding activated and muffled the sound of violence. He nervously read his book and tried not to think too much about it.
His cell door powered down and opened and he quickly put his book under the pillow to protect it as he unbuttoned his shirt enough to make neck access easy.
“You wanna say something too?” She asked, mouth still stained red.
“Not really. Do as you want.” He calmly said, cuffing his wrist and latching the other with a swing of the cuff, as if he was used to them.
“Well you’re easy food.” She said looking disappointed.
“I was told silence and obedience would earn me some basic things. I hope to earn some better reading material. Proceed, Miss.” He said in an oddly polite manner.
“Gizzy likes submissive toys. I’m not Gizzy.” She said unlocking the handcuffs and tossing the key aside.
...
Tweet could hear the sound of an impact from the floor as he tried to get up again and proceeded to slump back down. He felt the jerk of his body being yanked up to the bed as Gizzy stabbed him in the leg with a shot and scanned him.
“Fractured rib, dislocated collar bone,” She yawned, popping the bone back in. “Relocated collar bone. You’ll live. We may need to give you a low dose shot with your breakfast to get ahead of the damage, though. Otherwise you seem fine.”
“Fuck fine, I nearly died.”
“Oh, stop being a baby,”
“What is she?” he wheezed.
“She’s the second meanest bitch on the ship.” Gizzy whispered, baring her fangs and letting her eyes glow blue. “Welcome to hell, shitbird.” She said, taking a swing and knocking him out cold to recover. But in reality, she mostly did it because she was bored.