[Dokchara]
Watching Dominique just slip away into the ventilation system was a pretty harsh reality check for me. Constant patrols, dozens of cameras, every grate and passage being loaded with sensors to detect unauthorized movement? Apparently none of it even slowed him down, so I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that my constant monitoring may as well have been purely ornamental.
He’d explained to me before that, with a bit of effort, he was able to mess with most devices that he had line of sight with. Tricking the cameras without causing suspicion was as easy as laying in bed and freezing their feeds. The real crazy part was watching him compress himself with the elasticity of a rubber toy so that he could fit into the vent and wriggle away. Eventually someone might notice that the different cameras were showing his head in different positions, but it bought more than enough time for his escape.
As for me, leaving the building just required a leisurely stroll to the main entrance. Normally, stepping outside was pretty rare since there was basically nothing out there, but I’d been working here long enough that most people wouldn’t question my antics. My “escape” should only take a couple minutes of walking as long as none of the guards I passed felt unusually chatty… tch
“Huh, I don’t see you come here often. Going somewhere?”
“Yeah, I just need a breather.”
“Heh, I don’t fault you for it. You sure surprised me when you were walkin around, covered head to toe in blood!”
Sigh
“I really don’t need a reminder.”
“Aww, don’t be like that! We’re pals, right? You can talk to me about it, I hear talking about stuff like that makes it easier to deal with.”
“No, I just need some time alone.”
And as I turned to walk away, he touched my shoulder with one of his hands, which were really just tentacles covered in millions of little bug legs. To him, it was just a show of friendship and that he was willing to talk, but to me, the gesture sent a wave of uncomfortable vibrations through my sensitive plates, sending goosebumps over my entire body. I know he didn’t hold ill intentions and was just trying to be supportive, but it only cemented my resolve to leave this barren rock once and for all.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I picked up my pace, causing me to startle some of the smaller guards on my trip to freedom, but there wasn’t anyone else that felt like impeding me. A quick wave at the person at the front desk and I was finally outside, being immediately greeted by the only two redeeming qualities of this planet, the constant warm wind and the permanent aurora that covered the sky. While it was nice, it didn’t change the fact looking anywhere else but up resulted in a lifeless, inhospitable rocky desert.
I found Dominique leaning on a wall of the control tower waiting for me, just like we’d planned.
“You took your time, huh?”
“I got held up! I’m here now, so what’s the plan?”
“The plan? Well we can just grab a ship and leave. I already gave the boys in the command tower a good nap, nobody’s gonna stop us.”
The speed at which everything was proceeding was a bit freakish. Not even 10 minutes ago had Dominique first injected the idea of leaving into my head, and now I was booting up a light transport ship and doing all the checks before takeoff.
It was surreal just how much my life was changing and how little effort it took outside of getting lucky. I’d almost lost my mind in the year I spent working here, and now I was stealing a ship with an upcoming war hero and taking him to a luxury planet at the edge of the galaxy. We were already in the air and headed for space, all I had to do was kick back, relax, and enjoy the ride… but there was still something scratching the back of my mind…
“Hey Dom, this is probably being overly paranoid, but… you took care of the automated defenses, right?”
“...automated?”
A heavy weight seemed to be placed on my chest, making it difficult for me to breathe. This sector of the galaxy was able to remain a galactic ceasefire zone because of its overwhelming and indiscriminate automated ordnance, everybody that has ever been to space was well aware of that fact. It was so obvious that I didn’t even think about whether Dominique was aware of its existence or not. We were already in range of the cannons, if he really didn’t disable them, then there would be actually nothing we could do.
“Dom, dont FUCK with me right now! Did you or did you not?!”
“Oh… oh shit…”
I could feel my head start to spin, I had to grab on to a wall to stop myself from falling over and expelling my stomach. I’m too young to die, we’re supposed to live for hundreds of years before even considering something like that! And for what, so I could throw away a stable life and help this lunatic?!
No amount of screaming or struggling would save me, there was no magical solution that could fix my mistakes now. All I could do was close my eyes and hope that my passing would be a painless one.
…
..?
I opened my eyes to see Dominique, the man that had taken my trust and used it to kill me, rolling on the floor, howling with laughter. Tears were streaming from his eyes as his laughing devolved into rough bouts of delirious hysteria. He tried to get up and speak, barely forming the start of a word before collapsing again and returning to his guttural howls.
…
I really want to strangle this guy