Page 16 of Breaking Ties

“I see. I can speak to them now if you like. I will need to take at least four guards in when I do. Two or more will attack me.”

The council looked startled and called in the head of her guard. They were briefed as to her next stop, and Aubrey got up, inclined her head, and walked out with her new elf-style robes fluttering. She felt quite pretty and very flammable, but pretty. Sleeves and skirts fluttered with every movement, and the dress was cut to expose her new marks.

They walked to the orientation area, and she sailed in without pausing until she got to the person in charge of the room. The humans all went quiet.

The organizer sighed in relief. “Lady, there are some here who are insisting on being set free immediately. They don’t seem to grasp that we are on a space station.”

“I understand. Shall I speak to the group at large?”

“Please.”

She was handed a delicate wire and spoke into it, in English. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am here to answer questions that you may have about the station and what happens next.”

Avery stalked forward. “What the hell did they do to you?”

“Ah, Avery. My little sister. They did nothing. My fondest wish was not to be mistaken for you anymore, and they made it happen. Of course, I inherited the genes that made it possible, and yours are dormant. Too bad, so sad.”

Avery stared. “You...”

“You have used me to hide any number of illegal activities over the years. Always claiming that I was the perpetrator and crying when Mom and Dad asked questions. They are still alive, you know. They are on Huraxia. They run a small beverage shop, like a boba stand.”

One of the rougher men from the back said, “I want out of here!”

Aubrey looked at him. “The only thing outside of this vessel is space. If you don’t believe it is space, you are welcome to jump out an airlock, and your dead and frozen body might return to Earth. Maybe.”

She addressed the room and said, “Everyone here has survived the end of the world. This is a new start. What you must remember from here on out is that you are the minority. You are expected to learn the language of your new world. Learn the customs of your new world. Learn to work on your new world, and that trying to keep the bloodlines pure is a stupid idea. Humanity as we know it is over, and unless you end up on a breeder colony where you have a partner for a set amount of time until you generate a child, and then you and your partner break up and go to opposite ends of the new world so that you can each have another child with a new partner, and repeat it four or five times until the males are neutralized and the females are retired, with their children being registered and put in a creche. In that case, you will literally be a human factory. Oh, and you will still need to hold down a job.”

The folks looked appalled.

“Now, what the station is going to do is prepare you like you are going on an international exchange program, except it is one way. They will give you languages, education for a variety of occupations that you actually have an aptitude for, dance, deportment, food, and clothing. This comes at a cost. This station is not a charity. A world that wants you on it contacts the station and offers to pay your bill. The bond price. What you do when you arrive with a registered bond is get to work. The majority of bonds are earned out in less than five years. At that point, if you want to, you can save to switch worlds and go to join friends and family if you can get the travel access. Worlds don’t want you if you can’t be useful.”

A teen girl raised her hand. “What if we aren’t adults yet?”

“A caretaker will be assigned. Someone that you trust. Someone whose bond depends on making sure you are fed, clothed, and educated. Basically, someone who will be a space nanny until their own bond is complete, usually when the child becomes an adult. You won’t be alone.”

The girl smiled and looked at some other unaccompanied minors.

“The price of being a caretaker is fairly high, so any single person would earn their bond out fairly quickly.”

Avery’s cronies were busy staring at Aubrey, so Aubrey said, “Ask questions; I will answer them. Ask the oracle anything.”

She answered questions for two hours and then had to stop for a check-in at medical. Several of the ladies opted to come with her. The humans were all calmer.

The humans had their own escorts, and they were walked through the facility to the waiting medical bay.

Today, she was getting her formal Hmrain compatibility assessed.

Aubrey sat as the male with yellow skin and silver eyes approached and asked to touch her hand. She gave permission, and waves of heat washed through her mind and formed an inferno between her thighs.

The assessor lifted his hand and swallowed weakly. “I have never said this before, Lady, but a perfect score. If I did not know better, I would say you were one of the old ones yourself.”

She smiled. “You say the sweetest things.”

“Lady, one of the new ones looks like you. She is insisting to know what your test results yield.”

Aubrey smiled. “Tell her I got an average rating. Her presence is why I did not visually react. If she doesn’t know what it feels like, she won’t be able to fake it. I am placing her at a two-oh-five.”

The assessor smiled. “I will see if you are correct. You are related?”