posted
As I sit here in this silver cage, I wonder how I could ever have gotten here. These people keep me here, out of both my interest and their own. I offered them half of Apocrita's second moon in exchange for my freedom. This earned me a judgemental look from that Vrygean. It is a good thing that drones is a soldier, because he has no business sense.
I have been here in silence for two days. Their queen is preoccuped by the young drone that was with us. As I was taken into custody, I could not help overhearing a conversation between two of the workers.
"That poor boy does not know what species he is," The first female said.
"It's such a shame one so young and innocent is confused and scared," The other replied.
Yes he is young by his species standards. But no, he is not innocent. Nothing is born innocent and nothing dies innocent. My other companions would argue with me. Inu will defend his hive until his dying breath as "an example of excellence". Patap says we are innocent victims of destiny. I don't have much time for either of their nonsense.
However, I will sit here and write this record. History will vindicate me because I am sure the boy will find this. He has a persistence that most humans have lost thanks to all the handouts.
~~~~
I entered adulthood in the city of Sipe. It is a an artificial city, built on a platform above the ancient forests of Apocrita. My first job was at the fabric processing plant. I was assigned to the task of feeding the spiders. It was a boring job that barely paid the rent, but it led to an event that would change my life. I was at the fabric processing plant for almost two months when I was called into the boss's office.
My boss stated, "We are short ten meters of raw spider thread. Vespi claims to have saw you stole the threads."
I replied, "I did not steal the fabric. You can check my locker."
The boss went to my locker and I followed her. She opened the locker with her key, and we saw a mass of shiny grey material sparkling under the lights. I was guilty of theft and forced to leave the company. I learnt from the incident that one most always be aware of my surrondings.
My last job was at Generation Center #5. A Generation Center is where the females of my species go to lay their eggs. The Generation Center is where they hatch, feed on delicious tarantulas, and are educated. The Generation Center was in dire need of night shift workers, and I was glad to get a decent job. My tasks were simple: to see that every larvae is locked inside their rooms, stop any that aren't, and keep track of inventory.
Every night I made my way up the maze of platforms. I checked the supply of spiders that were just delivered. These spiders are not like the so-called "spiders" I have seen crawling in my cell. Spiders on my planets are the size of Terran pigs. They are the primary diet of larvae. Then I check the rows of larvae cells. I take note of any that are turning into pupae, the intermediate phase of our species. I repeated this process on two floors until I heard the sound of a door unlocking.
I turned my eyes to see a spider dart across the hallway. I thought someone must have forgotten to paralyze this animal. I leaped towards this creature. It did not ran but turned into a small, opaque, humanoid figure.
I was startled. I had met about other subspecies of Apocritans that I thought were weird, so imagine my reaction to a humanoid. Traders talked about their wars economic effects, but they are very far away from our planet. They can neither harm nor help us. It is in everyone's interest to keep to theirselves. Even Inu's subspecies does not like dealing with foreigners.
Before I could react to the creature, it glowed and it's form changed to that of my subspecies. Bright orange wings formed, and dark skin glistened in the dim lights. I approached it cautiously, and observed that it had duplicated me almost exactly. However, there were two weaknesses in it's power.
"Sorry, but I am not a female." I replied to the humanoid. The boy hanged his head in shame and began to run. I followed him until I felt a sharp pain in my right thigh. I looked down to discover a newly formed adult clinging to me. I kicked it and continued to run down the halls. The humanoid proved to be intelligent, and was opening all the cells.
[ July 24, 2010, 05:09 PM: Message edited by: Red Arrow ]
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Giti's subspecies is based on a species of wasp known as the hawk wasp. If you look up tarantula wasp or hawk wasp you will find detailed information about the creatures. The nicest way I can sum up their behavior is that they evolved to take down spiders. ~~~~
I chased the humanoid down the halls. I was the only employee in the building. My "co-workers" were all in the pubs right now, and here I was chasing an alien! I was not afraid because I was alone, I was afraid because I would get all the blame. I did not need to be fired from another job.
The humanoid ran down the maze, but I decided to leap down to him. The boy was terrified and did not know how to react. He just stood there with the expression of a scarred larvae.
I asked, "Who are you?"
He answered, "I am...Roton. I don't want to steal! All I want to do is go home."
I wondered if the boy was playing me. I decided to question him further. "Where is home?"
He replied, "My home is not far from Earth.."
I said, "I n---" Then I thought to myself, this could be an opportunity. I can help this boy return home, and in return he can help me make money. Then I can ditch this job and buy real estate on our second moon.
I continued, "I know exactly where that is. I can help you return home."
The boy said, "Great! Where do we go next?"
That started the hatching of a brillant plan. I told the boy to shiftshape into the image of my boss (his picture hangs near the entrance of the building). We were then able to bypass the gate security near the exit zone. At the edge of our platformed city, he was able to acquire two passes to Tenroh. I needed to go to Tenroh to clear up some debts.
Before we left the place, I asked the boy if he could fly when transformed into an insectoid.
"My ability is to mirror any individual's form. This includes their organs and abilities." The boy explained. Roton showed this by hovering above my head, and than darting towards the ground. I followed him slowly, worried that he would take advantage of this opportunity to escape. To my surprise, he waited for me besides a tree. I found him munching on a peach. He smiled and handed one to me.
I replied, "No thank you." The boy kept smiling and began eating the second one. His mood perked up and he was excited to reach Tenroh. I was appreciating this artificial happiness because I knew what was about to happen.
After I was fired from that first job, I ran errands for a geologist. I was sent to photograph some mountains close to Tenroh. I was trying to get a better view of the mountain when I was interrupted by a voice.
"This mountain belongs to the Vesp People. Outsiders are not allowed to take photographs." He said in a stern voice.
I laughed at him. We argued for several minutes, this argument turned into a fight. It was not a "fair fight" as you humans call them. I am a superior subspecies. My opponent had no honor and brought in others to the fight. I was knocked unconsious and brought to their queen. She ordered that I take the place of the drone I injured as punishment.
Luckily, an earthquake happened and I used the calamity to cover my escape. The Houses of Tenroh are so busy fighting amongst themselves that they had no time to look for me. A consquence of their complicated society is that they don't notice the small things. When you are alone you are forced to pay attention.
The forest slowly came to an end, and an old trail could be seen. A sign read Tenroh- 15 minute flight north, Hiero- 40 minute flight west. We could see cleared land in the horizen. As we approached the city, we saw orchards of fruit. Peaches, pears, and apples were being tended by Vespi workers. I mused at the prospect of stealing some fruit when we leave. This thought distracted me, and Roton used this opportunity to run into the field. It appeared that he was asking one of the workers for directions. I couldn't hear them, but Roton pointed at me, and see signaled an older worker for advice.
Wings began to tighten and I could see the fear in their eyes. Then a low buzzing noise entered my ears. An army began descending from the city, and the field workers blocked the path from which we came.
[ July 26, 2010, 11:52 AM: Message edited by: Red Arrow ]
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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