“After all, you’re in my home. You slept in my bed. You just used up my daily ration of non-potable water. So yeah—if I wanna stare, I’ll stare. And I’d be stupidnotto, because you, my friend, are oneabsolutely deliciousspecimen.”
She throws that last bit like a challenge, chin high.
“So there. Do with that what you will.”
I raise a brow, amused despite myself, and finally take a proper look at her. Maybe 5'6", about 8 inches shorter than me. Her caramel skin looks soft, her full lips and deep black eyes match her delicate dark hair. She shifts under my gaze.
“Come on, let’s get you back to bed. That little energy burst won’t last long, I promise. Your vitals aren’t stable yet. Then again, I don’t know what normal looks like for a half-human, half-feline species. My gut says you’ll crash again soon.”
At the word “weak,” I growl low in my throat.
“Easy there, big guy. I mean you no harm. Friend! Friend!” she says soothingly. “Let me get you some soup. Hopefully it’s something your species can eat.”
The worst part? She’s right. Exhaustion creeps back in.
When I return to the room, she’s changing the foul-smelling sheet with a clean one from the bathroom. I’m beyond grateful. I couldn’t have laid down in that stench again, even if it was mine.
I flop onto the bed with a sigh. My breathing is ragged. Damn, I feel ancient.
The little Human leaves for a bit. I sit up and wrap the towel around my waist—gotta keep a shred of dignity. But where the hell’s my pants?
She comes back with a steaming bowl. My stomach growls again. One whiff tells me there’s zero animal protein in there.
“Here. Coral lentil and carrot soup. It’ll help you recover—high in iron and fiber. Perfect for what you’re going through.”
Seriously? She thinks a bowl of vegetable mush is going to bring me back from the brink?
Is she serious?
She really thinks a handful of seeds floating in warm water is gonna be enough for me?
I still don’t recognize the language she’s using, but I know it’s not one of the ones spoken by the Coalition.
Doesn’t matter though—I understand her perfectly well.
Like every member of the Confederation, I’ve got a neural implant that lets me instantly process and use any language already analyzed and stored by the AI.
According to Azkarra, it was the Confederation’s Polarian faction that relocated Humans to Mars, and I was under the impression that this planet had been reserved exclusively for them.
And yet, it was clearly Bully—my former Penubian associate and full-blooded Coalition scum—who was loitering in orbit and shot me down here.
So yeah… Looks like the original directives from the Confederation regarding this solar system have been breached.
The real question is: how involved are the local Humans in all this?
Until I know for sure, I’ll keep my mouth shut and play dumb.
With a bit of luck, they’ll drop something useful about what the hell is really going on here.
She sits at the foot of the bed and waits for me to swallow the fragrant mix.
To be honest, it actually smells pretty good—and I’m starving—but this soup would’ve been so much better with a nice, juicy chunk of meat in the middle.
Cautiously, I dip my lips in.
It’s hot. It’s thick. It’s... bland.
The girl frowns when she sees the disappointment on my face.
