Tovis snorted.“The Kwin is a cruel, distant ruler.She sees most sytos as expendable, worth only what they can be ordered to do for her.They have no love for her.”
“Then why don’t they just...”I gestured with stiff arms at the wide-open horizon.“Run away?”
He shot me a soft look.“Sytos are created in labs to perform labor for the Kwin.Obeying is all they know.Even if they weren’t pursued and killed for deserting, they’ve never lived on their own, never made their own choices.I doubt any of them would survive alone.”
“That’s sad.”I felt a traitorous twist of pity for the blue aliens.They did look scared, and compared to Tovis’ looming bulk and intimidating horns, they almost appeared helpless in comparison.
Which was ridiculous, they were human sized, if a little lean.They were all grown up and could take care of themselves.And I definitely didn’t owe them any sympathy after they shocked me until I peed myself and then kidnapped me.
It took a few minutes before I realized where we were headed, the same strip club sign I’d recognized grew larger as we continued our steady march into the edge of the city.We passed dark windows and empty bars, dozens and dozens of broken down, dust covered vehicles littered the roads, forcing us to wind in between them and sometimes climb over pile ups.
I spotted a few half-mummified corpses, plenty of bare skeletons and a few stained drivers seats that made my stomach churn at the ramifications.While I’d been cowering in my spa, everyone else had been dying, rotting away on our invaded, empty world.
A flash of movement caught my eye and I stopped to stare as I saw pack of at least twenty dogs lope across an intersection, their ribs showing, and their tails stiff as they paused to sniff the air.
The pack was a motley collection of poodles, mutts and half a dozen other breeds, loose collars still hanging from their scrawny necks.This time last year, those had been pets, now they had the rangy, feral attitudes of dangerous predators.
Everything about my normal life had changed.
“Keep moving, human,” the syto leading me barked.
I shook off the weird feeling that had settled over me and scrambled over the hood of a red car.
“What’s your name?”I asked him.He shot me a perturbed look, his tentacles flaring out briefly before rolling back up into what I was calling ‘the stress position’.
“I am Rijish, but do not call me that.”
“Why not?”I asked.From the corner of my eye, I saw Tovis looking at me curiously.I didn’t exactly want to make friends with the guy holding my invisible leash, but I thought he was the same syto who’d grabbed me at the spa, and he’d seemed slightly apologetic about my situation.
More flies with honey, right?
I wasn’t sure I wanted flies, but I wanted theoptionof flies.
Maybe this was a useful, sympathetic fly.I was spiraling into my metaphor.
“I’m Jessa, this is Tovis,” I said, cheerfully, wincing at the bizarrely chipper tone that had popped out of my mouth.
“I do not need your names.I cannot help you, do not expect me to risk my life because a female deigned to be friendly to me,” he said harshly.
“Of course not,” I said.“I was just curious.”
“What are you doing, mate?”Tovis rumbled.
I looked over at him and shrugged.“I honestly don’t know.”
We reached the empty parking lot of the strip club.The low, windowless building was painted bright red and there was a dim sign with a neon outline of a nude woman twined around a pole on the roof.
The door was black withLacy’s Ladies, painted in scrolling, glittery script on it.
The syto in charge squared his shoulders and stomped up to the door.He rapped on it twice.
“Announce yourself!”A muffled voice called from inside.
“Jiith, humbly requesting to enter the Kwin’s presence!”He answered, his tentacles coiling up to the top of his head before quickly straightening out to hang limply around his head.The action reminded me bizarrely of someone hurriedly smoothing their hair down before they faced their boss.
The door swung open and Jiith strode inside, the rest of the sytos following after him, with Tovis and I sandwiched awkwardly between them.I stepped through the doorway and blinked as my eyes adjusted from bright sunlight to the low shadows.
The building was stiflingly hot, and I instantly missed my solar powered AC more than ever.A bar lined the wall to our left, dozens of liquor bottles sitting on the shelves behind it, their glass surfaces reflecting the low light.I looked around as my eyes adjusted.
