I stare directly at two human pets, identical blondes, and wonder for the millionth time,Does sin exist outside the minds of men on Earth?If it does, I will be sinning every second of every day I work here, and my chains will be longer and heavier than Jacob Marley’s ever were for my greed at accepting this job.
I turn to Rae. “Are they aware of what's happening to them?”
Rae's diabolical laugh is cruel.
She’s a demon too, I think.
“Their owners have given them neural implants, which human pet experts say can overwhelm simple human minds. So I doubt they're aware of anything. Which is good, human pets can be violent and unpredictable.”
My hand moves unconsciously to my throat, feeling for a collar that isn't there. Then, I move my hand lower and clasp my identification necklace, which suddenly feels heavier and more substantial than it did before. It’s a reminder of how thin the line is between employee and property in this hierarchical alien society. And I begin to feel dizzy.
“Were they abducted from Earth?” I hear myself asking, selfishly thinking about my own situation.
“I’m sure some of them were. Others signed contracts much like yours. Desperation makes humans remarkably flexible about terms and conditions.”
Suddenly, I feel like I can’t breathe. Images flash through my mind: the rushed contract signing, the strange wording in my contract, and my eagerness to escape my life in the city.
Have I been duped?
Clay promised me this was a real job, but was he just saying that to get me on the ship without a fight?
“No, I'm not like them,” I state firmly, but even as I say it, I’m not entirely sure that’s true.
“Perhaps not yet,” Rae agrees with false sweetness. “But the Spire has ways of... helping humans find their proper place.”
I hate that she’s mimicking the hotel’s motto, ‘Where every species finds its place.’ But I don’t reply, I can’t, because I’m too overwhelmed with the state of the humans before me, and as we move deeper into the Grand Lobby, I notice the humans beginning to stir at my presence.
One human man rises quickly from where he kneels beside a being that resembles a massive crustacean. His hair has been interwovenwith emerald filaments that catch the light. He looks directly at me, and despite the neural dampening that keeps his face artificially calm, his lips form a single, silent word: “Help.”
The response from his crustacean owner is instantaneous. His collar, a thing of terrible beauty that resembles jewelry more than restraint, activates with a soft chime.
And I stop, frozen with shock, as his body convulses with agony and he begins foaming at the mouth.
“Make him stop,” I say loudly. But no one listens to me.“Someone help him.”
Rae tries to pull on my arm to guide me away, but I can’t move. I won’t move. Just as I wrench myself away from Rae’s grip, the man stops moving and his features revert back into an eerie serenity. He looks away from me as if he couldn’t remember what he was looking at and sinks back down to his knees. His face perfectly serene.
Holy shit, his little rebellion was erased as if it had never existed. “What happened to him?”
“He was conditioned to forget he ever saw you or cared about why you’re different.”
I swallow hard trying to think.I’m a sinner, but not demon-level-service-sinner. Maybe I can go home.“What if I decided not to take this position? To return to Earth…”
“You can't leave, at least, not for the next seventy days.” Rae says like a door being slammed shut. “Your contract is registered with the IGC. You belong to the Ascendant Alliance for the time being. The only question is whether you'll serve wearing a uniform or a collar.”
I only half listen to her words because the floor beneath me seems to tilt as the gravity of what I signed comes crashing down around me.I’m such a fool.Earth might as well not exist given how far away it is. I have no galactic money, and I doubt anyone would help me break my contract.
From what I understand, the Sovereigns are dangerous andformidable men in the galaxy. And I understand with clarity now that this gorgeous lobby is my new cage, complete with sparkling walls to reflect my own self back at me in a thousand fractured pieces. To reflect my complicity in this. To showcase my sins, working in a place that keeps other humans as mutilated pets.
My God, what have I done?
Despite my world crashing down around me, just like when I read those two words, NO CONTACT, I hear the Commander's voice in my head, “Be brave.” And I remind myself, that I'm here not to agree with this, but to bear witness.To remember.To find a way to fight back. Maybe he was right; maybe my empathy will give me the strength I never knew I had. But one thing is for sure, I don’t feel strong right now. I feel physically ill.
I take a deep breath, wipe the cold sweat from my face, and straighten my shoulders. Let them believe I'm just another human asset to be managed, but I will never unsee this. The Celestial Spire may be my cage for the duration of my contract, but I have to remember what the Commander said, that I am inside the lion’s den, and sometimes, that is the best place to start a revolution.
But what a lion’s den this is!
He was right. I wasn’t prepared to see this.
