I don't get to say more before we are coughing again.
When it clears, she is only making terrified moans, though I can tell by her wild eyes another scream is right under the surface. The slime keeps droning on about our body parts and where a buyer can put theirs as I pull her into my arms and whisper to her.
"I have you. I know this is terrifying, but it only gets worse if you seem scared. They like it."
Tears are streaming down both of our faces now, and not just because of the gas. "Wh-Where are we? What is that?"
"On a spaceship. Those aliens captured us."
The last prompts her to consider her surroundings. She does a double take when she sees the other women, then looks at me again.
"What did they do to your eyes?"
I hold back a groan.
I once had nearly black irises, but now they're aquamarine.
They must have decided that a human iris didn't make enough of an impact because my almond-shaped eyes are now, except for black pupil, completely blue. There is no more white sclera, and it's unsettling.
I don't tell her that her own eyes are a lighter version of her long green hair.
She's had enough of a shock.
She moves on to another question before I can answer her. "Why can I understand it?"
That one is easier to address. The slimes covered it in a very early advertising session.
"They put nanites in us that do lots of things, including somehow letting us understand and speak other languages."
What I leave out is that they loaded us with all the known languages in the universe, even those from species unlikely to be among our buyers. Their reasoning is that we can double as interpreters on pleasure cruises or invasions.
Such a waste of a hard-earned education. Brothel madam with an upgrade to allow for more enjoyable alien pillaging.
This has become my life.
She's shaking and crying and it's steadily eroding the careful control I've built up in order to not fall apart. That's the last thing she needs from me right now, so I push the rising panic back down.
"There's a live feed running at all times and they like it when we watch it. Don't look at it because you'll be able to read the comments," I warn her.
Of course it makes her look and I feel guilty even though I realize she would have found it anyway. Mostly I've ignored it, but in the long hours with nothing to do I haven't always been able to stop myself from seeking some sort of break in the mind-numbing sameness of it all.
I have regretted it every single time.
She shakes harder. "That's anatomically impossible."
I let out a mirthless chuckle. "I'm a nurse and so I was sure to point that out to them. They started showing videos of how buyers have sex. Avoid talking about it. Trust me."
She gulps, then nods. "My name's Olivia."
"I'm Ree."
The telltale hiss of an incoming punishment is our only warning before the torture begins anew. Once we gain control of our bodies again we cling to each other. Her arm is wrapped around my waist and mine around her shoulders as tears stream down our faces.
"You have no names until your buyer gives them to you," the slime says to us in a nasty tone.
He goes back to his salesperson voice. "That concludes our special session. We will bring another of the harem out to play soon."
He turns back to us, his eyes focused on me. "Put the green whore back in her chamber."
