Seventeen.
The wheel spun seventeen times while Sally argued with Bench’o.
Somewhere outside myself Bench’o and the guards’ laughter registers. Congratulating each other on the torment that just transpired.
No one has survived this many trips around the wheel.
Maybe I am Asowana, living death?
Sally kneels, cradling a head and putting a vial to my lips. Struggling, I manage to get the liquid to fall down my throat.
“M’Awk, can you hear me?” Sally whispers.
Must have earned translator privileges.
“Mhm,”
“You’re free... At least for a bit. No punishment for happiness. No limits on the translator.” She gently pours more liquid into me. “How’s this? I guessed you’re reacting to silica and sodium carbonate and made this. Is it okay?”
Pain radiates in residual waves from the punishment cycle. The waves quickly pull me under.
#
My limbs are still malfunctioning when I wake. Sally is next to me in the synthetic cacoon. Rufus nuzzles a hand and wiggles under my limbs.
#
When I regain awareness, the room is bright. Sally is still next to me.
“Had us worried. How are you feeling?”
A deep breath helps will my words to the surface. “Limbs are still malfunctioning... Finding it difficult to move.”
Sally lifts the bottle. “Want to try more?”
I nod slowly. “First time in many hunger does not stab me.”
Sally helps me drink. Rufus licks a limb and whines.
“I will be well, friend. Needn’t worry.”
That helps him calm.
Sally chuckles, head leaning to the side. “Didn’t realize you spoke retriever.”
Confusion causes my coloring to shift. Strange, I’m not supposed to be able to do that. Holo blocks all natural responses. “Apologies, not understanding, speak retriever?”
Sally smiles, causing her eyes to wrinkle. “You were barking at Rufus.”
“Ah, we can converse with all sentient life. Holo inhibits my natural translators. Prisoners must stay within approved vocal and auditory parameters.”
“Don’t know if you understood me earlier. No punishment, no restrictions, you’re free while with me. Least until they finish deliberations.”
Bright colors weave along my body, singing with gratitude for the grace and mercy. Sally’s eyes widen and her mouth drops.
“So beautiful,” she murmurs.
We lean into each other. I want to close the distance and initiate some type of contact, but the heat between us shifts when a crackling comes from outside. Rufus bounds to a transparent hole in the dwelling. He jumps at it, excitement coloring his words.
Sally stands and goes over. Looking out, she quickly turns back to me. “A car? Someone else is here.”
The gratitude turns to fear, and a plume of smoke swallows me.
Sally coughs and waves a hand in front of her face. “Nothing to worry about, I’ll get rid of them. Can you stand?”
I cannot. Sally lifts me and walks through a door into a unique part of the dwelling. She carefully sets me in a pile of synthetic material that swallows me like the clouds back home.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe. Just stay here.”
Her mouth gently bumps against mine. I wish to continue bumping our mouths against each other, but she rushes from the room.
“Heya Salad, you here?!” a new voice shouts. Rufus is not doing angry vocalizations, but happy ones. “Rufus, buddy! How are you, friend?”
“Holy shit, Jill! What are you doing here?”
“Guess you reported a satellite impact? My bosses were gonna send Garrison, but I asked to come instead. Wanna take me to the crater?”
“Like I said, nothing’s left.”
“Well, I gotta interview you, search the property, and take pictures of the crash site. Fucking bureaucrats. Wait, you got someone here? You’re... I don’t know, glowing.”
“Uh, no, nothing, no one. Let me grab my coat.”
Sally comes into the room. “You’re going to be okay. It’s just my sister, Jill. Let me get rid of her.”
I nod grief falls and smoke seeps from me.
Her mouth bumps against mine again. Heat returns and my coloring relaxes.
“You’re safe, everything is. Just rest, be right back,” she murmurs, top head resting against mine.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The door pushes open. “I knew you weren’t alone! Who are you... Holy fuck! What is that?!” the newcomer raises what could be a weapon, and points it at me. Because my limbs still malfunction, I can’t move. To create a distraction, my heads untangle and a plume of smoke releases. Coloring shifts, so I blend in with the synthetic material surrounding me.
“Put the fucking gun down. This is M’Awk, M’Awk, my sister, Jill.”
“Please do not harm me, Jill,” I murmur, grief flooding out.
Jill does not put the Fucking Gun down. Her eyes are wide, body trembling. This is the expected response. Not the one Sally had.
“So it wasn’t a satellite. I need to call this in,” she breathes, words hardly registering.
“No!” I sob and try unsuccessfully to find somewhere to hide. “Please, can’t hurt anymore — do not wish the pain. Don’t let them have me.”
My grief must strike Jill as it did Sally, because she falters with a rectangular device in her hand. “Jesus, are you... Is it crying?”
Sally moves her head up and down. “Yes, please, she’s peaceful. A political prisoner that escaped her guards and crashed here. Come on, Jillie Bean, our own ET! Please just — uh, we’ll grab a beer and talk this out? M’Awk set auto destruct or something is what she said. Truly, it’s just a massive crater. We can call this a satellite dropping and she can be safe.”
Rufus lies on my chest. He makes an annoyed sound and licks one of my faces.
“Well fuck, if Rufus likes you, and Sally vouches for you, you can’t be that bad. What’d you say her name is?”
“M’Awk. Please, my limbs are malfunctioning, I cannot resist you. Do not harm me.” The words tumble from me, shaking with the terror that still grips me.
“Muck?”
“Close, M’Awk,” Sally says.
The shaggy coating above Jill’s eyes angles, one arches up and the other stays down. “That’s what I just said, right?”
Sally laughs. “Not really. Suppose it’s close enough, though. M’Awk want to stay here or come back out front?”
I leak more, trembling, incapable of getting words out.
The Fucking Gun goes in a thing on Jill’s trunk. “Fuck, I won’t shoot you. Salad, where’s that beer? Gonna need it, or six, while you explain this shit. Jesus christ, a fucking alien.”
I let Sally move me back to the main room. Rufus stays with me, licking my faces more. Sally explained this is to calm me. Chuckling, I wrap my many limbs around him to appease him.
“Please, I do not wish you to eat me, Rufus!” I laugh, which pulls at places that still need to heal, but I cannot stop the laughter as his tongue moves faster, instead of slower.
“Rufus, buddy, lay off! Jeez,” Jill says, putting her upper limbs around him and hugging him away. He makes loud vocalizations hopping about, body wiggling.
Sally locks eyes with Rufus who slumps with a huff. She rolls her eyes and glances at me. “Sorry, you okay?”
I nod slightly. “My limbs are still not functioning at full capacity. Feels good to laugh with no punishment, though. I have forgotten how it wakes my body with gratitude. Jill, many thanks for not harming me. The punishment cycles have been most severe. I fear the Council hacked Holo? All holo’s have safety protocols that keep damage from being this extensive.”
Jill runs a hand through the shaggy coating on her head. “I have a million questions for you, Mack.”
“M’Awk,” Sally says, over-enunciating each syllable in my name.
Sally hands Jill a container of liquid. Jill drinks the entire thing in one go. Sally laughs and goes back towards the box where she keeps sustenance.
Jill shrugs. “Sounds the same to me. Mah-ck?”
“Close, it can be difficult, I am surprised Sally picks up on it so quickly. I will answer what I can. Do what I can, wish to avoid punishment, or worse, dismemberment by your guards.”
Jill nods, picking up Sally’s vial of liquid and drinking it as fast as she drank hers. Sally shakes her head and turns to grab another vial for herself.
“Yeah, I wanna avoid that fate for you, too. Where’d you come from?”
I take and release a breath to settle the grief welling up. “Our planet dies, we search for a new home. Others do not want us. Call us criminals, thieves, we are not, just want a new home where we can rebuild.”
“Where is your former planet? Is it close, in our solar system?”
While I’m unsure what that means, I assume she refers to the celestial bodies surrounding this star. “Oh no, your system is part of the quarantine zone and is far too dangerous.”
Sally hands Jill another container of liquid, she takes a long drink.
“What makes it dangerous?” Jill asks.
It’s strange that she is unaware and must ask. I rock my head, colors deepening. “Well, we have seen the threats thrown out of this place. The violence that will befall any, including your own species.”
Jill makes the confused facial contortion the same way Sally does. I chuckle, causing colors to swim through me.
“Sally’s face makes the same contortion when misunderstanding. What is said to bring this on?”
“What threats do you mean?”
“Hm, I’m not sure how to explain. Like a holo, but not?”
Sally picks up a small dark... something. Similar to a device used during punishment cycles.
Sally will not harm me, I remind myself.
She taps the device and a flat... viewfinder? Spouts noises and images. I recognize some from feeds being monitored.
“They look like this?” Sally asks.
With a grounding breath, I curl in on myself, realizing I’m safe. “Similar, not the same.”
“That’s just entertainment, we put pictures together to tell stories.”
Jill has finished her bottle and retrieves another. Sally hands me the drink she made, I need help to drink, limbs still not working.
“Do you enjoy the entertainment, Jill?” I ask.
Jill nods with a smile. “Do you have any hostile intents? You or your captors?”
Smoke seeps from me and my coloring shifts so I can blend with my surroundings. “Yes, my captors have many towards me, my kind.”
Jill shifts her head back and forth. “I mean towards Earth. You gonna, you know, invade or anything?”
The question is shocking. “No one dares enter the quarantine zone! Unless suicidal or stupid. I was desperate, wanted to escape the torment. Find somewhere to hide in peace.”
Jill turns from me to Sally. “What are you going to do, Salad? Your replacements will find Mah-walk when they come out here.”
Sally raises and lowers the part of her that holds her upper limbs and runs a hand through her shaggy coating. “Hopefully, she’s somewhere safe by then.”
“There is nowhere safe. The Council will find me and add time for my escape attempt.”
Sally takes one of my limbs, squeezing gently. Which I’ve learned is a gesture of comfort from her. “We’ll find you someplace safe then. I promise to do everything I can to keep you from getting hurt anymore.”
Jill nods, her entire self relaxing more the longer we speak. “Yep, I’ll do what I can on my end. You’re not dangerous. Anyone Rufus loves this much can’t be.”
I glance down at where Rufus rests on a limb.
“When I first awoke I thought he was trying to eat me, it was terrifying! However we have become—companions.”
He mutters his agreement, which makes me chuckle.
“Rufus will stay with you while I take Jill to the crash site.”
I appreciate that, but am confused when my colors shift and smoke seeps from me.
“Hey, M’Awk, don’t worry, you’ll be safe. Rufus’ll protect you.”
“What if they come while you’re gone? A punishment cycle initiates?”
“That asshole can’t do that. Not while you’re under my protection.”
I have to trust her words. Sally has done nothing to cause harm. Rufus curls into me closer and mutters encouragement. Which amuses me. “Between your assurance and his, I accept I’m safe.”
“Okay, when we get back you’re gonna explain how you can understand the dog.” Jill stands, sways, then walks towards the door, finishing her bottle and grabbing a new one.
Sally pats my limb and looks at Rufus, who curls closer to me. “Thanks for staying with her, Rufus. Behave. We’ll be back. You’re safe.”
I watch Sally and Jill walk out the door with apprehension.