“Thank you,” Sean said, trying a bite of the food that had been placed in front of him after thanking Klorn.


    “Of course, I may have been a criminal, but a slaver? Never,” Klorn answered.


    “Is it still primarily the Grelsh syndicate here?” Twonger asked between bites.


    “Yes, would you like some assistance putting together a raid?” Klorn replied.


    “Nah, I’ve got some new stress to work. Besides can’t have you getting involved if you’re the proper savior of our people now,” Twonger answered, laughing slightly to himself as he did so.


    “Whatever you say, Your Majesty,” Klorn replied, causing Twonger to spit out another bite of food.


    “Is there any official title we should be referring to Twonger by?” Andy asked, forcing the words out between bursts of laughter.


    “Yeah, enough of that. Thanks for the food, but I think it’s time for us to be going before more shit slips out,” Twonger answered.


    “If you have to leave, at least take this,” Klorn said as he stood up, passing a small black box over to Twonger.


    “And just what the hell is this?” Twonger, pocketing the box, even as he asked about it.


    “Security codes, keyed to your genetics, should let us communicate on some secure channels. I don’t want our investigation getting back to the wrong people,” Klorn answered.


    “Thanks. Any chance you wanna lend us a car for our stay here?” Twonger said, making his request with one of the smarmy smiles Cal had often seen on the man.


    “Yeah, fine, probably should. Krayn, drive Twonger around and try to keep him safe while they’re here,” Klorn answered, yelling at one of the other men in the room.


    “Thanks again, alright. Are you guys full, or do you wanna try something else before we get that collar off, Sean?” Twonger said as he stood up from his seat, somehow having finished his whole plate when Cal wasn’t looking.


    “I would like to get this collar off of me sooner than later if that’s possible,” Sean answered looking from person to person as he did. Cal got the feeling he was looking for judgment, but he agreed with the man. It was time to free their first ogre and end that terrible program as soon as they could.


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    “I’m with Sean. It’s long past time he wasn’t a slave to anyone anymore,” Cal said, stuffing more food into his mouth immediately afterward. He liked it a lot and wasn’t full yet, but there were more important things.


    “Alright, you heard the boss. Let’s go kick some syndicate ass and get their damn codes. Figure we can destroy any of this shit they have on hand while we do it. Save some future idiots the misery,” Twonger said, smiling.


    “Wait, the kids, your boss?” Klorn said, looking at Cal with confusion in his eye.


    “Yeah. I’ll tell you that story another time. For now, let’s just say I’m in his service after failing to kill him a few times,” Twonger said, heading for the door, making it clear he wasn’t sticking around for more questions.


    Cal shrugged. “Thanks for everything, but yeah, we need to get that collar off,” he said, joining Twonger. He suppressed a laugh, watching the other three give similar shrugs as they made to follow after him. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of all this so far. It wasn’t that different from Earth and what he was used to there. Yeah there were aliens that looked different, but it felt like something else out of a movie he had just experienced.


    “So, do you want us to build you a throne in the voidhouse?” Andy asked as they climbed into the flying car.


    “Yes, in fact I do. I want you to all build me a nice giant throne in the middle of the gardens, and then I want you all to handle everything Ethel has to say about it,” Twonger responded, glaring at Andy as he did so.


    “You alright?” Cal asked, looking back at the glare, a little worried about the man. He just learned about an even bigger loss in his life.


    “No, but for now, I’m gonna take comfort in the idea that my star system is just missing and not destroyed and assume that as you idiots get more powerful, it’s something we are going to add to the ever-growing checklist of things we will try to fix,” he answered.


    “Already planning on it. Give us a couple more loops and we can likely start to investigate what happened. Just kind of booked up now with the things we need to get done, not to mention finishing this war with the Agency,” Cal replied.


    “Yeah, feeling a bit more motivated to get that ended all of a sudden. So Sean, once we get that collar of yours off, wanna join me on some raids to free all your buddies? I figure we could stomp out this program real fast that way,” Twonger said, his glare turning back into a smile.


    “Uh, probably. Is that an option?” Sean asked, looking at Cal. Cal wasn’t sure if it was the best idea, but it was certainly an option. And if all the former ogres wanted to go down that path, who was he to say no? He had gone off halfcocked enough to know sometimes you just have to try something, whether it’s the best idea or not.


    “Yeah, that’s always an option. Once you get to know me better you’re going to learn I’m not really the calm and collected one. I’m a lot closer to Twonger than I’d like to admit. That’s why we have Andy. He’s here to think the things over for us,” Cal responded.


    “And when I can’t, we have Bill. Once he can’t, though, well, at that point, the real trouble begins. Bill is mean when he’s angry,” Andy said, laughing.


    “Capybaras are known for their ferocity in times of stress,” Bill said, joining in the laughter.


    “Are they? There’s so much I need to learn about the world,” Sean said looking confused.