After the doors closed behind the strange terran, I felt relief and a bit of disappointment too. I was relieved because the threatening aura it radiated finally ceased to be, while disappointed since I was kind of interested in the nature of this creature. After all, I was already told that at some point I was one of them.
That did not matter now, my interest came from pure curiosity. Since I did not remember anything from that time, it was not me, but someone else. I did not know of any other possible existence for me, so it was easy to accept my current role as one of the many zerg queens.
It is true that I did not know much of the responsibilities of this role. Yet it was a purpose nonetheless, and I was not ready to trade the reason of my existence for something uncertain. Especially for something that was impossible. Even if I would want to change my body back to the way it was, that would only bring misery to me. The reason for this was simple. I was not a zerg queen in name only. My body was created to fulfill that role. Therefore, I couldn't honestly follow the wishes of that terran; It was absurd and misguided. There was only one problem. My life was in their hands.
I could be stubborn, but what would that achieve? Most likely I would be killed and dissected, or the other way around, which I wasn't willing to visualize. On the other hand, if I cooperate with them, there is a slight chance of survival. I had to be flexible since without my life my purpose would be useless. The only thing I am not able to understand is why, why dissecting? I looked down at my battered body. It was scraped and burned in a lot of places. My body was small, even compared to that terran I just spoke with. My limbs were sinewy; the top of my hand and feet were even covered by chitin armor. I had no visible fat on my body, except my chest, which had two small lumps of fat for some reason. My overall skin color was pale white with a weak purple hue. Why would anything want to cut me apart, or even eat me, maybe if that thing was on the verge of starvation? Which they don't seem to be...
On the bright side, the strange liquid finally stopped flowing out of my eyes, did that terran call it crying? I should ask about it when they come back. I hope they will let me sit up, my back hurts. I don't want to lay on the injured skin. Wait! Can I use transfusion for myself? Maybe if I used it on my body, it wouldn't tire me out so much, after all, the overlord was hundreds of times bigger than me. I have to try it, this pain is way too annoying!
I bit into my lower lip as I focused my mind on my back injury and the remaining stump of my back appendages. After focusing my attention only on these critical parts that I wished to heal, my transfusion ability activated. The effects were immediate. I opened my mouth to take in a sudden breath as the strange moving feelings overwhelmed my senses.
It was a completely alien experience. First of all, there was a jolt of pain, that turned into a constant pulsing sensation. Then came the itchiness. I tried to scratch my back, only to realize to my horror that I was restrained. It was terrible, but the worst part only came after that. I felt as the new layer of skin grew back on my back in rapid motion. It was a weird and frustrating sensation, as the dead skin fell off and the new skin grew to bring back the sensation to my mostly unresponsive back. When the storm of strange sensations disappeared I became aware of a tingling feeling that seemed to originate from the inside of my chest and slowly extended toward the stump on my back. There was a new sensation I was actually familiar with. I turned my head and looked over my shoulder with hope. Then I watched with a slack jaw as a new wing grew out of the stamp. I could already feel it and control it a bit. The newly grown appendage was covered in a yellow glue-like liquid that was dispersing rapidly after getting in contact with the air.
- Woah!
The sound of awe unknowingly left my mouth. My body slowly stabilized itself and my emotions calmed down, then I started to feel sleepy. It was not the deep tiredness that I felt when I healed the overlord. It was more natural, I felt that I could fight it off if I wished, yet my body needed this sleep, and there was nothing else to do so I complied. Not long after, I happily fell into a comfortable state of sleep.
In the meantime, there was a heated discussion on the radio channels of the ship.
Jerry: - So, to summarize, you named a possibly three day old child as "prisoner", because you had no idea, how you should name a zerg girl?
For the first time in about half an hour the constant arguing stopped, it was replaced by an awkward silence.
Mady: - Yeah. I, I mean, I wasn't, I couldn't name it Zergia or something...
Jerry: ~Smirks loudly.
Tod: ~Takes in a sudden breath of air.
Mady: - What! How the fuck would you react going in there expecting a rampaging zerg only to find a sad teenage girl that wants to chat with you?
Jerry: - HAHAHAHAHAhaaaa, I can't take this!
Tod: - HAHAHAHAhahahaa I would pick the teenage girl over any frickin rampaging zerg anytime! What is wrong with you, can't handle a little girl who wants a hug?
Jerry: - Instead, you named her prisoner, then ran away from the conversation. Haahahaha! I am crying, this is too much!
Mady: - STOP LAUGHING AND COME BACK ALREADY, YOU IDIOTS!
Tod: -Haha... relax girly, Jerry is about to finish. He puts the stuff in the hangar and I will come over after I have activated the stationary stealth generator when we are already hovering safely in the air. Then we will have a chat with your dear Zergia.
Jerry: - No, stop, that name is going to kill me.. hehe...
Tod: - Oho! Then it is decided, her full name must be Prisoner Zergia 2000! She certainly fits in with the pirates.
Jerry: - Two thous... - pspssssss hahaahhaaa!
Mady: - I am gonna kill these retards.
Half an hour later, in the impromptu prisoner-holding cell. There was three terran standing side by side quite nervously. They were currently checking over the sleeping form of the newly named Prisoner Zergia.
Tod says after hesitatingly deactivating the battle mode of his cybernetic arm.
Tod: -Mady, did you forget to mention, that she appears to have two new limbs with about twenty-five-centimeter long bone blades on their tips. Or was that not there when you left perhaps?
Mady laughs nervously.
Mady: -Well, at least we now know what she looks like when she is healthy. I had no idea, she had something like that. I only got a good look at her when she was already injured after all.
Jerry: - Damn, it surely takes away some of the cute qualities. It is more like an angel of death now. Well, if you ignore the part when she sleeps while drooling on herself.
Mady: - I guess the sedative works when she is not in intense pain after all.
Tod: - So, what is the big idea?
Jerry: - We can't leave her on that table forever. I mean, if you don't have some leftover diapers in your room, Tod.
Tod: - Haha. I would like to see you peeing in a straight line after a fistful of shrapnel was removed from your intestines.
Mady: - Wait, was that from the looting on Braxis?
Tod: - No, it was after that, when we looked into that abandoned space station, only to figure out that the defense systems were still activated. Those old space stations were built to last, not like the ones nowadays.
Jerry: - Yeah, yeah, the good old days, so on and so forth, but what should we do with her?
Tod: - Well, just give her a slave collar and get it over with, if she tries anything too cocky she will roast herself and the problem is solved.
Jerry: - That is actually not a bad idea. We still have a few extra after hunting down the prisoners that escaped from that plantation, where was it again?
Mady: - Mar Sara. ~Sighs.~ I would have liked to avoid that solution, but her new form is quite threatening. A well-placed shot would still topple her since she has almost no carapace.
Tod: - We should incapacitate her newly grown appendages as well. I don't know about you, but I for sure don't wish to be punctured by one of those. Jerry, bring the collar, and we will tie up the new additions while you walk.
Jerry: - Ok. ~Walks out of the room with haste.
Mady: - How do you plan to do that?
Tod: - Simple. ~He walks up to the zerg and grabs one of the appendages. The zerg girl doesn't react.~ Come now, she is sedated, you said it yourself, if we don't hurt her too much, she won't wake up at all.
Mady: - If you say so.
They spoke for a while as to how exactly they should bind the strange limbs. After coming to an agreement, they started to work together. They used a carbon fiber cable to tie up the appendages one by one, then with another wire they bound them together. This way the limbs would not be able to attack, yet still would have some space to move. The door opens and Jerry walks into the room with a gray metal collar in his hand.
Jerry: - Oh, look at that. I wish I just knew sooner about the fact that you are this versed in bondage Mady. I would-
Mady: - Shut up already?
Jerry: - No, I don't want you to get an orgasm so fast.
Mady rolls her eyes.
Tod: - Just put on that collar.
Jerry: - Well, if you say so, Mady come here!
Mady: - I am gonna beat you right now!
Tod: - Stop it, and give that thing to me. ~Snatches the collar from Jerry with a quick move of his cybernetic arm.~ I still have other things to do aside from hearing your miserable banter.
Jerry: - I thought it was a pretty good comeback-
Mady: - Shut. The. Fuck. Up. ~Said, with a sinister gleam in her eyes.
With a click, the collar was put in place, a green and a red light started to blink periodically on the side of it.
Tod: - That's it, one of the best dominion-created slave collars, which is used on psionic prisoners, in other words, untrained or rebellious ghosts. You are familiar with it, right, Mady? It sends an electric current through the body of its unfortunate victim if it senses strong hostility, or the wish to cause harm to specific people.
Mady: - Yeah...
Jerry: - How does that shit actually work?
Tod: - Jerry-Jerry. I am an engineer in the hearth, and a pretty good one at that too, but if I would know that, I would not be a fucking space pirate in the middle of nowhere.
Jerry: - Point taken.
Tod: - Now, let the princess have her beauty sleep. I will open the lock on her hands and legs. Jerry, turn off the next dose of the sedative and let her wake up on her own. You will tell her the details after that, oh, and close the door behind yourselves. You don't want Stan to run into her in the corridor. He was always the type that shot first and only asked questions later. Bye! With that, Tod walked out of the room. The other two soon followed suit, going off to their own business.
