The sound of a beautiful melody, flowed through the air making the air itself seem alive. The air harmonized with the melody like an opera. However, there wasn't a crew of instruments instead a lone pianist sat in the middle of a grand stage. Skillfully striking keys producing a divine symphony. The symphony capitulated the massive audience that listened making them stare in awe until a rich gentleman in the stands leaned towards a woman and whispered.
"Hmm, it's different I suppose. "
Whispered the man, in a clad elegant black suit, while donning brown dress shoes, he was sitting in a chair created out of pure gleaming bronze, inside the bronze were thousands of small engravings carved perfectly not missing a single minute detail. The man found himself in a deadly quiet theater with hundreds in attendance. But even with it being a theater, the ceiling soared so high, it gave the illusion the roof could reach space itself.
The audience was clearly higher class, all wearing lavish suits or expensive dresses. They watched beads of sweat pour down the pianist's face as his heart quickened. He poured his soul into the piano. The musical piece only lasted three more notes until it reached its climax ending with a single drawn-out note. And the moment that note faded into silence, a thunderous applause erupted from the audience.
The pianist grinned ear to ear seeing the reaction until two enormous blood-red curtains fell from the ceiling covering the circular stage obscuring the crowd's vision. The man wearing the black suit just scoffed before the woman next to him spoke.
" Indeed, it's better than last year's performer at least this one was listenable. "
" That's true but did you hear- "
Before the man could finish his sentence, a sudden loud announcement rippled through hidden speakers in the ceilings of the theater. Shocking the murmuring audience.
" Thank You! For Enjoying The Ceremony. It Is Now Time To Start Bidding! "
As soon as those words were murmured, the relaxed atmosphere instantly pivoted as a wave of tense pressure swept through the stands. The curtain slowly rose from the stage. Revealing a line of individuals wearing pristine white tracksuits with cold, metallic, chains tightly clamped onto their necks and wrists. The individuals stared at the massive audience terrified.
You see, this wasn't your average auction. Instead, this auction was exclusively used for the despicable act of trading human lives. The cruel grins of the filthy rich reflected off the chains of the soon-to-be slaves. As the rich stared at the slaves like hungry hyenas, a man donning a cloak and a gray mask walked to center stage, microphone in hand, ready to address the crowd.
" Welcome to the annual auction. Of course, I'm sure the majority already knows the rules however just in case some new powerful figure spurted out overnight. I'll reexplain the rules "
" Inside your left pocket should be a green paddle, if you want to increase the bid, raise it. And If you want to abstain, reach into your right pocket and pull out the red paddle. Quite simple right? But If for some reason, there are any questions, please ask the others around you. I'm sure they won't deceive you. "
" And without further or do. Let the auction begin. "
Said the masked figure as a petite woman in her mid-20s walked into the middle of the stage. Before instantly paddles, shot up as the masked figure yells out.
" Let's start at 20,000$. Who wants it? "
Some of the green paddles lowered, before being replaced by red paddles, seeing this the masked man grabbed onto the woman's shoulders making her jump as he spoke out.
" $30,000? "
"$40,000? "
The masked man kept chanting out numbers for what felt like an eternity until finally only one green paddle was still raised into the air. The paddle was tightly being held by a rotund man using his chubby arms, the air around the man was filled with pungent odor stemming from his greasy black hair. The woman stared at her new owner terrified while her legs shook uncontrollably. Seeing her shaking legs, the masked man slipped his hands off her shoulder and leaned over, whispering something into her ear.
" Please stop shaking your giving us a bad image, and I'm sure... that he'll treat you well? "
The woman just erratically nodded before tightly balling her fists and walking several feet away from the masked man before stopping standing motionlessly directly on his right. The woman stared at the dirty man as the masked man announced another slave.
He kept announcing these slaves making a sea of red and green paddles exchange endlessly until finally, only one slave was remaining. A young teenager no older than 15, his hair was a mix of blonde and white. He was around 5'6 with pure black eyes. The teenager's footsteps echoed out before he stopped next to the masked man while he shouted out.
" And for our final product. Coming from planet Reqis. A young child named Derlis, I know it's a wide-known fact that all of the inhabitants of Planet Reqis were wiped out by a gruesome pandemic, however, surprisingly we found one, covered in ice on the planet's poles. "
Derlis looked over at the masked man with a chilling gaze before he balled his rough hands trying to calm himself. You see this auction doesn't only cover Earth, but instead planets throughout the entire universe. The only reason, the majority of the audience and slaves looked human was due to human's colonization of the universe.
Deeming themselves the superior race. They colonized the universe morphing other races' genes to make them "More Human", of course, the byproduct of this was harsh. The inhabitants of planet Reqis have the weakest immune system of all races explaining why a single strain of the flu wiped them out clean.
However, the changing of genes did have one benefit, for the Reqis race. It gave them extreme durability making their skin nearly inpeneratble. Derlis glared at the masked man as green paddles shot out nearly instantly, creating a massive wave. If his mask was see-through a grin could be seen etched into his face.
" $200,000 "
Even with the absurd amount of money being the starting point, not a single paddle turned red. The grin on the masked man's face grew wider as he tightly held onto the microphone and spoke.
"$345,000 "
"$500,000 "
"$650,000 "
Even with the increased amount, still not a single paddle changed. The masked man was about to say another price until suddenly an elegant voice spoke catching the quiet audience's attention.
"That's enough, Joseph. I will be taking this one. "
As the unexpected voice echoed throughout the theater, a shiver traveled down the spines of everyone present. Not a single soul dared to look over towards the voice, the masked man stared at the floor before gracefully bowing flapping his cloak while speaking.
" Of course, Your Majesty, this one is all yours. "
The atmosphere grew still from the dead quiet theater, the audience held their breaths scared to breathe while the masked man's hands trembled uncontrollably. Clearly, he was filled with anxiety. The slaves looked at him before shifting their attention to the crowd, searching for the origin of the voice. Before their eyes locked onto a woman wearing a black fuzzy jacket and a golden mask that emphasized her mesmerizing emerald eyes.
But the moment the cursed slaves locked eyes with her, a sudden surge of excruciating pain coursed through their veins, causing them to shriek out in agony while dropping to one knee. The slaves stared at the wooden floor of the stage panting before they vomited blood drenching the stage in a pool of crimson blood.
The woman just sneered at their suffering until her eyes widened and she glanced over at Derlis who was glaring into her eyes with an icy gaze, even though he was staring at her, he showed no signs of distress, somehow unaffected by the majesty seemly malevolent power. A grin crept onto the majesty's face before she spoke in a playful voice.
" Oh, this one is going to be feisty. "...
Three hours later, inside a box truck. Derlis could be seen lying down, cuffed to the truck, his chains tightly bound around his neck and wrists. Derlis was alone only a strong odor and the unpleasant sight of dried blood accompanied him. Derlis was about to take a deep breath, when the truck abruptly came to a halt, causing his body to slide forcefully across the floor before being jerked back by the chains.
Derlis gritted his teeth angrily before he started to cough sickly, being in a truck full of dust and musty air was something that could be catastrophic for a being from planet Reqis. But ignoring the scratchy feeling in his throat, Derlis listened to the sound of light footsteps circling the large box truck.
The driver had reached the destination. Derlis turned his head to the large door at the end of the truck before it slid up, opening. As an array of pure sunlight engulfs Derlis eyes making him squint...
