As it turned out Bruce would have plenty of time for both laughing and crying. After the jump he found himself stuck floating in some unknown system with all but basic life support systems and comms entirely fried. That wouldn’t have been much of a problem if the ship wasn’t built for short distance travel and only had short distance transmitters. There was food and water for a few weeks, but what would happen once that ran out was something he rather not think about. The thrusters were fried. He wasn’t going anywhere anyway. Switching on the emergency signal he sat back to ponder on that laugh or cry question, in no real rush to find an answer. 

 

How long passed while he sat there Bruce had no idea. But by the end he had decided on one thing. This whole war was a lost cause from the start. 900 human lives were lost that day, of that he was convinced, and it was all for nothing. They hadn’t even put up a fight, the Affini had caught them by surprise, and they had neutralized one of the highest tech ships in the Terran Accord in mere seconds. Their ships were the size of cities, and their weapons were so far ahead of humanities he was convinced they could never catch up. 

 

To Bruce’s surprise, this idea didn’t fill him with nearly as much dread as it thought it would. It didn’t make him weep in defeat, instead he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He wouldn’t have to go into battle against them. He would never need to pull the gun in his belt and actually fire at another sentient being. However the relief only lasted a short while. When he thought about all the people at Terra Glory not as numbers or casualties, but as individuals. the reality of what he had seen hit him. His colleagues, people he passed in the halls, those men and women he had shared transport pods with and complained about the food to. All of them were gone. Crushed by the vines of the Affins ship in a terrifying display of power. He finally broke down, gasping for air and heaving for what felt like hours before he finally collapsed from exhaustion.

 

The next time Bruce woke up he found himself curled up, floating in low gravity after somehow having unbuckled himself. How long had he been there, alone in space? He needed a distraction. Luckily the blast hadn’t fried his text-com. On a whim he decided to jump to a mental health forum. He needed to vent some of those feelings from last night, and some random forum where nobody knew him was probably the best option. He talked about his feelings, the fall of Terra Glory. He then talked about how fucked humanity was, how futile this war was, and how freeing that realization had been.

 

Finally the forum form asked if he wanted to sign it with a name. Looking out the window at the uninhabitable gass tiant filling his vision he sighed, before typing. ‘LostInSpace’

 

He wouldn’t get any answers for a while. As it would take the forum some time to upload his post, and then it would take anyone else a while to notice and upload their reply. There was no real time chat on the gray waves. But Bruce felt better. Writing everything down and putting it out there helped. pulling himself back into the seat and closing his eyes once more he did the only thing left to do; Wait.

 

‘huuuuummmmmmmm’. He had to admit, it was starting to get to him. Even out in space he was used to being surrounded by noise. The sound of the engines roaring while he worked. The sound of his colleagues talking, the sounds of marines marching past his sleeping pod. The constant sound of chatter on the intercom. All that was left now was the constant monotone humming of the life support systems and it was starting to drive him mad. the total silence of space would be preferable at this point. He needs something, anything to drown out the almost inaudible and positively unbearable noise. His eyes landed on the com unit. It was off during the blast and the emergency signal seemed to be working. Maybe the long range receiver… The face of the girl from right before the blast flashed across his eyes. No, they would be the only thing on this far out. He couldn’t put that in the background he just ‘huuuuuuummmmmmmm’ with a scream filled with rage he didn’t even realize he was harboring Bruce slammed the button to turn the long range comms back on.

 

“...don’t worry little terrans, I know things are tough right now, change is scary. But sometimes change is for the better and this is one of those times. There is no more need for fighting, this is the time to come together.” Bruce wasn’t watching the screen. He had already collapsed against his seat, staring at the roof. The humming was gone. The blooming melodic voice of the affini drowned it out. He felt like he could cry. But he didn’t. Instead he let the words of the Xeno turn into nothing but sweet sweet non humming background noise.

 

At some point the communicator broke through his daze. “Hello all you cuties out there! I am Spreklia Lind, second bloom, and this is a reminder to all you free Terrans.” The sentence was followed by a giggle. Her laugh was absolutely gorgeous, just as melodic as her voice and with only a slight hint of condescension that he did his best to ignore. “It’s important to take care of yourself if you want to stay free and healthy. Make sure you have enough to drink and eat every day. You can pick up everything you need for your favorite dish at any Affini Compact delivery point. No need to think of those silly credits. The Affini Compact provides.” Bruce slowly pulled himself off the floor on shaky legs. The affini woman on the screen was standing in a lake, surrounded by lily pads. She was almost entirely green, except for gorgeous white lilies dotting her in seemingly random, yet perfectly placed spots and the yellow petals forming her hair. “Be good now little Terrans. Water, food and rest. Only then can you become your very best self.” Bruce thought for a second. When was the last time he ate? Had something to drink? The morning before leave perhaps, before the attack… How long ago was that? 

 

He pulled himself over to the dispenser by the wall. Now that he was thinking about it his mouth felt dry as a desert, and his stomach was screaming for anything edible. How did he not notice that earlier? Pulling a water bag from the machine soon he felt deliciously wet water run down his gullet. Then another, and then another. The water kept coming and Bruce was chugging down as fast as his body could manage until he found himself floating in the low gravity, having run out of breath. the plant had been right, he really needed something to drink. Though with his thirst momentarily sated the other burning issue he had only just realized he had become even more obvious. Food. Need food. He pushed a random button on the panel and only a few seconds later something vacuum packed hit his forehead. Standard issue Terran army energy bar. Tasteless, dry and chewy, but packed with calories and vitamins. He didn’t care, anything would go down at this point.

 

“uhmm… hi! I’m James Tara, second floret.” Bruce peaked up at the greeting. On the tiny screen across the room where just a bit ago the affini that had saved him from self imposed starvation used to be, a young man was now standing behind a podium. He was wearing a stylish green shirt and just like the girl from before the attack a collar was wrapped around his neck. this one a stylish black, to match his neatly trimmed hair. “I am so excited my mistress allowed me to speak with you today! I know we got a lot of new floretes with us after the capture of Terra Glory and I hope all of you will soon come to realize how lucky we all are.” He had that same blissful expression as the girl too, especially as he stared off stage, almost as if looking for reassurance. Though the same feelings were there they didn’t hit as hard as with the girl and that affini. Besides, he mentioned Terra Glory. Bruce needed to hear this. He reached down to grab the energy bar to snack on while he watched, only to find just the crumbled plastic in his lap. Weird, he couldn’t remember eating it, yet the burning hunger was gone.

 

“And not just us. Any free Terran out there who feels tired of taking care of themselves, who feel unfulfilled in their lives. You can be taken in by the Affini Compact, just like me, and all those lucky new florets.” The man looked unbelievably happy as he spoke, like he was reminiscing over something. “Only a few weeks ago I was a fighter in a lost war. Just like our new friends. When they first captured me I was angry, I was afraid, I was a danger to myself and those around me. But through my mistress and her wonderful xenodrugs I soon found my place. I understood that this was never a war about Terra, about our freedom. It has always been about the corps, about them keeping their power. The power that belongs to those who only wish to take care of us, Affini like my mistress.” As he mentioned his mistress once more he looked off to the side once again, and while the screen was small he could have sworn he saw a vine climb up underneath the shirt. 

 

“She gave me the only thing I ever truly wanted. She took away my worries, my anger, my fear and allowed me to just be happy.” Tears of joy were slowly rolling down the boy's cheeks, tears he quickly and unashamedly wiped off on his shirt. To those who just joined us. I know you will come to enjoy your life as part of the Human Domestication Program. A beloved pet, a treasured floret. And to all you ‘free Terrans’ hearing this… you won’t regret it.” There was a knowing grin on his face as the feed faded out to prepare for the next segment. Leaving Bruce with lots to think about and a burning need to not explore any of said thoughts.

 

At least there had been survivors. That was a good thing right? Maybe his coworkers weren’t all dead after all. That was a nice thought at least. But the ‘Human Domestication Program’… the ideas those words filled his head with made him shiver, and further complicated the feelings he had been working so hard to repress. That didn’t sound like a good thing. Did they really expect anyone to opt into that? But he looked so happy. Could this really be true? Was this the faith of those captured by the Affini? The faith of his colleagues? His faith if they had gotten their hands on him?

 

“For millennias Terrans have suffered from underdeveloped treatments for their ailments.” Bruce couldn't be sure why this feature had caught his attention when so many had just faded into the background, but regardless he peaked up in time to see the grim pictures of underfunded hospitals, people in great pain, medical equipment and medicine, all presented in a grayscale that added to the sorrow of what was shown while the adrogenous voice of an affini spoke over it. They continued. “You had to risk horrible side effects just to get by, faced prosecution and incarceration for indulging in recreational use.” The video feed was showing patients rushed through hospitals, courtrooms and prisons. “And those of you suffering from mental issues have been giving drugs with life altering side effects and little to no effect on your actual issues.” Humans crying, sitting alone and generally struggling was used to underline their point when the background music he hadn't noticed up to that point swelled, and grew happier

 

“Do not worry little once. We bring a better solution. Affini medical technology provides effective solutions to your medical problems. Regardless of if you are suffering from mental health issues, chronic illnesses or are just on the lookout for a safe space to experience new highs.” The pictures now underlining their speech was filled with clean, high tech hospitals, flowers, brightly colored liquids mixing into water, and happy humans curled up in the lap of Affini. “We provide safe and easy to use prescriptions as well as direct injections from our caretakers.” As they talked the feed showed humans dripping drops of colorful fluids into glasses of water or taking long sniffs of fumes of gas, before then moving on to showing different humans leaning against caring yet professional seeming Affini as their vines coiled around them, their flowers bloomed and with a slight sting the humans sank into a sea of bliss. “Contact your Affini Compact approved medical provider today to have your prescriptions replaced with more effective xenodrug alternatives.” The feature came to an end, and Bruce turned his attention to his text comms.

 

He decided to check the forum post from earlier. At least that meant he wouldn’t have to work so hard to avoid confronting those thoughts from earlier. Picking up his text com, he soon had the forum loaded once more. The responses were mostly good. Some reacted with bewilderment about his claims, either the size of the alien craft or the idea that anyone could escape said craft. There was someone who had worked themselves into a conspiracy about this being Affini propaganda. But among all the messages and opinions there was one that caught his attention.

‘I am so sorry, little sapling. We spotted your transport leaving as we struck those mousies but couldn’t get to you in time. Do you know your position? We have deployed ships to look for you. Please stay calm, little one. We are coming for you.

Eden.’