In The Garden of Eden
Chapter 2: The Last Remnants of a Hateful World
by JustALittleOne
Tags:
#cw:CGL
#D/s
#f/f
#Human_Domestication_Guide
#pov:bottom
#sub:female
#transgender_characters
#cw:death
#cw:partial_blindness
#dom:internalized_imperialism
#hurt/comfort
So uh... Surpriiiiiise. I wanted to release this early cause frankly I'm excited about how people might react to the ideas I present here. Also it's just been a delight to write.
CW for offscreen death, but death all the same. There's no descriptions of gore or blood or anything of the sort, more the mental impact on one's psyche when they know someone just died.
The next few days were about as hectic for Rage as they could have possibly been. They had to reroute the entire ship's energy supplies to the Warp Drive, after all. Which included a lot of visits to the captain for approval on certain procedures, something they hated above all else. Hate was a good emotion. It kept them going.
Of course… They didn't just accept their fate sitting down. And, during the sleeping hours, they would spend the little amount of time they had between being dismissed for the day and having to enter their sleeping pod doing some reconnaissance.
They had to memorize the route, first and foremost. The escape pods were in the lower end of the ship, presumably so they can be launched into space with relative ease. It was an offbeat path, but that didn't mean it was any less occupied. There were other soldiers all over the place. Some fixers, meant to make sure the ship endures. Some guards, though at this point Rage would count them as musclebound brutes more than anything.
The door to the escape pod room was closed shut, but it didn't mean it was foolproof. This ship was old. Very old. So old in fact that decay in certain parts of the ship was inevitable. Be it the air ventilation inside the ship being fucked up, or just the usual entropy of the universe. And what do you know, there was a bit of a crack, letting one slip something past the door frame itself. They weren't sure how to use this yet. But… Maybe. With enough force, they could pry it open and enter the area.
Then, it would be over. Either they would find an escape pod, board it and flee, or be found out and killed. Death had little meaning when they knew now that their entire reason for existing was one glorified suicide mission.
They needed a way inside that door, however.
A way that they realized could work as they were welding some copper tubes for the new Warp Drive repairs. They looked around. They had plenty of tools and materials here. Sure, they were meant for the smooth operation of the engine, but who cared? The engine was just a glorified explosive anyway.
Rage scoured through the workshop area. Tubes, of various sizes. Some leftover fuel tanks. They could make it work. If they needed to pry the door open, why not use an explosive? Sure, it was flashy, loud, and would immediately draw attention, but it was better than the alternative. Rage didn't have the physical force to open those welded shut doors. Maybe Wrath did.
They shuddered as they thought about Wrath.
After a few days of working on their little project, they began to skip on meal times too. And while the captain was more than sure they're spending all this time in the engine room instead because they were so dedicated to the cause, Rage was using this time to create something else. An explosive. Nothing major. Nothing big. Just enough to blow the door wide open, and let them in.
And this… Is what their life became for the next three weeks. Eating just enough to survive, working on their little bomb, and sleeping. They couldn't even risk checking the corridor with the Pod bay anymore. If they stayed there too long, someone might notice and start asking questions they didn't want to confront. They just needed a signal. Something to allow them a chance to escape.
And it would come. In the worst way imaginable.
Spite was inside the narrow tubes of the Warp Drive again. He was doing his thing, fixing rivets and welding things anew. More and more of the ship's power was taken for this. The regular engines were effectively dead. Lights were heavily taken out, something that Rage found fortunate, seeing as a certain corridor had the power taken out of it as well. The only things still fully operational were life support and camo. Though something told them the glorious Captain Victory would soon take those out too. No purpose for those.
"How are things going in there?!" Rage asked. Spite, who was too busy to come out of there, shouted back. "I think she's almost ready for a test! Give me a few!" He kept working. Rage, in the meantime, climbed down from the entrance to tell the others to prepare for a warp test. Or at least… That was the intent.
About the time they approached the entrance to the Engine Bay, they noticed the captain already there, shouting at the others. "It has been three weeks! I want to see results, now!" Fire and Brimstone didn't really know how to reply to the shouting man. Fear was drilled into them just as much as Rage themselves. "Rage! You better have some updates for me about the Warp Drive!" They stomped over to the cloned Terran as soon as they saw them approach.
"Yes sir. Spite is working on the Warp Engine as we speak. He should have it ready for a test-"
Before they could even finish their sentence, the Captain was already heading to the power lever. "Good. That scrawny fuck finally has some use." Rage didn't know what to say. He knew Spite would need more time to exit the tunnel. But if he spoke up… He would kill himself instead, while saving the one person on this ship that actually cared enough to talk to them like a person, and not a mindless drone..
The choice hung over their head as they tried to keep calm. The captain was mad. Any word could set him off. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as they contemplated. The bomb was already finished, and all they had to do was run down there and push it in, before setting it off. For something so dangerous, they managed to fit it quite well into their work vest. But were they willing to sacrifice someone else? For their own safety? How would it make them any better than the barbaric captain who was going to sacrifice an entire ship for a mission that had nothing to do with them?
They came to say something, and immediately stopped themselves. Fear. Fear kept them from saying anything. The same fear they could see in the others' eyes. Say something out of line and you're dead.
Still, time was running out. The captain was getting closer and closer to turning the engine on. And with how agitated he was, there was not even a guarantee that he wouldn't just take this opportunity to jump now. It was now or never.
And so… Rage made a choice. And the lever was turned.
Spite's scream would forever be etched into their brain. The scream of a human being fried alive, as the captain recoiled in shock and the other engineers, who quickly caught on, ran over to try and do something to save him. Rage, however… Just stood there. Shocked. They could hear as the scream died shortly after. As Spite died. Sure, the captain was the one who pulled the lever, but… They were the one who could stop it and didn't. "What in the blazes!?-" The captain screamed, running out after the engineers. He didn't even turn off the lever. "Leave him you ingrates, who cares?! The Warp Drive is working, that's all that matters!"
This is when Rage headed out for the door, and ran. They practically bolted through the ship, taking out through the blinking corridors in what could only be described as very brisk walking. The screaming attracted more attention, of course. Of course it did. More and more soldiers ran into the Engine Bay. Some in concern, some in sick joy of watching another Tech Engineer die. It's not like it was a secret that everyone hated them. In a ship full of testosterone filled men, the engineers were the only ones who was cloned to be smart, not brawny. Perhaps it was the make sure that no one else would question their role.
Doing their best to avoid anyone else running by, they kept walking. The Pod bay! It was close. They already saw the corridor in the corner of their eye. Once there, they knew they wouldn't have a lot of time. It was only a matter of a few minutes of distraction before the captain realized they were gone. Either way they were dead. They didn't warn the captain, so they were to be executed. And if they did warn the captain, they would be executed all the same. Fear was a good emotion too. It helped keep them alive even more.
They slipped their small bomb into the crevice of the door. But not before pressing a button to arm it and stepping back. Sixty seconds, that's the length they put on the detonator. They hoped it was enough time, all things considered.
Rage was breathing heavily. Thoughts ran through their head, as the beeping of the detonator began to become more and more frequent. Really it was shoddy work at best. Just a hodge-podge construct of some fuel material, tied to an electronic beeper and covered in some crudely welded pieces of metal tubing they had lying around.
Then they heard it. Footsteps, coming their way. Shit, they already noticed. Just a few seconds more, that's all they needed. Just a bit more. They began to prance around in place, looking back to the corridor and then back to the bomb, ticking away. They didn't want to die. Not here. They didn't want to die at all. They didn't even know why they didn't want to die. They just didn't. There was no point to life and yet death scared them as much as the captain did. Except death scared them more.
"RAGE! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!" The edge of the captain's visage appeared into view. They closed their eyes, waiting for the worst, when…
BOOM!
The door flew open, and Rage dashed inside. The pod bay! They had to make it quick, as they could hear the captain's shouting when he heard the explosion. They scoured the pod stands. Empty, empty, empty, broken beyond repair, empty… One of them had to function. To be usable.
Only when they reached the end of the hall, did they find something. One pod. That's all that was left of this room. It was a tiny pod, clearly not one fit for long term flight, but it'll have to do. One pod that maybe had some juice in it.
"RAGE!" They heard their name called as they opened the door of the pod, looking back to see the Captain walk towards them with fury in his eyes.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, RAGE?!" The Captain came closer and closer. They entered the pod, locked it as tight as they could manage, and pressed the eject button, groaning when they realized nothing was happening.
"DON'T YOU DARE RUN, YOU PLANTFUCKER COWARD. YOU ARE A FREE TERRAN AND YOU STILL STAND HERE AND DIE FOR YOUR CAUSE!" The captain's words reeled through their brain, trained obedience being fought down with survival instinct far lost to their species. They pressed again. Frantically.
The Captain was now upon them, slamming his fists against the reinforced glass, while Rage stared death itself in the face. After a few seconds, another soldier came by, wielding a torch and more than willing to spend precious fuel to pull Rage out of the barely safe space they were in to end their life just like-
"WRATH, GET HIM OUT OF THERE! NOW!"
"Sir yes sir!"
They could see the door of the pod being pried open, slowly. It was locked, but the captain had muscle, not to mention external help. They kept pressing, hoping that maybe at some point it would respond. They could see that the pod responded to their request, and they heart a slow whirr of something opening underneath them.
The glass didn't seem like it would hold much either. It was now, or never.
And fortune with them… It was now.
The shouting of the captain flew further and further away. Blinding lights and dark flashed through their eye, as the hall of the ship was replaced with the vacuum of space. They… They were out.
Rage took a breath they had no idea they were holding. Just for a brief moment, they allowed themselves to be relieved. Now it was just a matter of turning on the thrusters and… They pressed the button. Nothing happened.
The pod was empty on fuel.
It wasn't even big enough for them to move much in. It was a standing pod, just barely big enough for them to stand in and not much else. It didn't even have any long term life support, as they would soon come to learn. Instead, as Rage scoured the available systems of the pod on what little electricity it had left, they noticed only one system was operational. The Cryostasis one.
No one really trained them how to prepare for cryostasis, but it was their only option. And with that, they turned it on.
So that was it. They were going to freeze to death in space, and never be known to anyone. Tears began to well up their eyes, while they began the freezing procedure. It was the only thing they had left. Their only hope of survival. At least there was a nice planet in view. All green and so on. They glanced one last time, as the Spirit of Vengeance passed on. They couldn't afford to waste their effort retrieving one lone soldier who managed to kill themselves inside an empty escape pod. And with Spite dead… Who knew how long it would take them to become operational again.
"Fuck… I really messed things up didn't I?" Rage smiled somberly, as the creeping cold took over everything else.
Hyacynthia Whitebloom felt something. She felt something? That was odd. Especially when she was in the middle of reblooming, of all times. A process that could easily take her several more cycles, since she wasn't in any rush to do so. And besides, what different form would she possibly want to take? She's already settled on something that she enjoyed. A planet sized Affini, simply existing peacefully.
At this point she was primarily just growing, letting each of her blooms pass out in peace on her own little planet. A gratitude the Compact gave her when she retired from her long career in the Compact Militia. It was her… Was it her 99th bloom? Yes, she was just on the cusp of 100th. A nice, round number, at least assuming she remembered correctly. She just knew that her vines and roots spread far and wide, all over the world.
Really though, each of her blooms as of late were pretty much the same. A formless void. Her core implemented deep into the ground, instead of using it to grow out, she grew in. Spreading her roots across the world. Becoming one with it. Gathering more and more layers around herself. Perhaps, at some point, she would have just let go of her own internal monologue, and let the wilds grow rampant and untamed.
Which is when she felt this odd prick at her side. Much like a thorn got jabbed into her.
Naturally, she had to investigate. This wasn't something she could just ignore. She didn't get visitors often, especially not those who ram themselves into her root system so rudely. Still, there was never telling. Maybe it was a fluke? A mistake! Yes, that must have been it. Who would do something like this so close to the Affini Core Worlds, after all?
Her attention slowly shifted. Slowly being an understatement. She took her sweet time, like she always has. There was no rush to get anywhere, after all. She was the world, and the world was her. Her flowers spread wide across this world, she could see through them. Feel through every tree and branch. Every plant and flora were an extension of her here, and shifting her attention was as easy as growing more flowers to observe for her.
Imagine her surprise then, when she found a metal pod, frozen solid and lodged into one of her many roots.
So... This was a second thing I wanted to explore with this fic. I've seen a lot of Affini being at most at double digit blooms, and even then, relatively early into the 10s. I wanted to explore the viewpoint of an Affini who's life is just that long, since they're effectively immortal.
Also, I'm kinda logically extrapolating about this in the long term? If an Affini can change their form with each bloom... What's stopping an Affini from just, spreading their roots across a small planet over many years?
Anyway, lemme know what you think. And don't worry, we'll get to see the Core Worlds. Eventually. I have some more ideas down my sleeve ;3