The reading on the heart rate monitor steadily grew more dire with each passing moment. His BP was dropping, fast. Light flooded Sarah's operating room, if you could even call it that as she works frantically to solve the problem. His artificial heart had failed and she didn’t have a replacement ready to give him. The only real option she had was to attempt to repair the one he already had. Both her and the patient knew how risky this was, lacking a bypass machine Sarah had to perform repairs on the heart whilst it was still functioning to keep her patient's blood pumping. Any doctor could have told you just how unimaginably stupid her plan was. She should have said no, she should have sent him to a real doctor, to get some real help but she didn’t and now her patient was paying the price for her mistake. 

His BP dropped further, the mechanical heart struggling for life as she probed it for answers. She had to find the problem soon, she had too, she couldn’t let him die. Moments felt like hours as Sarah desperately tried everything she could think of, each failed attempt only bringing her patient closer and closer to the brink. Then suddenly, a ray of hope, she found what was wrong, the system keeping his heart beating in rhythm had been wired poorly, if she could fix it she would be able to save him. 

There was only one problem, fixing it would require shutting off the heart. 5 minutes, she had 5 minutes to fix the problem and get his heart functioning before brain death would begin. With no other option she set her timer and began to work. The frantic beeping of the heart rate monitor turned to a constant drone. Her hand moved faster than even she could keep track of them. Caution wasn’t a luxury she or her patient could afford at the moment and by some miracle she had done it. His heart was beating. Looking at her timer it read 4 minutes and 21 seconds. For a few precious moments, the heart monitor let out a slow series of beeps until without warning, one constant tone emanated from the machine.

—---------------------

A fog lifted from Sarah’s mind as she began to wake, the light from the room flooding into her eyes. She let out a groan as she felt a dull soreness radiating across her entire body. What the hell had happened? She struggled to think back, clearly she was more exhausted than she had thought. Eventually she managed to force her eyes fully open and it all came flooding back as she spotted the two Affini in the room with her, looking down as she arrived at consciousness. The first Affini was all too familiar, the sight of its pink blossom hair and swirling lilac eyes burned into Sarah's memory. The second however, was entirely different. A vaguely spherical mass of vines and foliage supported by two thick pillars of vine that protruded from its bottom, with numerous other smaller tendrils fiddling with various devices scattered throughout the room. Soon two glowing yellow orbs peered out from the second affini’s leaves and focused themselves on Sarah.

“Look, they’re finally awake”

This one’s voice was different, much deeper, yet it still flowed in a strange melody, and it still filled Sarah with the same clawing dread. Almost on instinct she found herself trying to scramble away from the two Affini, only to quickly find herself locked in a set of tight restraints that kept her bound to the bed she lay upon. Both of the Affini were upon her now, staring down at her with piercing eyes as the first spoke.

“Relax little one, no one’s going to hurt you” 

Sarah’s breathing was heavy and ragged, fear gripping her heart like a vice as she desperately searched for any means of escape. When none presented themselves to her Sarah’s panic only deepened, struggling uselessly against her restraints. It was then that she felt a sudden pinch at her neck, followed by a cool sensation that swept through her body, drowning her panic in a calmness that would have been unnerving had it not felt so pleasant. Sarah could still feel the fear, but it was distant, manageable. “W…what did you just do to me?”

“Just a little something to keep you calm.” The round Affini answered, pulling a needle tipped vine back into its mass of leaves and vines. “Now, My name is Dex, Fifth bloom. They/Them and this.” They're vines motioned to the other Affini looming over her “Is Willow Blàthan, Third Bloom. She/Her. Can you tell us your name, little one?”

Sarah hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should answer. It didn’t seem like they had hurt her, though whatever drugs they had given her could just be masking anything they’ve done. It’s not like she could stop them at the moment even if she wanted to, so co-operating was probably the best call for now. “Sarah Hadley. She/Her. W…where am I?” 

“You’re on the Aurelium dear, an Affini ship. You were rescued from that rust bucket you and taken here so we can keep you safe. Can you tell me if you’re feeling any pain or discomfort dear?” 

“Well, aside from feeling sore as hell all over I think I’m good.”

Dex’s leaves rustled, Their eyes narrowing slightly. “Well, with the damage you did to yourself some soreness is to be expected, but I will see about getting some superior sedatives for you.” One of their vines quickly shot out to flick Sarah on the forehead. “I trust you understand how idiotic that stunt you pulled was and how lucky you were that the damage wasn’t much more serious.”

A slight blush of embarrassment came to Sarah’s cheek as Dex chastised her like a child being scolded by a parent. She wanted to say she only did it because she was being chased down by a 12 foot tall plant monster but instead settled for giving them a small nod of acknowledgement. 

“Wonderful, Now, In a moment I'm gonna undo you restraints and perform some mobility tests, after that I’ll hand over to Willow so she can explain what’s going to happen. Can I trust you not to try anything silly?”

With another nod Sarah soon found herself free to move, stumbling slightly as she hopped off the bed. After a rigorous series of tests, Dex having her bend and move her limbs in every way possible they finally seem satisfied.

“Very good dear, while I must admit my knowledge of terran cybernetics is limited, everything appears to be working fine.” Dex quickly pressed a red lollipop into Sarah’s hands, giving her a pat on the head as they did so. “For being such a good patient, now while I’d love to stay and chat dear, I have more patients I need to see, so I’ll let Willow here answer any questions you have.” Sarah watched as Dex flowed towards the door, stopping just before they left. “And before I forget I’d like to check up on you at some point to make sure everything is ok and discuss some things, I’ll message Willow with the details when I get the chance.” With those last words Dex moved out of the room, leaving her alone with the blossom haired Affini who had first captured her.

The two sat in silence for some time, Sarah could feel Willow's eyes drilling holes into her, scanning over her body just as they had when the pair had first encountered one another. Eventually Sarah broke the silence. “So what’s going to happen to me now?” Sarah’s voice caught in her throat a little as she asked the question, the drugs she had been given doing little to stop the flood of imagined horrors that she had heard the Affini inflicted on their captives.

Sarah watched as Willow let out what at least sounded like a sigh. “I’m going to be honest with you, As a former rebel you’ll be subject to mandatory domestication as per the Human Domestication Treaty. I have been appointed as your guardian until you can be processed and a full time owner can be found for you.”

“D..domestication W..What does that even mean!?! A..are you gonna turn me into some kind of pet?!?” Panic and confusion began to rise once again. In seeming response Willow moved closer, crouching down as to be on eye level with Sarah. The gentle pulsing of the lilac light in Willow's eyes sent another wave of calm over Sarah, giving her something to focus on as she tries to bring her breathing back into a proper rhythm.

“It means that you don’t have to worry about anything any more, we’re gonna take care of you and do everything we can to make you happy. I know things seem scary at the moment, but I promise you everything is going to be alright. You’re safe now.” A hand moved to Sarah’s shoulder, gripping it just tightly enough to be comforting, or at least it would be if said hand didn’t belong to an alien trying to turn her into a pet.

Willow's reassurances didn’t help Sarah very much either, her mind still contending with the strange situation she found herself in. Taking a few deep breaths Sarah calmed herself, though the alien drugs in her system did most of the heavy lifting. Whatever these things had planned for her, she wasn’t going to just sit back and let it happen. She had to be smart about this though, she needed a plan. Best thing to do right now would be feign co-operation and gather information. 

“D..Does that mean I’m going to be starting with you?”

“For now, yes, I believe all of your belongings have already been transferred to my hab unit. Would you like to go there now?”

An all new sense of panic and worry flooded her body when she heard her belongings had been taken. She needed to get back now. She needed to make sure they were all still there. That she wouldn’t lose them. “Y..Yes!” Sarah paused for a moment, trying to quell some of the desperation in her voice. “Yes, please, I need to check my stuff.”

Willow rose to her full height, towering over Sarah as she made her way towards the door. Just as she was about to step out she turned and offered a hand to Sarah. “It’s a rather large ship, little one. We wouldn’t want you getting lost now would we?”

“I can follow just fine on my own.”

“It’s your choice dear, you may either hold my hand or I'll have to carry you.”

A small blush came to Sarah’s cheeks as she imagined being carried around in willows vines. Reluctantly she reached up and took Willow's hand, the Affinis hand feeling surprisingly warm in hers.

“Wonderful, let’s get on shall we.” 

Sarah was stunned into silence as she walked out of the vet’s office. This was an Affini ship? It was like a city. Hell it was bigger than most stations she had been on. To be able to build something like this was, unimaginable. A small tug from Willow brought Sarah out of her daze, picking her jaw up off the floor, she continued her journey to Willow's hab unit. As the pair walked Sarah took note of the surprising number of other humans she saw. Almost all of them wore bright floral clothing and almost all of them were leashed and collared by an Affini. She took note of the glazed look in the eyes of the humans and how they writhed in pleasure at the lightest touch of the Affini. A chill ran down her spine, was this what willow had meant by domestication. Was this her fate, to be led around on a leash like some kind of animal, too blissed out on drugs to even know what universe she was in. Not if she had anything to say about it. 

Just as she had been observing the crowd, as she walked, it seemed more and more of the crowd began to take note of her. She had been on the Vengeance for so long she had almost forgotten what this felt like. The pitying looks from strangers, the whispers of people wondering what could have possibly happened to that poor girl. All of it was infuriating. She didn’t need their pity, she didn’t want their sympathy, she was not broken, she did not need to be “fixed.”

“Sarah dear, are you alright?” 

Sarah quickly focused on Willow's melodic voice, only now noticing that she had been squeezing the Affinis hand rather tightly. “Yes, I’m fine, let’s just keep going.” Sarah began to march off, her pace quickening to escape the crowds. Willow flowed in behind her, taking hold of Sarah’s hand once again as the two continued their journey.

After a surprisingly long walk the two finally arrived at the hab unit. The doors opening at Willows approach, Sarah took a step inside. While the Hab certainly didn’t lack for space, being bigger than any of the places Sarah had lived in the past by a significant margin. To say that it was cluttered would be an understatement. Books and papers covered nearly every inch of the habs surface, all of them written in an alien tongue, though some of the papers appeared to be design documents or schematics of some kind. It’s not like Sarah could judge, she wasn’t exactly the best at keeping her space clean either, though she liked to think she wasn’t this bad. Looking up to Willow she noticed the Affinis leaves curling inwards, her form seeming to contract. Was that, embarrassment? Did Affini even have emotions like she did? Either way she had more pressing questions. “So, do you know where they put my stuff?” 

Wordlessly, Willow motioned over to a pile of boxes, one of the few things in the hab that didn’t have papers and books stacked on top of them.

Sarah did her best to wade through the ocean of clutter without disturbing it too much, though she did knock over a few stacks of papers on the way. To which she gave an apologetic smile to Willow before finally reaching the boxes. Ripping open the boxes she searched through them at a frantic pace. Tossing aside various items until finally, buried at the bottom of one of the boxes she found what she was looking for. The tightness that had gripped her chest finally let go and she breathed a sigh of relief. Looking down at the rather eclectic group of items Sarah couldn’t help but feel the memories come flooding back to her. Gently she ran her hands over each one. The gold watch, the candle, the snow globe and the action figure. Sarah only managed to snap herself out of her memories when she realised that willow was hovering over her, looking down into the box. Quickly Sarah closed the box, getting to her feet and using her sleeve to wipe away the dampness that had been growing in her eyes. “Well, everything seems to be here. Would you mind showing me around the hab?” she asked, quickly trying to change the subject.

Once again Sarah noticed willows foliage rustle, one of her vines reaching out as if she was about to say something, only to pull back at the last moment. “I would love to, and I'm sorry about the mess, I don’t often have company.” A hand outstretched willow motioned around the room. “This here is the living room, you should be able to find a full library of Terran media for you to enjoy at your leisure and I’ll ensure that we have some appropriately sized furniture installed for you. Over to the left is the kitchen and dining room, again all Affini sized unfortunately so if you feel hungry just ask and I will have something compiled for you.” A hand motioned to another door on the left. “That door leads to my workshop, I’d ask that you stay out of there. Some of the equipment in there can be rather delicate, and somewhat dangerous to little sophonts like yourself. On the right is the bathroom, you should be able to work everything out for yourself but let me know if you have any trouble. Next to that is my bedroom and finally we have the guest room, where you will be staying for the time being.” Sarah was still only half paying attention to Willows tour, her eyes often glancing back to the boxes containing her belongings. Seeming to notice this Willow crouched down, laying a hand on Sarah's shoulder. “I’ll let you get settled in, please let me know if you need anything and I’ll do what I can.”  Her wooden lips twisted into a smile, one that was just a little too…..wooden to be comforting, but Sarah appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

In contrast to the rest of the hab the guest room was immaculate. A bed that was far too big for any Human, covered in neatly folded sheets that seemed as if they had never even been used, Bare walls and shelves that desperately cried out for some decoration to breathe a little life into them, and all of it was Sarah’s, at least for now. Collecting her things Sarah began the process of unpacking. Gingerly she set the four items she had been so worried about down on her bedside table, letting out a sigh before moving on to the rest of her belongings.