Deboarding the small ship immediately left Lily with a sense of vertigo. The massive rotating rings left her stomach, as of yet so used to living bound to a planet, revolting at the idea of seeing the sky filled with objects seemingly defying gravity. She was a slumrat; the only time she'd seen a ship was when supplies were being delivered to the viceroys or the Navy was called in to quell some disturbance. Perhaps Jameson had better knowledge of these types of vessels, but she imagined his corpse wouldn't be particularly useful at the moment.

Zena knelt next to her, bringing her considerable stature down so their eyes could meet. Lily immediately turned away, the gesture prompting an audible catch in Zena's breath. The Affini pushed past it and continued, "Lily, I know that it can be difficult for humans to deal with the size of our stations. If you need, I can carry you to our hab." Her voice was empathetic, soft and generous. She can put on a convincing simulacrum of care, Lily thought, bitterly.

Recalling how she felt being carried out of the apartment complex, Lily took a step forward, then another. She shook her head as she began walking, "No. I think I'd much rather walk." The tell-tale sound of Zena walking behind her was nowhere to be heard. Not used to resistant slaves? I find that hard to believe. Nonetheless, Lily didn't allow herself to be slowed. There was far too much to do, far too much to learn. The faster she understood how their society worked, the faster she could plan her escape.

The vessels they had traveled on seemed more than capable of transferring her deeper in to Accord space to her untrained eyes, but she had no idea how to pilot them. In fact, she had never piloted any vehicle, Terran- or Affini-made, which meant she would need someone's help. Sadly, the only one she knew had been within spitting distance of a ship was stabbed through the neck in front of her. She ground her teeth together in frustration. No matter, there will be others.

Zena quickly caught up to the human, her long strides dwarfing Lily's. "You simply cannot go walking off like that, Lily! Unaccompanied humans are quickly snatched up," Zena said, concern once again leaking into her tone. Lily bit back a retort, reasoning that Zena didn't seem like the worst Mistress as far as slavers went. If another Affini took her, there was no telling whether they would even pretend to care about her wellbeing. She'd heard what happened to the Rinan, what horrors they were subjected to under the supervision of the Accord. She did not intend to end up as they did.

Lily nodded stiffly, falling in line behind Zena. She caught a glimpse of Zena's apparent jubilation at being obeyed and had to restrain herself from making any outward signs of disgust. The walk to the 'hab' wasn't long, but on the entire journey was filled with nothing but the forlorn scheming of someone who had already lost. It was in vain, every plan she cooked up was immediately dismissed for its impracticality. Her frustration quickly boiled over, the tic returning to her jaw and a scowl etching itself on her features.

Zena looked back four distinct times throughout their walk, each time Lily's expression prompted a series of questions about how she was feeling, if she was alright, if something was wrong. Every question was answered with deafening silence. There was nothing to say, no combination of words and phrases and desperate pleas that would release her from captivity. Her captor, the disconcertment and melancholic yearning on her face so crystal clear, could soon summon no more words. What was there to say to the little flower who so refused the sun?

That arrangement was more than fine with Lily; her lashing out achieved its intended effect. Perhaps if one approached Lily and asked her if it served any tactical purpose to so thoroughly upset her captor, she would answer no, but that primal, feral need to vindictively strike at those who oppose you reared its ugly head and fed her mind nothing but beautiful feelings for a job well done. Even as Zena wilted at her obstinance, at her apparent hatred, Lily felt a swell of pride in her gut. It was some perverse sort of power she had over the one who governed her fate; it was some sense of control in the chaotic universe she found herself in.

The door to the spacious building opened automatically as Zena approached it. Inside was lavish by Terran standards. Where Lily was lucky to have received a broom closet with a mattress haphazardly laid against a wall, Zena's had extravagant, intricately carved and rather large furniture, dazzling light fixtures that hung from the ceiling, greenery which bore only a familial resemblance to plant life she had seem in picture books as a child, and enough blinking electronics to thoroughly convince Lily that Zena must be some oligarch in Affini society.

Zena tried to affect her cheery, jovial voice, but clearly her time with a recalcitrant Lily had worn down her enthusiasm, "This is our habitation unit! Everyone just calls it a 'hab', though. I tried to fabricate furniture that would be to your liking, but I had no idea as to what you would like, so I decided to leave it up to you!" Zena turned around, her face beaming at the thought of Lily getting to make her own little space with personalized furniture.

Lily frowned lightly at the Affini. "Fabricate?" she inquired, her voice cautiously curious. Zena affected a gesture like tapping a finger on her chin, "Well yes, our compilers can fabricate anything your little heart desires! It's filled with nearly endless documents on Terran life, so it should have blueprints for anything you'd like!" Lily took a step forward, still cautiously eyeing Zena, "And can it fabricate... say, written material?" Her gaze was guarded, trying to only give as much information away as was strictly necessary to meet her ends.

Zena, not catching any implication, gleefully nodded, "Of course! You could print almost endless books or magazines if you'd like!" Lily, for the first time since the first day of the end of her life, smiled, truly smiled. For the barest second, she thought that Zena may collapse from the sheer amount of giddy excitement that she displayed over the simple expression. "Oh, I'm so glad you like it! Here, I'll show you it right now!"

Zena's form quickly strode over to what Lily could only assume was the compiler. Her legs temporarily deconfigured themselves from something approximating Terran legs to a mass of vines to move even faster. Lily, by comparison, was left to jog over to where Zena now stood, frantically pressing buttons. "Just one moment, I need to change the language to accept English." After a few satisfying beeps from the system, it returned to its idle state, ready for activation. Zena turned back to Lily, still beaming, "Try it! Just ask the hab to compile something for you!" Zena's eyes sparkled with glee, the color of the metallic orbs shifting wildly. Lily found it extremely hard not to stare into them, just barely holding her gaze on the compiler instead.

"Habitation Unit, please make me... The Rain Falls Up by J. D. Fitts." The habitation unit buzzed with sound and light leaked out from the internal components before the small compartment opened to reveal a mint condition copy of the exact book in question. She leafed through the pages until she landed on page 62, her finger scanning the lines until she found it, 'And at the end of our lives, when time slows to a crawl and existence shakes with malignant rot, the rain falls up.' Satisfied that the book was real and not a simple approximation or facsimile or verisimilitude, she closed the book. It wasn't what she truly wanted to print, that would have to come later. She could only print it when the watchful metal eyes weren't boring into her. She didn't know when she would get the chance, but she knew that when she did, she would take it.

Zena looked a combination of pleased and inquisitive, her eyes scanning over the book in Lily's hands as though it would reveal its knowledge to her at a glance. "The Rain Falls Up..." Zena said, pausing after every word, testing how they sounded in her mouth; she tried to meet Lily's eyes, but again found them to be avoiding her gaze. "I can't say I have heard of that one before... maybe I should read it." Lily raised her head to meet her eyes, the girl's expression all guarded suspicion, "Yes, perhaps you should."