Juniper smiled softly as she lay with her back against that stars damned alleyway. Her plan had gone off without a hitch and… and… and she didn’t know what to do any more. For once in however long she remembered she didn’t need to worry about being vented or stand on edge in case somebody thought she twitched too much to be a loyal rebel or whatever bullcrap the captain came up with that week.

Letting out a deep breath she could… for once just feel the world around her as anything other than a means to survival. Breathing deeply in through her nose, Juniper realized the horrific stench of this place, the clingy atmosphere that reminded her of the Planar Abyssal’s many crawlspaces, and yet. This was really probably one of the few free breaths she’s had since the Affini first made contact. She ran her hands across the brick wall she lay against, feeling the rough texture of the bricks and grout under her fingers. Cold spread across her legs and behind as the slightly wet asphalt warmed under her, fibers of her jeans absorbing the unappealing looking liquid.

Looking up at the Affini standing tall above her, Juniper wondered what was going through its mind. Certainly it looked like it was outfitted for a fight, which was a relief, if any of the other crew saw Juniper and Jaxx like this they’d probably try to either kill the pair of them or take them back to the ship, two decidedly unpleasant outcomes.

Jaxx…

The poor thing just had some shit luck apparently. They didn’t know Jaxx that well, despite how buddy buddy Jaxx seemed to Juniper which didn’t really extend to anyone else. A pang of guilt ran through Juniper at that thought, though she hoped that being the one with the weapon and the one who attacked it’d mean whatever punishment for rebellion they faced, it’d be lesser than her own. Something seemed to stir in Juniper, just seeing how helpless the stocky and fearless mechanic looked laying unconscious against the wall like this, chest rising and falling in short shallow breaths.

‘Why is a part of me feeling like this is a nightmare come true?’ Juniper thought to herself as she placed a hand on her companion’s shoulder. The feeling was… familiar? A shadow of a memory seemed to stir for a moment like a bubble in a lake that couldn’t break the surface, vague and trapped before eventually dissolving back into the murky depths. Still, Juniper felt the pang of guilt grow. She’d saved them from any manner of horrific fate… and instead chose for them an uncertain fate they had no say over.

So much for any attempt at bearing the consequences on her own. Still though, better than being vented in front of the whole crew.

Pursing her lips Juniper took a soft breath out and turned her head back to look at the Affini standing in front of her again, trying to avoid falling into a spiral of justification and moral horror at her actions. She studied it, eyes running up and down its form, taking in the beautiful deep greens of thick vines that hid behind the array of bark looking strips that covered the Affini’s body. Stars, how long has it been since she’s seen anything naturally green that wasn’t nutrient paste? Too long was always the answer, not even a green pea for at least a year at a minimum. In the orange-yellow haze of the street lighting the Affini looked to Juniper like a ray of beauty in a lifetime of concrete and metal.

Looking more intently, Juniper realized that this Affini was unusually thin looking for its kind, the net vids and blurry propaganda photos left most Affini decently more bulked than this one, and about two feet taller… Odd. Even still, it was unmistakably an Affini, a collection of vibrant plant matter contorted into an approximation of a human, a mouth with too many teeth, eyes of gold and black, a face close enough to teeter on the uncanny valley but not to plunge into it. From between the strips of bark she could see small, soft ferns protrude outwards, gently relaxing and suddenly curling back in on themselves, vines behind them tensing and relaxing only to tense up more. Whenever she tried to look the Affini in the eyes to study the colours, its vines would tense and it’d look somewhere else… Odd again.

That didn’t really matter in the end to Juniper… it seemed unlikely she’d ever see it again amongst the untold millions of Affini in this sector alone, only the stars knew just how large the Affini’s empire stretched, and where in that vast vast empire she’d end up. But that was ok, better to lurch at the unknown then the inevitable death she’d get sooner out there.

Heavy sets of footsteps approaching alerted Juniper to the rescue party, it sounded like a good… what ten Affini starting to come around the corner. Jaxx seemed to stir in their place as the first one came into view. It looked a lot more like a ‘conventional’ Affini in stature and width, bark only noticeable by its absence with large swathes of its body covered in beautiful little flowers, eyes that same colour as the one who’d called them here, and yet they never faltered when she looked it in the eye, causing Juniper’s to instead.

The others who came just moments later all seemed similar to the first, with some natural deviation of course, still none were covered in bark as they started extending vines from their forms, conversing in their language and pointing from her to Jaxx and back at her.

“Come on dear” one of them said softly, reaching out a hand of vines towards Juniper, “we don’t want you hurting anyone else with that little shock box” it continued, the voice so enticing it took Juniper a second to realize the Affini was meaning the stun gun. Blinking and turning it around in her hand she offered it to the closest Affini, the business end of the device pointed towards herself so they didn’t confuse her intentions. “Thank you, dear. You’re safe now.” Juniper smiled as it saw vines crawl up her body, patting her down almost just as she felt a sudden sting radiate out from her neck. Instinctively she curls up in a ball to protect it from any further contact, seeing a beautiful little red flower with a needle in the middle withdraw from her as more vines covered her body. It was all so… heavy all of a sudden as a soft warmth started spreading across her body, her eyes drooping as sleep claimed her in those brilliantly coloured vines.

The last thing she remembered was seeing Jaxx wrapped in vines like her, being lifted up by the Affini as they conversed. It was so nice and warm as she relaxed into the vines and lost consciousness.

Falling.

Jewel felt like she was falling through the void of space, falling, floating just below the surface of a lake, it all blended together in an unreal sensation that did nothing but scare the living shit out of her, brief blurs of images of herself flashing through her mind as she fell.

Something was wrong, even in her worst nightmares she at least had the pretend chance of fighting back, even if that just played into the course of the nightmare, making it all more disorientating and horrible.

In one moment she stood in the stinking docking bay of the Abyssal’s hull, all the crew save a comms and a sensors officer watching as the traitor of the week Lachlan… Lachlan something was dragged in chains, horrifically beaten, into the airlock and read out the charges he was found guilty of, treason, insubordination and conspiracy to launch a mutiny against the Captain… poor fucker he was only guilty of stealing half a day’s rations because the cafeteria had closed due to an equipment malfunction. The door clanged shut and the locks engaged, moments later the outer airlock door opened and the poor bastard, fear across his face, was sucked out into the uncaring void. Jewel looked to Jaxx, nervous, receiving a raised eyebrow in return from Jaxx. ‘Justice done’ they seemed to mouth before grimacing.

The next moment she was shaking in place, a different, cleaner ship sprawled out around her. The air was acrid with the taste of copper and iron that lingered in her mouth, a dead pirate in front of her and a length of piping dripping in blood, her legs shook as bile rose up her throat. He’d… it was all a blur, it all blacked out in her mind, and yet there was only conclusion… She heard a scream… Jaxx’s. Rushing down the hallway she turned a corner and saw her friend in a life and death struggle with another pirate, she hesitated until she heard the crack of Jaxx’s femur. Then it was all action that blurred again, leveling out and recomposing as the pirate lay dead, Jewel holding her friend close in the corner, a broken, bloody pipe in the middle of the room, blood on her hands.

And still Jewel fell. Down and down into the maw of blackness as a faint buzz and a blurry image came, Doc Coffin’s office, he was looking at his strong box, Jewel stretched out her arms yet the movement felt like it had a film of oil over it, like it wasn’t really her own as she somehow grabbed the Doc’s stun gun from the box he hid it in. She… said that her name was Juniper as she left… but that makes no sense, she hated it when people started calling her that suddenly.

Down and around and in all directions she fell, she felt like she was on a rollercoaster that would never end, even after she puked her guts out. The surface of the lake seemed closer than before.

This one, the thin film of oil is there but only just, she spots an Affini behind Jaxx and rushes them into the alleyway, locking lips and… kissing…. Stars above where did she get the courage to do that Jaxx… They spoke, she couldn’t make the words out, she said something even more obscure and indistinguishable as guilt ran up her chest as she pulled the stun gun fro…

Jaxx’s eyes said everything as they realized what was happening the same moment as Jewel. A blur of talking as she turns around and sees an affini meters away… ‘weed BASTARD’ she wants to shout as she sees it’s horrific eyes that must be exclaiming in delight at the captured slaves now in front of it. It all blurred again as she felt the feeling of vines wrapping around her, body going limp, even as her mind rose to the surface of the lake.

Jewel opened her eyes and stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling, her body still felt floaty as if she was still in her dream… she must be still in her dream, she blinked and saw herself in a medical bed, tubes of something that lead to a bag in an alien script lead to an IV in her arms. No she couldn’t, this dream is too much, she wanted to rip out the IV and run as far as she could from this dream. A blink and some pain and suddenly the IV was out. She stared at it in her hand… now… now she could do something. Anything. What and where? Was there a plan? ‘What the fuck do you think RUN?’ she mentally told herself, slipping out of the bed onto her own two shaky feet. What was that she was wearing? She’ll figure it out later as she ran out of the room, the door opening automatically before her as she rushed out.

Into a white corridor, the air thick and humid, she looked left and right, nobody either way but more of that alien script. Blinking for a moment she chose the left and started running down, passing door after door after door on either side as her legs threatened to give out under her. ‘Stars above, why was it so hard to breathe?’ she wondered as she came upon an intersection. Instinctively taking a right she rounded a corner and stopped in her tracks as she was presented with one… no this can’t be… an Affini that looked down at her, a concerned but genuine smile on its rotten, overgrown face. No no nononononono she wanted to scream as she turned and ran as fast as she could in the other direction, the Affini taunting her in Terran tongue as she fled. ‘This dream has to end soon’ she tried to assure herself.

Her running seemed to last hours as the corners of her vision bent as tears welled up, her voice run ragged by her screaming, legs in agony from the exertion as she finally reached the end of the corridor. It wouldn’t open as early as the others when she approached, she’d have to break through. With the last of her reserves of energy she put her momentum into her right shoulder and charged the door, closer and closer and closer and… the door slid out of her way as an affini walked in from the opposite direction.

All of her energy in her shoulder charge, Jewel fell face first and slid out of the door into a wide expansive chamber filled with sun-like light and a huge grass coated park. She blinked a few times as she felt the first sensation other than the aching of her body or the thickness of the air. This… this still had to be a dream. And yet that insistence died as she saw Terrans and Affini walking here and there. Sudden realization hit her as she noticed the leashes most of the humans were bound to. A human and their Affini master, leash firmly in place, looking at her shocked only a few meters away, a fearful flash in the human’s glazed eyes as the Affini pushed the poor soul back behind it with its vines… Oh stars above the vines the vINES.

A realization in that moment as she started feeling the pain of her face first slide across the gravel, this…wasn’t a dream… She couldn’t move, as much as she begged her body to move, move and fast, before they catch up. She tensed up as she felt the vines slip under her.

Jewel was turned over, greeting her with the image of a half dozen Affini staring down at her. She felt a pin prick in her shoulder as she screamed until she was too tired to scream and her throat was raw. Not long after she fell back into that directionless plunge into the darkness.

beep… beep…

Juniper lolled her head as the world came back to her, her senses slowly regaining some definition, sinking into her bed so soft, it felt really nice to just… be in a bed that wasn’t destroying her spine or that made her itch with lice that seemed to infest every corner. She gave a small smile as the sensations trickled into her mind gently. A warm gentle feeling permeated every inch of body and skin.

Lying there for a few minutes or maybe a few hours she just basked in the sensation of a relaxed existence for the first time that she could remember, she could even feel a tickle across her face, arms, and legs. If this was all she could experience as an Affini prisoner… well she’d gladly take this feeling and savor it for her whole time in it. Trying to look around her eyelids were so blissfully heavy, she could just go back to sleep and not have to worry about the reactor or the oxygen scrubbers or whatever other duties she had before.

The cynic in her reminded her that seemingly everyone had said that she’d be tortured and made into a puppet that’s only discarded to a horrific fate of suffering and exhaustion. That cynical part of her mind could frankly go to hell as far as she was concerned. She’d chosen to fight and realized the cost, there’s only so long you can keep fighting before you destroy yourself, and she was on the brink of either shooting the pig or dying in an accident anyways, and hey, if the Affini were even half, no an eighth, as nice as they claimed it would be well worth it all.

Somewhere in the distance something or other shifted, pushing slightly cooler air into the room along with the approach of what must be feet… feet. Trying to force her eyes open again only the bright white light came flooding in, eyelids winning in the futile battle to see what’s going on around the bed. Lolling her head a bit she tried to let out something to say, only for it to be lost in the warm gentle haze around her.

Something warm and soft suddenly wrapped around her skin, the sensation like a sudden zap of lightning in the fog of feeling, before she could even realize it a soft gasp emerged from Juniper’s lips followed by a small prick and a cool sensation flooding up her arm that sharpened her mind.

“What a lovely girl you are,” a slightly relieved voice seemed to say next to her. Trying to open her eyes again, Juniper’s vision slowly sharpened on the form of an Affini grinning down at her, vines extended around her arm. Stars those eyes. “Now dear, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a couple questions, just to get a bearing on how you’re feeling right now”, behind the voice was concern and… something more.

Juniper blew a raspberry as she felt the whisper of aching in her legs and across her arms and face… probably nothing. “sssssoofff” she replied as she tried to form her mouth to speak more coherently. “Better than I have in… as long as I remember” she continued, gaining a bit more composure.

“Very good. Very, very good, little one.” the Affini replied, standing a little closer. “What do you last remember, adorable terran?~” it asked, tone shifting to a bit more… something, curious? Defensive? Juniper blinked a few times, gathering her thoughts back.

“I… was in an alleyway, I was making out with someone and then I used a stun gun on them…” Juniper said slowly, making sure that she was thinking of everything in the right order. “An Affini came running and I told it that I wanted to defect…. surrender…. whatever the word doesn’t matter… does it?” Putting her arms down she tried lifting her body up, only for the muscles to give way under her, flopping back onto the bed.

“Careful there little Terran. You’ve exerted yourself way too much since then~” the Affini said, punching something into a tablet. “What happened next?”

“Dreams… for a moment I felt like I was… running and everything burned.” she replied blinking a few times, allowing the Affini to come into better focus, it had a beautifully green body of dense foliage, roots, and little spikey little leaf things that ran across some of the vines. “And then… here was me” she finished, raising her hands and lolling her head.

The Affini looked at her a little concerned, tapping a few times at its tablet before depositing it in her body. Even as the little touchscreen was stowed, the Affini looked like it was lost in thought for a moment.

“I…is there something wrong?”

The affini breathed softly out for a second before straightening itself up for a second. “You, dear little Terran, caused me a small bit of worry earlier” it started, keeping the expression on its face soft but with a twinge of concern, another layer. “I left your room yesterday after I came in to check on your condition when you appeared to have suddenly woken up and ran half naked through the medical wing… quite a sight apparently” a quick chuckle. “You, miss, caused quite a ruckus in the middle of a series of astounding coincidences, ending up face first in the park close to one of the exits, screaming and covered in all manner of cuts from the gravel.”

Juniper sat up, blinking in astonishment at the Affini. “I… did what?”

“Yes you did, and it gave a few of us a fright when suddenly we get notifications that someone in the low observation ward was running around panicked. You were in safe vines though” the Affini smiled with those last words a nearly hungry look flashed through its eyes.

“But I don’t remember any of this” Juniper softly said, an anxious hole opening up in her gut… was this going to spell an end to this sort of treatment? Did she break some rule?

“And that’s what I’m curious about dear. Given the” it paused for a moment “delightfully passive, and at the time very much lucid way you surrendered, it’s clear you were in a competent state of mind. You were so intense you made Kauri a bit anxious in fact.’

It continued.”Kauri?” Juniper asked, tilting her head a bit too quickly as her head started to spin.

“Xe is the one that first met you the other day, little one.” the affini gave a little chuckle. “Kauri Pinales, second bloom. A lovely Affini to be around but hard to break through that shell Xe has. Frankly it’s a small miracle you met xem outside xyr hab unit at all, normally xe is a massive recluse to all but xyr closest friends, which I am coincidentally a member of.” the affini continued with a grin, flicking its wrist to its upper chest. “Xe is a big softie, and a whiz with looking at computers and such, far different from my skill set.”

Something in that made Juniper give a soft chuckle. Of course it was some I.T goober she first ran across, where were the mechanic affini?

“Wait… I had xem shaking in their boots?” Juniper asked with sudden clarity. “B…but how? Have you seen how tall you massive plant aliens are?” she exclaimed, shooting her arms out.

“Xe is a bit of a rare case in a way… We’re seemingly a bit of a confident bunch, if you couldn’t tell, and something…” the Affini seemed to trail off before recomposing itself. “Well that doesn’t matter. Just for the record, may I please confirm your name?” it asked brightly.

“Juniper Glasgow, She/Her” she replied, the Affini gave a cocky smile as it got its tablet out and started tapping.”

Excellent. I’m Rimu Phinophyta, third bloom, and I’ll be taking care of you for the next while” The Affini said, bowing with a flourish of its hands. “And She/They for you, little dear”.