“Open up!” Hipatia said cheerfully, holding a spoonful of Krile’s breakfast a few inches from her lips. She rolled her eyes but acquiesced and let her owner continue to feed her. As soon as she had given in it seemed like Hipatia and Acicularis were determined on breaking her resistance to letting them do what they wished with her. Initially she was extremely defensive to the idea. But her stubbornness was very difficult to keep that up when she ultimately either liked or didn't mind the things they did to her.

After she finished her breakfast Acicularis took her bowl to the decompiler. In the week since she arrived Krile had been able to get a hang of most of the strange aspects of her new home, the compiler included.

“Why- ” Hipatia cut her off, wiping her face clean. She finished and inspected her work. Humming with satisfaction that her floret was clean. “Why do we have to go see the doctor so early? The sun is barely even up.” She groaned.

“Because stardust '' She skritched Krile behind the ear where she knew she loved, making Krile purr happily “A lot of Terrans have chosen to become florets after the surrender. The vets are getting quite booked! But Gaentus was so happy when he heard about your decision that he's coming in early to get us in.”

“Hmph alright.” She was still a bit cranky from being woken up but it was easy enough to simply go along with what Hipatia wanted. Soon after her submission to Hipatia she was informed about this new surgery she was required to have. A piece of her new owner was to be installed into her. The idea made her squeamish at first but once they mentioned the benefits, including not having to take her injections anymore, she reasoned to herself that it wasn't any weirder than some of the cyberware augments she had seen advertised.

Krile let out a yawn and let the two affini gather her clothes for the day. They had been working together on her hangups about people seeing her body. For the moment they had a system where as long as they left her undergarments to herself to handle and close her eyes for the rest the process was bearable. She had originally balked at the idea outright, but Hipatia seemed to want to dress her so badly that she couldn't help but give in and let them help her.

Hipatia had a subdued taste that led to her picking darker colors, while Acicularis loved everything bright, especially pinks and purples causing Krile to be a horrible mishmash of colors and styles. She was pretty sure they both got a kick out of making her an affront to fashion whenever they went out. With a click of her leash attaching to her collar they made for the door, pausing to give Krile her cane before leaving the apartment.

In the time she's been in their care Krile had already seen noticeable improvements in her strength. In her previous life she barely moved around her apartment, leaving her with lots of room for improvement. By the time they got to the park the pain in her back was still just something she could push out of her mind. As they walked through the park and Krile admired the greenery a question struck her that she felt a bit silly not thinking of until now. Like most other Terrans she grew up only very rarely seeing living plants and trees. It was only when she became a librarian for the super wealthy that she had become desensitized to being around plants, having spent weeks at each estate in the arctic cataloging their collections. They always managed to keep beautiful gardens there, whereas back home even with the climate machines keeping the city livable only the most hearty of flora could survive.

“How are there plants in the parks? I thought you said the terraforming things were months away from here?” she stopped walking and looked up behind her at Hipatia who held her leash.

“Hmm” Hipatia mused, she tapped a vine against her chin. “I’d be happy to explain, but I’m afraid I’m not quite sure who you’re talking to petal.”

Krile audibly groaned. She wasn't as insistent at home but as soon as they were in public any right she had to her own dignity was gone. She looked away from her owner.

“...Mommy, why are there plants in the city?” Krile could feel Hipatia’s shit eating grin burning into the back of her head.

“Well since you asked so nicely” Hipatia walked ahead and gently tugged on Kriles' leash, signaling her to keep moving. “Yes the terraforming engines are still a few months out. The shipyard sized atomic compiler we used to make it is currently on the far side of the Accord’s old borders. Normally after manufacturing they would get here within a week or two but the volatile materials involved in terraforming also mean its using a slower model of jump drive with less range. The sensitive machinery keeping the terraforming gasses in their superpositions requires slipspace maneuverings even more delicate than the standard ship. Oh but silly me, I seem to have gotten off topic. We’ve simply replaced the climate machinery the city was already using with our own that can do a lot more for the inhabitants inside.”

Krile mused at how casually she explained the terraforming of a planet. Turning mars into a habitable planet took over a hundred years and the dipole field array continually threatened to break down and let the sun blow away the atmosphere. If the rest of their technology was any indication she might even see the results in her own lifetime.

She sighed and shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind. The vast technological superiority of the affini was only really striking her now. Krile knew she was looking down the barrel of another spiraling episode about how pointless and self inflicted the war was. She stopped herself, thinking back to the things Acicularis had been teaching her about managing her feelings. She took a few deep breaths to center herself. She needed to think about actionable things, problems that have solutions.

“Has anyone seen Juno’s ship recently?” She looked up at Acicularis who was matching pace next to her. She gave Krile a sad smile and patted her on the back.

“Not yet sweetie, but the fleets know she's on it. I even know a few of the affini on the detachment trailing her. Well, not just her. There are a few sophonts on that ship that are very good at riling up ferals and need to get caught before they get someone hurt. All that is to say, they’re hiding in a nebula and we’ll find her very quick don’t you worry.”

“Thanks” Acicularis ruffled her hair playfully. It helped to know that she would get captured soon. Though it felt weird rooting against Juno, she was sure that once she was brought home she would see that things aren't so bad.

“Mrs. Krile, it's so nice to see you again.” Gaentus had been waiting for them in the lobby as the human nurses set up the office for the day. He offered his hand to shake as the three exited the elevator which Krile accepted while Hipatia and Cici accepted their welcomes, giving as firm a shake as she could to an affini.

“The surgery room is already prepped, let's give the nurses their room and talk in there.” He quickly led them past the many examination rooms to another wing, the doors here were all closed save for one being propped open which they were ushered into. This room was large enough for half a dozen affini to be in comfortably. With counters as tall as she was lining most of the walls and affini sized seats in the corner. Krile thought she had gotten used to the architecture not being built for her but it became apparent again once she was in a place that before might have been built with 2 maybe 3 human occupancy in mind. She had forgotten how much she used to be packed in like a rat.

In the center of the surprisingly homely looking room was a cushioned slab currently set facing up diagonally, flanked by unfamiliar surgical implements. Guessing its purpose Krile stepped on and rested against the diagonal bed, her cane quickly taken out of her hand by Hipatia.

Gaentus looked up from the tablet he was punching away on. “Eager are we?”

Krile blushed and looked away. “No I-, there's only two chairs where else was I supposed to sit?” She looked around to see if there was another place she should have been sitting but found none.

Gaentus laughed at his own joke, his approximation to the noise sounded more like a strong wind blowing through a creaky tree. “Just a little teasing, don’t worry about a thing”

One of Gaentus’s vines snaked over to a button on the side of the bed and clicked it in, making it slowly tip further back until the bed was almost vertical. In this position she could now see the robotic surgical arms folded into a crevice on the ceiling.

“This operation is as simple as it is routine.” Gaentus reassured her as he made his final preparations. “You’ll be out of the office in an hour, it’ll take a few days before you’re up and about again however.” He leans in, making a mock attempt at whispering to her. “This will be a good time to get as many treats as you want from your owners.” He smiled cheerily as he leaned back.

“We’re not- She's just mine.”

“I’m just her case worker”

Both the affini spoke at once. Their eyes, both now shifting shades of pink, refused to meet.

“Ah, must have read the paperwork wrong then.” Gaentus looked down at Krile as if he had momentarily forgotten she was still there. “Right, you go to bed now.” he jabbed her with a needle in her arm, as if to punctuate the statement.

“Wha…?” Was the most articulate statement Krile could muster before her world went dark.

Krile sputtered into consciousness, fading in and out. She felt herself being picked up and handed over. She couldnt will her eye open yet but she was sure she was in the arms of someone she could trust. Their touch felt like liquid pleasure on her skin and their heartbeat felt so safe.

The next sensation she could make out was a breeze tickling her. She knew that it should probably feel nice, but right now it felt like daggers against her skin. She mewled and moaned, fairly certain that she was writhing around. She could hear the safe person talking, feel their chest vibrate as they made the sounds, but try as she might she couldn’t figure out the words. Another voice responded, it didn't play with her insides like the voice of the safe person but their words felt nice on her ears all the same. After a pause liquid relief spread from the nape of her neck through the rest of her body. Without the pain of the wind against her skin it was easy for her to fall back into unconsciousness.

When she could finally open her eyes again Krile found herself in her own bed. Now in a somewhat more lucid state she could finally string a few thoughts together, though the sensitivity in her body made the bed feel impossibly soft. As if she was about to sink into it. With languid effort she turned over in the bed, expecting to see Hipatia beside her. She was caught off guard when she discovered that no one else was in the bed with her, even though she could very clearly feel Hipatia. Without realizing it she let out a wail of sadness.

“Mommy!” She couldn't articulate why that was the word that left her mouth but before she could think on it a gush of wind caught her face. Hipatia had rushed over as fast as she could and all the anguish left Krile’s body as soon as she saw her. She grabbed for her mommy’s vines and Hipatia enveloped her in her vines without a thought.

“What’s wrong my precious petal?”

“I couldn’t find you” Krile mumbled as she buried her face into the foliage of Hipatia’s chest.

“Oh darling” Hipatia enveloped her charge with her vines and tried her best to squeeze all the worry out of her floret. “Don’t worry stardust, I’m always going to be with you now.”