Mint tapped away at their tablet, looking at their list of games. They had played all the games to completion, it seems. Typically at this point, they would return to one of their favorites, and play it again from the beginning, but this time that prospect felt unappealing. Oh, well, this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Maybe there’s something new to watch. Scrolling around the Overnet, mostly staying to the Terran side of things, nothing seemed to peak their interest.

Hm. Unusual, but not entirely uncommon. This used to happen a lot back on the Terran colony Mint used to live on. They put the tablet down and tried to gather their thoughts. Mistress wouldn’t be back for a while. She never said what it was that made her leave for long periods of time, but Mint assumed it was either medical or paperwork related. Those things seemed like they would take a long time to them. And besides, Mint liked the alone time. They didn’t get a lot of that back on Terran time. And if they ever got tired of it, they could just ask Mistress to come back. Most of the time she complied, unless it was an emergency, and those rarely happened. Well, now that they think about it, how many emergencies happen during paperwork?

Before they could start thinking about that, Mint started feeling a little mellowed out. Ah, Mistress must’ve administered some suppressants through their implant. That’s good, if all else fails to entertain, at least their fantasies tended to work. They shifted around on the couch, all the ready to start daydreaming the time away. They shifted… and shifted… and shifted…. Huh. They just couldn’t find a good position.

Not a problem. Mint got off the couch and slowly wandered towards their bed. They climbed in and covered themself entirely with their blanket, the way they’ve stayed in bed since as long as they could remember. Curling up into a ball, they got ready to, if anything, fall asleep.

…

…

…

Nothing.

No daydreams, no fantasies, not even a hint of tiredness. Okay, now this was starting to get distressing. Mint uncurled and got out from under the blanket. This wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to them, but they couldn’t remember what they did to take care of it back in the day. Most of their current options weren’t working. Mint walked through this cycle for what felt like hours. Tablet, daydream, bed, tablet, daydream, bed. Absolutely nothing was working. Boredom was starting to seep in. This worried Mint extremely. This hasn’t happened in the four Terran years since they became a floret. They started internally freaking out which quickly turned to external. They felt suppressants be administered, but it did not seem like it worked, as Mint continued to disassociate.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the door to the hab unit opened. Mistress walked in, and Mint perked up. Almost all the terrible feelings were gone at the mere sight of their Mistress. They ran up to her, putting their arms out, waiting. She gave them a reassuring smile, and moved her vines to pick them up and embrace them in a hug. Mint felt themself melt away in her arms, as if all the sedatives started to work right then and there. After about ten minutes of this, as Mistress sat down on the couch, she adjusted Mint so the two of them were facing each other.

“My darling amai yume.” she said. An old Terran language. Mint had no clue what it meant, but Mistress was fond of using the language, and it sounded nice coming from her. “What happened? I saw that you were under duress.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Mint stated. “Everything’s better now that you’re here.” And they truly believed that.

* * * * *

Selestea Telet, Second Bloom, was not convinced. She looked back at her tablet. Mint’s status was certainly doing better, but there was something nagging at her. This wasn’t anything new – if Mint gets too bored or unstimulated, they tend to “spiral” for lack of a better term, but normally the xenodrugs are enough to take care of it. Why didn’t it work this time? It didn’t make sense.

“Mistress?” Mint squealed. “Is everything correct?”

Selestea gave them a soft smile. That was typical Mint. It was super adorable how they were always thinking of others. “Everything is correct, subarashī.” she said. Lovely. A perfect adjective, she thought. With this reassurance, Mint went back to cuddling with her. Selestea turned off her data pad. She could deal with it later.

* * * * *

I typed away at the computer. I was hoping to get the final points of my essay out of my head and onto the screen. Luckily, I still had quite a while till it was due, since getting it done now felt harder than ever.

Mint sat at the edge of the bed. They were plinking away at a guitar. They didn’t know how to play one, they just liked picking at the strings. Something to do with their hands, I guess. I liked the sound though. It was like a little song written just for us. Not a good song, but a special one regardless.

After about twenty minutes of this, Mint stopped. I turned my chair around to face them. “What’s going on?” I asked.

Mint looked me dead in the eyes. “I dunno. I just… wonder what this is.” they muttered.

I tilted my head, mirroring what Mint would do whenever they got confused. “What do you mean? We’ve been like this for years.”

“You say that, but I don’t remember any of this.” Mint said. “In fact, I don’t even know you are, but all of this feels… familiar. Too familiar.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” I stood up from the stool and glided over to them. It took a while. The bed was about ten meters away. But when I finally reached them, I gave them a little peck on the cheek. “But it might help you to wake up.”

“What?” Mint asked.

* * * * *

Mint’s eyes opened. They were under their blanket, just like they always were when they went to bed. They lifted the front of it, only to see the lights in the hab unit were off. Looks like it was the middle of the ship's night cycle. They threw the blanket off them and jumped out of bed. Unfortunately, that brought them to the next question: what now? They just stood there in their underwear, confused.

Luckily, before they had to think of anything, a door opened and Mistress walked in. “Mint?” she asked, turning on the lights. “What are you doing awake?”

“Uh…” Mint stammered. They didn’t have an answer for that. “I… uh…”

Mistress sat down on the couch, opening her arms towards Mint. A gesture, asking for consent for picking them up. Mint rarely liked being touched without knowing. They grabbed her hands, and she picked them up with help of her vines.

“Was it the dreams again?” she asked.

“Was it?” Mint echoed. They…. couldn’t tell. Whenever they tried to think of what happens during their sleep, it always came up as a blank. “I guess, if it was, that would be the…” they started counting on their fingers.

“Twenty-seventh time.” Mistress answered for them. “All in rapid succession.”

Mint closed their hand. “Oh.” This prompted a small laugh from Mistress. Pleased that they made their Mistress happy, they leaned into her vines, hoping that maybe sleep could come to them again. And while the pleasure of being in Mistress’s arms was beyond belief, the concept of sleep just did not seem to register at that moment.

* * * * *

Selestea, however, was trying to wrap her mind around this. These dreams – who was she fooling, they were clearly nightmares – seem to be quite frequent to Mint, and yet, they could not remember a single detail. Every time, they just blanked on it. This was a little unsettling. How could she help her floret if they themself don’t know what’s wrong? With a free vine, she reached over and grabbed her data pad. She grabbed Mint’s as well, just in case. She might have someone look at it, though in her mind she knew that could not have been the problem. Wouldn’t hurt to check, though.

She was just about to turn hers on when she felt a tug at one of her vines. Looking down, she was faced with the most adorably concerned look on Mint’s face. However, when Selestea’s eyes met theirs, they jolted and looked away. It was clear they wanted to ask a question, but something was stopping them. Either embarrassment or just not knowing how to sentence it correctly. That second one happened quite a lot with Mint. She laughed, and used a vine to tilt Mint’s head back to looking at her. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Am I broken?”

* * * * *

Mistress’s face took on a concerned tone. “Now, why would you go and say that, chīsai mono?” she asked, using that language again.

Mint started fiddling with their fingers, looking down. “I dunno.” They murmured. “I guess… I don’t think there are other Affini having to deal with something like this.”

Mistress smiled the most reassuring smile. “Darling, you don’t have to worry about such things. I can take care of it, and it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you.” Mint beamed at that. It was great to know that they didn’t have to worry. But deep down, they continued to do so. It was clearly upsetting Mistress. They silently cursed themself for not being normal, for not being a burden to their Mistress. If only-

Mistress put Mint on the floor. “Come, let’s go get you dressed. Then, perhaps, we can go to the park.” she said. This was enough to get Mint excited. They hadn’t been to the park very recently. They figured Mistress was too busy. Maybe there really were emergencies in paperwork, after all.

* * * * *

Selestea watched as Mint ran around, drawing lines in the dirt and engaging with other florets. She had dressed them up in the cutest grey blouse and blue skirt. It didn’t match at all, even a little, but that was the beauty of it. She felt it captured Mint’s unorthodox way of thinking, always taking huge leaps of logic to come to the right conclusion. It was a very Terran thing to do already, especially when it came to their technology, but for Mint it was multiplied tenfold.

Maybe… maybe it was because of that that the xenodrugs were not working? Selestea looked over the files that were sent to her. No… that didn’t make sense. Surely there are other Terran florets that do similar things. And the xenodrugs certainly worked on those. All the while, Selestea kept getting messages from her friends, and even some Affini she didn’t know, hoping to find an answer. So far, all the suggestions were things she herself had already thought of. None of this was helping. She looked up from the data pad and back to Mint. Luckily, with the outlandish colours they were wearing, they were easy to spot. They were currently playing with another Terran. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was so cute how they were twatting sticks together. She looked at the nearby Affini watching the two. Good, she was paying attention. The Affini noticed that she was being watched, glanced at Selestea, and waved. Selestea waved back, and the two went back to the tasks at hand.

* * * * *

Unfortunately, despite being there for quite a while, Selestea couldn’t figure anything out. It was a struggle. It isn’t like the Affini to NOT know what to do. She hoped she wouldn’t have to resort to drastic measures, but it more and more looked like that might be a possibility. She looked down at Mint, who was skipping along her side, making sure not to strain the leash attached to them. The two of them tried to walk without the leash before, but Mint had a tendency to get distracted and wander off. The first time was terrifying, having looked down and not see her beloved floret by her side. It took hours to find them. They had somehow found their way onto the entire other side of the ship they were on at the time.

Speaking of getting distracted, Mint was doing exactly that. Selestea felt the leash getting taut, and looked back. Mint was staring down a different direction with a wondering look on their face. Selestea tugged the leash a little, jolting Mint back into reality. They ran back to her side. “What caught your attention, karafuru mizu?” Colourful water. She considered it an accurate description of Mint’s mind – a body of water with so many colours it was hard for them to pick just one.

“Nothing.” Mint said. A lie, of course, but Mint had a habit of saying a complete lie before getting the truth out. It was so adorable the way their mind worked. “Just… thought I recognized someone. But I guess that’s impossible.”

“Not necessarily.” Selestea said, coyly. “You know a bunch of my Affini friends. But… that’s not what you meant, is it?”

“Not at all.” Mint laughed. “But I don’t really know that many Terrans, even less since joining.” They started to get lost in thought, but Selestea tapped them on their cheek to keep their attention. “Sorry, Mistress. I will try to not let it happen again.”

“It’s fine. We’re almost home anyway.” Selestea chirped. And with that, the two of them continued to head towards the hab unit.

* * * * *

I continued to draw on the tablet. It was a cheap one, but it made due. Paying off my school funds were more important. Even if the tablet was important for said school, but that was a circle of thought with no ending, best not to give it the attention it wanted.

Mint laid in the bed we shared. He – no, they. We had discussed that a couple days ago – had a habit of just freezing up without anything to do. Since I was the only one who could remotely afford a tablet, we had to share it, and it was currently my turn. Maybe for h-their birthday I could get them something to help. Maybe an instrument of some kind?

After about twenty minutes of me drawing and them staring at the ceiling, they finally spoke.

“So… whatcha doing?”

Smooth, hun. I giggled. “I saw an interesting flower on an advertisement earlier today.” I explained. “I wanted to recreate it before I forgot what it looked like. Maybe if I remember, then someday I can see the real thing, and study it closely.” The flower on the tablet’s screen was a sketchy representation of the image I saw earlier. Luckily, I never caught wind of what the advertisement was for, but that flower stuck with me.

Mint got up and looked over my shoulder. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” they said, admiring my work. I could feel my cheeks blush a bright yellow color. “What kind of flower is it called? Do you know?”

I wracked my brain trying to come up with the answer. It must’ve been part of the ad, or else why would it be used? “I think… it was called ‘mint?’” I finally said. I think I might have pulled that out of thin air, but it sounded right.

“Mint…” Mint said. “That’s it!”

I jolted at that exclamation. “What? What’s it?” I stammered.

“My name! Mint!” Mint shouted confidently. I haven’t seen them this confident in… ever…

“But wait, you haven’t even seen the real thing, just my half-remembered drawing.” I said, trying to calm hi-them down.

“If the real thing is half as pretty as you made it look, then I’m positive that it’s correct!” Mint said.

“Wait, wasn’t Mint always your name? Why are we acting like you just chose it?” I observed, in an attempt to control Mint to my liking. Couldn’t have them start thinking for themself, could we?

Mint’s expression went from a beaming smile to a worried frown. “No… that’s not…” they muttered. “Wait, no, I could’ve sworn this was… when I…”

“No, I chose it for you, remember?” I said, standing up to pull Mint into a hug. “And as much as I appreciate you liking my art, it’s purely for note-taking reasons, nothing more.”

“Right…” Mint drawled. “No, wait...not right..”

I rolled my eyes, and pointed all four of them back to Mint with a stern expression. “Well, if you’re going to be like that, I think it’s about time to wake up. Maybe next time you won’t be so snappy.”

“Snappy?” Mint asked, confused. They turned to look at me, but just before their eyes could reach-

* * * * *

Mint jolted awake once more, flailing a bit more than usual, and falling off the couch in a comedic fashion. Lying face down on the floor, Mint didn’t feel any pain – they had been through more than that before. A simple small trip wasn’t gonna do anything. They started getting up, and took in their surroundings. They were in their hab unit. It took Mint a minute to realize the music playing – the playlist they had put together. It was playing one of the more industrial sounding pieces – something not unlike what one would hear in an old Terran waiting room, but if it was being sung by a machine of some sort. It was an odd piece of music to be sure, but Mint found comfort in the odd. At least, when it was an odd of their choosing.

Right now, however, was not an odd of their choosing. Mistress was nowhere to be found. Mint struggled to collect the pieces of the past. This happened on occasion, but it normally only took them a couple seconds to fix it. It used to take them quite longer. Thank the stars Mint found a Mistress with patience.

Wait, get back on track, Mint. What was the last thing they did? Coming back from the garden, right? But why did they fall asleep? There were too many questions they didn’t have the answer to. Normally they had Mistress’s help for that, but she was nowhere to be found, as well as their tablet. Mint got up and steadied their breathing. Okay, if anything, Mistress most definitely knows that they were awake now. This didn’t answer the question of where she was, but it was a start. Sometimes all Mint needed was a start.

Mint felt… something flow through her. Xenodrugs? Mint tried to focus. It must be. But then, why didn’t they feel any different? Why were they not taking effect?

Maybe Mint was broken.

Mint resisted the urge to slap themself. An urge they haven’t felt since their years on a Terran colony. No, Mistress said they weren’t, so they weren’t. Simple as that. But they couldn’t help but feel that nagging feeling that maybe Mistress was wron- NOPE. Put a stop to that right now, Mint.

They took a deep breath and tried to focus on the music. It had changed from a weird upbeat theme to a mechanical drone. Or, at least, it would be a mechanical drone to anyone else, but to Mint there was a melody there. A story. A sort of sad story of a living machine who died, but didn’t at the same time. Mint once felt that way, too. And even if they never really felt that way since, they kept the piece of music, as a reminder of sorts. Maybe. Or maybe they really were broken.

No, no, no! Stop thinking like that, Mint! They felt another dose of the xenodrugs hit, but just like last time, nothing really came of it. They let the deep breath out. In actuality it wasn’t the same breath, but it felt like it was, and that’s all that mattered to Mint at the moment. Mistress said she would take care of it, Mistress said it would be alright. Just focus on Mistress’s words and everything will be fine.

The door to the hab unit opened. Mint looked over, but their hopes were dashed pretty quickly. The Affini standing in the doorway was not their Mistress, but one that seemed completely foreign to Mint. “Hello, there.” it said. “Mala Brin, Second Bloom. It/its pronouns. You may remember me from Selestea’s get-together a while back?” It had a caring smile on its face, similar to Mistress’s, but not exactly the same. Mint shook their head. They had no recollection of the other Affini at that gathering, nor the other florets for that matter. Unless someone was a constant presence in their life, Mint tended to have trouble recalling them. Mala smiled once more, trying its best to not scare the poor Terran. “Selestea asked me to come get you. She needed to make preparations, you understand.”

Mint tilted their head. “Preparations?” they asked, backing up. Suddenly the droning of the music felt more eerie than it normally did. They certainly did not understand.

Mala took a couple steps inside so the door behind it could close, but stayed at the front of the room. “Yes. She asked a medical expert to take a look at you, and wanted to make sure everything was… ‘correct,’ as you would put it.” it stated calmly.

That sounded like Mistress, Mint thought. But still, the idea of going with someone they barely knew, even an Affini, was not pleasing to them. They stood there, staring at Mala for a couple seconds, then ran towards their bed. Mala watched as they scrambled on top, covering themself entirely in the covers. It had been told about this. Mala gently walked over, making sure to not shake anything. Mint couldn’t see, but Mala pressed a button, and the music in the room changed from the mechanical droning to a song made of small beeps, with the occasional ringing sound. A monotone piece of music from a game Mint really liked. A piece of music that Mint felt was a good representation of the way their mind felt before meeting the Affini. Sad, and alone, with a small call in the distance that they couldn’t pick up.

Mala stood above the bed, but didn’t move the covers. Mint could see the faint outline of vines settling on the sides of the covers, but it never encroached on the safety Mint had set up for themself.

“Mint Telet, Third Floret.” Mala cooed. “Please be the adorable being I know you are and cooperate. Selestea would much appreciate it, as would I.” Mint winced. It played the Mistress card. Mint didn’t want to upset Mistress. How evil of Mala to bring this up. Wait…. Evil? Since when did Mint ever think any Affini was evil?

This needed to be fixed.

Mint slowly lifted the covers, and sat on her knees, looking down at the vines on the bed. Eye contact had always been a struggle for Mint, and vines were a better alternative. Mint was certain Mistress had told Mala that. “Mala Brin, please take me to Mistress.” they said.

* * * * *

I watched the video intently. Some Affini propaganda video. How shameless that they just used Terrans like that. Tsk. I scrolled down to read some of the comments. A lot were sharing my sentiment, though there were some absolute weirdos thinking that it didn’t sound so bad. Idiots. Losing your entire sense of identity to become some plant’s plaything sounded bad enough, but it probably wasn’t even what they did to you!

“I bet they experiment on us.” I thought aloud. “I’ve seen some pictures of some of the ‘body mods’ they have. Insane. Most don’t even look Terran.”

Mint was cutting up some carrots behind me. They made a grunt of acknowledgement.

“I’m serious. There was one with, like, twenty eyes all over their face.” I continued. “It was really freaky.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t just faked?” Mint said. “Everyone’s got image editing software, you know.”

“Even if it is, I bet it’s not too far off from the truth.” I said. I watched as Mint poured the carrot slices into a bowl and grabbed another. “But imagine how powerful their medical tech must be. I would love to get my hands on it.”

“That sounds like you.” Mint giggled. “Maybe you should go visit them. See if they’ll let you see it.”

“Nah, one foot on their ship and I bet they’d start drugging me like the monsters they are.” I asserted.

“I dunno. It sounds kinda nice.”

“What?” I asked, surprised. “Being drugged?”

“Being cared for.” Mint said. “Not having to worry about anything. All of your problems taken care of for you. You gotta admit, they have a pretty enticing marketing campaign.”

I officially swiveled my chair around to get a good look at them. “You’re not considering giving yourself over to them, are you?” I asked.

“No. Just that it sounds nice.” Mint said, getting a third carrot.

I parsed my lips as I thought. “Well, if it sounds nice, maybe we should check it out.” I said, softly, with Mint’s best interests in mind.

They stopped. The knife was a millimeter above the cucumber. “Wait…” they said.

“Hm?”

“That’s… that’s not how this goes…” they said, putting the cleaver down. It clinked slightly against the blender they were putting the vegetables in.

“That’s not how what goes?” I asked.

“I remember this vividly.” Mint said. “Wait, how do I remember this vividly?”

“How do you know you remember this?”

“What?” Mint said, facing towards me. Poor dear, there were tears in their eyes.

Good.

“I said,” I repeated as my body started to melt. “How. Do. You. Know?”

Mint screamed as the individual in front of them melted. The skin drooped off, revealing a black oily monster underneath. She started moving towards them, repeating that phrase. “How do you know? How do you know?” The tears in Mint’s eyes started coming faster, blurring their vision.

The blob pushed them through the wall, which came apart as if it was made of playing cards. Mint found themself floating through space, but the stars were off. The stars emanated a bright cyan color, hurting Mint’s eyes to look at it all. The more they looked, the more the lights got brighter. The blob floated towards them until it was above them.

“Who… who are you?” Mint asked. The blob chuckled at that.

“Why would you care?” it said. “You didn’t want me in the first place, but now you’re all about me?” The blob took a humanoid shape, but did not lose its oily physique.

“Please. Let me know.” Mint begged.

“Shut up.” it said, punching Mint in the stomach. This sent them flying in a direction they could only be described as “down.” Soon, Mint crashed through the floor of space, and into a small Terran apartment complex, but with Affini furniture. The furniture looked as if it was struggling to fit in the cramped space. Not that it mattered, as the black substance started seeping through the space where the walls met the floor, flooding the place, ever so slowly.

Mint was freaking out. Clearly this was a dream, that much was clear, but by now they would have woken up. Why were they still here? They tried to wrap their brain around this…

The xenodrugs.

Oh, of course, NOW they were working!

That’s right. Mala took them to the medical area. Something was clearly wrong with them, and the medical area was the only place to find it out. Mistress had told them that they were going under anesthetic, and that everything would be fine.

Well, clearly everything was not fine.

But that didn’t make sense. Mistress wouldn’t lie to them… would she?

“How would you know?” said the voice. That phrase again. Mint couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but they heard it clear as day. A woman’s voice. A Terran woman’s voice. “Why wouldn’t an Affini lie? Your ‘Mistress’ could say anything and you’d believe her without a second thought.”

“That’s because Mistress cares about me! She would never lie!”

“But she has.” the voice continued, unphased by Mint’s screaming. “She said you weren’t broken. Come on, that was the most obvious lie in the world. The old you would have seen right through that.”

“The old me would’ve been wrong.”

“Oh, my stars, you FUCKING MORON.” the voice screamed. Mint looked up. In the hole in the ceiling sat a Terran woman, or at least the silhouette of one. A silhouette with blank white eyes and a staticy finish. “You really fucked yourself up, huh? You used to think for yourself. But now you’re entirely at the mercy of some bitch.”

“Don’t call her that!”

“Fucking man up already!” It screamed back.

“NO! DON’T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN! THAT'S NOT WHAT I AM!”

Mint paused. Why did that sound so familiar?

They had said it before. That’s why.

“Pathetic.” the silhouette whispered, its form being blown away into the space above it. Mint flailed around, attempting to get out of the liquid. They eventually struggled free, and ran in a direction.

And kept running. They kept their eyes closed, and yet they could see the endless hallway in front of them. A hallway constantly getting longer and longer, with a flood of black goo chasing after them, with the feminine Terran figure leading the charge.

Mint looked up and opened their eyes. Once they did, they could see the wall coming towards them at rapid speed. At this point, they had two plans. Hopefully, hopefully all this running translated to some movement in the real world, something to tip Mistress off that something was wrong. Or, the wall. Either way, it was all gonna stop abruptly.

They closed their eyes once more, but the wall did not disappear. Nevertheless, they kept running. Until -

* * * * *

Mint jolted awake. They found themself on the bed of a medical area. They were hyperventilating, and continued to do so even as Selestea picked them up. “Sakura no hana, are you alright?” she asked. Mint actually knew that one – Cherry Blossom. Normally they would feel extreme pride for knowing that, but they had something else on their mind. Something more pressing.

“Mistress…” they asked. “Who’s Clara?”