Maaria languidly regained consciousness and felt a pleasant bed on her back, She just barely resisted the urge to enjoy the relaxed rested feeling it gave her and try to go back to sleep but as her thoughts returned to her images of the Affini vessel at her ship flashed through her mind and feeling the bed she felt that it seemed far too comfortable to be one kept on a Terran vessel let alone a Terran military vessel.

 

Maaria sat up strongly in concern only to be stopped by a strong cuff around her wrist which seemed to be locked in place, Her attempt at sitting up hurt her arm slightly so she apathetically sighed and lay back down, She looked at the cuff and tested trying to pull and break it off but found it to be far too securely attached.

 

Frustrated she simply stared up at the ceiling, It was light blue an odd choice for a prison cell she thought before she heard the sound of movement outside of the room, The door suddenly opened and before Maaria could so much as move a muscle she felt strong vines wrap around her “Never try anything that dangerous ever again dear!” Maaria tried to pull away from the vines in panic but every time she tried the vines merely constrained her more forcefully, “Do you know how scared I was when I heard that you’d been injured during our boarding?” 

 

“Let go of me!” Maaria shouted into the vines and they finally released her and she saw a grey-coloured Affini in front of her, The first time she’d seen an Affini in person before, They had a broadly humanoid appearance but had several vines in place of arms “What… Who are you” She questioned angrily whilst breathing rapidly in concern. 

 

“I’m sorry if I frightened you, But we spoke… on your ship, I thought you’d recognise my voice…” Maaria grumbled internally, Of all the prison guards she could have assigned to her it had to be the same one from earlier “...My name is Praemorsa Ilium, Fourth Bloom, I’m going to be your Owner” They said the words with what almost sounded like excitement. 

 

Maaria began to breathe even quicker, starting to hyperventilate, Her mind filled with abject terror, They were going to brainwash her, fit her with one of their mind control implants until she was just a puppet for them, It sounded worse than being confined to their mines.

 

“Please don’t panic my little rebel, I know it’s a big change for you but as my Pet I’ll make sure that your very happy, you’ll never want for anything and I’ll make sure you never place yourself in danger ever again”

 

Maaria felt a vine attempt to touch her and flinched away, “I’ll never be your pet”

 

“I know it might be upsetting dear but you don’t have a choice, you were deemed a danger to yourself and others so you’re subject to involuntary domestication and I’ve chosen to take you as my Floret but please don’t worry I can make sure that it’s a very pleasurable experience for you, I’m very excited to get to know you my pet, You have no idea how many others wanted to claim you”

 

Maaria found her comments almost annoying to be trying to hide the threat of taking away what makes her, herself and attempting to make it sound reassuring, She tried to force her fear to the back of her mind, If she was lucky she’d be able to able escape before they brainwashed her too much, The thought of escape brought another thought to her mind “I want to see my brother”

 

“I knew you would dear, especially after all of those adorable demands you sent, You’ll be glad to know that I’ve contacted your brother's Owner, She might allow you two to meet but she’s worried that you might distress him so I’ll need to evaluate your behaviour first my darling pet”

 

“How would I distress him? He’s a man, not a child” Maaria found the whole situation to be very suspicious, There must be something more nefarious being hidden she thought.

 

“Well, he’s reportedly a very fragile pet and doesn’t respond well to involuntary domestication” 

 

“Wait… But wasn’t he forced into it too? Maaria questioned, The Affini had been enslaving all Terrans, Why would they ever offer a choice? 

 

“Well of course not dear, Most of our pets are volunteers”

 

“I… But… I, don’t understand” Maaria found the comment hard to believe, It went against all that she had been told.

 

“It’s all those silly Feralist lies dear, I’ll explain everything to you but first I’d like to get you back to my Hab so you can see your new home”

 

Maaria wanted to protest again but she decided that it probably wouldn’t achieve anything anyway and so decided to silence herself for now. 

 

“I’m going to unlock your binds now and I need you to not try anything silly little Maaria. Can you do that for me?”

 

Maaria found this weed’s condescending remarks towards her to be incredibly irritating, But she also found being trapped where she was to be almost claustrophobic and hoping not to give them a reason to speed up her brainwashing she reluctantly nodded agreement. 

 

She felt a vine pet her head and instantly moved away from it, The alien seemed somewhat sad by her response, Maaria found it strange that her captor seemed to care about such unimportant things but deciding not to dwell she changed her focus to her newly acquired freedom of movement as she felt the binding come loose, She quickly moved her hand only to find that there was still a cuff firmly attached to it, The weed seemed to notice her look.

 

“That one’s not coming off for now dear but it’s designed to be comfy for Terrans to wear” 

 

Maaria signed in frustration loudly but Praemorsa paid no notice to it, Maaria began to stand up when suddenly she was grabbed by vines, She pushed off them with all of her might but wasn’t able to even get close to freeing herself “What… What are you doing” She asked continuing to try to force her way out. 

 

“It’s a long walk to my Hab dear, wouldn’t you prefer to be carried?”

 

“No!” Maaria shouted loudly before more calmly saying “I’d prefer to walk” 

 

Praemorse slowly let her down and Maaria quickly took a few steps away from her “If you really want I can let you walk but you'll need to stay very close to me dear”

 

Maaria nodded, she felt humiliated agreeing to follow the rules of her patronizing captor but felt not dignifying it with a verbal response would at least be a kind of resistance. 

 

With that her captor opened the door to the room she was in and let Maaria walk out, She walked through a hallway in some kind of large building, Praemorsa quickly moved ahead of her and Maaria followed after her, The thought of trying to run away crossed her mind but not knowing where she was or where she’d go she decided not to try to yet, At least not until she could rescue her brother too.

 

She followed into some kind of atrium, It seemed filled with other Affini some with Terrans on leashes, Maaria felt embarrassed and out of place as walked by but she also felt a sense of dread looking at how many the Affini had already enslaved, But it was strange… none of the Terrans seemed to be resisting at all, none of them even seemed or there involuntarily, As Maaria thought about it, she thought about how it didn’t make any sense from what she’d heard about the Affini, They seemed like slaves with the collars around their necks but none of them seemed abused or like they’d been erased by Affini brainwashing, Maaria didn’t really know what to make of it as she walked past in silence, she felt as if all eyes in the room were on her as she followed Praemorsa to what she guessed was the exit. 

 

Upon exiting Maaria found herself faced with what almost looked like a never-ending amount of streets and buildings, It was far larger than any Terran city she had ever seen and on every street, she saw more and more Affini with collared Terrans, Many of them had a dazed, unfocused look in their eyes as they were led around by weed Owners, Maaria looked around more and saw Praemorsa moving further away and quickly rushed to catch up with her but the sight of dazed Terrans on leashes stayed in her head as if etched in her mind, it caused her to shudder. I’ll probably end up like that if I don’t escape soon she thought. 

 

Following after Praemorsa seemed to drag on extensively, She walked past what almost seemed like identical streets, She had no idea how Praemorsa was ever able to navigate this city, One thing was for certain in her head, however, that this city was going to be very difficult to escape from.

 

Eventually, after what felt like hours Praemorsa stopped outside of a small building and led her inside, It seemed luxurious, The kind of house that the Terran elite would live in, It must have cost quite a lot she presumed, 

 

Exhausted after walking for so long Maaria longed for some rest, seeing a sofa she walked over to it but suddenly a stray fear caught her mind, What if Praemorsa didn’t want her sitting down, What if she’d be drugged for it, Swallowing her pride she decided that it was better safe than sorry and decided to speak to her captor “Umm… Praemorsa, Could I sit down?” 

 

Her captor seemed almost surprised by her question “Such a meek little thing you are after a walk, Of course, you may my pet… Maybe I’ll take you on walks more often, Whenever I want you more docile”

 

Maaria did her best to ignore her captor and almost collapsed onto the sofa and quickly began to lay on it as if it were a bed finding it surprisingly cozy and relaxing.

 

Her captor seemed to eye her with strange glee “Oh, your such a cute Floret already. Now I know you probably don’t want it…” Her captor began strangely uncurling their vines,”...but I had a collar made specifically for you once I learned you were going to be mine, You don’t have to wear it yet but I’d like you to know where it is” She said as she placed what seemed like a newly made black collar on top of the table in front of her “You can put it on whenever you feel ready for it”

 

“I don’t want to be your pet… Can’t you just let me go?” 

 

“I couldn’t do that, Not after the danger, you put yourself in before, I know it doesn’t seem like it yet little Maaria but I really do want what’s best for you and I just know you’ll be happier here than you were before”

 

“I won’t be” Maaria responded tersely.

 

“Why don’t I help you with that little one, You never answered my questions before about your favourite hobbies, maybe you can now” 

 

Maaria found the question almost frustrating to hear, she had been kidnapped against her will and threatened with being brainwashed into becoming one of their pets and the thing her captor wanted to talk about was her hobbies.

 

“I can help you find one if you can’t think of any pet” Praemorse offered as the silence continued. 

 

The thought of her captor trying to find her a hobby sounded worse than just talking about it with her so Maaria hesitantly offered it.

 

“I… liked chess quite a lot… It’s a board game, I used to play it with Magnus” Maaria confessed, unsure if her captor would even know what chess was or what she’d do with such information.

 

“That’s great dear,” Her captor said with surprising enthusiasm “I’ve seen a few of my friend's florets playing Terran board games, We can get the compiler to make it”

 

“What’s a compiler?” Maaria quickly asked, her attention perked

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, it completely slipped my mind dear, An atomic compiler is a little device we use to construct or deconstruct anything, It’s built into practically all of our habs, You can make anything your heart desires with it.”

 

“Anything?” Questioned, It sounded almost too good to be true. 

 

“Well there are a few space constraints and we don’t allow it to make anything dangerous that could hurt cuties like you but other than that, Anything”

 

“That’s…” amazing she was going to say but suddenly stopped herself, Not finding it within herself to express anything positive whilst still being held captive.

 

“You can use it yourself dear pet Just ask the hab AI to compile whatever you want” 

 

Maaria experimentally decided to test if her captor was telling the truth “Hab…Umm, Make a chessboard” 

 

“Of course, But you’ll have to add please in the future cutie” She heard an oddly Terran-like voice chirp seemingly out of the walls of the room. Of course, she didn’t just get stuck with an annoyingly condescending captor but she also has to deal with a condescending AI too Maaria internally groaned.

 

A small chessboard was fabricated in front of Maaria and once finished her captor picked it up and placed it next to the collar on the table in front of her.

 

“So my pet, Do you want to have a game of this Terran Chess? I think I know how to play it” 

 

Maaria found the offer quite surprising that her alien captor was offering to play a board game with her, acting as if her mind wasn’t at great risk the longer she was held captive here, But the offer was tempting, No one on her ship had ever wanted to play chess with the rebellion still on.

 

“I… Suppose so” Maaria confirmed somewhat unsure.

 

“Ah, One condition though, If I win I want you to start calling me your Owner and Mistress, Pet”

 

The condition suddenly added to it made her pause for a second, Her captor wanted to reaffirm her humiliation but Maaria thought that maybe she could benefit from it.

 

“What If I win?” She asked, Silently hoping that she might be offered her freedom in exchange.

 

Her captor looked thoughtful for a second before responding “Well most Florets would probably be offered some Class A xenodrugs as a reward but I don’t think you’d like to win that yet” She explained, Maaria wanted to ask what ‘Class A xenodrugs’ were but her captor continued before she could “So if you win, I’ll take that cuff off your wrist dear”

 

It was tempting but Maaria wasn’t sure, She didn’t even know what the cuff did other than just mark her as a prisoner, but there must have been some reason she was forced to wear it. 

 

“What does it actually do?” She asked.

 

“Well it’s given to most Florets being forcibly domesticated for a time, It’s prepped full of xenodrugs that it will give you if you were to require pacification or if you were to suffer some kind of panic attack, They’re unfortunately all too common in feralists dear, But that hasn’t presented itself as an issue for you so I don’t believe we have to keep it on, although there’s certainly no harm in it”

 

Knowing that the cuff on her arm could randomly inject her with a weed’s brainwashing drugs made Maaria’s desire to get it off grow even stronger and she decided that she’d have to accept the deal, After all her humiliation couldn’t get much worse anyway.

 

“I’ll accept that deal,” Maaria said somewhat formally whilst sitting up from the sofa. 

 

Her captor placed herself on the other side of the table and Maaria looked down at the chessboard, She was playing white which gave her a slight advantage, She felt it was a good sign as they both began to move pieces.

 

Her captor seemed to play aggressively embarking upon risky moves with their queen, Maaria found it to be disorienting to respond to, She tried to use her rooks to counter but merely ended up getting them taken by one of her captor's knights, This is not going well she thought, She hadn’t expected an alien to be able to play Chess at all let alone play it well and she soon much to her disappointment found herself in checkmate.   

 

Her captor looked up from the board at her “It seems like I've won dear, You know what that means, I’m your Owner and I expect to be addressed as such” Her captor explained with what looked like a smug smirk on their face.

 

Maaria raged inside, Part of her wanted to completely reject the outcome but looking at her alien captor she didn’t believe her open resistance would accomplish anything, To her immense shame she responded.

 

“Fine… Owner”