But that was just part of living in this void cursed station. No one had the luxury of turning their nose up at food, even if that food had once been their neighbor. One thing Sway never lacked was a source of meat, thanks to their never-ending roster of subjects.
The Master had already gone that far. It was the only thing he ate anymore, in fact. He considered it one of his experiments. Proving that he could be a cannibal without consequence. That meat, even sapient meat, was all the same at the end of the day.
Sway was long past being horrified. Even when he was the one cooking that meat. The Master would eat people Sway hadjusthelped him operate on, staring him right in the face as he did it, knowing and enjoying that it made Sway uncomfortable.
Or, at least, that it used to.
“All meat is food,” he would say, smiling through yellowed and dulled teeth. “A beast would surely not turn its nose up at eating a person, so why should we?”
Sway never had an argument for him. He’d long ago learned not to talk back. If he fought, if he resisted, the Master would just make things worse. If he didn't react, he wasn’t amusing, and the Master would turn his attention elsewhere.
It was as Sway was drying his hands with a stained rag, frowning at the blood that still stubbornly stained his skin and feathers, that the door to the lab room slid open with a soft beep. They might have to fight for water, but there was never a lack of power. The station was rather self-sufficient in that regard. Some people made a living on Rik-Vane just keeping the station functioning so that they didn’t all die. It was the closest thing to a respectable job here.
Even if it was usually done in the way of blackmail or extortion, it was still technically trading goods for services.
“He died during the closing,” Sway said without looking back, focusing on digging under his nails to make sure all the obvious blood and viscera was gone. “I can’t tell if it was subspace exposure, exsanguination, or just the shock of having his chest cavity opened.”
“Sounds pretty brutal.”
Sway whipped around, immediately reaching for the weapon on his belt. The metallic claws he wore over his blunt nails.
That wasn’t the Master.
He didn't know this stranger standing in the lab doorway looking at the vir corpse with a singular raised brow. It was a gray skinned s’skree male, quills flat to his head. Those were a weapon, even if they weren’t up. Being down meant he was relaxed despite standing within the Master’s layer. A place no one dared even come near. Too many had been captured and become subjects inside. They all knew to stay away.
So, then, who was this guy? And how did he get here?
He lifted his red eyes, giving Sway a sharp grin that flashed in the light, cutting through the shadows partially concealing his face.
“Calm yourself,” he said easily, showing his hands. There was no weapon in them, but that mattered little with the knuckle claws that would become a threat the moment he made a fist. “My name is Tanin. I don’t mean you any harm.”
Sway started in surprise. It wasn’t often that someone would just offer their name like that. Sway’s fingers were quick and deft as he pulled on his fake claws, legs tense in preparation for the fight he expected to come. His species didn’t have claws naturally; the ones he used helped even the playing field. They were simple, jagged, in design. Caps that fit over his fingers connected by chains that snapped onto the silver rings on his wrists.
“This is no place for you,” he said firmly, facing this stranger with metallic claws raised. “Leave or join the dead one on the table.”
“I have something to offer you.”
“You have nothing I want. Leave. Now.”
“Your Master is dead.”
Sway stilled, stunned. His mouth gaped, lips moving as he struggled to find words.
The Master was… what?
The s’skree, this male named Tanin, stepped further inside, casting his body fully in shadow, looking around with simple curiosity. Completely unbothered by the death and blood that stained this room. Maybe it was the fact that the dim surgery light was so focused on the body, but it was hard to see him clearly in the darkness as he moved closer.
Finally, Sway managed to gather himself enough to sputter, “You…what?”
“I killed him,” Tanin said simply, like it wasn’t a ground shattering thing he just stated. He wasn’t even looking at Sway any longer. “Nasty piece of work that guy. I suppose there’s a reason no one comes around these parts.”
The Master… dead?
It was both unbelievable and easier to accept than Sway would have expected.
The Master had controlled Sway’s life for so long, he didn’t even try to fight any longer. Really, he had it pretty good. He had all the food he needed, a relatively safe place to sleep, and the only person who could, or dared, torment him anymore was the Master himself. So many people had it a lot worse. Why leave this lab when nothing in Rik-Vane would be any better?
Sway had been a prisoner in this place once. But those years had long since passed. The Master was a powerful, commanding presence in his life. An untouchable authority that he didn’t even attempt to buck. Immutable. Undeniable. Unchangeable.
