Adam stared at the entrance to the pens as he waited for the slave Alluris had informed him would be coming to arrive, the right hand of the CEO watching him.
"Has Recruit Blake's slave been cleared yet?" Alluris yelled into the pens, hoping to send the boy off before his peers arrived.
"The armor is just being fitted, Ma'am. He will be out soon!" Abeing Adam hadn't heard before called out in reply. He wondered why his slave needed so much time to fit in the armor? And to get a male, it seemed he would be getting a brute of some kind.
Hearing that brought Alluris back to the problem she had in the first place, the awkward silence between the two, but all she could do was bear it as they waited.
It took less than a minute for the metal plated behemoth to come out. The thing was as large as a standard mount and its armor plating made it look like some sort of robot dinosaur.
"What happened to him?" Was all Adam could ask. It was particularly weird to see this thing.
"Oh, that is the setup for a combat Bunta. There are other armor pieces that can be fitted on, like a set that will hide his legs so that he can maneuver without risk of an enemy targeting there. The Graviton Steel is particularly useful for deflecting plasma bolts, it'll take ten or more hits to the same spot for them to pierce."
"Heh, now I know why the slave costs so much, a gravity compressed alloy is expensive," Adam stated, impressed by the view of the slave in full armor... Only for his opinion to sour slightly as he remembered how it was set on the creature.
"So you said the armor was fit upon the slave, Ma'am? How do you get it to be so well-fitting but able to be changed?"
Alluris looked at the silent creature and let out a sigh. This boy was too kind for his own good. "This species is one of the more adaptable in the empire., so metal fittings were surgically attached to his bones, allowing us to set the appropriate armor."
She could see Adam wince at the thought of that, cold hard metal being forcefully placed into your body did seem painful.
"I understand. Are there any tasks I must attend to with this new slave?"
"Yes there is, Recruit Blake, but the instructions on how to treat your slave to keep them in working order will be relayed to you at another breakpoint. Right now you should get yourself situated in the sleeping quarters. As some officers have requested private sleeping quarters enough room has been left for your slave to be penned near you.
"Understood, I'll be off," Adam replied, walking out of the room with his slave dutifully following him along. An unease filled him just thinking about the situation he was in. He could only guess that it was from the kinship he felt, nearly becoming a slave himself; but just thinking about the reason the slave needed a health check caused Adam to think about the pain from the iron fittings.
"So what is your name?"
"I am a slave," the creature said immediately, no qualms with stating his station.
"I know that, but did your parents ever give you a name?"
"Slaves are granted names by their master. I haven't been granted a name."
"Oh, is there any name you want to have?" Adam was feeling more and more uncomfortable as this was going on. It seemed the creature was used to talking while not being looked at, as Adam wanted to look everywhere but his eyes.
"I'm not sure. I've only been a male for a few weeks."
"Wait what?" Was all Adam could say before he noticed a Vanid scuttling through the adjacent hallway. He stopped so he wouldn't get anywhere near the creature, looking down to appear subservient to the woman as she moved towards the docks. He didn't know why the Vanid was moving towards the docks but he didn't want to catch her ire.
When the coast was clear, Adam kepT walking and continued the conversation.
"How can you be a male for only a few weeks?"
"All Bunta are born female, but as the need for a male arises we can change from female to male. The more dangerous our environment is, the more of our kind become male. They took me away from my family and made me fight, day after day until my body changed me to survive."
That was…
"Huh" Adam replied, in thought again. He had been doing that a lot with his slave, unable to really interact with him as he had no idea how to treat a slave. Well that was a lie, he knew perfectly well he could kill the man and no one would bat an eye. But that didn't take away from the unease of talking to a slave like a person, or help him understand if he should even consider slaves people.
He got a break from talking as they arrived at their living quarters.
Opening it up, Adam could already see the number of beds had significantly reduced and slave pens were set up in a few of the areas.
Walking up to his bed, he saw a note written in the universal language in his pen. leaning down and reading it made him smile.
"Some other person ruined your slave's lavatory system so I fixed it up. Well, I think it's yours, I haven't seen your sleeping area," was all it said, but Adam knew who it was, and vowed to thank the man the next time he was at the cleaners.
He was once again distracted as the slave moved to his spot. It contained only a trough of food for him to feed on and a relatively private place for him to relieve himself.
"So what will you do when you're not working for me?" Adam asked curiously, his slave hardly had anything in his designated area, let alone anything to be entertained by.
"Wait for your orders."
"Really? You do nothing the whole time you're not working?"
"Well, I could talk to other slaves but there are no slaves here."
"So you're content with doing nothing but sit and wait?"
"There are exercise posts that can appear when I need them. I will keep in top shape to protect you."
Adam fought the urge to facepalm hard at that. The slave must think he thought they would be lazy instead of surprised at how little of a life the slave had.
"That's not what I meant. Do you do anything for fun?"
"My master gives me pastimes. All I have known is work; preparing for work, eating, and rest. You do not need to worry about my mental health."
Okay, this was getting infuriating for Adam. Was this really how everyone else thought?
"Is there anything you want to do?" The young man said with an exasperated tone. He really had no idea how he could connect with this slave, nor if he should just accept the situation.
"I don't know. I have had yearnings, but other than good food? I am not sure what my augmentations have prevented me from being able to do."
That was a good point. Adam didn't know what was required for the fittings. Many aspects of the slave may be locked off now because of the need for function.
"Well then, I'll find out what has changed for you now that you've become my bodyguard, okay?"
"Why are you doing so much for me? I'm your property."
Adam was about to leave when this question came up, causing him to stop and think about it.
"I'm not sure. Honestly, before I came here I was almost doomed to be a slave like you. That and I just can't comprehend the life of a slave myself, doing nothing but what your master says. Having no hope for a better life? I'd hate that."
"That is... confusing for me. To see a master feel sympathy for his possession is stupid."
That pissed Adam off, but the more he thought about it; his ire moved from his slave to the world.
"Well distract yourself with resting for now. Your surgery was likely recent so you need to ensure you have recovered before you start exercising," Adam suggested to his slave. Though they would likely take it as an order. He really needed to find them a name.
As Adam left the workspace he felt confused as he remembered the potential lesson today. He should be at least going over his training regimen for his recruits, but instead, he was told to go to the slave pens in a free period.
Looking at his pad to see what was happening, there was a large block of time after his slave collection that was labeled slave auction.
"So the officers have all gone out to buy slaves, huh? Too bad I don't have any money," Adam said. He had the desire to go and find a down and out slave to rescue and help, but after thinking about it more thoroughly, he knew it was a stupid idea.