We both look at the door in unison."Mira, I think we really have to talk about your online shopping-" I raise my fist, and he stops talking immediately.The knocking gets louder."Remove whatever appendage you want from my body later," he quips. "Your friend outside is getting antsy."I give him one last scathing look before I drop his collar, snatching the blaster off the ground while I stalk to the door."Mirabelle~" the semi-familiar voice called in a sing-song voice. "Mirabelle, I know you're in there! Please don't tell me you're planning on using this box hair-dye."The camera outside my door shows the same girl from earlier, staring distastefully into one of the open boxes in front of my door, surrounded by what looks to be Elias's takeout food. She picks up one of the boxes of hair dye, and looks into the door camera, as if to ask me seriously?With a sigh, I shove the blaster into my jacket pocket and return to where Elias is watching me with an amused expression on his face. I grab a pillow from off the ground, then use the case to tie a makeshift gag.Dusting off my hands, I stare down at my handy work with satisfaction, wondering why I hadn't thought of this earlier.Elias doesn't look too happy about the gag, but I pay him no mind, throwing a blanket and several pillows over his body.The knocking has stopped by the time I get to the door, and I click it open with a sigh."I really don't want to call security-""So I know this sounds insane, but I was passing by and I couldn't help but notice the boxes of hair-dye on your porch. I'm an esthetician. I was thinking about our previous interaction, and you looked so distraught. So I'm here to make it up to you! Also, I feel bad about your broken stilettos."My brain, still being fried from my interaction with Elias, only catches about half of what she's saying."You want to... dye my hair?"She lifts her bags, proudly showcasing her bags of makeup, skincare and barber-supplies."I'm about to turn you into a Victoria fucking secret. I take payment in forms of copious amounts of food and praise," she says, moving to take a step in. I quickly block her with my arm, eyes darting back to the bed where I have a man tied to my bed."You can't come in right now.""Do you have someone over right now?" The girl peers over my shoulder, looking completely unfazed by the dozens of boxes littering my floor. "It won't take more than an hour, promise.""Maybe come back tomorrow. I'll be free then." By tomorrow, I'll have Elias stuffed into the back of my pod, and this god forsaken mission over with.The girl looks slightly sheepish, and laughs awkwardly."Actually, my crew and I will be headed off port tomorrow morning, which is why I wanted to talk to you." She leans forward, and drops one of the bags into my arms, and I stumble back from the weight. What the hell is in these bags?My words of protest die in my throat as the girl struts into the room, and throws her bags onto the bed. I think one lands directly on Elias' face, but to his credit, he doesn't make a sound. She grabs the spins out the rolling desk chair, then pulls out what looks to be an entire vanity."Well? Are you going to take a seat?"Maybe I'd be returning to earth with two bodies in the back of my pod. Elias hadn't started thrashing and screaming yet, and I didn't trust him enough to believe he would be silent for an entire hour.I'm about to reach for my blaster, when the girl gets up, and practically shoves me into the chair."No need to get handsy, I promise it won't take long." She pulls out a spray bottle and begins dampening my hair. "Earth matches are small compared to what happens on the Main-worlds.No one watches the earth gladiator matches, so if you were really concerned about being recognized, don't be. I just happen to like old-fashioned fights."Elias still hasn't moved a muscle, and this girl clearly isn't here to just cut my hair. This whole situation is ludicrous. My hands ache for the blaster, to skip to the altercation that I know is coming."My name is Shelly," the girl says. "Pink hair dye works, right? I'm assuming you're trying to change up your look, so pink is perfect. Plus it matches your undertone and season archetype." She pulls out a chart, then compares it to my face. "Yep. Cool winter."None of my past experiences had prepared me for a situation like this. What was I supposed to do? Turn around and shoot an unarmed girl? Wait for her to stab me with her barber scissors? That final thought spurs me into action, and I pull out my blaster."I know you're not here to dye my hair. Cut to the chase, I don't have time for bullshit.""Woah," Shelly breathes, taking a step back, with her chart still in hand. "Yeah, I'm here to talk to you about something, but I'm here in good faith! Which is why I didn't bring a weapon." Slowly, she reaches into her pockets, and shows that they're empty. "If it makes you feel better, you can hold the blaster while I do your hair and give you my proposal.""Proposal?" And hold the blaster while she does my hair? What the hell is this girl on?"In another show of good faith, I promise to never tell anyone about the body you have in your bed."At my silence, Shelly just shrugs. "Personally, I'd never keep a body in a bed, maybe the bathtub, but bed is a little unsanitary-"If she thought there was a dead body in my bed, then I would let her think I had a dead body in my bed. No benefit to convincing her otherwise."You realize you just admitted to being a witness, right?" I click the safety of my gun off, aiming it at her forehead. Why on earth anyone would do something so stupid was beyond me. But it wasn't my job to question. My job had always just been to pull the trigger."I want you to join my ship." Her statement is absurd enough to make my finger pause over the trigger. "Crazy right? You'd never expect someone like me to manning a ship, but then again, no one ever thought Alex Channing would lose national pole-vaulting for the sixth year in a row.""What the holy fuck are you talking about?" I press the gun handle to my head, almost wanting to turn the gun on myself. "You want me to what?""You're a fighter, and our ship, The Tiara, needs a fighter. I pay salary too. It's a three girl crew, but I'd love to have you along. Reyna works in navigation, and Sadie is our engineer. I'm obviously the captain-" At my flabbergasted expression, she stops. "Long story short, we're corsairs, and we need a fighter. As soon as possible."Corsairs. As in space pirates. I ran a hand through my hair in disbelief, wondering how my messy situation had somehow gotten worse. I knew crime outside of earth was bad, but I never imagined it would be bad enough for me to run into pirates on my first day off-world."My answer is no.""Aren't you even going to think about it? I haven't even begun to discuss employee benefits yet-" Shellys words are cut off by a loud banging at my door."Shelly! For the love of- oh my fucking god she's actually in there." More banging on the door, then to my surprise, it swings open. Two girls stand at the entryway, one holding what looks like to be a lock pick, and the other who seemed to be angrily banging at the door."Reyna," Shelly grits out through clenched teeth. "I'm talking to a prospect right now! Now's not the time!"The girl, Reyna, stalks into the room with a blaster in hand, and I raise my gun onto her instead. She immediately slows, glaring daggers at both me and Shelly."We're here to collect our stupid-ass captain. Nothing more. We aren't here to cause any trouble." The other girl slowly slinks into the room as well, picking up all the bags and boxes Shelly had brought into my room."No! Reyna, stop. I'm so close. Just give us five more min-" Reyna lowers her gun, and grabs Shelly by the nape of her neck, dragging her out of the room. I watch them without a word. The other girl mutters an apology to me, bowing her head to me before rushing out of the room with her arms filled to the brim with Shelly's things."You always do this! How many times have we talked about this? You're going to get all of us killed!" Reyna's harsh scolding is cut off by the slam of my room door closing shut again. This time when I lock the door, remember to use the bolt."I was suffocating underneath there." Elias doesn't look happy when I throw the covers off him. He had gotten the gag out, and it hangs useless against his collarbone.I don't bother pointing out that he doesn't need to breathe, instead reaching down to pull the gag over his mouth again. But when my finger brushes against his cheek, hot pain flashes through my head. On instinct, my fist lashes out and I land a blow straight across Elias face. I stumble back, head in my hands as I try to steady my breathing."Sorry, I-" The apology comes out before I can stop it. Truly, I hadn't meant to hit him. A small dotted progress bar appears in my vision, then is crossed out by a red indication symbol.Had touching him just initiated a download? Immediately, I get up, still holding my pounding head as I glare at him, wishing I had punched him harder."What did you just do?""I didn't do anything," Elias replies. I don't believe him, but the pain is already gone, and what was I going to do? Shoot him again? Defeated, I slump into the desk chair. I needed to call my father."You should have killed the witness.""Don't tell me how to do my job." We'd be long gone by tomorrow morning anyway, and something told me three trigger-happy criminals weren't going to be keen on talking to law enforcement. "Now be quiet, or I'm going to gag you again." We both know it's an empty threat, and it falls flat. I wasn't going to repeat whatever action triggered the download again.Elias finally shuts up while I try to establish a connection with my father. He picks up on the third call. My father is sitting on a plush couch, a look of annoyance on his face. It's clear that I just interrupted him in the middle of one of his meetings. The holographic image flickers slightly, as he leans forward."I have him," I say abruptly, before he can reprimand me. "X4T9F. I have him in captivity right now.""Captivity? I thought I made it clear you were to kill him.""His consciousness is removable from the body," I reply. "If I kill him, he'll just relocate into another body." My father mutters something that doesn't pick up, then runs a hand through his hair."My men are already on their way. They'll take him off your hands early tomorrow morning." We spend another 25 minutes discussing logistics, before I shut the call off. Elias watches me silently from across the room, his face growing dimmer and dimmer with each passing minute."So eager to berid of me?""Like you wouldn't believe." I stand, kicking one of the boxes out of the way as I do so. He falls silent again, and I'm left alone with my thoughts. Sleep deprivation gnaws at the edges of my brain, and suddenly, I regret tying Elias onto the bed, and not throwing him into the closet or some other spot.Without a word, I steal the piled pillows and blanket off his bed, and drop them onto the floor in a makeshift bed. Elias says nothing as I click the lights off switch on the wall, then sink into the soft covers.I refuse to look back, even as his stare burns into me all night long.