Hugh didn't like any of this. He had been forced to walk with his hands bound behind his back like a common criminal, blindfolded and teleported around a ridiculas number of times. Seriously, what was the problem with these people?
And now he was doing more of the walking thing, with a couple of stupid Daths escorting him to what they called his 'room' but looked more like a slave cell to him. Except that there was only one bed in it. That Tanya woman was with them too, as well as someone they called "Dr Morton".
"Okay, Hugh," Dr Morton. "This is your room."
Hugh said nothing. He refused to demean himself by speaking English. Slave language. Then he jumped as Tanya walked forward and touched him.
"Relax," she said. "I'm just taking the collar off."
Hugh relaxed - but only a little, and permitted the collar to be removed. As soon as he felt it was gone, Hugh attempted to use his power, only to be foiled again.
"The architecture has been especially designed to prevent the use of powers," Tanya said, passing the collar to Dr Morton. "Don't strain yourself."
Hugh glowered at them.
"I'll leave him in your charge," Tanya said.
She gave Dr Morton a nod, and left.
"Well, Hugh," said Dr Morton. "I'll leave you here to recover from your trip. I'll be back in a couple of hours to give you a tour of the facility, and you can have lunch in the dining room with the others."
Hugh said nothing. Dr Morton sighed. Tanya had assured him that Hugh could speak both Dathrian and English, he just chose not to. He took this to mean if they could break him of this refusal, they might actually be having some success rehabilitating him.
**********
True to his word, a couple of hours later, Dr Morton arrived (with only one other guard this time) to take him on a tour of the facilities. They first took him by the conselling rooms, and then by the workshops. Dr Morton was encouraged by Hugh's inability to hide his interest in the workshops, despite the forced scrowls that would appear on his face the moment he caught the doctor looking. Dr Morton made sure he explained to Hugh all he needed to know about what was expected of him.
The next stop was the common room. There were few in here as most were in the workshops. Then a bell rang.
"Ahh, good timing," said Dr Morton. "It's lunch time, so most everyone will be headed to the dining room now, and that's our final stop."
He lead the way. Soon he was directing him to the menu and explaining how the acquisition of food worked. Finally, Hugh said something.
"You mean to say I have to get in line? Like a commoner?" Hugh spluttered indigantly, in Semirellian, of course.
"You will not be waited on, hand and foot, Huulion," Dr Morton responded in English. "Nor will you get any special treatment you haven't earnt, no matter how much you think you deserve it."
Hugh glared at him.
"Now, if you want to eat, you will have to get in line, just like everyone else," Dr Morton went on. "When you're done with your tray, just put it over there, and make your way to the common room."
Dr Morton turned. He had made the decision that he wouldn't allow Hugh the choice to go to his room over the common room for the next few days, believing that socialising was important for him.
"Oh, and by the way, not everyone here speaks Semirellian. I know you can speak Dathrian and English, and you may have to try exercising those language skills if you want to have a meaningful conversation with anyone here."
Hugh refused to look at him, just folded his arms across his chest. Dr Morton sighed and left. The guard would stay nearby - Hugh was apprehended assisting attempted murder, after all!
Christian
"So I said to him you know, you can't expect to get away with using that kind of tool telepathically and not have it traced back to you," Christian held back a roll of his eyes as he and Spud joined the canteen line and grabbed some trays, "but of course he wouldn't listen. So where is the guy now? Dead. Took them something like five minutes to track him down and that was it."
"Were you close to him or anything?" Spud raised an eyebrow.
"The guy was a dick. He deserved to die. You can't be in the trade if you can't play by the rules," Christian shrugged, then looked around.
"Where's Daniel and Shane today?"
"I think Daniel was in a probation meeting," Spud scratched his head, "we might be losing him soon."
"Really?" Christian almost whined, "but that means we have to audition band members again..."
He took a few steps back and inadvertantly bumped into the person behind him. When he turned to apologise, he realised he didn't recognise the face.
"Here's someone new," he said - mainly to Spud - as he looked the newcomer up and down.
"Welcome," Spud saluted.
When Christian saw what he did, he smirked.
Hugh
Hugh blinked. He had been about to tell Christian off for bumping into his person, but Spud's pleasant greeting threw him off completely. Why, he even saluted him!
"Greetings," Hugh replied in Semirellian, as per usual.
Christian
"What now?" Spud looked confused.
"He said 'Greetings'," Christian explained, not taking his eyes off Hugh.
"Well greetings to you too. Does the guy know English?" Spud quickly asked Christian.
"He'd have to."
"Ok. Well, ah... Hi. What's your name? When did you get in?" Spud offered a nervous smile.
Hugh
Hugh sighed.
"My name is Huulion, Hugh for short. I arrived today," Hugh informed them. "And I while I know English, I see no reason why I should demean myself by actually using a slave language for casual conversation."
Christian
"Huulion? What kind of weird ass name is that?" Spud joked, "anyway I'm Spud and this is Chris."
"'Slave language'?" Christian's eyebrows rose, before a look of realisation crossed his face.
"Oh you're one of those."
"One of what?" Spud asked.
"Just think world domination and you'll get it," Christian waved him off, "he was probably brought up to think he'll rule Earth someday."
"Ohhhhh."
Hugh
"No, I was not," Hugh objected hotly. "That is reserved for the true Semirellian Royal Family of Earth, once we have destoryed the usurping family. After that... who knows what could happen?"
Although he had been startled at the attention given to him, to be allowed to do missions so soon in his life was a testament to his power, and no doubt he could expect to have a position of power to match. Especially when he escaped from here.
Christian
"Close enough," Christian shrugged as the line moved along, "you're still in the line for world domination whether originally it's supposed to be you or not."
"What's with the royal family thing?" Spud raised an eyebrow at Christian.
"It's a Semirellian thing. It's like England, one family to rule over all. It appears that our boy here's a Sem," he explained.
Hugh
"And a proud member of the Semirellian Purist Movement," Hugh confirmed. "How those weakling humans ever got to dominate a planet, I will never know. And clearly the mutants have no gumption or they would have taken this planet from them years ago. They will know their place in time. And so will you interferring, know-it-all Dathrians."
He gave a decisive nod.
"And so will those mongrel hybrids. Ugh. Interspecies breeding is clearly an abomination."
Christian
Christian chuckled as Spud looked worried.
"I agree," Christian said with a nod, "though I don't think it's any of Sem business to just walk over another race's planet, I'll agree that humans are pretty much only good for one thing. And mutants and Daths are just expendable ploys."
"Chris," Spud scowled.
"Well it's the truth isn't it?" Christian shrugged, "how evolution took three billion years to come up with humans I'll never understand."
Hugh
Hugh looked at Christian curiously, thrown off by his unexpected, if partial agreement.
"And just... what are you?" he inquired.
Christian
"It doesn't matter what I am," Christian smirked, "but I was an alien hunter."
He turned a little as someone called his name.
"Daniel!" he waved him over, then shook hands with him before Spud, "how'd your meeting go?"
"It was promising. Who's this?" Daniel looked at Hugh.
"Newbie. Name's Hugh. He's Sem," Spud explained.
"Hey and welcome," Daniel nodded nervously, "coming to the show Saturday?"
"Get in line, pushover," Christian shoved Daniel out of the way when he noticed him trying to get in front.
"Yeah whatever. See you at the table," Daniel smirked before grabbing a tray and heading to the back.
Hugh
"What show on Saturday?" Hugh asked curiously.
An alien hunter, hmm? Interesting.
Christian
"It's not a big deal," Spud interjected.
"We're in a band," Christian cut him off, "we perform every Saturday and sometimes Sundays in the common room. Daniel's the bass player, Spud here's on keys."
"We've gone through multiple band members because people keep leaving on us," Spud was looking at Christian, which made him smirk.
"Yeah I'm a newbie," he rolled his eyes, grabbing some food for his tray, "but I've only been here a couple of months."
Hugh
Hugh looked disparagingly at the food available, and reluctantly started putting some on his tray.
"What kind of music do you play?" he asked.
Christian
"Mostly old school rock, but we delve into the newer stuff," Spud replied, shooting Christian awkward glances.
"60s and 70s classic rock mostly. Blue Oyster Cult, Boston, Kansas, Black Sabbath, Scorpions, Ratt... well actually Ratt's more metal..."
"And updated stuff like Lifehouse, Nickelback, Linkin Park..." Christian added with a shrug, naming the few bands he knew they did.
Hugh
"Huh," Hugh said.
He had no idea what they were talking about. The SPM didn't exactly encourage an interest in human culture. Still, Hugh did intend on escaping from this place, and despite what he might think of these people, befriending them may just improve his chances of escape. So while he was reluctant to admit ignorance:
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Christian
"They're bands," Spud said, slightly dumbfounded, "you know... musos getting together, making music... releasing it to the world..."
Christian hit him lightly in the chest.
"If you're interested just come on Saturday," he shrugged as he grabbed the last of his food and a drink to go with it, "see what we do for yourself. We start at 2."
Then he headed over to a corner table that sat empty. Spud watched after him then grabbed an apple.
"Nice to meet you Hugh," he nodded, before taking a bite and following Chris.
Hugh
"Farewell," Hugh replied in Semirellian.
He contemplated following them to the table, and decided against it, prefering to sit on his own.