“Why is there a motherfucking queue in this fucking piece of shit building to undergo this retarded procedure?”
Out of the four of them, Kayen didn’t expect Phovos, the Raptor of Palaestra, to be the neurotic, overly swearing being when it came to telepathic mind links. Although to be fair, the little Skyavok was sitting comfortably in a cafe across the street and Phovos and Kohra were both undercover, disguised as Temthans, about to go into a centre that was asking female Temthans to be impregnated with special eggs from the Allbirther Herself. So Phovos’s stress was understandable.
“How many?” Timik quickly asked.
“About 15 other Temthans here…” Kohra muttered. “I’m definitely the prettiest though.”
Phovos grunted. “We might be here a while. Kohra I’d appreciate it if you didn’t instantly blow our cover…”
Kohra didn’t say anything, but Kayen could sense that he’d been fiddling with the little sound recorder attached to his horn and disguised as a piercing.
“So what’s going on?” Timik asked, changing the subject.
“They’re getting names. People are filling out forms, then they take them, two at a time, to a room round the back.”
“You seen anyone come out?”
Both Kohra and Phovos glanced around.
“Haven’t seen anyone come out… Hang on, they’re giving us forms.”
The two fake Temthans fell silent, while the real Temthan, stationed outside the building, listened in awkwardly, trying to work out what was being said, before sending telepathic messages to Kayen.
“What are they saying?”
“Shush, I’m recording…” Kayen replied. “A lot of things.”
“Hey, uh, guys?” Kohra suddenly asked. “Is Temthan literacy really this bad?”
Timik didn’t know how to answer. “Uh, what do you mean?”
“They’re taking the other Temthans into that room because none of them are capable of filling out the forms we’ve been given…” Kohra tried to clarify what was going on. He hissed at Phovos, who had elbowed him for playing with the sound recorder again. “Okay they’re calling us now.”
Phovos and Kohra both stood up together. They were led into the other room by a skinny yet busty, blue-skinned female Temthan.
“Names?”
“I’m Kiera, this is Fivlia!” Kohra was acting excited. He seemed genuinely curious. Timik admitted that he was playing a female Temthan pretty damn well. “Do you know what it’s like? Does it hurt? Like, I don’t wanna hafta get new stuff…”
The Temthan shook her head and smiled. Phovos noticed that there were three exits to this room, the one through which they’d entered and two other ones, opposite each other. Aside from the Temthan assistant, there were no other Temthans in the room. Actually, aside from some chairs and a desk where the assistant was sitting, with a box and some flyers on it, the room was pretty empty and sterile.
“I am here to talk you through the process, Kiera. We need you to sign these forms and consent to the egg implantation.”
“How long does that take?” Kohra was making sure to ask a lot of questions. “I hope it don’t hurt. It’ll be fun, yeah? Sorry, I’m excited! What’s your name?”
The Temthan assistant didn’t seem too bothered. “You can call me Kasini.”
“Are you an iatri?” Phovos asked. “Or something medical? Because… I’m not sure…”
Kasini nodded.
Kohra pulled Phovos close. “Sorry about Fivi! She’s nervous! Like, we got a flyer and we were all like, we can help? We dunno what actually goes on here!”
Again, Kasini nodded. “We get quite a few nervous Temthans coming through here. Do you wish for me to walk you through the procedure, so you know what to expect?”
“Yes please!”
“Damn, Kohra’s good…” Timik muttered.
“He’s a Kronospast, they’re natural actors…” Kayen replied. “Be quiet now, guys.”
Kasini pulled a file off the table. Phovos got a glance inside the box. It had syringes and needles in it. Clean ones. That was why there was a sharps bin underneath the desk. After some flicking through pages, she opened up a specific one and showed it to Phovos and Kohra.
“Before I start, how much do you understand about reproduction?”
“Enough…” Phovos hesitated as she scanned the page. It was a picture of the female Temthan reproductive system. “Why do you ask?”
“We get a lot of Temthans coming through here, not knowing how the process works at all. We want to get as many in on this holy duty as possible, so we try to educate before letting them choose. Sometimes they need some persuading.”
“You won’t force us if we change our minds?” Phovos asked.
“Nooooo, don’t be silly!” Kasini smiled. “Everyone is willing in the end. Once you consent and agree, we will take you into the next room and sedate you, so you can be taken to the Relaxation and Preparation Hub on Thantai 7, where insemination and implantation will take place. You will be held until you lay your clutch of eggs, spend three days in the Waters of the Allbirther before being fertilized once more.”
Kohra glanced at Phovos, who had suddenly looked quite pale.
“I… I don’t know…” Phovos stumbled over her words. “I don’t think I can do it…”
“Maybe we shouldn’ta eaten before we came here?” Kohra smiled, trying to not blow their cover. “Do you mind if we ‘ead back out there and think about this?”
Kasini’s smile faded. “I would rather you make your decision now.”
“It’s kinda a big commitment though…” Again, Kohra glanced at Phovos, putting an arm around her. “Plus, I got questions still. Like, why do you need ta, uh, sedate, did you say?”
“What are you playing at?” Kasini’s tone abruptly changed.
“What?” Kohra asked. “You don’t normally do the sedating, do you?”
“If they are not completely sure, then yes. You came in here, you signed those forms, you consent to this. Sedation keeps things clean.”
Kohra picked up his form. “I didn’t sign it yet though.”
“She did.”
Suddenly, Kasini reached for the box, pulling out a filled syringe, aiming it at Phovos. She leaped forward, ready to jab it into Phovos’s arm. Kohra though jumped in the way, taking the hit instead and knocking Kasini to the ground.
For a moment, Kohra stood proud and triumphant, only to slouch over and collapse on the desk.
“Shit, what’s in that stuff…”
“You will pay for that! I swear so on the Allbirther’s Spirit!” Kasini roared as she rushed over to Kohra, only to be impeded by Phovos. While Kasini had been picking herself up off the floor, Phovos had grabbed a new syringe. As Kasini tried to attack, Phovos stabbed the needle into Kasini’s forearm and injected just a little, slowing the angry Temthan down.
“Timik, get us out of here!”
Fire alarms started going off. Sprinklers started spewing water across the room. Phovos waited until Kasini passed out before attempting to deal with Kohra. Thankfully, he had reverted to a much smaller form. That of his normal Kronospast self.
Phovos threw Kohra over her shoulder and raced out of the building. Everyone else was gone.
Once they were outside, Phovos swore she could feel a rumbling sensation. She turned around just as a large ship emerged from the back of the building and flew off into orbit.
“Tell me you got all that…” the Raptor growled as she carried Kohra off to the meet-up spot.
“I got it!” Kayen screeched. “I got all of it! In beautiful HD as well!”
“Good. Because I am have a burning desire to dish out some justice around here…”