Strip away wants. Strip away desire, strip away dreams and hopes. When you peel it back, such things are luxuries only possible when you have first guarenteed your survival. Survival is everything, and in its pursuit, even the self may need to be stripped away for the survival of the species. Life, of her and her people, was nothing to the aliens if it was not useful. So she would be useful, she would be obedient, and she would survive. Under the control of the new rulers of her world and species, as a pawn in a conflict she could scarce comprehend, she would survive. And in this cosmic war of forces beyond her understanding, when all that is known is stripped away, survival is not just everything; it is all there is left.
[Winner during the Royal Road Writathon Challenge Fall 2021]
(( Chapters are 5,500 words on average. Upload schedule is set to every 2 days ideally, every 3 if problems arise.))