“First impressions are important.”

***Deep Space***

***Fiona***

I stretch myself slowly and go through the various movements of the Kata. My body doesn't really need the training, but losing to a newborn by having my neck broken wasn't exactly helpful for my self-esteem. Okay, let's say that it was a double-knockout... that doesn't make it better. As far as I understood it, Antioch is a newly born personality and not very old.

Given the advantages of nano-tech, it doesn't mean that he has to be less capable than I am, but it still hurts my pride. After all, I am very competitive.

Sliding my legs over the floor, I perform a perfect split and touch first one toe with both hands, then the other.

All the time, Raimund is watching me with a lecherous gaze.

I try to ignore the big brute as best as I can. The first two days, he made a point of charging the cell's walls again and again. Each time he got an electrical shock which made me think twice about trying the same thing. Simply by observing him, I decided that it's not so easy to escape our cells. Raimund may be an idiot, but he is strong. I think he took every body-upgrade that was available.

Whoever designed our cells wanted to make sure that what's inside, stays inside.

Twisting my upper body, I study the strange clamps at the ceiling of my cell. I assume that they are holding the wall in place. It stands to reason that if the prisoner gets close to escaping, something horrible will happen. Like the ceiling coming down and squashing whoever is inside the cell.

“Why are you so calm, Fiona? You could at least try to escape,” Raimund comments from the cell which is facing me. His voice is transmitted through a speaker system, but I can see him perfectly well through the highly resilient material of my cell's door. At first glance, it seems to be glass, but it's actually much stronger. Probably a version of the diamond armour which covers the ship. Even with all his strength, Raimund didn't manage to make a scratch.

“Shut up!” Martin complains from the cell next to me. “If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this situation! I wanted to negotiate.”

“How should I have known that they won't stop anywhere for months?”

I press my lips together while the two men have a shouting match, exchanging accusations.

Whoever made these cells clearly thought it through. The prisoners are separated, so they can't harm each other. Yet, the possibility to communicate was provided freely. It's much easier to interrogate someone if they share their knowledge willingly. Surely, someone must be listening in on our conversations.

Not having anything better to do, I study what I can see of my prison. Beyond the transparent door of my cell lies a corridor. It’s about two metres wide and allows access to several empty compartments which function as cells. I have about twenty-five square metres of space with a patch of warm plastic on the ground. It’s clearly supposed to isolate me from the electrified walls and the ceiling.

One of the other girls already tried to scratch through the floor but was shocked when she met the metal beneath the isolated part.

Grimacing, I pull in my legs in and tug them close to my chest, embracing my knees with my arms. Sitting like that, I glare at Raimund. They really could have put someone else into the cell directly across from mine, then I wouldn't have to watch the hulk all day long. Gods, this is probably worse than being locked inside the shuttle with him and the others.

There is only so much anyone can take of other people. At some point, humans simply need to be alone, or they turn mad.

Jenny, the buxom redhead who Raimund was using as his personal pleasure toy would have been twice as interesting to watch. If she had given me any indication that she is playing in both camps, then I would have fought Raimund for her attentions.

If I twist my neck and risk touching the transparent door, I can see her in the cell next to Raimund’s. Altogether, there seem to be twenty cells placed along the corridor.

Bored, my thoughts return to the past. During the first days of our escape, our little party developed a strange group dynamic. First, Raimund tried to establish something like a harem, but Martin and I shut him down. Then Jenny weaselled her way into Raimund's affection and that caused the brute to settle down a bit.

Though, the redhead is clearly smarter than she looks. Just by watching her eyes, I can tell that she is a calculating one. Seeing the approaching disaster, she decided to use Raimund like a doll. Otherwise, I am sure that the rest of the group would have killed him by now.

I giggle. She is the brain, and he is the muscle. Poor Raimund. I am sure that she will discard him at the first opportunity.

Sometimes I wonder how people like him managed to stay that stupid. The V.C. gives us everything we wish for. But simple boredom must have driven him to learn something over the centuries, even if it’s just common sense. If he behaved the same way in the V.C., then it must have taken him centuries to gather enough reputation to join the Survivalists. Is it possible that something went wrong when they uploaded his personality?

One of the other girls – judging by the voice it’s Rina – starts a tirade. “Let us out! This is torture!”

“Shut up,” someone else interjects.

She continues, “They locked us in here days ago and didn’t even bother to check on us! There are just these stupid drones which bring food. And let’s not talk about the sanitary instalments!”

I glare at the water-hose which allows me to flush any excretions down a tiny drain in the corner of the room. The water is deionized, so it isn’t conductive. At least the transparent door blurs when I activate it. I wouldn’t be able to stand the humiliation of washing myself in front of Raimund.

My silent musings are interrupted when I the noise of several feet on the corridor draws my attention. I edge a little closer to the door and feel the tip of my tail twitch with anticipation. We know relatively well who caught us, so I have hopes of getting out of this cell if I just play my cards right.

That is if our captors haven’t already decided on our fate.

Two children come into sight, together with three adults, which baffles me. I knew just of two of them. The athletic blonde is new. When the appearance of the other woman sinks in, I almost make a double take.

Succubus! They must have rescued another one and are now closer than ever to founding another race.

As expected, Raimund isn’t able to keep his mouth shut. “Ohohohoo! Look at that! I like the style. Do you want to know how it’s like to have a real man tending to your needs? You just have to open the cell.”

I twist my neck and glare at the guy in the group, Antioch, remembering that he broke it not so long ago.

The devil-chick was the one who popped Raimund’s jewels and fried his eyeballs. My expression turns to one of pity. Don’t tell me that he seriously doesn’t recognize who he is talking to? Not to mention, they are clearly the ones who are in a position of power.

The succubus, Silith, regards Raimund with an expression of pure disgust. “My name is Silith, just in case that you don’t know, though I suppose that you found out a lot while you were rummaging through our network.” She turns and looks in the direction of Jenny’s cell. “Which one of you is the one in charge. We have a lot of speculations about you lot, but having confirmation is preferable.”

Raimund wastes no time and asserts himself as the alpha male. “I am! What do you want to know, sweety?” He scratches his crotch, grinning.

The succubus pulls down the corners of her mouth. “We assume that you are also from the V.C. and that you are Survivalists. If that’s correct, then we would want to come to an agreement. Some sort of alliance, maybe. We also want an explanation why you didn’t come out when we offered you to join us.”

Raimund smiles. “Of course. I would join a smart one like you anytime. Just let me out of here and we can talk about everything.”

The sole male in their group, who was watching the exchange silently, steps forward and types some sort of code into the control panel next to Raimund's cell.

My eyes widen and I suck in my breath. They aren’t going to let him out just like that!? Are they nuts?

An angry warning tone is emitted from the panel and the man, Antioch, places his palm on it without hesitation.

The clamps which are holding the ceiling of Raimund’s cell shatter and the entire panel disappears, sucked out into empty space. The huge hulk follows, arms and legs flailing hopelessly. It happened in less than a second.

My jaw drops involuntarily. The last thing I get to see of Raimund is his body tumbling end over end through the dark emptiness of the hyperspace bubble around the ship. Once he hits the fringe of the warp-bubble, his body will return to the normal universe. The only problem is, if the warp-drive isn’t switched off, that will happen atom by atom, just as Raimund’s body passes the fringe of the warp-effect. His body’s atoms will end up as an impossibly thin layer of sludge which spans over several light minutes.

Then the ship’s spin takes him out of sight and he is gone. A blast-door closes and seals the now empty cell.

Several moments of utter silence pass until the little girl at the blonde chick’s side turns to her father. “What the fuck!? Antioch? What was that supposed to be!? We wanted them to help us!”

Antioch looks down at his daughter and shrugs. He starts counting on his fingers. “He insulted Silith. He was trying to take my mate. He didn’t seem to be useful. It didn’t sound like he is trustworthy. I didn’t like him.” Antioch huffs. “Lastly, it isn’t like I killed him for real. Won’t he be just sent back to the V.C.? Plus, it's a good way to find out if they have hidden hardware backups somewhere on the ship. We just have to catch it before he regrows.”

The boy, Samuel, scratches his head. “Yeah, that’s true, but still. It costs a lot of reputation to be reincarnated in a faction, even if you don’t create your own race via the admin-route.”

Minerva nods. “Yes. A lot of reputation! He will be mad.”

Silith and the blonde look at each other and then at Antioch.

“What happened?” Jenny asks from her cell.

“They spaced Raimund,” I reply, unsure of how to feel about it. Should I do a little happy dance or fear that I am next? Then again, Raimund and I had a bet that I would survive the real world longer than him. Guess it’s pay-time once I see him again.

“Really!?” Jenny asks. “Halleluja! You are my heroes! Now I don’t have to please that buffoon again. You have no idea what a bore he was.”

The blonde next to Silith shudders, and the demoness turns to face me. “Well, I guess we have six more attempts.” After regarding her mate, she edges in front of the control panel of my cell, blocking his access to it.

I try my best to put up a brave front, promising myself not insult the succubus.