I stared at the soup the chef handed to me. The chef was nice. He told me it was spiced sun saka soup. It was one of his specialties, and apparently the crew loved it. It was quite a mouthful to repeat the name, so I didn’t ask for more. I thanked him nonetheless for the bowl of soup.

I took my spoon and investigated the soup. I was curious of what was in it. The overall color of the liquid was slightly orange and the texture seemed creamy. I loved cream, especially all the savory kind, so the soup was definitely looking a lot more appetizing than anything else I had eaten after arriving on this planet. There were pieces of fish, probably what the chef called a sun saka, floating around the surface. The only other thing I saw were bits of what looked to be some form of seaweed. So there are plants, I realized.

“Are you going to eat it or are you just going to stare at it?” Dans said.

“Geez, can’t I at least eat in peace?”

“Sorry,” she replied, “But we need to talk, so finish quickly.”

“About what? Weren’t we here for food?”

She sighed. “You know what? Let’s just eat. No talking. Just food.”

We both ate for a few minutes, but it felt like an hour. All I heard were slurps, swallows, and a large amount of metallic spoons clanking and clunking on the porcelain bowls.

The soup was quite delicious, and I would’ve said so if it wasn’t for Dans. After finishing her soup, she continued to stare at my bowl as if waiting for me. It was pretty uncomfortable.

After I finished my own portion of the lovely soup, Dans furrowed her brows in confusion. I awkwardly moved the empty bowl to the side. I stared back, waiting for her to say something. She didn’t say anything.

“Uh, why are you staring at me like that?” I looked down at my suit. Did I spill something? My suit was clean. I looked back up. She was still staring. I snapped my fingers at her. “Hey, snap out of it.”

She finally spoke. “Can I… see your hands?”

“My hands?” I held it up for the world to see, trying to understand why she would ask for my hands. Well, they are pretty nice-looking hands if I do say so myself.

“You don’t have them,” she said.

“Have what?”

“Webs.”

I held still for a moment. It didn’t look like she was being sarcastic. Does she even know how to be sarcastic? But webs just reminded me of spiders. I wondered if Sakonians had seen spiders before. But do I have spiderwebs on me? Wait, is this some kind of sick joke saying that I look old? Like she expected spiderwebs on me, but didn’t find any? I looked down at my red suit again. Or does it have something to do with me wearing a children’s suit?

“You really don’t have them,” she replied, astonished.

“What are you talking about?”

She held up her hands for me to see. Between her fingers, there was a thin layer of skin. She had webbed fingers. Almost exactly like frog feet.

What in the world? Sakonians have webbing? I remembered thinking that this was a possibility, but I hadn’t meant it for real.

“You're not sakonian,” she replied, “No, you can’t be…” She stood up from the cafeteria table. “Get up. Now. And don’t say anything.”

Noticing Dans stand up, the chef walked over to check if everything was alright. Dans slammed my hands down on the table, trying to hide my hands.

“Ow,” I said. Was that really necessary?

She glared at me before speaking swiftly to the chef. “It was very good as always. Thank you, chef. We will be on our way. I have some classified matters to speak with our guest here, yes?” She looked at me as if waiting for my reply.

You literally just told me to shut up, I thought. I turned to the chef and gave a strained smile. “Yes. Delicious soup.”

The chef smiled back and nodded to Captain Dans. He headed back to the kitchen as Dans pulled me quickly out of the cafeteria.

We continued to walk a few corridors away to a door that looked much larger than the rest. It had Captain of the great sakoar, Moribus written above the entryway. Dans tapped on what looked to be a similar code lock as the crematorium lock. It unlocked with a short beep as she pulled me through the door. She closed the door behind her.

“Sit,” she commanded.

After sitting down on a cushioned seat, I looked around the room. I was quite surprised by the numerous paintings on the walls. None of the other rooms had any semblance of art in them. This was a new discovery. I had initially thought that all sakonians were stunted in their creative growth, but these paintings said otherwise. Maybe Dans was an exception?

The paintings on the walls were, in my opinion, pretty artistic. Most of the paintings consisted of a bunch of colorful patterns and shapes. It had that very abstract feel to it. I never really liked people. I almost always enjoyed looking at beautiful landscapes and unrealistic images, so the lack of people in these paintings was perfect for my taste.

Dans sat on the other remaining chair and crossed her legs. With a deep breath, she sternly questioned, “You’ve been lying to me, haven’t you?”

I nervously stared into her blue eyes. Icy cold, but it reminded me of the ocean back home. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was exuding an immense amount of pressure, I could’ve kept reminiscing about the good old days. I still felt like something was missing from my past, but the thought of a blue ocean really made me feel nostalgic.

“Mel. Answer me.”

Startled, I broke from the silence. She looked irritated. “Are you… mad?” I cautiously asked.

“No. Just answer me.”

“You sound a little mad.”

“Just. Answer. The. Question.”

“Okay, okay. Uh… maybe?”

“Do you even have amnesia?” she asked.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“What? No!” she answered in disbelief. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Well…” I thought back to what happened minutes ago where she tried to hide my hands from the chef.

“Look, Mel. I’m not trying to kill you. And the crew couldn’t either. But if word gets out, Emperor Sakon will not just let things slide as I am right now.”

“It’s fine,” I waved her comment away. “I know how to lie. I can talk things through.”

She glared me in the eyes. “You don’t understand. If the higher ups were to know about this, they wouldn’t kill you, no…” She let out an exasperated sigh as she stood up from the chair. She paced back and forth between the door and her desk all the while gazing over at my exposed hands. “Look, Mel. I’ll say this in the simplest terms. You could potentially be dissected.”

Oh, ew. That’s what she meant. I’d be a scientific experiment. “But why though? Seems like a complete waste of time to me.”

“That”—she pointed at my hands—“is all they need. It proves you’re not sakonian.”

“So what? What’s the big deal?”

“Someone save me from this dim-witted fool. Sapiens don’t have webbed hands. Sapiens aren’t sakonians. They are considered an extinct species once known for their taste and animosity towards sakonians.”

Sapiens? Like Homo Sapiens? Like humans? Wait, what did she just say? “Uh, did you just say taste?”

“Yes. They were considered a delicacy.”

“Huh. Like… food?”

“Yes!”

“Oh… so you’re all cannibals.”

“No, we’re technically different species.”

“So… sapiens were your enemies, but also your food source? How does that even work?”

“I don’t know, Mel.” She sighed. “Apparently, it was an old tradition to eat your enemies back then. I find that part of our history equally revolting.”

“Okay, so hypothetical question here. If I was born from a family of sakonians, but I didn’t have any webbed hands because of a genetic mutation, would I be eaten?”

“Well, no. You’d just be considered severely disabled.”

“Wha—You serious?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I don’t joke.”

“Well you should.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing. Give me a second.” She’s talking about humans, right? Is there a different definition for sapiens in this world? I couldn’t wrap my head around the image of people eating my limbs, one by one. It just never occurred to me that I had to avoid such dangers. “What if… I said that I was a severely disabled sakonian?”

She looked at me in disbelief. “After all this, you’re trying to convince me that you’re a disabled sakonian?”

Nevermind then. “Okay, next question. Are you sure you guys eat sapiens?”

“In the past, yes. But that’s not the point here, Mel. You might never see your family again if Emperor Sakon hears word of you.”

As if I even have family here. “Sure, yeah. Family’s important. Anyways, why’re you helping me?”

“Here.” She handed me a pair of gloves. “Those have predesigned webbing. It should temporarily hide your identity.”

“Um, thanks… so why’re you helping me?”

“I don’t know. Isn’t that the right thing to do? I don’t get anything out of reporting you to the authorities anyways.”

“What, really? No rewards? Nothing?”

“No.”

“Wow. This emperor dude is pretty dumb.”

She frowned. “Don’t mock the Emperor.”

“Well, okay then.” Why so loyal? Doesn’t sound like she even likes her own government. “I still can’t believe you’d eat me.”

“I won’t eat you! That’s just an old tradition.”

“Eh, it still happened.”

Dans let out another deep sigh.

“Alright.” I pulled on my new gloves. “Time to change subjects.” I pointed at one of the paintings in blue and white swirls. It reminded me of my ocean. “I’m taking that.”

Dans turned around to look at where I was pointing. “What? The painting? No! That was the first one I made.”

“You made that?”

She nodded. “Yes. Why are you so surprised?”

“Wow. Unexpected,” I replied.

“Excuse me? Unexpected?”

“Uh…” Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. “Anyways, I need it.”

“Why?”

“Just… it looks nice, okay? I just want it. I feel like we’re in some kind of prison here. There’s like no color anywhere on this sakoar or whatever you call it.”

“Well, I suppose that is true.” She paused. “So you… like it then?”

“My god, yes. How many times have I got to tell you?”

“Alright. You can have it then.”

“Really?” Just like that? “Didn’t you say it was your first painting?”

“It’s fine. I can make more.”

“Wow. Confident, aren’t you?” I smiled.

“Hmph.” She pulled down the painting from the wall and handed it to me.

I swiped the painting from her hands. Oh, this is great, I thought. I quickly waved a short farewell before I went to go hang my new prized possession in my room.

Yellowrock wasn’t all that amazing, but this place… It made me feel alive again. I could get used to that.