When I peeled my eyes open, I found Koji glaring down at me.
" They are about to wake us, he said, sounding as if that was life-threatening"
I groaned lazily.
It couldn't be but I could swear I had just fallen closed my eyes.
After exiting the dream state, I had still found him pacing around in front of the holo-map, looking even more agitated.
He had said that he couldn't get sleep. We had stayed awake, discussing his plan on how he intended to make more money, which was the problem that was weighing most on him.
Well... it was a problem that was weighing also on me and probably a trillion other souls across the galaxy.
There was no point spending an entire night after an exhausting day just thinking about a matter I could not solve outright.
I had left him and immediately fallen to sleep.
" It can't be, Koji it's... It's too late."
But the next moment I swallowed my word.
The first vibration from the debt collar which was the first and last warning for us to wake, came simultaneously in form of a gentle shock.
"Fuck" I groaned, throwing the sheets off
"How the fuck did you know?"
Koji glared at me with popping eyes.
I could see that he was already beginning to experience the after effects of the glitterstim wearing away . This was a sign that his body was asking for another dose.
" It's been five days. I think by the third day, my body began to anticipate the timing." I stared at my friend thoughtfully.
"Koji" I said, Sternly , "don't use any spices today."
He turned to me suspiciously.
""I wasn't going to" he declared in exaggerated vigor and I threw him a more piercing look.
He seemed to fizzle under the glare.
" All right, I won't."
So he had been planning it.
"Koji, you have to withstand today's effect. That is just a minor dependency beginning to form. If you satisfy it tomorrow, you won't be able to function without it" .
I knew this from the beginning. Glitterstim was one of the mostly used drugs in the galaxy. It was expensive and therefore was highly used among its high-end clients.
It is what brought the syndicates and smugglers the most money because it was one of the most addictive substances.
You really did not need huge dosage to become hooked on it.
" Tomorrow you won't be dealing with a want... Even if you try to stop, you will begin to experience vicious withdrawal symptoms."
He nodded solemnly.
" I won't use it.I swear it"
"Good."
Then he turned to me almost immediately.
"I've been thinking about something... Do you think boss will accept to take off this collar"
I had to stop myself from jeering mockingly?
" Are you mad? Of course he won't."
Then I noticed he was serious.
"Don't even try asking, Koji. Or they will think you're trying to escape."
"Of course I'm not.It's just that it will be hard for me to do my business with this thing on... Yesterday it felt wierd refusing to take off my top cloths... It's a direct tell that I'm affiliated to a syndicate."
I saw his point....i mean if he was going to whore himself, that collar was gonna sell him out
" But you can still find your way, like yesterday. I mean, you said yourself there are many ways to pleasure humans. "
Koji sighed
" Well, that's the point. I can do it once or twice, but that is direct deceit . In Zetros, you are taught about emotional honesty...especially in romance, Yesterday, I felt like I wasn't repaying the lady's energy, which made me feel guilty, like I was deceiving her."
" Fuck, Koji. How many times do I have to tell you? This is not Zetros. yes, you are deceiving her...there is no romance in it So you better get used to it. You will have to deceive pretty much every client you deal with. It will wear out with time. "
The Zeltron didn't look convinced
" That's the point. The more I do it, the more something dies within me. I'm afraid by the time I meet my sisters, they won't recognize me anymore. A Zetron that gives deceitful emotional energy is frowned upon in our culture." he explained pacing around restlesly
" I don't think that's something you have to worry about, Koji... I hate to say this, but by the time you meet your sisters"
'if we ever do,' that bit I said inwardly, "they will also probably have practiced the deceit too much to care"
Somehow that seemed to scare Koji even more instead of offering the assurance I had intended it to
the door groaned open and our food was brought. Today however, we were not eating in peace.
The assistant boss walked in, and he wasn't alone.
Next to him was our old nikto overseer from the lower levels.
I felt my body go limp.
Whenever I saw this man, I associated him with trouble.
What the fuck could we have done?
I bit into my fresh bread, sipping my bottle of water, all the while trying to fixate my eye on the holo map on the opposite wall And ignored their presence.
They waited until the slave who had come to bring in our meals disappeared and the door had shut
The chief then stepped further into the room.
"I hope you're ready for your first run, he said glumly."
"Yes chief, I answered."
Koji nodded eagerly.
" Good. Now there's something else you have to know. You will be doing more than boss's run alone. You'll also be doing runs for us."
At that, I looked up at them.
My mind knew what it heard, but I wanted to prove it was Hato's assistant speaking.
Was he asking us to go directly against the boss? And did the boss know it?
I did not dare ask. Instead, I waited for him to clarify.
"Oh... stop pretending to be a fool, the nikto overseer said. I'm sure you, of all the slaves, you must have seen us take some spices."
I recalled those instances... whenever they tripped one of the slaves and began to collect the sachets under the guise of punishing the victim.
I looked away, not willing to confirm the allegation.
" Good, that clears it up. We don't have to explain things. So now you know we have a bit of our own spices and we need clients and people to deliver them. Anonymously, of course. We were hoping we could count on you," the chief asked.
At that, I did not know what to say, but Koji had already answered.
" Of course, chief" he said Nodding with a mouth full .
" Great" the assistant boss said not sounding greatful at all.
"because you are the ones we are counting on to bring us clients, which means all the clients you get, you don't deliver all of them to your handler... You save some for us" he paused as he observed us
"he might have told you to refuse clients the first two times" Koji nodded again, still chewing like a starving man
"well... we do not expect you to play hard. The first encounter, if they show interest, you close the deal... That goes for both of you..." he said suddenly looking at me
"you will each get your days share,soon as boss leaves"
At this point, I could not hold anymore.
I knew what they were insinuating and I had seen what had happened.
" Is that what happened to the last two runners that you betrayed to the chief?" I said bitterly.
The words escaped my mouth too fast before I had time to verbally edit them.
The menace, in my words, did not escape boss.
"Are we playing smart? He said, stooping down.
Since he was a giant, he was still my level, when I was seated on the bed.
" What if it was? You may be a runner and you may be important, but I want you to realize I run operations here. 90% of the time, boss is not here and I can easily kill you if I want. Don't ever forget that."
He slapped me gently on the face and the nikto laughed behind him like a faithful bitch.
" You do your runs, you remain uncaught and there will be no trouble between us.
As a matter of fact, you will enjoy some privileges. You do not have to operate only within your cycle. You can stay out until late cycle.And every once in a while, we will increase your day's budget. I mean, it can allow you to spend some time in those brothels you love, right?" He said, patting at Koji's shoulder.
Koji grinned.
I could see it did not reach his eyes.
" So what do you say, it's a deal?"
I had to nod.
There was nothing else I could do .
I could not bring my mouth to say yes or a deal. But Koji did say it for both of us.
And the two superiors grinned at us.
"you Show a lot of promise... We are not like boss. You do us good, we return the favor. But you get caught. Do not think for any moment we will cover you.
In fact, we will be the first to fire the blasters, if we can get away with it. And we can get away with most things. I mean, just in case someone plans to be smart.
Otherwise, we are friends. "
They turn to leave before the assistant boss stopped at the door.
" Oh, and one more bit. Nothing changes. Publicly, we will treat you as the same trash that you still are. And you should not try to behave as if we have any sort of agreement. I'm sure you will understand the need for things to remain the same."
Both of us stayed quiet, giving another fake grin. The two of them left, slamming the door behind us.