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Cellulose & Steel	By : Not-Taylor Category: Misc Books > FemmeSlash Views: 1028 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own HDG or its characters and I don't make money from this work.

Chapter List
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There really is nothing to do here. Actually nothing. There’s the bed, but Olivia’s not tired. She shudders at the hint of a memory about the thing. There’s the kitchen, but she recognizes what water bottles look like and there’s nothing besides them she could eat. There’s the bathroom, but she really really really doesn’t want another bath, though it would be nice to be clean without having the shrub molest her. There’s a window, but it’s shut. The people walking by seem unable to see or hear her, which isn’t shocking as a design choice. Drinking water, sleeping, pushing furniture around, and taking a bath are her options. Wonderful.
She decides to stretch a bit instead of any of that. She needs her strength back after so much time in freefall. Naturally, she’s extremely weak, worse than her initial attempts during training. She was warned, of course, so it’s no surprise. That doesn’t make Olivia feel that much better about being winded after her third pushup. At least she’s extremely flexible now. She can actually lean forward and touch the floor with her nose while sitting. It doesn’t take that long to get tired.
Olivia grabs a bottle of cool water from what appears to be some kind of refrigerator and sits on the comfiest looking chair in the place. There’s actually a couch in front of some kind of screen in the room closest to the door Verda left through. It’s soft and a reachable height, so Olivia flops onto it and relaxes.
She’s still alone several minutes later. It’s quiet. “This is like a horror movie,” she thinks. “It’s so quiet, like everyone’s dead, but they can’t be because I see them passing by. I sort of m-”
No, she doesn’t, she can’t miss Verda. That’s insane. But that’s what the quiet is: She can’t hear the affini’s breathing any more. Isn’t this the first time she’s actually been alone since they met?
Of course, it’s an interrogation tactic. Stockholm syndrome. It has to be. It’s a trick, just like shudders those injections. She tries not to think about it. She, Olivia Donnoly, is supposed to be watching those stupid disinformation videos. She knows better than to trust what they say. They were literally created to break her, and probably admit as much if anyone pays attention. She feels lucky that Verda is careless enough to let her watch these things without extensive xenodrugs in her system. Wait, is she clean? Unsettling.
Olivia puts on the second in the playlist after checking the front door again, just in case.
“This is Heather Salasa, first floret of Ezra Salasa, twelfth bloom, again. Welcome back! I’m glad you weren’t scared off by how long the last video was. I promise everything that’s coming up will be a lot shorter.”
Heather’s dull but happy stare reminds Olivia of a cow. What does a plant milk a human of?
“Today we’re going to discuss Affini culture and the next video will be about the Affini themselves. This isn’t a subject that can be done justice in any number of videos, as such an illustrious and glorious society as the one we’ve been adopted into is more complex than that. Keep that in mind and feel free to ask your owner more.”
“The Affini Compact is a democratic polity based on the happiness of every sentient lifeform. Their expansion is for our good, as they want to stop other species from hurting themselves and one another. As such, there’s no meaningful amount of private property in the Compact since that would incentivize selfish behavior. Instead, individuals freely provide for one another without need of payment. As a result, police as they existed in the Terran Accord aren’t needed in Affini space. It turns out most people really do just want to get along without hurting each other.”
Bla bla bla. Capitalism bad, tree good. Is there even a good part of this to get to? Olivia takes a gulp of the water. It tastes just like the other water, unsurprisingly.
“You probably have already heard all of that already, but that’s the foundation of the Affini way of life. Affini society has always been inclusive and diverse, and from their first contact with otherworldly life the Affini have sought unity and cooperation. That was the first domestication.
“What? Why can’t I say that? It’s true and really cool.
“Um, so if you need anything, you don’t have to pay money or buy it, and you don’t have to have a job, especially not when you’re somebody’s pet. If you need help with anything, there’s going to be somebody willing and able to help. And if you want to help out, nobody’s going to take advantage of that because there’s no advantage to take.
“By now, the Compact has extended to several galaxies, all of which work together to give everyone a better future. The Affini homeworld is inaccessible to most people, but I’ll be going briefly in order to share what it’s like for a human! I haven’t met anyone who’s been, simply because it’s so far away, and there’s no need. I don’t know why it even matters since everything’s decentralized…’ A poke returns her focus to the video’s topic.
“The cornerstone of this society is the relationship between affini and florets. They want to take care of us, and proximity makes that much easier. Everything you see around you is developed with florets in mind. The device you’re viewing this video on, the room around you, even the food you eat, are all built to be compatible with human anatomy and cultural sensibilities. Affini learn the language of a floret long before they meet. There’s no magic universal translation involved. When I learned just how much effort my owner had put into getting to know me before we’d even met, I felt loved on an entirely different level even than before.
“Thanks for listening once again. Bye!”
So the Affini are warmongers and imperialists who conquer everything they can find. Got it. Olivia sighs. They really can’t bring themselves to not admit it, can they?
“This is Heather Salasa, first floret of Ezra Salasa, twelfth bloom. Welcome back again! Hopefully everyone’s ready to learn about their new friends! Today we’ll be discussing the Affini species, since having a better understanding of them and their physiology will help us be more understanding of their limitations. Plus I just think it’s cool to learn things like this.
“You’re certain to be aware by now that the Affini are plantlike singlets standing between three and five meters tall. The seat of their essence is a very hard wooden capsule called a core. The core is less than a meter across and near where the chest would be on a human. But their thinking and other functions take place in there too, so it’s kind of like a ribcage-skull hybrid. Connected to that core are a large number of vines, tendrils, and limbs constructed from plant matter. These are what let them interact with the world, which is what limbs are for.
“Affini have a wide variety of sensory organs, depending on a lot of things that I wasn’t able to research. The affini in our part of space tend to have humanlike faces and sense organs which they use to interact on our level. They typically grow out leaves around their cores to mimic clothing, since they have no need of it themselves. I’ve never seen an affini wearing clothing other than decorations, usually made by their floret.
“Affini live for long periods of time measured in blooms. A reblooming allows them to heal and start fresh. They can go hundreds of years between blooms, so the oldest affini are really old! Still, they mature slowly, so even any first bloom you encounter is likely to be older than the life expectancy on Terra prior to Pacification.”
Olivia flinches. She’s starting to really hate that word.
“That’s the end of the script but there’s something I really need to tack on. I don’t know why nobody talks about it but if you dig carefully through the archives there’s a lot to learn. Well, some, not a lot. That’s affini pollination. Being blooming, flowering plants, the affini have to pol-”
The video ends abruptly. Strange, Olivia thinks. Is this girl onto something? What are they hiding? Is it a way to make sure they never infect another world again? She hopes so. She sighs and stretches. And why in the stars’ names didn’t they cut that properly?
“Good day.” That’s such a bland and flat greeting. Olivia’s jolted out of her tired complacency. The woman on the screen looks especially out of her mind with drugs. Her eyes don’t even seem focused. “I’m Elvira Nele, second floret of Akash Nele, third bloom. I used to be a pilot in the Cosmic Navy before my Mistress showed me how wrong I was to be a feralist.” She looks drunk and her words are slurred. She looks kind of familiar. “I spent so long trying to run, but now I know that was the wrong choice. And-” A vine from behind the camera pokes her and she blinks in a daze. “Oh right, Mistress wants me to talk about Domestication and rebellion (she laughs a little).
“I made the mistake of joining the Terran Rebellion, until I was caught. Thankfully, my friend Mara helped the Compact catch us. If they hadn’t, there’s no telling how long we would have been lost.” She looks strangely sad at that.
“It’s embarrassing, but I want to explain how much happier I am now. Just because you’re probably going through what I was doesn’t mean you have to keep fighting. The war is over. It’s fine to move on and live.” She looks in the camera’s general direction.
“You know how bad things were on Earth before the Affini came. You remember it, don’t you? It can’t have been that long. All the smog, and muck, and how hot it was everywhere. When I was a little girl I remember hearing about half the Sahara washing into the sea and flooding Europe. I remember how after high school there weren’t any jobs, and none of my classmates made it out before the end of the year. I remember how bad things were even on Luna.
“But the Cosmic Navy gave me a way out. That’s the only reason I really fought for them. You’re probably the same, right? Trying to fit in with some awful people because at least they give you enough to eat and an actual bed to sleep in. It was a good deal for back then, for me at least.
“Now, we don’t have to do that. We don’t have to promise to kill people if we’re told to. I’m so much happier now that I live with my Mistress and she handles everything I need. That’s the case for nearly everyone from the Navy. The patriotism was all a lie. We were poor and sad and they used that to fill out an armada.
“For a long time I wasn’t able to admit how much happier I was. I fought it with all my strength. I was too miserable and too hurt to let myself be happy and to just… enjoy what life had started to give me. Everything I was taught to hate was a lie. The Affini aren’t your enemy. I’m proud to be owned and loved as a floret. You can be too, if you just stop fighting against what you really want. It’s so easy. Just let go of the hate and let your owner into your heart.”
She stopped speaking and just stood there for a minute. Why didn’t anyone turn off the camera? Olivia stares, still trying to remember something clinging to the fringe of her mind, when she does. “Elvira? So that’s what you’re going by now? I should’ve known. A gaudy name for a gaudy traitorous slut. Of course you’d break easily.”
She and “Elvira” had met a couple of times at some spacedock. They hadn’t gotten along well, but that didn’t matter since it was just business. Why should Olivia “just let go” of her humanity, the one thing keeping her together? Ridiculous. What was Elvira’s callsign again? Right… She was with the Spirit of Jupiter, and she hadn’t done badly. In trying to get away, Olivia heard that there had been a mole feeding the weeds their coordinates. And Elvira had just explicitly confirmed that strategy existed. But when you think about it… It kind of suggests… It can’t be. Please, stars no… No…
Bang.
What?
Bang!
The door? Should Olivia…
Bang!!
She slaps down the tablet onto the couch and heads toward to the front door to see what’s going on.
Bang.
Probably somebody who doesn’t know her mi- Verda is off doing “work.”
Bang bang?
There’s no peephole. That’s kind of dangerous, isn’t it? The button doesn’t work either, so Olivia’s stuck inside and whoever’s there is stuck outside.
Bang.
“Can you hear me?”
Nothing.
“Hey!”
Nothing. Bang bang bang.
Olivia hits the door with all her strength. Obviously it’s not going to give but it might put sound through. Bang!
Bang.
Bang bang.
Bang bang.
It must’ve worked. That’s a useless accomplishment, though. Neither of them are going to know any sort of Morse code. The person on the other side seems to have figured out the same thing. Olivia sweeps a hand through her hair. That was a waste of effort. Why did she even get up? She remembers the level of discourse on the video series on being a good little slave for plant mommy. Right.
So…
Bang bang bang BANG BANG BANG bang bang bang.
That’s for sure an SOS. But…
Bang.
That’s got to be yes, doesn’t it? Maybe it’d have been better to repeat the message.
It’s quiet again. Nobody’s there. That was weird, Olivia thinks as she goes to finish off her water and figure out how to keep herself occupied next. And make up an excuse if she gets in trouble for that. That would be smart too.
It doesn’t take long for somebody to show up. There’s an extremely loud noise from outside and suddenly the door opens. Olivia reflexively hides behind an arm of the couch in case it’s dangerous. It isn’t, probably. Two affini are standing (if it’s accurate to say that they stand) on the threshold, looking in nervously. They’re muttering to each other in Affini, and one has what looks like a weapon of some kind. They move in slowly. Olivia sees what looks like it’s probably some kind of doctor hiding outside.
She emerges from the couch. “Hello.” She can’t think of anything else to say and almost feels a bit bad for having made them break in. It’s not really their fault, after all, but it is a chance at escape, so she can’t be too picky.
“Oh, hello, miss…” prompts the closer weed. She seems confused and disturbed for some reason. Olivia rejects the bait and counterattacks.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Saha and this is Sarah. I’m the one whose SOS you responded to.”
“Why are you here?”
“I was planning to visit somebody. Do you live here?”
“No.” Inspiration strikes and Olivia can hardly believe she’s actually trying it. She’s even more surprised she thinks it’s going to work. “I was- Well first- Before- When I was captured there was a disagreement about whose floret I would be. My caretaker and the woman who lives here. They fought, and it was resolved, I don’t know what happened, I wasn’t there. Then I was kidnapped and locked in here. I’d like to go home please.”
“Well, that’s shitty.”
The other one chimed in. “If you’re able to give us their name we’ll take you back to your owner.”
“Thank you. I’d rather get outside first, please?”
“Sure, of course. Let’s go to the park and you can talk when you’re ready.”
This is working way too well, Olivia thinks gleefully. As soon as she’s able to come up with a name of somebody all the way across the ship, she’ll be able to remain in transit with these nice clueless plants. She’s got to be quick. There’s probably a record of every floret on the ship as well as owners. Although…
When they get to a park that’s rather close, Saha, who apparently doesn’t feel confident giving her last name, decides to ask for Olivia’s name. The two affini stand together under what looks like an oak tree looking like concerned parents. She doesn’t like the feeling they’re putting out.
“Are you ready to talk now, little floret?”
Olivia nods, trying to look more shaken than she is. “I- My name is Ginger o’Smerie. I haven’t been here that long.”
Sarah, who has red ivy looking leaves around her neck in a sort of collar, nods sympathetically and types into the mobile thing she’s carrying. Her face lights up almost immediately.
“Look at that, you’re right here. Age 27, brown hair, blue eyes. Looks like you all right, Ginger.”
She tries not to be visibly hurt. She’s only 26. She thinks. Who knows how badly the plants have been messing with her sense of time.
“And you’re apparently the first floret of Artemis Pallas, second bloom.” “Ginger” thinks she hears muttering under Sarah’s breath about weirdos who pick tryhard human names. She feels the sentiment is entirely justifiable in this case. At worst she’ll get to see Ginger again and she can play it off that way. That’s the plan. It’s an awful one, but it’s the plan!
She hopes these two won’t get into trouble for helping her, but why does she care, in all seriousness? She flashes back to yesterday, when all of those excited flora were watching her and cheering. It’s their ship and she was talking about how nice it was. She guesses they were probably proud of the place they live, as though they actually have an impact here. They’d probably all jump at the chance to be heroes and save a kidnapped floret… Wait a minute.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, sorry, I was dosed with xenodrugs before what’s her name left me there. I’m a little off balance now.”
“That’s all right Ginger. We’ll help you walk, if you’d like.”
Saha reaches some vines over and gives her a little gentle rub, like you would a lost cat. It’s kind of nice, actually. Olivia doesn’t fight and just says “thank you, miss.”
“Mix, but I’m glad we can help you. You’re really far from home. Do you remember how you got here?” They’ve started walking, with Olivia mostly propped up by the xeno’s limbs. She wants to throw up, which is helpful to her act. The pair of affini share the burden of her weight, which probably wouldn’t be very much for either of them. Are they a couple? Gross.
“I… don’t. I was out most of the way, I think.”
They get onto a tram going somewhere or other. Olivia can’t read any of the signs so she just assumes everything is fine. They get off and onto another, when Verda sits right next to them. She’s being hidden by her new protector, so Verda doesn’t recognize her. She presumably looks like just a random tired terran floret.
Saha and Verda start talking in Affini. Shouldn’t they be more hostile? This looks bad to her. Verda points at her, but Saha says something that sounds cordially dismissive. Olivia thinks. She remains very still in hopes of not being caught. She still has to find a way off the ship, but that’s a problem for later, after she’s found Ginger and rescued her. She knows in her heart they can handle anything at all together. It’s just a matter of determination.
They get off at the next stop, Olivia still buried inside the walking hedge. They traveled a little further before pausing at a restaurant. Saha and Sarah look at one another and enter, taking Olivia with them. They sit down and speak in Affini to the waiter, some unknown flavor of xeno filth that looks like a cross between a jackal and a walrus that replies to their comments in bellows and grunts. In a few minutes their food is on the table. The waiter hands the two affini cups of green tea. The waiter returns right away with Olivia’s order: a large steak, a baked potato filled with cheese and sour cream, a salad, and a few slices of orange. The other two are smiling. Oh no.
Olivia looks for an escape but there isn’t one. Her way is blocked both by the affini across from her and the one in whose brambles she’s still situated. She pretends everything is fine. Maybe it is. It’s just a steak. Everyone knows terrans like steak. She cautiously takes the steak knife in one hand and the fork in the other. Nobody’s objecting to the slave with the sharp objects.
“So why are we eating? I thought you were taking me home.”
“We thought this was something you might like, and you looked a bit hungry, Ginger. Your mistress should be by soon. I talked to her a little by text on the way over.”
“Oh. Good.” It certainly isn’t good by any means. Olivia cuts her meat into small pieces and carefully takes a bite. It doesn’t taste poisoned.That’s really good, though. She has more. The potato is good too! It’s full of real cheese, and probably expensive cheese. The green beans are the best Olivia’s ever tasted. She doesn’t hate them the way she usually hates vegetables. She devours everything in front of her, completely distracted from the situation she knows she’s still in. When she’s done the two affini look impressed.
“You really were hungry,” Sarah exclaims. “I knew it! That horrible affini wasn’t feeding you.”
“She locked me there without anything to eat. I don’t know how long it’s been.” Those were both factually correct statements.
“How terrible!” She checks her tablet. “We should really leave soon. Verda’s probably home by now.”
False hope is still hope. Olivia slightly hates herself for even thinking that might mean something good. But it might. They get up and thank a slightly dazed floret whose expression suggests the act of clearing the table is somehow sexual for him (or it? It’s so hard to tell with xenos).
It doesn’t take long to get from there to the habitation unit. They ride up a long elevator in a glass plated tower. Sarah buzzes the doorbell and nobody answers. The door opens by itself, so clearly somebody is inviting them in. They step into the room. It’s nowhere near as luxurious as Verda’s house, a point against the pure equality lie. It’s cozy and cute, with some aesthetic knicknacks here and there. She doesn’t have a chance to contemplate that because something lurches from the shadows and tackles her. Technically it tackles the plant enveloping her, but that has the same effect. It’s a terran.
“Miss Sarah! Mix Saha! Who’s this?” Olivia can practically feel the wagging tail despite the terran in question lacking one.
“Your missing connivent, Ginger.”
“My who?”
Saha’s vines withdraw, letting Olivia see who’s in front of her. It’s Ginger, but her voice is different. She looks different too, cuter and fuller. Do they know? Ginger catches sight of her and stops in her tracks. They stare at each other. This outcome was entirely foreseeable.
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Cellulose & Steel