Space Station named Defiant

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The two shuttles both grabbed the rogue shuttle in their tractor beams and together towed her back to the shuttle bay where more security officers were ready and waiting to question her.

Kay frowned when he saw Asher. Asher? really? Then he noticed Shane... and third.. and of course Matt.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and wrote to Asher.
[When you said I should speak to the chief of security, getting YOURSELF arrested was not what I had in mind.]

"Hey little bro! Please bail us out quick... this guy is... really terrifying and and... we were just trying to help the android!" Matt called over.

Kay shook his head. [What happened?] He asked Chuck, moving over to the desk.

Chuck looked up and his bored, somewhat irritated expression faltered as he saw Kay.
They both stared at one another.

"They noticed." Matt hissed to Third.. or Quinn, or whoever the fox currently was. Man this was confusing.

"Hoorah for them. Maybe we should throw one big party." Third muttered, "Too bad they're both some form of an asshat, but at least your brother isn't as much as one... Though, is being an asshat a shifter thing?"

Asher gave Kay a sheepish look. "Sorry." He watched worriedly as Chuck noticed Kay's unusual eyes. He hoped Kay wasn't in danger, there wasn't much he could do to protect him from here.

"Aww he's not that bad, he's just... grumpy." Matt defended his baby bro. "and not a clue, never actually met another one. Neither has he."

Chuck composed himself and pushed a few forms toward Kay.
"Sign these, pay the fine and they're free to go." He also handed over the tablet.

"you aren't gonna break my hands?" Matt looked up.

"You know, i'd completely forgotten about that threat." Chuck smiled unpleasantly and Matt gulped.

[Please don't break his hands, he'd be a pretty useless janitor without the use of his hands and as ship medic it would be my job to fix him, and deal with his constant whining about it.] Kay wrote.

"Hey, what you writing about me?" Matt strained his neck to see.

Kay shot him a "shut up" look.

Chuck continued to watch Kay warily while the medic read over the forms, signed them and paid the fines. He hesitated.

Chuck sighed, nodded and went to unlock the cells himself.

"Right, thief, fox.. out." He barked as he opened that cell door first.

Matt scrambled to his feet.

The fox confidently plodding out, giving Chuck words in passing, "See you later, Chief~." He suddenly giggled wildly.

The Terran suddenly convulsed, letting out a series of hacking coughs before he sniffed, his body relaxing and he tried to get some sleep. Third cocked an eyebrow. "Is he dying?"

Kay looked over at the terran. [He's sick? Why is he in a cell and not the infirmary?]

Chuck groaned in annoyance. "He wasn't hurt when he came in." He came over to look at the terran critically. "What's wrong with you?" He asked bluntly.

Matt edged around the minotaur and over to his brother.

"Dude.. his eyes.. his eyes" He whispered frantically.

Kay rolled his eyes. I am well aware of this Matt. Get Third out of here, I get the feeling he's barely resisting the urge to start trouble.

"Hey fox dude, can you ice skate?" Matt asked, nodding in the direction of the exit. Yes, anywhere AWAY from the angry minotaur man would be good.

"Flu." Was all the Terran said, not looking at the onlookers.

Third looked at Matt, tilting his head slightly, "Do they have booties?..." He glanced over at the Minotaur again, planning on coming back later...

"I dunno, probably?" Matt edged toward the door with the fox.

Kay remained where he was. Fighting his medic instinct with his not wanting the damn flu instinct.

"You're a doctor. fix him." The minotaur demanded.

[I'm a nurse and there's nothing I can do for a flu, it needs to run its course. I suggest you get him some blankets and something hot to drink.] He dug through his pockets and produced some painkillers. [Are you allergic to anything?] He asked the terran, reluctant to get too close.

the minotaur snorted. "Medic, scared of a runny nose. " He shook his head and grabbed a blanket off a shelf, tossing it into the cell with the terran.

The Terran opened his eyes, glancing at Kay again with the same, calculating look, as if he was trying to read him. "No." He answered, absentmindedly glancing at the blanket but didn't get up to grab it yet.

Kay hesitantly came over and pushed the pill package through the bars.

[Painkillers.] He explained to both of them.

Chuck looked unimpressed and stalked off to open the other cells for Shane and Asher.

The Terran stared with half-closed eyes at the painkillers before taking them and sitting back again. "Thanks."

Asher was frustrated that Kay was probably going to get sick now, and very annoyed by Chuck's attitude, not to mention still trying to force the image of the android they had rescued out of his mind. He did his best to look respectful as Chuck came over, and not like he was almost out of patience. It sort of worked.

Kay smiled softly and nodded, moving away from the sick man.
Yeah he was gonna keep his distance.

Chuck opened Asher's cell. "I'll say one thing for your ship, your presence here has proven very lucrative." He told the android with a smirk.

Kay looked at Asher and tried his very best to look disappointed. [What happened?]

"I'm glad to have been of service," Asher told Chuck dryly, getting out of the cell with considerable relief. "There were some people attacking one of this station's androids," he said carefully, "We decided to intervene, since the security guard who should have been intervening, apparently didn't care."

Kay looked to Chuck questioningly at that.

Chuck shrugged. "Generally property damage would be swiftly punished. The officer responsible for accepting a bribe will be brought to task about his behavior."

Kay frowned, he didn't look like he believed that.

Chuck let Shane out of his cell too.

"She'll be fine, engineering will patch her up and she'll be good as new. Back to washing windows and scrubbing floors in a day or two." Chuck sounded unconcerned.

[What about her psyche?]

"You sound like the engineers. Oh no, we can't let them get hurt, it messes with their personality algorithms and causes unwanted behaviors." He rolled his eyes. "The 8s are tough, much less neurotic than the 7s, she'll be fine."

Kay chewed his lip, sometimes not being able to speak had advantages, like not chewing this guy out for being an asshole.

[Fixing them can't be cheap.] He reasoned.

"Hence the fines." Chuck chuckled and sat down again. "Why are you still here? Your friends are out, get lost." He shooed them.

Kay stood his ground. [I wanted to speak to you.]

Chuck snorted. "mmm right, of course you do. " Here and now isn't the time though.

Kay watched the minotaur carefully, nodding. I understand not wanting an audience. Is there anywhere we can communicate privately?

The minotaur stood up suddenly. "A tour it is then. "

Kay looked to Asher and Shane. Can they come?

The minotaur sighed. "Sure fine, why the hell not, let's have the whole party tag along." So they know what you are?

They know my true form yes.

You smell terrible, you know that? I actually want to be violently sick.

That explains your foul mood. Kay smirked.

You're infected aren't you?

Kay nodded solemly.

How long? Chuck glanced back at him as he lead them all into the back room.

14 years.

Chuck hissed softly. Explains why you didn't want to go near the terran.

Asher forced himself to not react the the comment about seven series androids being neurotic, and followed along quietly. It always got weird when people switched to fully telepathic conversation. He watch Kay and the minotaur's faces, trying to guess what they were saying.

Chuck closed the door behind them. The back office looked like it was mostly used as a crash pad. There was a desk in one corner but it was covered in cans and wrappers. In one corner was a nest of bedding and pillows.
Chuck strolled across the room and tossed his hat into the messy desk.

"I can't stand it any longer, minotaur noses, just.. useful for police work, terrible around people like you." He gagged and shifted his form.
The process seemed to be a lot faster for him than Kay and without that horrible cracking crunching sound. It looked like it wasn't totally comfortable or effortless though.

He straightened, he'd adopted a humanoid form. Brown haired, a sort of coffee coloured skin-tone. He was about the same height as Asher and looked to be in his mid fourties.
He pulled on a shirt and tilted his head at the others.

"That's better."

What are you? Kay asked.

"A shifter, just like you. Well.. not quite like you. You're a halfbreed aren't you?"

Kay nodded. How can you tell?

Chuck raised a hand, wriggling all five fingers. "Your form's imperfect. Extra digits are a bitch to reproduce and even harder if you're already bad at shifting. Funny, you look Satare or something. "

Hexenfolke.

"Ahh, yep, funny. How much do you know about our history?" Chuck asked.

Absolutely nothing. I never knew my father.

Chuck snorted. "The Imperium hated us. Well, almost everyone did. "

Why?

"Because we were arms dealers and spies and they didn't like that they couldn't buy our loyalty, make us trade only with them. Where's the profit in that?" Chuck shrugged. "they decided they were better off without us, so they tried to wipe us out. The Imperium joined forces with two other races, the only time those assholes have ever worked with anyone. Magic, science, technology combined to create an epidemic, a virus. "

Kay's eyes widened. [lycanthropy?] he wrote.

"You got it kid. And hey it nearly worked, my grandparents escaped. The military forces gunned down almost every refugee ship they could, it was genocide. A couple of ships got through though, and the shifters hid. What else could we do? They hid and they tried to rebuild their lives, new lives, as someone else."

Where do you fit into all this?

"Well i was born after the great purge, kept away from prying eyes till i was old enough to hold a form for an extended period of time. " He eyed the amulet around Kay's neck. "What happens if you take that off?" He asked.

Kay's hand rose to the gold disk around his neck, he chewed his lip.

"You never learned how to hold a form did you?" Chuck shook his head. "Not surprising. Half breeds tend to be extremely bad at it, apparently it really hurts."

It doesn't hurt you then?

"Oh it's uncomfortable, like wearing shoes too tight." Chuck tugged at the collar of his shirt. "but it doesn't hurt. It hurts you because your body isn't designed to deal with it. It's been years since i've met another." He scoffed. "Most of you don't live that long."

Kay frowned, watching Chuck cautiously. He had so many questions, but he didn't know where to start or how to word them.

Chuck laughed, looking from Kay to his companions. "Know this." His expression turned serious. "it's been a very long time since the purge, but there are still those who remember us and hate us. There's not many of us left, and those who are left don't want to go back to being hunted down and killed. The majority out here wouldn't even recognize our race even in our true forms, certainly very few recognize the eyes. But be careful who you reveal yourself to little one, half breed or not, you are still part shifter, and there are still those who would see us completely wiped from the universe. "

Kay flinched. Well that answered that question, yes, they were probably all as morally bankrupt as Chuck then. Could his father really have been the man his mother had always insisted he was? Stellan was right, what sort of a man impregnated a young woman and then fled?

Matt would totally take third ice skating, and laugh his head off at how adorable he was in teeny skates omg.
"you know, i've never actually been ice skating..." Matt told him. "So if I fall on my face, feel free to laugh at me." He grinned.

Well that was worrying. Asher looked at Kay, wondering how much danger he might be in, and what they should be doing to minimize the risk. Colored contact lenses might not work with his eyes, he thought unhappily.
Maybe Kay would be fine. He'd made it this long, after all. Still, it seemed risky if people still wanted to wipe out his father's species.

Third grumbled a bit as he walked in the tiny booties of skates, high stepping to walk effectively. "I haven't skated. Quinn has, a long time ago, but not in this form..." He nervously glanced at the ice, his green gaze suspiciously staring at the scratched white cold as his nose quivered, sniffing it.

"We'll be FIIIINE!" Matt told him, lacing his own skates and teetering onto the ice. Oookay, this was really hard to keep your balance... he clung to the side to stop himself falling.
"Hey theoretically this will be easier with four legs, you can't fall as far and are more stable."

---

Kay nodded and glanced to Asher reassuringly.
[You said there weren't many who remembered, and you don't conceal your eyes so just how much risk is there?]

Chuck shrugged. "I have a hat, and sane people don't look at a minotaur's eyes. Try it some time, they see it as a challenge. Once people used contact lenses to hide their eyes, with varying degrees of success. Or adopted forms known for being photosensitive, then the dark glasses aren't so weird." He snickered. "Out here though, you're more likely to get stabbed just because, than for any racial tension."

Kay hesitated, then finally worked up the courage to ask. What do you really look like then?

Chuck smirked. "I wondered how long it'd take for you to ask. " He nodded. "I guess if I don't show you it'll just bug you the rest of your life won't it?"

Kay exhaled deeply in frustration. You want me to bribe you?

"Tell you what, you show me yours, i'll show you mine." He smirked.

Kay nodded, looking anxious.

"Well, you first then." Chuck waved a hand.

How do I know you'll show me once I do?

"Paranoid little guy aren't you? There's three of you and one of me. And that guy can hold back a panicking android, i'm pretty sure he can force me to do anything you guys want if he puts his mind to it. " He grinned at Asher.

Kay nodded. It was a good point. Asher was crazy strong.

He took a deep breath, focused, and painfully shifted to his true form.

Chuck watched, whistling as he took in the weirdness. "Yeah, you're a lot cuter as a humanoid. Yeesh. "

Kay frowned and shifted back, wincing in pain.
Your turn.

Chuck nodded. "Well I did promise didn't I?" He did as he was asked, his form contorting and twisting as he reverted to his own true form. He was more hunched than Kay, his clawed hands scraped the floor and his head was far more feline looking. He had two huge round eyes with double pupils and another pair of eyes above those, smaller but likewise double pupiled.
Long curled horns framed his wide face, smaller spikes ran along his jaw and he had a wicked set of sharp tusks and long needle-like teeth.

The fur that ran down his body was brown instead of red, his wings a tawny colour like a hawk's. His tail ended in a tuft of feathers.

He spread his arms, fluttered his wings and tilted his oversized head at kay. Tadah.

Third wobbled onto the ice, yelping as he scrabbled for friction but couldn't nearly falling before his four paws caught him. "Alright, Quinn," he muttered, "How did you do it?..."

He titled his head, as if to remember something, then gently pushed one hind leg, then the other, keeping his front paws still for balance...

Matt cheered him on and eventually worked up the courage to try himself. He pushed out onto the ice which was great... till he lost momentum and ended up stranded in the middle of the ice waving his arms around to keep his balance. "Uh... how do you move?" He watched the others skating around him. Hmm... he tried what they were doing, one foot out... "ACK!" he fell on his butt.

Asher watched the shifter change form, fascinated. He sort of knew what to expect, having become fairly accustomed to Kay's true form by now, but it was still incredibly bizarre to see.

Chuck watched them all gape at him for a moment, then shifted back into humanoid form. Adjusting his clothing and shaking his hair out of his eyes.

"happy?" He asked.

Kay nodded. thank you.

"Why don't you speak? Did you never learn verbal communication or is there some other reason?" Chuck asked curiously.

Kay lowered his head. Psychological trauma.

"Ahh, you're just nuts. Good to know."

I'm not nuts! Kay glared.

Chuck shrugged. "Unhinged then, call it what you want. Lucky you have the telepathy then."

Kay nodded. [May I ask, what are you really called? Your name cannot possibly really be Chuck.]

"Why not? It's as good a name as any." Chuck laughed. "But no, it's not what my parents called me. but there's no verbal equivalent. We adopt names for the benefit of our non telepathic companions. "

[Shifters don't have names?]

"We don't have verbal names no. Why would we? The only vocalizations we can make are howls and shrieks, and let's face it, verbal communication is woefully inefficient. And slow. I've become used to it, using it for the benefit of those around me because telepathic conversations look bizarre to them, and they get paranoid thinking you're talking about them." He smirked to the other two. "My parents made a conscious effort to teach me verbal communication as soon as I could take a form capable of such things. It makes life easier if you can talk. But i'm sure I don't need to tell you that." He smiled sickeningly.

Kay tensed and nodded jerkily.

"Now of course, i'm curious about what your friends are. Because they sure as hell aren't terran, despite looking it."

Third slowly skated over to Matt, looking at him and began trying to push him back up by pressing his little head against the man's lower back. "Gain your balance, first."

Asher glared at Chuck, he objected very strongly to anyone calling Kay unhinged, especially if that person was a corrupt jerk. He didn't say anything, but he didn't try to hide his annoyance either.
He tensed at Chuck's question, mind scrambling. Minotaurs were notorious for having excellent noses, it was very unlikely that Chuck could mistake him for an organic. "That's a very personal question," he pointed out after a moment of frantic thought.