Upon Vestia: Chapter Three

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"I can only begin to imagine how difficult that must be for you," the android sympathized. He wondered if petting the disconsolate cat would be comforting, or a major overstep of personal boundaries.

~~
Ellie raised her hand. "My com says 5:42pm."

"It's your right as a citizen of the Terran Empire, to refuse to have yourself or your property searched without a warrant. If you ordered me to not cooperate with searches, I would be able to block the police from accessing my memory archives in most situations." He shrugged slightly, "It's your choice, of course. I know you're philosophically opposed to giving me orders."

Starr nodded then sighed "Alright, I order you not to allow searches." She said then shook her head a little "If it wasn't for the fact that you can't not have an owner, I would free you, but with that law as it stands...If anything happens to me, I want your papers to say you get sent to Vestia. How can we do that?"

"Order updated," Asher said, "Take that, cops."
He frowned, thinking about the options. "By default, I go to your next of kin if you die. You could update your will to specify Vestia. The only situation I can think of that could cause problems while you're alive, is if MegaBrainTech were to confiscate me and update my owner file, which would be difficult to protect against if they decided to do so."

"I have no next of kin" Starr said and looked away. "They are long dead. I guess I need to update my will, or make one to start with."

"I'm sorry," said Asher softly. He had wondered what had become of Starr's family, but had never thought the time was right to ask.

Starr sighed and shook her head then looked around again. "They didn't want to be slaves, so they fought back after they madw certain I would get away safely. Our family was the last, the guards wouldn't let us be taken until they fell."

"They must have truly been heroes," he said, watching Starr. He considered for a moment before asking, "The book said that many of your kind still live, in captivity. Could they be freed somehow?"

Starr shrugged at that. "If they were to be bought, but even if they were freed, they would be hunted and captured again."

"I imagine purchasing even one Star Dragon is economically infeasible for you, or anybody else on this ship. Some other method of rescue would be required." The android paced. It didn't help him to think, it was just a mannerism he had picked up at some point. "Many species value freedom highly. I wonder if it would be possible to get people interested in your species' plight, and convince them to help."

"What species would you suggest, even the ones who are against slaves don't try to stop us from being sold" Starr said and sighed again. "I am the only free one I know about for the last hundred years."

Asher sighed, and leaned against one of the counters. "It doesn't need to be any one species. There are fifteen billion sapient beings on this planet alone, and possibly trillions in this galaxy. Yes, some of them know what has happened to your species, and do nothing about it. But if you asked most of these people, they wouldn't know that Star Dragons exist, much less that they've been so thoroughly mistreated for such a long time.
"Most beings let terrible things happen not because they support them, but because they don't know what's happening, or don't know how to help. If there was a way to tell these people what has happened, and suggest how to make it stop, I think you'd find that there are many, many people on your side."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Starr asked. "From what I have seen and know, no other species as a whole cares enough to do anything for star dragons, and very few individuals do."

"They don't do anything because they don't know. They don't know that your species is enslaved, or they do know, and they think they can't fix it. So we need to find video footage to to show what's happening, and we need to get people to see it and petition for the protection of Star Dragons in whichever planet or Empire they're from. Which should be easy enough to do with the internet at our disposal."
He looked at Starr steadily. "Individual beings are very good at looking the other way when bad things happen. Believe me, I know that. But in groups, they influence each other until they become a furious hive mind, willing to fight for their beliefs. And maybe we can use that power to help your people."

"Maybe" Starr said guardedly then looked at the table. "We have no homeworld anymore. It was destroyed when my parents sent me away. We don't have a planet or empire to claim. The closest we have is me."

"There are many species who don't have a homeworld any more," Asher pointed out. "It would be hard for them to adjust and rebuild their identity, but they can't exist like this forever." He walked over and tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder. "We have plenty of time though. You don't have to think about it further for now, if you'd rather not."

Starr sighed softly "I am afraid to try anything. If I do, it will reveal what I am and that will place a target on me and anyone with me." She said without looking at him. "But if there is a way to free them, I must take it."

Asher started pacing again. "Yes, we would want to find a way to hide your identity. Getting you caught, or even making your existence known, would be somewhat counterproductive. There must be a solution, but I don't see it yet."

Starr sighed and nodded. "We don't have any way to record their treatment either, since they assume the form of other beings most of the time."

"Do you know where any of the Star Dragons are... kept?" he asked. "Talking to one of them might be a good place to start."

"I know of one that I was able to speak to but that was years ago and she has changed owners since then." Starr said then sighed "We can sense eachother, but most of the time they give a signal to not approach them. That it isn't safe"

"We'll have to find a way to get closer without being found out," Asher said. "Your species is telepathic?"

"Not as far as I know" Starr said with a frown. "My learning was interrupted though"

"You can sense each other, though?" he asked.

"Yes" Starr said with a nod. "We could be telepathic, it would just be something I haven't learned yet" She added then shrugged.

"Interesting. The book I found said nothing about that ability," Asher said, "Do the captors of the Star Dragons know about this?"

"I doubt it." Starr said then smiled a little "I am glad we still have some secrets, even if it isn't really one"

"Then we have the beginning of an idea. And you've reminded me of a way we can distribute information without being traced."