Chapter 238: A First Time For Everything
I let out a low chuckle as I thought about how to best answer Da’kea’s question. I didn’t want him to think that I was using them to piss someone else off, but at the same time, I was using them to piss someone else off.
"She was showing what she had that the other female did not," said Midnight when I took too long to answer. "Alphas do it all the time as a way of asserting their dominance over another. Star Beam had five males and an Istar bunny. The other female had nothing."
"What he said," I added in, tilting my head toward Midnight. "Nothing is more attractive than something that someone else has or wants."
Ye’tab studied me from where he sat in his own chair beside my couch. "You are painting a target on your back. But for what purpose?" he asked, seemingly not upset that he had been used.
"Angry people become stupid," I said, trying to figure out the best way to explain myself. "And stupid people slip up." Not my most elegant wording, but I think they get the point.
"You are hoping to make her become so angry that she slips up and shows her true side, giving you justification for taking her out," mused Tha’juen, nailing my meaning in one go. Unfortunately for him, he was wrong on one teeny, tiny thing.
"I don’t need her to give me justification for taking her out. If she had anything to do with what happened on those two research vessels, even a hint or a whisper in the wind that she knew what was going on, I will kill her," I said with a smile on my face. "I will use every last human devised method of torture to make sure that she is begging for death. And then I will fix her all up better before starting over and over again."
I wasn’t worried about what the guys would think of my statement. If nothing else, I knew that Midnight would understand me perfectly. I... If she had suggested, allowed, participated, or even knew about the torture of other human women...
I am a clinical psychopath. The X-rays have shown that I am missing a particular section of my brain, and for that reason alone, I am a psychopath. I don’t mind the title. I don’t mind the negative connotations, and, in all honesty, I am finding myself behaving more and more human the longer I am with these aliens.
But as depraved as I can be. As much as I wouldn’t hesitate to drink the blood of my enemies. I have never, ever, once thought to rip the organs out of a woman for shits and giggles while she was still living.
I have never once done to someone else what I have seen and experienced firsthand in the Alliance’s quest for a universal breeder. But if Pippa Flynn of Earth had any part in doing that to her own species...
Well... there is always a first time for everything.
"Are there any that you are more interested in trying than others?" asked Midnight, moving on from massaging my feet and now concentrating on my calves.
And that was how I knew where he stood on that matter.
We spent the rest of the night talking about different methods for inflicting the most amount of pain on another individual. And it was one of the best nights ever.
What could I say? Maybe we were all a bit psychopathic.
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"Rise and shine," said Jun Li, his voice coming over both the speakers inside of my room as well as the earpiece buried deep within my ear. "It’s time to get a move on. Your first conference is scheduled for one hour from now with the Uugazts, followed by a meet-up with Midnight’s ship and crew. After that, you will be served a lovely lunch before one again, having to go save the universe."
"Ugh," I groaned, really not in the mood to put up with a super chipper Jun Li. His asshole self was much more familiar by this point. "What are you doing?"
"Well, I thought that if you were going to plan to take over the universe, you would need a personal assistant," answered Jun Li privately. "I have spent the past five of your Earth hours learning everything that is needed to be a PA, and I think I would do a fantastic job."
"Ugh," I repeated, rubbing my hands over my face as I tried to make sense of his words. It had felt like I did a university pub crawl last night, and all I wanted to do was take two painkillers before going back to bed.
The worst part was that I didn’t even touch a drop of alcohol.
For fucks sake.
"Now, dearest CEO. Get your ass out of bed, get showered and dressed, and meet me on the command bridge in 45 minutes. I have all the information that you are looking for on Pippa and the other females from Earth," said Jun Li.
I grunted a third time, my eyelids too heavy to keep open, when a small shock in my brain had me jumping to my feet. The guys around me all came to attention, GA, Ye’tab, and Tha’juen activating their armor and searching my room for the threat.
"What the fuck was that?!?" I demanded, my voice probably up in the higher octaves.
"Just testing out something," mused Jun Li, and I could hear the smirk in his voice. "You are very responsive to electroshocks in your brain."
"Listen to me, very carefully," I growled, not at all as impressed or happy as the AI was. "You do that to me again, and I will take great pleasure in unplugging you from every last electronic thing that you are currently installed in. Do you understand me?"
"But I had read that electroshock therapy was readily done. Especially if an individual is experiencing depression, mania, or catatonia. You were clearly unresponsive, given your lack of movement and lack of speech," said Jun Li hesitantly. "But if you would prefer for me not to do that again, I will respect your wishes."
"There is a big difference between catatonia and not being a morning person," I growled, letting the guys know that they could stand down.
I had to remember that Jun Li wasn’t malicious... just a toddler with way too much information and access to weapons.
