The Human Bearer

Riordan was in a state when he got back home. Kyle wheeled in, right behind him, and his homie had respectfully kept silence throughout their ride. However, once he was inside, and Tasha couldn't see him, or anyone else, for that matter, he let himself slide to the floor and buried his face in his hands, letting the tremble in his body take over. Was that all they were? A means to an end? Before coming here, he thought it all to be a done deal, but now, he felt all kinds of things that he couldn't understand. The Riordan from Earth he had known himself to be all his life wouldn't have wasted a single tear on a used whore, not because he couldn't be made to care for others, but because people like that, people like them, he included, had no use for pity. Pity was nothing; it didn't put food on the table, and it didn't put a roof over your head.

He hadn't wanted to trouble Tasha, since he was pregnant and all, not with the helplessness he experienced, not with the fury that pushed him to lash out. Fuck, there wasn't an object he could grab and throw at the wall just so that he could get it out of his system while shouting obscenities. No, he hadn't exactly been a whore before, but he had done all kinds of things for money in order to survive. This stop on Xeno... it was supposed to be a stop, and nothing else. Get preggo, deliver the egg, and then get back on Earth, pockets full of cash.

Besides his incredible overlook of knowing that humans got addicted to seth and other details, he had been quite the arrogant fucker to believe that things would be that simple. When were they simple? He should've known better. Now, the sight of that abandoned bearer in his bath of seth didn't want to leave his mind. He felt drawn to it, despite the horror he felt inside at the implications of what that meant. Xana talked big about wanting him to stay, even beyond that, and have another egg, and another, and another... Fuck, he was fucked either way.

He pushed away angry tears, wiping his cheeks hard and rubbing his eyes. "Kyle, you've seen nothing, my man."

"I understand, Master Rio. Since when until when?"

Of course, the bot needed some coordinates. Didn't that make him lame? Seeking the friendship of a piece of machinery? It was all in his head, after all. Xana was right. If he ordered Kyle to punish Riordan, he'd do so in a heartbeat. Only that he had no heartbeat. He, it. He shook his head. Now, he was thinking all kinds of stupid shit. Kyle had saved him on more than one occasion, and he had pledged his loyalty. For a machine, he was a solid pal, and Riordan knew better than to give up on true friends, no matter how strange they were.

He began laughing softly. "Forget I said anything. I mean, of course, you've witnessed it all. By the way, do you know what giving birth looks like in this world?"

"Once the egg matures, it begins its descent through the birth canal," Kyle recited. "The muscles involved dilate to allow the passage."

Riordan snorted and then gestured with his hands to show the bot what he had truly seen. "Dilate, you say? A bearer's ass must become this big for that egg to go through. I don't understand how there's no rupture, or did I just fail to see it?"

"Damage to the membranes may occur but it is quickly healed by seth," Kyle explained.

"Fuck me," Riordan groaned. "That's not an invitation, by the way."

Kyle's lights flickered in sympathy. "Was it such a traumatizing experience?" the bot suddenly asked.

Fuck, he was one clever bot. "Yeah, between you and me, it was. It fucking scared me." That wasn't the whole truth, only what he allowed himself to admit. "Don't let Xana know, if you can. I'm sure he won't be able to understand. Shit, I have no idea why I load your memory with this kind of stuff. It's not like you can understand, either. I'm not blaming you or anything."

Kyle moved by his side and did something to lower his main body, as if he, too, was taking a seat on the floor, just like him earlier. "I am here to serve you and help you."

"Gosh, Kyle, you're starting to make me think you have more humanity in you than these Xeno assholes. You know, that Xeno, after that bearer went through all that ordeal, having the egg and going through the fucking breaking of his ass, that guy just grabbed his brat and got out, without one look back."

"Master Xana would never do the same," Kyle said serenely.

"So he says. He wants me to carry another egg. Still, I can't get it out of my head, how that bearer looked. I know, I mean, the guy's probably a dumb bitch, not necessarily dumber than me," he quickly added, "but still. I suppose that Xenos like mine are not exactly common, then."

"Master Xana Lei is remarkable among his peers," Kyle continued. "He finished his studies--"

"You've told me," Riordan interrupted the bot. "But that's not what I'm talking about. He says that he has a certain position on bearers, one that's not shared by many."

"His Royal Chancellor agrees," Kyle pointed out.

"You're quite well informed for a domestic bot, you know," Riordan remarked.

"I am aware that such things might be of interest to you, Master Rio. I want to serve you to the best of my capabilities."

Riordan put one arm around what had to count as the bot's back and rested his head for a moment against the cold metal. Then, he moved away and sniffled. "Can you tell me what's going to happen with the bearer I've just witnessed giving birth? Is that the kind of information you can access without getting in major trouble?"

Kyle appeared to take a moment. Then, he began talking. "His name is Cario Hamen. Owner -- Drato Menor." He paused for another moment. "I don't see anything about what you asked me. Initially, the bearer was supposed to serve at The Magical Swan until retirement."

"The Magical Swan? For real? My educated guess is that it must be a brothel."

"Not quite so. The establishment is kept by an Earthian. It is a place for entertainment, but intercourse is not included on the list of services."

"Then it's what? Some kind of host club?"

"Yes, the term is close in meaning," Kyle agreed.

Riordan shook his head. "Count on Earthians to think up ways to get into profitable business everywhere they go. Wait, do Xenos drink? I mean, alcohol?"

"No."

"Then what do they do at The Magical Swan?"

"The employees are having their abdomens filled with seth and then execute intricate performances for the delight of those watching."

Riordan pursed his lips hard. "Fuck these pervy fuckers. It doesn't exactly sound like a good place for that Cario dude. And you're saying that he was supposed to go there after delivery? What changed?"

"That, I don't know. But that entry appears to have been erased recently."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Riordan asked.

"I don't know," Kyle said apologetically.

"Don't fret, my man." Riordan patted the bot's shoulder. "I like to think that the guy's owner changed his mind and that he's going to keep him around. There's also the possibility that he wants to get rid of the poor fucker by selling him to the Black Market or whatever."

"The Black Market?" Kyle asked.

"Don't act so surprised. Xana threatened me with it the day I put foot in here. I see, so there are things I know and you don't. The Black Market is for the really kinky stuff. Like the one you mentioned, but The Magical Swan... that's all out in the open, right?"

"Yes. There's no such thing as a Black Market."

"Xana said--" Riordan began and then frowned. "That fucker. He just wanted to make sure I'd make an obedient bearer. He must have lied to me... or you just don't know about such things because you're not allowed to."

"You can always ask Master Xana if he lied."

"As if he'd say even if he did," Riordan said and snorted. "Now, look, if you can, just keep an eye on this Cario dude. I'd really want to know what happens to him."

"How would that be of help to you, Master Rio?"

"Are you asking for a friend?" Riordan joked.

"I don't have any friends except you," Kyle replied.

"I meant Xana. And it was a joke."

"I'll memorize it. I see. It's because Master Xana cannot be my friend, or I, his."

"You got it. Now, how about some foot massage while I make sure to catch some sleep. I don't want Xana to see me with my eyes all swollen. Since it's practically for this face that he keeps me around."

"That's not true," Kyle contradicted him.

"Oh, please, enlighten me more."

"It is also for your ass, Master Rio."

Riordan stopped for a moment and then burst into laughter. "Oh, fuck, you really know how to tell a joke these days, Kyle."

"Thank you, Master Rio. It was my intention. Your laughter confirmed it."

***

It was late at night that he got up from restless dreams. Kyle had offered a mild sleeping pill, but he had refused on the account that he didn't want anything bad to happen to the egg, regardless of how safe the medication was. He'd opted only for some soothing seth, in the end, but it looked like the mind was a powerful adversary, after all. "Xana?" he called out as he rubbed his eyes. Great, he had slept through the day and now he wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Unless his master had some means to keep him busy and exhaust him, as usual. "Xana?" he called out again. "Kyle?" he added, when he realized that his master wasn't at home.

"I'm right here, Master Rio," the bot replied promptly.

"What's with Xana? How is he not home at this hour?"

"He is caught up in a very important meeting."

"Okay."

"Would you like to watch television shows from Earth? I can prepare dinner," Kyle suggested.

"Not yet. I want to wait for Xana for a bit longer."

"As you wish, Master Rio."

Riordan linked his hands over his belly, enjoying its roundness. He wanted to have Xana home and give him a verbal thrashing for making him watch a bearer getting abandoned, although he knew that he had absolutely no grounds for asking for anything or acting like that. Still, he couldn't care less about to what he was entitled and he wasn't. Xana needed an earful; also, he would be able to tell him what was going to happen to Cario. When he'd first arrived on Xeno, he'd found all those perfect looking dolls annoying and a bunch of assholes. His pregnancy, however, made him feel like poor Cario, no matter how much of a bird brain he had, needed someone in his corner. Since his owner looked like he couldn't give a shit about him, someone else had to do that for him.

As he was brooding over how to fuck up a Xeno for a change, at least by playing the role of a nagging asshole, he realized that there was a possibility for him to learn what was going on right now where Xana was. He closed his eyes and tried to remember how Xana had encouraged him to do it the last time. And Tasha had said that the mind reading or whatever they were doing between them also worked over large distances. It was worth a try since he wasn't in the mood for watching stupid shows and wait forever for his owner to come back from work.

He focused, keeping his eyes tightly shut. He began by thinking hard of Xana. He could picture the snakeman in his mind, so majestic and towering over him in that frightful manner of his, his green eyes glinting, the sly smile quirking his lips. A sigh poured out of him. That was a handsome fucker from the waist up. Actually, he had come to like that tail, too; plus, the Xenolite that he and Xana were having would have a tail, too.

The playful smile on Xana's lips as he appeared in Riordan's mind began to change into a straight grim line. His emerald eyes no longer sparkled with mischief, but they were set hard, and he appeared to focus hard on something. "Fuck me, it's working," Riordan murmured to himself.

Through some sort of magic, he knew he could see through Xana's eyes. The room his owner found himself in was very tall, with smooth walls, and it looked like a cave made of steel. As the eyes of his mind adjusted to whatever was there to be seen, he realized that the cave had to stand for the equivalent in this world of a conference room. There were a few dozen Xenos there, and they were all standing, aligned in rows according to a rule only they knew. The expressions on their faces were various degrees of grim, angry, and suspicious.

"How does this work?" Riordan murmured to himself. Wasn't he supposed to hear what they were saying? Then again, probably not, since he could only read Xana's mind; it wasn't the same thing as being there.

Then, all of a sudden, his head filled with voices.

I don't see why we should change anything. That was coming from a Xeno with deep grey eyes and a tall forehead. Something in those eyes gave Riordan the willies. His lips weren't moving, so that meant that the Xenos in that strange room were communicating telepathically.

It is a chance for our species. That was Xana's voice, which Riordan could recognize from a thousand now, and it felt like it was coming directly from his own head. It was steady and authoritative, not one tinge of the playfulness or even cruelty he sometimes used while talking to his bearer.

A chance for what? To become less?

What makes you believe so?

Riordan started when the first Xeno moved fast, coming directly at Xana. As the eyes of his mind saw the scene, it felt like that alien was going straight for his throat. Now, that face, so grim and harsh, was right in his face. While he felt the need to recoil, it appeared that Xana was holding his ground without a problem. Know your place, Fanir.

The Xeno continued to stare, but eventually slithered his way back. Still, there were heads turning, and Riordan could clearly see bifurcated tongues moving in and out of their mouths. Without knowing what that was, he could tell that it had to be a sign of anger. Some of that was directed at the protester. Others, against Xana, without a doubt.

He felt his skin getting cold. He wanted to last a little longer, watching through Xana's eyes what was happening. Young bearers from Earth like Cario were meant for a life of whoredom, and while they seemed so helpless, they had an effect on the society of these aliens.

I call for a vote. Who is in favor of allowing Xenos to keep their bearers in their households until they die of old age?

A few Xenos murmured, as much as that could be named that. It was a sound like nothing else Riordan had ever heard in his life. It was menacing in nature. And no one was saying anything, or so he thought.

I see. Those of you who are in favor, know that I will call for attention on this topic at a later date. This is not over. Riordan perked up his ears. Although I don't know why you are here, my naughty bearer.

Startled by that last bit, spoken playfully by Xana, he lost the connection. He opened his eyes and blinked repeatedly. Xana had caught him in the act; damn, did it mean that he might end up getting punished when his owner got home? His owner hadn't sounded mad at him, but one never knew with a species so different.

Kyle appeared by his side. "Master Xana communicated to me that I should have dinner ready. Do you agree with this menu, Master Rio?"

He watched the menu displayed by the bot on his screen and shook his head. "Whatever you do, I'm sure it'll be great. I suppose you're preparing worms and insects for Xana, or something gross like that. Would it be too much if I told you that I don't exactly want to eat by his side? It's for the sake of the little one," he said.

Kyle's lights flickered with what he now knew to be some sort of proof that the bot was amused. "Master Xana wants to eat the same dishes as you tonight. He said, and these were his exact words, that he wants to have dinner in the family."

"I'll be damned. Someone must be watching those stupid shows from Earth I don't care about. Okay. Just keep close, Kyle. Let's say I just crashed a meeting I wasn't supposed to, and Xana might have in mind to give me a spanking."

"I cannot stop Master Xana from doing that to you," Kyle said apologetically.

"I know. But maybe, although I'm not holding my breath, he might not feel that comfortable to do it while you watch. I know, I know, you don't have to say it. He'll do it either way."

He barely had time to finish his sentence. Xana was home, and he had just told him in the same playful voice from before.

tbc

AN:

@cannd - I knew that would be a tough thing to witness - but let me give the spoilers I believe I can without spoiling anything - the guy in the bathtub will appear again.

@geemeedee - you noticed something interesting about the Xenolite - Tasha and Riordan wouldn't have been able to help in any way - they're not strong enough not only to take on Xenos, but also to break a thick wall of glass.