The following is the Intellectual Property of Willem Tobey (nom de plume). Usage outside of personal entertainment purposes will bring shame upon you and your family. This writing\story\novel, its characters, and the events portrayed within are purely fictitious. Any similarity to other writings\stories\novels, characters, and events are purely coincidental and unintentional.
WARNING: May contain coarse language, violence, gore, or sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 16. “What...am I?”

Troy was pushed down the same halls. At least it seemed like it. There were many of the same figures as before. Through blurry eyes, they all looked similar: Fur, muzzles, long ears, zigzag legs…scales? That was new...here anyway. They all seemed to be nude. Troy wasn’t sure if that term was accurate considering the fur. Did they consider that nude?

They passed a couple Troy remembered seeing before that were still kissing. Troy had to wonder if they needed to drink or use lip balm as humans did after kissing that long. One door they passed had smaller manimals in it. Not a lot like out in the halls. Ten at most. It looked like a classroom. How were they engaging in sexual situations with the classroom door wide open like that? It didn’t make logical sense.

Troy closed his eyes and tried to rub his head again. The lights and the motion blur was causing his headache to flare up again. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought he nodded off. When he opened his eyes again, he was being pushed into a room. He heard a female’s cries - much like when he entered Alundra’s chambers. Troy saw what he thought was the...Major?...and...the bull?

The Major had her large hands around his neck. His wrists were bound above his head to the headboard and his ankles tied to each end of the footboard. She raised her thick arm and cracked an object across his chest that looked like a handle with several thin, roughly six-inch leather strips poking out the end. She wore a leather corset and knee-high boots while he was wearing a leather hood with no visible holes in it.

“Oh...shit!” The guard man behind Troy exclaimed in a hushed tone. Troy heard the telltale boot and thigh clap behind him as if the guard was saluting. “Apologies, Major, sir! Commander, sir! I was not aware you were going to be here.”

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” The Major yelled as she scrambled off the massive bull and attempted to cover herself with her hands.

“Mmf! Mmf-mmf?!” The masked bull called from within the mask as she fumbled with his bondage.

She pulled the ropes on the headboard and footboard free before turning to the intruders. She looked furious. She stepped over and scooped up her robe and leather panties. She jumped into the panties and twirled the robe on quickly. She grabbed the Commander’s clothes and threw them at him. He sat up and unzipped the mask. He looked puzzled at first, then furious as well. He slid off the bed with his still erect penis protruding from his groin. He had some kind of ring around the top of his massive testicles that made them stretch his skin out. He slid on his shirt and stepped into his underwear and pants. The thin cloth did little to hide what was going on down there. She walked towards the two and jabbed a finger into Troy’s, then the guard’s face. 

“Not...a...fucking...word,” she growled with a scrunched nose and fiery eyes. “I don’t think I need to tell you the consequences.” Her voice was shaking and she was severely pissed off.

“Same here,” said the bull as he started toward the door. 

She walked with him as he passed by her. The bull placed his left arm against her abdomen to hold her back, then reached past her with his massive fist. Troy saw that fist for a split second before it was against the side of his head. Troy’s ear popped and a high-pitched squeal was all he could hear. Troy reached up to cradle his head as his vision began to darken with orbs of light floating in his head. He breathed out as his head dipped forward.

******

Troy awoke in a bed that reeked of sweat, butt, and sex. He wasn’t in pain. He felt okay. Perhaps not one hundred percent. There was a nagging pain in his thigh. It was also very warm. No, it wasn’t pain. It was numb like something was pressed against it for a period of time. He couldn’t explain it otherwise. His whole body felt stiff. It made him wonder how long he was out. He closed his eyes tight and tried to move. Everything seemed to move as directed. He opened his eyes and turned to place his legs over the edge of the bed. He reached over and deftly picked a few pieces of brownish-yellow fur off his leg and a whisker that looked like it was singed by fire. It smelled like that smelly feline in here.

Troy touched his feet to the floor. He could actually...feel it. He brought his hand up and wiggled his fingers, then clenched his fist. His eyes weren’t blurring either. He stretched his arms, hands, wrists, back, and then neck to the chorus of many pops and the pinging feeling of pain from his joints and stiff muscles. He stood and did some more stretching. He felt good. He felt lighter. He also felt stronger than he remembered. Everything seemed effortless. He looked at his arm and saw some of the green stuff flaking off. He looked back and saw the bed covered in green flakes from his body. There was a strange humming sound. He looked around, but couldn’t see anything he could think of that would make that sound. It sounded like it was coming from outside the door. Like a person was making that noise.

There was a switch next to the door. Troy slowly walked over - the humming getting louder - and pressed the switch. The door slid open and into the frame. It reminded him of the doors on the other ship. Only creakier and screechier. A canine guard jumped in fright and struggled a bit with his gun until he pointed it at Troy.

“Fucking hell!” He yelled and lowered the weapon. “Scared the shit outta me,” he breathed out and took a more upright stance. “Get some fucking clothes on, you freak! President Alundra wants to see you.”

The guard turned away and spoke into his wrist. There was a loud confirmation through the...communicator? Troy heard them speak about him - “the human” - and that they were on their way.

Troy looked down and saw that he, indeed, was still naked. He thought some clothes would be nice for a change. A chest resembling a dresser was against one of the walls. He pulled open one of the drawers to find shirts. He picked up the first one. It looked very used and stained. So did the rest. They smelled clean - as comforting as that was. He didn’t have a choice to be picky. He picked up one and looked at the size of the first shirt. Three XL. He picked up another. Same size. He looked through the rest of the shirts to find them the same size. He picked out a black shirt with a strange design on it, then pulled it on. It felt like a sleeping shirt. 

He opened the next drawer. Pants. They all looked large like the shirts and just as dingy. He opened the rest of the drawers to find them empty. No socks. No underwear. He didn’t want to waste any more time. He picked out a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring on them. He pulled the ends of the drawstring tight and then bent down to roll up the legs. The floor felt a bit cold against his feet, but the shoes lined up next to the dresser were all too small. Troy sighed and closed the drawers, then picked up the communicator - that Alundra gave him - from the top of the dresser and slid it into his pocket. Once he was ready, he headed towards the door.

“Follow me. And don’t try anything stupid,” growled the canine.

He was rather large with brown, sagging ears, white fur, large brown spots, and jowls that hung from his muzzle. A shaggy brown tail stuck out of the back of his pants that had a slight curve to it. It bobbed slightly with every step he took. Every few yards, he would glance over his shoulder at Troy. He cradled the barrel of his gun against his left forearm while his right hand tapped the trigger guard. 

	The path they followed became more familiar once they passed an intersection. That must have been the residential area. This was a large hallway that seemed to connect other parts of the ship together. They passed by the medical bay, a restricted access door, then through the command room into the throne room. It seemed they cleaned up the destroyed doors and were fixing it up to repair the track to hang new doors.

Once inside, Troy could see the Doctor - who seemed to be clutching a folder against her chest - the President, and her adult...companion - the Commander. There were a few others as well. A set of armed guards flanked behind the couple. 

A reptile creature was standing next to the Doctor. She seemed to be grass green with a yellow-green band from the tip of her snout to the back of her jaw that dipped inside her coat on either side of her neck. It was also around her eyes. Her neck and inside of her hands were an eggshell white color. Her eyes were a rich emerald green. Her hair was a bit of a mess and looked to be thick as yarn strands in a dark jade color. It reminded him of Shark Lady. That brought back painful memories. She was wearing a lab coat similar to the Doctor’s. A thick tail protruded out the back until it thinned out as it reached to the floor and seemed to drag the remaining six inches behind her. 

The President stood. The guards and Doctors stood at attention. She was wearing a lovely white dress that showed ample cleavage and her left thigh down to her hooved foot. It was tied at her waist with a thick ribbon or waist sash. She was a lovely creature.

“Rest easy, friends,” she calmly said and brought her hands together by her abdomen. 

The group eased into a neutral state.

“Mr. Troy,” she started while briefly pointing with her hand at him. “You look better. Well, even…” She trailed off and sighed heavily. “This is good. I’d like to continue our conversation someday. But, for now,” she said and pointed at the Doctor with her hand. “Doctor, if you would.”

The feline stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Yes. What I have discovered is very...very interesting. She looked over from Troy and to the President. “And, um, disturbing.” 

Troy wasn’t sure if those eyes were pained or sympathetic. He really needed to get better at reading their facial expressions. Yes, they were similar, but the subtle nuances with the muzzles and ears were complicating things. The fur covered up some subtle hints as well.

She turned to face the President and continued. “His genetic makeup is definitely what we consider pure human. Ironically.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. Not ironic. Uh,” she said and seemed to be struggling to find the correct word or phrase. 

She seemed to mouth and whisper a few words under her breath. Troy heard several words that were similar to “ironic.” He wasn’t sure what she was trying to say. The President shifted her weight on her hooved feet and seemed to be losing patience.

“I...I don’t know what to call it exactly. But, we have a very similar genome. Not only that, but he seems to have a marker similar to ours, but one that’s not similar in other human genomes. Any other genome for that matter. This is important with what Doctor Emma has to share.”

The Doctor held out her hand to point at the lizard, then placed it back on the folder. 

“Another note of interest is that his neurological scans show recent signs of significant trauma. EKG scans showed misfiring synapses inside of his brain. Nothing in his genetics or neuro scans indicate any indicators of aggression. No other significant behavioral markers are present. There is a high level of synaptic activity in the brain and a higher oxygen level indicating a higher intelligence and possible retention and recollection level. Be that as it may, it seems his learning curve is flatter than what we consider normal.”

Troy knew that look. That was the look of a devilish or mischievous grin from indirectly mocking someone. 

“The last thing of note is the more tragic part.” The Doctor looked uneasy. Almost uncomfortable. “The...only original...parts left of his human body are the brain, eyes, and skeletal system. All other biopsies suggest Furrillian, Reptilian, Amphibious, Cetacean, and Avian descent.” 

The President’s eyes grew large. So did Troy’s. The Doctor continued as Troy’s stomach - if it was even his - felt queasy. 

“We did a brainstorming session and concluded with a few hypotheses. One hypothesis is that our enemies are sadist and seemingly ritualistically cultist. This is a loose connection, but could explain the next hypothesis. We don’t have an exact term for it as it doesn’t exist to our knowledge. Fictional texts explain it as “Frankensteining” - the act of piecing together parts of another being to create a new one. The last hypothesis involves cloning, but we nearly debunked that one. The last one involves our collective assumption based on recovered data: harvesting or farming. Um, again, Emma has more information to share in that regard.” She sighed and shifted her feet as she pulled the file from her chest and held it down against her thighs. “Needless to say, we don’t believe him to be a spy or anything along those lines. He seems to be just a victim of abduction and experimentation. And…” She looked down at the floor with a solemn look about her.

The President cocked her head with her interest peeked, but patience waning.

“There’s...something strange about him,” she finally said. 

The President looked irritated at the revelation. The Doctor seemed troubled. She finally looked up at the President.

“I can’t really explain it. It’s just,” she said and seemed to struggle with her words. She tapped the folder with her fingers. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” she said quietly as she looked down at the floor, then away to an imaginary spot on the floor. “It’s...just...that...the...the more I work on him, the more I’m...drawn...to him. I want to say it’s a “nerdy science” thing, but it’s not. He...smells different. There’s...something in his eyes. And...that same “something” scares the shit out of me.”

“Enough, Doctor. I don’t need another one of my people swooning over this human,” the President said coldly. “If you want to fuck him, fuck him. Just, please, stop verbally masturbating to him in front of me.”

“That’s not,” the Doctor muttered as she looked embarrassed at the floor in front of her and clenched the folder in her fingers.

The President’s expression showed a lot of irritation as she glared at the feline. She finally blinked and softened her expression as she looked over at the scaly one. 

“Doctor Emma. Your findings.”

A thick, pointed tongued licked at the lips around the reptile’s snout. She stepped forward - her tongue stopped and was peeking out of her mouth on the right side. She blinked...twice? No, that wasn’t it. She had two sets of eyelids. Troy found this fascinating. She nudged her glasses up her small nasal bridge on the top of her wide snout.

Emma’s voice was soft, gentle, and that of an angel you’d see in video games and movies.

“I think he’s gay.”

Her eyes squinted as her mouth widened with a mischievous grin of her own. This time, it was Troy’s expression that soured as Doctor Bridgette snorted into a quiet chuckle. The President lowered her head as she raised a hand over her head and stepped towards the reptile. The feline and reptile were met with a loud “smack” on the back of their heads. The lizard’s lips separated and her teeth squished her tongue through the slight opening between them while the feline cried out in pain.

The President’s irritated glare turned into a chuckling smile. “Winged Savior dammit, Emma. Stay on track...please,” the President said as she worked out the remaining chuckles from deep within. 

The scaled one looked back at the lady behind her. Again she nudged her glasses up with the back of her first finger. 

“More precisely, despite the alterations, he is pure human. We can trace that back to our ancestry - as we were once humans that were spliced with animal, reptile, cetacean, avian, and other DNA. We share those common markers in our DNA. More precisely, he has a mutated gene, as well. There is another outlier. More precisely, an extra, seemingly blank chromosome. It’s not like XXY or XYY, just...more precisely, as if there was supposed to be something there, but there’s not. A blank canvas that can be openly written upon given the right tools. I can’t begin to fathom its purpose or understand it. More precisely, I haven’t had time to fully explore our database to see what the mutated portion of that particular chromosome does to affect him, nor the function of the blank one.”

President Alundra moved her hand back to her midsection and clasped her hands together. She seemed deeply interested in these findings. So was Troy. He wanted to see this for himself. He felt his heart beat rapidly out of excitement - and a bit of nervousness. Mutated genes were nothing to joke about. And what’s with this blank one?

“Go on,” Alundra said calmly after a moment.

“Well,” Emma said and shifted her weight on her thin legs as she turned to face the President. Her tail swayed to one side as she looked down, then back up. Her glasses were partway down her thin nasal ridge. “We extracted a microchip from his brain that contained encrypted data. More precisely, we’re trying to decode it. More precisely, there’s symmetrical, bilateral, and alphanumeric cross-thatching preventing us from decoding it. Based on firsthand accounts of their craft’s contents, what we’ve collected from data mining, and their inventory of encrypted and unencrypted medical databases, we feel they were searching for something. More precisely, we believe they encoded whatever they were searching for onto that microchip. More precisely, it’s a microscopic insect that can store vast amounts of data within its body due to its high concentration of electrons. We feel that information has something to do with him being of the Sapien species as opposed to our own.”

She stopped talking but seemed to have more to say. At least it seemed that way. Her lips fidgeted.

“More...preci-,” she went on but stopped. She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Disturbing,” she finished and nudged the frames up her nose. “We’ve decoded files containing proof of them cloning. Cloning while altering certain genes - like gender. More precisely, if cloning didn’t net the desired result, they would alter their gender. This would…”

Her expression mocked someone in pain - like wincing. Alundra noticed and spoke up.

“Emma...Doctor...we’re all adults here. We’ve been through and seen a lot. You’re always free to speak your mind and leave no details out.”

Emma seemed to settle down, but her lips were still pressed together and curved in at the front. She sighed and continued.

“It involves the data we’ve collected so far. More precisely, it seems that they cloned a few of each species. Then, they made alterations to the DNA to make a cloned male - the other female. Then, they cloned those clones. Then, when all the clones were old enough, they’d put the clones of each specific species inside a room, pumped it full of pheromones, and allowed them to reproduce. More precisely, the cloned “siblings” reproduced. The results were...horrifying.”

There was a murmur in the room, then some low conversations. Alundra cringed, but she tried to breathe and remain the face of her people. It seemed the consensus was that they found what they did vile and disgusting. Emma looked down as the crowd grew louder. 

President Alundra raised her hand and waited. The room instantly quieted down. Troy was amazed at the control or respect she held from her people. Her hand motioned towards the Doctors for them to continue.

“More precisely, we believe this blank chromosome was what they were trying to create inside the clones. It may be the key to our sustainability and allow mixed breeds. However,” she said and glanced at the floor. “We believe they were trying to force a mutation similar to Troy’s. Inside the data we’ve decoded, there were no successes. All beings created in this manner were abominations that have been destroyed after analysis. They were failures. They were doing this mode of reproduction since their natural reproduction has come to a halt - much like our own. More precisely, this is all the current data we have containing information on them, their reproduction, and any leads that point towards our guest.”

Emma was more visibly distraught and it showed through her gradually softening voice - especially when she was explaining the cloning and destruction part. Her hands gripped her lab coat and squeezed so hard her knuckles became the yellowish-green color like her striped markings. Her cheeks also seemed to be a shade darker than they were a moment ago. Her eyes met Troy’s briefly before she looked down at the floor again.

There were more murmurs and hushed conversations.

“I see,” Alundra said causing the noise to cease. She tapped her fingers on the back of her hand. “Not only are they hostile but, more precisely, they’re,” she said and instantly stopped herself as she clenched her teeth. She closed her lips and continued. “They’re barbaric. Despicable.” She looked down at the floor. The tapping on her hand stopped. She looked over at Emma. “Emma, my love, keep at it. We must know more. With my contact confirmed dead by our guest…” 

She seemed to have more to say, but the mention of her contact - Shark Lady or Marle - still choked her up. She looked over at Troy. It sounded like she hummed. She looked away and started to walk to her left, then back to her right. She stopped and looked at Troy again. She seemed to be staring at him. She glanced away to the Doctors as they looked back at her.

“Doctors, continue your research on the green stuff. That takes priority over researching the “uniqueness” of our guest. I’ll have Arianna continue her research on the suit and the weapon. Emma. Bridgette. Keep at it.” The President turned towards one of the guards at her side. “Sergeant, fetch the Major and the other ranked officers for a briefing after dinner service. Also, inform them that dinner will be free and served if they arrive a half-hour early. Finally, soldier,” she said and looked at the canine guard behind Troy. “Escort our guest...Mr. Troy to the showers, then back to his room. I’m sure he’s hungry so I’ll have a plate delivered to his room to tide him over until dinner service.”

The canine saluted.

“Lastly, a warning,” she said and looked over all eyes in the room. “The next one that harms Mr. Troy in any way without justification will be imprisoned, demoted, and equally punished if not outright banished.”

A collective gasp and a few whispers traveled throughout the room. Her expression was serious and her tone was almost sinister. The Commander seemed to be gripping his fists extra tight, but held an even expression.

“And to those that think I let Suka, our resident feral, go unpunished for her actions against her own, think again. You’re very much misinformed. She is currently serving her time and punishment accordingly.”

The murmuring and low conversations began again. There were nods of approval and fists pumping out of excitement over that news.

“That is all. Dismissed,” Alundra said and returned to her throne.

The group saluted as she moved and began to file out of the room. Alundra seemed to have quizzical look about her as she sat on her throne. She must’ve been deep in thought.

“Time to go,” the canine said softly behind Troy.

Troy looked at the canine. He seemed to have a sour look about him. The grip on his rifle was stern, but not as ready to fire as he was before. Troy watched as he turned, then began to follow him out of the room. He noticed the scaled one was looking at him over her shoulder and beyond Doctor Emma as she passed by. Perhaps not. Maybe it just looked that way. The others seemed to steal a glance his way as they moved. It could have been his imagination.

As they walked through the halls, Troy could hear the canine growling. Not openly, but as if it was trapped in his throat. Troy reached for his communicator, but decided against it. He more-or-less already knew why the canine was so upset. There was no way he couldn’t after his first hand experience with these aliens so far - their perception of him. This conflicted with his thoughts of even caring what they thought about him. He couldn’t help that he kind of did care. He wasn’t one that wanted enemies. It was unsettling that they all viewed him as an enemy. It wasn’t like he chose this or had anywhere else to go. Home would be nice. If it was even still there.

His thoughts went back to that time. It wasn’t perfect by any means. It was a lot better than this. All the strange creatures. The strange ships. The feeling of not belonging. After what the Doctors said, it seemed that most of him did.

“What...am I?” He thought as they continued to walk through various hallways and archways. “I, as me, am just a brain, eyes, and skeleton with flesh, muscle, organs and connective tissue of a...of a beast?” 

Troy could feel his stomach turn. He closed his eyes and shook his head. No. That wasn’t his stomach. 

“Where did it come from? What further purpose did they need me for? They harvested so much of me already. Why piece me together with all of these parts of them? What were they doing with my parts?”

Troy had so many questions. Part of him wanted answers. The other part just wanted to end it all and forget all this shit that’s happened to him. He clenched his fists and gnawed at the inside of his bottom lip as he thought of ways to…

He smelled something familiar. He thought he saw someone dash from his view at the end of the hallway to his right. 

“And what does she want with me?”