Riordan looked at the bot for a moment, and then burst into laughter. "I stand corrected, homeboy. You definitely got it. You know, that sense of humor."
"I see. Then I believe I should take the time to work on my jokes. Do you believe I would be successful in doing crowd work?"
"Damn, you're a fast learner. Now, Kyle, I have a bunch of dangerous things in mind, and--"
"I am your homeboy, Master Rio. Please, let me in on your plans, as dangerous as those may be."
Riordan took a deep breath. Xana had warned him that it was possible to receive punishment, regardless of how pregnant he was. And there he was again, tempting fate, like usual. But he wouldn't be himself if he didn't tempt fate a little, right?
"That guy, the Earthian. The one allowed to live. Do you have any idea where these Xenos would keep someone like that?"
"I'm afraid I do not have the clearance for knowing such things."
Riordan began thinking. "Do you think we could probe around, see the transfer logs for various cargo? Something as out of ordinary as that should stand out. I mean, they would need some special accommodations for getting a guy impregnated with a dozen eggs or so."
"Anything you could think of, Master Rio, would be very helpful."
"Xana didn't let me see where we were when he showed me Lewis getting fucked and mindfucked by those horny young dudes," Riordan said, mostly to himself. "But something tells me the facility can't be that far away. Or do you think they had something prepared just in case that some Earthian terrorists landed on their lap and they wanted to run their fucked up experiments?"
Kyle kept silent.
"Well?" Riordan insisted. "If you count on me to be the only idea guy in the room, I don't think it's going to go too well. I have little knowledge of how they run things here, on Xeno."
"I thought you were talking to yourself, and I didn't want to interrupt."
Riordan stared at the bot. Kyle was getting good at reading his reactions, even something as subtle as that. "I was, that's true. But now, I need your input. Where would they keep someone they'd want to run some experiments on? Delicate experiments, such as stuffing the poor guy's belly with their eggs until he bursts."
"I will examine the data right away." Kyle said nothing for a couple of seconds. "There are several possibilities."
"Wow, that was fast."
"Master Xana installed some upgrades so that I could serve you better."
"That's sort of cool, but it also makes me fucking suspicious. He could use you to spy on me."
"That is not new information, Master Rio. He could always do so."
"Yeah, you're right. You don't have to rub it in. I know I'm walking on thin ice here, but--"
Kyle's lights flickered for a moment. "A call from Tasha, Master Rio. Will you take it?"
"Yeah, sure. Put him through."
"How are you, Riordan?" Tasha asked right away. "Call me crazy, but I had one very strange dream and wanted to hear you so badly."
"What was the dream about?" Riordan asked. He couldn't dismiss anything when it came to these fuckers. They could even put ideas in people's heads if they put their mind to it. Great, he was starting to behave like a paranoid wuss.
"It was silly. Never mind." Tasha shook his head. "How are things between you and your master?"
Riordan shrugged. "Ah, you know. He's a prick. I'm his favorite asshole. He just made me sign that I agree to him putting as many eggs inside me as he wants."
"Why would he do that?" Tasha stared at him, visibly confused.
"Kyle here tells me Xana wants to marry me. I don't think so. He wants to see how much I can take, more probably. Just one of their crazy experiments, I bet."
Tasha frowned slightly. "Experiments, huh? Like in my dream."
Now that sounded more interesting by the minute. "Tell me about that dream, Tasha."
"Ugh, I don't know. It was very confusing. I was deep in sleep, but I could hear voices around me. They were Xenos, but I could understand them perfectly. You know that thing they do when they communicate with only their minds? It was like that, but the weird part was that I knew that I wasn't supposed to overhear them."
"I see. And what they were talking about?"
Tasha pressed his temples. "My head hurts ever since I woke up. They were talking about making bearers into something else… I don't know for sure. One of them was saying something such as: wouldn't you like to have your bearer with you, raising your Xenolites until they reach maturity? They talked in a very formal way, but I could tell they were friends. And another voice mentioned you. He said: Xana Lei's bearer is already in the program. Or something similar. I'm not sure that he used the term program. It sounds a bit like I invented it."
"Well, I don't know how much of that was a dream, man," Riordan said and felt a chilling sensation seeping into his bones. "Because, let me tell you, that thing with the eggs put inside me, I think that's the program."
"You think?" Tasha seemed not entirely himself, confused and a bit scared. "Yes, it must be it. What did you do to get on that program?"
"Don't tell me you're interested," Riordan said with a scoff. The look on Tasha's face told him everything he needed to know. "Oh, fuck, man, for real?"
"You know Marn doesn't care about me. Once I deliver the egg, I'll be… discarded."
"Hey, hey," Riordan called to his friend, "don't do this shit to yourself. First of all, that egg is Xer's, and that punk seems to care about you. As much as they're capable of that. Second of all, it's not like you belong to Marn, not anymore, right?"
"I do. The fact that I'm pregnant with his son… well, I'm starting to suspect it's the kind of secret everyone knows."
"Shit, man," Riordan said and pursed his lips. "And do you really think being used as an egg pouch all your life is some sweet deal? I might act tough, but I'm scared shitless."
Kyle suddenly intervened. "That could be what the experiments are for."
Riordan made a short sign at Kyle to zip it. Tasha's bot was also recording their conversation. And he wasn't a good guy like Kyle was.
Tasha nodded thoughtfully. "Well, congratulations, Riordan. I envy you, but I guess that's not the thing you want to hear right now."
"You know what? I'm going to start poking around, to see what Xana knows about this program. Let's see what snakeboy has to hide."
"How are you going to do it? Spying is a serious offense here, on Xeno."
"I'll find a way."
He had no idea what that would be. But he intended to do his best and more.
tbc