Worth Something to Someone. (2021)

[Sunny POV]

I don’t know where in my life got me to this point, but in this moment I internally swore at my creator for making me this way. Perhaps if I was an entirely different person, or a different race or species, my life wouldn’t have panned out as horrible as this. I didn’t think at the end of the line, I’d be face to face with the ends of three different gun barrels, all smoking hot from their previous kills. A few unlucky viants laid motionless next to me. I was simply next in line.

I was fully expecting to die right then and there. As if them being able to capture me and throw me onto their ship wasn’t already a mockery to my strength, they managed to beat me down enough that I couldn’t fight back. My knees locked listlessly to the cold metal floor, my hands on my legs trying to quell the endless quiver of my nerves. I didn’t want to give my captors the satisfaction of intimidating me but my body betrayed my thoughts. I was terrified.

“Good for nothing Ei’ku.” The viant in the middle spat, a flimsy cigar with a sickening odor poked out of his mouth. Cigar turns to his lackeys and they give him a quizzical but disappointed look; like they came back from the market and brought back the wrong meat. In this scenario, I was the meat. “You fuckers can’t even bring back a REAL bandriex. I can’t even use it for anything. Who’da thought bandriex defects exist?”

I grind my jaw together, trying to keep all the unspoken words and cries of retortion locked away for the sake of my safety. It was funny. Even when near death, the universe still found a way to ridicule me for my race. No matter where I went, there was no escaping my fate.

“Any last words you fuckin’ bug, huh? You’d rather I finish you off here before I do something even more degrading to you.” Cigar chuckles, the barrel of his blaster charging up. Every cell and bolt in my body shakes in repulsion, disgust and disappointment; that I have been reduced to nothing but an ant. As I pondered on that thought, a question popped into my head. 

Was I worth something to someone?

Deep down, I wished I was, but I knew that it wasn’t my place to think that I did. If I mattered to someone, I wouldn’t be in the storage bay of a pirate ship begging for my life. With my heart beat drumming in my ears, my life flashed before my eyes and I squeezed my eyes shut from regret. Even with my life playing right before my eyes, it was too miserable for me to watch. I inhaled one last shaky breath and waited for my end to come. And waited. And waited. And waited. 

The end didn’t come. I forced an eye open and when my sight adjusted, the captors that were once towering over me were scattered across the floor, some scrambling to aim their guns at the force that had them on the floor in the first place. Shots. Screaming. More gun fire. One by one, their faces were splatter across the walls and floor, my shoes soaking up the blood from their flowing corpses. It was a grotesque miracle. Had someone come to save me, or were they so eager to kill their first bandriex? 

I didn’t dare turn my head but instead kept my gaze at the floor where one of my captors fell. A fallen face looked up at me, one bloodshot eye and half their skull blown off. I didn’t realize that some of their brain matter drenched my lower pants. I was in no position to be disgusted. I shiver in my spot like an abandoned dog. It was pathetic.

I hear footsteps come my way and my body goes rigid. When the mysterious gunner enters my peripheral, I get a decent look at them. It was a tan human man with many tattoos, ragtag attire and a half shaven head with locks that barely made it to his eyes. He took the opportunity to look me up and down quizzically, almost comically. He didn’t look or dress like my captors. Perhaps he was a rogue pirate? After assessing me, he shrugs his shoulders and then starts walking off, his attention focused on a room across the hallways. “You’re welcome little guy. Now get the hell off this ship before you become dog meat again.”

I was surprised by his mercy. As much as instinct told me to heed his words and get out as fast as possible, I betrayed those thoughts. I couldn’t tell if it was the shock or the urge to do something rather than nothing but I hesitantly got up and on my feet. My body still ached from the previous wounds the captors inflicted on me. Following the bloody trail the human man left behind, I trailed quietly, eventually catching up to him and watching his every move.

He didn’t notice me following him. If anything he probably thought I was going to retrieve something and then leave for good. When he realized that wasn’t the case, he turned around sharply, squinting daggers at me. “Are you lost or something? The exit is that way.” 

He points in the opposite direction we came from but I didn’t look back. I didn’t say anything else either. What was there to say? It was best I don’t say anything until I could feel like speaking again. The tattooed man wrinkled his nose and then walked off. I followed behind. When he stepped, I stepped. When he stopped, I stopped. It was a small game of redlight-greenlight until he was fed up. He walked up to me and glared.

“Listen. I don’t know if you’re deaf or mute or anything but I know USL.” He proceeds to wave his hands around in absurd-uncoordinated hand motions while he speaks his thoughts. If I knew any better, it looked like he was doing a weird mating dance. “GO AWAY. I don’t need a pet!”

I blink. Pet. I’ve been called worse. The man tries several times to get rid of me but to no avail. Once he realizes that he has wasted so much time on me, he leaves me alone and proceeds to explore the ship. He busted down several doors with a single kick, gunning down excess henchmen like he was on a special mission. When they were dead, he would loot their bodies and steal whatever was valuable in the room. For someone who could tear through a group of pirates without a passing blink but decided to spare me was… I didn’t know how to explain it. I was grateful. I needed to show my gratitude somehow.

The man continued to ignore me and entered a well-guarded room. A metal man-sized vault sat in the middle of the doorway. He blew off the keypad and opened the door. Inside, without even planning anything, quickly grabbed whatever he possibly could until I peered inside to see the vault’s contents. There were piles of currency and seemingly expensive jewels and gadgets.

He was stealing them. I guess I wasn’t so surprised. After collecting and gathering and shoving things into laundry bags(?), he laid out his items neatly into some semblance of piles, trying to assess what was worth more and what was more portable. After playing eeny-meeny-miny-moe with himself, he lifted four bags with two on each arm. I was impressed. I didn’t think he had the strength to lift something so full and heavy but I was proven wrong.

When the man turns around to walk off, he spots me by the doorway and glares at me once more. “That's MY shit. Don’t fucking take it.”

He hobbles off, his pace now staggered since he was carrying so much stuff. When he was a good distance away, I grabbed the rest of his stuff. One for each arm. I followed the man up hallways and stairs until we reached the roof of the ship. Apparently, he managed to bypass the ship’s security system, lock his ship onto the captors’ ship and sneak in. After climbing through the airlock, he entered his ship and dropped his bags onto the floor. He spins around to retrieve his other bags but jumps when he sees me shuffle onto the ship and drop my load next to his. 

He stood puzzled as to why I was helping him out. He opened his mouth to say something mean-spirited and vulgar but visibly backtracked. He instead sighed and closed up the hatch of his ship, surprised he was allowing me to stay. “No funny stuff. You saw what I did to those guys. I won’t hesitate to blow your brains out. Got it?” 

I nod. He widens his eyes, surprised I actually understood and responded to him. He holds out a limp hand, one that I didn’t notice was a robotic hand until I got a closer look. I hesitantly take his hand in mine and we shake, his handshake more spirited than mine. An unamused look crosses the man’s face as he figures out a way to introduce himself.

“S0UL4R1S. THE Soularis. With a zero, four and a one. I don’t know if you know me but I was pretty infamous back then. Could make the universe hurl at the mention of my name.” I curl an eyebrow. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that name in my lifetime. He frowns when he sees my reaction and yanks away his hand offended. “Nevermind. Ugh. People these days.” 

I made a note to do some research to humor Soularis. Plus, I was curious. What did he mean by “back then”? Was he a criminal when he was a teenager? He looks pretty well-experienced in the art of crime to mow down a ship of people in the span of ten minutes. While deep in thought, Soularis gives me a long, irritated stare. “Are you not going to tell me your name??? I told my name. Now tell me yours.”

I stare. I didn’t really have a name. Or at least a traditional name that was socially acceptable. I side glanced for a second before rolling with the first thing that came to mind. “Butler.”

“Butler?! What kind of a shitty ass name is that?” He frowns deeper. He looked disappointed that my first word was a word like butler. “I’m not calling you that. Get a better name.”

“I do not have another name.”

“Do you have like… a number… or a letter? Or like a favorite celebrity or artist you like? Steal that name, I don’t know.” Soularis crossed his arms. I have no idea why he was so irritated that I didn’t have a name. Was he deadset that I didn’t have a name that was degrading? Any normal person would be fine with butler. But then again, Soularis was probably not normal. 

“24771-D.” I say indignantly. “My license number.”

Soularis still wasn’t satisfied. He grumbled while looking me up and down. “Are you a robot?? Or like those really advanced cyborgs? Never seen a model like you before.”

“I’m a bandriex. So I’m partially mechanical. I was given the serial number 24771-D.”

“Man, you’re fucking weird.  I’m giving you a real name now.” Soularis holds his chin and squints his eyes, like he’s trying to manifest the name out of me. “S…So… Sonn… Sunny.”

“Sunny?” Like a warm, summer afternoon on a green planet somewhere in the vast universe? The name seemed like the very antithesis of who I actually was. In a way, it was comforting.

“I don’t know. It seems to fit you. Yellow. Bright guy kinda thing. Are you a guy, I can’t tell with viants these days-”

I nod and he sinks in relief. “I like the name. Thank you Master Soularis.”

“Ew. Don’t call me master. Thats fucking creepy.”

“I have no other reason to refer to you as someone of higher status and worth.”

“You’re weird.” Soularis walks off with a shrug. He urged me to be by his side and he gave an impromptu tour around his ship. He haphazardly pointed to each room without care. Kitchen, storage room, janitor's closet, main deck, bathroom. Each room I was introduced to was filthier than the next. I wondered how Soularis could show any of this off without shame. “Guest room. Guest room. Another room. Don’t know what this room does. Another bathroom. Oh shit that’s where my boots went!”

Now carrying his newly rediscovered footwear, Soularis continues the ship tour. Every room was riddled with garbage that Soularis would occasionally remember and take along with him. The more I looked at the rooms, the more I could feel this unbearable itch tingling across my body. I had to clean this. I need to clean this.

“Alright. My room. Disturb me and I’ll fucking kill you.” Soularis snarled. I was beyond fear anymore. If anything, his ship was scarier than his threats. He slips into his room with his new treasure and shuts the door behind him, not even letting me take a peek inside. I was left in the hallway all by myself. I figured now would be a great time to start killing time. Hopefully Soularis won't mind.

Rolling up my sleeves, I decide to tackle the smallest room first. 

-----

I cleaned for about 8 hours, some of which went by fast, some went glaringly slow. I finished the majority of the ship’s important rooms. The kitchen was cleared of built-up grime, dirty plates and piles of instant food packages and wrappers. The living room- or was it a gameroom- was deep cleaned of dirt and hidden splotches of dried viant blood. Did Soularis murder people here over a game of pool? Wouldn’t doubt it.

I even cleaned the bathroom. I’ve cleaned a few rooms in my time but never a bathroom as grimy as this. I couldn’t scrub down the walls completely but I was able to rid most of the surfaces of blood, water, smoke and mold stains. I’d never thought I’d see so many types of stains in one surface area. There was a first time for everything.

After that, I stood around realizing that I had nothing else to clean but only one other room. Soularis’ room. I wasn’t sure if allowing myself to enter would be a death wish but I was on a death wish marathon and there was no sign of stopping. I don’t know why I subject myself to this but I still opened the (unlocked) door and let myself inside.

As expected, it was the same level of catastrophic that I had seen in the other rooms. Unorganized piles of junk, some of which looked like it was going to topple any minute, laundry everywhere, and there was a faint stench that I couldn’t ignore. In short, his room was a pigsty. 

Soularis was passed out cold. I even tried to poke him but he remained dormant. So much for “fucking killing me”. How long does he often sleep anyways? What if I were to stab him in the throat right now? Well, I guess I couldn’t judge. I did allow myself to get cornered and captured by viant traffickers. Using the time Soularis was asleep, I sweeped the floor, did his laundry, cleared his nightstands, and then slowly chipped away at the heaping piles of junk. I had lost track how many times I walked in and out of that room. Soularis was still knocked out cold. Snoring and all.

I decided to put the kitchen to use since we were both going to be hungry. After making use of what was in his freezer (it was a giant freezer room and yet there was close to nothing edible inside of it), I heard pleated boots making a goose march in my direction. When I turned to look, Soularis was comically furious, stomping up to me with his hair frazzled and his eyes still worn from sleep. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY SHIT?”

I blink. “Storage room down the hall. All of it is there.”

“I don’t trust you! I bet you threw it all out! This place wouldn’t be so clean otherwise!!!”

“I can show you.” I say calmly. I eventually led him into the storage room where all of his stuff was piled into neat, organized piles. Soularis tries his best to be mad but in a disbelieving way. In the end, he was satisfied with my work and I was relieved he liked it. There was a dramatic change to his tone, like he finally realized he should act more mature. He followed me back into the kitchen where I put on a mysterious, unused apron. He looms over me and the food, trying to figure out my very obvious course of action.

“What the hell are you doing? Where did you get that silly little apron?” He asks.

I turn to the cutting board and prepare to shave down some vegetables. “Cooking.”

“You cook?”

“And you don’t?” It was obvious he couldn’t cook to save his own life. The silence that followed my question only confirmed it. How on Eiandraku did he live out here on his own for this long? “There was almost nothing in your freezer. Only spoiled or rotten food or instant packages. I’m making soup from the only good ingredients you had left in there.”

Soularis stands in silence trying to figure out what else to say. When his mind comes up blank, he sighs and then shoves his hands into his pocket. “I guess you’re worth keeping around. I trust that you won’t kill me in my sleep or whatever.”

I turn around, feeling my heart pick up in my chest. “No sir.”

“Then uh, good. Welcome aboard.” Soularis walks off to inspect what else I’ve done with the ship. As he’s looking around, I get back to cooking. As professional as I tried to be, I feel my chest teem with giddy; like someone told me I had won the galactic lottery. I was worth something to someone. The mere thought had a grin dancing across my face.

As I chopped away, throwing the vegetables into the pot, I made a mental note to myself. Buy more groceries.