Dog of War

Camila put the last of the mess in the decompiler and frowned. The cleaning may be done, but there was still a lot on the night's docket. Viola had said fae would be here in about half an hour. She had been mentally going over her points and arguments for keeping the course. More than that, she needed to make some decisions about the girl's domestication. There had been the occasional doubt before, that maybe she could in fact reach a point where she could live independently. Camila could see she had been mistaken then, there was no longer any doubt that Princess needed an owner. Both halves of her. 

 

Camila honestly didn't fully understand what the little one had meant when she finally responded to the question. She had only narrowly managed to keep the poor thing from needing yet another dose of Class E after asking about it. Then she babbled for five full minutes, attempting to clarify and reiterating the same few things. 'A prism with two refractions 'Identical and different.' 'Two parts of the same individual.' 'Separate and not separate.' 'Myself and I.' She said she had never talked about it before, and kept apologizing for 'failing to accurately describe it.' 

 

It was at the least clear that she saw herself as one sophont composed of two sophonts. What wasn't clear was the exact nature of her plurality; the kind Camila had been taught about was a bit different than what the little one seemed to experience. If they swapped, Camila had never noticed. Princess claimed they were both always aware of the other, and acted in tandem, for the most part. A unique duality, then? A system of two that was always co-fronting? She was perhaps out of her depth on this matter. 

 

It had, however, given her ideas for which way to mold her pet-to-be. 'Princess' had initially been but a moment of inspiration, but it did present her with a path forward. It would be precious if the cutie were to verbally use 'We' and 'Us' like they clearly wanted to. That shouldn't be too difficult to accomplish, the hard part was getting her to broach the subject without inducing panic. Having them meet another pluribus should provide results, but there were a few backup ideas. Cordelia had shared some interesting things with her when she returned; Princess seemed to be harboring a few fledgling fetishes Camila could use to nudge her along. Maybe she could tie a few triggers to the pet name as well? She clearly needed a few to help her calm down when she started getting anxious, if nothing else.

 

Princess wanted it, too. Or more accurately, there was a part of her that craved the structure and comfort being a pet would bring. The girl had even trusted Camila at her lowest moment. She couldn't accept that she did, not until she healed, but it was evident that she wanted to let go. She had even sunk into her biorhythm on her own! By the Everbloom, the little seed had been so adorable in the bath! However, helping her find her way into Camila's vines while only giving her nudges wouldn't be easy, especially considering her trauma.

 

Camila had been piecing together what she could of the girl's story, and she had never wanted to be more wrong. The large scar on her throat, her fear of and obsession with collars, her reaction to the monitor beeping, the 'massacre' she had mentioned... It all painted an incredibly bleak picture. She had never hoped to be wrong about something like she did about this. That someone would use a collar of all things in such a manner made her sick to the very depths of her core. It felt sacrilegious. Collars were a symbol of love and trust between an owner and a pet, not... not for that! Dirt, no wonder the girl was so emotionally fragile and constantly afraid. Stars, if she ever got her vines on Princess' former owners... Her injectors itched just thinking about it. What else had they done to the poor girl? She couldn't even discuss topics near the subject without bursting into tears, and that was when she was on a heavy dose of class Es. All that fear she had been allowing to fester inside herself. Camila had the feeling she hadn't even gotten everything that was eating at her either, just what had been bugging her the most at the moment. 

 

Still, she knew the shape of it now, or at least the head of it. She had the tools. She could start.

 

Jess chimed. "Miss Verdun, Mx Amaryllis is here!" 

 

Camila felt a nervous prick; time was up. She turned her thoughts to Princess- she could do this for her. 

 

She opened the door. Fae was huge, nearly the size of the Captain, "Ahh, Camila! It is so nice to finally meet you. May I come in?" 

 

She stepped aside, "Please do, I prepared some enriched mineral water for the both of us. Princess is on class Zs so we won't have to worry about waking her up." 

 

"Ah, yes, 'Princess.'" Viola was clearly amused as fae followed Camila into her room. "I still stand by my opinion, but you have been doing much better than I thought you would."

 

Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult? "Thank you. Although at this point I honestly think she's closer to a stray than a feral." Camila took a seat in her chair, and offered a jug of water to her guest.

 

Viola took it graciously, setting it down in front of the small alcove Camila had installed for when Cordelia came over, and taking a seat. "I do mean that, dear; Princess' past shows some very ingrained feralism and more violence. Truthfully, I was a bit shocked to hear how far she's come with minimal xenodrugs."

 

Camila felt a surge of pride. Princess had been doing so well in her vines lately. "I'm not sure anyone has ever actually shown her kindness, she hardly knows what to do with herself. If it weren't for her trauma, she likely would have asked for a collar by now."

 

"Yes, that's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually." Viola dipped a vine into the jug, stirring it twice before letting it rest. "Have you read all the files?

 

"Yes. All of them." Camila had wished she hadn't. The little one's prior lack of empathy had lent itself to a number of horrors. So many sophonts... so much hurt to bear too. 

 

"Have you thought about what I said?"

 

"I have," This is what Camila had been preparing for. "and I agree that she needs domestication, but I'm not going to move for immediate domestication or give her up."

 

The air between them soured a bit. Viola hummed, "Are you sure that's wise? Dragging it out like that can end up with the little one hurt again, and only delays her getting the help she needs. She's certainly done enough to warrant it, too, and you want her. Why do it this way?"

 

"Because the little one deserves it. Because one day she'll be there and realize she's safe, loved, and happy. That she doesn't want or need to leave, because she's already home." Camila could almost see it; Princess in her vines, gazing up into her eyes, and letting herself feel safe in them. Hers, not just in name, but in spirit. 

 

Viola smiled. it was a smile Camila had seen on a few older Affini before; fae was thinking about an old floret. "You have a great deal of love for her. I'm still not sure that's wise though. From your own reports, she's easily panicked and extremely anxious. Doing it slowly could backfire, and lead to breakdown or more damage. Even if it doesn't, she may never be able to admit it without a heavy Class D."

 

"I know." Camila bowed her head. "If she gets stuck, or gets worse, I won't let her suffer needlessly. Of course, she'll be mine regardless after the trial, but I hope to spare her that."

 

Viola softened, and reached out a few vines towards Camila. She took them and fae spoke with that same smile, "You know I was fairly surprised to see she already had a notice filed. Even more so when I saw it was a first bloom with no expertise in special cases like hers. I would like to apologize for what I said last night. We may disagree on the best course of action, but it's clear you would make a wonderful owner for her."

 

She did it? She did! Camila had obtained approval from the Ninth bloom that doubted her! "Thank you, that means a lot to hear. I must admit, I had doubts myself, especially after she got hurt and relapsed a bit. I'm more sure than ever now." She had Cordelia to thank for that. If she hadn't helped her pick herself up, Camila may have given the girl up. 

 

"It's good to have some doubt," Viola nodded. "It keeps you open to seeing things you would otherwise miss and helps us strive to grow." 

 

Camila hummed in agreement. Providing for Princess was sure to require her to grow even more. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you." 

 

Viola sighed, and took out her pad. "I suppose I should tell you a few things I noticed looking through her files. Tell me, did anything seem like it was missing or stick out when you looked through?"

 

A lot had been missing, most of the files had been severely corrupted. Even the xenoarcheobureaucrats couldn't entirely recover them, with fragments to whole passages missing. "Just that she's older than she says she is, and that they were heavily damaged, which is unusual for OCNI files." 

 

"Yes, that certainly is odd, but anything else?" 

 

Camila wracked her mind, was there anything else? It was largely just painful to dwell on how hurt the little one had been, but a few oddities surfaced. "There wasn't anything on the company she originally belonged to, or any of her personal paperwork at all." Black site or no, there was normally some sort of paper trail. 

 

"Exactly," Viola nodded. "I know that the priority must be her recovery and domestication, but considering what's likely in her files, if you can find out the location, they would make lovely additions to the xenoarcheobureaucracy. Did she come with anything that could store memory on it?"

 

"A few things in her quarters, but they were mostly full of data on her crewmates." The cutie had come with little else besides the clothes on her back. "The rest was a daily activity log." 

 

The older Affini was lost in thought for a moment "I see..." Fae sighed, "well, if it turns up then, I suppose." Viola stood up, and clapped a hand-like mass of vines onto Camila's shoulder, "Thank you for hosting me, and hearing me out. My advice is still for immediate domestication, but if you ever need help digging into her past, feel free to contact me." 

 

Camila placed her hand on top of Viola's. "I will, thank you. Do you want me to show you out?"

 

"Oh, no need," Viola waved her hand before holding up a single vine. "Just one last request. I would still love to spend some time with the little one, when she's more settled in."

 

"Of course," Camila nodded. Viola smiled one last time, removed her hand, and left. She felt a wave of relief as she heard the door to the Vervarium close. That had gone way better than it had in her head. There was still just a bit more to do before she could turn in for the day. 

 

Camila opened a message to Cordelia.

 

[FrequencyFlower]: Viola just left, fae gave me faer approval and blessing. Fae's going to back off.

[FrequencyFlower]: Also it appears Princess is in fact a pluribus, and I was wondering if you could do me a favor

 

She didn't have to wait long for a reply.

 

[ComfyPlamnt]: I'm glad! I knew fae would back down once fae met you. 

[ComfyPlamnt]: and for you? Anything. 

 

What she ever did to deserve a friend like Cordelia, Camila could only guess.

 

[FrequencyFlower]: Could you ask G'Bhiv if his floret is available for a playdate?