Shouldn't Be Alive

TW: SELF-HARM

Cirava sat in their hive and leaned back in their chair. Their fingers flew across the keyboard as they sent out yet another chirp, "if highbloods killed as many people in game as they did lowbloods irl they might actually be successful as streamers lmao".

They smirked and turned up the music already blasting in their headphones. It was fun stirring up shit with highbloods, and it's not like they could do anything. Calling out highbloods that weren't the heiress was one of the few things not punishable by death... yet.

Not that Cirava really cared, as long as no one tried to enslave them, that was fine. That would put a damper on their streaming career.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside. Cirava shook their head, trying unsuccessfully to clear their mind. Someone started screaming.

Cirava clambered over to their window and was greeted with the sight of three imperial drones closing in at frightening speeds.

With a muffled scream, Cirava dove under the table. They hit the ground with a thud and grunted as the breath was knocked out of them. A dull throbbing began in their ribs but they ignored it, opting instead to focus on the more imminent danger.

"Shit, shit, shit, " Cirava muttered, trying to calm their breathing. They wracked their mind, what could they have done to draw the attention of drones? 

Oh wait, Cirava swore under their breath again, "Those fucking highbloods must have called them on me. Idiots. Always take things so personally."

Suddenly, it dawned on them what exactly this meant, "They're going to enslave me."

In a panic, they scrambled out from under the table and down the stairs. An explosion sounded in the room they'd left but they didn't dare look back.

"They are not going to take me," Cirava said over and over again, "They are, wait what are you doing?!"

One of the drones had apparently broken off and blown the door clean off its hinges. And there was only one reason it hadn't made its way to Cirava yet, it was busy fighting Cirava's lusus.

A hole had been punched through the bottom of the wasp's nest that their lusus usually stayed in and the lusus in question was trying relentlessly to stab the drone with its giant stinger.

"No! Stop!" Cirava shouted and their lusus turned towards them in confusion. In that moment, the drone shot one arm forward, blasting a hole clean through the lusus. It dropped out of the air and hit the ground, shaking the entire hive.

Cirava's eyes widened and they ran back up the stairs, the drone hot on their heels. "Oh shit," they muttered, "Did that just happen, I can't believe that just happened."

They skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs. If they went into a room they were trapped. But the drone was coming up the stairs and fast. Cirava glanced over the railing and, there, the couch. It was crazy but being enslaved would certainly be worse.

They waited until the drone had nearly reached them before jumping over the railing, screaming the whole way down.

They crashed into the couch. There was a loud crack and Cirava screamed, clutching their arm. Their vision swam and they could tell they were close to blacking out but the buzzing of the drones snapped them back to reality.

"I need to do something about my psionics," Cirava slurred, stumbling around towards the kitchen. Another explosion came from somewhere on the other side of the house propelling them into action.

Cirava soon reached the kitchen and slammed the door shut, locking it as fast as possible.

They then immediately began fumbling around for something that might help. "How do I fuck up my psionics?" Cirava muttered, "Well, where do psionics come from... eyes! Burn out your eyes, no more psionics! Cirava grinned then shook their head.

"No, that would take too long, plus it would attract too much attention." Suddenly, their gaze landed on a spoon lying on the table.

"Bingo."

Cirava lunged towards the table and grabbed the spoon, "Here goes nothing," they whispered, gritting their teeth. Not wasting another moment, they plunged the spoon into their eye.

A moment later, Cirava let out a scream that echoed around the room but they didn't dare stop. Then it was over. Gold blood spilled down the side of their face and the room seemed to spin.

Their face burned in searing pain and a moment later, they blacked out.