Indokani

Desperation

Examining the room, Larb realized it was a detention cell. He saw a door and crystal window in front of him, though he couldn't see anything. This place must be an interrogatory chamber. He couldn't see the sobrekt, but they could see and hear him. Thankfully, his ocular implants had X-rays. He saw the scientist from before, a few guards and another sobrekt female in a white lab coat.

The door on the side of the room opened, and the female came in. She looked like a mix between a kryvtor and a sobrekt, probably a half-breed. She certainly didn't look happy. Larb tried to crawl away from her, but his restricted arms hindered his attempts. She immobilized him by pressing a talon against his leg.

"I see, so you're the little bug which was peeking his antenna in others' business? I thought you'd be taller." She said casually. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Syberia Scylla, HybGen's head geneticist, creator and chief supervisor of Project Zimkro. How should I call you?"

Larb bit back a snarky reply. This half-breed was the mastermind behind that monstrosity. She couldn't find out why he was here or that the Tallest had sent him.

The half-breed eyed him for a good few minutes. "I see my little project left you in quite a bad shape. Good, it means it will be able to protect Hitorken Zim." He said nothing yet. She frowned. "You are in so much trouble, you know. Not only because you trespassed into restricted Sobrekt territory, but because you allowed the Zimkro to escape."

Larb raised his lekku. "Escape?" Damn it; he had done what the Tallest had wanted to avoid!

"That's right. In your rush to leave the habitat, you left the doors open, and the Zimkro flew out. It usually wouldn't be a problem, but it's designed to survive in the vacuum of space, so you surely understand how this complicates everything. Zimkro can go anywhere in the universe at this moment."

"Why did you even create that monster, to begin with?!" Larb found himself asking. "Do you realize what you've done?! There's a fucking clone of Zim out there!"

The sobrekt merely raised an eyebrow. A few seconds later, chuckled. "I suppose you are not a friend of HitorkenZim, are you?"

"I'm not, and I'm not ashamed to say it! That maniac is a disgrace to the Irken Empire! Frankly, I don't understand why you lizards put him on a pedestal!"

"Of course you wouldn't understand it, Irken. Your people only see the part of the picture you want to see. As soon as your soldiers don't match with the standards set by your Control Brains, you label them as 'defectives.' You fail to see the true potential of a white indokuro*."

"What do indokuros have to do with the issue?!"

Dr. Scylla pinched the space between her eyebrows. "It's a saying, Irken. The point is that everyone, even such a complex person such as Hitorken Zim can have their perks if properly harnessed."

"I thought you were crazy, but now I'm sure you're completely and hopelessly demented!"

"Anyhow, we're not here to talk about Hitorken Zim; we're here to talk about the consequences of your actions. I could very well hand you over to the K'agek so that they extract the information from you, and I must warn you that their methods are much more orthodox. I'm sure the Shuryo would be glad to deliver your head to your Tallest personally."

Larb had always been good at reading people, stemming from his extensive Invader training, plus the need to think ahead of his victims. Vortians weren't that hard to figure out; they were naturally trusting of others, which led to their downfall. Sobrekt were the opposite. They knew how to conceal their emotions and thoughts perfectly well. This characteristic applies tenfold on this half-breed. He had no idea what she was planning to do with him, if she'd be faithful to her word and leave him at the mercy of the Shuryo's bodyguards or if she'd use him as a guinea pig of some sorts.