After a while, Ray lands in front of the cave with an audible thud and pops his head inside, while keeping his paws outside, causing Julia to shriek again.
...I really wish, she'd express her surprise in a less high-pitched manner.
In his maw, he carries a very fresh prey animal...fresh as in 'Still moving'.
"Sirus hurt. Sirus need eat."
"Aww, you shouldn't have...but still, thanks a bunch. Ever since Nym has been so busy at the colony, there has been a lot of green on the table. Let me just prepare this one, then we can have lunch. Just like old times, huh?"
No response...yeah well, 'the old times' with Ray were...probably not exactly the happiest memories for him....what with being leashed all the time, because we needed to be afraid of him killing us in the night.
...I guess I was confusing him with Zero again...but Zero is dead.
...better remember that, if I am to make Ray work.
I finish the small animal off for good and hang it on the 'blood rack'.
"Say...why did you come back? I mean, I know you said that I needed you now and I will not claim that I'm 'just fine', but...I'm curious."
Ray eyes me with a peculiar look in his eyes, but does not actively respond.
Instead he pulls his head back out of the cave and plops himself down in a sunny spot near the cave entrance.
"Fine, don't talk then..."
"Did...this Ray really just bring us...food? Why...why would he do that?"
"Yeah well, we're sorta his pack...his family. And you know how it is with family, don't you? You look out for each other."
"How...that...does Ray really know the concept of 'family'?"
"As I said...he and his kind are very intelligent. Give them opposable thumbs and they just might start using tools to make their lives easier."
"But...he...he is just...an animal. I'm sorry, I know..."
"And what, Julia, is a human? Or an Asmodean? Are we not also 'just animals', who happened to learn how to walk upright and use tools. The biggest mistake you can make out here, is to underestimate the creatures. To think, they are 'just animals'...or even worse, 'just dumb animals'. They are not dumb. Not by a long shot."
After lecturing Julia, I check the animal Ray had brought back...apparently the blood had finished trickling out and the fire would certainly take care of the rest.
I ignite the fireplace, which, thanks to the fresh blood, bursts into flames on my first attempt and finish skinning the animal before putting it on the roast.
The pelt I reach to Julia, who just looks at me puzzled.
"What...am I supposed to do with that?"
"You only made clothes for myself and Nym thus far. Unless you want to go naked in the long run, which I really can't recommend, you'll need some extra gear yourself. That pelt should be about the size of your pants."
"Um...actually, about that..." Julia starts, looking at the pelt with shaking hands.
Just as I want to ask her what's wrong, Ray outside starts barking.
"What does he say?"
"...no clue. Sounds like a warning of some sort though."
"But...but can't you understand what his barking means?"
"Actually not. It's more like...a voice in your head, y'know? When he's nearby, I can sort of understand what he's saying...but not with my ears, if that makes sense."
Julia gives me a strange look before getting into my face, apparently looking for something and knocking lightly against the skin near my temples.
"Julia, I enjoy boobs in my face as much as the next guy, but...what do you think you're doing?"
Julia withdraws herself and shakes her head, "No trace of an implant..."
"Well, I could have told you that...but what makes you think I might be implanted?"
"Because of what you just said...it reminded me of the 'whisper' function of the implants. When near another implanted person, we could talk with them, without actually using our mouths or ears...like a voice in your head."
"...yeah well, I'm not implanted and, just in case you're wondering, he isn't either. So that can't be it."
"...and you say, that Nym cannot hear him either?"
I shake my head and add laughing, "She even called me a 'prophet' because of that crap...cause you know, I could hear voices nobody else could. And before you get the wrong idea: I'm pretty sure that I'm not crazy."
"Never said you were...hmm...Melinda from the research department would be very interested in studying this phenomenon."
"Hey, Sirus! You dead in there?! Do I need to shoot the watchdog to find out?!"
"Oh crud!" I shout, bustle to my feet, completely forgetting about the piece of meat still on the fire and rush out of the cave as quickly as my feet would carry me.
Upon seeing me step out, Nym leaves her hiding spot and comes walking over, apparently very relieved that she did not have to let go of the arrow.
"It's okay, buddy. See? Nym is not dead."
"Old mate still afraid of Ray?"
"Yeah well, she probably didn't recognize you, that's all."
"...back to talking with dogs, huh? That's...Ray, I'm guessing?"
"Yup, it definitely is. You're just in time for lunch, actually."
"...lunch? Don't tell me you went out!"
"What? No! No, Ray fetched us some...oh crap, I left it over the fire!"
I sprint back inside, almost tripping over my own two feet.
"...yeah, I missed you too, big guy," I hear Nym say, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Fortunately, Julia had stayed behind and kept turning the meat over the fire, preventing it from turning black.
I thank her and once it is done, I cut it into three equal pieces.
"The...Ray is getting the same amount as the two of us?" Julia asks, obviously surprised.
"Of course. First off, he was the one who fetched it in the first place. Second, he's a big guy and needs to eat accordingly."
"And third, he is not our pet. He is a friend...right, Sirus?" Nym adds.
I nod and take Ray's helping outside.
When I come back in, Julia states, "You're back early today. Did something happen? Or did you finally find a way to fix the colony?"
Nym leans back a little and looks up to the ceiling.
Julia is right. Something did happen.
To give Nym some time to formulate her explanation and to keep Julia from pressing the matter, I address her, "Say, before we got interrupted, we were talking about why the Asmodei took in girls like you instead of opting for...less busty specimen."
Much to my surprise, it is not Julia who answers my question, but instead by Nym, who says, "You were talking about the criteria for the humans, who were moved to block A?"
"Err, yeah. Cause you see, Julia here would seem rather...unattractive to the general Asmodean male, wouldn't she? What with her boobs and all."
"I assume you mean the nursing sacks, when you say 'boobs'...but as a matter of fact, they were of very little consequence in the selection process."
Julia makes herself a little more comfortable and asks, "Alright, now I'm curious too. What criteria did you have then?"
Nym leans against the nearby cave wall and scratches her head.
"To my knowledge, there were only a few reasons, why a human child was removed from their block...one of them was, naturally, that the child caught the eye of a 'scout', mostly due to having beautiful hair, good skin and a suitable equipment between their legs."
"Wait, did you just say 'human child'?!"
"Ah yes, of course, you didn't know that, did you? All future servants to Block A were recruited prior to achieving adolescence. The methodology behind this was, that a child would be easier to educate to the ways they were expected to behave from that point onward."
My fist clenches, but I don't start yelling.
It's no use yelling at the messenger, after all...though I wish, she would at least show some empathy for the families ruined that way.
"Now, I know that this might sound horrible to you, but please, do try to think about it from the viewpoint of the child. They got an actual education, were fed well and regularly, got clean clothes to wear...they got to enjoy the life, which was usually reserved for the Asmodei."
"...yeah, and then they got brainwashed into doing whatever their masters demanded, huh?" I say, my voice spiked with venom.
"Actually you are confusing something right now. Those who were chosen to be 'adopted' by an Asmodean did get implanted, yes...but they were not 'brainwashed'. You are thinking about the 'dolls'...a truly despicable practice, to say the least."
Nym fetches one of the bottles from the nearby rack and takes a sip before offering it to me and Julia, but we both decline.
Nym shrugs, closes the bottle again and puts it down next to her.
"The 'dollification', for the lack of a better term, was a punishment. If a human was caught stirring up trouble repeatedly and that the usual punishments did not show any sort of effect and if they met the general criteria for being an Asmodean servant, they would be implanted with a very special implant, which pretty much destroyed their personality entirely."
I gulp, remembering how often I was 'reprimanded' for speaking up against the Asmodei...I wonder how close I was to become one of them.
"Personally, I never was a big fan of such practices, which is why I did not submit any members of my personal charge to this process," Nym proceeds to explain, as if she had guessed my question.
However then something strikes me as odd.
"...hey Nym, I have a question...you just said, that you 'never submitted troublemakers to that procedure'."
"Yes, that is correct."
"But...I clearly recall that one incident, where that one guy...what was his name...something with B...Bobby? Billy? Eh, let's just call him Billy for the sake of the argument, not like you'd remember him. Anyway, he'd only just found his sweetheart and then the Asmodei suddenly came in and dragged him out and we never saw him again."
Nym raises an eyebrow, tilts her head and finally shakes it, "You are right, I do not remember anyone by the name of 'Billy'...I could probably look it up in the archives, but I think I have a fairly good idea, what happened...he probably violated the mating chart, which is the third reason, why a person gets moved."
"The...mating chart?" I ask, remembering the diagram Eva had shown me.
"Yes. But...before I satisfy your curiosity on this matter, there is something else I need to talk to you about...something important."
"...and...what would that be?"
"Sirus, Julia...I need you to return to the colony."
"...say what?!"
Well, now I'm really curious to hear that explanation...