Awareness and movement came in snippets to Viktor. His memory was foggy, but he remembered snatches of dark rooms, beeping noises, and whispered, unintelligible conversation.

He woke up sporadically, sometimes only for a few seconds and other times for a minute or longer. Often, it was just to open his eyes, squint in the bright light, and fall back asleep. When he was awake for longer, it was mostly due to adrenaline streaking through his system in a futile attempt to stay awake and get away.

His room, blurry and unfamiliar, terrified him. There were no bars and no scent of straw, but Viktor wasn't in Vok'Rul's home, either. He was being kept here against his will.

When he tried to get up, it attracted someone's attention. Viktor, startled by the sudden realization that he wasn't alone in the room, tried to lift his arm to defend himself. It didn't move.

He was tethered to the bed.

"Kohgrash, jah frh. Kas tih," their voice was deep and scratchy. He screamed hoarsely in response, but barely a whisper came out. Still, the alien took a few steps back, and Viktor couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.

The next time he came to foggy wakefulness, there was loud conversation happening above him.

"- like some animal!"

Someone answered with the Vokkrus language, growls and clicks. Their voice was hushed and calming. It just made Viktor more nervous.

"I don't care if you think that, you purple idiot! Viktor is not some deranged, rabid dog!"

More growling, this time a bit more aggressive. Viktor peeled open his eyes slowly, alarmed at the voices' hostility toward each other.

"He could be the second coming of Jesus Christ, for all I care. If that thing comes near my son again, I'll -"

"Dad?" he murmured softly, barely able to hear himself. The alien stopped talking, and Viktor suddenly felt pressure on the side of his bed. He turned to look, seeing his dad smiling tearfully at him. He shut his eyes again and slept once more.

The next time he woke up, it was dark. Someone was touching his arm, sliding something heavy and rough down toward his hand. There were jingling noises, like they were playing with a belt buckle. The pressure tightened before it disappeared completely. Something dropped onto the floor with a soft clang.

He hummed a question, cracking open his eyes to see what was happening. Soft, yellow eyes met his.

"Rohsh, cho'k," Vok'Rul's voice was thick with fondness and shaky relief. "Byr mrio, tih?"

Viktor watched as he stood up and walked to the other side of the bed, crouching down at his arm. The alien fiddled with something around his wrist, and he couldn't help but tighten his fingers around the claw that lay still in his hands. Vok'Rul chuckled wryly. Another ring of pressure tightened and loosened.

Viktor didn't fight back when the alien hesitantly reached out to pet his head, brushing his bangs back. His eyes fluttered shut.

Ezekiel's loud mouth woke him up next. "And she told me, guys, that'd she'd rather jump off the top of the Eiffel Tower than, and I quote: 'listen to me snore like a wild pig for another night'! Can you believe that?"

"You do snore," Nikolas's reply came. "You should get her something nice for putting up with you."

"Like what?" Ezekiel scoffed. A hand thumped on the end of Viktor's bed, and he opened his eyes in response. Ezekiel was thrown over the edge of his bed, arms thrown out dramatically. "She doesn't like gifts."

"Shut up," Viktor grumbled, closing his eyes again. He didn't hear their shocked, happy exclamations. He was already asleep.

Quiet giggling, child-like and mischievous, interrupted his dream about playing Uno with a dragon. He opened his eyes to see Rukka slumped in a chair against the wall, and Nohkka sat at the foot of his bed.

"Wha's'funny?" he asked her. She held out a piece of paper he didn't notice before. He couldn't really see the image too well, but there were a few red blobs on the paper.

"Tor'Rul, Kohgrash, Ffssk, Ffsska, mr!" she told him happily, pointing at each blob. Viktor nodded slightly, feeling his collar chafe against his throat. He murmured grumpily, shifting uncomfortably in the bed before shutting his eyes again.

The smell of starfruit, sweet like strawberries, was what woke him up for good.

"It won't work," he heard his dad say petulantly. There was shifting, and Viktor could imagine him crossing his arms in just the right way to make him look imposing. "That thing doesn't even taste that good."

"I think you're underestimating how much this kid likes food," Pedro returned, a smirk in his voice.

Food. Viktor needed to open his eyes, right now.

The light was unbearably bright. His head felt foggy, and when he moved it slightly to the right to try and get away from the light, he felt dizzy and nauseous. Silence settled over the room before excited, quiet whispers broke out. Someone touched his head, and he flinched away.

"Viktor," his dad said quietly. Confused and exhausted, Viktor had the vague sense of being impressed that the aliens had managed to mimic his dad's voice so well. Maybe whatever magic drug they had him on rifled through his memories or something.

The Mirror, Viktor remembered. He didn't know if he had made that whole thing up in an attempt to give himself closure about Turrkn, Nhafka, and Korrashkka. Honestly, he wasn't sure what was real, anymore.

"Fruit?" he tried to say, but it came out more as a fizzing sound instead. There was something lodged in his throat and nose. Slightly alarmed, Viktor tried to get up. His muscles shook with the effort, and when his dad pressed on his shoulders, he easily fell back into the bed.

He opened his eyes again, squinting against the harsh light. There was a loud scraping noise, and the light flickered off, muting the humming buzz. As soon as his eyes got adjusted to the - still too bright - room, he started to feel nervous.

His dad - wasn't he in the zoo? - was right in front of him, staring at him with happy concern. Nikolas and Pedro stood behind him, right at the foot of his bed. And Viktor knew he was dreaming, then, because the bed he was in looked just like the hospital bed Vok'Rul had laid in for ten days, just smaller and much closer to the ground. There were no beds in the arena or the place Nhafka had taken him. The room was a muted grey, filled with medical supplies that he had seen in the hospital and at the veterinary office.

He slowly dragged his gaze over to his right, noting with buzzing pleasure that there was a plate of sliced starfruit on the table. His Rubik's sphere was sitting innocently beside it. Viktor felt confusion mar his face. Nhafka couldn't have known this was his favorite toy. Was this really...? He turned his head back to his dad.

The collar rested heavy and constricting on his neck.

"Fake," his voice was unrecognizable to himself. It was scratchy and hoarse like he had gone months without speaking. Viktor felt despair rise up in his chest, and his face twisted into a hateful snarl.

"No, kid," Pedro said, patting his foot lightly. Viktor tried kicking his hand away, but all he did was move his leg slightly to the side. "This is real, I promise you."

"Of course, it's real!" his dad said loudly, astonished, making Viktor twitch in pain. "Why wouldn't it be real? I'm right here, Viktor, right here. There're no aliens that can hurt you."

Viktor's fingers curled around the claw in his hand, which was slightly squishy, now. His arm trembled with the effort of raising it, but he brandished the claw threateningly at the three of them. The faint beeping started to speed up in time with his heartbeat.

"Go 'way," he gasped, starting to cough violently. The three of them stepped closer, and he used all his strength to sit up, swinging his arm out. "No!"

"Viktor, it's okay," Pedro said consolingly, holding his hands up nonthreateningly. "Just calm down, and we'll explain everything."

Viktor's arm shook with the effort of keeping it in the air. Despite his best attempts, it dropped onto his lap with a thump. They seemed to take it as acquiescence that he was calming down and relaxed. He was the furthest thing from calm.

There was a hesitant knock on the door that had Pedro and Nikolas jumping slightly. His dad went over to crack open the door, aggression radiating off him in waves.

"We don't want to see you," he said, annoyed.

"Let him in, Oskar," Nikolas said gruffly. "He's the one who saved your kid."

"He's the one who got him in that situation in the first place!"

"Ka vra mria?" the voice floated into the room. Viktor's heart jumped, complete with a quick beep from whatever machine he was hooked up to, when he realized it was Vok'Rul. He wanted it to be real, he really did.

"V'Rul?" he murmured, lifting his head from the pillow. The collar scraped against his neck, and panic swirled in his gut. Vok'Rul said something, hesitant and slow. He couldn't understand the alien. His confusion and nervousness must have been visible, because Pedro slowly stepped forward, reaching up to his ear and taking out a slim, black device.

A translator, his mind slowly supplied, though it looked much sleeker than his. The man carefully slotted it into his ear. Viktor stiffened. There was no buzzing, no headaches, and no pain that came with it.

Vok'Rul stepped into the room, filling the entire space. The room was large enough to accommodate his height, the ceiling a few feet above his head, but he was hunched in on himself, eyes wide and pleading. He looked just as he did at the festival, only a lot more tired. More tired than Viktor had ever seen him.

"Can you hear me, little one?" Vok'Rul asked. Viktor nodded slightly, feeling wetness burning behind his eyes. The movement sent a shiver of pain rolling down his spine. He hurt all over, though it was strangely muted.

"Off," he demanded hesitantly, twitching his fingers up toward his neck. He needed this thing off. He wasn't sure why Vok'Rul had denied him the last time, but they could take it off, now, right?

The four of them looked awkward and pained. Vok'Rul broke the news with a gentle, "We can't, little one. At least, not yet."

The words took a while to settle in his mind, but when they did, his face twisted into anger and betrayal. His stomach swooped with the delirious thought that he was still just stuck in a glorified cage. "Why?" he whispered. Talking made his throat burn. His eyes burned with it.

Vok'Rul stepped closer. Or, he tried to. His dad stepped in front of him. It was a little comical - a six-foot man facing off a twelve-foot alien. Still, Vok'Rul stopped his slow approach with something like regret and pain on his face. "Kohgrash -" he started.

"His name is Viktor," his dad spat, full of anger. He was nearly shaking with it.

"Oskar, respectfully, shut up for a second," Pedro snapped.

"Victor," Vok'Rul said, the words strange on his tongue. Viktor furrowed his brow, impatiently waiting for an explanation. His fingers twitched over the claw. "Your throat has been harmed by your collar. So much so, that you should not be able to speak. We did not take it off because we feared it would cause considerably more damage than if we had left it be. We will take it off soon, I promise. Just be patient for me a little while longer, alright?"

Not be able to speak? Viktor's head reeled with the information. His neck started to itch, and he felt like it was choking him. He reached up, hearing the claw click against the metal. The sound reminded him of Nhafka and Turrkn. He wanted to throw it against the wall, but the thought of it being gone from his reach made him uneasy, fearful.

"You're real?" he whispered, bottom lip trembling. He felt as though his emotions were on klaxan, vibrating around his head and body as quickly as they could. "Real?"

"Yes, my little Kohgrash, yes. We're real," Vok'Rul whispered back, voice shaky. He cleared his throat. "They put you on delria, but it has been long enough since then. None of it should remain in your body."

No more delria. But that could be the delria talking. He didn't know what to think.

Viktor wanted to ask how long he had been asleep, but he couldn't find the words. Thankfully, Pedro caught his unspoken request. He quietly said, "You've been asleep for almost a month."

The air was sucked out of Viktor's lungs. A month? He had been asleep for a month? It didn't seem possible.

"Your injuries," Vok'Rul began hesitantly, glancing at Viktor's dad. Oskar scowled at him but sat heavily in the chair to Viktor's right. He twitched at the sudden movement, eyes flickering to him with wary caution. "They were very severe."

He told him that Viktor had only been with Nhafka and the others for less than two days. The bracelet he wore had been embedded with a small tracker, and they had located him in the large, underground basement of some industrial warehouse. The warehouse had been a facade, built to cover what was going on underneath it.

When Vok'Rul had found him, he had been filthy. Infection had been one of the severe worries they had for him. He had been rushed to the veterinarian as quickly as they could.

Broken ribs, a punctured lung, multiple traumas to his chest and abdominal cavity, irritation to the skin due to electric burns, and a severe head injury were some of the physical injuries that had happened to him that the vets could see. They had been wary of doing anything for his head - brains were tricky for even humans to heal - and taking off his collar had proven too risky for them to do. They hadn't been sure if his vocal cords had been affected by the electrical shocks. They also hadn't been sure what had caused his near-month long coma; if it had been a mixture of trauma, shocks, and other mental afflictions, or if it had been his body's last ditch effort at healing him. Letting him rest and let his body heal itself had been their only option. He had been wavering in and out of consciousness for the last couple of days.

Vok'Rul went around the bed, ignoring his dad's muttered protests and the glare that Pedro shot the man in return. He grabbed Viktor's hand - which was shaking with the sheer severity of his injuries and still held onto the claw with fervor - and gently squeezed it. "Let go, Kohgrash. Please." They hadn't been able to remove it from him, worried about nerve damage.

Viktor looked at the claw. It was disgusting. Korrashkka's skin had nearly liquified onto his hand. There were grooves where his fingers had wrapped around it, squeezing the skin grotesquely to fit the mold of his fingers. The claw was as sharp as ever, but the bone underneath the skin had started to peek out, dark and stained.

He glanced up at Vok'Rul, holding his gaze. He was scared, he could admit that. If this was all a ploy, letting go of his only weapon was an awful idea. But Viktor, with a small ember of hope burning in his chest, was slowly starting to believe that this was reality. He hadn't been able to interact with any of the hallucinations he had experienced, and they had been otherworldly, strange, and scary. These weren't scary. They were comforting. A drug made to control him wouldn't offer him comforting visions and further his resolve to resist their attempts at subterfuge. It would scar him, break him, and make him believe that they were the best option.

There was also the Mirror. It had been beyond his comprehension. Viktor knew, he knew, there was no way that the aliens could imitate It. There had been no reason why they would imitate it, either.

Vok'Rul's fingers swiped across his cheek, startling him. Hot tears were spilling down his face, shoulders shaking against his will. He opened his mouth to say something, but a wretched, hoarse sob came from his lips instead.

"I thought-," he choked pathetically, throat igniting with fire, "I thought I'd die there."

His dad floundered helplessly at his side, and Pedro and Nikolas were solemnly upset on his behalf. Crying was painful. It was hard to breathe on his own, throat clogged with pain and swollen muscles. Vok'Rul's hands were warm and solid on his face, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"You're here," Vok'Rul whispered. "They're gone. They were judged by the Mirror."

"Was real?" Viktor asked through his tears. Vok'Rul looked slightly bewildered.

"Of course. Though, I thought you were sleeping. The Mirror truly spoke with you?" his voice was hushed, somewhere between awed and fearful. Viktor nodded, frowning. "The Mirror only communicates with the Vokkra and those being judged. It chooses who can hear It."

"Loud," Viktor gasped in response, remembering how the voice seemed to fill his entire skull and still leave room for his thoughts. Foggy impressions of Lilac came to him, then, and he turned frantic eyes on Vok'Rul. "Lilac?" It was hard for him to speak; getting air into his lungs through his throat seemed impossible.

He still wasn't sure what he thought about Lilac. Her betrayal had hurt more than he realized, but knowing that she had been in front of that thing, something that had melted the ringmaster from the inside out, had left him feeling terribly guilty. Maybe she didn't deserve good things, but she didn't deserve that. She didn't want to do the things she did willingly, that he was certain of.

"Lilac," Vok'Rul murmured in thought, peering at Viktor. His tears had abated, but his face was likely a mess. He could barely lift his head up, let alone his hands to wipe at his face. He still held onto the claw.

"The purple alien that took care of us in the arena," Pedro supplied reluctantly. He looked angry, like he couldn't comprehend why she was in the conversation. Probably didn't help that he didn't have a translator. "Was that bastard there where they took you?"

Viktor nodded, frowning with confusion. He opened his mouth to ask why Pedro seemed to dislike her so much when Nikolas cut him off.

"Lilac may have helped us, Viktor, but she still locked our cages at night," he said tightly. Viktor pressed his lips together, looking away.

"Cages?" he heard his dad ask faintly.

"Ah, Fho. The Mirror judged her, Kohgrash. She is alive. That is all you need to know. The others have died for their sins," he sounded calm as he delivered the news, even though Viktor knew that his mother had been one of the judged. He was holding her finger in his hand, for God's sake.

He looked down at it. Uncurling his fingers was painful and difficult. The skin on her finger had attached to his in a goopy, sticky mess, and when he finally opened his hand fully, his hand was covered with decayed flesh as it stuck to him. The smell was putrid. Vok'Rul gingerly picked it off his hand, claws brushing his tender flesh.

"She called me from the hospital the day you were taken," Vok'Rul murmured, staring impassively at his mother's finger. Viktor couldn't tell if he was upset or not. "I was reluctant to answer; I had larger issues than her to worry about. But I answered."

His expression grew grim, and Viktor wondered what she had said to him. Was it to rant and rave about how his beloved pet had taken off her finger or was it something else entirely? His eyes flickered down to his only weapon, now resting on a tissue Vok'Rul had pulled from somewhere.

"She gloated, bragged, that she had taken something from me. I later found out that she had been on rather powerful pain medication, which had been the reason for her abrupt confession. We had already been locating you at this point, but she unwillingly gave us the exact location," he explained in a murmur. He, too, looked at the finger, though his expression was disgusted and angry. "I was rather surprised you had bitten off her finger. You had bitten me before, do you remember? You had barely managed to pierce my skin."

"Life or death situations," Nikolas started, straightening out the blankets at Viktor's feet, "tend to bring out actions that people are not normally capable of." Vok'Rul made a soft noise of interest before standing up.

"I will get something to clean your paw - hand, that is," he said. He lingered for a second.

Viktor nodded, shutting his eyes. They burned with exhaustion and dryness. His whole body ached, and he felt terribly weak. He had so many more questions to ask, but the thought of struggling to push words out of his mouth made him want to weep.

"You can rest, Viktor," his dad assured him, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. The touch was unexpected, and he jumped slightly, peeling open his eyes. He forced himself to relax, but his dad had recoiled with a wounded expression on his face.

"Don't take it personally, Oskar," Pedro said, voice quiet. Vok'Rul's tail scraped against the floor as he left the room with a brief 'I'll be back soon.' "It's been a rough year for all of us."

"What happened? Will you tell me?" his dad whispered. "I- I want to know."

There was silence between the three of them, so quiet that Viktor had to check to see if they were still there. Pedro and Nikolas were having a silent conversation between themselves before the former turned back to his dad.

"I think Viktor should be the one to tell you," he said quietly but firmly. Nikolas nodded behind him.

"We all have our stories," the man added. "But Viktor's is complicated."

"Stop," Viktor grumbled, not wanting to hear anything about his story on this planet. He was living through it, thank you very much. All he wanted to do was sleep. Even though that's all he had been doing. For a month apparently.

"Sorry, kid," Pedro patted his foot. "You go to sleep, okay?" Viktor grumbled a response.

He woke up sometime in the middle of the night. Well, he assumed it was the middle of the night. All the lights were off and the room held the eerie sort of silence that came with nightfall. He looked to his side and noted that the plate of starfruit had disappeared, replaced with a small glass of water instead. No one else was in the room.

Viktor struggled to sit up; his limbs were frail with the lack of activity that came with sleeping for a month. Eventually, though, he managed to prop himself against the wall the bed was pressed to, feeling as though he had just run a marathon. He lifted his arms, intent on grabbing the glass of water.

Someone had cleaned his hand while he slept - the thought of which made him nervous and paranoid, but there was nothing he could do about it - and it was free of the decayed skin and dried, flaky blood. He couldn't smell any of the rot that the finger had left in the room, either. It smelled like antiseptic, clean and sterile. He was rather glad of that.

With trembling hands, he gripped the glass. As soon as he pulled it off the side table, it slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor. Viktor stared at it in incomprehension. He looked at his hands.

The door slammed open, and someone rushed in. They knocked over a stack of medical supplies with the force of it, clattering metal and snarling nearly deafening him. The beeping of the machine hooked up to him started rising in pitch and speed as his heartbeat quickened in fear.

"Who dares -" Vok'Rul snarled, eyes sweeping across the room in a half-awake frenzy before he realized there was no one else in the room. He looked at Viktor, half-curled in a defensive position, claws at the ready. He slowly straightened up, offering Viktor an unsure smile. "Oh. I thought... Well, it does not matter what I thought. Are you alright, Kohgrash?"

Viktor let himself relax, pulling his hands close to his chest. He nodded, licking his dry lips. "Dropped," he said, turning to look at the shattered glass on the floor. He looked back up as Vok'Rul stepped around his bed to look at the mess. "You okay?"

The alien let out a small sigh, reaching over to turn on a lamp Viktor hadn't noticed before. The soft light illuminated his face, and he could really see how worn down the alien really was. He started picking up the glass carefully, setting them on the table with care. There was silence between them until he had finished cleaning up the mess. Viktor wanted to help, but he hadn't even been able to hold onto the glass. He certainly wouldn't be able to get on his feet to wipe up the mess.

"I'm alright, Kohgrash. It has been... a busy month. I am just glad you are awake, now," he looked up from the mess. They were about the same height now, with him kneeling on the floor and Viktor laid up in bed. The alien's eyes bore into his. "Nothing on this planet will hurt you again, I swear it."

Viktor smiled slightly at him. "Not your fault," he insisted, reaching out to pat Vok'Rul's face. "Why's my dad here?"

An alien bustled into the room, then, looking surprised when they saw Vok'Rul. "Ah, Your Majesty. I heard a crash... is everything alright?"

"Yes, we are quite fine here," Vok'Rul said quickly, straightening to his full height. "Just a little accident." He gestured to the glass shards on the table.

The alien - a doctor, Viktor surmised - stepped over, murmuring an "I'll clean this up and leave you be," before doing exactly that. They were gone as quickly as they appeared. Viktor watched them the entire time, fearfully wary. He felt helpless, confined to a bed like this. All these wires and tubes attached to him made him feel like he was part robot.

Vok'Rul sat on the foot of Viktor's bed, straightening out the blankets on his legs. Viktor moved his leg to nudge him impatiently. The alien glanced up with a little smile.

"Dad?" Viktor asked again, tilting his head slightly. He straightened it quickly when he felt the collar pressed against his neck.

"Like I said, it's been a busy month," Vok'Rul sighed, glancing at his neck before meeting his eyes. "You're awake enough to listen?" Viktor nodded, nudging him again, a bit more forcefully this time.

"Alright, alright," Vok'Rul chuckled before getting started.

As soon as Viktor had been rescued, he had been taken to the closest vet. They had treated him the best they could, but their outlook had been bleak. Vok'Rul told him, with shimmering rage in his eyes, that they had suggested simply putting him out of his mercy. Viktor's stomach swooped at the thought of it.

Obviously, though, the alien hadn't gone through with it, aware that Viktor was a sentient person. They had stabilized Viktor, but when he hadn't shown signs of wakening after a week, Viktor had been brought home. He was in one of the spare rooms on the first floor of the mansion, small and secluded. Vok'Rul hadn't wanted anyone to know his location, he told him, and it had taken him a few days to even tell Thruul where he had squirreled Viktor away.

It had been hard for Vok'Rul to tear himself away from Viktor for the first few days. But when he did, the alien had gotten to work. Efficiency ran like blood in their veins. Only a week had gone by before Vok'Rul had proven the humans' sentience. Blacksmith had made a few more translators and presenting them to the board of aliens in the capitol had been Vok'Rul's next step. From there, along with Rukka's help, he had declared humans a friendly alien species of their planet, along with a long, lengthy list of rights.

Vok'Rul demanded that the Vokkrus release their humans from their captivity. While some humans had been relieved and overjoyed to be free of the shackles that came with being pets or working animals, others had decided to stick with the families that had taken care of them. Nikolas, for example, still lived with Sonja. Pedro, Ezekiel, and Aiko also remained with their aliens. His dad, along with the other humans trapped in the zoo, had been released. The displaced humans had been given shelter in remodeled warehouses, hotels, and other buildings. Vok'Rul had offered a room to his dad, which he had reluctantly accepted.

Translators were being made as quickly as possible, which was easier now that Blacksmith had a concrete blueprint that she could distribute to others. Now, weeks later, almost everyone had a translator attached to their ears.

The backlash from the Vokkrus had been wild and frenzied. Some claimed that they had known all along and had been in vehement protest of the humans' 'enslavement,' as they had called it. Others were in complete denial, claiming that humans acted too much like animals to be anything other than such. They were slowly coming around to the idea, now, but there was some wariness surrounding any interaction between the Vokkrus and the humans.

Others hadn't cared, treating humans the same as they had. It had pissed off more than a few humans already. The Vokkrus, while dangerous in their own right, were blinded by their own smug righteousness, which made them stupid. With all the rights Vok'Rul had put on their shoulders to ensure none of them were harmed in the brutalist way Viktor had been, most people were able to retaliate to the aliens' treatment with little repercussions.

Vok'Rul admitted that he and Rukka were still working out the kinks with their rights - which Viktor still wasn't sure what that entirely consisted of - but that most Vokkrus were realizing that humans weren't the simple animals that they had thought of before. They were clever, quick-witted, and spiteful. Legally, they were practically untouchable.

Vok'Rul told him, a smile playing on his face, that one Vokkrus had insulted a human, and the next day, they had 'accidentally' stumbled into a streetside food stand, angering the owner so badly that they had to pay for the damages.

"I have not told anyone that I have the footage of the human tripping them with some sort of string," Vok'Rul giggled. Viktor grinned.

More often, though, the humans were treated with some sort of cautious respect, if not outright kindness. The aliens who had them as pets were overjoyed that they could speak with them. It had been a bit of a curve for them to realize that their pets weren't animals, but in fact, sentient creatures with an entire life behind them. Still, as the weeks progressed, Vok'Rul said that he saw real progress between their two species.

Less than a month couldn't make up for the year's worth of imagery built up by these aliens, but Viktor supposed that it would come with time. It was hard to wrap his head around, though, even if he's been speaking with Vok'Rul for months. Not being treated like an animal would be odd to experience.

As for the Cords, a group of aliens that believed that A1-308's best chance of prosperity would be to take what they needed from other planets, forcefully or not, Vok'Rul had told him they had been snuffed out for good. Lilac had not been the mastermind of the entire thing, as he had suspected, but she had known many of Krrkh's contacts and directed Vok'Rul to them eagerly. He had rooted out the entire organization without mercy.

The papers that the alien who attacked Viktor had been encrypted. Vok'Rul admitted that he may have figured them out if he had let Rukka take a look at them, but he hadn't wanted to put her and her family in any more danger. Viktor rolled his eyes at that one. They were in danger for simply being related to him.

Lilac had given him the necessary cipher that most of the Cords use to keep their written records private from outside eyes. The papers had been a description of the mansion, all its entryways and exits. Along with it had been a list of Viktor's behaviors and eating habits. Vok'Rul thought that they might have used it for an earlier attempt at kidnapping him.

Viktor struggled to speak, but he told the alien about the planted Flyhk at the school. Vok'Rul only nodded, though, much to his surprise. The principal had been easily blackmailed and confessed his involvement with the Cords.

"I do not know why exactly they were testing on humans," Vok'Rul eventually admitted, twirling the edge of the blanket in his fingers. "The facility you were in was one of many. There were multiple levels of testing, from drugs to toxic materials to food. Many humans did not survive their experience." His voice was solemn and heavy with regretful grief. Viktor frowned at his hands. "We have tried to compensate the surviving ones, but they are less than receptive to our attempts."

Viktor stayed quiet. He wasn't sure if he would've appreciated any 'compensation' after his time at the arena. It seemed like an insult.

"Kohgrash," Vok'Rul sounded nervous, now, more than he had ever heard from the alien before. He was shifty, unable to look him in the eyes. "We are prepping a ship to travel back to Earth."

"Really?" Viktor croaked loudly. Vok'Rul nodded. Viktor grinned at him, wide and big. Earth! As in, his home planet, Earth!

"It won't be ready for some time yet; hopefully you will be mostly recovered by the time it is able to set out for your planet. The trip won't take very long; only about a day or two."

Viktor's brow furrowed in confusion. "The trip here wasn't that long," he said in a scratchy whisper. It had been a long few hours, but only a few hours, after all.

Vok'Rul cleared his throat, looking awkward again. "The ship used to transport you here was built for speedy traveling with massive amounts of cargo. Many humans died when they got here because of the conditions that they were subjected to. Disease, respiratory issues, the fragility of some, and the sheer speed with which the ship traveled were some of the largest killers of your kind."

"Oh," was all Viktor could say. So, that was what had happened to them.

"Obviously, we don't want that to happen on the way back, so we're going to use one of the residential ships we have. They're usually used for intergalactic events, but they move much slower, due to all the additional safety precautions and whatnot," Vok'Rul flipped his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Honestly, I am not too sure how they work. Thruul knows more about it than I do."

Before he could stop himself, Viktor's face cracked in two with the largest yawn he's done. Vok'Rul got up from the bed before he closed his mouth. "You should rest, little one," he said, brushing his hand against Viktor's hair.

"That's all I do," Viktor grumbled, ignoring the slight hissing of air that escaped his throat.

"I will wake you tomorrow," the alien promised him. "Thruul will make you some soup!"

Viktor smiled at the alien's excitement. He couldn't help but feel that the other shoe was about to drop, but he reconciled that this was reality, and it wasn't going to fizzle away in a deranged, drug-fueled dream. He was out of that place, and he was with all the people he loved. It was hard to wrap his head around the fact that humans had rights now, but the knowledge sat lightly in his chest, burning him with the sheer magnitude of joy he felt. They had done it. They had really done it.

***

Vocabulary:

byr: go

cho'k: endearment, usually meaning little one, love; usually used for pets or small children

jah frh: calm down

kas: it is

mrio: sleep

rohsh: a friendly greeting, such as hello or hey

tih: okay, alright

vra: he, him