ғʟɪɴᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛɪɴᴅᴇʀ ᵇᵘᶰᶰʸ ˣ ᵏᵉᶤᵗʰ ⓝⓢⓕⓦ

[Bunny]

 

[Bunny]

███████​ ⠀Seren Arcturus⠀​ ❝Warm enough to comfort fierce enough to burn❞ ‎ ⋅‎ ⋅‎ ─── ⋅‎ 𖥸‎ ⋅‎ ─── ⋅‎ ⋅‎‎ ​ ​     Why did she feel so nervous? Seren wasn’t used to feeling out of her depth, though it wasn’t every day that she ventured into the depths of Erebus Station. The bowels of the station was not exactly where one would expect a Terran to be; the slang was common throughout the station, though it had originated from the malhumans, mals for short. Seren was unsure where the term malhuman came from, though she understood the vernacular of both names. Mal; Malnourished, malfeasance.. No matter how one looked at the word it wasn’t kind. Terran wasn’t nearly as bad. These thoughts played through her head as the elevator descended. Focusing on it rather than the problems that lay ahead seemed easier. It would be a risk, reaching out to one of the leaders of the Malhumans. Most ignored their existence, like one would a cockroach. Beneath them and not worth their attention unless to swat. Seren saw a vast untapped populace. At least that was her argument to her father. Seren Arcturus was following in her father’s footsteps as she ran for political office. In the few hundred years since they had left earth, it might have been hoped that women wouldn’t be second class citizens. Paid less, judged for the biology.. The same things they had dealt with back on earth. Yet, it hadn’t really changed and while Seren was a nepo baby, not everything would be handed to her on a silver platter. Money she had. Her father had allowed her that much. The win? She’d have to earn. How she decided to win it was on her. Bribes, hits or this foolish idea of trying to get the malhumans to vote. While everyone on Erebus had the right to vote if they were over eighteen, only the Terrans turned out to vote regularly. Malhumans didn’t see the point. While they outnumbered Terrans, the system was rigged and they knew it. Seren aimed to change that. All she needed was a little help. A chime pulled her from her thoughts and as the door opened a wave of humid air swept into the elevator and her nose wrinkled. The shock of sticky heat against the coolness of her skin was unpleasant. One look at the dirty faces that passed by the elevator and Seren knew she was overdressed in her black dress pants, white dress shirt, black vest and tie. It had been.. simple for her and yet she would stand out like a sore thumb. Stepping from the elevator, a pipe hissed and her flaming locks lifted with the hot air. Pulling a hair tie from her pocket, she quickly bungled the wealth of hair into a high ponytail as she walked. The destination was unsure, even though she walked with purpose. Bryce had set up a meeting for her with someone he thought would at least humor her. The name of who she was meeting? She didn’t know it. All she knew was that she was to make her way to the central hub and wait for him. Bryce was a friend, or as close to a friend as a slightly shady informant could be. A malhuman himself, he was a go between as most Terrans wouldn’t get their ‘lily white’ hands dirty. That had been his words, not hers. Bodies bumped into her and more than once she felt a hand seeking for something she didn’t have. Credits. Likely there were other hands, far more skilled ones. All of them were ignored. She was an easy target and Bryce had warned her that she’d be so; not that Seren had really needed him to tell her that. Green eyes stared forward, ignoring the looks she got. Down here, she was the bug and she had a feeling a fair number of malhumans would love to squish her. When the central hub came into sight, Seren let out a thankful sigh and for the first time, a smile pulled at her lips since being down here. Bryce stood waiting for her, arms crossed over his chest. He was older than her by a few years, but it seemed like more if you looked at his face long enough. As if living down here wore you out faster. “Hey Doc.” Snorting she shook her head, verdant eyes shimmering. “You know I hate that nickname.” Her voice was husky and low. “‘Tch.. but you graduated didn’tcha?” It was always his reason and he wasn’t wrong after all. Seren had been allowed to pick her major, but with the knowledge that it would mean little. Her life had been planned down to the smallest detail and while her father had found it pointless to have his daughter study medicine, he’d come around to how it would look when she was running for office. Not that she’d been allowed to practice. All she’d ever wanted was to help people. Which was why she was down here after all. “‘Cmon and stick close.” Turning she lead her through a side street. It was clear he knew his way and Seren had little choice but to trust him and follow in his wake. As they walked, she allowed her eyes to wander, feeling safer being with Bryce. He was talk, muscled and had a very fuck around and find out sorta vibe. Seren knew how she looked. Dainty, feminine, like the little doll her father pretended she was. The few people the pair passed were clearly malnourished and she was starting to see signs of atrophy. Without the realistic gravity on the surface of Erebus, the malhumans were losing bone density and muscle strength. A few more generations and they would never be able to live on earth, the weight of the gravity would crush them. There were also signs of hypoxia, a slight blur tinge to the lips of some of the smaller children. All of it made her stomach ache as furry pulled in her belly. While they liked to pretend they didn’t know what was going on, Seren found it hard to believe that they were actually oblivious; the reality was they simply didn’t care. Bryce stopped, knocking on a door. Pushing the mounting horror from her mind, Seren focused on the task at hand. Obtain an alliance. Get malhumans to vote. Change the world. The problem was, it was an impossible task. She knew it. They would know it. But if she didn’t try, who would? ​