Introducing the Menagerie

Toryc led Ana back to Fairfaxs ship, then deep into the hold, where Toryc dismissed his guards. When the pair of misfits wandered into the cargo bay, the were greeted by a low, hissing growl. Toryc held his hand out in front of the human, and tensed slightly "Keep your motions calm and non threatening, Captian Juliana Highland." he then inclined his head in the direction of the sound, and made a noise like someone yodelling through a piccolo.

Juliana nearly jumped at the sound of the noise, her natural state hardly being what most people would call "calm". "Which one would this one be?" She asked with a nervous edge on her tone, torn between excitement at the new experience and fear of just what she was going to see if there had to be that kind of warning ahead of it.

Toryc maintained his posture, and continued making his bizzare sounds, apperantly ignoring the human. After a moment, a figure emerged from the shadows. The thing appeared to be the result of some mad scientist shaving a gorilla, then attaching its arms and legs to a crocodiles torso with head, which even in the slumped posture it affected kept its eyes level with Toryc. Its skin was a mottled grey, and its eyes were a dull green. As it approached the pair, Toryc still interposing himself between the thing and Ana, it made deep snuffing sounds as its nostrils flared. Then, without warning, it slumped down into a posture reminicent of a dog resting on the floor. The tension in Toryc vanished just as quickly and he turned back to Ana, "This is my Golluk, Captian Juliana Highland. It will submit to any scrutiny you wish to perform on it."

"Don't think I'd wan' to go scrutining around something like that," Ana replied from behind the Nuklugg, an edge of fear on her voice. "Fascinating thing to look at though. From a distance."

Toryc let out a soft hooting sound. "It's perfectly harmless now, Captian Juliana Highland, unless you attempt to attack it. Have you any questions, or would you rather see the Psyche? Its somewhat smaller in stature."

Juliana kept her ground closer to Toryc, trying to keep him between them as a bit of cover. "Jus' what is it? Where does it come from? Is it intelligent?" She asked.

Toryc noticed her movements, and shifted so that he was more between her and the Golluk. "As I said, in your tongue, it is a Golluk. It comes from my home island. Many cycles ago, they were predators, fierce ones to. They hunted and consumed my kind for a number of generations, then, we learned how to use tools and weapons that permitted us to turn the tides. We were able to finally kill them back, which we did, and nearly drove them to extinction, until one of my kind, the teacher Meehoyc, showed us that the subjugation of the Golluks could strengthen our species more than their destruction. Since that day, they have been our warriors and guardians, fighting and defending what was once their prey. As for its intelligence, it can figure out simple equations, if you give it reason to, and is quick to adapt to new threats or challenges, but its inherint brutality prevents much higher level thought." While Toryc is talking, a rat gets too close to the Golluk, which, with surprinsing swiftness, launches out a hand and grabs it. It clenches its fist around the small mammal, whos squeaks are silenced in a small snap of bone, and deposits the rodent in its mouth, chewing noisily before swallowing.

Juliana recoiled in horror at the brutal display before her, torn between interest and respect for the creature's strength and empathy for the rat. "'Ope they don't get 'urt in their subjugating."

Toryc started hooting again. "They are a primitive, violent race, Captian Juliana Highland, but also a sturdy and resiliant one." he said, "Besides, the pain thier race felt during the domestication process is comprable to how your species treats dogs, the species has long forgotten it, and it is preferable to extinction, isnt it?"

"Dogs are jus' dogs," Anna replied, crossing her arms. She was never educated enough to hear about the process of the domestication of dogs, nor did she particularly care as long as they were cute. "An' quite frankly, I if I were in their boots I'd prefer to go out fighting. I enjoy owning my own future, even if it's at the cost of comfort."

Toryc tilted his head. "Owning your own future, Captian Juliana Highland? A noble endeavor, but you cannot truly own the future, even if you obtain great fortune, chance will overtake you, an even truer tragedy with your species fragility." Tory shakes his head "The Golluks who now serve the Nokklugs live in greater comfort and health than their ancestors did, and all that is asked for is that they add their might to our own. Does that truly sound like a cruelty to you, Captian Juliana Highland?"

"Yeah, but what'd you do in their situation? Would you be happy jus' sitting around an' serving someone else?"

"Givin a choice between life and death, I choose life, Captian Juliana Highland." His skin darkens, "We all serve another, Captian Juliana Highland, it is the order of things. You seek after your brothers well bieng. Lord Fairfax the second seeks to continue his 'fathers' work. I seek to save my people. It isnt a matter of serfdom or freedom, it is a matter of seeking the greater good." He turns from Ana and walks over to the Golluk. He then kneels beside it and starts scratching at the base of its skull. "If it werent for Meehoyc, the Golluks would have been murdered in the time before our enlightenment, and the Nokklugs would have been lesser for it. We cannot predict the future of our actions, Captian Juliana Highland, we can only learn from our histories and strive to make our present as beneficial as possible."

"Not blaming you for wha' you're ancestors did, jus' think it's the right thing to try and make it be'er. Work on teaching them to be independent again if they've got any shred of smarts. At leas' that's what I'd do. I think you do wha' you think is right, right?" Ana replied with a look of determination.

"Not blaming me for what my ancestors..." Toryc said, sounding confused, then his eyes flash with a pale orange light, "Oh, you are judging me by your species life cycle." Toryc hoots softly, "No, Captian Juliana Highland, it wasnt some faintly remembered progenitor who was there when Meehoyc laid down the law, I was there myself." His skin darkens considerably, "I was one of the voices strongest in their support of subjucation over extinction, and one of the earliest to have a tamed family. Teaching them independance would only lead to them devolving into savagery again, as they have proven in the past. It is only when linked to the Great Chain that they can thrive, all other roads lead to the weakening of my species and the death of theirs."

"Then I guess we'll 'ave to disagree there. I think it's better to leave 'em to fight for their freedom," Ana replied, doing her best to remain polite.

Toryc looks at the girl, wondering at her odd culture, "They are free to fight, and even leave if they choose. Those who select that universally either find themselves lost and without pourpose, or attacking Nokklugs. The ones that serve do so of their own accord. Duties are demanded and protection given, as with any subjugated race, but they arent slaves."

--

"Why do they attack though? They're gotta got a good reason," Ana replied, her face still puzzling over the odd, foreign relationship.

"Ancient instinct, Captian Juliana Highland" Toryc replied sadly, "They still see us as prey, even after all these cycles." Toryc darkens, "Weve tried teaching them, advancing them, but that just gets the clever ones to be able to surprise us when they attack."

---

"That's... A shame really. Should move on to other things, yeah?" Ana replied.

"Certianly, Captian Juliana Highland, would you like to meet the Psyche, or get some air?" the alien asks, standing up from its pet.

"Meeting the Psyche might be nice," Ana replied, a little less eager than before. While she really didn't have much fear for the creatures (well, perhaps a little, but not enough to change her despire to see them) she found herself worried about the implications of slavery.

"Very well, Captian Juliana Highland," Toryc said, "and it might help you to know it can speak in the human tongue, taught me in fact, perhaps it will be able to explain subjugation in more palatable terms for you." With that, he turned and led her deeper into the ship. As the pair passed the Golluk, it releaseds a loud, squealing yawn, before rising and wandering off into the hold. As they go deeper into the bowels of the ship, small mechanical things begin to be noticable, ducking in and out between crates of supplies, looking like spiders, centipieds, and other bugs made of metal and gears.

Juliana couldn't help but feel her stomach begin to crawl at the sight of the mechanical bugs. While she could put up them them in the wild just fine, they just felt wrong in enclosed spaces. Like they were in the wrong place and needed to be squashed for it.

Toryc continued to lead the way, paying the things no mind, until he came into what could best be called a 'clearing in the cargo'. A rough circle of boxes and such were arranged around what looked like someone created a small jungle habitat out of cables, wires and panles. The mechanical vermin scurry about between 'branches' moving bits, welding panels, and connecting cables, even building extentions to some of the 'trees', giving the appearance of slow growth as they are being observed.

As Toryc and Ana walk through this bizarre ecosystem, the vermin above them pull and tug at the cables and tubes, making a clear path for them to travel. When they get to what could approximate as the center of this little tangle they find a rough 'lab' filled with mechanical oddities and chemicals.

Tending this eye of steel chaos is probably the most bizarre thing Ana's seen yet. It stands in a rough humanoid shape, though it features suggest a god that either got bored while making a human and just stopped, or had no idea what a human was supposed to look like in the first place. It stood at around four feet tall, and its body as a whole looked like someone just crammed spent chewing gum into a bipedal frame. Its two arm ended in three, foot long, multijointed fingers, and its head was shaped into a rough pyramid shape, two feet to a side. One of the corners of its head ended in a shark like mouth filled with rows of teet, for the upper jaw, the lower split in half, givin the appearance of mandibles, each with a multitude of teeth in it half bowl clefts.

"This, Captian Juliana Highland" Said Toryc, "Is the Psyche"

Ana stopped a good ten feet away form the creature, lacking the will to get much closer to something so strange and threatening looking. She stared at the thing from her distant point, asking quietly, as if afraid to offended anyone, "E... 'Ello Mr. Psyche sir."

The psyche turns to regard her with a gaze from an eyeless face. Its lower jaw clicks a few times, then, in Anas own voice it says, "Hello, young lady, who are you?"

Before she can answer, the Golluk howls in the distance. Toryc turns pale, then says, "I must attend something, Captian Juliana Highland, the Psyche will answer all your questions and so you no harm. If I have not returned when you wish to leave, it will escort you out." With that, he vanishes into the undergrowth.

The Psyche lets out a laugh, still using Anas voice. "Always moving, never still, such a restless line." it turns back to Ana, "Juliana, is it? What questions did you have?"

---

Ana's face paled slightly at the sound of her own voice creature. While her own voice wasn't exact melodious or smooth, hearing something even remotely feminine coming out of something so inhuman was terrifying. "If you don't mind me being blunt, jus' wha' are you?"