Condition Evolution 2: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure by Sinclair, Kevin (black female authors txt) 📗

“Ogun told you that?” Ember said, disbelievingly.

“Come on. Let’s try it out?”

“I will. Besides that, I’m still not happy you didn’t tell me about it. It’s like that bloody deception skill all over again.”

“Yeah, but you know I meant no harm then and I reckon you know I meant no harm this time, either.”

“Okay, Shaun. I’ll let it go because I do know your Wisdom and Mental Clarity are a total clusterfuck. Let’s do this. I hope it’s worth it.”

Going back into the room and sitting on the bed again, I nodded to the prisoner. We both closed our eyes and entered the prisoner’s mind, appearing in the same hallway as we would in our own Mindscapes.

“I wonder if everyone’s Mindscapes are the same, or if we just see what we expect to see?”

“The latter, I suspect,” Ember replied.

“Right. Let’s go in.” We entered the control room and the prisoner was sitting in a chair, eyes closed.

“Hey,” I said.

“Oh, good. You’re back to assess the veracity of my story.”

“Yeah, we are. Mind explaining exactly what happened to you?” Ember said with undisguised distrust.

“Of course. I was part of a small team, but my crew left the ship for supplies one day while I remained on board. They never returned.

“After a couple of days the city police force arrived. They came on board and told me that my team had started a fight and that they’d all died. Then, I was arrested for my involvement.

“They took me to the prison and the ship was taken as payment for owed docking fees. Now, I am to be sold to someone who has a penchant for my people. We’re very rare, hence why I stayed onboard the ship in the first place.”

We watched the screen intently, while Elyek spoke. It wasn’t exactly like watching a movie. It was a disjointed collage of thoughts and experiences. Nonetheless, it looked like what they said was true.

“Is there any other reason that the police would come to take you?”

“Like I said, my race is rare. We’re viewed as a valuable commodity. It’s highly likely my shipmates were killed just so I could be taken.”

This time, the images that flashed up were of Elyek turning invisible, then Elyek with valuable looking things.

“You’re not being straight with us. What exactly was your job in this team? and…,” Ember paused, and looked at me.

“Can you turn invisible?” I finished for Ember, who clearly felt it was a ridiculous question, still, a question that needed asking. And, who better to put it out there, than the big, axe-wielding dipshit.

Similar images to last time flashed over the screen, then an image of Elyek being hunted by a group of men.

“I’m an acquisitions expert, and yes I can turn invisible. The mask I’m wearing has a dual purpose. It stops me from preaching my innocence, and it also blocks my ability to turn invisible.”

“What’s an acquisition expert?” Ember asked.

“I find rare and valuable things and then I sell them.”

Images of golden statues and magnificent-looking artifacts popped onto the screen, along with various computer screens showing numbers and information.

“Are you completely innocent of any wrongdoing?” Ember asked.

“Well, some of my work has touched upon grey areas,” Elyek replied.

“Elaborate?” Ember said, shortly.

“Well, not everything we’re hired to acquire was in neutral territory. Some of the things I have found, others would lay claim to, even though they didn’t know they were there. Then there is the various information that I was required to find. Again, there may not have been laws against taking the things I found, but there are always at least two sides to an argument.”

“Not true,” I said. “I’ve had an argument with Ember where we were both agreeing to the same thing. Still, Ember likes to argue. I think she wanted to make out she was right. She’s like that.”

“And, Shaun’s a fucking simpleton, who doesn’t even know what he’s talking about most of the time,” Ember retorted.

“Fascinating,” Elyek said, without expression.

“Yeah. So, innocent or not?” Ember asked.

“I’m not innocent, but I’m not actually guilty of breaking any Empire laws either.”

The stream of images seemed to validate what Elyek was saying.

“So, there are people who want to own you. Is that because of your invisibility?”

“Yes. Although, the ability to create more Veiletians is a massive boon. They’d be raised in captivity, subject to the whims of a slave owner. That’s not what I want for my children.”

“Do people collect you guys? You said you were rare,” I asked.

Elyek laughed at us, “Do you really know so little outside your own little pocket of the galaxy?”

“Hit the nail on the head there. We're trying to learn fast,” I said.

“Let me enlighten you. I’m androgynous and I’ll be able to produce offspring in around forty years. Offspring, who at this moment in time, will be born into captivity.”

“Well, consider us enlightened,” Ember said.

We had watched the display the whole time. There was nothing really coherent other than Elyek, Veiletian children and cages. I was sold hook, line, and sinker. I couldn’t hand Elyek over now. I was waiting to hear what Ember would say on the matter with bated breath. I really didn’t want to fight her over this, but I would.

“You do realize you're worth three hundred senlar coins to us, and they’ve the tracker number of our ship, right? Even if we decided to set you free, we’d be hunted,” Ember paused.

Elyek was about to respond when Ember started up again, “And, what would you even do if we let you go?”

As she spoke, my heart sank a little. We were all in a situation here. Then, I remembered something. “I gave them the wrong docking bay number. They won’t be able to track us,” I said, excitedly.

“Of course they will, Shaun. The supervisor will just tell them which bay we were in. We weren’t exactly in-con-fucking-spicuous.”

“You think?” I asked, although I knew the answer.

Ember ignored me.

“If you let me go,