บท 8: What It Means To Be A Pure Human
Dante obliged and got in, sitting opposite Beatrice. The internal of the shuttle was like a train compartment, or like the inside of a carriage. Due to the limited space, Dante's and Beatrice's knees were touching.
She placed her hands on her lap and smiled while staring directly at Dante. Dante stared back with a neutral expression, wondering what kind of game this woman was playing now.
Beatrice patted the pace beside her. "Why not come and sit beside me? That way we can be closer."
Dante shook his head. "You are an Admiral, it is improper to treat you in such a manner."
Beatrice snorted unhappily and looked away, making Dante sigh internally with relief. Very few people on earth could boast about having a staredown with an attractive person, but those who did could tell you right away that it was as difficult as hell.
The longer you stared, the more intrusive thoughts would enter your mind and the more you would be tempted to do something that might get you a slap and a sexual harassment charge.
Why do you think in those romantic movies, the male and female would stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds before slowly closing in?
Fortunately, Dante's time in the shuttle was short as the compartment door opened and revealed an airlock. Dante was surprised as he didn't even feel the thing accelerate, move or even stop.
Beatrice took the lead once more and deliberately bent down and arched her back when coming out of the shuttle. Dante could only sigh and follow her with a tired expression, feeling like he had to do something, but didn't know what the do exactly.
When they entered a decontamination chamber, the door behind them closed and sealed itself. Then, a wave of red light covered them from head to toe as a female AI voice declared them to be safe.
After a second, the other door opened, revealing the observation deck of the battleship. Beatrice walked in confidently while Dante slowly entered while looking left and right carefully, as if expecting an ambush.
To his surprise, there was no organic life in the observation deck. Apart from an empty pilot's seat, there was an open lounge with various seats and sofas, as well as the captain's chair at the back, overseeing the entire room.
Rather than doors, Dante saw two teleporters at either end of the room, which likely allowed one to come and go from this area and to other parts of the ship instantly.
Beatrice moved straight to the pilot's seat and bent over to handle the consoles without sitting down. After pressing a few buttons, the entire ship came to life, and from the porthole, Dante could see that the battleship was beginning to move, detaching itself from the railings and magnetic clamps.
It turned around slowly and began to accelerate into space as it left the spaceport, but Dante did not feel even a lick of it in the ship, despite seeing it move. This discrepancy caused a slight cognitive dissonance and panic, forcing him to lower his body to touch the floor.
Beatrice turned back to look at this and her eyes narrowed for a second. She then left the terminal and walked up to Dante with her arms akimbo.
"Hmmm? Have you never been on a spaceship before? No scratch that, on any ship before? Not even a hoverboard? Otherwise, how can you react like this to anti-force technology?"
Beatrice walked around Dante and looked down on him with an expression of interest, like a scientist seeing an exciting specimen.
Dante ignored her and let his mind and body adapt for a while before shakily standing up and absolutely refusing to look out the porthole.
Beatrice chuckled and walked to the lounge and sat down on a sofa.
"So Mr. Dante, why don't you have a seat and we can talk?" Beatrice prompted as she gestured to the seat opposite her.
Dante took a deep breath and moved to sit opposite her, which was facing toward one of the portholes. However despite moving, space was relatively still and he couldn't see much of its acceleration, so he was fine in this regard.
Beatrice swung her legs upwards, displaying her supple thighs that were squeezed by her uniform before crossing her legs elegantly. Dante also leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs the male way, his arms folded before him.
Both sides remained silent and observed each other for a short while.
Beatrice eventually chuckled. "I seriously don't get you. At times, you behave like the most ignorant country bumpkin, far more ignorant than even the most isolated child, and other times you seem quite clever despite your poor indexes."
"Alright then, I'll be the one wearing the pants and rise to the occasion. Sigh, how tough it is to be a man nowadays." Beatrice shrugged dramatically.
She opened her right-hand palm and a light emitted from it, forming a holographic image in the air. On the image was a bunch of documents and databases that flashed by rapidly while Beatrice watched boredly.
"So Mr. Dante, if that even is your name, you have no file in existence, anywhere. By law, every species in the universe is to be registered in the Etranet Registry at birth or they will not be able to receive any public welfare, protection, or even any legal rights." Beatrice began in a slow drawl without even looking at Dante.
"So then, do you understand, Mr. Dante, that you are basically at your most vulnerable anywhere in the universe? That was why I had to blockade that entire backwater planet, otherwise, they would have had every right to deal with you as they saw fit."
Dante felt a chill. No basic human rights without registration? Very brutal but utterly sensible. When your territory spans galaxies, it became so hard to track individual lifeforms and if any government or controlling authority wanted to maintain control, they had to up the surveillance.
Now that Dante thought about it, the free AI chip they gave everyone was the best way to track every lifeform. It was indispensable if you wanted to interact and live in society, but it also allowed the powers that be to know you and where you go.
"No answer? I'll take it you're aware then. Do you also know that every pure human is a precious resource in our universe? I assume you don't." Beatrice continued lazily.
"When humankind first stepped into the wider stage of the galaxy, then the universe, we were but the weakest race. However, technology and reproduction allowed us to expand rapidly and become the strongest power in the universe."
Beatrice opened her hands helplessly. "However, by that point, more than 79% of our race no longer had pure human genes. Many had cross-bred with aliens to forge diplomatic ties or to hijack their genetic composition, causing many quadrupedal and other special races to become majorly humanoid."
"By the time we realized, 8 out of 10 humans sported unique genetics and visible features that marked them as demihumans at best. Apart from the top elite who maintain bloodline generation after generation, as well as a few commoners who were averse to cross-breeding, there were few others."
"However, the ones who held the reins to power were the pure humans, so you can imagine how the mixed ones felt. Were they no longer human anymore? But then you had to understand how the pure humans felt. Were those mixed breeds truly 'humans'? Or were they the other race they mixed with? Where did their interests lie? Who took priority between the two?" Beatrice paused here.
"And now, it's only gotten worse as the years have passed. Only less than 0.1% of the googol numbers of the human race being pure. That might seem like a lot, but compared to the opposite number, we are a minority of minorities."
"That's only within our own race. There are many species that we cannot breed with or breed out of extinction because they also kept pure-blooded members. They are not happy that humans have power over them and glare at the entire race. Within the entire race, mixed breeds are not happy that pure breeds have power over them, so glare at the entire minority."
Beatrice looked at Dante whose expression had become solemn and grave.
"Do you understand now, Mr. Dante? Whether it is you or me, our situation is as tenuous as can be, held up by a certain level of deterrence that you will come to learn of later if you don't already."
"The human race has already issued a galaxy-wide bounty reward for each pure human found and reported, but the other species have even higher bounties for the capture and trade of pure humans on the black market."
Beatrice snorted. "The amount of money paid out is enough for a civilian of any species to become the top 1% in their race immediately. That's how valuable we are."
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