Nereid's Tale

          A small, red sun rose over a snow-covered planet of the Nereid system, the lights of a semicircular hangar carved into the side of a mountain overlooking a narrow green belt that followed the equator. Hundreds of unclothed, pale-skinned humanoids with artificial bodies toiled at their stations; a community that acted as one mind with no concept of citizenship, laws, disobedience, individual expression. Unconformity leads to selfishness and unpredictability and therefore expulsion. It was no secret that Nereids who leave their world become the prostitutes of the galaxy.

           There was some confusion in one of the common areas as a transmission came in from their gold- and silver-skinned masters that they were to prepare to receive an off-world diplomat of some sort who was touring the system. But why would such a person come here? Never had such a transmission been sent.

           Workers were pulled from their tasks to prepare for this visitor. Several females were posted as sentries, one Nereid in particular wondering why this was more necessary than her legitimate duties. She was completely white, her rigid artificial form standing obediently at her post, eyes-forward.

           The sounds of a craft landing could be heard, then she observed an elite bronze-skinned male escorting an immense being who sat in a floating chair as they passed in front of her.

           “Protein distribution and copolymer production for self-sufficiency, climatic control and waste recycling.” the male was saying. “No significant mineral wealth due to the hydrosphere being too thick, so no trade significance.”

           “I disagree.” the visitor replied in a deep, sensitive voice. “You obviously maintain this world with some reverence and that is to be shared. There are slave societies that would shock you, how one treats their own kind is a reflection of themselves.”

           They passed out of sight and that was all she saw of him. Then a tall, copper-skinned female approached and stopped in front of her.

           “You have been assigned to accompany the ambassador on his vessel.” she said in a monotone voice. “You will secure your station and prepare for transport.”

           There was a lapse as Nereid made sure she understood this.

           “I am to cease my assigned duties?” she asked emotionlessly.

           “He has requested you as a prostitute.” came the surprising response. “You are to be part of his harem. You will be instructed on board.”

           Her superior turned and walked away, her hard feet clicking on the floor. Nereid stood speechless for a few seconds, her life just inconceivably changed in an instant, and all she could do was tilt her head toward the floor.

           They painted facial features on her and she was clothed for the first time in her life. Then she was sealed and launched into the upper atmosphere toward the strange and beautiful vessel floating there. She did not have the ability to console herself or know how to adapt to this situation, no more than a machine that has lost its purpose.

           She was unsealed in a luxurious circular room that was open to the blackness of space on all sides with no walls or doors, descending on one side of its central spire and ascending on the other like the inside of a mollusk. A lavender-skinned female humanoid with almond eyes stood before her wrapped in clothing that was far more elaborate than her own.

           “Welcome to the master’s entourage.” the woman smiled. “I am Ikiki the headmistress.”

           Her voice was musical and she used exotic words Nereid didn’t know the meaning of. It was amazing how her lips changed their shape to form each syllable.

           “The master has chosen you to join his harem.” she continued. “We are eleven women of different species who serve him. Do you speak?”

           “I am Nereid.” her monotone voice came from her rigid mouth. She meant this as one would say “I am human”.

           “I will tell you everything you need to know.” the woman looked her up and down. “You will not be allowed to meet the others yet, they need to be… prepared first. You see every species thinks they are attractive, they all think they know what pleasure is, until they meet another one. I trust the master but to me you look like a toy snmbri!”

           “You use words that have no meaning.” Nereid replied. “What is ‘attractive’? What is ‘pleasure’?”.

           Ikiki’s face stopped and remained motionless.

           “You do not know what pleasure is?” she made an expression Nereid could not read. “You are a woman, correct?”

           “Yes I am gender female.” Nereid answered.

           “And do you bear children?” Ikiki surmised.

           “No, when our numbers need to be replenished our community produces them artificially.”

           Ikiki looked as if such things were beyond her.

           “The master is wise and makes good decisions.” she said finally. “You will find him to be extremely generous.”

           “What are my responsibilities?” Nereid asked with a trace of worry. “Am I expected to join with him?”

           “NO.” she raised her voice. “We do not JOIN with our master, he is of a great royal house and that right is reserved for queens! You will NEVER join with him, it is illegal. We pleasure him. It goes one way, do you understand?”

           “Please excuse my ignorance.” Nereid said. She was not accustomed to anger.

           “Our job is to find ways to please him, and you would be surprised how beautiful and chaste some of those ways are. He is a being who sees beauty in everything. I can’t explain it the way he does. But these pleasures are never forced on us.”

           An uncertain Nereid remained silent behind her blank expression.

--

           The ambassador’s “vessel” was not a spacecraft in the sense of the word Nereid was familiar with. This was a domicile, a sanctuary shaped like a tall spiral staircase with each level seemingly exposed to space (unless he desired privacy). There was no visible technology anywhere, in fact the ship itself was made of something that looked as if it wasn’t entirely real.

           The harem consisted of women of great emotion and energy she did not wish to disturb. She did as she was told, then one day she was summoned by the master himself.

           A tall, blue-skinned male servant called Ubn ascended with her to the grandest of the ship’s chambers which had a commanding panoramic view of the cosmos including a planet she recognized as her own. The ambassador was seated at the highest point surrounded by exotic fineries.

           If a human had seen him they would have immediately thought of the Buddha. He had blue skin, an immense waist and everything about him was larger-than-life from his hands to his broad face. But like the ship itself he seemed indistinct. Although he looked ponderous there was a sense of transparency through which she could see a tiny point of light within him, and she wondered if that was his real self.

           “I am Id-Ankhr-Id-Xoraa.” his thundering voice came out. “It means ‘He Speaks and it is So’. It’s a shorter version of my full name, the whole thing reads “When One Sees His Vision in His Grasp He Speaks and it is So. Do you have a name?”

Nereid shook her head slowly.

           “So if one of your people said ‘I need to give this to ____’, what would they say?”

           “We would say ‘Someone needs to take this from me’.” she replied.

           “So there are no personal decisions?” he inquired strangely. “What if you wanted something?”

           “I suppose there are, we just all want the same things.” she answered. “No one wants to be set apart.”

           “Ah, then you must find the situation you are in now most unsettling!” he lowered his voice to a deep rumble.

           “Yes.” Nereid stated.

           “Would you like to be returned home?” he asked next, opening his huge hand toward Nereid 3.

           She turned stiffly toward the white-swathed world drifting below them.

           “Yes I would.” she conceded.

           “Then I will leave you there as I found you, if you will do something for me.” he said. “You know I care about emotions and the freedom to express them. One of my abilities is the power to join mentally with other beings and to read their thoughts and feelings. I do this to know what it is they truly desire so it can guide their destiny. There are many kinds of intercourse, I have to control it to keep myself from overwhelming them with my own thoughts. Tell me, when you were told your purpose is to fulfill my desires did you imagine my pleasure would be to send you back out of consideration for your wishes?”

           She didn’t know what to say to this so she simply said “No”.

           “One of the most valued emotions is trust.” he continued. “Without it none of us would have the right to speak and expect others to believe us. But you’ve told me that since you are all of one mind it is hard to say whether you are making your own choices. But you do have those emotions, so I’ve removed you and placed you in a situation where what you want is all that matters. As an individual how will you achieve what you wish in this circumstance?”

           Never had she met such a curious being nor did she understand why he had done this.

           “I will trust you to return me.” she responded. “What do you require of me in exchange?”

           “Only that you consider my words and the choice I have to offer you.” his voice became surprisingly soft. “Wanting something is better than having no desires at all, but only very limited minds want just one thing and those are hard to reason with. I would never keep such a desire from someone, I just want to be sure your choice is genuine. Do you miss the others of your kind? Do you feel lost without them?”

           “I have never spent a day by myself.” she responded. “You took me solely to ask me this?”

           “Yes, in fact my entire visit to this planet was for you.” his surprising answer came.

           Her silence matched her blank stare once again.

           “I have assisted many beings in finding their true selves, in becoming things they never thought they could be.” he leaned forward. “Although we have never met, I as your friend felt concern for you. Is it strange that I should want to do this for one being? I chose you because I believe you are special, one of a kind. I believe you are unique.”

           She took a step backward, unable to show her offense at this bizarre accusation.

           “That is not true.” her voice increased slightly in volume. “Please transport me back before you make more extreme statements.”

           “Have I offended you?” he asked sincerely.

           “I have practical concerns.” she spoke rapidly. “Everyone will know I was set apart for these strange reasons.”

           “But other Nereids who leave your system desire to become more humanoid, to show feeling.” he posed. “Have you had the chance to observe natural humanoids before? Would you like to observe more before you go back?”

           She thought for a moment. “If you wish it.” she consented.

           “I sense there is something else you were going to say.” he posed. “Would you share it please?”

           “Prostitution is a senseless profession that serves no purpose.” she answered after a pause.

           “Ah, now there's a discussion.” he leaned back with a smile. “Some species would consider you a degenerate for having emotion at all. Since the subject offends you, I give you my word that I will take no pleasure from you unless you ask for it.”

           She stared at his obese form for a moment.

           “I will never ask you for that.” she replied sensibly.

           “Are you so sure?” he responded. “Every woman here had the same choice and every one of them chose to remain here with me.”

           She could not dispute this claim nor could she fathom how a being with such conversational skills chose to boast about his exploits.

           “They are not me.” she said finally.

           “What a fine answer!” he beamed, genuinely impressed. “Nobility is a good feeling to have. I will assist you in gathering emotional knowledge that will benefit your people when you return.”

           “If you wish it, but understand that I will never ask to pleasure you.” she insisted. “If for no other reason than to warn others of the hazards of deviance.”

           “Such a noble creature...” he rose from his seat and could no longer conceal his sentiment. “You are indeed one of a kind. When I looked down on your entire race you shone like a star to me; I saw pride, protectiveness and curiosity. There was no other reason for my visit here, and we will remain here until you have made your choice. You cannot be replaced, it was only you that has set these events in motion.”

           “No it is not!” she used the tone reserved for rare emergencies, testing the limits of her vocals. She put a hand to her throat and was suddenly afraid of him.

--

           Nereid returned to her private space. She had always believed there is only reason and discord, there is no place where reason is a hindrance. Communication was supposed to be a simple conveyance of facts. Everything the master did was grand in some way but always had a practical explanation. His servants obeyed a caste system only at their own insistence; a caste of words.

           “How can a being of your intelligence endorse prostitution?” she voiced her honest opinion. “It is a known deviation from practical professions and relationships.”

           “It breaks barriers.” he answered without a moment’s thought. “If I had invited you here as an honored guest you would have felt safe and learned nothing from me. Comfortable subjects don’t break barriers.”

           She absorbed this slowly.

           “But you take pleasure from it.” she pointed out. “I pity those who live to service you.”

           “You should sense what they think of you.” he responded. “But I sense that behind this is the question that has been on your mind this entire time, ‘What is intercourse?’.”

           “I know what it is.” she replied.

           “Then tell me what it means in a civilization of sentient computers.” he challenged her. “I take it because pleasure is not bad. Or is it the form it takes that disgusts you?”

           She wasn’t certain how to answer.

           “Well can you name something that is good about me?” he asked her.

           His habit of throwing bizarre questions at her seemed unresolvable.

           “You haven’t acknowledged a single positive from this experience.” he replied. “One would think you were an ungracious guest.”

           She endeavored to think of a single compliment she could give him, fearful he might reject her with a complaint for her superiors.

           “Tell me about your power.” she said eventually. “What is it exactly?”

           “Which power do you speak of?” he asked curiously.

           “What you do with words.” she found it hard to explain. “You can out-reason reason. You can do things while saying you are not doing them…”

           “Ah, you surprised me!” he sounded delighted. “That is not something I get asked very often, but this ‘power’ must only be used for Good. You see I don’t just manipulate words but the realities behind them, or I would be a demon that doesn’t cover its footprints, an ensuer of mayhem. I take pleasure in your refusing me because I admire your fortitude. Your protectiveness will help others someday along with many other qualities. You will mistake this for impulsiveness because it seems too brief a time to know you, too brief! But I have considered a thousand possibilities in the time it will take you to make one choice. If you remain on this vessel you will encounter beings from other civilizations. You will be the first Nereid many of them have ever seen, a representative of your tribe as I am, and gain insight that will help your own world immensely.”

           Her rigid mouth was silent and confounded. A shooting star passed by the planet.

            “Are you… able to see the future?” was all she could say.

           “Just the predilections of experience.” he answered. “I help steer the course of civilizations; reach the emotions of beings that don’t understand us and bridge the impediments that divide them, persuade them to engage in the admonitions of peace and pragmatism. It is better than returning home empty-handed in many ways. Knowing this is as difficult for me to resist as it is for you, the fear you will not believe me. You may hurt me by depriving me of your presence."

           His large eyes looked into hers. There was something wrong with her eyes, even though she had no true heart as humanoids do.

           “I would never wish to hurt anyone.” she said with difficulty. “Especially not a being so much greater than I am.”

           “I am not greater than you.” the master responded. “You could easily have been born into my role and me into yours, so I will ask no more favors from you and I don’t want you to give them.”

--

           Nereid was given more to think about than any of her kind had probably ever been exposed to. The master’s determination not to take any liberty from her made it impossible to say she was being cajoled in any way, for he made her promise to share any misgivings. And yet she could not separate this from the knowledge of his lustful habits with women of every description. It was strange to think of it.

           When she had made her choice, the vessel condensed into a single point of light. It didn’t seem that they were moving as much as the master was willing them to encounter other peoples and experiences. He made this happen with a single word, and his words made her feel alive.