The sight of this was a first, for me anyway. Normally these meetings were done one at a time, usually to let the Lycothans inspect those they intended to transform. It's partially why the pair of Alphas running the facility had commented on making me a Servant, due to my resistance to their attempts to get me to volunteer for the process. It still wasn't something I wanted. I may have had some questions on whether or not resisting could bring out anything good, but that didn't mean I wanted to simply give up. Even when the conversation with Lartara revealed that she didn't forget who she was. Her remembering who she was didn't change the fact that she was still helping their cause along, the only thing that really differentiated Lartara from the Alpha, is that the Alpha wanted to further the plans to conquer humanity while Lartara had come to the opinion that only by transforming humanity would it be saved the violence of the invasion. Regardless of the differences, though, the end would be the same. There were plenty of things I was curious on and even wanted to talk with her more, but that didn't mean I wanted to turn on humanity to do so.
The Alpha took my silence for a moment and brought a clawed finger to my chin.
"My... we aren't as talkative as we normally are," the Alpha stated, "are we finally realizing that we are the right side in this struggle? Especially after we've treated you so well."
"Hardly well," I managed at last.
"Excuse me?" the Alpha answered, probably irritated that I hadn't begged to become a Lycothan.
"You've locked us all in one person padded cells, we're fed like we're animals, and we only get one hour a week to clean ourselves," I answered, "and even the show isn't much more than a hose and a bar of soup. We're human beings..."
The Alpha only laughed at my protest.
"To us, you ARE animals, but you eat as we eat... you do like steaks, don't you?" the Alpha questioned, "why else would you humans have raised animals to eat?"
"We use a knife and fork," I answered, "Eating steak with our hands is uncivilized."
"Maybe to you, not to Lycothan... to feel your food in your hands and to savor its blood... there is a prime connection to what you're eating, and you show it more respect that way then simply poking at it with a "fork" as you call it," the Alpha snorted.
That made me pause and think for a moment. Maybe some of it was simply differences in cultures, though to any human, Lycothan table manners would thus leave much to be desired. Why would a culture that had developed interstellar travel eat with their hands?
"And you really want us? We're not to just be cannon fodder against those still free and fighting you?" I asked. "I mean... you say Amanda's sister is asking for her... but you've also said that we will never remember being human... lose much of our human personalities. So... does she really care for Amanda, or is she merely seeking the best opportunity to further your plan to take over Earth?"
The Alpha didn't answer. I figured that if she did answer, she would be admitting that some transformed humans remembered their pasts, as Lartara did, or her denial would be such an obvious lie that that information would be revealed. However, the frown on her face made it rather clear that she was losing patience. That I understood. I'd been resisting their "offers" for awhile and they were probably wanting to break Amanda quickly. I assumed because she and her sister were wanted to help run Baltimore, based on what limited contact I'd been able to have with the other prisoners, all of them women. The only males I'd seen since my capture were Thralls, and I'd honestly pictured them more as animals than as people or even Lycothans. Thralls never talked, and their only vocalization were howls, barks, and growls... like they were mundane wolves... and the Lycothans, even their Servants, treated them like they were pets.
"You are exhausting my patience, 992014," the Alpha sighed after a moment, "We've given you a lot of choices to become something better than being... human... and yet you've given a lot of smart mouth..."
"I haven't actually rejected anything this time," I pointed out.
"Spare me," the Alpha answered, "If you were seriously going to accept the gift, you would have done so by now. And I think there might be a way that will FINALLY break you."
I expected her to declare me to be food and that I'd be eaten. To my surprise, her focus turned to Casey, who clutched at herself under the Alpha's gaze. Something in my mind screamed that they were going to force something on her, which wasn't fair or right. The girl was only just eighteen, underfeed, and scared, and now an alien in a place of power intended to violate her in some way, as if to get me to accept a similar violation of my own body.
"Leave her alone!" I protested, and struggled in your chair, but found Lartara's hands on your shoulders to restrain you. Her grip was firm, and even though Lartara was still in her more human-like form, she was easily stronger than I was.
"Come now, 992014, you should know this is unavoidable to anyone captured," the Alpha responded, "we ensure long term success and prosperity and making sure that local populations share in our power by joining us... or die as a consequence of resistance. And what we're doing is for your own ultimate good. In fact... we're better than any invader your planet has ever had... millions died in your "world wars" as you call them... we've killed far fewer than you've killed among yourselves..."
"The rest you've changed!" I argued.
"Which is for your benefit..." the Alpha replied with a knowing smirk, "and yet you've rejected it. I could decide to have you eaten... but the Captain of your cell-block seems enamored by your will... I suppose that would make you a powerful warrior for the mopping up operations with the last pockets of human resistance where they may be. And so, I will try something we haven't done."
Casey whimpered as the Alpha looked to her again.
"997295, however, would be best served as a Servant," the Alpha continued, "too weak and timid to be a warrior. And deciding to bring harm to herself... not smart enough to be an Alpha. Best to put her to serving her betters and making sure she doesn't come to any harm."
I watched as Casey shook in her chair, clearly terrified. She may have wanted to die, but I figured that she still had some fear of the Lycothans, and as the child of a pair of resistance members, she probably feared becoming a Lycothan more than anything else. The Alpha didn't care and simply clapped her hands twice and a nearby door opened.
"We normally do the actual transformation in private to allow the partners some time together... to help set up what they will do after their transformation," the Alpha smirked, "but since 992014 has proved to be the most stubborn of those of you that remain... we will try something a bit different..."
It was then that a door opened and a lone Lycothan male entered. He was the first male you had seen in quite awhile. You wondered if maybe keeping the males separate was something similar to what you knew prisons to be like before their invasion. You'd seen TV specials where they keep male and female prisoners in different wings, sometimes even different prisons. Lycothans might use the same reasoning, though given that sex was one of their prime means of transforming humans and what the Alpha had just said, part of me wondered if some of the separation was done not to prevent sexual activity but to help make prisoners willing to engage in it when given the opportunity... but all you had was speculation, and none of that was immediately helpful for Casey.
He was in his more wolf like form, with brown fur, but he had no human hair at all, just fur. He had a white stripe that ran along the top of his muzzle and head, that reminded you a bit like a skunk's white stripe. Though, he was different from other Lycothans that I had remembered seeing. Alphas, be they male or female, were fit and strong, but had a build akin to that of an Olympic swimmer. Strong but not overdeveloped. Warriors were built more like a body builder. It didn't take much away from the femininity of female Warriors, but it was still obvious that they had more muscle than the average human woman and even female Alphas. This Lycothan was rather scrawny by comparison to even the Alphas. He had muscle, but not enough that would be good for anything more than very menial tasks. I couldn't help but notice an area where this Lycothan made up for his lack of size in terms of musculature. He was very well endowed between his legs, judging by the size of the sheath that hid his penis.
"You called for me, mistress?" the Servant Lycothan asked.
"Yes," the Alpha told the Servant, and gestured to Casey, "this one is to join your caste. Change her. Immediately."
The guard behind Casey pushed her out of the chair. She landed hard at the feet of Servant caste member and only whimpered.