As Delta made his way through the narrow passageways of the ship, his mind was still a whirlwind of emotions. He'd always tried to be the best soldier he could be. He'd always wanted to focus on the mission ahead, defend the base against the threat of the slowly advancing enemy fleet. Being a delta was wasted on his training. He wanted to fucking scream, to hit something.
Maybe the gammas noticed the mood he was in, because they all quickly made way for him when he passed by.
Good, it was better to seem intimidating. Vulnerability would surely be preyed upon. He'd seen it happen in the academy, and he knew it would happen here, especially with the chip keeping him subservient to even these lowly ranking gamma soldiers. He had to keep his composure.
When he approached the doors to the bridge, they slid open, and he could hear voices quieting. The three beta couples were standing with their backs to the door, facing the alpha, who looked up with a mild expression as Delta stepped in.
The alpha motioned with his arm for Delta to join him. But when the beta turned their heads to see who'd come in, Delta stiffened in his tracks.
Among the beta officers stood Mitch and Iris. They'd been his friends back at the academy. They'd trained together, fought together in the practice modules, supported each other. Their eyes widened in shock as they recognized him, and for a moment, there was only silence. Despite his best efforts to keep himself in check, Delta could feel his face burning with shame.
'Delta 7.' Alpha 7 said, slowly dropping his arm. 'Meet your new beta officers; Zoe and River, Olivia and Jack, and Iris and Mitch.'
Delta forced a nod, trying to push down the turmoil within him. 'Hello,' he managed to say, his voice sounding weak even to his own ears.
'You?' Mitch stammered, unable to hide the shock in his voice.
Iris maintained her composure, but her eyes searched for answers. How could he even begin to explain this to her?
Before he could say anything else, the alpha stepped through his gathered officers, placing a hand on his shoulder. 'Delta 7 will be working closely with us on this mission,' he said.
The words felt like a cruel joke. Working with them, his former peers, in this subservient role would be a nightmare. The details of the meeting completely passed him by as he stood next to the alpha, whose hand rubbed the small of his back. He caught himself leaning into it, and pulled away.
Once the meeting concluded, the alpha let go of him, and went over to discuss some details with Zoe and River.
Mitch and Iris came over to him, concern etched on their faces.
'You're...' Iris asked. 'a delta?'
He nodded.
'Are you okay?' Mitch's hand hovered in the air for a moment, as if he was unsure whether to touch him or not. With regret, Delta watched Mitch drop it down to his side again.
'I don't know. It's complicated,' he admitted. He probably would have told them that it had been a mistake now-- that he didn't agree with this-- if the directive hadn't removed that desire from his mind.
But his friends knew. He could see it in their eyes.
'This is so messed up,' Mitch said, his voice tight with emotion. 'How could they decide this? You were the best of us, you are the best of us.'
'Thanks.' Delta said, uncomfortable under their empathy. 'But I can handle this. It's okay.'
'Just-, just tell us when something is wrong, okay? We're here for you.'
A tremor went through Delta's spine. It had probably not even been a conscious command, but Iris's directive conflicted with his alpha's words not to complain about his situation. It wasn't like she could overrule the alpha's higher ranking directive though, so all Delta could do was give her a nod.
'Wait, oh I'm sorry, did I just-?' Iris clasped a hand over her mouth. She seemed horrified. But she didn't take her words back either, Delta noticed.
Whatever. They weren't friends anymore. They couldn't be. It was like Alpha 7 had said. It was nice of them to care about him, but they would never be equals. And there was nothing to do but to get used to that.
* * *
After the introductions were over, Delta was sent away from the bridge. He hadn't been assigned to one specific task force, but found himself passed along between artillery, machinery, and maintenance, tasked with a series of simple, menial duties he'd familiarized himself with during his years at the academy. He scrubbed floors, oiled weaponry and machinery and was sent to the bowels of the whip for stupid ventilation cleaning. Earlier he'd been joined by a gamma or two, but ventilation shafts were small, and for the first time that day, he was alone.
