Right now, she would give up the facade just to be home. Being a freedom fighter meant making sacrifices she never would. She never learnt to fight or understand the plight of desperate people. She didn't care. Fuck.
At some point she must've fallen asleep because she awoke to Max's presence nearby. He was muttering to himself. Tilly looked down, just beyond the foot of the bed she lay on. Max had the feeding tube in hand.
"You're not actually thinking of using that... thing, are you?" She disdained.
"Thirsty. Do you see a better option, oh wise woman?" Tilly was surprised by the sass. That was unlike Max. She realised he'd lost his reverence for her. They were fucked, and he knew it. He would just do as they told him; she still had some fight left. Tilly confirmed both doors were locked, then watched as Max sought something for his empty stomach.
He slowly lifted the fleshy tentacle and took a tentative lick. Judging from his raised eyebrows and slight smile, the taste was not bad. Slowly, he wrapped his lips around the end, and his cheeks caved. In response, the tentacle thickened, and the next thing Tilly knew, Max was gagging on a thick white goop that had briefly hosed his face, his mouth not being able to contain the volume.
Tilly choked down a derisive snort of pleasure at the idiot's misfortune; however, to her surprise, he persevered. It took ten minutes for him to work out and build up the courage to get some food. The trick Max had established was to swallow the tentacle before it disgorged its load. With two good loads in him, he retreated to the bed on the other side of the room and curled up to sleep. She soon joined him in slumber from her side of the room.
The next time Tilly woke, it was to Max's groans. He lay curled up, clutching his guts. The lighting in the room had dimmed, though she could still see his silhouette.
"Max, you okay?" She called over.
"Nngg. Trapped. Gas. Think." Max managed to get out.
"It'll be that gloop you got fed, Max. Try the hole in the wall."
"You. First."
"Hell no. I'd rather die." At that, Tilly stood on legs that had recovered from whatever they had knocked her out with. She had her strength back. However, no amount of heaving, bashing, or swearing would open the doors. The handles felt welded. There was no movement at all in them. She walked the walls looking for weaknesses or hidden openings. There was nothing bar the feeding tube and toilet.
Tilly huffed before demonstrably sitting back on her bed. Time passed. And another couple of sessions of Tilly trying to escape. A few hours later, and the lights brightened. Two loud beeps shook the room. Seconds later, soapy water rained from the ceiling. There was no escape. The liquid mist seemed to float on currents of air, carried into every nook and cranny of the pair. It was difficult not to breathe it in. After a few minutes of this, a short, intense blast of cold water followed to wash away the suds. All the evidence of the shower soaked away into the padded surfaces, leaving two bedraggled posh kids sitting, stunned, on the sides of their beds.
"Fuck this." Shouted the dripping girl before storming around the room, making another futile attempt at escape. She was soon sitting back on the edge of her bed, avoiding both eye contact with Max and catching a glimpse of the crazy, unnerving sphincter toilet. Another hour passed. Well, what felt like an hour. It was probably closer to ten minutes. And then the door opened. The second door, opposite where they'd entered.
Tilly, suddenly feeling naked, vulnerable, and exposed, instinctively closed her legs and drew her knees up to her chest, covering her chest and crotch. Two scarred, scary-looking armed guards came in. Both female and much older than the two yesterday. They were closely followed by two giggling, totally unashamed naked girls with collars that matched Tilly and Max's, except they were padded in pink, not white. Their glistening, oily skin caught the light, showing their generous, nubile bodies delightfully. Long purple hair suited their collars and exaggerated their sisterly appearance. They were the complete antithesis of the rugged military guards.
"Hello, people!" The girl on the right happily chimed. "How was your first night?" She focused in on the two sour, dripping faces unamusedly staring back at her; the rehearsed part of her spiel was instantly trashed.
"Oh, look at you two! For the morning shower, stand in the middle of the pen, arms spread, like this." At that, the girl, whom Tilly begrudgingly accepted was very pretty, walked to the middle and demonstrated with a little twirl to finish.
"If you don't, the soap gets blown in your eyes, the rinse is cold, and there's no blow-dry, yes?"
Tilly grunted, and Max nodded. The girl sighed and tapped something on the screen of the tablet she gripped. Behind her, a bench rose, and both girls sat as if synchronised. The soldiers took point, one standing on each side of the pair. Tilly grinned, eyeing the computer. That was her ticket out of here. She just had to get to it. The soldiers were the issue. Her eyes met the one on the left, who smiled menacingly back, her gun held loosely as if daring Tilly to have a go. This was clearly not their first rodeo. The plan was busted on arrival.
The two girls peered at the screen clutched between them, silently pointing out salient details, before the previously silent one spoke.
"Do you know what we do here?" She asked in a cute, high-pitched voice. While Max simply shook his head, Tilly had plenty to say on the subject.
"You steal people to run illegal drug-testing programs on them. This is a big slavery operation." All four newcomers laughed.
"Thought not," the questioner replied. "That is what you were told to trick you into coming here. All the evidence you found was planted for you to find by your family. Xactos has a rock-solid case. You were caught trespassing and heavily armed. Your intent was clear. Now you are detained. Owned by Xactos with no human rights, according to the law of this planetary system. All sides will agree you did something monumentally stupid and dangerous and need to face the consequences. Case closed.
"To be honest, most of the rich idiots we get were tricked by their siblings to minimise inheritance dilution. However, you are rare. It is your parents that see this as the only option for you both. That must be tough."
Max simply hung his head while Tilly glared angrily, the soldiers' guns no longer so loosely held. The two girls ignored it all, the sweet, high-pitched voice carrying on, now reading from her screen.
"This is a farm. We do farming. Very special farming, specifically in this department: xeno parasites. Parasites that Xactos' research teams have sourced from across the galaxy for their very specific properties. Drugs produced from these creatures save hundreds of millions of lives every year. They also produce some of the rarest and most expensive treatments known.
"In order to breed parasites, you need hosts. And to maximise yields, you need the perfect host. Out of three hundred and thirty-eight parasitic species farmed here, the highly malleable mind of the human makes us a great host for over a quarter of them and good enough for another quarter. Humans evolved on Earth, where the powerful organisms we farm don't exist and hence we have no natural resistance. Additionally, large numbers of humans have an ideal nature for hosting our parasites. There is one major reason humans are preferred, though: there's an abundant source of willing volunteers so there's no need for an expensive host breeding program.
