Root CGD: Unknown date / time (Earth Day 9 in captivity)
CinT Ark Loc: Unknown coordinates (Zoo?)
I had trouble sleeping through the night and chalked that up to not having eaten the gruel our captors had provided twice yesterday. My stomach had gurgled, roiled, and complained throughout the night. As annoying as the physical effects of not having eaten was, what was worse was how I couldn’t shut my damn brain off! Not getting decent sleep had been a combination of hunger, not being drugged since I hadn’t ate, and a healthy dose of feeling overly emotional about everything and anything related to being a specimen in a fucking zoo.

Seeing ‘Red’, my neighbor, had moved me deeper than I thought reasonable, and that was confusing on multiple levels. Was learning I, or ‘we’, were possibly exhibits in a zoo the driver for those confusing feelings? Was it realizing I wasn’t alone is what scrambled my emotional state? I wasn’t sure, but this overly sensitive mode of operation wasn’t my norm, and I needed to get a grip on the situation or I’d be useless in figuring out how to get out of this mess.

Since I hadn’t drunk anything yesterday, I had a massive headache on top of my long list of other issues this morning. It felt like there were too many problems to corral alone right now. My mood was crappy, and I was absolutely feeling sorry for myself. Those things weren’t going to do me any good right now and I needed to fix that and quickly!

I needed to 'man-up’ in a manner of speaking and decided to skip exercising or mindlessly pacing like I usually did every morning. Instead I would shower and try to piece together my new realities—both possible zoo specimen and how to better handle these changes to my body. I resolved to do that with some concerted effort and sans the emotion blubbering I’d done yesterday and into last night. Be more logical, not emotional! Those were the ground rules I needed to follow.

First task: figure out how to get more face time with my neighbor. I had way too many questions, and I needed to see him to enlist his assistance with whatever the hell this ‘zoo’ existence entailed. I knew we’d be better off working together, and I needed to show him I had skills and experience that would matter beyond this pseudo-female form he was seeing me in right now. I wasn’t this physical version of myself, and I needed to explain that and hoped he could learn to trust and rely on me to be useful down the road if an opportunity for us to get out of here presented itself.

Getting showered and dried off with the large silk-like material ‘towel’ that had the water absorption properties of a piece of metal was the first obstacle to get over. I then got dressed in my silk bag dress-like garment. It was a ridiculous garment and I cursed my captors for not supplying any underwear or even a bra to hold my new perky and sensitive breasts in place so they wouldn’t be constantly stimulated by the fabric of this stupid, ill-fitting bag every time I moved! No, not going to get emotional or lose my shit!

My final act for the morning was to eat their pathetic paste and drink the synthesized water. I was going to show compliance. And by doing that, I hoped for concessions on the part of my captors—namely letting me see ‘Red’ again. What options did I have? Compliance – that was the route I needed to walk.

The last task for my morning – I dragged my bed in front of the wall between our cells, 'cages', and waited for them to turn the wall transparent again. I was banking heavily on my going along with their program to maybe, just maybe, get me some time with my neighbor.

Why the hell hadn’t I asked his name yesterday? I couldn’t just keep calling him ‘Red’, could I? I smiled, thinking how that name kind of fit him.

Root CGD: Unknown date/ttime (Earth Day 11 in captivity)
CinT Ark Loc: Unknown coordinates (Zoo?)
Three days of being compliant for our captors, and I still wasn’t being allowed access to ‘Red’. I had barely moved from the wall between our cages—either sitting or laying on my bed in front of it or leaning against it when I got tired of those positions. Of course several times I’d had to turn away so as to not be seen crying, but other than that or when I slept, I had my eyes glued to the wall. I pounded on it often, kept a hand on it, spoke to it, and for a couple hours had even leaned my head against it just to be connected to it and the occupant on the other side.

I was back to sleeping deeply at night again and figured they were continuing to put something in my food to keep me dossal, compliant. What hadn’t happened though was dreaming about Red visiting me or him sitting on my bed holding my hand. Every morning I’d wake up and anxiously check my hand for a piece of his hair and felt depressed when there wasn’t any to be found. Since I hadn’t seen him in my dreams, I reasoned that made sense—they hadn’t yet allowed him back in my cell while I was sleeping.

I was determined to stick to my plan—to be compliant—but my patience was being tested and my attitude was bumping against the ‘Fuck you!’ mark harder with each passing minute.

Sound from the shelf my food was delivered on caught my attention, and while I wanted to remain compliant, I really wasn’t in the mood to eat, so I ignored its presence. I knew the lights would be dimming soon to indicate ‘night’ or 'sleepy-sleepy’ time after I ate the gruel, but not getting any consideration for being a good zoo specimen the past couple days was gnawing on me. I hadn’t ever not removed the bowels of gruel or water-like liquid from the shelf and wondered if that would slow the lights eventually going out.

I lie there watching the ceiling, and after a while I was certain it was truly a few shades less bright than ‘dusk. Guess delaying picking up my gruel wasn’t going to slow the lights eventually going out.

I rolled off the bed to get up and pee, but before I could take a second step from the bed, I could tell the lights had dimmed and stopped to look up. I quickly gave up trying to decide if it was indeed dimmer and was about to take another step when the lights flashed twice, but instead of looking up, I looked at the wall—nothing.

“Come on!”

Nothing happened; the wall remained in its metal-like state.

What are you trying to tell me? You wanted something, damn it! You flashed the lights – message received! I looked towards the bowls and decided maybe this was them prodding me to pick them up and eat. I decided to grab them and noticed the lights dim slightly again, but also that the wall became transparent between our cages and I could see Red!

YES! I rushed to the wall, setting the bowels on the floor, spilling half the liquid that passed as water, and waited for him to notice I was standing there. After ten, maybe twenty seconds without any acknowledgment, I decided to wave when it looked like he was looking straight at me. Nothing!

What the hell?! I pounded on the wall, but he didn’t react. Was he ignoring me? I waved, shouted, sat, tried to line my eyes up with his, and still there was no reaction. I gave up after a few minutes and sat on my bed watching him and wondered why it was he couldn’t see me.

I watched him look to his left, smile, and maybe even chuckle before lying down on the bed.

What?! You really can’t see me, can you?! I stood again and waved, pounded on the wall between us again, but he didn’t flinch.

“Red! Hey! Right here! Look at me! Look…”

He didn’t move. What the actual fuck?! I sat back down but stood again to pound on the translucent wall again out of frustration. No reaction, no looking in my direction, no… Wait, what are you doing? I watched as Red sat up, pulled his shirt off, stood, removed his pants and underwear, and walked naked to the shower.

Whoa! Ah, I did not see that coming! What else couldn’t I do in that moment? Look away…

Root CGD: Unknown date/time (Earth Day 12 in captivity)
CinT Ark Loc: Unknown coordinates (Zoo?)
I woke up later than usual with the lighting in my cage nearly to its maximum. The wall between our cages was back to its metallic state, and after I’d gotten up to pee, my morning rations appeared on the shelf as if they had been waiting for me to stir. Since I’d only eaten half of last night’s meal cold, long after it had been delivered, I wasn’t going to make that same mistake today. Cold paste sucked, and the overly synthesized water didn’t make the cold gruel go down any easier.

I was going to eat my gruel warm from now on. I was also going to stick to the plan of being a good and compliant specimen for my captors so as to maybe earn the opportunity to see Red again—even if he couldn’t see me.

I’d spent too much time last night watching Red before and after he’d fallen asleep. Since he hadn’t seen me the entire time I’d been trying to get his attention, I figured whatever this wall material was our hosts had the ability to make it one-way transparent. That meant Red may have had a similar experience of getting to watch me without my knowledge. Not that I’d done anything like he had last night, but the idea of being unknowingly watched while my body looked like this really didn’t sit well with me.

I couldn’t help but cringe remembering how I’d explored my breasts those few times while in bed or in the shower and how my attempts at waking up that tiny nub between my legs had gone nowhere—fuck! Guess he’d possibly gotten a show those few times I’d done those things. Was him working off his own frustrations last night because he’d watched me explore my body?

Augh, not helpful and I certainly hope that wasn’t the case last night!

I’d seen any number of human males naked in my twenty-eight years and tromping around the various galaxies from childhood to adult. Not once had I given it a second thought, or was I even remotely interested in the pleasures that could be had from what I considered the inferior sex’s body. Seeing Red naked last night though hit me differently, which gave me pause and had me questioning where those feelings originated from.

There was a whole lot more I needed to process to fully understand what and why I might have had feelings of desire as I watched him in the shower that was for damn sure!

His naked form had absolutely invaded my dreams last night, and that was very strange to me because in those dreams I was not shy about nestling my current body next to his while he was naked or us doing things together that sure seemed natural, unexpected, and warmly pleasurable if I were being honest about what I could remember of those dreams. I reasoned the strength of those images and acts we’d shared in my dreams were influenced by what I witnessed him doing while he was in the shower.

Yes, fully naked he had a well-toned body and was a decent-looking guy generally speaking. Yes, the hair below his waist matched the color of the hair on his head and face. And finally, ‘Yes'—he was of average size and girth—at least until he was fully aroused, then he might be a bit larger than average if I were comparing him to myself pre female hormone single injection.

I could confidently state that last fact about his ‘size’ because while in the shower he may have spent an inordinate amount of time pleasuring himself to a fairly intense climax given his facial expression, quivering legs, and amount of ejaculate that was coaxed out of his cock in heavily spurts and thick ribbons. I couldn’t blame the guy for taking matters in his own hands, so to speak. Like any other guy out there I’d done that a few thousand times myself to pass the time or when I felt frustrated or for whatever reason I chose to masturbate. The last time I’d done what he’d done was on the Barrow Gar a few days before the ship was hit and my body started down this path.

There was no denying I was aroused last night, but it wasn’t anything like I was accustomed in regards to being turned on or had even remotely experienced in the past.

Watching Red last night, I’d have thought it instinctual to touch myself the way I had in the past, but as he made those slow strokes, water streaming over muscular arms and ass, my hands found their way to my breasts. Those first caresses led to softly pinching, rolling and pulling on puffy nipples, and there was no mistaking the warm, glowing feeling coursing throughout my body as I did that while watching him. It was interesting that as I watched him, I could sense what he was feeling, but what I felt touching myself was so very different.

Multiple times my arousal seemed to roll on in tiny waves that sent soft, delicious, tingling through my legs like nothing I’d ever felt before. My whole body seemed to pulse in unison and I was blanketed in a euphoric calm after the wave of pleasure faded. The waves had washed over me multiple times, which was odd and unexpected, but so very welcomed given the stress of the past eleven days.

As Red progressed, I could see on his face he was getting close to finishing and saw him hit his tilting point, it was powerful moment to watch. I remember dropping a hand between my legs right before that happened and found that I wasn’t engorged in the least, but there was an abundance of pre-cum my fingers slipped around in and through. That act of touching myself, feeling the slickness, had me hitting a threshold, a plateau, and every ounce of tension stored in my body flooded past a fluttering tummy and gently shaking body.

I had to place a hand on the transparent wall to steady myself, and in doing so I got to watch the last few glimpses of Red draining his cock sensually with one hand while also holding himself steady with the other against the shower wall.

I couldn’t help but smile thinking that not only had he been able to satisfy himself, but that he’d helped me get there also—though via a totally new and arguably different, deeper route. I needed that release, though it was only a momentary escape given all I’d been worrying about these past twelve days. I wonder if he felt that way also, if he was thinking about…

“Hey…”

I physically jumped and stepped back a couple steps quickly, while turning towards the cage wall to see that Red was standing there without any barrier between us. FUCK ME!

My heart was pounding in my chest, and I instantly wondered if I should be worried that he was standing there! He wasn’t moving, standing still in his cage and watching me as if allowing me to get acclimated to the idea there was nothing between our two cages.

“Wha… What’s happening?” I asked still in shock.

“Typical shit…”

“I don’t understand; what does that mean?” I asked quickly and likely sounding overly concerned.

“They’ve decided we aren’t going to kill each other, so they’re moving this show along,” he replied.

“Show?”

“I know you’ve got a lot of questions; mind if we sit?” he asked, looking at my bed.

“You can,” I replied tentatively, but remained in my position a meter from my bed before taking a small step backwards when he moved to sit at the foot of it.

“Look, you’re obviously new here, and I’m not exactly sure what they think they’re doing with you yet. I do know that if you’re not playing along as you have been these last couple days it’s not going to end well for you. Once we’re in the Exhibit Housing, they’re going to expect the same,” he said, patting the bed as if he wanted me to sit with him.

“Is this really a zoo? Are we really some kind of captive animals here?”

I could feel my chest tightening, and breathing was becoming difficult.

“Hey, easy now,” he replied concerned and stood to come around the bed closer to where I was beginning to freak out. “Just breathe… Nothing is going to happen to you or me if we play this correctly.”

I felt like my balance was failing, so I squatted and got my hands on the floor to steady myself. I felt his hand on my shoulder.

“We’ll get through this, I promise. Come sit on the bed; you’ll be more comfortable, and it’ll show them we’re getting along. We need that, the looking like we’re getting along part. It’s key to you not getting taken away; trust me on that.”

I submitted to moving to the bed after a full minute with four parts of my body touching the floor while I tried to get control of my breathing and panicked state I was in. I was thankful he let me have that moment without rushing or pressuring me. I let him guide me to the bed, but instead of sitting, I curled up in a ball facing his cell, leaving him standing behind me. I didn’t move when he sat next to me and placed his hand on my shoulder for a second, as if to let me know he was behind me.

“Okay, let’s start with the basics. I’m Garrett, and you’re,” he asked.

“Cameron,” I whispered.

“It’s nice to finally meet you without that damn wall, Cameron. You’ve got a pretty name. I knew a Cameron once, spirited woman she was. Do you remember anything about how you got here?”

“No, not really.”

“I don’t either, same with the others,” he said, removing his hand.

“There are others?” I asked, turning my head to look back at him.

“We think they try to keep a stock of eight of us in the Exhibit Housing, but they’ve had issues with losing women during pregnancy and childbirth,” he answered solemnly.

“Stock? Like we’re,” I stopped speaking because I got it, and the look on his face told me he wasn’t happy about it either.

We were in a zoo, according to Garrett, whom I’d been calling ‘Red’ all this time. From what limited history I knew about these kinds of facilities on ancient Earth, they often bred their animals and shared them among other zoos. Generally, they tended to be considerate of whichever species they were housing, but they’d taken those animals freedoms, which most humans didn’t agree with late into those facilities existences. Happily, the last record of there being such a facility was somewhere between the years 2080 and 2100.

That last zoo had closed due to climate change issues and ancient Earth becoming nearly uninhabitable at some point between those years. Humans had tried to exist by moving their civilizations underground or under the greatly depleted bodies of water that remained, but by the year 2200, planet Earth had barely a few million inhabitants. Most had spread far and wide through the galaxies—including my ten-times over great grandparents according to computer records and family lore.

Funny, all that tech to get off the planet and no one had thought to try to save it. Typical of the time, use shit, throw it out, rape the planet, and basically shit in your own bed. FOCUS!!! I have things I need to know, need to ask!

Cheryl had said I was the last male on my ship. I needed to know if she or any of the women from my crew were here or died during any pregnancies and what the hell our hosts had planned for me in this zoo.

“Do you recall the names of the women who are here or were?” I asked quietly.

I listened as he rattled off about twenty names he’d met over the time he’d been here, and the only name close to one of the women on my crew was a woman named Deanna. Dee would rather die than go by that name, so I figured she or any of the other women from my crew hadn’t ended up here. What happened to them would remain a mystery for a little longer.

I felt Garrett shifting behind me, and then he softly began speaking close to my ear, “I’m going to lay behind you. Don’t read more into this than what it is. They need to see we’re coupled, that I’m comforting you, and that we might like each other.”

I bristled, partly because I wanted none of this and partly because his breath was warm on my neck and visions of last night’s dreams came flooding back for a brief moment where we’d been intimate. This was not the time for those kinds of thoughts!

“The sooner we look the part, the sooner we’ll be transferred to what we’ve been calling the Exhibit Housing. It’s a cluster of four small homes they copied from who knows where, but are a lot more comfortable than these holding pens.

“It’s an upgrade, believe me. There will be others to talk to too: three very nice women who are coupled, and two of the three other guys aren’t too bad. Oh, and you’ll get some better clothes, food that has shape and maybe a little more taste, and some limited outside space that, while computer-generated, will do wonders for your mind—does mine.”

He stopped speaking to sit more upright and place his hand back on my shoulder.

“If you look repulsed or pull away, well, it’s kind of been the end for the women they’ve brought in or that have been traded here from some other zoo. I promise you, Cameron, I will not hurt you nor will I do anything that might make you feel uncomfortable. You’re a bit different from the other women who’ve been brought here, but that could play to our advantage. I know this is a leap of faith I’m asking for, but I need you to trust me.”

A leap? He was kidding, right? I’m basically putting my life in your hands, and all that’s going to cost me is to look like I’m attracted to you. I caught he knew I wasn’t a woman, though might appear like one a little bit. Not what I needed!

My brain and my heart couldn’t handle it any longer, and I lay there a moment unable to speak—but began sobbing quietly. Garrett slowly lay behind me, spooning me, and carefully wrapped his arms around me. I wasn’t in any position to make him stop, and it did feel good to not be alone anymore.

“It’s going to be alright,” he whispered.

I wish I could believe that I thought as my chest heaved and the tears flowed while I was being held gently...

Root CGD: Unknown date/time (Earth Day 13 in captivity)
CinT Ark Loc: Unknown coordinates (Zoo—'Exhibit Housing’?)
Our captors let us spend a few hours together, and at some point the lights flashed before ‘night time’ and Garrett willingly got up and went back to his pen. He assured me this was normal, and with any luck we’d be transferred to the ‘Exhibit Housing’ at some point before morning. I hadn’t realized how that would happen, and after consuming my evening meal, the room started spinning, and the next thing I heard was…

“You’re safe, but try not to move too much or you’ll puke that crap they fed you last night,” a woman’s voice was saying as I started to open my eyes, struggling to focus on her face and understand what she was telling me about not moving.

The confused look on my face must have been easy to read because she began explaining what had happened to me.

“They had to knock you out to get you transferred to the exhibit, and trust me, you’re going to feel like crap for a few more hours. I’m Allison or Ali if long names annoy you. Garrett’s fine, sleeping this off in the outer room, but he’s gone through it a few times, so I expect he’ll be up and roaming around shortly. Seriously, rest for now, we’ll talk in a few hours.”

I could just make out a clock behind Allison, digital, an antique since it wasn’t holographic or part of any environmental computer waiting to answer the question, ‘What time is it?’. The time said it was 3:12, and I assumed that meant afternoon—that meant I’d been out a long time to get to this spot. I wanted so badly to look around, but I figured I should heed her warning about moving due to whatever drug they’d given me, and my eyes really did want to be shut anyway, so I closed them.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

I felt her pat my hand and…

::: --- :::

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Rachel M. Moore