Chapter 112 (1/2)

Gu'ulmoo had been a normal Lanaktallan when he was younger. Slightly curious, never straying too far from his parents, staying with his peers and schoolmates, content with how life was. As a child, he had been a standard Lanaktallan child, not too curious or aggressive, not too disinterested or passive. The correct balance of everything it meant to be Lanaktallan.

He was roughly equivelant to a Terran 6 year old when he was found, face down and on his side, in an alley several miles from his family's luxury apartment, breathing but little else. The medical services picked him up, took him to the hospital, and his life stopped being normal.

Things had been done to him, and whoever had done them to him had shot Gu'ulmoo in the face with a neural pistol.

And then put two more into the back of his head and one into the flankspine.

After three months of being hooked up to life support, his parents had him emancipated and procured a license for a new child.

At six months, he was removed from life support, there was no use on wasting resources on him.

Except, he didn't die like a good Lanaktallan should have. Instead, he held on and within a week, despite all mathematical odds, opened his eyes.

The damage to his brain and spine had changed him. He talked infrequently, often just staring when asked a question. He walked oddly. Food and drink had no taste to him and he had difficulty chewing cud without drooling the juice all over the floor.

But, he was able to rejoin school, as a ward of the state, and maintain good enough scholastic ratings to move on to eventually running a welder in a factory.

His debts were quickly paid off as Gu'ulmoo had no need for luxuries. He didn't care. He did his work, went home, ate nutripaste, and went to sleep, repeating as necessary. His personal hygiene was surprisingly good. Once he was set on a task, a relatively easy thing to do, he worked at it until it was complete, sometimes to the amusement of his coworkers, who were often disciplined by the supervisors. The supervisors considered Gu'ulmoo's willingness to complete a task a bonus, since he often forgot to apply for special pay or overtime.

His peers, coworkers, and supervisors gave him a rather rude nickname, he didn't care. It was words, and words had no power unless you gave them power.

Eventually two things happened that changed Gu'ulmoo's life.

One, was a horror, the other was interesting.

Gu'ulmoo came from good genetic stock, after all, surviving those hideous wounds and that assault at his young age proved that, his ability to rise above this neural injuries and maintain himself and his employment proved his mental genetic stock.

The computer systems that ruled Lanaktallan life consulted Gu'ulmoo's genetic profile and matched him with a female Lanaktallan. They would be pair-bonded for a period of forty years and five children, after which they could go their own way and marry/have children with whomever they wished.

When Gu'ulmoo found out about it, he was horrified.

Gu'ulmoo didn't like other Lanaktallan. To be honest, they disgusted him. The thought of doing that with another member of his species was horrifying to him. The thought made him physically ill.

But the same day he was notified that mandatory pair bonding was to take place within six months, something even more interesting happened.

A few months prior, a new race was discovered. At first, it was thought to be many races. Then it was revealed that it was a single race.

Gu'ulmoo knew that there had to be a way to talk to them on GalNet. Every being was allocated GalNet service, so Gu'ulmoo had his hooked up, acquired his terminal, and began searching.

When Gu'ulmoo set his mind to a task, he did not quit until it was done.

So he sat, in between eat and sleep times, and scoured GalNet instead of reading.

The same day that he received notice of his mandatory pair-bonding, he managed to contact a member of the new species throught GalNet.

Some more discussion put him in contact with a being that could help him avoid the horrors of mandatory pair bonding and breeding.

Gu'ulmoo had long ago paid off his medical treatment. He was nearly a century old, and rarely touched his banking account, as he was happy to subsist off of the free living standard. His bank account balance was quite high, high enough to do what he wanted.

He purchased gold, contacted the being through GalNet and made his arrangements.

Gu'ulmoo left the day his mandatory pair bonding showed up to an empty apartment. To be honest, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had investigated Gu'ulmoo and had been dismayed at Gu'ulmoo's lack of ambition and drive.

She went to the Breeding Authority Council and filed for abandonment and then forgot about it.

Gu'ulmoo traveled to the Unified Outer Rim, boarded a 'junker' piloted by a Terran, and patiently waited to be informed that he had arrived.

The junker, one Travellen-Tom, was more than happy with how easy Gu'ulmoo was to transport. The Lanaktallan didn't mind a bare bones crew cabin and was more than happy to watch holovids on his destination.

And he paid in gold.

When Gu'ulmoo arrived at his destination, he trotted out into the space station, wearing only a travelling sash and flank cover. He went through customs, stopping long enough to get innoculations and vaccinations. It took nearly two weeks for them to be customized to his genetic and biological needs, but he didn't mind. The space station put him up, free of charge, in a room with a view.

He stared at the strange planet for hours, fascinated by it. He watched their Tri-Vid programs avidly, carefully eating nutri-paste so as not to make a mess, and ensured his personal hygiene was carefully adhered to.

The physical comedy didn't bother him. Neither did the graphic violence of other programs. He found some of it fascinating.

One channel of the Tri-Vid was wholly devoted to 'crime dramas', and he watched those avidly, eating nutripaste while he watched with wide eyes.

He knew whoever had hurt him as a child had never been found. A cursory investigation had been performed but that was it.

On the Tri-Vid he watched LawSec forces do in-depth investigations on the deaths or injuries of even the lowest castes. The concept that everyone was equal under the law was foreign to him. There were different levels of justice and even legal codes according to wealth, power, privilege, caste, and species where he was from. A being's court case and investigation always started at the lowest and was adjusted according to data and the amount of wealth/power a being was willing to put into the case.

On the Tri-Vid, he saw actual court cases, reenacted for his fascinated viewing, where the abuse of one of the lowest case led to the rich and powerful who were jailed for their crimes.

The beings who ran the station watched him carefully, surprised at how he would sit for hours watching crime dramas. His genome was examined, as well as other factors, and the station crew offered Gu'ulmoo better food.

Gu'ulmoo just shrugged and told them that nutri-paste was good enough. That food was just fuel to keep his body from feeling discomfort.

The station added flavors to the nutri-paste out of their own sense of duty rather than any concern of Gu'ulmoo.

He was asked why he wanted to visit.

Gu'ulmoo answered that he wanted to visit. That was why.

He was asked who he wanted to visit.

Gu'ulmoo said he didn't know. Why? Were there being he should visit?