The Thirty-Fifth Day

He had been placed in the twelfth bunkhouse of House Mular, vassals of House Kador. He worked in the financial division of House Mular's Civil Services Administration. The House had been more than pleased to have a Society of Conscious Thought trained slave and the boy was assigned as servant to the assistant director of the financial division.

Assistant-Director Kass Sunlei was a short gold skinned Ni-Kunni. Small circles of gold encased his thick glasses that hung lazily on his nose. He was hunched over his desk - murmuring numbers aloud to himself as his pen crossed out sets of tiny numbers written on the papers splayed across his desk. Few kept ledgers on paper, but Kass was considered an eccentric amongst the others in the Civil Services Administration. He likely would not have been promoted so highly if not for his reputation for being meticulous.

The boy was still nervous around Kass, but the man had been kind and had a wit that was endearing. The day always began and ended with a joke, a laugh, and an actual breakfast. The food in the bunkhouses was tasteless - but Kass showed up with more than two full breakfasts prepared by his wife. She was a good cook and the boy had grown warm to what was now his new master. Today had started out that way, the boy - half starved - eating his entire breakfast and much of the small Ni-Kunni's. The Assistant Director was afforded a large amount of deference due to his skill, so his office was large and private. The privacy afforded Kass the opportunity to be quite kind to his slave-servant beyond what the normal social protocols would allow.

It was this kindness - that spared the mans life - and propelled him to power he had never imagined. It started on the twenty-sixth day of the boy's capture, when Kass was dealing with a particularly troubling financial report from the Planetary Security Division. The numbers were all wrong, they were 20% over budget and no one could figure out why. The numbers checked out and no one could figure out the problem, and if they couldn't solve it... the Director would have to present a report detailing the 5% increase in expenses. A report that would not be received well and could mean the punishment of the Director or any of his assistants.

While normally calm, Kass was worried. His fingers had begun to shake as he went over the paper copies of the report time and time again. He began mumbling more often and louder. "They all add up, the numbers are correct. What is wrong...?" He grumbled beneath his breath, sliding a handkerchief across his brow to wipe away the sweat that felt unnatural in the heat controlled facility. He was so focused that his heart almost stopped when he heard the soft voice of his assistant.

"Embezzlement. They are increasing the prices of their outside acquisitions by a random percentage between twelve and eighteen." The young boy spoke clearly but softly. He almost didn't believe he had heard the voice, but Kass looked at the numbers again and began grabbing at reports laying around his desk. Construction blocks, increased by 14% from the average of the rest of the divisions. Tritanium, increased by 12% from the average of the other divisions. Material after material, service after service, always between twelve and eighteen. He turned to his young assistant - "How, how did you know that?"

The boy cocked his head towards his left shoulder, "It was easy, you just average the material amount from the 12 divisions and it becomes apparent that the variable amount difference is always a solid percentage value away from the average." Kass looked confused "but you don't even have all the numbers in front of you, how could you come up with those figures?"

"I remembered them all, tritaniums average for all divisions, excluding security works out to 5.032 including cost for planetary drop and transportation from drop site to the compound." The boy looked pleased with himself. Kass looked from side to side - and then his facial features suddenly went slack. "You have been through the full memory SOCT training haven't you?" The boy grinned, "Yup! Top of my class." Kass ran a hand through his short thinning hair, "Whatever you do, you cannot tell anyone else about the full extent of your training with the society. They would take you away from here and God only knows what they would do to you there. Now, we will have to get you a desk so you can help with our work."

The boy smiled, "A real desk!?". "Yes, a real desk."

The Thirteenth Day

The cargo container that held the captives was packed tightly, women, children sat against the walls, most wept to themselves or hugged their young children to them tightly. One child, sat away from the others. He curled up into a corner, half of his face hidden and what was visible was flecked with old dried blood and tear trails. He visibly rocked back and forth, his arms wrapped around his legs tightly.

It was the thirteenth day of his captivity. His head ached. He didn't remember how he had gotten the head wound, but it hurt, badly. He was barely capable of thinking beyond his own pain and animal fear. The scene kept replaying in his mind, the large big toothed man grinning over him while the product number was tattooed between his shoulder blades. He was then pulled into a sparse room containing only a table, a chair and a small folder with a green label. The big-toothed man stepped behind the table, sat down and pulled out a pen. He peered down at the boy and studied him carefully. He scribbled a 9-digit number down on the folder label and opened it. "We have already preened what information we could from the ship manifest, but this process can be made easier for you if you are cooperative." His voice was rough and his eyes were cold. "We have polled your information through Galnet and were able to ascertain much of what we need for your new file for the market. It seems however, that you were trained at the Society for Conscious Thought and those files are not accessible to us." The big-toothed man paused, wrote something down in the folder and continued. "How long were you trained at the Society and what was your focus?"

The boy shook with a mix of sadness and rage, and could barely speak. The man across from him sat silent while the boy stuttered out his answer. "Political... diplomacy and... and... civil ... admin...administration for sev...seven...years." The man scribbled furiously and grinned wide, his mind already calculating the massive potential profit for this latest run. He sat in thought while the boy was escorted out.