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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/rewt66dewd on 2025-12-11 01:00:04+00:00.

"You will become our slaves as of now, or you will die. Since you do not want to... is that a human?"

"I am human, yes," Carlos answered.

"Wonderful!" The seven-foot-tall thing that looked like an alpaca with four arms was obviously excited. "Human slaves are very rare! They sell for a very high price!"

"Should you maybe ask why they're so rare?"

"I know your reputation. But I control your life or death, and therefore you will do what I say. So, now we will go to our ship, and you will be our slaves." The alpaca made a gesture with the gun it held in one hand.

Carlos rose, and slowly walked in the direction indicated. He walked right past the alpaca. As he passed, he smashed upward with an elbow, hitting the thing at the base of the head. There was a cracking sound, and the thing collapsed. Carlos picked up the gun.

His crewmates, Blooj and Chalchanala, stared at him. Blooj demanded, "Are you out of your mind?"

"Nope. Very much not."

"They will kill you! And us too!"

"If they kill me, you tell them that the human went crazy, and did whatever he did on his own. You had nothing to do with it."

"But they'll still kill you!"

"Yeah, maybe they will."

"Aren't you afraid of death? I thought humans were."

"I don't want to die," Carlos admitted. "I'm pretty terrified right now, to be honest. But there are other things I fear, too. I fear slavery. I fear it not just for itself, but for the person I would become if I were a slave for long. I fear that..." he hesitated. "Maybe as much as dying, or close. So anyway, I'm trying this."

"But the rest of their ship will come, and this will be for nothing!"

"No," Carlos said, "not for nothing. These guys are obviously from a Gzaal outpost that hasn't been destroyed yet. Their ship isn't all that big. It looked like maybe room for 20, but they can't have that many and still have room for slaves. So, maybe 10 on board, maybe 15? So even getting one is doing a fair amount of damage."

Then came the smile, the smile that Blooj and Chalchanala would never forget for as long as they lived, the smile and the gun in Carlos's hand. "But 15 is not that many. And we're already docked with them..."