Mr. Sunshine was on a terraformed station helping to destroy it. Why? The dereggers that ran it had used child-slaves as their "cleaning crew". An old "friend", a level 2 deathworlder, is stuck in a fight with deregger security trying to get themself, and several of these children, to their ship so they can escape, but they need a help in the fight.
@internutter/challenge-03407-i119-strained-benefit -- Anon Guest
[AN: Terraforming is kind of difficult in an artificial environment. This station has to be on a moon or something.]
The message held co-ordinates and the most popular jump routes, and five words. Come quickly. You are needed.
Mr Sunshine came quickly. He also brought some of his more trustworthy allies along for the ride. From the urgency of the message, it was clear that they would need the extra leverage.
The deregger planetoid station looked like a paradise. Clean and green and lovely. Looks, of course, were deceptive. If one knew how to see properly, the initial impression soon fell to pieces.
Those sparkling public areas were made exclusively for adults. The eyeline for any directional feature was much higher than the Galactic Standard. The safety rails were aesthetic and could easily allow a small child egress. There were no playgrounds. There were no stores for children. Not until one ventured into the uppermost strata of society, where they were treated like accessories.
Mr Sunshine and his... associates found the frailer Deathworlder, Orp, in the larger subterranean sector. Where they spent almost every hour they had working.
Keeping the upper city free of litter. Keeping it free of stains. Each strapped into devices that gave orders and punished them for disobeying.
This facility, and everyone who allowed this to happen, deserved to die.
They would disassemble it with care and attention to detail. And make certain the stories told about it would discourage anyone else.
[Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash]
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