Ch.1Chapter 1. First Meeting with That Woman (1)

# When Does a Person Die?

When do you think a person dies?

It’s when they’re stripped of their freedom.

The day the court handed down its final verdict. The day I became a death row inmate.

I lost all dignity as a human being.

Clinging to the promise of saving my life, I was thrown into countless hells.

I’ve been a Human Canary in mines, carried ammunition until I nearly died on battlefields, and endured all kinds of humiliating experiments in laboratories.

Ah, that last one might have actually been enjoyable.

Anyway, the common thread among all the hells I’ve bounced between is that they at least smelled like places where humans lived.

I suppose places that have managed long-term prisoners for decades develop their own know-how for keeping people from dying.

But this place is different.

Different on a whole other level.

This goddamn space station where I’ve been sent as a first-generation labor camp inmate is structured in a way that makes survival impossible.

First of all:

Disposing of corpses is far too convenient.

On Earth, burning or burying bodies anywhere would be problematic, but here they just launch them into space.

I’ve actually witnessed several guys disappear toward Andromeda with my own eyes.

They just throw them out naked. They could at least put them in coffins.

Heartless bastards.

Secondly:

There are no safety measures.

Until I came here, I thought being a Human Canary in the mines was the most likely way to die.

But thinking about it, that place had tons of safety measures.

They gave us equipment that would force oxygen into our bodies if levels got too low.

Automatic defibrillators would activate if our hearts stopped.

Every time I collapsed and woke up again, it felt like my lifespan shortened by ten years, but at least they kept us alive.

Here, there’s nothing like that.

They don’t even give us safety ropes for external work because it “slows down productivity.”

One slip of the hand and you’re off on a space journey.

If this were all, I might have thought it was somewhat livable.

If I stayed alert and careful, I wouldn’t die.

But what made me realize this wasn’t a long-term prison but an execution site was when—

“Hey guys. We’ve got a situation.”

The work supervisor approached with an awkward smile.

“What is it? Engine problems again? At this rate, we’ll end up getting engineering certificates.”

“No, nothing like that. Just cleaning, that’s all.”

“Shit, don’t tell me it’s lubricant leaking again?”

“No. A spacecraft will be docking in about three days, and we just need to clean it a bit.”

Three days “or so”? What the hell does that even mean?

Still, cleaning a spacecraft is one of the easier jobs…

Just hold onto the safety bar and bust your ass for 12 hours.

“This time, don’t dilute the cleaning solution with water. Once space dust hardens, it’s hard to remove.”

“Ah~ This time it’s not exterior cleaning.”

“Then what is it?”

“Interior. Interior cleaning.”

That’s when the ominous feeling started creeping in.

“You see… the researchers collected a specimen near a comet? It seems to have escaped its containment vessel and made the interior a bit messy.”

“Is it alive?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m asking if that thing is alive.”

“Probably… seems that way.”

“So you want us to catch and beat up an alien?”

“Something like that.”

Until this point, I wasn’t particularly worried.

I just thought we’d be removing some space plants covering the ship’s interior.

The true scope of this job became clear the next day when the closed-circuit television footage from inside the spacecraft arrived.

“That thing crawling around isn’t human, right?”

“No. Probably not.”

“And that rolling thing is a human head, right?”

“Yes. Probably.”

The crew had been completely annihilated, torn to pieces.

A massive alien monster with seemingly low intelligence was roaming the ship…

With tentacles sprouting from its back, swaying like some damn sea anemone.

It was like watching a video game opening.

“You want us to go in there?”

“Yes.”

That’s when it happened.

My wrench made contact with the supervisor’s temple.

“The hatch! Block the hatch!”

“Run to the control room!”

The first and last rebellion on the space station began with my impulsive act.

Without any prior planning, we started moving in perfect coordination.

Some captured and subdued the crew members. Others ran to seize the control room.

Of course, the outcome wasn’t particularly happy.

Half the inmates were turned into sieves by Sergeant Jack Wild’s submachine gun as he burst out of the shower in surprise.

That surreal sight of him firing away with his dick dangling, Rambo-style, with a gun at his waist…

It was truly a magnificent scene showcasing the Marine Corps spirit.

Of course, the bastard got disciplined for turning the control panel into a sieve too.

“Clean it up quickly, you vermin!”

“Hey! What the fuck! Why are you cutting off the dead guy’s dick?”

“They say eating big ones makes yours grow. My mom told me.”

“Hey! Don’t eat it! I said don’t eat it!”

Naturally, the first task for the subdued prisoners was collecting the bodies.

We sent off our comrades with the utmost respect and solemnity.

Ha. And that bitch Ann. What a waste.

It seems like just yesterday I was planning to get her pregnant and send her back to Earth. How did it come to this?

I thought Ann would want it too, so I was planning one last goodbye sex session.

“Hmm. This won’t work.”

“You bastard! Why are you sticking your finger in there!”

Her vagina had completely contracted—couldn’t even fit a pinky in.

I could probably force my way in for a taste of heaven, but I might never return from that heaven, so I decided against it.

“Raise your hand if you want to die.”

“…”

“Next, raise your hand if you’ll quietly clean the spacecraft.”

“…”

“You don’t like either option? What do you want to do?”

“How the hell are we supposed to raise our hands when they’re tied up?”

None of us who volunteered to come here want to die.

So what other choice do we have?

Just wait until the spacecraft arrives.

But these bastards must have been scared because they kept us restrained for all three days.

“I’m going to shit! I’m shitting! You want to see my turds floating in space?”

“You bastard! I gave you a chamber pot! Shit in that!”

“My asshole is too wide, it doesn’t fit!”

“You’re not even gay, why doesn’t it fit?”

“Because I’ve been pegged so much! Did I say I’m shitting? Huh? I’m really going to shit!”

Thanks to my heroic performance, we were finally released from full-body restraints, but only for bathroom breaks.

This is how you earn your fellow inmates’ trust in prison.

Look at those shit-loving gays drooling.

Those bastards would volunteer as human shields at my slightest suggestion now.

“Thanks, you fucker. Now I’ll probably end up in the hospital. Hehehe.”

“…”

By the way, the work supervisor survived.

It’s amazing how he lived despite his temple being visibly caved in.

I don’t know if he’s grinning because he’s thinking about going back to Earth or if his brain is damaged, but the supervisor kept smiling foolishly the whole time.

He’ll finally see his fox-like wife and rabbit-like daughter again.

This bastard doesn’t even know the daughter isn’t his biological child.

Even though two white parents somehow produced a daughter who looks like she spent time in an oven, he doesn’t suspect a thing.

He’s all smiles today too, pulling out that tattered family photo to show us.

Wait, come to think of it, the supervisor did show some pedophilic tendencies.

Could he be pretending not to know?

“Supervisor, you know she’s still legally your daughter, right?”

“Huh? What does that have to do with anything?”

“…”

This is making me dizzy.

BOOM!

“Oh. It’s here.”

With an impact that seemed to tear the spacecraft apart, we heard the docking sound.

The inevitable had arrived.

“Get in there, you trash.”

For the first time in a while, everyone was released from restraints.

We were each given a sledgehammer, a work hatchet, and a stupid-looking glow stick.

Apparently, we were supposed to attempt communication with the alien using these.

If communication had been possible, would the crew members be lying there in five separate pieces?

Damn it all.

“Weapons? Is this all we get?”

“What, you want guns? Why would I trust you with those? Just get in there.”

They could at least give us a cap gun. So damn stingy.

After all the time we’ve spent together, they still don’t trust us.

I’m hurt, really hurt.

“Listen up! No one gets out until the ship is completely cleared!”

That’s what they said.

We don’t even know if there’s food or water inside, but they want us to stay in until all the monsters are eliminated.

“Good luck.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

BOOM!

The hatch closed, and silence filled the narrow airlock.

Eight of us in total.

We exchanged glances silently and nodded.

We’d been living together for almost a year.

Some of us had even slept together.

Our teamwork on jobs was better than the G-Force.

Surely we could handle a space monster if we worked together.

THUD…

That’s what I thought.

Until the opposite hatch opened.

“SCREEEECH!!!”

“…”

As soon as the door opened, a blood-curdling screech tore through our eardrums.

By the time blood came floating toward us, soaking our clothes, those gay guys who usually acted so tough had turned as white as sheets.

“Who wants to go first?”

“…”

Nobody wants to go, huh?

This is when I, the senior inmate of the space station labor camp, should set an example.

“No volunteers? Well, I guess there’s no choice.”

“…?”

“I’ll let whoever goes first fuck my ass.”

“OUT OF MY WAY!!!”

The gay guys scattered in all directions, clearing a path.

This is how you use the trust you’ve built.

Look at those perverts drooling.

These guys would volunteer as human shields at my slightest suggestion now.

As we carefully moved forward, stepping over rotting corpses, disaster struck.

SPLAT!

“Who the fuck just shit themselves?”

“Hey, hey! That’s not shit…!”

By the time I turned around, it was already too late.

The gay guy who had been rushing ahead, eager to take my virginity, was hanging limply. With his head torn off like a Lego figure.

Our jaws dropped at this avant-garde scene.

“Kikikikikik…”

“The, the vent! It’s in the vent!”

Little Tom was the one who found the source of the sound.

A self-proclaimed super-masculine guy who’d been fucked daily since arriving and turned into a gay bottom.

SWOOSH…!

“Urgh!”

“Hey! Grab him!”

A tentacle like a black whip extended and instantly wrapped around Tom’s neck.

Despite our efforts to grab and pull him down from being dragged into the vent, Tom’s neck snapped.

SPLAT!

Only then did the tentacle disappear back into the dark vent.

At this point, we were probably all of one mind.

“Guys. This isn’t going to work.”

“Fuck this, let’s run!”

In a panic, we started scrambling backward.

If we hit the hatch with our sledgehammers like we were trying to break it down, they’d have to open it, right?

Whatever happens, we need to survive first.

With that single thought, we were about to dash toward the airlock when—

“Let me fuck you before we die, you slutty bitch!”

“You fucking bastard!”

One of the gay guys tackled me and slammed my face against the wall.

Despite my body being toned from hip-thrusting exercises, I couldn’t beat a former trainer.

As my pants were being pulled down—

SPLAT!

That unpleasant sound came again, and the back of my neck got wet.

I could immediately tell it was blood.

“Ha… haa…”

My body trembled, refusing to look back.

Overcoming the instinct to keep my nose pressed against the wall, I slowly turned around.

As expected, the gay guy was dead with his neck severed, and—

“Well, those bastards are quick.”

The airlock hatch was already closed.

All that remained here were about a dozen headless corpses, me, and…

“I’m fucked.”

Those tentacles, slithering down from the vent.