A mild interrogation.

Of course the interrogation only happened after the girl woke up. Which took some time, but the medical pod had definitely saved her life after my accidental collision with her.

The translator worked amazingly, the language they spoke must have been similar to the mer-folk's as it had no problem translating the girl's barks.

"What? Where am I? What is this?" Her hand pressed against the glass revealing the thin membrane between her fingers. Then I heard the sound of scratching and saw she had some rather menacing claws on the end of those fingers.

Now that she was awake her teeth were bared making much less attractive than when she was passed out. But Kasey proceeded with questioning. "Sorry, you were injured when..." Kasey looked at me with a neutral expression. "When you were brought in so we put you in there to heal you faster." That caused the girl in the pod to stop thrashing about as if she was remembering something.

She opened her mouth to say something in reply but then closed it and seemed to shrink letting herself sink to the bottom of the medical pod. "So I am a lost." That was a strange way of putting it... I put it down to a translation error or missing some context clues to give the proper word for it.

Kasey seeing her settle down spoke up and this time pulled out a tablet for notes. "So what do you call your people." she asked and looked up from the tablet.

There was a long moment of silence and I stepped closer to get a better look at the girl in the pod, strangely if I had to guess she looked sad. I put my hand on the glass of the medical pod in a silent reassurance and I saw her react to that and asked her the question instead. "We don't know who your people are. What should we call you?"

I could see her eyes flick around my upper body stopping on my face. "I don't understand. Call my what?" Ah so they didn't have a word for people. "What do you call your... Friends, people you fight with out there?" I try giving her a more narrow descriptor to give instead.

At that she nodded. "We are a hunting team, those were my sisters. We hunt bring back lots of food."

I nod and look at Kasey with a slight grin. Then I look back down. "And who are you hunting for? That's what we want to know." At that I could see understanding.

She nodded her head in a strange manner back at me. "My -people* are called the Mano."

The translator had definitely messed up there but we got the information Kasey wanted. I look back up at her and let her continue.

Looking down at her tablet again she asked another. "Do you have a name for yourself."

The response was greater than I thought it would be from the girl. It sounded like a hiss and a growl at the same time. With teeth bared the translator somehow managed to spout a rather creative swear. At least one I hadn't heard before. "I won't answer to you. *Egg bloater- You might not have the fin of one but you look like one I bet you swell like one too."

Egg bloater? The Mer-folk? That's what they call them? I guess having two species evolve on a single planet might create some strange dynamics between them.

Kasey wasn't looking too happy, not insulted more like annoyed that she couldn't ask the questions. So I leaned down and asked myself. "Egg bloater? You talking about the Mer-folk?" Instantly the demeaner of the girl in the pod changed from aggressive to what I could only say was submissive. Well as submissive as a surprisingly large shark woman could get I would assume.

"We don't respect them, all they are good for is carrying our eggs so our males are able to inseminate more often." I raised an eyebrow at Kasey as she was furiously taking notes so I decided to continue asking more questions. "Really? Is that what you do with the ones you capture?" She nodded and glanced at Kasey before returning back up to look at me.

"Yes, we take the females. They can carry many eggs. More than our males normally can, we don't have enough males for them to be swollen with eggs all the time." She said while her eyes were locked to mine.

I smiled at her without meaning to. "Well, she's not one of them. She just has the upper body of one. We have two legs similar to yours, except without the webbed feet. We're not..." I hesitated I didn't really know how to explain it. "Well we normally live out of the water. Hence why you are in there with your own bubble of water." I tap on the glass.

I look at Kasey who seemed to be finishing the notes. "You do know that you're on the big... thing that you all were attacking right? By that I mean you are inside it." I point at my feet as if that would help explain things.

That seemed to confuse her and make her understand at the same time. "So I really have been eaten. I saw you just before we collided. If you fed me to the beast why are you in here with me?"

I struggled to stop myself from laughing, I should have realized this. "It's not like that, that creature you tried to fight. Wasn't really one. It's like..." What could I compare it to? "A cave? A moving cave? OH! I know like the houses and structures on the back of that giant crab. Ours is just made for our lack of ability to breath in the water." Finally I saw the understanding.

"Now onto the question at hand. What do we call you?" I ask her now that I hopefully cleared things up for her.

"I am Anele, I am- Was a warrior and hunter. Now I am just lost" There it was again. That strange word I didn't understand.

So I decided to ask. "What do you mean by Lost? Explain that to me."

Looking down the voice from the translator going lower as if ashamed. "I was defeated while on watch, to them I am dead. I have no life back there anymore until I defeat you who defeated me. Doomed to wander the vast waters with no home, that's why I am lost." So she was defeated while in a critical position and will thus be shunned by the rest of her people.

Kasey piped up. "Anele, we didn't want-"

Anele in the pod kicked her foot up the thud of it hitting the glass was clearly heard as she growled and hissed at her again. "I will not be addressed by my name from you. You may address me as Huntress." I was shocked, I did explain that Kasey wasn't a Mer-folk right? Why's she still treating her like that?

I remained silent because Kasey this time had a slight grin on her face. "Oh? I thought you just said you were a Lost? Didn't you lose the privilege of being called that?" I could see the indignation on Anele's face. Both with rage and the sad understanding that Kasey was correct but didn't want to back down.

I cleared my throat. "Well, seeing as how you're so... aggressive. With my..." What even was Kasey to me? Fuck buddy? Fellow survivor? When I first found her she was apparently married to a Mer-folk male and I apparently stole her from him. "My companion? You'll remain here while I work on a more permanent solution that is less cramped." I wasn't prepared for the realization that according to the fish people here I was married to Kasey.

Kasey didn't bother refuting me and with a smug grin at the captive turned away. When she was gone the translator returned my attention to Anele. "Dumb Egg slut needs some eggs put her. If I was ready I would give her all of mine at once. Then she would know her place." Well that sounded hot but I doubted she'd enjoy being treated like that. But it did make me wonder. I was I able to inseminate her eggs? If so that means I could officially give little fish the eggs she wanted.

"Well your eggs currently aren't ready for transfer yet, so there'll be no egg laying in her or anywhere for that matter for a few days." After saying that I looked down at her and her mouth was open in a strange expression. There was teeth yes but it wasn't aggressively displayed.

She turned around in the pod floating with her front facing the floor of the pod as she replied and I laughed out loud as I realized she was embarrassed. "You can't just say that! I'm one of the most productive females requiring a session at least twice a week. I'm not even in my prime mating period yet." Prime mating period? Should I ask? Looking at the scaled tail that was just above her ass twitch I figured I'd let her calm down first.

With out a further word I walked out of the medbay. Leaving her be, I had a prison cell to build. It definitely wasn't going to be sex dungeon... at least that's what I told myself.