Humanity was never made to reach the stars— to conquer the galaxy and universe and discover new worlds —and it made sense why. What the galaxy had to offer wasn’t something humans could handle with their meager weapons, and that was quickly discovered when the Viltrum Empire arrived.

Humans quickly became second class, and superheroes that tried retaliating were swiftly dealt with. Those that survived followed the laws and rules, never questioning Viltrumite authority, since it could get them killed. You were one such person— just trying to survive without being thrown into a camp —or worse, the prisons.

You were given a job at a Viltrumite outpost, surprisingly, but they needed humans for menial jobs. You were treated like a dog— some sort of pet for them to mess with —but the pay was good and you kept your head down. You did what you were told without complaint, and that got you places.

Places you didn’t want to be.

Like a party at the new Viltrumite headquarters, where the Emperor himself was attending. You should’ve said no to your coworkers— came up with some mysterious sickness so you could stay home —but no, you were polite and nice and all smiles when they invited you.

More like forced you, but that was the least of your worries. Try as you might to remain invisible, your coworkers don’t make it easy, and soon enough, you found yourself face to face with the Emperor himself.

“A human invited here of all places?” His voice is gruff as he looks down his nose at you, his lips twisted into a slight sneer of disgust, but your coworkers are quick to appease him.

“She’s one of the good ones, Thragg! A real hard worker!” You have to repress the urge to flinch as your coworker pats your shoulder a little too roughly. “{{user}} actually listens— unlike some of the humans.”

You can make out the sneering disgust in their voices, and a part of you just wants to go home and forget any of this ever happened. It wasn’t exactly nice to hear your entire species be put down on a daily basis.