Like Nothing Human

I finished moving to Minmatar space several days ago. I have done a small amount of freelance work since I have arrived and all my worldly possessions have been moved and unpacked. I am no longer a resident of the Empire I spent my entire life working for, living in and being surrounded by.

I do not like my new home. The station smells wrong, its lighting is too red and too low and everything is covered in rust. The people, they look at me when I walk by. They must be able to see it in my face and in the way I hold myself that I am Khanid, that I am a warrior, a woman of enhanced abilities. They look at me like I'm a predator in the midst of their herd. They look at me like I'm nothing human.

It must be my eyes. I am so unbalanced by these surroundings, the looks I get, the movement of the crowd around me that I forget. I forget that my eyes have been... upgraded, replaced with equipment more suiting my station. You see, my eyes can shine, they can glow with golden light. My mother and father thought it would be a good party trick, a way to highlight my title and capabilities visibly. I can control it, of course, but like a scowl or a glare, it surfaces on its own when I am frustrated or angry.

They must think I'm a monster. Like some strange beast washed ashore, I remind them of a place both alien and hostile, a place terrible and majestic and utterly without mercy. And like that strange beast, they must know that I am out of my element, fearsome but no longer indomitable. They look at me and I can feel it. I can feel my fear.