GELF's, Fancy Dinners, and Deceased Colleagues.

Artemis' orientation had been moved up on "Warden Lindstrom's" orders. He was being escorted to the R&D area of the prison. Artemis was almost entirely sure he was about to be forced into some sick experiment of Lindstrom's, just like when they worked at the Charon Labs.

Only this time there was nobody to keep the peace, no secretly roo Russian Hamster mentors, no Space Corps marines, no drug dealers, not a one.

Artemis arrived in a colossal lab. It was filled top to bottom with cloning, genetic engineering, and bio-chemical research equipment. What worried Artemis were the dozens of tubes lining the walls, Lindstrom was up to something.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it Artie?" Lindstrom said, descending a spiral staircase to the ground floor. "Gums, let Dr. Pritchard go" the ape GELF released Artemis. The curious inmate walked around the lab, examining the gear.

"This is where you'll be working for the next million years, or more"
"More?"
"Yes, your sentence is indefinite until you complete your work, then you start your 3,000,o00 years"
"You bastard that's not fair!"
"Oh, and leaving me to die wasn't fair? Unlike you, I had to carve my own post-charon existance. You got deposited on a mining ship with other human beings, I was left to drift in space! If I didn't find this place I would have DIED!"

"Oh, and we are so glad you found it baby" a seductive sounding female said.

An industrial GELF (OOC-the same breed that Artemis came up with, the reptillian ones like 8100D-DR1NK3R) toting very skimpy clothing descended the staircase and wrapped her arms around Lindstrom.

"Oh my science, Alexis?" Artemis said.
"Hello daddy" Alexis replied before locking lips with Lindstrom.

Artemis vomited over the railing. He then reeled back in horror.
"OH MY GOD YOU TWO ARE..."
"Married, yes. We found each other here, and being two wayward souls in a cold galaxy..."
Artemis vomited again.
"..we decided to bond, and..."
and again
"..marry.."
and again
"..and now you're going to help us raise a family"
and one final time.

"A wet napkin, sir" Gums said, handing Artemis a basket of wetnaps. Artemis cleaned the vomit off himself and regained what little composure he had left.

"I'm so glad you're here daddy, especially since you and mother couldn't attend the wedding"
"Mother? The Missus?"
"Yes, Skutter or not she technically is my step-mother"

Lindstrom giggled. "Maybe we should bring Blue Dwarf here so you could meet her!"

Alexis squealed with glee.

"NO!" A completely dumbfounded Artemis blurted. "You leave her alone, she's already going through enough with our own...inability to have a family and my constantly going away with the crew"

"Really? A human incompatible with a Skutter, who would have known" Lindstrom said smugly. "Well, it would just so happen that me and dear Alexis here are incompatible as well"
"Really? A human and a GELF sewn together with monitor lizard and goldfish DNA are incompatible, who would have known" Artemis retorted.

Lindstrom laughed. "If I wanted my comeback I would have wiped it off your mother's face"
"If I wanted to hear that comeback again I would have gone back in time to any of the fifty other times you said it. I now retort with: If you were anymore inept at comedy you'd start to look more like a competent scientist"

"Burn" Gums said with a slight smirk.

"Enough! Now, dear...dear Artemis, as I said Alexis and I are incompatible.....Gums, this involves technical terms, please leave" Gums left the room, Artemis could tell the ape had been wanting to leave for some time.

"....I knew that the only we we'd be able to have a family is by cloning...but I was only an advisor on the GELF team and had no knowledge of how to replicate them. However, I did know who fathered dear Alexis and her siblings, Dr. Artemis K. Pritchard the sixth, who by some stroke of luck had survived 3,000,000 years aboard the JMC Blue Dwarf. I knew how the Dwarfers operated, the roo told me plenty of stories during my stint as their...pet, I knew it would only be a matter of time before you landed here. I was hoping to catch you trying to reverse the timeline, but catching all of you? That's just a bonus!"

"So let me get this straight..." Artemis interrupted. "You want me to make you a family? Why on Terra would I even contemplate working for you?"
"Because the fate of your precious 'dwarfers' depends on it. You don't play ball and they all die. You cooperate, they live. That's the only deal I'm willing to make"

Artemis had allowed his selfishness and deep seeded hatred hurt people in the past, the difference now was that he actually cared for the 'Dwarfers....he couldn't let his hatred for Lindstrom bring harm to them.

"Okay...fine" Artemis said with a sigh. "I'll uh....carry out the experiments"

"Splendid! Just to show how much of a good sport I am, why don't you and your little friends come to dinner tonight? It'll be wonderful"

Lindstrom made his way out of the lab.

"Oh by the way Artie, I know how The Missus was your assistant in the lab so I got you a replacement" Lindstrom shouted from the top of the lab.

"Hey Artie" Artemis turned to see Frank Cadbury...alive?

<tag>

We're invited to dinner with Warden Lindstrom, do you accept his offer?
What are your work assignments like?
Do you befriend any other prisoners, or do you make any enemies?