I was a slave before the Ghost, and now I am a slave to the same person again. I have paid dearly for running away the first time, and now I don't dare try to run again. I was caught about a week after I left the Ghost, so I have been here for almost 5 years, as it was Empire Day that I left the Ghost, and it is Empire Day now. Doesn't mean that we get a break though, we still have to work hard.

"B2-R35, get over here and work!" I scurried to obey, because if I didn't, the consequences would be dire. I do everything that my master tells me to, but I am still in his bad graces because I ran away for a year with the Ghost. I don't like them, so I am willing to stay and work. 

It is scorching today, and we work under the sun, with no reprise from the heat and pain, nor any comfort for anything, especially our empty stomachs. Pain was everywhere, inside and out, from beatings and starvation, but still we work. 

When the day is almost over, a visitor comes to visit my master. The visitor wants to buy a slave, so my master has us all line up, and the stranger walks in front of us, like a tiger, choosing his next bit of prey, to do all the work. I look away, because I have learned never to look a superior in the face, so I stare at the dirt. 

He stops in front of me. I stare at our feet. I am terrified. My master tells me to look up. I obey. And I see my new master.