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The sight before him was a common one, if not extremely stress-inducing for some reason.
Lizaan watched as the little Vorta Aspirants scampered along the path strategically set out for them. The Aspirants’ field trip to Kurill Prime coincided with the business the Founder Lizaan served had on the Vorta homeworld purely by chance, as far as Lizaan knew. Although, with the Founder Lizaan served, one could never be certain.
Lizaan could tell from the wonder in their eyes as they stared up at the wide open sky that this was likely their first visit to Kurill Prime. He knew that for some, it would be their last. The thought filled Lizaan with a strange dread, as if he was the one in peril with no knowledge of it. He remembered his own first trip to Kurill Prime. He, too, had been excited, but by that age he already knew enough to be cautious of anything that seemed to have so few downsides. He enjoyed himself that day but kept himself in check. Not all his fellows were smart enough to do the same.
One of the others in his cohort managed to wander off the allowed path and get lost. Their irritated instructor had to leave the rest of them under the supervision of a worker at the docking facility while he went to retrieve the lost Aspirant. When they all finally got back to the cloning facility, the recovered Aspirant was pulled aside. They weren’t back in class the next day.
At the time, Lizaan had carefully averted his eyes and moved on. Now, Lizaan couldn’t bring himself to wrench his gaze away. He was frozen in place, watching the young Vorta. He waited with bated breath for one of them to slip up. He wondered which one would wander off, never to return. They seemed so carefree. Lizaan stared, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
He stood there for a while, his task forgotten, his mind racing yet also strangely blank, as he watched the black and white uniforms get smaller and smaller the farther away they went. He felt sick as they disappeared into the forest.