I looked down at the small group of recruits standing on the gym mats below the balcony. My first class was about 30 people, and there would be other groups throughout the week. I still wasn’t sure precisely how many people Wallace had managed to recruit in total, but it was clearly a surprisingly large number. How many people had the Domini falsely turned away over the years? And how many 70-plus hour weeks had I worked because of it? Of course, the number was probably artificially inflated, because I had the strong suspicion that many of these people would never have actually been hired by the Organization; they wouldn’t have passed the psychological screening. Wallace clearly had no such standards. But that was a concern for another day. For now, I had a job to do. I inspected my new students; a few pairs had formed and were sparring amongst themselves while they waited. Notably, Luke wasn’t one of them, he waited quietly to the side, obeying my request that he not spar until he actually knew how. I chuckled and turned to assessing the others. They had clearly had at least some instruction, they performed much better than Luke and his friend, yesterday. I at least wasn’t worried that they would hurt themselves too badly. Based on how they fought, I suspected they had studied some kind of martial art, one of them might even have been involved in MMA fighting. They all knew how to throw a punch. But it was still very obvious that they had only ever fought in the gym or the ring. It was always immediately apparent who had never been in a real fight, since they, ironically, took more chances, because they didn’t really expect their partner to hurt them. It made a difference if the only fights you were ever in had rules and referees. No one was really trying to kill you, no one would go for the throat, no one was going to pull a knife unexpectedly. That would be against the rules. It was a bad mindset to take into a real fight, so we were going to need to work on that. Is all fun and games, until someone loses an eye, after all. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
“Alright,” I raised my voice to be heard over the chatter. “Everyone focus up here. We are going to get started. Now, I am going to need to see what you are capable of, before we get into anything complicated or dangerous, but Tom tells me that there are a few of you here with some experience, so maybe I can get one of you to volunteer to help me demonstrate some moves.”
There was a brief moment of hesitation and the recruits’ exchanged glances before some hands raised tentatively. I scanned the offers until I identified the MMA enthusiast. I waved him to the centre of the room and then descended the stairs to join him. Hopefully he would play nice, the doctor had been pretty emphatic that I shouldn’t do anything strenuous, while I was still recovering. But doctors always said that and who had time to rest for a week? I had already wasted too much time. I stood opposite my new sparring partner and offered my hand,
“Ray.”
“Tony,” he grasped my hand and squeezed, harder than was really appropriate.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I’d seen this macho bullshit too many times to be truly bothered by it, at this point. I didn’t even tell him I’d been grabbed harder by a 90lb girl in a sequenced skirt and acrylic nails.
“Nice to meet you. I appreciate you volunteering to help out. I think we will get started by demonstrating some basic, non-lethal techniques that can be used to subdue an opponent with minimal injury. Think you can manage that?”
Tony raised an eyebrow,
“Why would we practice non-lethal techniques? Maybe that is how you did things in the old days, but we are done coddling the demons. We are out to kill.”
There rest of the group murmured in agreement. I pinched the bridge of my nose. It was true that I had my own reasons for not wanting to teach them anything especially damaging, but even if I was fully on board with Wallace and his methods, I would still have started here, for many reasons. The fact that they didn’t understand why, was a bad sign.
“So, you are just planning to kill or maim everyone you fight?” I asked.
“Why not?” Tony smirked. “It’s not like we have to hold back, not anymore. You people never should have held back in the first place, honestly, they are monsters. They deserve to be exterminated.”
“By they, you mean ubarae, correct?” I asked.
“Obviously.”
I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. Apparently, despite the slow start I had planned for today, I had still somehow gotten ahead of myself. They were not even prepared for rudimentary lessons in fighting, yet.
“Ok. It seems that we are going to have to take a step back here. So, everyone… just take a seat. The combat demonstrations can wait.”
“What, why?” Tony scowled, probably disappointed that he wouldn’t get to show off.
“We are going to have to spend some time on theory, first, because clearly none of you have any idea what you are getting into, not even what kind of fights you are signing up for.”
“What does that mean?” he frowned, trying to decide how offended to be by that.
“It means sit down, shut up and I then will explain,” he had been a poor choice in sparring partner, anyway.
He grumbled, but Tony finally sat down on the mats with the rest of the group. They all watched me with a mix of confusion and irritation. They had expected to be fighting today, not sitting cross-legged on the floor like a kindergarten class. The fact that they didn’t know or respect me probably didn’t help. But I couldn’t help the fact that their education had been sorely neglected, could I?
“Ok, pop quiz time. What do you think an ubarae is?” I asked.
Everyone exchanged confused looks before a woman tentatively raised her hand.
“They are demons that feed on human energy, killing their victims in the process,” she attempted.
“That’s… well let’s start with the fact that describing them as demons is not helpful, here. That implies they are some sort of bogeyman that haunts the night. Let’s cut out the superstition, right now. They are not supernatural, they are flesh and blood, and they experience emotions and fears in much the same way we do.”
“What, are you trying to say that we should feel sorry for them, or something?” Tony interrupted, tone near dripping with disdain.
“I didn’t say that. But you cannot fight something that you don’t understand. If you decide that they are the monster in a horror movie, only interested in bloodshed and sating their desires, then you are not going to do a very good job of anticipating their actions or how they will respond to the things you do, are you? For example, based on your stated goals, it is important that you understand what they will do if you threaten them. Can anyone tell me how a Rogue ubarae would respond to you attacking them?”
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Everyone looked at each other.
“Fight back?” one recruit attempted tentatively.
“How?”
“With a weapon, or…”
“No,” I shook my head. “See, this is the problem. You aren’t ready to learn how to fight ubarae, because you don’t know how an ubarae would try to fight you. How can you counter them, or even defend yourself, if you don’t understand what actions they will take?”
No one responded.
“Ok, let me tell you how a Rogue, or any truly dangerous ubarae, would respond to a threat. And trust me, I have seen it enough times to know. They will not engage you directly, they will send someone else.”
“Someone else? What does that mean?”
“It means they will send a human, generally,” I pulled back the collar of my shirt, revealing the scratches running down my neck, still fairly fresh, and gestured to the scar on my right arm. There were more, but those were the most visible. “Almost all the injuries I have gotten over the years have been from ordinary people. They are harder to fight, because you ideally need to do it without injuring them, since they are an innocent third party. Rogues certainly know that and will use it to their advantage.”
I caught Tony snorting derisively at that.
“So, they send in some lovesick dope, how dangerous could they be?”
“More than you’d expect. How hard would you fight for someone you love? How much would you risk? Those who are deeply enthralled will act without regard to consequences or their own lives. Do not underestimate that. Moreover, it is not always just one person that you will be facing. Some can control several thralls at once. You will need to be prepared for the possibility.”
“Surely that is only a concern when they are prepared for you though, right?” one student asked. “If you catch them unaware, they won’t have time to enthrall anyone.”
“It’s not exactly that simple. Even without a thrall, they can still cause you real problems if there are any susceptible people nearby, at all. Most Rogues are especially skilled as swaying crowds in their favor, not precisely controlling any one person, but manipulating the sentiment and mood of a group and turning them against you. Think of them as… extremely charismatic. People like them, trust them, want to impress them. And that is just their resting state. When pressed, they can amplify the effect, even weaponize it. If you aren’t careful, you can end up getting yourself into real trouble,” it was clear, looking at their expressions, that they didn’t understand. “Look, let’s try an example, ok? You are in a crowded store; you spot a succubus that you recognize as Domini, and you want to take her into custody. You watch her for a while and she seems to be there alone. What do you do?”
“Grab her and drag her out before she has a chance to do anything to anyone in the store,” someone in the back called out.
“Ok, let’s play that out, then, shall we? You approach her from behind. You grab her arm, and before you can do anything else, she screams. A dozen nearby people turn to see you gripping the arm of a terrified woman. Now what?”
“Explain we are there on official business, arresting a dangerous individual,” Tony replied confidently.
I wasn’t exactly sure how much ‘official’ authority anyone in this room had, but I decided to leave that be, for the time being.
“Alright, you can try to explain that to angry strangers, but why would they believe you over her?”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“I just told you. By default, a group of people will always believe a succubus, or incubus, over you. Every time. In a situation like that, people are making snap judgements based on who seems more credible. And that will not be you. You will seem like a dangerous aggressor and the succubus will seem like a victim. Depending on the situation, you could have a mob turn on you, without her even really having to do anything. And how will you respond to that? Are you going to kill some innocent people who are just trying to defend someone? How many deaths is acceptable for a misunderstanding?”
Silence.
“And what if you encounter an ubarae with a proper thrall or two? Will you kill them, to get to your target? What if the thrall is your friend, or a family member?” I continued.
The students began to exchange uncomfortable looks.
“Exactly. This is what I am trying to tell you. This is why you need to understand ubarae, before you fight them. Because then you would know you should always try to engage a Rogue when there is no one else around for them to use. But, if they are smart, they won’t let themselves get caught in that sort of situation, and some will even travel with ‘bodyguards’ for extra protection. So, you need a way to handle that situation, too. You need to learn nonlethal ways to subdue an attacker, because in many situations the person attacking you is not going to be someone you should harm. Do you understand?”
There was general nodding, and my audiences’ expressions had taken on a more somber look. A moment of heavy silence passed before a faint voice asked,
“Can they really make your friends turn on you?”
“Yes. They absolutely can. And the ones who really want to hurt you, will. That is one of the many things that makes Rogues dangerous. They read people very well, and know how to get under their skin.”
“You keep saying ‘Rogues’, as if all ubarae aren’t like that,” Tony interjected.
“That’s because in my experience, they aren’t. Most ubarae tend to have little desire to force their will on others like that, so they aren’t especially practiced at it, and it doesn’t come naturally to them.”
“But they can still do it, right? And there is really no way of telling what they have been practicing, behind closed doors, is there?”
I hesitated. I honestly didn’t want to contribute to the work Wallace had begun on demonizing all ubarae, but if I pushed back too hard, it was going to cause problems with getting him to trust me, so there was a fine line to walk, here.
“Perhaps not. But if you are going to proceed with this, you do need to understand that some ubarae are simply more dangerous than others. Even if you think they all need to be eliminated because of the potential risk, you still need to properly assess threats, so that you know where to concentrate your efforts. If you treat every single ubarae as an equivalent threat, then the ones that are truly dangerous are going to capitalize on that opportunity. So, we are still going to distinguish between Rogues and ubarae, for practical purposes, and we will spend some time discussing how each group will respond and act in various situations, because it is important to understand your enemy. I hope that I have demonstrated why, already. Also, I am in no way downplaying the danger of regular ubarae, either. Every animal, humans included, is dangerous when you back them into a corner. And you are about to do just that to every ubarae, right? Now is the time to consider what that might mean, and how they might respond, so that you can hopefully protect yourself and your loved ones. Clear enough?”
There was nodding and murmurs from the class. They were nervous, now. Good, they should be. While this wasn’t precisely the class I had been planning to teach today, in some ways, it gave me hope. Wallace and his people, including Tom, had clearly not seen fit to educate these kids about the ‘enemy’ they were fighting, even though they could have, and the only reason I could see for that was that they didn’t want to risk them feeling any empathy for the ubarae, most of whom would only fight in order to defend themselves. So, to prevent that from happening, the people in charge told them scary stories about demons and left it at that. Often the truth was the best inoculation to the type of scaremongering and misinformation that they had been fed. Perhaps, if they simply knew more about the ubarae, it might help to change the minds of some of the people here, and they might see that we actually had a lot in common and could build on that. They might see that death was not the only way forward. I wasn’t holding my breath for guys like Tony. Some of these recruits were clearly eager to play soldier, all they wanted was an enemy. The nuances likely wouldn’t matter to them. However, it would be instructive to see where the others fell. I would have to start keeping a list of possible sympathizers. If I ever managed to get out of here, it might be useful for Gail in deciding who were viable candidates for her to hire, and who needed to be monitored for… other reasons. But that possibility seemed very remote, at the moment, so I turned my attention back to the task at hand. I had decided how to thread the needle, so that if and when this got back to Wallace, it wouldn’t seem like I was doing anything but telling old war stories.
“Maybe the best way for you to understand how these things work in the field would be with some real-life examples. Hmm,” I considered for a moment. “Alright, let me tell you about the first ubarae I ever met.”
It might not be easy to sway the opinions of anyone here. Perhaps they had already decided and there would be no convincing them. But I did have was plenty of stories, so at least coming up with illustrative examples would be easy enough. All I could do was try.