"Stand up!" Zero or Ravager came closer to Annie, grabbing the woman by the arm and lifting her up. "This is exactly why I never take off my helmet! This is why I erased my face from photos! Every bloody time anyone sees me, it's the same! Blessed mother this, Blessed mother that! Avatar of the Spirits! I am tired of living in her shadow," Zero almost pushed Annie back into her chair, sitting cross-legged before her. "No, sister. Ravager is Ravager. I am me. Zero of the Wolf Tribe."

Aranea found it hard to believe her. Without the helmet, Zero's voice was indistinguishable from Ravager's melodic voice, and the woman resembled the towering monster that Aranea had seen that night. On closer inspection, the differences were there. Ravager looked at Aranea as if she were prey, her eyes were constantly looking for weak spots, and her posture betrayed hidden aggression and anxiousness.

Ravager’s hair and fur were messy and chaotic, filled with dust and dirt. Zero trimmed her own fur to make it of equal size, her hair was combed and held by two silver decorations made in the form of wolves’ skulls. She smelled of gentle strawberry and mint and moved with the grace of a stream rather than with the raging fury of a thunderstorm.

Zero was fully relaxed, standing before Annie without a hint of arrogance or aggression. She gently held the shocked warlord by the paws, looking into Annie’s eyes. The supreme warlord was also far smaller than Ravager, looking as if someone had taken Ravager, compressed her, and pushed her inside this power armor.

"Our story started in the Desolation," Alpha began her tale. "The very first thing that I remember is how I was floating in a transparent fluid in a capsule. My limbs refused to move. I breathed in the liquid, floating unmoved for hours, days… Maybe even months. Everything outside of my capsule was covered in utter darkness, safe for a few lights coming from machines. And then… I saw sparks, and the door leading into my chamber was sliced. Instinctively, I knew that I had to hold back my power, lest these people suffer a stroke. The Dynast and a few others found me, looking at me with fear and disgust at first. I learned later that one of the officers had suggested setting the whole place on fire…"

"… But our liege refused. He released me, helping me stand up when my feeble legs refused to hold me. Other soldiers arrived, carrying me away and putting me beside the cubs. They were all smaller than me, whining and trembling in fear, safe for the calm Dragena. I accidentally cut one of the soldiers with my claws," Alpha explained to the warlords, "And by tasting his blood, I learned a new language and was able to communicate with our saviors. The soldiers carried us outside, to the hellish scape that was the post-Extinction world. We were given cloaks and some food, everyone, aside from the Dynast and Outsider, was scared to death of us. Our liege had to tend to us himself."

Alpha fell silent, calmly looking above the warlords at the door behind them. Her eyes became unfocused, and Alpha continued talking, recalling events of the long past.

"We came to another facility, and I heard howling coming from inside. It was there that we saw a full-grown member of our kin. Ravager. She escaped before the Extinction and ran through the streets. Ravager begged the first person she met…" Aranea saw how Zero’s nostrils rashly inhaled air at these words, a flash of pure hatred ran in the shining eyes. "…and her friends for help. Instead, Eugenia beat her up and turned her back to the scientists…"

"Wait…" Annie shook her head, trying to focus. "Eugenia… As if Eugenia Mylli? That Eugenia? The fucking Redeemer screwed someone over? The Saint of Iterna"

"We all have our past and the mistakes that come with it. And kids can be really cruel sometimes, like I…" Zero put a paw to her face, closing her eyes and struggling to speak for a moment. When her eyes flashed, there was fierce determination in them. "Eugenia paid for her mistakes. Big Sis stated that anyone who reveals this information will be eaten alive. Trust me, Ravager never made a single empty threat in her entire life. Let the past grudges sleep in the past."

"Deeming her as a failure, the scientists wanted to take her apart. Fools," Alpha gave a thin smile. "They had no idea what they had on their hands. Ravager snapped, killing everyone. For two years, she was trapped inside the facility, unable to leave, and surrounded by the dead. Naturally, she ate most of them, running out of food soon enough and still being unable to die. She howled and scratched at the wall, begging anyone, anyone at all, to let her die or be free. You see, back then, Ravager was even smaller than Zero over here, the walls that endured the apocalypse were too much for her. Our liege freed her, and Outsider subdued her, calming the scared monster long enough to make her talk. At the end of it, Ravager swore undying loyalty to the Dynast. And in this facility, our liege discovered documents that explained a little bit about our origins, as well as another capsule hidden in the vault."

"Another?" Olesya asked, tilting her head.

"Yes," Zero nodded to her, "Ravager was in capsule number one. I was sleeping in the one with number zero on it. I admit, it was a quite a shock waking up to a claw slicing through the metal and being pulled out by Big Sis. She sniffed me over and over, demanding to know my name. Seeing my capsule, I took the symbol as my name."

"And that is also how a rock band named Rock Band and a rifle named Rifle came to be. Never, ever allow Zero to name anything," Alpha waved her paw. "We were made, tailored from scratch on the various terminals, then assembled by the machines, and finally bred inside the growing vats. The documents were damaged, but the gist of it was that we, all of the Wolf Tribe, were prototypes for future super soldiers. Our creators deemed us defective after the initial tests, but "thanks" to the Extinction, we survived."

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"Defective?" Olesya frowned, "How? Why? I mean… We can fight!"

"Several reasons," Alpha sighed, leaning back on the sofa. "See, what good are super soldiers who can breed? Our creators wanted to sell us, and breeding inhibits that severely. Next, they decided that Ravager did not live up to her potential. Since they died, they clearly miscalculated quite a bit. Then there is a problem with our males, meaning that half of our potential super soldiers are not as effective as another half. And finally, there is me," She pointed at herself. "Combat model of the next generation. Defective. Reasons. Lack of fingers. Prone to going mad. Out of all my… brood, I guess, is the word… Only I was sane. The rest were taken apart for organs."

"But…" Annie blabbed, trying to collect her thoughts, "The Blessed Mother… Zero… You look… You look exactly like her!"

"I am her clone, Annie," Zero stood up, putting her helmet back on. When she started speaking again, her voice no longer sounded anything like Ravager’s, returning to its original silky flow, changed by the voice modulators inside the helmet. "Big Sis and I were the first to appear in this world; all of our creators' talent and skills were poured into us... Ah, Big Sis always felt uneasy fighting next to me, saying that it was unnatural that we smelled the same. After I started using perfume, the problem went away..."

"Why are you smaller than the Blessed Mother then!" Annie grabbed her head in confusion.

"Yes, why indeed," Alpha said, looking sideways at the warlord. "Will you tell them, or should I tell this joke?"

"Because I like my current size," Zero stubbornly folded her arms on her chest, going to a wall and leaning against it. "Can you even imagine how hard it is to get a proper guitar for someone of my size? Or how hard it is to party after a concert, when you are at least two times bigger than your partner…"

"Idiot," Alpha spat out the words, ignoring Aranea’s look. "You have a divinity in the palm of your paw and hold it back because you might not be able to play music. Music! As if the cries of your foes, the heads popping beneath the steel boots weren’t the sweetest songs out of all! Ravager is weak, cowardly, foolish, and you are the same, sister!"

"So…" Olesya shook her head, "What does it mean? Our history, our beliefs, everything is…"

"Nothing," Aranea replied to her with steel in her voice. "It changes nothing, means nothing. Alpha simply gave us a history lesson. So what if our origins differ a bit from those of others? Does this make you any less human?" She grabbed Olesya by the paw, "Or you?" She reached out to Annie. "We are still our own selves."

"But the faith…" Annie said weakly, "My whole life… My faith…"

"Is not disproven!" Aranea grasped her paw a little harder. "The Spirits never acted openly. Who knows, maybe they did choose Ravager to spread the news anyway? No, this information changes nothing. It doesn’t matter how one comes into this world or from what parts. In the eyes of everyone in the state, we are humans."

Annie fell silent for a while, looking at Aranea’s paw. She blinked quickly, the warlord ran with her free paw over her head, swallowing once. Finally, she looked back at Aranea with calm eyes.

"You are right. I am still the same person. I still have the same duties as ever. Sveta still needs me, and I need her," She chuckled lightly. "It really is just the events of days long gone. Thank you for sharing it with us."

"I'm mostly made of steel now," Olesya nodded eagerly. "And I am still feeling just as human as ever. I’d say we all go back and relax in the bath till the night’s end. Alpha, Zero care to join…"

"Wait! Why do the Ice Fangs look almost like us?" Aranea fired up the question that was bothering her from the start.

"No idea," Zero shrugged. "In the Old World, the Twins were the famous hunters, scions of some noble families from the north. When the Old World went boom, according to them, a piece of glow fell through the roof of their distant home. After being exposed to it, both old farts became extremely hungry and devoured all of their supplies in an instant, even eating wood and stuffed animals afterwards. Both of them fell asleep shortly after, and upon waking up… They looked nothing like humans, slowly changing over the years and becoming increasingly hornier toward each other. You should have seen Big Sis when she first met them," Zero pressed her paw against the lower part of the helmet, struggling not to laugh. "She freaked out, all right, asking them like a shy little girl if they were her parents. She naturally tried to dominate them after learning the answer was no, then fought alongside them... And the story of our rivalry goes on forever still."

"Phew…. I need a break after all this," Aranea sighed, scratching her head.

"Keep this a secret," Alpha leaped forward, closing the distance between herself and Aranea in an instant. The warlord paid no mind to either Annie or Olesya, who jumped off their seats, ready to protect their comrade. "If anyone ever learns about our origins, who knows how the population might…"

"No one will care, Alpha," Zero loudly yawned, stretching her back. "Iterna already knows. And no one declared a crusade against us."

"They sure treated you and your girlfriend well," Zero stiffened, and Aranea could almost taste the aggression rising in the air. Zero’s paws reached to her belt, clenching slightly. "You want the same fate for our people? Iternians will wipe us out the moment we show weakness, sister. Their nobility is merely a fraud’s way to lure victims. There is no such thing as change or peace—just a never-ending struggle for existence, sister."

"You are wrong," Aranea told her. " You were helpless, and our liege saved you. If this is not proof that we and humans are the same, then you are a deluded idiot."

Alpha looked at the warlords, leaning closer and sniffing them one after another. Aranea felt how her fur and hair were pushed toward the oversized nostrils of the warlord, while Alpha circled around her, probing for a sign that could be interpreted as weakness or a lie. The halfbreed expected a cut or a hit for her insult that should have come at any time.

"Every rule has an exception. Miracles do not happen twice," Alpha spoke at last, letting out a sigh and stepping away from the warlords. "Force your soldiers to have some recreation. The stress of the siege is not that easy to shake off for someone as young as you. All packs are officially on leave for three days. We will let the field grunts carry the weight for once. Now get out of my sight. Zero and I still have one more thing to attend."