"Let me get this straight, sir," Sonya raised a fork, restraining herself from grabbing the food with her paws and showering it all down her throat, "The power suppression pills did this to me?" She pointed at the skin on her cheek before quickly picking up another piece of meat and chewing it along with the vegetables.

"Regrettably so," The archangel responded. His voice was weird. Undeniably clear, it shifted between the steely workings of a metallic's dynamics and the genuine human worry. So jarringly inhuman, yet so human at the same time, "Following the standard procedures, we give these pills to all abnormals in our custody to prevent a possible escape or a danger to the personnel. They were administered to you by me while you were unconscious. When I first noticed hair loss, I immediately summoned medical assistance, who ensured that your condition was stable but were unable to prevent further loss of your fur, miss Sonya. I never expected this side effect of the..."

"Nonsense," Karine raised her hand, fixing her glasses, never once leaving Sonya’s side, "It is in the medical books. Warlord Alpha tried these pills and lost all her hair. If I, a lawyer, can be bothered to read and remember this story, surely the brave police officers who take it on themselves to decide to inject an involuntary, helpless victim with the potentially dangerous drug could take a moment of their time to learn about its possible side effects? Especially when you are dealing with another member of the Wolf Tribe. I say, we have clear unintentional malice on our hands, whether voluntary or not, is to be determined."

"Miss Karine, all officers under my command follow the strict engagement procedures," Willington said, sitting before Sonya. His face was still reddish, but when he addressed Sonya there was nothing but genuine apology in his voice, "I am deeply sorry for all the troubles that you had to experience, miss Sonya. If you, by the traditions of your people, demand a blood price for the indignity that you have suffered, you are free to extract it from me…"

"Chief, please avoid attempting to guide my client into committing illegal acts," Karine said, her eyes narrowing, "You've already caused her enough trouble."

"There will not be any charges, all I seek is to make amends to the situation at…"

"It’s fine," Sonya forced herself to breathe out, to calm her nerves. Still holding the plate with food like it was the most precious thing in the world, she turned to look at the archangel, "Sorry, sir, if I understood right, you followed the procedures, right?"

"That is correct," The machine nodded, "In Iterna, police officers are expected to apprehend and turn unconscious any abnormal who starts attacking people or who puts others at risk with his, her, or their power. Please understand, the cruelty is not the point. Sometimes powers are activated at random, and their wielders are just as dangerous to others as they are to themselves. The police members are to quickly incapacitate such individuals, and later medics fix their bodies, while therapists work to heal any mental trauma."

"Barbaric methods," Karine hissed like an angry cat, "Beating any teenager, like a terrorist, for the crime of producing flames from their hands, or shooting ice spikes from their eyes and frightening a few people."

"With all due respect, miss Karine, I must disagree," Willington said, looking at the lawyer, "Powers pose an immediate danger to people. Someone who can set an entire hospital on fire, even accidently, must be taken down, however roughly, to prevent any danger to others. Iterna provides free healthcare to both citizens and tourists alike, even lost limbs can be restored rather easily. Lives, however, cannot be restored, and this is why a police officer cannot stand by and try to defuse the situation with words. It’s not a question of measure of guilt, our job is to preserve the lives of everyone."

Sonya massaged her temples, trying to understand the situation. At one paw, it made sense. Sudden activation of power happened all the time in the Wastes or Ravaged Lands, and it's true, some people did die in this. The state’s soldiers were even forced to kill some unlucky bastards who panicked and were not able to deactivate their dangerous powers.

Power, this special ability of some new breeds, was a strange thing, most of the time it was an undeniable blessing, but in a few rare cases it was a curse. The power suppression pills, produced by Rho Corporation, were a remedy for such cases, something that fully turned off power for a whole day. The state provided them to the people in need for free, but the point was, no one in the Wolf Tribe ever needed them. And there were never, ever any side effects to them that Sonya knew of. But apparently Alpha took them once? Why?

Who cares? She still has her hair, this means your fur will regrow, you idiot. Sonya chastised herself, feeling relaxed.

"Then all is well. Don’t beat yourself over it," Sonya breathed out, "Sorry, what about my other things. My ID, my terminal?"

"All was destroyed," Karine said with disapproval, frowning at Sonya’s desire to let things slide, "The matriarch took it upon herself to provide you with a suitable replacement for your terminal," She placed an elegant looking device on the table, smaller than Sonya’s palm, "The rest is being investigated at the moment, but worry not, all will be restored or compensated in full."

Sonya finished the food, wiping out her paws and said a quick prayer to herself, thanking the Spirits for the fact that cameras existed in every inch and square of Iterna. As her "lawyer" explained to her, she was cleared of all the charges.

"So this is it, right?" Sonya decided to ask, taking the terminal. The small golden-colored device, thinner than a napkin, unfolded beneath her touch, showing a display. Eight black dots that surrounded it were projectors capable of creating light and forming a hologram over the display. Beneath the display were the familiar set of buttons. Sonya quickly typed a message to the command, explaining that she was using a potentially compromised device and had received an invite to a secure account that was meant to mimic her old one. Slowly, the terminal started to filling in with her previous contacts, "I can leave?"

"Potentially," Karine replied amiably, "But we do have grounds to press charges. The police should have known about the side effects…"

"For the love of the Planet, miss Karine, miss Sonya, here doesn’t look like Alpha! Alpha may as well be a different species, how our police officers could possibly…" Willington stopped when the lawyer turned toward him, lowering her glasses in surprise.

"I am sorry, did you just imply that all members of one group must look the same? Since when did we have closet racists in our police force?"

"It’s fine, it’s fine," Sonya said, while the terminal was loading an urgent message, "It was an honest mistake, the important thing is that everyone is alive and well…"

The terminal flashed, showing Alpha’s snout on the screen. Her eyes were narrowed, sheer, undistilled rage was in them. Her jaws opened, speaking with venom enough to drown entire cities:

"Scout. Your leave is now over for the shame you brought upon your warlord. Our ambassador should find a way to get you free, you are to return on the first train tomorrow. The Circle will be your punishment for assaulting a cub." Alpha spat the last words, and the screen went black, indicating that the recorded message was over.

Sonya felt her paws tremble. Her hand weakly failed, while she lay back on the chair, thinking about what she had just heard. The scout blindly looked forward, feeling a sense of cold running all over her body. Pain wasn’t something that scared her, indignity to her name she could endure, her pride was no longer irrelevant. But what she just lost was too much to bear.

"Is something wrong, miss?" The chief asked, looking at her, "What is this "Circle"?"

"Quite a few people in the media got the story wrong about your fight against the terrorist," Karine quickly added, "Give me a day or two and your name will be cleared. Then we can sue the bastards who presented the story wrong. I am sure your CO will extend your leave, if we just..."

"Sorry, but I have to leave. Right now. Need to cool my head a bit." Sonya stood up, feeling utter dread clutching her heart.

It’s over.

****

The figure in crimson and black power armor whistled, closing the door behind itself. The police finally lost the trail after quite a few shattered hallways. The figure walked across the dirty floor, covered by shit, urine, and dried up blood.

"My bad," The figure said, turning on the terminal. The room around the figure resembled a morgue, filled with rotten pieces of human bodies, thrown carelessly. Several rodents were busy chewing on the dead, but the figure paid them no mind, "I kinda fucked up the operation."

"Irrelevant," A black shadow on the terminal’s display responded, the voice was distorted, making it impossible to guess if the speaker was male or female.

"Really now? Eight and his group found their way in. But others will be caught in no time, unless we distract both of…"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Nothing is over. "Something is brewing," The shadow said, "Have you not seen the news?"

"With the police on my tail?" The figure laughed, while the cracks in the power armor slowly mended themselves.

"A proper stage for carnage is about to be set. We only need a proper lead to get the show rolling and attract the guests."

"I can fill the part." The lips beneath the helmet spread in a gleeful leer.

****

Sonya came from the police district, walking toward the sea blindly, crossing the streets more like an automaton than a human. The weather no longer bothered her, so she walked toward the pier with a blind expression on her snout.

She spent all day unconscious. The daylight outside had long since changed to the darkness of the night, but the city still breathed with life. The tourists were laughing and singing in the bars, and police officers were in increased numbers after a recent attack, keeping people safe while their colleagues searched for the terrorist underground. The streets were bright as day, lit brightly thanks to the countless lamps across the streets.

Sonya ignored all this, coming to the piers and walking down to the beach. She tugged at the collar, taking off her suit and jumped into the sea, swimming forward in a butterfly style. There was no need to expend any energy on this, but this was the style her mom taught her, and Sonya wanted to relive happy memories anew. But tonight, in the bitterly cold water, she understood that this was in vain. There was no one by her side. No mother. No father. No Roggo. No Lizzie. No Janine. No Jacen. No Aranea. No pack. She was all alone.

Liver to the sun, sirloin to the fire, Sonya remembered her mother's song and turned on her back, That's it, Sonya, like a barbecue on a skewer.

The night sky was beautiful. Filled with a few clouds that did little to hide the countless stars, it looked calm. Just like it was on the night when her mother taught her how to swim on her back. Only this time, her body twitched slightly from the salt that went into a few of her still open wounds.

Sonya’s arm lifted in the air, hitting the water and producing a splash big enough that it could be mistaken for an explosion. She ruined everything by always snapping at Jacen. She, not he. The poor boy always tried his best, but his mind was weak, he matured more slowly than most wolfkin, experiencing trouble even with the simplest things. Lizzie was right to call her a heartless bitch.

The scout hit the water again. Aranea and Janine. Both needed her support now more than ever, and being the stupid whore that she is, she ruined everything, bringing shame to them.

She hit the water again, creating an even bigger splash. Roggo always stood by her, and when was the last time she at least congratulated his family? She remembered all the smiling girls, how she trained them in secret, how proud she was that they were accepted by Ygrite… And then, because of Jacen, she threw them out of her soul.

The Circle was a fitting punishment for her. The circle was small, two meters in radius. Two came in, one was Alpha, the other was a guilty party. If a guilty party can touch Alpha, then it's all over. But in all the years of the Wolf Tribe, none were able to pull it off. Alpha always danced around her opponent, taking off large pieces of skin, skewering away meat and ears. The warlord was the one to decide when the punishment would end, luring her opponent into desperate attacks, before taking all hope of ending the torture away from them. Only the worst criminals, those who hurt cubs and such, were punished like this.

I was beaten when I acted assholish. Sonya thought, closing her eyes and remembering the beatings that Janine and Aranea gave her. And the same thing will happen again, All I wanted was to give Jacen his gift, to see a smile on his face, and try to make peace with Lizzie. Is it karma? She closed her eyes, remembering all the people she had hurt. Be that as it may be, this is not the end. I will congratulate Jacen one way or another and will tell Lizzie that I am sorry, so sorry for what I did. And do I regret what I did today? No. She smiled, feeling herself happy and understanding that she would still save the people from earlier anew, even if she knew about the punishment beforehand.

"Lady, are you fine?" Sonya’s eyes opened, and with a surprise, she saw the face of a coastal guard before herself.

****

She followed the two men on the boat back to the beach, dressing embarrassingly, while both men bombarded her with questions, insisting on calling the infirmary. Sonya wasn’t sure what to answer when a new person came forward.

"I know her," The archangel stepped onto the beach, walking with grace along the sand, before making a quick bow to Sonya. The strange man no longer had wings behind his back, "Can I escort you back home, miss?"

"Sure, sir." Sonya agreed, half happy to be distracted with anything from her thoughts.

"We weren’t properly introduced before," The virtual intelligence led her back to the pier, to a pitch-black car standing in the parking lot. The archangel opened the door for the wolfkin, inviting her in, "Worry not about water. Everything here is waterproof, me included."

"Thank you, sir," Sonya sat in the front seat, noticing that there was no steering wheel in the car. The insides of the car were lit in a soft crimson light and the seats were covered with leather. A small statue of a puppy and a cat, both with comically oversized eyes, dangling on a string above the driver's seat. The archangel took his place on the driver's seat and his chest opened, unleashing several wires that connected with the car and made the machine move, "I am Jehu Foster, nice to meet you." He offered his hand.

"Sonya, feelings…" Just make the peace, already. Sonya calmed her rage and shook the man’s metallic arm, "… Are mutual. Sorry sir, are all the civilians from this morning fine?"

"Alive and well. This was partially why I wanted to meet with you," Jehu was piloting the car without looking at the road, moving at a steady pace around the road, "You see, I was placed on administrative leave until this incident is resolved."

"They should not have to," The scout snapped that the star was missing from his chest, "You were just doing your…"

"I was not," The archangel shook his head, "When I saw you, standing all bloody above a scared civilian, who was also covered in blood… I acted on prejudice. For this, I ask forgiveness."

"Granted and all is forgotten," Sonya replied, leaning on the seat, "At the risk of sounding ignorant, are you even capable of feeling prejudice, sir?"

The machine laughed, leaning on his own seat and making Sonya scared that they would crash into someone for a second.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I can!" Jehu calmed himself, looking at the ceiling of the car, "You don’t know much about us, do you?"

"Nothing to be honest. You have a mother or father, or something?"

"Both actually. My mother is Lada, the supercomputer who coordinates all the terraforming efforts of Iterna. She is one of the so-called rogue AIs," Jehu glanced at her, raising a hand in a calming gesture, "Please do not worry yourself. Her "glitch", if you may call it, is that she won’t kill or fight. Not even to save herself, Lada only wants to rebuild the world for all of humanity. My father, although he never allows us to call him that, is Artificer himself. They are the ones who make the decision on when to make a new virtual intelligence. Lada is responsible for our growth, while Artificer builds our bodies. And both always keep an eye on us, so we behave."

"Behave? How old are you, sir?" Sonya raised her brow.

"I left the assembly line three years and twenty-one days ago. It has been two months since I joined the force."

"You underage?!" Sonya jumped at her seat, "Abyss are you doing driving the car?! Scratch that, why in the Abyss are you working?!"

"It’s not like that!" Jehu straightened himself as well, raising a finger, "We mature at a different rate when compared to humans. By the standards of my kin, I was the full adult the moment I left my father’s assembler. I assure you, my memory banks are filled with knowledge of this world…"

"It’s not the question of knowledge," Sonya reached her temples and massaged them, "It is the question of experience, the thing that is meant to temper your most wild desires. It's no surprise you acted on impulse; if it were me, I would never assign you to such a critical position until you've gained a few years of experience."

"Pardon me?" He looked at her with curiosity.

"Listen, I've heard about normies all my life, before living in my village. I was still scared of how weird they look. It took me months to get used to them. And here are you, fresh from whatever these assembly lines are, and you expect to judge others without prejudice? How can you, if you have never got to know them? And besides, I am a citizen from a rival country, who asked you questions, and you are telling me every single detail I want to know about you! What if I am an enemy?"

"You risked your life, saving our citizens. This is enough for me to trust you."

She groaned, leaning back, "What are the differences between your kind… No, sorry about it, your people and an AI?"

"That’s simple," Jehu’s lips actually spread in a smile, showing small metallic teeth behind, "My sisters and brothers don’t possess the processor power of a full AI. We can connect to some devices and even trade bodies. But this is it. If we try to become full AI by increasing our potential, our personalities will simply crack and wane, unable to handle the overwhelming flow of information. We were built that way. Never to achieve the heights of our creators, always be partners to humans."

"This… sounds needlessly restrictive to me," Sonya felt her eyes closing and rubbed them, "You said that you wanted to meet me because of the civilians, if I got it right. What exactly happened this morning? I could have sworn that I felt myself weak all of a sudden, along with dizziness and a desire to vomit."

"So you did share the same symptoms…" Jehu looked at the road, tapping the toys that hung before him with one finger, "This is not really confidential, the news were talking about it all day. Everyone within eight meters of your fight with the terrorist experienced dizziness and shivering. Most threw up whatever they ate and fell unconscious."

"Even people in the store suffered the effects." Sonya added, remembering what happened.

"Not only them, but this phenomenon also affected people who were on their way to bunkers," Seeing the surprised look, the metallic man explained, "Beneath each apartment building, school, store, and similar in Iterna, there is at least one minor secure bunker, to keep people safe in case of a natural disaster. No gas, no poison from the outside should reach into these corridors due to a special system that eliminates all potentially dangerous particles and viruses from people before letting them in. However, the students reported that some of them lost consciousness on their way to the underground bunker."

"Are all of them alive?" Sonya asked, worryingly.

"Oh, yes. We iternians are hardy people, even if this might look otherwise occasionally. All the infants who are born in Iterna receive special modifications to their bodies, ensuring higher chances of survival against even the most grievous wounds," Jehu looked at Sonya, "Did the terrorist say anything that could help us identify him or her?"

"He is male, this much I sure," Sonya rubbed her eyes again, annoyed at the sudden desire to fall asleep, "Amateur in combat, but there was something strange about his hands, he cut through my skin faster than I could see. Not slow and impressively strong, comparable to me, I'd say. He sounded like a dumb brute, called me "genetic retard" which was just plain weird."

"Is that so…" The archangel wanted to say something else when the car finally reached Lexi’s home.

Sonya thanked the man for driving her home, weakly answered Lexi’s question, before finding her bed, setting up the clock on her new terminal. Tomorrow, she will have to race toward the train station as soon as possible, or otherwise…

Sonya’s eyes closed and she fell into a deep sleep with no dreams.