Mia quickly glanced around the kitchen, biting up her lower lip. She had to pull every favor and get neck deep into favors, but finally this place looked a bit more hospitable than the days when Mia had first arrived here. The white walls were changed into a soft blue color, reminding her of pools back in Pearl. For this day, the steel tables were replaced with attractive wooden tables that were also pleasant to the touch. Even the air conditioning system was overhauled, although this one came for free, Mia simply had to throw a word to Ingo that if Sly couldn’t do it, then it was fine for Sly to charge in here, eager to take on this challenge.

Now the air circulation worked as it should, quietly filling the room with cool, soothing air. Much to the chagrin of the wolfkins of course, but Mia believed that if they could learn to use power armors, they could also learn to use a remote.

Her nose caught a pleasant smell of mashed potatoes with cusack’s meal, served on proper plates—no food trays here! She smiled at this smell, thanking the cooks for agreeing to put nutrient paste back into the freezer. The smell of this disgusting paste burned into Mia’s mind. She didn’t even hate it all that much, but after spending years after years eating nothing but nutrient paste made out of fungus, water, and occasional milk, she has tried her best to evade these smells.

"Quickly, put the chairs next to the tables, they are about to arrive!" Mia pointed at the tables, almost jumping from a nervous tick. Planet knows, she was no leader. Hekanta should have been here, not her!

"Why. Are. We. Doing. This?!" Hine growled, carrying two cotton ball chairs. For a moment, the wolf hag looked like she was about to slam them against the floor, but then she had forced herself to place them properly, "So much work to greet a bunch of brigands"

The wolf hag and her pack were assigned by the fort commander to oversee this meeting, subduing any criminal elements if necessary. The medic had to literally beg the wolf hag on her knees, pleading with her not to bring any weapons or armors to this meeting. She remembered well when they were here and how hard Hekanta tried to make them all comfortable despite all the judging looks of the guards.

"Because they need it," Mia said, grabbing the side of her head and pushing down the pain that arose from the desire to slam a fist into Hine's snout. "When we first returned from the Torment, Hekanta, and we stayed in Fort Uglo for a month to socialize."

"Why in the abyss did you do that for?"

"What do you know about the Torment?" Mia looked Hine in the eyes, and the wolf hag just shook her shoulders. With a sigh, Mia had started putting plates around the tables and started to explain, "The Torment is the maximum security prison, built in the middle of a desolated, irradiated wasteland. All prisoners there spend twenty-three hours locked in a soundproof cell, meaning you can’t talk with anyone. You are given only one hour to walk, and even that is while fully cuffed. Torso, legs, hands… During the first year, you meet no other inmates, during your free hour, you simply walk alone under the supervision of the guards. No one ever escaped from there."

"Mmmm…" Hine smiled dreamily, "Now I almost want to get in there to show how…"

"You still don’t get it, do you?" Mia looked at her with sadness, "It is hell on earth. Your powers are not working there due to medication, you eat only one type of food, the guards are constantly chatting next to your cell, the cell itself lacks even an opportunity to stretch your legs. Each cell has a single window, one that is built in such a way that you can see only the sky and have no ability to tell where you are. Light is always on, and because of a loud air circulation system, sleep deprivation is a guarantee…" Mia swallowed, remembering that horror. Her hands trembled at the memory of always being in a fetus-like position, feeling cramped, cornered like a rat. She pointed at the scars on her bald head, "See these? The Torment earns its name well enough. We met Hekanta in our second year, ready to kill her for this... torment, but she offered us a way out. From that moment on, we started studying. The only proper social contact we had was when we were taken to a prison hospital for practicing. You think you're tough, wolfkin? You had seen nothing. Everyone who came from there earned their chance at freedom, and I’d be damned if I…"

She turned around, hearing a door slam. Aranea stepped inside, carrying a bunch of multicolored air balloons in one paw, and looked around the room critically, noticing welcoming signs placed on the wall opposite the entrance.

"Here. You don’t want to know what I had to do to get these. Have fun."

"Wait! How is your arm?" Mia yelled from behind her, but Aranea had already left, slamming a door behind her. Mia wiped her brow and turned to Hine. "Please, please, just try to act non-threatening for once! Yes, you may think whatever you want about us, and you would probably be right, but…" She looked around helplessly, trying to come out with the right words, "These men and women will save lives from now on if you only give them a chance! But right now they need a bit of help to get on their feet!"

Hine only snorted and grabbed the balloons. The wolf hag had started placing them around the room under the medic’s guidance.

"Coddling fucking criminals. Where did I go wrong in life?" Hine grumbled, throwing sidelong glances at the other wolfkins. "What are you standing around for? Get to work before I open your bellies! And act… positively."

"What does this mean?" Mak asked.

"I don’t fucking know! Improvise! Pretend to be a plushie or something," Hine snapped at him, pointing at the others with a claw. "Any of you scare anyone today, and you all can forget about getting new patrol duties and getting out of the fortress."

Mia smiled and turned around, hurrying to assist the cooks with placing the food. It didn’t take too long for their ‘guests’ to arrive. Mia herself met them—a group of fifty people—near the south gates, welcoming each and every one of them with a warm hug. Most of them were from Hekanta crew, but a few others were from other gangs. Here was a vicious-looking orais, devoid of fur and with torn fangs. Judging by the scars on his lips, this was done rather violently.

There were two members of the insectoid commune, a terrified looking male and female. Mia felt for them, whatever their crimes were. Their commune always preferred to live in tight apartments with lots of people nearby. Being subjected to social isolation for years was a torture unlike any other. The male has his entire body covered in chitin plates, looking more like an insect with four limbs standing upright. Only his eyes were still those of a human, his left mandible was torn off. The woman was less changed, unlike the male, she had digitigrade legs covered by a thin layer of chitin. Her hands and face were those of a human. Just like Mia, all former inmates were bald, with countless scars covering their scalps.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She led her new wards to the kitchen, almost forcing them to sit and relax a little, before turning on Hekanta’s recording. Hekanta briefly wished everyone luck in their new beginnings, said a few encouraging words, and left everything to Mia’s improvisation.

The medic had no idea what exactly she should say and invited everyone to have their first post-prison meal, answering the questions as they arose.

"About the heat," The insectoid man raised his hand, "On our way here I saw a few soldiers with sunburns. Do we have a proper amount of ointment to handle it?"

"Naturally," Mia nodded to him, keeping standing up so everyone could see her, "We have no shortage of supplies, but you won’t have to worry about burns too much unless they are from laser beams or fire. The wolfkins," She nodded at Hine, who silently raised a paw in greetings, "Are immune to the heat here."

"What about the normies?" The orais asked and immediately twitched, looking around like a beaten dog.

"Yes, we will have to treat them occasionally," Mia nodded to him amiably, "Don’t worry about the medical supplies too much. You have to report about the usage and keep patients’ cards in check," She showed them a heavy ledger. "The command anticipates that we will complete both digital and paper forms. This can naturally be a pain in the heat of battle, but don’t worry about this too much either. Focus on saving the people, the rest gets sorted out rather easily later. If the command suspects you of embezzling funds or medicine, one of the wyrms will read your mind," Mia smiled encouragingly, tapping herself on the brow. "Nah, it’s nothing to fret about, trust me."

Hine coughed, stepping forward. The wolf hag looked at the people before her with a heavy gaze from her amber eyes, sniffing the air loudly.

"You are afraid," The wolfkin stated in a calm voice, putting both paws behind her back, "I can smell that. You will have to push through this fear. You are needed now. My people’s lives and the lives of many others depend on you. My kin can be a rough bunch, but always keep in mind that we have no permission to hurt any of you physically. If you feel any insubordination, go to the pack leader in charge immediately, and discipline will be enforced," The woman sighed. "You have nothing to fear from us. I hope that you can redeem yourself for the heinous crimes you committed. This is all."

"Thank you, Hine," Mia said honestly, and addressed the gathering again, "Now, which one of you has problems? We all have some, so speak freely."

"Acrophobia," The insectoid woman said as she lifted her hand, "I'm not sure what caused it, but I throw up during the flight here."

"This is no problem!" Mia told her cheerfully, reaching for the terminal and starting typing, "According to the information, warlord Ygrite has plenty of packs that are involved in the defense of the villages. You will be assigned to one of them, no mountain in sight, honest!"

"I hate confined spaces." One of the former Hekanta’s blades raised her hand, looking embarrassed.

Mia nodded to her and started checking which packs were the most involved in the open field operation. After a while, Hine came closer to her, helping with the choices, and Mia thanked her from the bottom of her heart. Alpha and Ivar had made it clear that these would be just recommendations, nothing more. The final decision about assignments still belonged to the command. But having an officer's words added to hers surely adds weight to these recommendations.

It took some time, but Mia had gathered enough information for the command. No doubt Ivar or Scorpio could have done this before when they were vetting the prisoners, but she had to work with what she got. On the next day, it was Geldi and Marco who introduced the new medics to their workstations, allowing Mia some rest.

****

"I… I didn’t fail." Said the bald woman.

Mia put her head on a fist and struggled to keep herself awake, looking at the inmate on the terminal’s screen. This was one of the few members of Hekanta’s group who were left behind in the Torment. There was something familiar about this woman, but the smashed nose and the incredible abundance of scars on her neck made it hard for Mia to remember her. Then again, she barely knew anyone aside from Hekanta and Estefania back in the arena.

Not that it bothered her. Mia had every intention of rescuing anyone who applied to the medical program to get out of the Torment. This is why she used her new free time to call each failed aspirant and work with them, pointing out mistakes they made during the exam and advising them on books to read. She knew their crimes, of course. But if she was given a second chance, then others should get one too.

She waited patiently, not hurrying the scared woman. Normally, all inmates in the Torment only got fifteen minutes for calls per six-month period. The Torment’s goal was to break inmates, both in body and spirit, and let out broken husks who would never dare to commit crimes. Or to force inmates to snap and attack the guards.

With Annie’s help, Mia had found a loophole. Members of the military could call the inmates with no time limit on their calls, this was one of the soldiers’ privileges. And Mia was now fully utilizing it, making social contact with the trainees.

"I tried to end it," The woman admitted finally, showing Mia her hands. Her pinky fingers were missing, replaced with augments. Almost choking on her words, the woman continued, "I… I broke a pencil, added some razors, and swallowed it all, biting off my pinkies too in an attempt to… Well, it didn’t work out."

"And thank the Planet that it didn’t!" Mia shook the sleep away. This explains the scars on her neck… "Don’t give up, okay? You came so far and endured so much, don’t you dare make it all for naught now!"

"This place suffocates me," The woman yanked at the collar of her prison robe, "I can’t stand up properly in my cell, they don’t let me off myself, and they refuse to kill me! The guards told me that I am sentenced for life, so why can’t they just show mercy and hang me?! Why must they…"

"Snap out of it!" Mia slammed her palm into the table, causing the prisoner to jump slightly, "You are alive. And while you are alive, you can still do things. Yes, right now you are broken, just like I was. But please, please believe me that it will get better, you will get better after you pass the exam and get out! We are waiting for you."

"No one is waiting for me."

"Lies! I believe in you! Chin up, endure, and pass the final exam!"

"You… believe in me?" The woman’s broken face twitched, "But… I always picked up on you."

Mia looked into the woman’s features, trying to understand what she meant. Except for the guards who beat on her in the prison, no one could do it; it was simply impossible. Perhaps on the streets? Sure, back in Pearl, she had to sometimes work in Yabor’s house of pleasure for quick money, but the owner always called Galfo if anyone dared as much as to slap a girl without her permission. And Galfo was meticulous when it came to making an example of anyone. So where else…

The realization had struck her, and she nearly laughed. The Arena! Back then, earning a black cape was a sign of honor and dedication to Hekanta. This sparked a fierce competition between her newest recruits. Mia had finally remembered where she saw this woman, she was the one who smashed her teeth out against a locker.

"Lee!" Mia clapped her palms, "I forgot all about that by now! Ah, who cares about the past? Which of us hasn't messed up her life, right? Let bygones be bygones, it’s what we do now that matters! Get out there soon, I have tons of stories to tell you!"

"I’ll… try. Thanks. And sorry about…" Lee licked her lips nervously.

"Just beat it already! Stay safe and wait for the day you walk free!"

Mia made a note in her terminal to call Lee later. She can’t save everyone, this much she has already learned. But she can try to save whoever she can.