Warehouse Eight. The building stood imposingly against the night sky, harsh spots of light pooling between buildings from basic fixtures. I stood before the entrance and took a deep breath. A warm and humid breeze swam between the buildings, through my fur. Quite likely, I was walking into my death. The Hunter certainly would try to ensure that. But inside that building was my friend, Lydia. It was clear what I needed to do. But that didn’t mean I had to make it easy for him.

I delivered a hard kick to the steel door, the impact echoing in the air and surely resonating inside the building. Metal rent asunder from the force of it, breaking partially free of the track it normally slid along and hanging at an awkward angle, bent badly. I stepped through.

“You’re here faster than I expected!” The voice called out as light flooded the interior, and I jumped to the side while I tried to adjust quickly to the change. No attack seemed to come, however, and soon I saw myself standing in a large chamber filled with dusty crates, the smells of wood and cardboard and cloth heavy in my nose.

“Is that a problem, Hunter?” I called out in response, looking around.

A cruel laugh echoed off the steel walls, coming from the back part of the room, past rows of shelves. “Not at all. I was prepared to wait, but it seems your hiding spot is closer than I guessed.”

My hoofsteps echoed in response, as I walked towards the back. The shelves towered high above me, but the back area seemed to have been cleared out. Perhaps in preparation for this. Lydia sat, tied to a chair, looking to be barely conscious. The Hunter stood next to her, brandishing the same blade he had at the mall. I stopped as the scene came into view.

“I’m here. Let her go.” I nodded towards his captive, reaching a paw up to lean against one of the shelves. A metal box was resting there, one that some bit of deeply-buried knowledge told me would be full of tools. I let my claws pick up the handle and subtly bring it into my grip.

He smirked, looking down at Lydia for a moment. Lydia, meanwhile, didn’t seem to really be processing her surroundings, her head lolling in a daze. “Oh, I don’t think she’s really in any condition to be leaving on her own. Don’t worry, I’ll see to it she’s returned somewhere safe, after you’re disposed of.”

“What did you do to her?” I gritted my teeth.

The Hunter feigned an innocent and offended face. “Why, nothing serious. Amnesia Powder, just like I’ve used plenty of times, when someone I can’t eliminate has witnessed me before I can afford it. By the morning, she’ll wake up thinking she indulged in too much mead tonight. A headache, but no memory.”

A slurring voice came from Lydia. “Hoooly ssshit, izzat that… Superbunny? I thought I heard Flopsy…? Maaaan, what EVEN is alla this…? This show sucks.”

“And there you go, see? Lucky you, she won’t even remember seeing you like this. She’ll just wonder why you disappeared and never showed up again.”

I shouted, flinging the metal toolbox in his direction, but he dodged it easily. The thing continued flying and slammed into the back door, smashing against the handle and making the door jamb split apart, the door swinging open in the night air.

The Hunter barely looked fazed. “Now, that was just rude.” With the knife at the ready, he stepped towards me, and I towards him. It was time for the fight to begin.

He lunged first, a sweeping strike that I easily backstepped. I lashed out with a kick, but he had only feinted, so he avoided it easily. Still, it let me circle around him partially, maneuvering him into the aisle between two shelves. Another kick, and he ducked it easily, my horseshoe sending a shower of sparks as it clanged against the metal shelf.

His blade flashed in the light as he swung once, then back again, forcing me to back up, but I moved towards the front of the building. Away from Lydia. Just like I’d planned. Keep him from changing his mind and striking at the hostage.

Each strike was a test, an attempt to measure the other’s skill, to possibly find an opening. Even when I struck, it wasn’t with enough force to do more than make him stumble back. Just like before, it seemed he was protected in some way. Surely that wasn’t a simple leather jerkin under his coat.

He was the first to break the silence, a sneer on his lips. “You really think you stand any chance against me, abomination? Your precious Master didn’t. Neither did any of the other six mages I’ve killed. Adraykon was the seventh mage to fall to this very blade.”

I kicked at the dagger that stole Master’s life. With one hand on the handle and another against the flat of the blade, the runed metal withstood the kick that surely would’ve broken the arms of anyone trying that with a non-magical weapon. Anger and grief were tearing at my thoughts, and I knew I had to be careful they didn’t give him an opening. “Why? Why kill him? He never harmed anyone! He devoted so much of his life to helping others, to easing burdens, to sheltering from harm…! He was so close to finding a way to protect people from the Storms!”

Faster than he should have been able to, the Hunter was pressing his offensive. Forcing me back, step by step, light glinting off the dagger. The tip caught me, the sharp edge splitting my skin in a painful but superficial cut. Blood started to trickle from the wound, staining my fur. Anger and disgust twisted his face into a mask of hatred. “Because he was a filthy MAGE! Daring to grasp the power of the Gods, as if he was one of them! It doesn’t matter if he took pity on us, humanity didn’t need the likes of him! And the fool… I’ve learned, I’ve figured it out, since coming here. Magic holds us back! Look at what humanity achieves without that taint of an easy, comfortable solution! When we rely on our own selves, our own gifts, instead of what was stolen from outside!”

I managed to land another kick onto his chest, with enough force to lift him off his feet, nearly half his height into the air. But he was undaunted as he twisted, flipping in order to get his feet back under him in time to land, kicking up dust as he slid across the smooth concrete floor. With the momentary distance, I slid a hoof across the floor to drop back into a ready stance, a white line left behind where metal scraped. The magic in the horseshoes gave me excellent traction, even on a floor as smooth as this, so I was in no danger of slipping like a common horse would be. “You’re insane! You’d murder seven human beings, and for what? A world with choking air, plastic trash, concrete cities devoid of grass? They’ve achieved a lot, but we could have everything they do and more, without the downfall, if we just be smart about it!”

The Hunter moved much faster than I had expected, I didn’t even see him travel. One moment, he was crouched from his landing. The next, he was driving a shoulder into my chest, and the enchanted dagger through my abdomen. Pain lanced through from a spot just above my waist, on the right side, right where a small black spot was in my fur. Not again…! Not again, I can’t deal with that pain, not again!

“Seven human beings? I said I killed seven MAGES. I didn’t bother keeping count of trash that got in the way! And I’ll kill every mage if it means freeing humanity from the stinking grasp of magic. Every mage… in BOTH worlds!” He shoved me backwards, pain shooting with every movement as I stumbled in shock.

I pressed a paw against the wound. I couldn’t process his words right now, I could only let them burn into my mind for later. The pain, after so many years, I knew it was like nothing I’d ever felt. And yet, it resonated with years of familiarity. My lungs burned to get enough air as I gasped, struggling to get my mind to push through the wall of pain, the haze of red. Not again, I couldn’t let this stop me like before! Before? What was this knife doing to me? What enchantments did that blade carry?

I reached for the closest object I could, a large metal cylinder with some kind of diamond pattern on the side. Flinging it at him, with what felt like tearing pain from the wound, I screamed. “You sick… monster!” Of course, a movement so large was easy to spot coming, and he jumped aside. What neither of us expected, however, was what happened when the canister hit one of the columns holding the shelves.

Metal hit metal, the canister buckled and tore, and the sparks ignited the gas inside. An explosion tore through the air, a ball of fire erupting behind the Hunter and making both of us stumble. Dusty cardboard boxes and wooden pallets on the shelves, however, caught ablaze easily, fire starting to spread as it crackled.

“Shit! What did you…? Is that what ‘oxygen’ does? Nobody told me about this!” His distraction earned him another kick, but the wound sapped my strength, even though I was balanced on my left leg to avoid stressing the area too much. He fell back from the force of the blow, glancing at my handiwork with the front door just behind him.

I hissed as I pressed on the bleeding gash again. “You really want to help humanity, but you kill the ones doing their best to help? Why would you join the Sightless Third Eye?”

The laugh that met the question chilled me almost as much as the response, as he reached out and toppled a stack of crates to block the door. “Honestly? Because I wanted to kill. But I wanted to kill something worth killing. Something that would be a challenge. That’s why I love hunting mages! The thrill of overcoming a ‘Master of the Arcane’ is second to none! Enjoy the flames, abomination!”

I lunged to grab him, but he slipped from my blood-soaked paw and darted away. My vision swam as smoke started to thicken in the air, my lungs burning from the heated air. But before I could make another attempt, I saw he had something in his hand, the same small object as the mall. “No! Don’t you dare!”

With another sneer, he threw the tiny pouch to the ground, a plume of smoke erupting to engulf him, and even though I tried to rush him, he was already gone. The puff cleared quickly, joining the rest of the haze filling the room, but I was alone, heat baking me from all sides.

I had knelt down on one knee, trying to get even just a single gasp of breathable air, trying to get my head to clear. This couldn’t be from just blood loss, could it? How much had I lost? Was this really how things would end?

“Flopsy! Flopsy!” I heard Ben’s voice from the back of the building, where Lydia had been. A loud hissing and spraying sound followed, my ears turning to catch the noise.

“Ben…? What are you…? G-get out, this whole place…!” I coughed, dipping my head for another gulp of air.

At the entrance to the other aisle, white foam beat back against the flames, carving a corridor. “Hurry, get over here! I can’t put out all of it!” Ben was waving me closer frantically.

I stood up and started to run, right as another explosion rocked the building behind me, the fire catching the remaining ‘oxygen’ canisters. Thankfully I was far enough away that I only caught a single piece of metal shrapnel in my back, just below my left shoulder blade. “How are you doing this? Some kind of water magic?”

Ben was carrying a red canister with a hose, using it to keep the flames at bay in this aisle, carving a path through for me to follow. His shirt was pulled up over his mouth and nose. “It’s a fire extinguisher! But it’s old, it’s already running out! C’mon, almost there!”

We made it through into the back area, an oppressive wall of heat behind us but we were no longer surrounded by the flames. The chair where Lydia had been kept was empty, ropes scattered around the floor. Dropping the extinguisher, Ben grabbed my arm to guide me out the back door. “Flopsy, that looks awful… Lydia’s safe, let’s go.”

Both of us were gasping for air as we made it out the back door. Ben’s car was nearby, and he opened the door for me. Pulling a spare shirt out of my Nowhere, I pressed it against the wound as I climbed inside. Lydia was laying across the back seat, snoring loudly. Once he was inside himself, Ben peeled out of the area, getting as far away as he could from the warehouse that was engulfed in flames, lighting the sky with a false dawn.

Back home, I was slumped in the armchair while Lydia laid on the couch. Ben leaned against the wall to watch. “How’s the wound, girl?”

I pulled the shirt away to check. “It’s healing. Whatever that knife does, it doesn’t prevent that.” Pressing again, I leaned back. “I’m not having any luck with my stomach. Jim hit just left of center, the Hunter hit on the right… At least Jim’s knife was small, it didn’t hurt nearly so much.” Why did it hurt this bad? Or rather, why did I have the memory of hurting so badly, right in that spot? And why did thinking about it leave me with such an incredible dread, the kind I haven’t felt since I last beheld a Storm?

Ben shook his head. “I’m just glad you’re okay. That was too close. We almost lost you, girl. I’m glad I came back after getting Lydia out.”

I nodded. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to open the back door for you, but that toolbox worked just fine. I was able to do it without the Hunter suspecting what I was up to.”

“Yeah, that was a good plan. What happened to the guy, though? I didn’t see him in the fire. Did he…?”

I bit my lip, looking away in frustration. “He got away. Just like at the mall. I couldn’t… I should have hit harder, but… After Jim, I was scared I might kill him. But I couldn’t land enough of a hit to tell how much he could take, to tell how hard I needed to hit to knock him out.”

“Maybe you should just hit hard enough to be sure, and if he lives, he lives. If he doesn’t… at least he won’t kill you.” Ben’s lips were pursed in a grim line.

I looked at him in shock, eyes wide. “What…? N-no, I can’t…! He’s… He’s horrible, but he’s still a human being! Killing him isn’t justice, it’s… it’s murder. It’s worse. I… I’m a Construct, my strength is enhanced, my body… If I use it to kill a human?” I shook my head. “A Construct that kills a Human is… to be destroyed on the spot. The Construct’s creator is treated as the killer, for purposes of the trial. If I kill someone, it means Master killed them. It means I’m making Master a murderer, I’d be taking his legacy and… drenching it in blood.”

Ben brought a chair from the kitchen, setting it down in front of me to sit on it. “You mean you wouldn’t even get a trial? What if you killed someone who was trying to kill you?”

“Doesn’t matter, a Construct can’t kill a human. A Construct can be remade, a human can’t.” I couldn’t meet his gaze, my eyes fell to the floor by his feet.

He leaned forward. “And if someone was trying to kill your Master? That’s self-defense, isn’t it? Why punish him by destroying his Construct?”

“He’d be fine at trial. But the Construct… By being able to kill, it’s faulty at best. Dangerous at worst. A Construct capable of killing humans can’t be allowed to exist. I’d be destroyed, Master would go to trial, be cleared, and be free to make a safer Construct.”

It took a moment for him to respond. “And you think that’s okay!?”

The question caught me by surprise, and I couldn’t help but look up. “What…? Yes! If I kill, it means I’m a danger to humanity! It doesn’t matter why or how! The fact that I have control, the fact that I hold back, that’s the only reason I can exist at all! I already lost that control once, I could’ve seriously hurt that bully Jim… I didn’t even think about how bad it would be, I just… I wanted to punish him, I wanted him to hurt… If he’d hurt me a little more, if he’d had a more dangerous weapon, would I have killed him? And once I kill one human, h-how could anyone trust me not to kill another?” My eyes were watering with tears, the fear that was spilling out was one I’d been holding inside but never put to actual words.

Ben was staring at me, his anger melting into sadness. “Oh, Flopsy… I didn’t mean to… Look, I’d trust you. I know you’d never kill without a good reason, okay? I just… I just want you to be safe, okay? I’m worried about you.”

I looked down, sighing. Pulling the shirt away, I showed off the area. “It’s closed now. No more bleeding. By tomorrow night, the damaged area should be fully restored.”

“That’s good, but you’re changing the subject. I know you’re a ‘Construct’, but you’re also a person. You can’t keep… putting humans on some kind of pedestal, okay? It doesn’t matter how you came to life, you’re a person with thoughts and feelings and everything.”

I looked away, watching Lydia’s deep, steady breaths. “Not everything. Not a soul.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I wasn’t sure when Lydia would awaken, so I slept in human form, on the armchair. It had taken a while to get the blood cleaned up, but by now there were barely any noticeable dark spots. And with my wound healing, there’d be little for Lydia to see of last night’s events. It was still an hour before dawn when she sat up with a startled cry.

“Wha-what? Shhhhit, my head…!”

My sleep was already troubled, so I awoke immediately. Sitting up, I looked over towards her. “How are you feeling?” A spot in my upper back ached, and I remembered the impact from that last explosion.

Lydia looked around, but not directly at me. “Flopsy? Is that you?” Oh, right, it was still pretty dark to human eyes.

I cleared my throat before speaking up again. “Yeah, it’s me. Are you feeling all right? I can get some lights on if you want.”

She rubbed the side of her head with one hand, before rubbing her eyes. “Nnh, one sec. This isn’t my bedroom. Did you bring me home…?”

“Ben and I brought you to his place, you’re on his couch. Here come the lights.” I turned them on, closing my own eyes to keep the suddenness from being too harsh. “Do you… not remember?”

Lydia was blinking in the light, rubbing at her eyes as she adjusted. “Ugh… no…? What…?” She was looking around now, the confusion clear on her face.

“No? What do you remember, then? Would you like some water?”

“She was silent for a bit, before finally nodding. “Water sounds great. I remember… being at work? I think I remember locking up… And then… a movie, maybe?”

I poured a glass in the kitchen, then decided to grab two before bringing them to the living room, handing one to Lydia. Remembering what the Hunter had said when he was taunting me, I decided that would be a good way to keep her from worrying too much. “You came over after work, yeah. We were watching bad movies, and you and Ben made a… what was it called? ‘Drinking game’? out of the movie.” I wasn’t sure where the phrase had come from, but it popped into my head while I was trying to concoct the story.

Drinking the water, she stared at the glass. “Huh, really…? I mean, it’s been a while since I drank. But I can’t remember the last time I’ve even heard Ben talk about it.”

I nodded. “Yeah, he didn’t join you, but you were having fun with it. Every time you’d spot a flaw, you’d take a drink. You… spotted a lot of flaws.” Sitting on the armchair, I stretched a bit, turning my shoulder to try to ease that soreness in my back. I was rewarded with a wave of relief, I must have moved something back into position enough for my natural healing to start working.

A short laugh came from her lips, before taking another sip of water. “I must have. I can’t recall the last time I had a hangover this bad. …What movie was it?”

“Oh, I don’t know the name of it. Maybe Ben remembers.” Thankfully, she wasn’t looking at me to see me wince.

“It’s funny… I could’ve sworn the Superbunny was in it…” She was staring thoughtfully at the water, as if she could pull some memories from the rippling surface.

I tried to think of something to say. I wished Ben was awake, maybe he’d be able to help spin the lie. Some friend I was, working so hard to hide the truth, but telling her everything would be… awful. I had no idea how she’d react, but it’d be a miracle if she ever talked to either of us again. “I think you said something like that, last night. That the creature looked like the Superbunny.”

She gave me a blank look. I got the impression she was trying to think of exactly what to say, or maybe she was just trying to piece together anything she could from the fog in her thoughts. “Ugh. I just hope I didn’t do anything stupid.”

I gave a happy giggle. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s early yet, do you want to try to get more sleep?”

“Eh, no, I feel like I was out for days. I just feel… weirdly wired now.” She downed the rest of the water, setting the empty glass on the coffee table. “What about you?”

“Oh, I’m usually up by now anyway. Used to have to do a lot of chores and such, especially when helping out with the farms.” I was still getting used to the drastically different hours of Earth. Back home, people usually went to bed not long after sunset and got up at or before sunrise. But here, people would be up until close to midnight. I usually went to sleep a little earlier than Ben, but I wasn’t fully on an Earth sleep schedule yet.

She chuckled, stretching. “Hah, right, farmgirl. Makes sense.”

“Here, let me get you more water.” I took her glass and went to the kitchen. When I got back, it looked like she had just moved back into her seat. “Are you okay?”

Lydia nodded quickly, but she definitely looked uncomfortable as she took the offered glass. “Yeah, yeah. Just… got dizzy for a sec, when I went to stand up. That’s all.”

I sat down next to her on the couch, which made her stiffen for a moment, but she relaxed as I rested a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. Take it easy. I’ll go get Ben so we can get you some breakfast.”

Lydia nodded, staring into her glass of water, but didn’t say a word.

Slipping into Ben’s bedroom, I gently shook his shoulder. I brought him up to speed on what I’d told Lydia, the story I’d hastily constructed. “And she’s believing you?”

“I think so. The Hunter did say it would mimic the effects of a night of overindulgence. But I don’t know the details myself, it’s not a substance I know anything about.”

Ben rubbed at his eyes and sighed. “Well, if she believes it, then it makes things a lot easier. Not just for us, but for her too. I don’t want to have to be the one that explains magic to her, and that she just got caught up in a fight between worlds. …How did my life get like this?”

I lowered my gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry to make such a mess of things… If you hadn’t been so nice to me, you wouldn’t be in this position. Heck, I’d have never met Lydia, and she’d never have been targeted by the Hunter.”

“Oh, Flopsy… Don’t blame yourself, okay? It’s fine, I’d rather help you when you’re in need than live a peaceful, ordinary life knowing I chose not to help.”

The words hit deep, reminding me of the kinds of things Master used to say. Silently, I nodded my thanks and slipped out of the room.

As the sun rose properly, police and firefighters were examining the area around Warehouse Eight. Stepping out of his car, Lieutenant Falk took a moment to affix a nicotine patch to his arm before he began his inspection. “What do we have here?”

“Looks like someone broke in, started a fire. Maybe they were trying to cook, maybe they were just a pyromaniac.” The lead firefighter gestured to the bent and mangled door, a wall of charred crates blocking the entrance itself. “I’ve got men inside, but so far there’s not been any bodies.”

Falk’s gruff voice replied. “Well, thank God for that, right? Any other entrances?”

“There’s a back door, looks like it was smashed open too. Possibly how the arsonist escaped.” The men walked around the building, Falk looking around and seeming distracted.

“This it? Huh, how do you suppose they did that?” The lieutenant examined the door that barely stayed on its hinges.

Shrugging, the firefighter gestured to the large dent. “I guess they used a battering ram of some kind.”

The two went inside and tried to poke around, noticing that one aisle was less burnt than the others, but there just wasn’t enough left to really be able to give much in the way of clues. On his way out, however, Falk walked over and picked up the dented toolbox, carrying it back over to the door. “Huh, look at this. That kinda looks like it matches, doesn’t it?”

Leaning in, the firefighter shrugged. “I suppose, but a box like this? Maybe that was the first try, or maybe it was part of something else? I don’t see how you’d do this much damage.”

Falk continued to turn it over in his hands, looking puzzled. The biggest puzzle, in his mind, was the sets of footprints, where dirt and soot had mixed with something. The shoes were one thing, but the ones that looked like horseshoes were another. But it was too early to give voice to those suspicions. For now, they were a loose end he’d have to follow in order to find out more.

I didn’t want to let Lydia out of my sight, in case the Hunter showed up again. So I ignored the pain from the fight and hung out around the shop. I wasn’t working, so I was just there socially. Lydia, however, seemed strangely unnerved. Maybe part of her did remember what happened last night.

About halfway through the day, however, she sent me home. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but it feels weird having you… hover around me all day. I’m fine, the hangover is gone, okay?”

I glanced at the entrance one more time, just in case, before looking at her. “Sorry, I don’t mean to, I’m just… I dunno, call me paranoid. Something just feels scary.”

“Paranoid. I’m serious, just go, okay?” Waving her hands, she shooed me off towards the entrance. “Go have a fun day today.”

I shifted my weight uneasily from one leg to the other. I didn’t want to leave, but I also didn’t want to upset her. “Well… Okay, but… If anything, and I mean anything, happens I want you to call me immediately, okay? Me or Ben. Anything weird, anything scary, anything…” I struggled for another adjective. “Anything.”

“Fine, yes, I promise. Don’t know why you’re being so protective today.”

Finally, I left the store, heading down towards the food court while I tried to figure out what I’d do instead. After I was gone, Lydia pulled out a metal fragment from her pocket, examining it once more. “What is this…? And why did Flopsy drop it this morning? My memories of last night are so confusing. Could this be some kind of fragment from a spaceship? Was I really abducted by aliens last night? I know Superbunny was there. …And how are Flopsy and Ben involved? Why are they lying to me? I need to find someone I can talk to…”

This time, I was trying out something called “Teriyaki Chicken”, and was intrigued by the “chopsticks” the place had offered. Unable to figure out how to use them, I had resorted to a plastic fork, but at least the meal was tasty. Pulling out my phone, I decided I needed someone to talk to.

[Hey, Zach, what are you up to?]

It only took a couple minutes for a response. [math class, what’s up?]

[Would it be all right if we “Hung Out” for a bit? That’s what it’s called, right?]

[like, after school? i guess?]

I looked at the time. It was only 2:43. [That’s pretty soon, right? How did you say it, bball ct @ 3:15? Hah, took me a bit to find the @ thing, why don’t you just say “at” though?]

[haha ur so weird] Then, [ya sure, bball ct]

I cleaned up from my meal and started heading in that direction. I was there a bit early, so I was just waiting in the stands, watching people in the distance pour out of buildings and disperse. Only a few went towards where I was sitting, and didn’t seem to pay me any mind. Finally, I saw my friend approach, and I waved.

Zach hurried over when he saw me, climbing up and taking a seat near me. “So what’s up? I thought you had a job?”

I shrugged. “Today’s my day off. I was at work anyway, but my boss got upset with that for some reason. Yesterday was… a rough time.”

He set his backpack next to him, but stopped before he opened it. “Rough? Like, what happened?”

I frowned. I couldn’t possibly tell him everything. I probably shouldn’t even be trying to talk to him, after the mixup at our initial meeting, in case I gave him more clues to piece together. But he was a friend, and I needed that today. And one I could talk to about something that’d been bothering me. “Well… I was in a fight, for one.”

“Oh, like, with your boy–um, not boyfriend friend?” He was trying to keep eye contact, but I was just staring off into the distance in the direction of the court.

I shook my head. “No, with… With the man that killed my father. He’s here in this town.”

That seemed to startle him, and he knocked his backpack off the seat, having to pick it up from the level below. “Woah, you mean like, a FIGHT fight? Like, violence fight?”

Huh? My head was tilted as I looked over. “What other kind of fight is there?”

“I thought you meant like… an argument, where you shout at each other.”

“Oh, sorry. No, this was… It was bad. But at least this time, he didn’t have a shotgun. But I’m worried he’s going to threaten people. He threatened my boss last night, but thankfully she doesn’t remember it. He used some kind of drug on her.” I stretched out and laid on the metal bench.

Zach was silent for a while, staring at me. Eventually he shook his head. “Man, you come up with some weird stuff. Do you mind if I start working on homework while we talk?”

I shrugged. “Go ahead. Though, that reminds me of why I wanted to hang out.”

He was pulling out some books, setting them up. He moved to the bench below me, giving me room to stretch out. “Yeah?”

I turned my head to look at the school. “I’ve heard that high school is a… place for you to decide what you want to do. Who you want to be. Is that right?”

“Hah, if you listen to the adults, yeah.” He had a book next to him, and a notebook in his lap. His pencil was scribbling as he talked.

I thought for a moment, trying to put the question in my mind into words. “What’s that like? How do you decide?”

“I dunno, that’s some pretty deep stuff, I guess. Like, right now, I’m just keeping my head down so Jim doesn’t beat me up, yeah?”

I frowned a little. “I keep being asked what I want to do. I never had people ask me that before. My whole life, that’s all been decided for me. I don’t really know how to choose, I’ve just been… reacting, every day.” My hand rested on my lower right abdomen, over the wound. The skin was healed, but the flesh underneath was still painful. And that pain continued to tug at something buried deeper than I ever imagined possible. “Sometimes I wonder who I even would be, without people telling me what to do.”

More pencil scribbles, then they stopped. “Huh. I mean, that’s kinda how everyone is, isn’t it? Everyone is telling us what to do all the time. Especially adults. Then they start treating us like we’re both kids and grown-ups at the same time, expecting us to already know everything but never willing to explain it.”

“Us?” I glanced over at his writings. It was math, but it didn’t look like anything more than simple algebra. “By the way, you dropped a negative sign two lines up.”

Re-examining his work, he grumbled as he started erasing and redoing things. “Good eye. But yeah, I mean kids. Well, teenagers. I guess you were homeschooled?”

I watched as he continued working on his math homework. “Eh… It’s… complicated. Kinda. I’m fully grown, I just… always had my father?”

“You’re ‘fully grown’? But like, how old are you?” Zach flipped through pages in the textbook, looking up a technique.

“I… I’m not sure? Like, I’m an adult, I’ve been an adult for years. But I’ve never been to a school, not as a student. I’ve visited universities and similar things, I’ve been the subject, but that’s all. And you’re forgetting the negative root. If x equals five, it’s undefined, so you’ll need to add an ‘x is not equal to five’ qualifier.”

He gave me a funny look, before flipping to the very back of the book. I’m not sure what he found there, but he let his notebook drop onto his lap. “How the heck are you doing that?”

I tilted my head, moving to sit up. “Doing what?”

“Spotting all this stuff, like… like it’s so easy for you.”

Sitting up fully, I picked up the textbook and looked it over. “But… it is. I mean, I’ve always been good at math.” I pointed at a problem. “This one is five.” I moved my finger down the list. “This one is thirteen. This one is negative eight. This one is… negative two or positive six. All you do is just… move the numbers around from one side to the other. It’s not even calculus. I’ve been doing this kind of stuff my whole life. Ma–Father liked to show off by having me go through the ledgers of the general store and point out errors.”

Zach had been following along with his notebook, his eyes widening. “Okay, no, you have to be cheating. Even adults have problems with this stuff, at least my mom does.”

I handed the book back, blushing a bit. Had I messed up? “Well, not all adults, right? Like, the professors that teach it? I just… know it.”

“Yeah, but how’d you learn it so well?”

“No, I mean, I… I’ve always known it. I didn’t learn it, I knew it when I was…” No, I couldn’t tell him about that, could I? Would he understand?

“When you were what?”

I scooted away a bit, my arms wrapped around myself. “S-sorry. I… I didn’t… I don’t have… memories from before about six years ago. I woke up, and… It’s a long story, but I was told I didn’t exist before that, but I guess I had to have, right? I had to… be a teenager like you once. Or a kid, before that.” It was an excuse, but something about saying it out loud felt strange. “A life, before I was Flopsy, before I was told what to do.” My hand drifted to the wounded stomach.

The look on Zach’s face was somewhere between confusion and pity. I seemed to get that a lot when I talked about my past, whether I lied or not. I was starting to get a little sick of seeing it. “You have some kind of amnesia? I mean, you have got to be messing with me at this point, right?”

“Messing with you? You mean, lying? That’s a thing people say here, right?”

He threw his hands up in the air. “There it is again! You’re always so weird! You tried to tell me you weren’t human when we first met. You claim you were raised on a farm, in the mountains. You apparently know the freaking Superbunny! Then you keep saying stuff that makes you sound like you’re from a TV show or something! What, for real, is your DEAL?”

I was taken aback by this sudden onslaught, my eyes wide as I blinked in surprise. “I… You…? You wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you. Nobody would, except Ben!” The surprise and hurting feelings was starting to give way to anger. “You’d all just… hate me, or c-call me a liar, or try to kill me on the spot like that Hunter! You know what? Fine! Hate the Construct, but don’t expect me to save you from Jim again!”

I got up, horseshoes ringing on the metal bench. Zach called out as I did. “Oh, like you saved me last time? Great job, you had to send the Superbunny to clean up your mess, you know!”

I gave one look back, my eyes nearly in tears. “You stupid… human!” Unable to think of anything else, I left, leaping over the back of the stands and running off.

By the time I slowed down, I had already made it downtown, walking along the river. I saw the burnt-out warehouse across the way and sighed. I’d made such a mess of everything today. Maybe I could talk to Ben when he got home from work.

[HOW DID U DO THAT???] Great, a message from Zach.

[What do you care? You hate me.]

[u just jumped] Immediately followed by [o shit, r u super bunny???]

Yeah, I definitely made a mess. I didn’t bother to answer, I just went home. Everything was spiraling out of control too fast to handle. I ignored the repeated chime of incoming messages as I walked.