Within a few minutes of leaving the prison, Chorong reached the outskirts of Bulan. A trail of dirt smoke followed her, created by her inhuman running. In front of her, near the edge of the village, she could see Gilbert the Yue officer she had met a day before. In front of the man was a giant bear Alpha.

Gilbert stepped back, his face frozen with fear. He held a knife but seemed to know it wouldn’t do much against the beast.

The bear roared and jumped forward. Chorong was too far.

Then something she didn’t expect happened.

A Bulan worker stepped in front of Gilbert and stuck out his prosthetic arm, catching its snout at the perfect time. His feet slid back as the bear charged but eventually slowed down and stopped.

“Electrocute me, now!” the worker shouted.

Gilbert pulled out his remote, pointed at the worker, and pressed its button. The worker grunted as electricity travelled through his body. The electricity also fried the bear. The two screamed together. However, the worker fought hard to not let go of the bear.

The bear squeezed its last strength to swat the worker away. The worker fell and didn’t move again. However, the damage to the bear had been done already. It wavered left and right, having trouble with balance.

When she was a few meters away from the bear, she told herself, Don’t hesitate ever again, ever. Don’t fear ever again, ever.

Chorong jumped and swung her good hand, landing a punch on the back of the bear’s head. It fell forward, just in front of Gilbert. The officer struck down with his knife. The blade went into the beast’s head, killing it.

Gilbert panted as adrenaline rushed through his body. He looked up at Chorong. After a moment, his eyes widened as if he finally recognized her.

“You are—”

“I will help,” Chorong interrupted his sentence. “I will help you protect Bulan. That’s what you people are here for, right?”

“…”

Gilbert pulled out a walkie-talkie and said, “Alphas are on loose, attacking the village like ten years ago. Evacuate the mayor, evacuate the workers and their families.” After a pause, he added, “The female robot we arrested yesterday is our ally. Do not attack her.”

As he said his words, he looked at Chorong. His eyes told her, I’m trusting you.

A few minutes later, Chorong was running in the streets of a different part of the village, closing in on a source of shouts and screams.

Chorong slid to a stop when she saw a group of workers holding down a small wolf, Alpha, using their hands. It struggled, but the workers used all of their strengths to hold its limbs and heads down.

“Sullivan, now!” one of the workers shouted.

An officer emerged behind the workers, holding a knife. He was about to strike down.

The wolf’s head escaped the hand that was holding it down, and the Alpha snapped its teeth at the officer. Surprised, the officer jumped backwards, just barely dodging the attack. Doing so made him drop his weapon. Since the wolf’s head was free, it could wiggle its body more violently. The workers shouted and panicked as the wolf became close to escaping.

Stolen story; please report.

Chorong leapt over the workers and raised her good human-like arm. Using gravity and its momentum, she launched her fist directly downward. It landed on top of the wolf’s head.

The damage wasn’t enough to kill the wolf, but it was enough to daze the beast. The wolf’s movement slowed significantly. The officer grabbed the knife again and struck it down, killing it.

All the workers sat on their bottoms in unison, all exhausted.

After calming down, the officer stood up and faced the robot. “I never knew I would do this, but…”

To Chorong’s surprise, he bowed at her.

He then stood up straight again. “Please, go help others.”

Chorong left them without hesitation, running to another source of yells and Alphas’ roars. As she dashed, she couldn’t help but wonder about Yue and Bulan’s relationship. Secretto has described as if Yue treated Bulan and its people as worthless slaves, and that was Chorong’s impression too, on the day she was arrested. However, things she was seeing today did not line up with that; Yue officers and Bulan workers were fighting together against the Alphas. They cooperated and helped each other.

There must be more to Yue and Bulan’s history, she thought. There must be more than what Secretto had explained.

Secretto ran in the streets of Bulan with a cross-body bag on her chest. A wolf Alpha chased her. She ran into a building, whimpering in fear—or pretending to be in fear, at least. The sign on the building read: Bulan City Hall.

In the lobby, there was a group of special Yue officers with rifles guarding a man in suit. She recognized him at once: Buster Kim, the mayor of Yue.

Perfect, she thought.

“Help!” she shouted. The wolf wrecked through the entrance and came into the building.

“Shoot!” one of the officers shouted. The officers raised their firearms and fired at the wolf. She covered her ears and shrieked as she ran, pretending to be scared by the gunshots. The wolf kept chasing her.

The mayor opened the back door and went outside. He held it open and gestured at her to come.

She ran through the wall of officers and through the door. There was a convertible car there with its roof open, waiting. They hopped into the back seats. A man was already sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Go!” the mayor shouted.

The driver floored the thrust pedal, and the car launched forward. A split second afterwards, a wall of the city hall burst and the wolf Alpha came outside behind them. The Alpha started chasing them.

“Damn, why is it after us!?” the mayor complained.

The car was no match with the Alpha when it came to speed. The Alpha caught up and jumped onto the car’s hood. Everyone in the car screamed as it slashed its claws at the driver. Blood sprayed. The vehicle swayed left and right. Soon, Secretto felt herself become light as the car fell sideways and threw its passengers into the air.

The mayor and she fell on the dirt road. As she got up, she felt a sharp pain in her right arm. The pain prevented her from bending it in any way. However, she ignored the pain when she saw the wolf get up next to the mayor.

When the mayor managed to get onto his feet, it was too late. The wolf dove at his head. Its mouth covered his face, and soon, there was a crunch. The mayor’s body stopped moving.

Secretto was calm to see his death. She just felt a bit sad to see a human being die in front of her again.

She tried to move her right arm to take off the cross-body bag. She couldn’t. She quickly switched to her left arm, removed the bag, and threw it away as far as she could, but she couldn’t use her left arm as well as her right arm. The bag dropped not far enough away from her. The wolf’s eyes locked onto her.

She cursed. There was nothing around her she could use to fight or run away.

The wolf started charging at her. She stared straight at her doom, ready to accept her fate to hell. She was just a bit sad that she couldn’t finish what she started.

A gunshot shook the air.

The wolf’s body tumbled and stopped a meter away from her. Blood flowed from a hole on its forehead.

“I told you I’m not a bad shot,” a familiar male voice said from behind her.

She turned around. James stood, kneeling on one knee, holding his rifle in his hand. Their gazes met. Secretto couldn’t help but smile.

“I thought I told you to stay in your cell,” she said.

“Well, I couldn’t miss my opportunity to save a beautiful lady,” James replied.