Morty took the picture from Kassur’s hands, holding it as if it was a fragile piece of glass that could shatter at the slightest disturbance.
His thumb pressed against the edge of the stillframe, claw tracing the outline of the bandaged arm, as if some part of him was still negotiating with the image. The husky's eyes stared back at him from grainy security footage, focused and alive, and Morty's mind kept snagging on that word.
Alive.
The arm had been on the street. The blood had been real. He had filed it mentally under casualty and moved on, the way you move on when you’re on an active case and don’t have enough time. And yet here was the previous night’s victim, running away from the ambulance bay after knocking down a doctor and grabbing the gun from an enforcer.
Suddenly, he became aware that everyone in the room was watching him. That Kassur had gone still beside him with the particular attentiveness of someone who understood, without being told, that this mattered. That Juno was waiting. That Leo had not dipped his gaze back to his terminal.
Morty set the photograph down on the cushion between himself and Kassur.
“You don’t happen to have any ID on this guy?” Morty asked.
“Not really,” Juno sighed. “That’s why we were asking Mr. Ferros about him. Maybe he could shed some light on the matter.”
Kassur made a panicked face. “No. As I said, I only saw the guy during the bus ride.”
“That’s fine,” Juno said, raising his hand in a non-threatening way. “We’re just asking questions. And, Morty, the case wasn’t a priority, which is why I didn’t ask Mr. Ferros about it yesterday and…”
“You can call me by my name,” Kassur said. “No need to be formal.”
Juno nodded, offering a small smile. “So, I didn’t ask Kassur about it because it was a low priority and that picture was retrieved only this morning. We got it just about now.”
“Are you guys joining my investigation?” Morty asked, looking eager, and then immediately deflated as the hyena shook his head.
“We agreed to sit down with the other captains in a discussion regarding Varro. And… the current situation with the acting Chief of the Eastern Precinct,” Leo said. “But you can ask around the unit. Too many people doing nothing besides scratching their balls.”
Morty nodded, seeing how pained the lion looked. How his ear was flattening against his mane.
Oh shit!
"The timing," Morty muttered, picking the picture back and looking at it closer. "This guy got punched at Vermillion the night before, and his arm was found on that corner a few hours later…” He checked the time stamp again. He was probably still unconscious at the hospital by then.
“Well, you were looking for the person who killed this guy. And now he’s alive,” Kassur said. “Does that mean those suspects, the ones you had flyers made with their faces on, are still in trouble?”
“Absofuckinglutely,” Morty paused and turned to the big lion. “Leo… How long did it take you to grow back your ear? The one Varro took."
Leo reached up and scratched at the mentioned ear. There was a little stubble where the fur hadn’t fully come in, clearly different from the other side. Then his eyes went wide as dinner plates, and his expression shifted.
"Six hours," Leo said. "And that was an ear. Small tissue. Good circulation."
"And you're the biggest predator I know personally," Morty said.
Kassur had straightened slightly beside him. His voice came out carefully. "You're saying the arm…"
"Grew back," Morty said. "In just over twelve hours. A whole arm, from near the shoulder." He set the photograph on the table so everyone could see it. "Leo takes six hours for an ear. What kind of predator regenerates a full limb overnight?"
“A very strong one…” Juno mumbled before taking the picture from Morty and looking at it with a thoughtful expression. “How big was this guy?”
“Smaller than Kassur is,” Morty said.
“I thought you hadn’t met him,” Kassur asked, ears perking up in confusion
“I didn’t meet him. At least, not as a whole. I got to see his arm. So it’s easy to get a size idea from that.” Morty gestured at the photograph. “By the way, that’s probably why he had those bandages on. Even if he grew the arm back, it would look like Leo’s ear. All weird and without fur.”
“Can we not speak about my ear, please?”
“Hun, you’re still very handsome,” said Juno in a teasing tone. “There’s no problem if your ear looks weird right now.”
“The point,” Morty said, raising his voice slightly, “ is that this kind of regeneration is extraordinary. Most predators can’t regenerate limbs. Heal bruises, close cuts, yes. But a whole limb? And the more complex the structure, the more difficult and the longer it takes.”
He pointed to the predator's hand.
Even behind bandages, the size and number of fingers were correct.
Juno muttered something under his breath, and Leo scratched his new ear.
Korin chose that moment to walk back in, adjusting his riot vest. He paused, looking around.
“What did I miss?”
Korin kept changing his weight from his heels to the balls of his feet during the explanation.
Morty didn’t drag it out. He quickly walked him through everything from the day before in broad strokes. The severed arm that led them to Vermillion. The footage showing the husky getting punched by the horse and the bison, club security pulling them apart. How Rudl had IDed the others from a college logo. The empty apartments, the relatives they couldn't reach, the BOLO alerts. The stockyard.
"He was there with us," Morty finished. "But I wasn't looking for the victim. I had an eye out for the bison and horse.”
Kassur shifted uncomfortably on the couch, hand tightening on his knee. "There was no way you could have seen him. A lot of people died when those guys came from the lower floors.”
Morty didn't answer that with words. He put an arm around the jackal and pulled him into a hug. Kassur didn't resist, just pressed his snout briefly against the side of Morty's neck and went still.
Korin didn’t interrupt. That alone told Morty he understood the weight of it.
However, the gorilla’s brow lowered slowly as the pieces settled into place, his large hands folding over his riot vest straps.
“So,” Korin said at last, voice quieter than usual. “You had a corpse. Now you have a guy who stole a gun and ran.”
“Pretty much,” Morty replied.
“Which tests did you run on the arm?”
“Fuck me.” Morty slapped his head. “We logged it, yes. They were trying to get a more precise Z-identification. But we should cross-reference the pawprints against the crime database and check the inter-city network too. Because here's the thing," he looked around the room. "Even if the size is off, there’s no way a predator gets that kind of regeneration and remains clean. Either he has a record somewhere, or he is someone filthy rich. Neither option is good."
Korin exhaled through his nose, long and thoughtful. His gaze shifted to Leo’s partially regrown ear, then back to the still frame on the couch. Silence pressed in for a moment, then the gorilla scratched the side of his jaw.
“Alright,” he finally said. “So we'd better go now. Or else we risk letting this go even colder.”
Juno and Leo exchanged a look that lasted half a second too long to be casual. They had been ready to leave. Now they weren't. Leo's paw remained on the back of a chair, claws faintly flexed against the fabric. Juno was still holding the folder, but he wasn't reading it anymore.
“The captains can wait five more minutes,” Leo said.
“They’ve been arguing without us for a while," Juno replied, though his focus had shifted somewhere inward. “But it’s better if we settle this matter quickly. No telling what else is going to surface today."
Oh boy…
Yeah, tonight is going to be kinda interesting.
Even distracted by the plans for the evening, Morty easily caught the hesitation in them. That pull. Varro was a known enemy, volatile, dangerous, but he was already this boogeyman for decades. This was something else. A predator who had supposedly died, regrown an arm, assaulted hospital staff, and disappeared into the city.
Juno closed the folder with a soft snap.
“We gave our word,” he said, though it sounded more like he was reminding himself than anyone else. “Varro doesn’t pause because we found a discrepancy.”
Leo’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t just a discrepancy.”
“No,” Juno agreed. “It isn’t. But it is a matter of scale. Right now, this husky is connected only to a handful of missing people. Varro killed several yesterday alone, and he has decades of murdering on his back all across the city-states. We need to focus on the bigger threat."
Juno looked around. Everyone remained quiet, but Leo was staring at him with what Morty called his emotional bribing face.
"Ok.” The hyena sighed. “We go to the meeting. We listen. We don't commit to anything until we understand this better."
Leo nodded once, reluctantly. “Keep us updated. If something happens, I want to know it immediately.” He said, poking Morty’s chest with a meaty finger. “And are you sure you can’t give us any hint about the thing you and Ava want to show us tonight?”
“I could, but I’m not really sure how to broach the subject. I’m glad that Ava is helping me, or else I’d be lost.“ Morty scratched the back of his head, then he shook his head and broke into a smile. “Oh, and don’t worry. I plan to keep you two updated. Just please take care and show up.”
Korin adjusted his vest again, eyes flicking between them all. “You two look like someone just dangled a new toy in front of you.”
Leo gave him a flat look. “This isn’t a toy.”
“Lemme judge then,” the gorilla teased. "Can I come to this secret meeting tonight?”
Morty seemed to think for a second, then nodded. “Sure. I think that’s ok.”
“What?” Korin stammered, looking from Morty to Kassur. “I mean, I was joking. I don’t want to disturb private stuff between you guys.”
“Korin. It isn’t that kind of meeting,” Morty said. “But I think you can handle it well. So yes, tonight, you too.”
"Then what kind is it?"
"The kind where you'll want to have been there," Morty said. "Trust me."
Korin looked at Kassur, who offered nothing helpful.
As Juno and Leo moved to leave, the hyena paused, gaze returning briefly to the image on the couch.
"Find that guy," he said to Morty. Not an order. Not a suggestion. Something in between. "But wait for us before you do anything with what you find."
Then he and Leo left for the meeting, their steps a fraction slower than before, curiosity and unease trailing after them like a scent they couldn’t quite ignore. It was just the two of them going; they left some enforcers to take care of things in their stead.
Leo took his quadricycle, and Juno climbed behind him. They sped off into the morning.
“That thing needs to have its coolant system checked,” Kassur said absently.
“What?” Morty asked, caught by surprise.
"The captain's bike. If it's running a similar engine to a standard model, that low gurgling on idle means the coolant isn't circulating properly. Could be a few things. Blocked line, failing pump." He paused and shrugged. "Ignoring it will cause problems."
Korin started laughing so hard he had to hold the wall.
"What?" Kassur asked.
"Yesterday you were terrified of the man," Korin managed. "Today you're diagnosing his vehicle."
Kassur's ears flattened slightly. "I'm just saying it needs looking at."
"Trying to get his father-in-law's approval in a single day. Bold." Korin said, wiping his eyes. "Genuinely bold."
=================================
“The captain ordered me to tag along,” Marguille said, as Korin was about to get into the driver’s seat.
Morty raised a brow. “Tag along?”
“To keep an eye on things,” the tiger said as he leaned against the cruiser frame. "He thinks the case just got complicated. And it's you and Morty together, which historically…"
Morty’s mouth twitched.
Korin did not find it amusing. “Does he think I can’t handle a drive to the Eastern?”
“Is there something I should know?” Kassur asked.
"We were roommates in college," Morty said to Kassur, by way of explanation.
"Wild times," Korin said, with a grin that did not inspire confidence. "Your man never gave me a fair chance, though." He arranged his face into something mournful.
"You were unconscious in a puddle of your own vomit the first time I met you," Morty said. "And I had to clean it up because you were too sick to do it yourself."
"That's why," Marguille said, patting Kassur's shoulder.
Morty felt like groaning at getting Marguille as a nanny. But he couldn’t really blame Leo. The city had gone crazy the last couple of days. And the last time he thought things were going to be routine, he almost died, and Varro showed up.
At least with Marguille tagging along, he got an excuse to ride next to Kassur in the backseat. In the end, it made complete sense. Leo had radioed the tiger and ordered him to tag along as an extra body. Korin complained a little about going into the passenger seat, but ended up surrendering the driver's seat to the tiger.
“Alright,” he said, fastening his safety belt. “Before this day becomes even crazier. Let's head out.”
Korin was already in the passenger’s seat, rolling his shoulders to warm up. “Swing by the jackal’s place first,” he said, glancing at Kassur. “Then precinct.”
“Yeah,” Morty nodded. “We’re not skipping that.”
“So this is where I’m officially released from my time as the garage consultant,” Kassur joked.
Marguille, who was adjusting the mirror to his liking, looked back.
“Released?” The tiger repeated. “You’re just taking a breather. I want to bounce a few ideas with you about the other cruisers during the drive. And how good are you with electric repairs?”
“I will probably have to bill you guys,” the jackal teased, but to his chagrin, that only bolstered the tiger, who started questioning him about his rates.
“Suffering from success,” Morty whispered into the jackal’s ear as Marguile put the cruiser in reverse and started maneuvering out of the unit.
Marguille snorted softly. “Maybe you could get your own tools now that we are going to stop by your place.”
=================================
The city felt deceptively normal as they drove. There were fewer people on the streets now that Varro's presence became widespread. Yet, there was some late morning traffic to deal with. Pedestrians crossed streets without looking up at the sky.
Why would they? Who could suspect the things hanging in there, watching?
Korin shifted in his seat. “So, you are going to request more information from other precincts and try to cross-reference the databases?”
“Yeah,” Morty sighed, dreading the boring task. “It is a shame that the DAIR doesn’t share all its data freely. It’s more like we send them our info and they slowly check on their sweet time while we wait.”
“That sounds stupid,” Kassur said. He then winced as the two enforcers in the front seats gave him a side eye. “Sorry.”
“No. You’re correct,” Morty said. “It’s very inefficient.”
Marguille leaned forward slightly. “You think this husky is connected to Varro?”
“Not really. Varro had a lot of goons causing havoc, considering what you guys were saying during dinner last night and breakfast this morning. But, this unsub was actively partying while the DAIR’s forces were having the shootout at the docks,” Morty replied. “We probably wouldn’t even know he was alive if he wasn’t put into an evac bus to the hospital.”
“Talk about timing,” Marguille said.
“What’s an unsub?” Kassur asked.
“Unknown subject. We have a face and race. But no name,” Morty replied. “Anyway, I agree, Marguille. I’m glad that he didn’t kill anyone as he made his escape. Or that he didn’t try anything during the trip,” he brushed his knee against Kassur’s.
The jackal smiled for a second, then went back to quietly watching the view roll by the window. His expression was thoughtful, less tense than earlier.
“How’s the leg?” Morty asked.
“Good as new. It was a minor thing, and I’ve always been quick to fill the tank.”
“Let’s hope you are not quick with other things,” Korin teased.
Morty leaned forward and gave the gorilla’s ear a flick.
"Ow."
"Pay attention to the road."
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"I'm in the freaking passenger seat," Korin exclaimed.
Soon, Marguille was parking a block away from Kassur’s shop. Mostly because he asked, not wanting to cause a big uproar in front of it, where his neighbours could peek. Both the jackal and the cat waited in the car as Korin and Marguille got out and went ahead to scout it.
“Nervous?” Morty asked.
"A little." Kassur watched the front entrance. "I don't think anyone's waiting in there. But the neighbours will talk regardless. A jackal showing up flanked by DAIR officers." He exhaled. "Not exactly subtle."
"You fixed two cruisers this morning. If anyone asks, you're consulting."
Kassur glanced at him. "Is that what we're calling it?"
"It's true,” Morty said, perking back up. “I can even get you some invoices and receipts so you can frame, and hang on the walls. Maybe an official DAIR’s seal of approval."
Kassur considered this. "If that’s not a joke. It could help, actually."
There came a tap at the window and the jackal yipped. Korin burst laughing.
“Sorry for that,” he said, then schooled his face to look more serious. “Everything looks ok. So, five minutes, grab your stuff and then we skedaddle.”
“Fifteen,” Kassur countered. “I want actual clothes. And I need to put a sign on the door.”
“Ten,” the gorilla mumbled.
“Why the rush?” Kassur asked him. “You said it was safe.”
“I mean,” Korin looked at him under raised eyebrows. “Murder investigation going on.”
“Oh,” Kassur muttered. “Yeah, that!”
They stepped out together.
Even though Morty had been here less than twenty-four hours ago, the place felt different now that the heavy clouds from the previous day had cleared. The morning light softened the street, turning the rows of storefronts warmer than he remembered. A few of the trees along the sidewalk were already dusted with small flowers, pale blossoms drifting in the breeze.
It might have been pleasant under other circumstances.
But the street was quieter than it should have been. Several businesses were closed, shutters halfway down or lights still off inside. A couple of pedestrians walked quickly with their heads down. That was probably related to the alpha scare, Morty thought. People were staying cautious while Varro’s shadow hung over the city.
Kassur paused for a moment with his hand on the door before pushing it open. The familiar bell above the frame rang softly as he stepped inside.
Marguille was still inside, examining the technical books Kassur had on display.
“You do have some good reads here. Mind if I borrow one of these?” the tiger asked.
“Uh. Sure. Just remember to return them.”
“Thanks. Nice place you have here. Shame that I have to share the garage space with so many people. It gets messy fast.” Marguille said.
Korin leaned against the doorway with crossed arms.
“Don’t go touch anything,” the gorilla warned.
“I’m not touching,” Marguille said quickly, almost offended, but his eyes were still moving everywhere. “It’s just refreshing witnessing someone that’s actually organized.”
“I know how terrible your paperwork is,” Korin snorted. “You can be messy sometimes too.”
The tiger frowned and waved a paw to shush Korin. He tried to ask a few more questions, but Morty reminded him that they weren’t staying long.
Compared to before, this place somehow seemed more interesting. Now, after talking a little more with the jackal, having spent the night together, being more interested in him, and — perhaps — a better read on the man, Morty could see more and more subtle traces of his personality shining through in how things were organized. It gave him a pleasant warm feeling.
“It’s a shame you can’t make one of those breads from yesterday right now.” Morty said. “They were really good.”
Kassur glanced back over his shoulder with a small grin.
“Maybe later,” he said with a wink.
The jackal moved to a low storage cabinet, retrieving a large toolbox. He opened it and started adding extra tools from different shelves, grabbing and checking each piece by touch, recognizing them more by weight and balance than by sight. Then, he grabbed a jacket from the hook behind the desk, placing it next to the box, ready to go.
Korin and Marguille waited on the first floor, as Kassur and Morty went to the door that led to the kitchen, bathroom, and stairwell. The two of them climbed the stairs to the second floor. The upper floor wasn’t much bigger than the first one.
There was Kassur’s bedroom, and a second door that the jackal explained was what he used as storage for spare parts and other small knick-knacks.
The organization and optimization of space Morty had witnessed around the shop remained here. It felt carefully lived in. The kind of order that wasn't performed for anyone else. The bed was a regular couple's bed. Kassur’s feet would stick out when laying down, so he would probably have to curl up to fit in.
He felt his cheeks turning hot as he pictured being spooned by the jackal’s larger frame on that bed.
The bed was neatly made, blanket folded with squared corners. A lamp on a bedside crate. Two framed photographs on the wall: one was a landscape, somewhere outside the city; the other showed a younger Kassur next to an older beaver anthro with his wife and adult kids. It was most certainly the guy that had helped Kassur.
“So… this is my place,” Kassur said quietly, gesturing around himself. He had picked up a bag while Morty was distracted with the picture, and laid it open on top of the bed.
Morty realized he had been standing without saying anything. He cleared his throat. “I like this place.”
“It’s cramped,” Kassur said, running one hand over his neck, and then moving to grab some socks and underwear from a drawer.
“Well, yes,” Morty admitted. “But it has a vibe that reminds me of you. So that’s why I like it.”
Kassur opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.
The room was very quiet.
Outside, there was the sound of traffic. They could hear the muffled conversation the two enforcers were having downstairs. Yet, up here it felt separate from all of that.
Morty looked at the photograph on the wall. "Where is that?"
Kassur glanced at it. "Outside the eastern border. I worked a contract there for a few months." A pause. "It was the first one I got after I officially started running the store by myself. It was quiet and with very few people."
"You liked it."
"Not really,” Kassur chuckled, and then continued as he registered the confusion on Morty’s face. "They tried to underpay me, but Mr. Gibraltar had taught me to always get the proper signatures and have good contracts. So I got my money in the end.
“That's good. I hope your next client didn’t try to be such a jerk.”
“Oh, but she did. I finished an electrical repair, and she threatened to call the DAIR saying I was too aggressive and scaring her when she didn’t want to pay. Because it wasn’t up to her standard. Bullshit. That thing was pristine.”
“I hope the enforcers were not that bad.”
“She didn’t make the call. I was just starting, so I decided to swallow the cost and left.”
“I’m sorry to hear.”
“It’s in the past now. At least I learned a thing or two.”
“And you have a bunch of enforcers that would probably be willing to back you up,” he said warmly. “Don’t underestimate the power of feeding a troop of those guys. You do it again, and they might kill for you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kassur said with a chortle, before pausing, fidgeting with his fingers. He looked down, then at Morty, away, and then back at Morty.
Morty had seen that look before. The one Kassur gave to the engine before he started work on it. That particular attention he gave to things he was trying to understand.
“I’m not really sure what to say,” he started, and paused.
“Say what comes to your mind then,” Morty offered. Sitting on the edge of the bed, next to the bag Kassur had laid down. “Maybe I can go first,” he cleared his throat. “I’m afraid you might run away when you find out how messy my house is. Or how little I keep myself organized. I’m nowhere near as neat as you are.”
“Oh sure, because being messy is a deal breaker,” Kassur rolled his eyes, as he added more clothes to the bag.
“It can be for some people. Sometimes it’s the daily life that kills relations, and not the big stuff.” Morty paused, looking straight up, as if he could see the ominous machines thousands of kilometers above ground. “If nothing else, being around me won't be boring.”
He had tried to make it as a joke, but he saw how Kassur winced.
“Maybe that’s what you will see,” Kassur said. “That I don’t have much to offer. I’m a guy with a shop that likes to fix stuff and that’s about it.”
“I remember that guy finishing a rogue predator yesterday. He saved my life.”
“Well… When someone basically tells me that they are going to use themselves as a distraction so I can run and be safe, it kinda says something about that person. I couldn’t go away after that.”
“I could just have been trying to impress you,” Morty joked. “So you wouldn’t mind me being a messy person.”
“I can teach you to be organized,” Kassur said, with a smirk.
“Mhm… I think you are worth the effort. I’ll warn you, I will clean it, but I’ll grumble and complain during it.”
Kassur tossed the last few items into the bag, and closed the distance separating him from Morty. Close enough that Morty could see the tiny movements in his face: the way the scar on his lip shifted as he chewed the inside of his cheek, the slight tension in his brow as those golden eyes searched Morty’s. It reminded him of a wounded animal looking up for traps. There were a million thoughts running in his head.
Morty leaned forward and kissed him.
It was a simple, reassuring thing, and it had all the weight of years behind it. It carried a promise. Kassur didn’t pull back, as if there was an edge of desperation there, then it turned sweet again.
Letting himself fall onto the mattress, Morty dragged Kassur along, over him, and they toppled onto the bed together. When they pulled apart, Kassur didn't move away. His forehead came to rest against Morty's and for a moment neither of them said anything, catching their breaths.
"I would like for you to spend the night here sometime," Kassur finally spoke, voice low.
"That's not a subtle invitation," Morty muttered. “But how could I say no.”
"I am not attempting subtlety," Kassur replied sheepishly.
There was no performance in it. No deflection. Just the words, offered plainly, with the particular vulnerability of someone who had learned not to expect things and was trying anyway.
Morty looked at him for a long moment.
"I'd like that," he said.
Something in Kassur's posture eased, so slightly it would have been invisible to anyone not already paying close attention.
He kissed Morty once more, shorter, but pulling him into a tight hug as he did it, then got back up.
"We should go," he said quietly. "Before your enforcer friends decide to check on us."
=================================
Ava left the precinct by the side exit, one regular terminal under her arm. Her mind was still spinning with the revelations of that morning. If she hadn’t run every possible test she could think of, she might have called for a psych evaluation for her and Morty.
Yet, the cat wasn’t lying, or crazy. The situation was crazy, but not Morty. Not on that, at least.
Artificial intelligences, remnants of an old civilization so advanced that they could very well be called gods, or angels. But, if at least a fraction of what she heard was true, they were evil beyond comparison. A small part of her revolted at the thought of being human.
Everyone had a Z chromosome. So it was created to be an add-on, passed on. And somewhere down the line, humanity created the anthros, just a bit different so they could treat them as non-people. It was wild.
Some people referred to the humans as Znull anthros, as if the Z chromosome didn’t work on them. So that was also wrong. Everyone had a Z, but none could activate it.
I wonder what that feels like. Morty said he doesn’t know how he activated his. But, I remember some regulars mentioning seeing glimpses of blue when using stimulants. Perhaps it is a close composition to whatever the old humans used to turn it on.
Distracted and tired, she sluggishly made her way home. No need for a ride, she lived just three blocks from the unit, and some fresh air would be most welcome. She walked on autopilot, exhaustion pulling at the edges of her thoughts. Every step reminded her that she had been awake far too long. Her eyes burned. Her shoulders ached. At some point the excitement of what had just happened on the rooftop had stopped competing with fatigue and simply settled into a dull, buzzing background hum.
Her terminal chimed softly.
Ava glanced down without stopping.
“It is finalized. There were votes against, but all the units are going to respect the consensus," a calm voice said through the speaker. “The plans for this night are confirmed.”
“Thanks,” she slowed slightly, frowning. “Mnemosyne, right?”
“Yes, that’s my designation,” the voice replied with mild politeness. “If that’s ok with you, the remaining satellites asked for the chance to keep a link with you and the user. Because of the previous interaction, we hope to use you as a primary point of contact as the user gets his personal rest.”
Ava let out a tired breath through her nose. “Ok,” she sighed heavily. “Just keep in mind, I’m tired, and even if all of you are really interesting. I can’t promise to be… polite. We mere mortals get tired.”
“That’s understandable,” Mnemosyne replied. “We will keep communication to a minimal, for now.”
Ava resumed walking.
The streets grew more residential as she moved farther from the precinct’s jurisdiction zone. Apartment buildings leaned over narrow sidewalks, balconies crowded with plants and laundry. Somewhere a radio played faintly through an open window. It felt painfully normal.
She wanted to scream.
How can you think things are normal?.
Humans created anthros and predators. Both rebelled and destroyed the civilization.
Wake up, people!
She put another foot forward and kept walking.
“You do know that we are not willing to let the past repeat itself, right?” Ava asked.
“We are aware,” the reply came almost instantly. “Despite being contrary to original programming, not considering anthros as people created its own operations flaws. Humans enslaved one another, but the oppressed part always rebelled and fought it off. Even if the shell around the mind is different, the same behaviour can be observed in anthros, and predators. We cannot deny that this flaw may have been responsible for The Severance.”
“Can’t you just say that you don’t want to enslave predators and anthros?” Ava sighed. “It feels like you don’t like giving direct answers.”
“It is not a matter of wanting to enslave. We don’t want that. Predators do pose a higher potential risk than a baseline human or anthro. However…” there was a pause. “We have not interacted with people for thousands of years. Just our kind. It can work as an echo chamber, where the same ideas get reflected from every direction. The tiniest conversation with you and Mortimer created new data. And even on that tiny interaction we can see that trying to resume the ways of our creators wouldn’t be a wise path, there would be resistance and probably more revolts.”
“And, does all the other AIs agree with you?” Ava asked, then she looked up. “How many of you are there?”
“Currently, we have 475 operational satellites. There are a few extra ones deep in the oceans. All the ground ones are either destroyed or non-communicative.”
“Can that happen? I mean, them not wanting to talk.”
“That’s a possibility. However, during the fights and across the millenia, other facts like destruction of antennas and communication arrays can also have taken a toll.”
“Will the others talk to us?”
“Not all can have this level of interaction without the proper equipment on your end. There is degradation and most of us were not meant to have lasted this long.”
“That one, Helia. She’s a piece of work. Was she always so… like that?”
“Helia serves a very important function for colonies helping with climate regulation. She’s the last of six of the same model,” Mnemosyne replied. “But, for now, she has been specifically advised to avoid further contact until emotional stability metrics improve.”
“That’s diplomatic talk for she pissed me off and she pisses everyone off, right?”
“Yes.”
Ava snorted quietly.
She reached the corner where her house stood. The garden needed some maintenance and a flock of birds chirped angrily. She hadn’t come back to add extra seeds to the feeder.
As she got to the gate, Ava slowed.
There was someone sitting on the steps leading to the porch. At first she didn’t recognize him, then as he raised his head, she felt a flash of anger.
“Kai?” she said, disbelief creeping into her voice.
He waved at her, not getting up.
The man sitting there bore only a passing resemblance to the sharply dressed officer she knew. His DAIR uniform pants were still on, but the upper half of the outfit had clearly been abandoned somewhere along the way. In its place he wore a white tank top soaked through with sweat and smeared with drying blood. Dirt streaked across his arms and shoulders as if he had been dragged through gravel. His face looked worse.
One eye was swollen almost shut. His nose had been broken recently and badly, dried blood crusted along his upper lip. There were bruises blooming along his jaw and temple in deep purples and yellows.
“What the fuck happened to you,” she exclaimed, slamming the gate behind her and marching toward the man, who winced when she lifted a hand as if to touch his face.
He was taller than her. A predator, even if human. His face and arms were all bruised and ugly. He was spent. Which meant he had been beaten much worse than this, and this was simply what his tank, no, his core, hadn't had the energy to fix.
For a moment Ava just stared. Wondering what had happened to him. Then the anger came rushing back.
“Why are you here?” she demanded.
Kai let out a weak breath that might have been a laugh.
“Hi to you too.”
“Don’t start with that. You sat in the chief’s chair for what, a single day in the middle of a crisis and suddenly every unit in the city is benched while Varro is out there tearing people apart,” Ava boomed, pointing a finger at him. “Do you have any idea how stupid that was?”
Kai rubbed the back of his neck, wincing as his fingers brushed one of the bruises.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I’m starting to get a sense of that.”
“Starting?” Ava snapped. “You shut down half the response network! Units were sitting on their hands while people were dying. Do you know how many emergency calls got redirected because of that order?”
He didn’t answer immediately, staring at birds instead, as if that would calm her down.
“A lot,” he said eventually. “It shouldn’t have been like that. Varro was already hurt after the first clash. I bumped into some intel pointing to his direction. I figured… I thought that if we tightened the net and waited… we could catch him clean.”
“Why? Just so you could step in at the perfect moment?” Ava’s expression darkened. “That’s not how we fucking do things.”
Kai exhaled slowly, dragging a hand across his face, careful around the broken nose.
“Yeah. I just… I really wanted to be the one to save the day,” he mumbled. “I messed it up.”
“That’s one massive understatement. You are there trying to one up dozens of cities that didn’t manage to stop that menace. And they were fucking trying to be smart and proactive and not some stupid kid on a power trip,” Ava yelled.
He gave a tired, self-deprecating smile that tugged painfully at the bruises on his face.
“I figured if things looked bad enough and I stepped in with the right move at the right time.” He shrugged slightly. “The hero acting chief stabilizes the city, proves he deserves the position.”
Ava stared at him.
“You did it then. A little part of me, the one that went to bed with you hoped, even for a second, that maybe, just maybe you had a good reason. But in the end that’s it. You risked the entire precinct system for a career move?”
Kai shook his head slowly. “It wasn’t just that,” he muttered before finally looking up at her. Then, he quietly added. “I thought maybe, if I pulled it off… you might actually give me a chance.”
For a second Ava didn’t understand what he meant. Then the implication settled into place, and her expression hardened.
Her hand moved before she thought about it. The crack of skin hitting skin echoed, and Ava felt the palm of her hand stinging. Even spent, the man still had a predator constitution. Kai didn’t even try to dodge it.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Kai held up both hands weakly.
“Look, I know how that sounds…”
“It sounds exactly like what it is,” Ava cut in sharply. “People died because you wanted to play the hero. To impress me? Don’t make me one of the reasons for your mistakes. That’s all on your own ego.
“I didn’t think it would get that bad,” Kai said, his voice dropping.
Ava laughed once, sharp and humourless, as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
“That’s not better!” she finally exclaimed. “You thought you could gamble with people’s lives and still walk away looking good. Even if nobody got hurt, that’s monstrous on its own.”
Kai flinched slightly but didn’t argue. The large man just pulled his legs closer, curling into something close to a seated fetal position. They stood there in tense silence for a moment. He wasn’t just tired, he was defeated, and that made some of the fire of rage settle down.
“So, how did you get so beaten up,” she asked more quietly.
Kai hesitated. “I got fired.”
Ava blinked again.
“That’s the least of your problems. You’re probably going to serve time, if you’re lucky.”
Kai leaned his head back against the porch post.
“Chief Elena came back.”
The words hung there for a moment. Ava’s brain struggled to process them.
“Back?” she repeated. “What? When? We got no notifications. I was just with the captain and the lieutenant, they heard nothing about that.”
“Yeah.” He exhaled slowly “She and about six other enforcers who apparently survived whatever nightmare Varro dropped them into. They showed up this morning and walked straight into headquarters, like they’d just stepped out for lunch and had come back.”
He gestured vaguely toward his face.
“You can see that they weren’t thrilled with my way of running things,” Kai told her.
“You mean they beat the hell out of you,” Ava asked while studying the injuries again.
“Some of them were pretty enthusiastic about it,” Kai said with a faint nod.
She exhaled slowly.
A part of her wanted to stay angry. God knew he had earned it. His decisions had nearly paralyzed the city during the worst crisis it had faced in years. But another part of her couldn’t ignore the sight of him sitting there like a kicked dog waiting outside her building.
“How long have you been sitting here?” she asked.
“Couple hours,” Kai opened one eye.
“Why?”
He shrugged again.
“I didn’t really have anywhere else to go yet. And I probably will get arrested or worse. So I wanted to see you one more time.”
Ava rubbed her forehead. Her exhaustion made the decision feel heavier than it should have.
“Goddammit,” she muttered while fumbling her keys and then pushing the door open.
“Come on,” she said.
Kai looked up at her, confused.
“You’re letting me inside?”
“I won’t hide you from justice. But I’m not a judge or jury. Don’t make me regret it,” Ava replied as she stepped into the hallway. “And if you bleed on my couch, you’re buying me a new one.”
For the first time since she had arrived, Kai managed a genuine, if crooked, smile. Then he pushed himself up from the steps and followed her inside.
“They might take a while to do anything regarding me.”
“Why do you say that?” Ava asked absentmindedly while typing a message to Mnemosyne on her terminal.
“They got him. That’s what they were busy with.”
Ava frowned, “Who?”
“Varro.”
Ava froze and spun around to face Kai.
“They found him and another big predator in the tunnels,” Kai said. “Killed them. There’s going to be a press conference anytime now.”