Chapter 50

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Kris didn't join the round of cheering that the other kids gave when they finished their afternoon exercise.

He was tired.

Not drowsy tired, not aching tired, just tired.

Period.

All the while, looking around, wondering if anyone else knew. Was anyone looking at him the wrong way, were any whispers being spread behind mammals backs, was Sarrahson's vengeance by proxy about to hit him?

No…

Not yet.

But…

It could be about to come now, and he didn't know. How could he know? Was that burly sheep there, the one he'd carried laundry with and knew didn't like preds, readying his horns for him? He gave a glance to make sure no-one was looking before giving a wall a practice butt. Was that a warm-up for him, later?

Or what about Luka, the kangaroo. His body shape and the jumpsuit did not get along, and the way it caught and hung around his shoulders emphasised his muscles. He'd boasted about smashing a wolf into the shower walls. Kris, thinking back to his martial arts, knew that the macropod had his weaknesses, they were clear to see as he tagged along with his friends, standing still as they took a few paces before hopping back up level with them. Close up, his maneuverability was his weak point, especially against an agile fox like him. Down on all fours, he'd be able to dodge, dart around and escape any hit that was laid against him.

But were Luka to get the jump on him? Well, the point of the jump was to get the first hit before the enemy could react, and the kangaroos achilles heel became a forte there. His species was designed for long distance and long jumps, he could start off from halfway across the yard and dive-bomb someone before they knew what hit them. And that divebomb? Well, for all Kris could try and dodge a hit, a single one was game over. As if knowing what he was thinking, Luka gave a few playful punches in the air. Boxing may get a look-down compared to the eastern martial arts, but it could be just as effective, and here was the species evolved specifically for that. The first hit would throw him off, letting the second hit and all those that continued take him out of the game completely. And then, his tail used to prop him up, the feet would come on like a pair of freight-trains.

Game over.

Or maybe Luka didn't give a crap? Kris didn't know! That was the problem, he'd have never imagined a serval would be a fox hating mammal, but here he was. It could be any one of them. Any mammal could have a go at him, and most would have their own play. Get the first hit on him, well he'd end up like the last of Barrat's Privateers. So, he had to be on his guard all the time, and that was exhausting.

So much so, it took a few seconds too long for his liking for his ears to register a clopping of hooves coming up to him. Foot paws tensing up, claws digging into the concrete floor, he kept his muscles coiled and ready as he turned to see a sheep walking up to him. Not the one from earlier, the one who hated preds, but did this one too?

"Follow me," he said.

Kris shook his head. "No."

"I want to have a word with you," he said.

"Does it have to be in private?"

The sheep stared at him, his oblong pupils letting go no emotion, before he glanced over towards Kris' sides of the block. "Let's talk over there."

Kris nodded. That side had Timofey and the pack in. Backup. Unless…

"I know what you're up to."

-Unless he planned to let slip everything in full ear-view of the pack...

Kris felt a chill run down his spine, he'd played right into his paws. "I… I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb," he said.

Kris took the order with a healthy dose of hindsight. Denial wasn't going to help, was it?

"I'm not an idiot," the sheep continued, "I know your game to a T. I know what you're doing, what you've done, what you're planning, and I know it's going to come around to me, soon. So, I thought I'd stop it now."

They'd halted where they stood and, looking over he clocked that, yes, Timofey was there. He was looking, watching, studying them. Right as a member of the herd chewed him out and, if it was not his day, reveal his secrets.

"Tell me, do you think you deserve forgiveness?"

The question hung in the air, drawing Kris back in to face him.

"For what you did," the sheep pushed on. "Forgiveness, do you even want it?"

And then Kris began to tremble. He tried to force it down, halt it, not let him see, but he couldn't help it. Here was Sarrahson again. Different body, but he knew, he hated him and he was trapped.

"Y-yes," He managed to choke out, before closing his eyes and taking a breath in. "Yes, I do."

And the room seemed silent for an awful, awful, awful pair of seconds.

"You couldn't fool anyone," he spoke, Kris letting it flow over him. What had he expected, really?

"If you don't believe me, then I don't see why I should stay here," he said. Let it go.

"Sure, run," the sheep scoffed. "And may god have mercy on your soul."

Kris' ear perked up, but no, he could still walk. He began to do so, up until a hard hoof grabbed his shoulder and twisted him around. The other fixed itself to his other shoulder, soulless oblong eyes boring down into him and horns, gnarled and ribbed and bared to attack, hanging above.

He was trembling again and just hoped that, behind him, those in the pack were ready to back him up.

"You know," the sheep said. "You can't help but expect it from your type."

Kris had played this game before with Sarrahson. Fool him once… "I don't care what mammals who judge by types think." Especially by the type he knew he was being looked down for.

"What about what Timofey thinks," he spoke, and Kris felt his legs turn to jelly. Oh crap, it was going to happen. He'd seen, he knew, he… "His plans need us too, don't they?"

Kris blinked in confusion.

"-You know, maybe next time he'll send someone who can actually love, like a normal mammal. Love is the way of the lord after all, and a mammal like you who can't love..." He snorted.

Kris blinked. He realised that this sheep wasn't a herd member, he was a founder, not that it seemed to matter. He also realised that this wasn't about the howlers, it was about something different! But his mouth was taking a whole different front.

"Oh, so my type can't love, can it?" he asked. "Who says that? Who thinks that?"

And then he really snorted. "Uh, everyone! You really think I'm thick-skulled enough to think I can't hear everyone talk about it!"

"About what?"

"Seriously!?" he asked out loud. "Seems like your ability to love is replaced with contempt and arrogance. Well, let me spell it out for you. I know that you can't love, you don't love, you're one of those 'Ace' mammals or whatever. Well, I and my mammals want nothing to do with a mammal that can't love like you do."

And then he turned and began walking away, while Kris' mouth just hung open. "I'm… I'm not A-sexuel!"

"Oh come on!" he shouted, turning on the spot to bare him down. "Everyone knows it, you loveless…"

"A-sexuels still love their parents and siblings," Kris spoke back, voice raising to almost a shout. "Like I love my father. And as I have a girlfriend, doesn't that suggest I'm not A-sexuel. "

…

"Oh," he said, suddenly seeming exceedingly sheepish, pardon the speciesism there. "Sorry."

…

"Okay then," Kris began, not really sure how to progress. He felt… odd. He'd just been… That was basically homophobia there, right?

Or basically the same, or not...

He had highly mixed feelings about the whole thing, but they were nixed in the bud as the sheep spoke. "I'm still not going to work with you."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not sorry for what you did," he said.

"I am," Kris said. "I regret it, I regret doing what I did, I…"

"Please don't insult my intelligence. I can see you're lying."

"You just said that I don't love anyone because of a dumb rumour."

A hoof clopped onto the floor. "And I can tell you're lying," he said. "You don't really, truly, regret what you did. You act as if you did nothing bad at all." He flicked his hoof over to Timofey. "Just like how he feels that he was doing his duty." Then flicked it over to Armando. "Or how he accepts it was a stupid thing, but acts all 'oopsie-me' about it. It's all indifferent, he acts insincere. He even acts like it had a good side." And then he pointed in a different direction, and Kris looked over to Matt. "Or how he doesn't even see it." He then looked over at Timofey. "I don't want to play any part in your games."

The bear stood up, but Kris spoke up. "Even if it helps protect mammals who don't just not apologise, but actively hate?"

The sheep paused, looking down.

"This isn't a deal with the devil, it's a deal to take down the devil."

"I'm not interested," the sheep carried on.

I…" Kris began, only to cut off from a voice behind.

"Leave it."

He turned to see Timofey standing there. "You can not convince him. Worth try though."

And so they watched him walk off, Kris' head hanging down. "I'm sorry," he eventually said.

"No worries," the bear replied.

"But…"

"He does not want to speak, that is okay. But I hear you have deer friend in founders, and there are preds there too…" Kris looked up, before relaxing, even managing a chuckle.

"That is a good point."

"Why do you think I am leader," Timofey said, smiling.

"Fair point," he shrugged. "Why didn't you talk to them before?"

"I have no deer friend in Founders, you do," he reasoned. "That is why you are diplomat."

Kris chuckled. "Good point."

"Yes. That is why I am leader."

Kris chuckled again. Okay, he could relax just a bit. Maybe this was a good sign? If rumours as dumb as that flew about, then maybe the idea that he'd been involved in nighthowlers would just be viewed as part the course. Who knew?

He could hope, he could hope. He nodded, before pausing, looking around and making his way back to his cell. "I'll just check if I have anything to do, or…"

"No need," Timofey said. "We all do, right now."

He pointed towards the centre of the block, where various mammals were bringing chairs together to form a ring. Not sure what it entailed, Kris joined in.

Soon, everyone was in the ring, with two mammals in the centre. Terrance and Sarrahson. The good and the bad.

As everyone quietened down, the good began to speak. "Okay boys and… boys, we've got a little reconciliation exercise going on right now." There were a mix of sighs and grunts from the assembled teenagers, not that the giant otter minded. "It's also a way to let us know a little more about each other, and help us all improve. After all, if I read my contract right I'm employed in the department of corrections, not the department of just locking you guys up."

Two mammals gave weak chuckles.

Maybe three.

And then he picked up a ball and threw it a sheep. Not one of the ones that Kris knew, though by the end of this he guessed he'd know more about him than the other two combined.

There was a short pause, before Terrance spoke. "Okay! Willis, let's hear what you did. And, if you're innocent, just humour us, okay?"

There was a slight pause, before Willis' eyes narrowed, focussing on the otter before slipping over to bore down on one mammal in particular. Matt. Kris felt his own fur begin to rise up as he saw the little mammal flinch down. "I beat a coyote to a pulp," the ram boasted, smiling.

Terrance seemed stumped for a second or two, before carrying on. "Okay then, and look at me here," he said, moving in between him and Matt. "Why? Why did you feel you had to do that?"

"I wanted to."

"And why?"

…

"Because that savage was coming to my part of town, and I didn't like that."

"This was during the howler crisis," the otter led on. "Wasn't it?"

"Yeah! Dumb savages were turning up every second. Only a matter of time before it turned."

"He had a name, didn't he?" Terrance led on, an edge of impatience in his voice.

"Probably. What's it to you?"

The otter let out a breath. "Tell me, what did you think when Bellwether was busted? What did you think on learning that these innocent mammals were being drugged, turned into weapons against their will, and that you had been turned into a fall mammal for the mayors evil scheme? Huh? What did you think then?"

"Bellwether was innocent."

"Her conviction speaks otherwise."

"She was framed by the ZPD," he boasted. "They didn't like that she was promoting prey rights, so they framed her for the howler crisis."

"So you agree predators were being drugged," Terrance cut in.

He folded his arms in front of him. "No. that was just primitive savages like yourself doing your thing."

"And then why did they stop right after?" he pressed, having clearly run out of patience.

"'Cause they wanted to."

"I…" Terrance began, before cutting himself off. "You know what, if you want to believe that the whole city, the whole ZPD, an entire ten-percent of mammals were in on this, then do that. But we're done with you." He opened his paws for the ball to be thrown back, Willis apathetically rolling it at an askew angle, forcing the otter to waddle over to grab it.

He passed it to Sarrahson who, after her eyes briefly glanced at a worried Kris, turned to Luke Ruta. The meek hare grabbed it, trembling slightly. "Okay Luke," she asked. "What did you do to get here?"

There was a long pause as he looked around, his trembling ears drooped back and shoulders slumped over as he tried to curl into himself. "I…" he began, giving a last glance up, eyes pausing on Timofey. The bear glared back. "I raped a girl."

…

"Why did you do that?"

"I…" he began, giving another worried glance around. His paws were fiddling with each other. "I wanted sex," he said, breathing in and out. "I… I enjoyed it. I enjoyed feeling it and I enjoyed forcing it on her and… and seeing her cry and…"

"Why did you think you could do that to girls," she pressed, tail flicking behind him. "Why do you feel women deserve that?"

"I… I don't…"

"Did you think they enjoyed it?" she pressed.

"No!" he protested, glancing about further. "I… I didn't care about her or… I was just thinking about me, okay. Just about me."

"Why her? Specifically?"

There was a long pause.

"I… She had a… a little tail, it was cute… I mean I'm not sure, I don't really remember her or…"

"So it wasn't because you desired her," she pressed. "You thought she was what, just a sex toy? Is that what you think of all women? All girls? That that's the only reason we exist?"

"No!" he protested. "I…" he sniffed.

"And how did you think she felt," she pressed.

"I…" he sniffed again, before starting to cry as he curled into himself. "Scared…. And… and trapped. And hurt I guess, and not able to do anything about it… Trapped, like, like being trapped in here, and…"

"Did she deserve any of that."

"No," he sniffed, full on crying. "No. None of it. I'm sorry, I… I did something evil, I…"

Terrance walked over. "Hey there, if you want to cry it out, you can go back to your cell and do that."

He nodded and stood up, walking back. Kris watched him go. He seemed like a different mammal to the one who'd… done that… to him yesterday. They'd broken him. Timofey, his friends, all those others. It worried him far more than it comforted him. Just because his attacker was a target didn't mean that he wouldn't become a victim too.

There was another long pause, before Terrance spoke out. "Okay there, that was hard. But it was important. This may not be nice for you lot, but in the long term it will help. Think of it like a jab, or pulling out a thorn. Anyways…"

He threw the ball again, and it landed in Luka's paws. "Alright Mate?" he asked, trying out an accent.

The macropod rolled his eyes. "Guess so."

"So, why are you here?"

"You want the long or the short?"

"Give us the long version, not like we're short on time, are we boys?"

There was a half-hearted response, all while Kris looked at the macropod with the figurative microphone. It was a smart move on his part, it let him dictate how the story came out.

"Not gonna lie, I had it hard as a joey," he began, looking around. "No father, not that there weren't men in mother's life. She'd empty her pouch out early to make room for the next, if you know what I mean."

Very much so, Kris thought. Indeed, Luka was playing the game well. He'd just endeared himself to most of the other mammals, he could see half of them or so nodding in agreement.

"And I guess that's how I ended up in the mighty-marzies. Marsupial supremacists, to all you lot. We thought Outback was for the real outbackers, so to speak."

"What about the dingoes?" Terrance cut in, Luka opening his paws out.

"Nope. Well… Second class outbackers," he began. "Lots of us wanted to build this big fence. The dingo fence. They could have a bit of the outback, not the best bit, but you know…"

"I know," Terrance said. "Lots of mammals in the past felt that others needed to be removed from their lands. Or put behind fences. Or worse. They all turned out to be wrong, the bad guys. Why did you think you were different?"

He shrugged. "We just did. All that stuff was you placentals doing it, that's what we thought. We were different."

"Are you?"

He shrugged, moving to pull up his shirt only for the jumpsuit to catch. He gave it a frown but blew it off. "Well, us lot don't have bellybuttons, do we?" he said, with a slight laugh. "Anyway, it was all stupid, I know that now. We're all mammals, even if you lot are born scarred, aren't we?"

Terrance relaxed. "That we are. Go on."

"Anyway. We weren't, like, going out and hitting on those plassies… -placentals. Most of the time we were ganging together, partying, doing music, stealing stuff and joyriding. And then, the nighthowler crisis started. We were kinda happy with that for a while, it was only the plassies getting turned after all. None of us marzies. But then, I guess Dawn clocked that, and near the end turned a devil." There was a long pause. "We were kinda confused about that. And it was just after I'd got this job in the gang, smuggling drugs from the mainland over. Harder to get there so more expensive, and…" There was another long pause as he chuckled. "For all we hated plassies, there's lots on the island, and for a while I was moving stuff, I didn't know what, from a sheep on the mainland and selling them to one on the island. Lotsa sheep there." There was another, longer, pause. "So when I heard that a sheep was behind it all… Well, who cares about all the stuff on the mainland, they hit a tazzie! They hit one of us! So, after telling everyone, they were mad. And I led the squad to this guys house…" He breathed in and out. "Some friends held him down, I beat him half to death, trying to learn where his howlers were and all that. We all fled when the cops came, but this guy had followed me home once, so…"

Paws out, he let the rest be filled in. There were a few nods here, a lot of glares there, Kris even saw Matt crying…

"And what did you think he felt?" Terrance asked.

"Scared," Luka said. "Hurt, injured, terrified… We messed him up real bad."

"And are you sorry?"

There was a longer pause. "Yeah…" he said. "I…" he waved a paw in the air for a second or two. "That whole marzie vs plassie stuff… stupid." He shook his head. "Kinda needed to come here, meet a lot of them, to figure it out." He pointed out. "Yo, Armando."

"Yeah?" the capybara asked.

"Capybaras are the chillest mammals I know. Go thank Sammy for the help that beaver was when you get out, between all the snogging that is."

There was a round of cheers and laughter.

Finally, the big rodent stood up. "Come on guys," he said, sounding just a bit annoyed. "You know me and that beaver. It's not the snogging I have to fit that between."

There was a much louder round of cheers and wolf whistles as he sat down and gave a short nod. As it died down though, Terrance spoke up. "I hope you understand that there's more to a relationship than that," he said, a slight levity to his voice.

And then he shrugged again. "Do I look like the kind of mammal who'd only ever take his mate to the movies?"

Another round of laughter as Terrance pulled back. "Anyhow, we were listening to Luka. And I am proud of you son, given that you overcame your prejudices here." He paused, looking around, his gaze focussing on a certain ram. "We can all learn a lot from hanging about with those we once thought as others."

He let it sink in, before turning back to Luka. "Anyway, go on."

"Yeah," Luka said, pausing. "I mean, that ram dude was a crim. He may not be handling howlers, but he was handling drugs. But still… Doesn't deserve beating to death. It's not like he was doing something that really hurt mammals."

"And if he was, that would make it okay?" Terrance pushed.

The kangaroo shrugged. "I mean, if he was an actual howler shooter or one of those other really evil things like a kiddie fiddler, probably. I guess the real thing isn't to jump to conclusions."

Kris wasn't sure whether to be worried or relieved by that but, deep down, he was leaning to the former. "Jumpings the only thing you're good for," someone said, before Terrance could get in his question.

Luka then doubling it up. "I know!"

The otter chuckled. "If you're done…"

"Hey. I still think I can jump over that fence," he said, pointing outside. "Can I try on my last day?"

"Nope."

"Well, just a high jump…"

"On your own time, send us the video" the otter waved off. "Anyway. You aren't speciesist and you won't jump to conclusions. Right?"

He nodded. "Right." And with that he passed the ball back. Terrance passed it to Sarrahson, and she threw it right at Kris.

He flinched as he caught it; that in itself was unusual. He normally had no problems catching stuff, but he must have been distracted. Still thinking and…

"-What did you do?" she asked sternly, and he breathed in and out. Stick to the script and…

He paused, glancing up. Terrance, staring daggers at Sarrahson, gave him a flash of sympathy.

He hadn't planned for this.

And now he couldn't stop it without drawing attention. He couldn't even take over from the serval.

She'd played them both.

"-I said what did you do!?"

She cut in and he flinched back. "I accidentally fed a family something they were allergic to," he said. He had to stay focussed!

"Accidentally?" she asked.

"I thought they…"

"All these mammals here," she cut in, "accept that they did what they did. No excuses." Her eyes narrowed. "I think they deserve the truth, don't you?"

"Y-yes," he stammered out, breathing in and out. "It was a bar that served lots of squirrels. They were loud and… very rude to foxes. I was tired, about to go off, I wrote down on my notepad that they had an acorn allergy. It turned out they had a corn allergy."

"So you admit you poisoned them?"

"I… yes," he said. "I didn't mean…"

"Yes you did," she butt in, almost hissing.

Terrance then cut in. "As I said before," he said, trying to sound sympathetic. "If you are innocent, just humour us, son."

"Oh, the fox gets asked nicely, but I don't," came a shout. Willis.

"There's a difference," Terrance began.

"Not really," Sarrahson then interrupted. "Kris here believed that certain mammals were lesser than him. That he could toy with them. That what he was doing was harmless as it didn't really kick back at him. Isn't that right?"

...

"I ASKED…"

"Yes," he said. "I… I thought that as they were raging on against hating foxes, I…" he paused, realising where this was heading and almost backing out. Almost. Because then he realised that no, this serval was nothing but a bully, and someone needed to stand up to her. "That as they spent all their time screaming and shouting, lying, insulting my species. Saying that they were worthless, evil, terrible mammals with no redeeming features. Even making fake news stories to slander us. Bullying us constantly… they just loved to bully us and bully us and always get away with it, feeling that the worst we could do was stand up so that they could shout us down. Feeling that we'd never do anything to actually fight back… So I decided to prove to them that we wouldn't take it. That whatever they hurled at us, it didn't matter. We were never going to back down. I would never back down to them. I chose to fight back."

He raised his head and stared into her, as she stared back.

Her teeth were bared.

"Fight back, huh?" she asked. "First off, given that you did what you did, you were probably screwing them over and over before that, huh? Yeah, but you don't notice that…" she was walking closer, and Kris felt his heart begin to beat faster. "Did you huh, did you!?"

"-Officer Sarrahson," Terrance spoke, not that she heard.

"No. In fact everyone who knew me said I was a stand up kit," Kris spoke on, just a bit worried, but also feeling a rising determination. He was not going to let her win.

"Ha! You say that, don't you! Come on, you and all your friends, you don't like it when you're called out do you?"

"-Officer Sarrahson," Terrance ordered again.

"I don't like speciesist abuse, no," he said. He was going to use this. Out fox her. If she hit him here, they could send her away, right? He wasn't just going to stop her from winning, he was going to make her lose!

"You always call it that, don't you?" she hissed. "Anyone talking about the terrible things you do, it's not you! It's them!"

"You mean the ones calling me a sneaky untrustworthy pelt?"

"You use chemicals against civilians! Children younger than you! How dare you…"

"-Officer Sarrahson!"

"That's what the speciests say…"

"DON'T LIE! TELL THEM THE TRUTH! TELL THEM RIGHT NOW WHY THIS IS WHERE YOU BELONG!"

"ENOUGH!"

They both broke off as Terrance leapt between them, paws out. Kris couldn't help but be relieved, and only then noticed that all the other prisoners were looking at them, mouths half open, eyes wide. The otter noticed it too. "Back to your cells until dinner," he said.

There was a silent pause, followed by the clatter as all the chairs were pushed back. The clopping of hooves followed as the mammals went back without a word.

Not that they didn't make their feelings known. Thumbs and hooves up, salutes, nods. Kris took them all in and even nodded back. His heart was still beating, only to a different tune. He'd won.

He sat in silence until the last door was closed.

…

"Do NOT undermine my authority in front of the prisoners," she hissed, fur on end.

"You undermined it yourself!" Terrance spat back, rising up to his full height. The giant in giant river otter was not an understatement, and it was clear who the bigger mammal was here. Yet she remained unphased.

"The convict was undermining it."

"The convict who hasn't been convicted," he spoke. "Don't forget that."

"I hadn't," she said.

"Oh, right. What was your plan? Make him confess in front of that lot? Or did you just want to let everyone know what he supposedly did?"

"They knew everyone else's deeds," she said.

"You know, I was going to ask you if you were stupid enough to think asking him in this was a good idea… but now I know it wasn't stupidity!" There was a pause. "You know what, he's got a police interview coming up." He glanced behind, at Kris. "Come on, with me."

He stood up and followed him out, unable to help but look back at her. She stared back at him with a look of disgust, at least until a solid metal door was between them.

…

"Thanks," Kris finally said.

"I'm not an idiot," Terrance said. "I know she had a thing against you for the nighthowlers when you came in. But I thought she'd be professional and leave it there… How bad?"

"How bad?"

"How often," the otter said. "And is it just the howlers."

…

"No," Kris spoke, before letting it all out. Making him do the lines, now shredded. Her great long rant, alone. Coming to him in the afternoon, boasting about putting the news on, even as it said the picture was a fake. And how he didn't want it to get to him, how he knew that opinions like hers didn't matter… or at least shouldn't matter… but however hard he tried, he was letting it get to him, and he didn't want it to, but he couldn't help it. So instead he'd stand up to them, show them that they were wrong and stop them winning. And how he…

"Stop there," Terrance said.

There was a long pause as he turned around and hugged him tight.

There was an underlying awkwardness as he pulled back. "I'll go straight to the warden, I'll get her transferred to a different set of blocks… she'll probably end up looking after one of the other foxes at least part of the time but…" he shrugged. "I'll do my best for them."

"No," Kris mumbled, suddenly feeling a hint of worry. "It's not fair on them, I…"

"What she can do to them is probably far less than to you," he cut in. "Besides, sorry to pull this, but a prisoner like you doesn't get a say in it."

"I suppose…" he mumbled.

"Uh-hu," Terrance agreed. "I suppose it's a good thing she blew her load there, huh. Messed herself up, and I'm pretty sure most of the others figured out what was… you know."

"I know," Kris mumbled, looking down.

"I'm not going to say I know what it's like," the otter mumbled. "You'd have to go a few generations back in my family to get to some kind of persecution and, well, a lot of people would argue that it was their choices that got them there... " He shrugged. "Anyhow, I'm afraid it's still a while until they get here, but I wanted to get you out from under her. You don't mind an hour alone?"

"No," Kris said. He could meditate through that. He had something to look forward to, and good news at his back. The others taking his side, she getting pulled away. "I can manage."

"Good," he said, as he led him to a small row of bare holding cells. Kris walked in and sat down on the bench as the perspex barrier was shut behind him. "I'll be back to get you dinner. Pizza sound good."

"Yeah," Kris nodded, as the otter began to make his way out. "-Wait.

"Yes?" he asked, turning back.

Kris was already regretting asking it, and he fumbled a bit before just deciding to push through. "Why are you so nice?"

The otter blinked. "Why shouldn't I be nice?"

"I… Well, given your career choice, I don't mean any offense…"

He shrugged. "I'd say I was always nice. I never imagined doing this until it happened, and then it just happened. So why leave being nice at the door?"

Kris nodded. "Thank you. A lot."

He smiled. "You're welcome," he said, before walking out.

Kris was left alone. But right now, despite the trials of the day, he felt he could manage that just fine.