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A Quality of Mercy

To your surprise, though, the boy stops abruptly and kneels down. He puts his hand against his forehead, as though a headache is coming on. His grip on you loosens, and you barely can reach the carpet with your hind paws.

"I wasn't going to hurt you," Eric says, "but you bit me. I don't know if that means I'm going to be like you now, but I feel weird all of a sudden. Sick, only not sick like I've ever felt before."

You are struck by the sadness in his voice, and you feel paralysed by it. Eric takes a deep breath and continues.

"Yeah, look at my fingers. They're getting fuzzy. My fingernails look different, too. I ought to lock you up, so you can't hurt anyone else. I may need your help, though, since you probably know more about being a monster than me. Will you help me, or can you even understand me? I can feed you to Cleopatra any time, but I really want to give you a second chance." Eric puts you down and looks at you through dilated eyes, clearly waiting for some sort of answer.


Written by Joey Liverwurst (edited by phaedrus)

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