The raggedy humans are all in a circle, either staring off into space blankly or looking at me with unmistakable fear. I don't understand why, though - they surrendered, didn't they?

[Why do they look like that?]

Alice hears my question, I'm sure of it, but she just looks away, and Dylan picks up for her in a hurry. "They're just really scared of you. I mean, you did-" His face turns green, and he raised a hand to his mouth, swallowing hard. "Er, you did get rid of their leader."

I check on Baby, who's also acting weirdly. What's up with humans today? Did they all go crazy at the same time, or is this just a human thing?

Sighing, I ask Joule, [What's wrong with them? Why aren't they happy I killed their enemies?]

Joule sounds tired when she responds. [I don't know, it's a human thing. It probably has something to do with you being soaked in blood, though.]

She makes a good point. It's all dried and crusty now, especially around my mandibles and head. They probably think I don't smell very good.

[How do I clean off?]

[Just wrap yourself - you know what, I'll do it.]

My entire body flickers, then suddenly covers itself in void, the edges sucking at the air. Everyone is looking at me with what can only be described as abject terror. Meanwhile, the blood sucks into my void, and I cancel the effect, now perfectly clean.

[There. I cleaned off the blood. Are you happy?]

Baby takes a huge breath, placing his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "No, not really."

[Why not?]

Alice spins around and starts yelling. "Because you ate him! We had him on the ropes - he was running away! - and you stabbed him in the back!"

I wait for her to finish before I respond. [Actually, I bit him in the back, then ate him. I didn't stab him.]

She lunges at me, claws out, and I confusedly step to the side. Why is she attacking me now? Didn't we just win?

Jumping at me, she begins shouting again while fighting, which is of course inefficient. "I thought that you had some sense of honor, or morals, or anything like that, but you're just a monster! Why did I accept your deal? Were you going to kill us once we took you to Lymphadra?"

I take her hit full on my carapace and use a leg to trip her. [Of course not. I made a deal with you, so why would I break it? There wouldn't be any advantage to that.]

Her claws scrape on my carapace, not leaving a scratch, and I briefly consider headbutting her. Technically, she broke the agreement first by attacking me, but I'd rather not fight her.

Bubbles has no such quandary and launches himself at her while hardening himself. He slams into her face, and I hear a crack and see blood. Staggering backward, she shook her head. There's a trickle of red coming out of her nose.

She rubs her nose, seeing the blood, and the fight just... drains out of her. She collapses to her knees, and Baby rushes to check on her. She looks up at me, her eyes suddenly tired. "Are you going to destroy the world? Is that why Noah made you?"

The raggedy humans react to Noah's name, but I'm not really paying attention to them. Rather, I'm thinking long and hard about the reason Noah mutated me, and not having much luck finding an answer.

[I don't want to destroy the world. I certainly don't want to kill you, Alice. But, to put it bluntly, I'm not a human. I don't know what is and isn't acceptable by your terms. As for Noah? I don't have a clue as to why he gave me this much power. I don't think he really considered the consequences.]

Baby laughs bitterly. "Please. He's a mastermind that orchestrated the downfall of an entire continent."

[I don't think he is a mastermind. He's smart, and ridiculously powerful, but if he wanted to get rid of a species, he'd just get rid of them. He wouldn't use someone else to do it.]

Dylan looks up at me with an expression of doubt, and I take a good look around me. There are pools of blood all over the place, and various human parts are scattered across the ground. If I had directed an attack incorrectly, any one of the three humans I made a deal with could have died too.

Noah wouldn't have made me to destroy humans. Would he?