T.E.A.R. Case Brief 427 - The Army of Night Vs. Chanoch L. Jarogniew

27-02-2041

Reviewed by Professor Anna Kerkorian Q.C.

Facts: Mr. Jarogniew was charged with treason for the murder of a superior army officer in the Army of Night, a clan of assorted demons operating within the region of Transylvania, Romania in an alternate dimension of Earth circa 1472 A.D.  Whilst assisting a group of deserters, Jarogniew was attacked by sir Malphas who aimed to prevent their escape and in turn Jarogniew killed him.

After his escape, the island he had fled to was teleported by our Third Energy Gate to our current location, which we investigated.  Jarogniew was found wounded and being attacked by a recon group, of which we defended him from and took him back to our base for recuperation.  The Army of Night soon came demanding his release into their custody so that he may face trial, but since he was on human territory, we protested to take the matter to a court.  The Army of Night agreed and a court impromptu was set up with our human laws intact, and a panel of military demon peers to judge Mr. Jarogniew.

Issue: Was Mr. Jarogniew defending himself with justifiable force from his superior Malphas' attack?

Holding: N/A (the case was rendered null and void by Judge Death of the Superior Council of Dracula)

Majority Opinion Reasoning: It was discovered in court that the Army of Night held no sway over Mr. Jarogniew because he was never legally part of them in the first place.

Rule: Extinguishment and the historic Polish Constitution

Application: At the age of 17, Jarogniew had signed a contract upon entry into the army, stating that any form of insurrection was treason and punishable by death.  However, the contract was signed in Poland where according to military law, no person under the age of 18 can be recruited into an army, which in turn nullified his contract and made him no longer bound to the services of the Army of Night.  As such, he was dismissed from the army and banished from ever returning which led to us now employing him into our capacity.

        "Alright, let's get you started."  Thomas thrust forth a document across his desk.  "Here is the full contract for employment into our terms of service.  Please read it carefully and if you have any questions then do not hesitate to ask."

Chanoch picked up the paper, glancing through the first paragraph before putting it back down.

        "I cannot read this."

        "What?"

        "I cannot read this language."

        "...oh.  Right, the collar doesn't work on text damn.  Alright let me see."

He took the English document back and stood up towards a filing cabinet, rifling through some papers before reaching the right section.

        "Can you read French, Spanish or German?"

        "I know French and German," said Chanoch.

        "Which one are you better with?"

        "...French."

Thomas pulled out the same document en Francais and offered it to him.  Beside the lizardman was Anna ready to assist with any questions concerning more modern terms and legislature as the soldier read through each page, his collar for speech translation glowing with new upgrades in the form of crystals set into the frame.  A murmur of fifteen minutes would pass as Jarogniew pored over every word with laborious patience.

        "I do not know this Geneva convention," he pointed towards such.

        "It is a basic set of humanitarian rules in warfare," said Kerkorian leaning over his elbow, "simply put, when you are part of this army you must never harm civilians or those actively surrendering, you must not destroy resources essential to their survival or prevent them from obtaining aid."

        "Ah, that is good."

        "Prisoners and detainees must never be tortured regardless of their pasts egregious, nor should they be denied food, water or basic communication with loved ones."

        "Good."

        "Medical workers must always be allowed to aid all sick and wounded on both sides of war," continued Anna, "and the wounded or sick should equally not be targeted ever."

        "Hm.  We never healed humans."  The lizardman grinded his fingers together.  "Sick or wounded we made into our own, to heal them was to infect them with darkness."

        "I see.  Now, limitations of warfare, you are only allowed to use the weapons you are given.  We do not use chemicals or biological weapons.  We do not use landmines unless they can self-destruct after a period of disuse.  We do not use flamethrowers anywhere near civilian regions or napalm.  We do not use poisoned bullets nor radioactive-based explosives or 'dirty bombs'."

        "Radioactive?"

        "It's a very dangerous chemical, so much so it is in its own class."

        "Ah.  Anything else?"

        "Blinding laser beams, but only if they are non-fatal due to well, we now have lethal laser beams."

        "Layzer?"

        "Another form of weaponry, now any further questions?"

        "No."

Five minutes later he signed the contract with his full name and Thomas filed the document with Anna's signature in turn.

        "And that, is that, welcome aboard soldier."  Thomas reached over the desk to shake Chanoch's hand.  "Let's get you properly introduced I'll show you the place."

        "Alright."

The major-general walked with his new soldier through the base, the guards saluting him as they passed with some strange looks given to the lizardman as Thomas showed off the various rooms.  Wearing an armoured suit and chainmail underneath, Chanoch stood out even greater than he already did by his sheer height of 7 feet that came close to scraping the ceiling with a line of little spikes cresting the length of his scalp from the bridge of his nose to the back of his neck.  Every step he took made a distinct clink in succession of four.

        "Here's the cafeteria where we eat.  You can ask for specific foods if you wish, but all of our meat is actually a substitute made from fungus that we grow in our labs."

        "Fungus?" he asked sneering.

        "It tastes exactly like meat, we discovered it in our world and it's much less resource-intensive to grow than livestock."

        "Are there no beasts to hunt here?"

        "There are but we don't want to impact the environment too much.  Before you ask yes this fungus is kosher, we had it verified by religious consultants so anyone of any creed can eat it."

        "Good, thank you."

        "Over here are the entertainment rooms," said Thomas pointing to several large rooms of electronic equipment, "televisions, music players, some consoles just to stave off the boredom for how long we're here for."

        "How long have you been here?" the lizardman asked towering over him.

        "Twenty years.  Still trying to find our way back home with our third energy gate."

        "Hmm.  Do I return with you?"

        "That's entirely up to you, though I should warn you there are no demons in our world so you would stand out and there are a lot of people who would want to exploit you.  If you decide to come back with us rather than stay here then we can arrange a place of solitude for you to live peacefully away from society's influence."

        "Yes."

They walked on in a full circle round the base, the lizardman reintroducing himself to various folk until they reached a small quiet region of the base where several rooms branched off from one hallway, indicated by various religious symbols on each door.

        "Here's our sanctum," said Thomas, "we have one for each major religion for our more spiritual people as well as one non-denominational room otherwise so, If you wanna pray here then you can."

        "Hmm..." Jarogniew looked down at his armoured suit.  "I am not dressed.  I need a suit and a yarmulke."

        "We're very lapsed around here so don't worry too much about dress code-"

        "No, I must dress properly for prayer."

One of the doors opened from the Buddhist room to reveal a small group of humans and badniks walking together, with special markings dotting their bodies indicating some significance.  They bowed with clasped hands to Thomas and Chanoch as the general nodded.

        "Alright we'll think of something to get you, but let's finish the tour first."

        "Yes."

Heading on they soon found the med bay where Adenine was teaching James the most important science with a small spread of food and condiments.

        "Alright so, you want your loaf to be unsliced, no pre-sliced bread."

        "Of course," said the lemming preparing his food.

        "If you're going to have some meat on your sandwich, you want to have mustard, bottom slice, nothing too creamy, just a thin layer to add richness without competing for the other tastes."

        "Why the bottom slice?"

        "It's closest to your taste buds, you'll get the best taste for it.  Now the cheese and the meat, depending on what ya like, you wanna have the meat thicker than the bread by like half an inch."

        "Alright."  He carefully cut through the meat.  "Thank you again for teaching me how to make my own culinary constructs."

        "Ahhh it's fine," said Adenine patting his shoulder, "it's nice to have a pupil, I never been a mentor before and it's good that someone cared so much about wanting to know my sandwich skills!"

        "I admit, I still felt terrible about what I did-"

        "Nah nah listen, it's fine."  The alchemist waved his hand dismissive.  "I overreacted, you apologised, and now you're here making up for it."

        "Thank you again for this opportunity," said James gently sliding a tissue of meat onto the mustard slice.  "Alright the meat is ready, now what?"

        "NOW you add your vegetables!"

        "A-HEM!"

        "OH J-JEEZ!"

They both looked up to see Thomas crossing his arms in the doorway with Chanoch looming behind him.

        "Hello Chanoch!" the lemming waved to him.  "How are you?!"

        "Good, thank you."

        "Are you two aware this is the medical lab?" said Brightman scowling.

        "Kevin said it was cool!" cried Ade with his hands up.  "We got permission this is science!"

        "CULINARY science!" added James with finger to the sky.  "It is of vital importance to my curriculum!"

        "Well if Kevin said it was fine then alright," said the major-general moving on, "come on let's go."

Leaving the sandwich-builders to their work the major-general moved on to the library further down the halls where Anna was reading Sheridan le Fanu's "Carmilla" at her desk.

        "And here is our library," said Thomas, "you already know Anna."

        "Hello, madame," the reptile bowed politely.

        "Hello there!" she nodded back.  "Welcome to my home away from home."

        "You run the library too?"

        "Yes I do, and if you ever want to talk with me about anything you can always come ask me."

        "Thank you.  I am in your debt."

        "Oh no no please no debts, this was purely pro bono don't you worry about it.  Just keep being you and we'll get along fine."

        "Hmm, alright."

        "Need anything while we're here?" Thomas asked leaning on the doorframe.

        "No need," she replied going back to her book, "you boys enjoy yourself and try not to get into any MORE trouble."

        "Haha, no promises."

Leaving the library they took a small detour outside so Chanoch could view the surrounding region.  Workers were busy repairing the fence and the comm tower that had fallen from the demon invasion, the badniks slowly pulling it back onto the roof with a set of cables whilst the humans rewired the fence with fine prefabricated rolls reinforced on top of each other.  Soldiers hoisted the remains of broken crates to be pulled aside out of harm's way as the base's courtyard was a hive of activity throughout the day.

        "Hey-ey CAREFUL with that!"

        "I'm trying christ this thing got no fuckin' good edges on it!"

        "Well just lean a little-W-WOAH WOAH!"

        "NNNGH!"

The large crumpled steel plate was held aloft from crushing one soldier by the weight of Chanoch, grasping his claws thickly round the rough serrated edges that failed to cut through his hard palms.

        "Th-thanks!"  The soldier behind him stood up to gain his footing.  "You're that new guy that was on the run right?"

        "Yes."

        "You wanna help us out with this?"

        "Yes.  Where do you want this?"

        "Uhhh just, that pile over there, we'll reuse them for repairs when we figure this out."

He dragged the large frame through the sand with a limping motion, heaving the weight of it on his own with tensing muscles beneath his suit of 15th-century armour and pushed it against the pile of rubble to be recycled.

        "Anything else?" he asked the soldiers.

        "Well uh, if you wanna stick around I think we got some jobs-"

        "Actually I was giving Chanoch a tour of the base," said Thomas interrupting.

        "I want to help," the lizard said bowing, "may I, general?"

        "...hmph, first day on the job and you already get your hands stuck in, I like that alright then I'll show you the rest of the place when you're done is that good?"

        "Yes, thank you."

For the remainder of the afternoon Jarogniew helped with reconstructing the base, lifting up steel and setting it in place to be welded and smoothed down over walls that had crumpled from the assault.  He worked for four hours without breaks by his own insistence until most of the repairs were done, with the exception of the comm tower that was being refitted by robot wasps flying around the struts, plasma stingers burning and twisting the metal back together.  Once work was done they headed back inside as Chanoch met Jane at the door.

        "Hello there!  My name's doctor Jane Addison, I'm the chief neurotherapist."

        "Ah, yes," he shook her hand politely, "you are a mage too."

        "Wha-...pardon?"

        "Your magic," he pointed to her gauntlet, "when you fought Dullahan."

        "OH yes, no no it's actually not really ma-...no, you know what yes, yes it IS magic thank you."  She nodded proudly with tightened fists of glee.  "Well for now I'm just here to take you to your room, every soldier has their own personal quarters in this base since our expansion."

        "Mmm."

        "I know we've already met," she said walking back inside, "but we never had the chance to formally meet."

        "Yes," he replied stepping beside her, "what is a neurotherapist?"

        "It's basically a doctor for the mind, if someone has any problems like they're suffering from depression orrrr too much stress or even just want to sit down and chat with someone about all the noise inside their head."

        "Hmm.  You read people's minds."

        "Well not exactly, I'm not psychic I just let people talk and from the things they say I can gleam what their problems are."

        "Ahh."  They turned a corner towards the dormitories.  "My captain did that too."

        "Oh really?" she asked smiling.  "Was he a therapist too?"

        "No, sheriff in France.  Read people's faces."

        "Ahhhh I see.  Alright well here is your room!"

She stopped beside a door as she handed him a thin plastic rectangle, after showing how to open the door by sliding it in and out of a slot.

        "This is your card, or key rather to get in your room so keep it on you at all times."

        "Yes."

He took it carefully and opened the door.  The room was modest, a dresser, a bed, shower and toilet as well as a large oblong rectangle that hung on the wall showing a mirrored reflection.

        "Has everything you need right here," she said, "but if there's anything you DO need just ask and I'll do my-"

        "I need a suit, and a yarmulke."

        "Oh!  Hmmm I'm sure we can arrange that, we do have some people on the base skilled with tailoring if they just take your measurements."

        "Yes.  I would like to rest."

        "Alright then.  You need anything just come see me or any of our chiefs, OH and uh we do have some regular clothes in the dresser for you if you'd rather not wear that armour all the time.  Bye now!"

Jane bowed herself out of the room and let Chanoch be with his new surroundings, the reptile pulling his armour off with a fatigued sigh as he quietly thanked the chance to have a shower by himself.  With chainmail and sword he slipped off and laid on the dresser, Jarogniew stretched his naked body with a few cracks in his spine and knuckles with his tail whipping out to make a snap before he stepped into the shower and cleaned himself.  They even provided soap for him to rub all over his scales, sleekly rubbing down his arms and legs before pulling his tail round to scrub it firmly from base to tip.  After wiping his belly and daintily cleaning his genital slit, Chanoch stepped out and rifled through the drawers to find some more basic clothes in the form of pants and a T-shirt.  The shirt struggled to fit him, becoming tight enough to show his pectorals thickly through the fabric like two melons in a wet carrier bag.

        "Nnngh."

He tried to pull it off, the shirt catching on his spikes that ran the back of his neck as it tore easily much to his annoyance as he left it on the dresser and slumped into bed.  Thankfully the bed was large enough to take his body, lying naked upon the sheets and dropping off to sleep before he even realised how sore his muscles were.  He woke up a few hours later and looked over to his armour neatly piled up in the corner, despite being left on the floor which displeased him.

I need a mannequin.

Jarogniew looked in the dresser for a pair of pants, wearing them back to front so the crotch's flies would make do for a tailhole before checking himself in the black mirror.  Sometimes he passed by a window between longer hallways as he saw the sun had started to set.  The lizardman took a moment of peace, sighing to himself as the warm orange haze simmered across the horizon to turn the ocean into a grand deep amber pool.

        "Beautiful innit?"

He turned to see a white-moustached man in a tank top and shorts within his 50s, smiling with a wide bristling grin as he offered his hand.

        "Ahm Jeremy Holt, sergeant of thuh British army, though ahm a li'l higher in rank people just sorta kept it round cuz yanno."

        "Hmm.  Chanoch Lieb Jarogniew," the lizardman shook with a strong warrior's grasp, "former captain in Romania."

        "Ahhh yes, Dracula's lot...god, can't believe he's fuckin' real."

        "In my world he is.  Maybe not this."  He turned back towards the sunset.  "No one is afraid of me here."

        "Why would we?!" asked Holt patting his shoulder.  "Yer one of us now!"

        "I stand out."

        "Yeah cuz yer a huge bastard christ you almost hit thuh ceiling!"

        "I am not a bastard."  He turned with a cold sneer of his large teeth.  "Do not EVER disrespect my family."

        "Alrigh' alrigh' calm down mate just a bit o' phrasing we use round 'ere, ah didn' mean it lahk that!"

        "I know what that word means."

        "Naw, naw ah didn't...sorry."  The soldier backed off with hands raised.  "Ahm sorry, ah didn't mean to insult ya, that were mah fault an' this English twatness."

        "Hmph."  He calmed down and stared back towards the sun.

        "Yanno ahm also from thuh past," said Holt carefully, "wuz in a war as well so if you feel sorta confused by anythin' round 'ere you can come ask me."

        "What war were you in?" asked Chanoch.

        "Second world war."

        "...world...war?"

        "Yeah uhhhh...dunno if it happens in yer world but uh say thuh twentieth century, yer gonna have two wars that involve the ENTIRE world or at least most of it."

        "Why?"

        "Welllll, this one guy got shot, the archduke of Austria-Hungary, that kicks off all of Europe into a big war cuz friends start protecting friends from being attacked and those other friends until it turns into one big mess.  Then everyone forces Germany to pay up fer it cuz, ah dunno, then this one fuckfaced bastard starts rilin' Germany up into a fascist frenzy to blame everyone else but them fer all thuh problems they're going through."

        "Hmm."  The lizardman stroked his chin memorising all this.  "And you end up here?"

        "Yeah ah got sucked through one o' them portals lahk you did.  Except ah come from their world in thuh past, whereas you are from another alternate world but much further back."

        "So maybe this world war does not happen in my world?"

        "Ah mean, it hasn't happened YET has it, yer from wot the sixteenth century?"

        "Fifteenth."

        "Ahh gotcha.  Well maybe you wanna chill out to summat, show you whut neat stuff we got?"

        "Hmm...alright."

He saw Holt's needful apologetic eyes and reluctantly followed after him to the entertainment room.  He hadn't had a chance to look at it properly before but he was immediately directed towards a few chairs that faced towards yet another long black mirror with a polished surface just like the one in his room.  The Welshman leaned down in front of it and pressed a few buttons as the mirror became a whitish-blue.

        "Sit yerself down," he said, "take a load off ahll get summat started."

The reptile sat himself and watched as Jeremy fiddled with a few options, beeping through the digital video player which had a memory capacity to store movies inside of it.

        "So uh, what sorta stuff you lahk story-wise, romance, adventure or?"

        "Yes," said Chanoch shuffling in his seat, "those two."

        "Alright well lemme see...AH, this is perfect!"

He tapped on one movie title in particular called "The Princess Bride" and set it on before moving back into his seat.  The film started up like any other movie would, a traditional fairytale of a land far away and of a dashing young prince, but then it would switch suddenly to an old man trying to narrate said story to his grandson sick in bed.  The story-within-a-story was interesting, picking up the pace with comical whimsy and bawdry swordfights where tongues and blades moved as fast as each other.  Through a well-cut journey paced between characters until the happy couple were together at last, the film soon ended as Holt leaned expectantly towards his fellow movie-watcher.

        "Soooo watcha think?!"

        "...are all movies like this?" asked Chanoch carefully.

        "Yeah!"

        "...I do not like it."

        "Wha?!"  He watched the lizardman stand and leave the room.  "Whuddaya mean ya don' lahk it?!"

        "I do not like movies."  He shrugged towards Holt.

        "But they're lahk amazing stories, lahk watching a play!"

        "No, it is not."

        "Whut it totally is!"

        "You watch a play, you feel the acting, you HEAR their voice."  He emphasised with a flat hand against his chin.  "That, movies, is like watching a play outside a window, what is the point?"

        "Oh wot so you'd rather be there on thuh set listening to that?!"

        "Yes."

        "But all thuh special effects, thuh places they went to!"

        "You can do that in a play."

        "Aaaaargh."  The soldier slapped the air dismissive.  "Alrigh' fine then, sorry to disappoint."

        "It is fine.  Thank you Jeremy."

        "Need anythin' else?"

        "No, thank you.  Farewell."

He bowed politely and walked out, not hearing Holt's muttering about "pretentious arse" as he went to the library looking for Anna.  Still reading through her book she was joined by James perusing the shelves as they bantered between each other.

        "So what is your favourite book of all time?" he asked her.

        "OH, god that's like asking me who my favouirite children are...mmmm I would have to say I do love Frankenstein just for being a marvellous examination into human morality."

        "I loved it too-OH, h-hello there!"  He turned to see Chanoch in the doorway and eagerly rushed over to him.  "H-how are you?!"

        "Good," he said looking down at him, "how was your sandwich?"

        "Ohhh it was marvellous thank you!  Um, w-welcome to the library, a venerable repository of knowledge!"

        "Oh come now James," snorted Anna turning her book away, "you sound just like Haytham, let's not big it up TOO much!"

        "Sorry, I...I admit I am quite excited to show Chanoch what bounties lie behind this handsomely decorated sculpture."

        "It's not the sodding Parthenon please calm down."

        "R-right, yes...can I help you sir Chanoch?"

        "I am not sure," he said truthfully rubbing his head, "I...yes, I need a suit, a yarmulke and a mannequin."

        "A mannequin?"

        "My armour is on the floor."

        "Oh, I see!  Well a-actually I could help, I know how to do basic carpentry so I could easily craft a simple mannequin for you!"

        "Yes?" he took the lemming's hands and turned them slowly upwards.  "You do not have the hands of one."

        "W-well it has been a long time but I still remember!"

        "Alright, thank you."  He looked towards Anna and leaned on her desk.  "Do you have any books in...not English?"

        "I am terribly sorry," she said biting her lip, "it's something of the standard language here so I have no books stocked in other languages."

        "Ah.  This thing does not translate text," he pointed at the collar still round his neck, "the books in the castle changed to any language you read."

        "Well that sounds wonderful but I'm afraid we're a little behind on our magical techniques."

        "I-i could read them to you?"  James muttered bashfully below him and balked slightly beneath his curious gaze.  "I mean, i-if you would like me too."

        "Why?" muttered Chanoch squinting at him.

        "Because...hah, w-well I am your nurse correct?!  That is what I do!"

His odd sneer became a puzzled look, not sure what to make of the lemming but seeing his wide green eyes made him soften.

        "I will...consider it."

        "But let me make you a mannequin at least, I just need a good block of wood."

        "Kevin usually has them," said Anna, "he usually has logs from fallen trees that he uses for acidity tests."

        "Splendid, would you like to come along?!" James asked Chanoch.

        "Hmm...alright."

Shrugging noncommitted he walked with the lemming to the main science lab where Kevin was dipping a monochrome crystal rod into various beakers of distilled colours whilst Ribose wrote down the results.

        "Hmmmm pH is nine in this one."

        "Niiiine," muttered the alchemist.

        "This one iiiiis...ah, five!"

        "Really?!  But, we put battery acid in that one!"

        "I know weird it's like something is eating the acid in this one!  Gonna have to keep an eye on this bad boy."

        "Oh hey guys," Ribose waved to James and Chanoch, "wassup?"

        "Hello!" greeted James waving back.  "Kevin do you have any spare logs of wood, I am in need to practice some carpentry."

        "Uhhhh I think so," said the scientist looking up towards a large door in the back, "there should be some in there."

James walked to the cupboard and tried to lift one of the logs piled up at the bottom, but found it a bit too hefty to wrap his arms around and so Chanoch lifted it instead with one single arm, hoisting it above his shoulder in one strapping muscular curl as Kevin whistled.

        "Daaaaamn jefe you lookin' good!"

        "Thank you for the wood," he said.

        "Hey man I can't help bein' sexy."

        "...what?"

        "Heeheehee!"

        "U-um, thank you once again!" blustered James rushing out the room.

        "HEY wait wait I got something to-" he turned to see the lemming and lizardman leave, "aaach never mind."

        "What's up?" asked Ribose scribbling notes.

        "No I just had a cool idea I wanted to show them but we can do it tomorrow."

        "OH you mean reversing the stuff my old boss did?!"

        "Yeeeeees!"

Chanoch walked to the outside world with a careful pace so as not to litter the floor with wood shavings or knock the large pole against the walls as James sat himself down on the sand in full view of the sunset, log stoutly upright as the lemming drew his sword from his brolly and began to slice the wood carefully.

        "What are you doing?" asked Chanoch.

        "I am...starting my cuts."

        "With your sword?"

        "Yes, it is finely sharp, it was made by the finest lemsmiths of my village it can cut through simple wood!"

        "But it is a rapier, it is thin."

        "It is but that makes it much swifter."

        "...alright."

The lizardman sat with legs crossed watching the lemming shave through the wood with surprising ease.  His umbrella's canopy laid to the side on the beach, the sun's slanting rays silhouetting across the shore as James carefully moulded a regular torso shape to form a slight neckstump but without a head on remembering that Chanoch did not have a helmet.

        "So," began James, "do you have a plan for the future Chanoch?"

        "No."

        "Really?  I mean...no, perhaps it is too early to ask, you have only just arrived in our capacity."

        "Our?"  He lifted his chin to him.  "You are not from this world either."

        "OH, y-yes of course please forgive me.  You have not met my master have you?"

        "No."

        "You will like him, he is a wonderful erudite scholar who taught me everything I know!"

        "Like carpentry?" he pointed at the shapely log.

        "N-no," James muttered slowing down his cuts, "that...I learned back home."

        "You have family?"

        "I do yes!  My brother is younger than me, he is a wonderful artist with a fantastic eye for cartography and imagination!  My mother is a tailor and my fa-um...actually, I could ask her to make you a suit!"

        "Really?  Jane said someone would make one for me."

        "Oh, she did?  Well, if no one else manages I can have her make one for you when I return home if you just give me your measurements."

        "Yes.  Hmph."  Chanoch shook his head and rested it on one hand.  "You do not have to do this."

        "Do what?" asked James peeking over the headless log.

        "Helping me.  You want to do everything, you have done enough."

        "Yes but...I want to."

        "Why?"

        "I...w-well I was the first to find you, I feel responsible for you as strange as that might be."

        "It is."  The reptile leaned forwards with a sigh.  "You help me with this.  You do not have to do everything."

        "And why not?" he replied carving out a shoulder and one waist.  "You can always refuse my help if you so desire."

        "I am not worth so much of your time."

        "Well I disagree, if that were true I would have refused to be your attorney or your nurse!"

        "You still act as my nurse even when I am not sick."

        "Well, I...I thought...that we were friends."

        "Friends?"

        "Is that not what friends do?"  The lemming peered out from the half-torso of wood.  "Help each other in need?"

        "I...did not think you saw me as a friend," admitted Chanoch blinking back.

        "We fought alongside each other against a headless beast and spent two weeks talking nonstop I-i mean hah, i-if that is not how friendships begin then what else can they be?!"

        "Hmm...I thought you were obligated."

        "I had no obligation, I am a guest, I am not bound by the rules of this base to operate in the same capacity as miss Kerkorian should for example.  I chose to help you because it was right, I said this before."

        "Yes.  Then I owe you."  He placed one fist into the dirt as if about to roll the dice.  "If you need help, tell me.  I will help you."

        "Oh n-no I do not want anything in return I-"

        "No.  Tell me."  His face glowered with a piercing stare through the lemming's mind.  "I will help you."

        "U-um...a-a-alright then I...I shall, count on it."

The sun would fully set by the time James had finished the mannequin, cleaning the loosened chips and smoothing out the base with a large torso shape transforming the top of it.  He cut down the middle on Chanoch's request to form legs as a separate holding for his greaves and soon it was finished for him to take it back to his room and set up his armour upon it with James watching.

        "That looks marvellous!" he cried admiring the armoured bust.  "Looks very dignified, it adds a true element of class to your room."

        "Yes."  The reptile looked towards the TV.  "I hate this."

        "What, the...t-television?"

        "Yes, it is bad.  I do not want these movies."

        "Well I do not think we can remove it...what if you put a cloth over it?"

        "Hm."  He crossed his arms coldly.  "Will have to do."

        "Well in that case let us find some cloth," James headed out to the hallway, "I am certain someone must have some fabric they have no need of."

        "It is night."

        "Oh there's always someone awake in this place do not fear."

The last hours of the night became dedicated to searching for a cloth, roaming the halls as the moon outside began to wane above the ocean.  After some time of wandering the emptier halls seeing the night staff who greeted them with cheerful waves, they found Jane once again sitting with Andrea in the third energy lab.  The giant circular gate hooked to a dozen consoles gave him unpleasant flashbacks to the castle.

        "OH, Chanoch I was just about to come find you!"  The therapist stood up between them.  "This is Andrea, our chief physicist, Andrea this is Chanoch."

        "Wow."  She smirked at his size and shook his hand.  "Nice to meet you, so you were the guy all those demons were hunting huh?"

        "Yes," he nodded, "forgive me."

        "No no it's fine, not your fault, so Jane was telling me you wanted a suit for the sanctum?"

        "Yes."

        "Well I know how to work with fabrics so if you want I'll just take your measurements and get you one tomorrow?"

        "Tomorrow?" he looked surprised.  "I do not want to bother-"

        "No no it's fine I stay up late at night anyway, gives me something to do with my hands."

        "Hmm...alright.  Thank you."

        "How is master Durai?" asked James smoothing his hair.  "Have you had any fruitful progress with your research?"

        "Oh pretty good," said Andrea shoving hands into pockets, "Haytham and I done some real good results, we're trying to figure if we can make like a space-faring vessel."

        "Space-faring?  As in to the stars?"

        "Yep, we wanna know what the deal is with that moon constantly screwing with our TEG, so we wanna see if we can scrounge up the materials to make something."

        "There's no way Thomas is going to allow that," said Jane crossing her arms.

        "Well if we got the resources then why not?  He said we can't use the Petrie so instead we're gonna make our own ship, that way he won't lose anything."

        "Other than the people on the ship if it goes tits-up."

        "Jane," she turned to her with lolling head, "why the fuck you gotta piss on my parade?"

        "I'm just being devil's advocate, I know what Thomas is gonna say."

        "Let me handle Thomas.  Anyways," Dixon turned back towards the lizardman, "lemme take your measurements and I'll get you a suit by tomorrow."

        "OH and we need some spare cloth," said James pointing out, "Chanoch wants to cover up his television."

        "Wait, why you wanna do that?" Andrea asked.

        "I hate it," he muttered, "I do not like it."

        "Oh...heh, yer one of those guys huh?  Alright I'll get you a cloth for that too no problem."

        "Thank you."

Dixon pulled out a measuring tape and had James write down the requirements.  His height made it somewhat tricky to reach but eventually she managed, with an extra consideration for the tailhole to be made for him.  Once she had her numbers, Chanoch bade them goodnight and returned to his room with James taking leave to go to the library as Andrea took a quick stop to grab some rolls of cloth from supplies and returned to her room.

        "Hooo...alright, so I got a new thing I have to do."

        "Ohhh?" said Haytham sitting on her bed reading.

        "The new guy, Chanoch?  Wants a suit to go pray in, dude is like super formal about everything."

        "Ahhhh a pious spirit eh?"  He looked up once over the pages.  "Has he settled in well?"

        "Well other than the fact he hates the TV yeah."

        "Hmm, I see."

        "You reading my Carl Sagan books?" she peered over at him whilst spreading the cloth on the floor.

        "Indeed I just started with this one called 'Cosmos', you mentioned it quite often."

        "How is it?"

        "I am amused by the light-hearted nature of this Sagan, his attempts to explain science to a civilian mind is delightfully inquisitive, allowing one such as me from a different culture to comprehend your presuppositions."

        "Yeah he's pretty awesome," Andrea brought out some scissors to cut through the cloth, "I used to watch his series on PBS when they got repeated."

        "PBS?" he asked moving the book past his face.

        "Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, it's a channel pretty much anyone can watch without a fee so everybody watches it.  They got some good stuff on there."

        "Ahhhh so there are many types of services that broadcast to your television?"

        "Basically, depends on what country you live in.  Though when I grew up people started using TV less and everything went digital, which is kinda the same thing but from different companies."

        "I remember now we had something similar to that in Ivalice," Haytham mused leaning his head back to the ceiling, "twas not a national scheme but more of a local servitude, whenever they would have large tournaments we had these magicite screens that would project images unto the outside, as well as having audiographic transmitters from the commentators."

        "OH, like we do with sports?!" Andrea sliced down a pants leg.  "That sounds awesome, you into sports?"

        "Noooo but I did watch the Triple Triad tournaments at one point, I was most invested in a sprightly youth from my own street and I felt obliged to support him."

        "Triple Triad?"

        "A battle of wit and numerical riposte in the form of cards."

        "Wait, hold up is this just a poker tournament?"

        "Perhaps," he laid the book on his chest and turned to her, "what is poker?"

        "A battle of wit and numerical riposte in the form of cards, or just some douches faking each other out take your pick."

        "Well I suppose yes you understand the drift.  The last match I saw was some upstart bishop from Lea Monde, damnable fiend gave my boy a near-run for his money hmhmha!  Apparently the bishop had quite a streak running but my Archadian compatriot showed him the end of his sortie."

        "Home pride huh?"  Andrea finished outlining the first leg.  "My dad was really into hockey, but I never got into sports, too much a nerd."

        "Hockey?"

        "It's a game you play on ice, you whack a small black saucer into a goal but everyone has a stick to whack it back and forth."

        "Ahhhh I see."

Their conversation died out as Dixon focused more on the preparation of the suit, setting down a basic design in accordance to Chanoch's measurements with consideration for the tail in the seat of the pants.  Hours passed as she occasionally took breaks to eat or drink, but long into the late night she would work tirelessly, to the point that Haytham had finished the one book and continued on to the next.

        "Are you not exhausting yourself dear?" he asked around 2am.

        "Nah I think I got another hour in me, then I'll stop," she started on filling out the sleeves with a soft lining, "wanna at least get the arms done."

        "Your tenacity is admirable, dare I say one of the many things I applaud in your character."

        "Hmhmhahaha, god."  She blushed heavily looking away.  "Can you not do that?"

        "What, compliment you?"

        "Like you talk about me as if I'm your queen."

        "You might as well be for you reign my heart."

        "Oh my god shut up."  Andrea clasped her head in her hands.  "You are seriously-pffft-god I feel like that one Australian girl who married the prince of Denmark."

        "Hmhmhmhmhm, ahhhh."

        "Also I appreciate the fact you don't keep trying to get into my pants like all my other boyfriends did."

        "Perish the thought!" he cried mock offence.  "Whilst my male proclivities do appreciate your body, my true desire in you lies within the mind and more often than not what excites me the most coming here is our enrichening diatribes."

        "Hmmmm...I guess I'll have to believe that."

Eventually Andrea stopped working on the suit once her eyes dipped too many times to stay awake, cuddling up into bed with Haytham beside her as she hugged him warmly.  She always found it strange to see him without his robes when he took them off, slipping to his undergarments in the form of a cloth shirt and simple leggings, but it made him strangely modest in her eyes compared to her own cotton bra and pants.  Their hands never slipped south, either from exhaustion or blissful content.

The next day Chanoch was in the lab with Kevin by request, the scientist carefully coating some strange goo over a piece of metal.

        "So, look at this please."

The lizardman in full armour watched the metal slowly corrode beneath the orange substance, sizzling away with a vile chemical mist reeking above it.

        "So that's a polysulfide solution I managed to extract from the plants in this world, I've been stocking a good amount if we ever have to fight against giant robots again."

        "Mmm."

        "BUT I see you like to wear that old getup and I had an idea that I wanted to test, look at this."

He moved over towards another piece of metal that Ribose fitted onto a wall.  Kevin brought out a gun and took aim once his assistant cleared and fired a shot straight through the thin metal.

        "General's gonna kick your ass for this," warned Ribose.

        "Ehhh he can't do shit to me," cackled Kevin, "alright take that thing down and put the new stuff on it."

The robed chemist took the plate back over to the table and started spreading a fuchsia paste onto it, smearing across the new bullet hole in turn and waiting for it to set.  No sizzling or melting occurred as the purple goo started to set, thickening to a wholesome sheen until the plate resembled a small amethyst shield.  Once the solution had set, Ribose put it back up on the wall for Kevin to take aim once again.

        "Watch closely jefe."

He fired twice, hitting the plate dead-on.  The first bullet bounced off with a scraping spark to sink into the wall beside it, whilst the second shot recoiled to crumple onto the floor as a cracked little button.  Kevin smiled proudly as he puffed out the smoke from his gun.

        "See, instead of corroding the armour, I refortified it with an anti-solution that repels impacts."

        "Ah, that is good."  Chanoch stepped towards the plate and gazed upon its mostly-peerless visage.  "You want to fortify my armour with this?"

        "Yeah, I mean it'd be good for you since we got none of our armour in your size and I dunno, I feel you're more comfortable in that getup right?"

        "Yes."

        "Well then if you want I can make it more stronger with my special bulletproof paste!  Well, mostly impact-proof I mean it will eventually like decay and need a recoating every couple of years but I can keep making it for everyone."

        "Me and Kev are working on mass-producing it," said Ribose proudly taking down the plate, "spent like eight years making the damn thing."

        "Well, seven, the last year was just product testing to get all the right kinks out.  SO, you interested big guy?"

        "Yes," replied Chanoch, "I would like this."

        "Ooookay hold still then!"

The two scientsts went to work painting up Chanoch's armour, being careful to avoid his skin out of convenience more than actual safety until his armour was given a thin magenta sheen that glistened slightly.

        "Eyyyy look at you all fancied up."

        "Hmm."  The reptile looked at himself with approval.  "I like this.  Thank you."

        "Heheheh, no problem jefe, thanks for being my guinea pig."

        "I am a lizardman, not a pig."

        "Ehhh it's just an expression, anyways enjoy yourself out there."

With graceful bow he left and headed towards the firing range where Thomas was waiting for him with a set of earmuffs.  The soldier smiled as Chanoch gave a prompt salute.

        "General."

        "At ease soldier."

        "I am sorry to make you wait," he stood firm with spread-leg stance, "I was upgrading my armour."

        "I can tell, does it work?"

        "Yes.  I am ready to learn general."

        "Good, alright then."  Thomas stepped over to the firing stalls where two handguns and several clips laid in wait.  "Have you ever fired a gun before Chanoch?"

        "No."

        "Well in our base everyone is required to learn basic firearms if they are part of this group.  This is our most basic model, a handgun that requires bullets to fire that need to be reloaded.  This is our upgraded model which fires lasers  but does not require to be reloaded."

        "Why two types?" he asked looking over the two different guns.

        "A surplus of new weaponry came to us from an anomaly that we reverse-engineered for our purposes.  The bullet-based gun is more effective against organic beings of flesh and bone, whilst the laser-based weapon is more efficient against machines."

        "Ahh, different weaknesses.  That is good."

        "For the sake of training I am going to teach you to use both."  He handed Chanoch his own set of earmuffs and picked up the beretta.  "Now watch me, be warned this is quite loud."

He fired towards one of two targets at the end of the range in the form of a silhouetted human.  Jarogniew watched him shoot three times in succession before he handed the gun over to him.

        "Now, take aim and point it towards the target.  Do NOT put your finger on the trigger unless you are certain you want to shoot."

        "Yes."

His claws thickly wrapped round the handle before the problem was evident.  His fingers were too large to even fit into the trigger guard as Thomas smirked.

        "Ahhhh, hmmm...alright I'll make a note to customise something for ya then."

        "I can use my clawtip."  Chanoch demonstrated by curving his finger to sneak his claw near the trigger.

        "That doesn't look comfortable."

        "It is not, but I will learn."

        "Ehhhhh I guess.  Alright, move your arm up a bit," the soldier lifted his arm more, "you want it to be a natural sight following your eyeline."

        "Yes."

        "Now squeeze the trigger, slowly."

The lizardman shot once.  Winged the target in the shoulder.

        "Nice, not bad, that's a non-fatal shot!"

        "Is that good?" he asked keeping eye on the target.

        "You'll have to come to a point when you want to decide whether to kill or wound, so it's good to know the basics.  Now, try again."

Jarogniew fired again, then a third time with encouragement from Brightman.  He learned also in the same two hours the basics of reloading his gun before being given another shot at it.  When he was introduced to the laser-based gun, the only difference was that there was no reloading, but instead he had to wait for it to charge between rounds indicated by the pinkish gleam of a meter filling up on the side and a small vibration in his fingers.  Thomas had him repeat using each weapon, back and forth between bullet and laser until it was second nature to the lizardman when their time was up.

        "We'll obviously drill you more in the coming weeks ahead," said the major-general, "especially on other weapons until we find one that's right for you."

        "My sword will do," said Chanoch.

        "That's true you do seem to be a melee fighter, but it's our policy to equip you with something long-range."

        "Hmm.  It is too small for me.  Simple, but too small."

        "Well most people like it, buuuut we can get you a custom gun.  We also have larger weapons that may suit a guy like you, someone who's got the muscle to handle our big guns."

        "Yes," said Chanoch putting the gun back down, "I would like to see these big guns."

        "We also have a policy that you must collect all bullets that you use in battle," stated Thomas putting hands behind his back, "for the sake of recycling our ammunition and also to prevent contamination of the environment.  Our bullets are designed in such a way to ensure proper shell ejection."

        "Alright."

        "Right, now that your basic training is done let's get back to my office."

He followed without question back to the major-general's office.  Inside was a fine simple suit draped upon his desk that Thomas swept his hand over.

        "Andrea finished this around noon, said Jane asked her to make you a suit for your sermons."

        "Ah.  Yes."

        "Care to try it on?"

        "I will in my room.  Armour takes time to remove."

        "Of course.  Well I asked to be the one to give you this because it was missing a little something."

The commander walked round to behind his desk and pulled something out of his drawer.  A small black skullcap with white trim lining around its perimeter that he handed to Chanoch.

        "You said you needed one yeah?"

        "I...what?" he blinked twice.

        "Go on, take it.  Get you all suited up for sermons."

        "But...this is yours."

        "I don't mind, honestly.  I don't need it anymore anyways I don't-"

        "I cannot take this."  The lizardman refused with a hand pushing it back.  "It is not mine."

        "Well I don't want it, and I don't need it anymore."

        "Why?"

        "I have my reasons," said Thomas planting the skullcap onto the desk, "point is you can either make more use of it than I would, or let it sit and rot in my drawer for the next twenty years or however long it takes for us to get back home."

        "...why do you have it then?"

        "Huh?"

        "If you did not want it, or need it," his scaled finger hung over the cap like the sword of Damocles, "why do you have it?"

        "Is that any of your business soldier?"

        "If you want me to have it yes, is it cursed?"

        "No!"

        "I have known cursed items before, people try to pawn them off."

        "We don't HAVE curses in my world, supernatural crap doesn't exist where I come from it's just a stupid yarmulke!"

        "...alright.  Forgive me sir, I have disrespected you."  He took the yarmulke gently in his fingers.  "Thank you for your gift."

He looked to his head realising his spikes and carefully sat it snugly between them.  It sat strangely well with the velvet lining slipping against the spiked tips without catching the points or damaging the fabric.  He felt strangely happy wearing it, as if someone had hugged him.

        "It is nice.  Are you certain you want to give me this?"

        "I am," said Thomas waving his hand, "you'll do better with it than I would."

        "May I ask, sir...why did you leave?"

        "I have my reasons, personal you understand.  I'd rather it help you than just sit here gathering dust."

        "Yes.  Thank you sir."

        "You're dismissed, have fun."

He bowed taking his new suit with him as he left Thomas' office.  He looked down into his drawer where a photograph stared up at him.  He sighed closing the drawer and pressed his hands against his chin.

Chanoch wasted no time switching his clothes, putting on his new suit with armour hung on the mannequin before he made his way to the sanctum of five various religious faiths, each of them having their respective symbol inscribed on the door.  Beyond the door with the six-pointed star, he found a modest little room with pews that could hold about ten people seated, a nine-armed menorah set flush into the wall directly in front of him and a small raised table in front of the candelabrum with a modest ark-shaped box beside it.

        "OH, h-hello there!"

The voice came from a rabbi scrubbing the floor whilst in full-black garb, a wispy line of hair covering his chin from ear to ear with circular glasses to give him a scholarly look.

        "Can I help you?"

        "I am here to return to Elohim, rabbi."

        "Return?  Oh!"  He stood up with a heave seeing the lizardman's head.  "I-i see, you are the newcomer yes?"

        "I am Chanoch."  They both shook hands as he bowed deep.

        "I'm Rabbi Linnaeus, nice to meet you!"  He dusted his knees and spread his arms.  "Welcome to the uh, mini-gogue as I call it hah.  I wasn't expecting anyone yet since uhhh, we don't start service until after lunch so you caught me by surprise."

        "If you are busy I can return."

        "No no it's fine we can do a little service now if you'd like.  I'm quite easygoing so there's no big schedule we have to follow."

        "When is your service?"

        "Daytime at 1pm, nighttime at 11pm, you don't have to attend both I just do both services for those on day and night shifts."

        "Mmm."  He looked towards the cloth in Linnaeus' hand.  "Can I help you clean?"

        "Oh no no it's fine I can stop for a moment."

        "I do not want to disturb you.  If you finish cleaning then we can pray yes?"

        "Yeah?"

        "Then I will help you."

        "Well...I won't force you to, but if you want to I would appreciate it a lot, thank you Chanoch."

The rabbi offered his cloth and Chanoch went down to work, scrubbing the floor of the shul with practiced grinding knuckles that dipped into a water bucket and cleaned further across the space.  Rabbi Linnaeus went to polishing the menorah to spruce it up to a sheen before he went to varnishing the fine seats as well as dusting them down to look spick and span throughout the mini-gogue.

        "So uhm," Linnaeus asked working one side of the pew, "can I ask you what you meant by returning to Elohim?"

        "I left His light," muttered Chanoch grinding cloth against the other side, "because I was afraid."

        "Well, we all get frightened I'm sure He understands.  What were you frightened of?"

        "My family...they would be killed but I gave myself to the demons to save them."

        "Oh...wow that...that's amazing."

        "I know, it is terrible."

        "No no not at all!  That is a wonderful thing!"

        "Hmm?"

Linnaeus sat up on the seat and invited Chanoch to sit by him, feeling the wood creak beneath his large frame.

        "You sacrificed yourself to protect those you love, that is a very noble thing to do."

        "Even if it caused me to lose my humanity?"  He looked at his gnarled claws.

        "What do you mean 'lose' your humanity?  Let me ask you, how did you get here?"

        "I ran from the castle because I killed my superior."

        "Alright.  And why did you kill him?"

        "Because he was trying to kill my friends."

        "Well I don't know about you but that sounds very human to me," said the rabbi patting his back, "we've always been rebellious spirits that hate authority abusing others, that's why we exist."

        "Mmmm."

        "Let's be honest, your body may not look human anymore, but your soul does not sound any different does it?  Did the demons replace your soul?"

        "No, they did not."

        "So that means the soul that protected your family, is also the same soul that wanted to help me clean this place?"

        "Yes."

Linnaeus stood up with a hand offering to him.

        "I think if anything Elohim has been waiting for you to return...my son."

He took the rabbi's hand as he was led towards the table.  They bowed and knelt as Linnaeus brought out a scroll and began to read the prayers sacred unto him, Chanoch responding from memory as his mind felt clear for the first time in years.  The rabbi never noticed his tears that dripped onto the tablecloth, Jarogniew's voice become quieter with choking gasps as his fingers clutched tighter together.  He was happy.  He felt strange and at first ashamed to be happy, but he was from hearing Linnaeus' words calmly guide him through the scripture as he felt the wondrous warmth of peace that benediction could only give.  He was happy.  He had a right to be happy.  He wept with a smile hidden beneath his snout.

        "Thank you."  He looked up with a softened mewl.  "Thank you, rabbi."

        "Haha, it's fine really," said Linnaeus putting the scroll back in its box, "you're always welcome when you want, whether you want to come alone or with the rest of us."

        "I will...h-hhhh...join the people properly next sermon."

        "I'll be waiting."

        "...can I...help you clean again?" he asked standing up.

        "S-sure!  I'd love an extra pair of hands, everyone else is so busy, I mean it's not a big problem, it's a small place but yanno I wouldn't mind."

        "I will help you then.  Farewell, rabbi."

        "Take care Chanoch.  Ha-shem blesses you."

It was on this night that Chanoch would sleep the best sleep he ever had in his life.  With mind unburdened for that brief moment in time, he felt as if he were forgiven at last.  His new life as a soldier amongst humans would be a blessing to come.