“ACW Alpha, report to my position."

The bipedal wolflike quantum being shimmered into view at my summons.

“Captain."

“Alpha, you were to lead a team to secure Melvin Wastemore's excess profits and distribute them back to the people he had gouged, correct?"

“That's correct, Captain," she acknowledged.

“I've just checked his finances and they're unchanged.  This tells me that the mission was not carried out."

“Again, correct, Captain."

“Please explain."

“I could not carry out the mission as ordered, Captain."

I looked askance at her.  “I realize that neither I nor Kisara are technically your immediate commanding officers; you have significant latitude in exactly how your missions unfold.  So why could you not carry out the mission?"

She looked contrite, her ears back with her whiskers drooping.  “I was unable to do so, Captain."

“Why not, Alpha?"

“I was under orders, Captain."

“'Under orders'. From whom?"

“From me."

I whipped my head around at the sound of the new voice. In the instant it took to change my attention from the ACW to the owner of the voice, I identified her.  

“Admiral."

Senior Fleet Admiral Aurora Sitka (Retired) returned my even gaze.  

“I was concerned that this would happen, Peter," she said.

“What would happen? And why are you calling me Peter? I'm Felix now. As you well know."

Aurora straightened slightly to her full five feet of height and fixed upon me, a head taller than her, a look that would have made a supernova put itself back together.

“You continue to return to your vindictive place, Peter, and it's time you grew out of it."

I scrutinized her, searching for signs that pushing three hundred had diminished her faculties, and found none.

“Please explain what you mean, Admiral."

“You've given in to the illusion of the physical world, you've forgotten that it's a school and that sending agents to remake it to your specifications is not only unnecessary, but counterproductive."

I leapt on Admiral Sitka, and she hit the ground. We fought for a while and then I realized something was wrong. Not only had I been able to engage in a fight with her, but I was actually landing blows. Something was wrong with this situation. The admiral had been a Special Forces combat instructor for fifty years, and was one of those people whom age does not weaken, but empowers. I shouldn't have been able to lay a paw on her. While I pondered this disparity, Sitka took advantage of my distraction to disengage and pull me to my hindpaws.

I drew a breath, centered myself, and searched for the absolute truth.  As I found it, it molded me, my fur disappeared with the rest of my Kataran features and I stood before Admiral Sitka in my true form, a pink-skinned defenseless human.

Admiral Sitka thought for a moment. “You will be visited by…well, two spirits should be enough for an intelligent being like you."