Altair slowly shuffled himself forwards towards the large panel across the room. It was more steps than he wanted to take, but he knew that it was something that must be done. After all that he had done, all that he had witnessed, it was only right for him to face the Nadzos and see what his judgment would be.

The room he was in was bare of almost everything but the Seeing panel, the Nadzos. The walls were smoothed stone, ground down from the rough rock cave the base had been built from. The floors were likewise smoothed stone, but they were covered intermittently with thin carpets to help dampen some of the sound. Above was a series of light fixtures that, combined, gave off a steady glow akin to daylight. It was a room Altair never seriously considered finding himself in. But, that was before.

Now, it was an inevitability that he'd have to face judgement. He'd crossed too many lines and too much was lost for him to go about his life with no need to See. It was a weight that hung heavy about his neck, dragging his spirit down and causing his steps to be slow and painful. He'd never meant for things to get so out of hand, but he'd have done anything to protect the ones he loved.

Coming upon the Nadzos, Altair slowly lifted his head, then his eyes, and Saw what it was he had wrought. At first, all he saw was himself, standing exactly as he was in the bare room. Before long, however, his own visage shimmered away and he saw himself as he was ten years before. A younger man, just hitting the prime of his life, feeling on top of the world. He had love, money, power. He never thought anything would threaten the golden life he was leading.

He watched himself stride through the halls of his company, commanding respect and leading those below him into prosperity. Maybe not as large as his own, but his underlings had good lives. He watched as his love joined him at a podium at an awards dinner, both smiling and happy that their hard work had been appreciated to such an extent. And then it happened. The cars rolled up in front of the building, dozens of men in armor with weapons flooded from them and stormed into the building. Employees screamed in fright as these men carelessly rushed through the throngs of people, shoving people away and to the ground to get where they were going.

Altair and his love were on the first mezzanine level, having a brief pow wow before the corporate meeting when all of this went down. They watched as men and women were mowed over in these foreign invaders' attempt to rush the stairs and get at them. Altair called out, trying to get these men to stop the brutality, but none listened to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one man take a knee and aim his rifle at Altair's love. That was the last straw; he could not allow some jumped up force to come and and destroy his people and his love while he stood by helplessly.

The secret spark flowing through Altair's veins caught and ignited the hidden talent within him. Previous to this moment, only his love had ever seen him transform. But for his love, his people, he'd out himself and give it his all to defend their territory.

With an almighty howl and the sound of tearing fabric, Altair slipped his skin and grew to incredible proportions. His legs lengthened and thickened, his arms as well, and his spine stretched so that he grew many feet in height. His hands and feet morphed into paws and his face elongated into a fearsome muzzle full of sharp teeth and dripping saliva. It only took moments for Altair to change into a beast, but even so, many people were harmed by the invading force that was still trying to get to the pair one floor up.

Altair's love was pushed to the floor during the transformation, safe for the moment from the sniper trying to take him out. Altair gave the man a look that should have clearly conveyed the expectation to stay put, then he howled once more before jumping over the railing and landing on the floor below. There were a few enemy agents underneath him as he landed, but he saw that only as a bonus. If they were going to harm his people, he would not hesitate to harm them in return.

The man's eyes were glued to the scene he remembered all too well, watching himself go on a rampage. Men were thrown about and torn limb-from-limb. The more men he took out, the more bloodlust settled into his mind and he could no longer tell friend from foe. He had to watch as he took out employees alongside the men clad in black tactical gear. His love had not stayed put, either, and it was with despair and sickness that he watched himself rip his lover's head from his body and bay in pleasure as blood splashed all over.

Altair's legs gave out and he fell to his knees. What was supposed to be a defense of those he loved turned into absolute carnage. He'd lost himself to his creature and paid the ultimate price for it. He'd rather have died than taken everything from himself. His people, his company, his love, his good name...all gone thanks to the beast that raged beneath his flesh.

Looking up once more, Altair watched as the invading force rallied and finally knocked him out. They wrapped him so tight in tech-bindings that there was no way even his massive strength would be getting him out. He knew that, by the time he woke up, the beast would have calmed and the memory of what he'd done would have come back. He'd remember killing his only love, his faithful employees. He'd recall bathing in their blood and even partaking of some of their flesh.

His stomach turned with the thought. He'd eaten parts of people he cared about. He'd treated their bodies as nothing more than food and playthings. It didn't matter to him that he had become a mindless beast in those moments; his waking mind remembered, and he hated himself.

Once the scene had finished playing and he had seen every bit of what he'd done and the force's actions in the aftermath, all Altair could do was kneel there and hate himself. Whatever judgment the Nadzos gave to him would be deserved. He waited for what felt like an interminable amount of time before something changed around him. Several black-clad men entered the room and cuffed his hands behind his back, dragging him to his feet and marching him from the room. He didn't know where they were going, but he felt a sense of relief that soon, it would all be over.