That same night, miles away, back in his base camp, Kallian was having an entertaining night at the arena.

  His woman, Jdala, sits next to him.

  Tonight would be special entertainment. Two rare healthy captured Ponu males would be forced to fight in the arena.

  As they were led in, the crowd of "red band" scavengers booed angrily. Jdala looked at the two with amusement, them standing there in their tight pink suits. They seemed more like the pictures she had seen of circus performers. She noticed one had a larger belly, and the other had a facial expression that made him look not so intelligent. The name came to her in a moment, "That one's Humpty and that one's Dumpty," she said, giggling.

  Kallian would use the names for them. He stood up from his seat, looking down at the men. He said, "Sir Humpty and Sir Dumpty, you both will engage in combat. The winner gets to live".

  Dumpty asks, "What if we don't play your game? What if we don't fight?

  Kallian grins, "Well then, we'll just shoot limbs until you fight, and when we run out of limbs, if you still don't fight, we will just cancel the match by shooting you in the head."

  Humpty immediately punches Dumpty in the stomach, and with that, the two men start their battle. Their movements are quick thanks to their Ponu physiology.

  Kallian leans back in his chair. Jdala asks, "So what are they exactly? I heard a rumor that they are androids that are made to look like people."

  Kallian looks at her. "They're not androids, I can tell you that much. No, they're alive, and they can be killed. As far as where they come from, who cares. I am only concerned with where they are and what they might do. Where they've been is of no concern to me.

  "What's with the pink suits?" she asks.

  Kallian looks unamused, "What's with all this sudden interest in Ponus?"

  Jdala grins, "I don't know, maybe the fact we're watching two kill each other right now, and you are so obsessed with that half Ponu girl or whatever she is. Plus, I don't know, Dumpty looks kind of cute in his pink tights."

  Kallian turns towards her with a cold look. She momentarily forgot that Kallian was not a man who took joking. He grinned. "You think Dumpty is cute? Go ahead, cheer for him". She hesitates, but after more prompting from Kallian, she begins to yell out, "Go Dumpty, kick his ass!"

  The battle lasts long, and both men are exhausted and barely standing, but Dumpty finally defeats Humpty, who is stretched out on the floor of the arena, breathing heavily. Kallian gives the signal to his guards to drag Humpty away to be executed.

  He stands up, facing the exhausted Dumpty. "Well, you've won Ponu, and as I said, you get to live. You get to live...to fight me". With that, Kallian jumps over the small barricade to confront the Ponu. Dumpty can barely stand or move, and the fight, as expected, is over in less than a minute. After a brief exchange with Dumpty, defending himself as much as he can, A few blows from Kallian send him spinning to the ground, where he does not get up.

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  Kallian gives the signal for Dumpty to be dragged away to be executed.

  He looks back at the Ponu, thinking of Jdala joking that he was cute. Kallian runs over and kicks the Dumty in the stomach for good measure. The crowd goes wild with approval.

  Jdala is shocked by their reaction, but stands up and joins in, not wanting to look like she was not in on the fun.

  He was an enigma to her. A strong leader, but his one fault, apart from his cruelty and desire for control and generally being a jerk to anyone he felt he could boss, was his obsession with the Ponu. It was his obsession with the half-ponu girl or whatever she was, Jdala thought.

  She had once jokingly suggested maybe Kallian had a thing for JaKaelath. She soon learned that was a mistake. She feared for her safety as he became enraged. In that moment, she saw pure rage, and in his rant, she learned that it's not only about JaKaelath, the abomination, the enemy, but the scars left by her father, a betrayal, a humiliation. She never asked about it again for fear of seeing that side of him again.

  "You look like you enjoyed yourself," she says to him, smiling.

  Kallian sits back down. "Yes, I did. Let's go to the tent."

  "Wait," she says, "the jugglers will be out next, I want to see them."

  "You can see them next time, let's go."

  Miffed, she says something to "safely" try to get under his skin,

  "I heard that trying to wipe out the Ponu is futile. That when you wipe out one group, another group appears from those vaults that pop up from the ground. You wipe out one group, two more appear, it's never-ending".

  "Soon, we will have a machine built that can help us destroy all the Ponu we encounter, especially those women in the cave. Just hush, Jdala, and let those of us who are knowledgeable about such things take care of them."

  That night, Kallian had what for him is the deepest sleep in years. He has a dream that the machine has been built. It and its duplicates lead the attack into the cave. The Dowath are neutralized, and the Ponu women cower in fear. Coming from the cave, with a spear, is JaKaelath, dressed in her Ponu suit. She attacks Kallian, who is waiting. He easily dodges all of her fancy attacks. She comes in close with her spear, but he dodges it and counters with a spear of his own that he drives through her. He sees her eyes flicker open with shock, realizing she is about to die. Her body shudders. In his dream, once she dies, she morphs into her father. Revenge has been achieved for the beating he received from the old man. He laughs and pushes the body off his spear, and as it falls to the ground, it morphs back into JaKaelath. She is dead, she is defeated. The Ponu are defeated. With a grin, he has victory. As he sleeps, a sadistic grin appears on his face.