“Mmm,” said Lakshmi, trying to ignore the tiny skeletal abominations 
squeaking and chattering in the calcified underbrush. “I think you’ve 
mentioned that before, yes.” 


“It's a good song. Sweet, but...sensual, almost. Seductive.” If 5760 
had eyebrows, it would have raised them suggestively. 


Great. Now it was hitting on her on top of everything else. 


Lakshmi could barely keep her voice from trembling. “Could we 


perhaps keep this conversation professional?” 

“I'm just trying to make things a little less formal." 

"| would appreciate a certain degree of formality, actually." 
"Fine. Be a killjoy that way.” 

“Whatever you say.” 


The song ended, and over the loudspeakers came a distinctively 
eighties beat, followed by the unmistakable notes of Hall and Oates. 


“She'll only come out at night... The lean and hungry type.” 


Not for the first time that night, Lakshmi wondered what she had 
done to deserve this, or who she had pissed off on 5760’s research 
detail. 


“Sorry,” said 5760 without any hint of shame, “little gallows humor.” 
Lakshmi was beginning to despise Fridays. 


"Lakshmi," chirped a cheerful voice from outside her office door, 
"can we come in?" 


"Hi, Meyers," Lakshmi called distractedly. "Who's 'we?™ 


"Me," Reynolds said, quivering. Meyers practically shoved him 
further into the room. He cleared his throat. "Sorry about not telling 
you about the procedures for 5760 like | was supposed to,” he 
mutters. "| was afraid you'd yell at me, or that you'd think it was a 
joke or that you wouldn't do it and then Gonzalez would yell at me." 
He fiddled nervously with his watchband. 


Lakshmi rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway. Typical Reynolds. "Just 
please don't do it again." 


"Great," Meyers said, "apology satisfactory. Now, out, Reynolds." 


"But sa " 


"Out. Now." 


"You're so mean to that boy." Lakshmi watched Reynolds scurry 
away down the hall. 


"| don't know where they found him," Meyers said, shaking her head. 
"How are you doing?" 


"It's been stressful. | keep feeling like people are laughing at me 
behind my back. Actually, | know they are. More than usual, | 
mean." 


"Well, I've made it clear that it's not a laughing matter. You're doing 
a good thing, honey. If you having candlelit dinners with a wendigo 
means people are safe, you're a hero in the eyes of anyone who's 

got more than three brain cells." 


"| Know. | saw what happened when 5760 loses it. It's... | don't want 
to talk about it. And then | can't access anything about it - who it is, 
where it was found, anything about the entity that inhabits it. Which, 
given the incident earlier, seems incredibly dangerous. I'm on its 
research detail but | can't get access." 


"Ask it yourself, then," Meyers suggested. 
"| can't do that." 


"Yes you can, honey. Call it on its bullshit. You have a right to 
know." 


"A right to know," Lakshmi echoed, squaring her shoulders. 
End Part 2 
<< HUB >> 


The Beast You've Made Of Me 


“Are you sure?” the creature asked, ears flattened in 
uncertainty, claws pressed ever so lightly into the 
researcher’s exposed stomach. “I don’t want to make 
you do anything you're not comfortable doing.” 5760 
trailed a delicate claw along the doctor's face, reveling in 
the feel of her velvet soft skin, smelling the desire that 
rolled off her body like waves. It couldn't wait to taste 
her, claim her, mark her as its own. But not yet. 


“I’ve never been more certain,” Lakshmi panted, “I need 
you inside me, 5760. More than I’ve ever needed 
anything else.” She pressed her hips against 5760's 
bone colored fur, communicating the urgency of her 
desire. "Please." Her fists clenched in her lover's thick, 
ragged pelt. She couldn't wait to be taken by the beast. 


5760 delicately pulled Lakshmi’s panties off with its 
teeth, lowered its head between her legs, and 


“It was on my office desk this afternoon,” Lakshmi explained. 
5760 was silent for a long time. 

“Who wrote this?” it asked, voice dangerously calm. 

“| don’t know.” 

“You’re lying. | can tell.” 

“Well, | have a couple of people in mind -” 

“Do you want me to eat them? Because | will. They’d deserve it.” 
“Are you joking?” 


“Maybe? Do you want me to be?” 


hidden. Exactly three minutes later, the cameras 
resumed normal functioning, revealing Mr. Deeds 
standing in the same position, but with a tray holding two 
glasses of iced tea in hand. He then quickly made his 
way back to the interrogation room. 


Dr. Mirth: Ah, you have returned. | was beginning to 
worry. 


Mr. Deeds: My apologies for the delay, finding a way out 
was troublesome. But not to worry, I’ve brought the tea, 
just as you asked. | do hope you enjoy it. 


Dr. Mirth: What kind of tea is it? 


Mr. Deeds: Southern-style sweet tea. 


Mr. Deeds placed a glass in front of Dr. Mirth and 
resumed his seat at the other end of the table. Dr. Mirth 
hesitantly sniffed the tea, smiled, and took a sip. 


Dr. Mirth: Quite good, Mr. Deeds. In fact, this is perhaps 
the best sweet tea I’ve ever had! Delicious! Did you 
make it yourself? 


Mr. Deeds: | do dislike disappointing you, Dr. Mirth, but | 
do not recall. | assume that | did, but alas, my mind is not 
what it used to be. 


Dr. Mirth: You've only been gone (Dr. Mirth looked at 
watch) about ten minutes, Mr. Deeds. Are you telling me 
your memory is so terrible that you cannot remember 
what happened ten minutes ago or the time between? 


Mr. Deeds: | recall looking for a way out, and | recall 
returning with the tea, but that is all. 


Dr. Mirth: But not how or where you acquired the tea? 


Mr. Deeds: Unfortunately, no. (Mr. Deeds was visibly 
uncomfortable again) 


Lakshmi sighed and turned away, not meeting 5760’s eyes. 


“Look, maybe this wouldn’t happen if you weren't quite so... 
affectionate.” 


“Am |... embarrassing you?” 
“No. Of course not.” 
“Please don’t lie to me.” 


“Well...Yes. You are. Everyone treats me like I'm depraved or like 
I'm a laughingstock, or both. And meanwhile, | have no idea who 
you are, or what's going on, or anything about you or why you seem 
so obsessed with me. I've been singled out, and humiliated, and no 
one will tell me why! Look, | understand the importance of all of this. 
| do. But why the hell does it have to be me?" 


"Look," 5760 said, "I've just... I've been scared for so long, alone for 
so goddamn long. You - my memories of you - were basically the 
only thing that got me through it. It had to be you. It was the only 
way it would work for sure." 


"We've never met before." 


5760 looked up nervously at the observation chamber, and Lakshmi 
did the same. Just the usual crew, exchanging coffee, probably 
smirking and snickering as they wrote more fucking fanfiction. 


5760 lowered its voice. "Yes, we have." it said, sounding surprisingly 
sad. It chuckled quietly before continuing. "Surprised you never 
guessed, actually. | mean, god knows you wouldn't recognize me. | 
thought the voice might have been a giveaway, but... It's me, 
Lakshmi. I'm Avery." 


The syllables took longer than they should have to gain real 
meaning in Lakshmi's mind. 


"No. That's not possible. Avery's been missing - " 


"For two years. | was abducted two years ago, Lakshmi. They didn't 
want me to tell you, but... | couldn't bear it anymore. They knew we 


were connected the minute | told them who | was - they track all 
their employees' past partners, it seems. We were working on 
figuring out how best to contain me, and when it turned out that 
romantic situations were key, they asked if me I'd be willing to work 
with you and see if it helped, on the condition that you couldn't know 
who | was. " 


"Prove it. Prove you're her." 


"You always were a skeptic. But you want proof? You always sleep 
on the right side of the bed. You don't drink coffee, only tea - 
oolong's your favorite. We first met in that dog cognition lab, 
remember? The pit bull mix kept trying to hump you and | couldn't 
stop laughing. We got snowed in and we talked. But that wasn't the 
first time | noticed you. We were in the same class for a month. | 
kept trying to get you to put down your textbook and notice me. 
There's a tattoo, on your left shoulder blade, of a lotus blossom. | 
was there when you got it. | talked you into it, remember?" 


It's her. There's no other option. 
"|. | need to sit down." 


Avery. Not dead. Alive. Here. Somehow. Even then, their reunion 
here - all too impossible. The Foundation sprawled over continents - 
and yet here they were, facing one another again against all odds. 


Of all the gin joints in the world... Lakshmi wanted to laugh, but she 
knew that if she started, she would find herself sobbing. 


5760 - Avery? - cleared its throat. 


"I’m sorry. It’s just...even before all of this,” - 5760 gestured to its 
antlers - “I realized that breaking up with you was a huge mistake. | 
was freaking out about the idea of being committed, and it was a 
stupid decision. You came out to your family for me. You were 
willing to move jobs for me. | missed you. A lot. You were one of the 
best things to ever happen to me. And | think us being brought back 
together now...| don’t believe in fate or anything. But I’m not letting 
you go again.” 


5760 reached out a hand. Lakshmi merely stared at it. The empty 
space left by the shock of finding Avery again had closed and 
crystallized and sharpened. 


"Are you delusional?" 
"I'm sorry?" 


"| can't believe you. You think, after leaving me the way you did, 
breaking my heart because you weren't certain if there was 
something better out there, leaving me for a dozen hypothetically 
better women - you really thought I'd take you back." 


"| understand if you're angry -" 
"You're the last person I'd want to start a relationship with right now." 
"That's fair. That's very fair." 


"You think you could just waltz back in here and sweep me off my 
feet again. How disconnected from reality do you have to be? And 
anyway, putting that aside, how, exactly, did you think this was 
going to play out? We're in the Foundation. I'm a researcher. | don't 
even think of you as person. Not that it's hard," Lakshmi said, 
barking out a bladed laugh that landed right where she wanted it to. 
"What would | call you? Bestial-friend with benefits? And | don't want 
to Know what you were planning on doing in terms of a love life. Did 
you think I'd somehow get over this," she spat, gesturing to 5760's 
canine form, "or did you think | was depraved enough not to care? | 
mean, you're not even human." 


"Lakshmi. Please." 


A line had been crossed, and they both knew it. 5760 avoided eye 
contact with the self-collected shame of a criminal who knows they 
deserve their punishment. Lakshmi swore silently. 


"I'm sorry - " 


“It's fine. You're right. You're completely right,” it said, very quietly. 
“I'll ask for you to be taken off my research detail.” 


For all its monstrosity, in that moment 5760 looked like nothing more 
than an overgrown kicked puppy. 


“No. We're going to do what we need to keep you safe and 
contained. If this is helping, we’re going to keep doing it. Your safety 
is key here, okay?” 


5760 looked unconvinced, but - “Okay.” 


Their next meeting was not what one would call enjoyable. Lakshmi 
was silent save for the occasional monosyllabic response, glaring 
daggers at Avery - 5760. Her irritation grew almost every time 5760 
moved - the way it held its fork, the slight tilt of its head when it was 
pondering something, they way it gestured in conversation - all 
Avery's little quirks and gestures. Part of her was annoyed at herself 
that she hadn't figured it out before - now that she knew, she 
couldn't stop seeing the woman behind the wolf in every little action 
or phrase. 


"| like your earrings," 5760 said. 


Avery poked her head into the tiny bedroom they shared in their 
studio apartment. "Babe? You said you were going up to put on 
earrings and you've been up here for, like, twenty minutes. You're 
not like having a seizure or something, are you?" 


Lakshmi turned away from the mirror to face her girlfriend. "I think 
my clavicle is asymmetrical." 


Avery began laughing hysterically, and didn't stop. Instead, she 
somehow got louder. Somewhere outside, a dog began to bark in 
response. Lakshmi noticed a bird that had been sitting on the 
window flying away. 


"It's not funny." 


"It's not. It's really not. I'm sorry, | thought you were, like, dead, or 
something. I'm laughing at myself for panicking, not at you." 


"Sure you are." 


"Here. Let me see." Avery bent to inspect Lakshmi's collarbone. 
"You're looking good," she said as she rose back up, before tucking 
Lakshmi's hair behind her ear and kissing her on the nose. 


"The food okay?" 5760 seemed genuinely concerned with the 
answer. "| Know it's not that Asian place we used to go that you liked 
so much, but it's close as we could get." 


"Okay," Avery said through her mouthful of Mongolian Beef, "| mean, 
all Chinese food is good even if it's bad, but this is really fucking 
good." 


Lakshmi was too busy stuffing her face to agree. 


"Cheers to our first night in our new apartment," Avery said, holding 
up her bottle of Mountain Dew to clink against Lakshmi's cream 
soda. 


"| still can't believe the liquor store here's closed on Sundays." 
"Fucking Catholics." 

"Avery -" 

"I'm half Catholic! It's fine!" 

They finished their meal, and 5760 followed her to the door. 


"It started snowing today," 5760 said. "Gonzalez told me. | miss 
snow." 


"That was..."Avery's voice trailed off as she pressed a kiss onto the 
nape of Lakshmi's neck. Lakshmi could feel Avery's eyelashes 
against her skin, had to keep herself from squirming as Avery traced 
feather-light circles on her stomach. "That was... really good. Like, 
amazing." 


Lakshmi laughed, still out of breath. "Thank you? | guess?" 


Avery kissed her again. "No guessing about it." She got up from the 
bed, clutching the blanket to her for warmth and coverage, and 
peeked out the window. "Lakshmi, look! It's snowing!" The orange 


glow of the streetlights illuminated each individual flake. 


"It's really coming down out there," Lakshmi said. Avery pulled the 
blanket around Lakshmi, and began nuzzling the place where her 
shoulder met her neck. 


"Why is it," she said against Lakshmi's skin, "that all our relationship 
milestones happen when it snows?" 


"You're right! We met when we got snowed in at the lab, and the 
restaurant where we had our first date closed early because of 
snow, and now..." Lakshmi kissed Avery long and slow. When they 
broke apart, Avery was grinning. 


"Guess it's our lucky charm." 


Lakshmi didn't say good night, nor did she look back as the door 
locks shut. 


She found Gonzalez in his office, preparing to leave for the evening. 


"| Know," was all she said, looking him in the eye and refusing to 
break contact. 


"Shit," Gonzalez said, and took his coat back off. "Knew this was 
coming. You better sit down, Agarwal." 


Lakshmi sat. 


"You have exactly three options here. First option: you opt out due 
to personal connection to the skip and we find someone else to take 
over. | won't blame you if you want to do this. But - " 


"No." She remembered her encounter with the thing that lived in 
5760's head too clearly to allow even the slightest chance of it 
happening again. 


"That's what | thought you'd say, thank god. Wouldn't exactly have 
been pleasant for the rest of us. But. Here's your other choices. We 
either dose you with amnestics and keep going, or you can keep the 
cat in the bag, so to speak. If the administration knew we were 
having this conversation, I'd have to dose you and get it over with, 


and tell the skip not to do it again. But | think you've got a right to 
know what's going on here."