Everyone kept looking back and forth between Frida and her father. She was a rebellious wolf girl, he was a system man in a uniform. They were as different as fire and water. No one would have guessed they were related.
Frida stood stiff, but her tail told a different story — the fur on it bristled. The Commissioner remained calm. Completely relaxed. He looked at Evan, ears angling toward him.
"Evan Smith, ward of Arslan Flambe, correct?"
"Yes, Commissioner."
"First of all, I'd like to apologize for Frida's behavior yesterday."
He bowed, and Frida's tail flicked nervously. Evan waved his hands in front of him.
"No need to apologize, Commissioner. Everything's been settled already."
"I'm very glad to hear that."
He shot Frida a scolding look, and she growled under her breath. Then he turned his gaze back to Evan and the others, quickly scanning the bags they were carrying.
"Shopping today?"
They nodded.
"Then allow me to give you a little tour. You'll get a discount."
No one even thought about refusing.
Then he turned to Evan.
"Before we begin, I have a question. How are criminals punished in your world? I mean the kind of punishment between fines and the death penalty."
Evan was a bit surprised by the question.
"A criminal is isolated in a correctional facility for a designated amount of time."
The Commissioner sighed — as if he found such a system laughably ineffective.
"Here, we use a different system. You'll see shortly. First, welcome to the Display Hall."
They entered the hall. The tiled floor looked like it belonged in a regular butcher shop. The walls were tiled up to head height.
What didn't belong in a regular butcher shop were the displays.
On metal pedestals stood plexiglass cases.
Inside each one, there was a fur—
Naked, gagged, on their knees, chained to a metal pillar they leaned against.
Carnivores and herbivores alike.
They approached one display containing a young fox.
"This is what punishment looks like. Those who break the law end up here."
He pointed at the screen embedded in the front of the display.
"This one is here for… ah, smuggling."
The screen displayed:
Species. Sex. Age. Crime(s). Display time. Prices — wholesale and retail, including slaughter fee.
Evan swallowed hard when he reached the last line.
"Once you're placed in a display, you're meat for sale. If no one buys you before your display time ends, then congratulations — you walk out alive."
Evan nervously pointed at the last price.
"And that?"
"You see, we don't take their lives lightly. If someone only wants a piece — say, his thigh—"
At that moment the prisoner jerked desperately, shaking his head violently.
The Commissioner ordered him to be still in a voice colder than Arctic water.
The fox froze immediately, though he continued trembling.
"As I said, for partial purchases there is a slaughter fee. Its amount, as well as the exposure time, is based on the severity of the crime."
Evan swallowed again.
"And if someone tries to buy the whole thing?"
The Commissioner smiled indulgently.
"I assume you mean buying someone out of a display. That option doesn't exist. A full purchase — wholesale — means the execution is carried out immediately by an execution agent or butcher."
Just then, a carnivore couple bought a young rabbit. According to the display, he had caused a fatal accident.
The screen flashed SOLD.
A butcher arrived, took the payment, and the display sank into the floor.
The butcher announced the meat would be ready soon and invited the customers to the waiting lounge.
Evan was stunned. A living person had just been sold as meat. The most terrifying part was that everyone acted as if they'd just bought a pork loin at a supermarket.
Only Frida growled softly.
"I hate these displays. This isn't how meat should be obtained."
Ernst looked at his daughter like at a child who didn't know it was misbehaving.
"Frida. I know you want to hunt, but these displays are important. Not only do we punish criminals, we spare many innocents from dying in the wild hunts."
Frida met his eyes.
"If I had a choice, I'd rather be hunted than sit in that box waiting to die."
The Commissioner did not respond. His expression did not change in the slightest.
Frida's ears fell, her tail tucked, and she looked away.
"Normally I'd offer you a tour of the processing line, but I think we'll skip that today."
He looked at Evan, who was barely standing upright.
"Let's move on to the sales hall."
Evan wasn't processing any of this. The hum of the ventilation drowned in his ears, and the smell of disinfectant felt nauseatingly sharp.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the display prisoners squirming slightly, as if trying to melt into the pillars behind their backs.
The sales hall looked almost exactly like an ordinary refrigerated counter on Earth.
After the tour, the Commissioner handed Evan a small booklet.
The Meat Act.
"Everyone should know it. It's essential for survival."
Evan tucked it away as the girls began discussing what meat to buy — as casually as if they were picking pastries, not shopping in a slaughter facility.
Only Frida looked unhappy, but even she joined in the conversation.
Evan didn't know what to think. The shock was overwhelming.
He had just seen furry people kept like livestock, waiting to be purchased.
Fear was obvious — but there was something else he didn't understand.
His mind kept flashing an image of himself in one of those display cases.
And it aroused him.
He had to hold the booklet in front of himself to hide the erection.
At that moment, Callisa handed him a glass with a fizzing liquid — likely some kind of dissolving sedative.
"Here. A calming agent. I begged it off Frida's father."
Frida's ears flattened, but she didn't deny it.
"Alright, what are we buying? If it's wholesale, I'll handle the butchering."
Evan drank the sedative, though his mind was elsewhere —
specifically, imagining himself hanging naked on a hook in front of Frida with a knife.
He had no idea where these fantasies were coming from.
Or why they turned him on.
Aiko stretched lazily.
"Let's buy wholesale and fire up the grill for a housewarming party."
"Good idea."
Evan didn't even realize he said it aloud.
Callisa shot him a predatory smile.
"Perfect chance to cash in on our little bet."
They headed back toward the display hall.
Evan fought with the strange arousal he couldn't explain.