V12 - Chapter 143

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--- Alnus Community ---

February 7th, 2026


As Tyuule walks out of the Apex Liberty after her shift, she heads through the town of Alnus. She is heading to The Alnus Market to pick up some dinner for her and Delilah. They got these spices and recipes from their trip from Earth and want to try making it, something called a pop pie.

She has only started getting used to civilian life. Being a civilian and not a Queen or slave seems to be quieter and more peaceful than she thought. However, she does find it a bit unsettling. She wants to feel useful again, feel important, like when she was a Queen and the responsibilities that came with it.

She is surprised how well Delilah has done with her freedom. It almost seemed to come to her naturally. Maybe that was because she did not surrender like the rest of the Warrior Bunnies. She fought until the very end, escaped and now she has a new home here.

As she leaves the residential area, she passes the newly constructed public bath building. Because of the quake and the growing population, there are three such buildings scattered around. Each section is separated by males and females, guarded by the Alnus Military Police. Delilah was explaining to her the American State Department wanted to keep certain cultural practices in place to help ease the transition. And it saves resources on installing a bathing unit in each home-like in their world.

She then sees the clothes washing market. She sees mostly women and children from many different races walking around, washing, and drying clothes. Some are in robes while some are naked as they wash up. Kids running around chasing each other.

She has heard stories that the Other Worlders have these machines that wash clothes for them. She finds that strange and unnatural, wondering why they are that lazy. She remembers the talk about installing such devices here but many still preferred to do it manually.

Just like the bathhouse, she sees police standing there acting as guards. She has noticed the NATO joint policing force mostly station women to these primary female locations while male police are in male areas in the town. She understands why as they do not want to create a harassment situation. The Other Worlders see it as inappropriate for males to be around females in this manner. She wonders if they are overcompensating for something but then remembers her time in Sadera where such restrictions were limited. She respects the prioritization of female safety but still wonders if it is too much.

Right before the market, she sees the public drainage or what the Americans call the public toiletries facility. What surprised her the most is how well and efficient their engineering is. The pumping in the ground to allow all the sewage, keeping the town clean. The shiny windows on the roofs that collect sunlight for power. The water collection system to collect rainwater and send it to the water storage planet.

As she enters the Alnus Market she sees another Bunny standing there. In her arms is a bag of fruits. She has seen her before, one of Delilah friends and one of the few Warrior Bunnies in Alnus. She has seen more and more appearing in time, some joining the new Alnus Militia.

She knows they know that their Queen is here but none of them have approached her. So far only Delilah has been the only one to show her love and respect, everyone else still blames her for her surrendering to Zorzal. She does not blame them though. She should have known better to surrender to the Empire, but the alternative was genocide for her people.

The Bunny she sees is named Griine, a white hair Bunny. Delilah told her that she was one of two other Bunnies that escaped with her. The other being Parna but she surrendered and volunteered to become a slave after the fall.

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