This was everything I’d learned, everything I knew about Gammas.“Mr. Miller’s bodyguards are all Gammas.”Alice said matter-of-factly, as if resolving my question. I asked, half-joking,“You didn’t think they might be Betas?”She answered in a flat, reluctant tone.“Well, from your appearance I figured you’d be an Alpha or an Omega. It’s rare to see a Beta as good-looking as you… Of course, I did consider there was a chance you might be a Beta.”Alice frowned almost immediately.“I did think maybe you’re gay.”I cleared my throat and steered the conversation elsewhere.“Is there any particular reason all of Miller’s bodyguards are Gammas?”I’d deliberately dropped the honorific, but Alice didn’t bat an eye.“It’s common with extreme Alphas. If they release pheromones and mutate into Omegas or go into heat, it’d be a problem. It would interfere with the job. Gammas fit the bill perfectly in that respect.”It sounded plausible. She went on.“Not that being a Gamma blocks an extreme Alpha’s pheromones a hundred percent. If an extreme Alpha really intends to let loose pheromones, there’s nothing we can do.”“Can Gammas mutate too?”As a Beta, I seldom had the chance to learn about other types—and there was no source for information on Gammas. All I knew was that, unlike the other karyotypes, one’s Gamma status was fixed at birth. I asked out of curiosity, and Alice, without any sign of offense, answered readily.“It’s rare, but yes, we can mutate. It’s not that we change because we smelled pheromones—that’s not what triggers mutation. In most cases we just detect the pheromones and that’s the end of it… But if you’re unlucky enough to actually mutate, it’s serious trouble. You Betas, if you mutated, you’d just become Omegas—but for us it means death or a halving of our lifespan. Even if you’re lucky enough to survive, most of us die in childbirth. They say a very small number of Gamma women survive it, but that’s almost miraculous. And even those are so weakened they spend years bedridden before they die—it’s the worst.”She shook her head, then added in a bored tone,“You Betas don’t really face mutation risk after you turn twenty, but Gammas, despite strong resistance to pheromones, are always at risk.”Alice inhaled her cigarette smoke with indifference.“Pretty awful, huh?”I replied just as candidly to her cynical question.“It’d be worse if the guy I defended turned out to be gay.”Alice burst out laughing. Her soft brown eyes sparkled. I almost wished I weren’t heterosexual.“How are your eyes doing?”Her question snapped me out of my brief forgetfulness of the pain in my eyes. When I tentatively let go of my hands, I still felt heat, but it wasn’t as intense as before. I blinked several times, but sadly my vision was still blurred.“I guess I won’t be driving for a while.”Her words jogged my memory.“Did that man really try to burn my eyes? With a cigarette lighter?”Alice raised an eyebrow.“Why would you think he wouldn’t?”I was momentarily speechless. When I just blinked at her, Alice dropped her spent cigarette butt to the floor and lit a fresh one.“Still, it’s rare to do something like that in public. What happened?”The phrase in public stuck in my ears—did that mean he did it all the time in private?“He just cut in front of me… When I asked if I was at fault, he suddenly tried to strangle me.”“You told Mr. Miller that?”She turned ashen and hissed like a strangled animal. I couldn’t tell whether she was terrified of Nathaniel Miller or of what he might do—but I nodded. Alice, her face drained of color, asked again.“You didn’t glare at him or anything, did you?”I didn’t answer, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° but she sighed and shook her head.“Be thankful. If we hadn’t shown up in time to stop him…”Alice crossed herself as if it were a terrible thing. Watching her, I thought perhaps she wasn’t fearing Nathaniel Miller himself, but what he might have done. A nasty curiosity struck me.“And if he had, what would’ve happened?”Alice gave me a look of utter contempt. I immediately realized what a stupid, obvious question I’d asked.“At the very least you’d be dead or blind. Isn’t that obvious?”Her reaction made me think of many things.“Has he ever burned someone’s eyes before?”She didn’t answer. I pressed again.“Has he ever killed anyone?”Alice still remained silent—but I felt I knew all the answers.How could someone like that walk the streets so confidently?The answer was simple: he was an Alpha. An extreme Alpha, at that—the top bloodline.Alphas never face punishment, no matter what crime they commit. Not even if they kill someone.Just like my own father did.I could almost hear the distant crack of gunfire in my ears.3｜The next morning, fortunately, the burning pain in my eyes had subsided. But a dull throbbing remained, and combined with a lack of sleep, every blink brought an unpleasant scratchiness.Taking a taxi to work had at least allowed me to rest my eyes in the back seat. I decided I’d buy some eye drops when I went out for lunch.“You look awful. What happened?”As soon as I appeared in the hallway, Doug spotted me and asked in surprise. I stared blankly at his face. Even exhausted, I’d rubbed myself down, paying extra attention to my neck and hands. When I woke up they were red and swollen, my eyes stung, and my face felt lumpy.“You’re ruining that pretty face.”Doug clicked his tongue and tapped my cheek lightly. I turned my head just enough to avoid his hand, then pressed a button on the vending machine to dispense a Coke.“You ready for it?”He followed me, dropped a bill into the machine, and pressed a button. I gave a tired nod as I pushed the carbonation down my dry throat. Doug popped open his can and asked,“There’s that mayor’s birthday party coming up. You going?”“When would I have time?”The trial date was fast approaching. I had to meet the witness again to confirm testimony, review evidence, and finish mountains of paperwork. Doug smirked and said, “Take it easy,” then drifted off. I sipped my Coke slowly and ran through the day’s tasks in my head. My mind felt foggy from lack of sleep.

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