Aftermath of the "Were plague": Dealing with "Strays"

One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into Legosi from Beastars. He felt a dull pain a bit above his behind, as he lifted his head up a little, he saw the rest of his body was covered in short, light-grey fur, his feet, sticking out of the blanket became larger, it's end now more akin to a paw. Short ebony claws stuck out from his toes and the fingers on his hands, which retained their human shape. His body seemed more muscular as well, like a professional athlete's, yet, he would rather have looked like the pig he was than to be this. He dropped his head back. He must be just having a bad dream, correct? He couldn't possibly have...

"Greg! Shouldn't you be getting ready? You said you had a train to catch!" Oh gods, his mother was still home!

"Uhm, I'm not sure, mom, I really don't feel so good," he was relived that his voice stayed the same, "I think I should go to the doctor's office!"

Gregor stared at the ceiling as the events sunk in. So much for his job as a travelling agent and for his family. Now he'll be lucky to leave the ghetto once a week, the ghetto where werewolves like him are sent.

Ever since the Gods' War ended, this has become a regular occurrence. The "Were plague" isn't actually a plague, as it's already present in every living human. Becoming a werewolf is only a matter of chance.

A werewolf is a taller (185-190 cm) humanoid creature. It's head resembles that of a grey wolf, however, werewolves are noted to have distinctively human eyes. Werewolves have thicker skin and a greater ratio of type 2b muscle fibres in their arms, and pecs, while the type 2a remains dominant in the legs.

Werewolves also tend to have the same athletic body type, regardless what they used to be. Also, they have a fluffy tail, Greg felt that dull pain because he way lying on it. Genetic disorders and permanent injuries also heal completely when a person transforms, leading some to theorize that the Were plague might be a misguided super-soldier serum.

Werewolves retain their humanity, except for two occurrences:

Beast Mode: Beast mode is a defence mechanism that activates when the werewolf's health is in danger, so fighting for your life, or just getting scared half to death, or getting sick, or getting hungry. During these moments, the werewolf's human side falls into a dream like state while the Beast Mode uses its vast knowledge of wilderness survival (one more point to the Cpt. America serum theory) to solve the problem. Werewolves in Beast Mode also have access to hysterical strength, albeit they collapse and lose consciousness if they use it too much.

Blood Moon Rising: Some times, the Moon turns red. This triggers a corrupted form of Beast Mode in were creatures that causes them to attack anyone in sight that isn't the same were species. As per the System Administrator's wishes (he really blew a Wish spell on this), The Blood Moon Rising has to announce itself, one week before happening, on the Local 58, Administratorial Telepathic Broadcast Service. Basically wherever you are, you suddenly hear "ATTENTION ALL CITIZENS: BLOOD MOON IMMINENT THIS TIME NEXT WEEK! Also, Eren, stop breaking my toys!"

Werewolves in cities and larger towns usually end up in ghettos, however, in rural areas, things sometimes get even worse.

When you're surrounded by bigoted idiots, turning into a werewolf is the absolute worst that could happen, sometimes they are ostracized, sometimes they are actually attacked. The bigots usually don't understand the nature of Beast Mode, or its triggers, and end up pushing all the buttons. The clean up crew usually brings along something to read while they scrape off these dumb peasants' entrails from the ceiling.

There was also an occurrence when a sixteen or so kid turned into a werewolf and his own parents tried to kill him. They forced him into a corner and the Beast Mode triggered. Mom had her carotid and jugular slashed, daddy was torn apart limb by limb, like a morbid Ken doll. Can't imagine what that kid must have seen.

Once the threat is gone and the Beast Mode deactivates, these kids usually ran as far as they can, mostly because of guilt and because they know there's no way back, leading to the reactivation of the Beast Mode, which isn't a problem in and on itself, Beast Mode is primarily for survival. The problem comes during Blood Moon, as these kids have no way to restrain themselves during it, which can easily lead to even more dead bodies that have to be meticulously scooped up with a teaspoon.

So, how could these stray kids be collected in an efficient, fast and humane way?

While most of them don't want to fight and are more likely to run, there can still be exceptions.

Technology corresponds to what you'd have in the victorian era.

posted over 4 years ago

Mephistopheles‭

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