- Papa! Please stop! She's in pain! - Toby cried out with tears in his eyes and sobbed. Tord, hearing Toby begin to cry, turned to him:

- You cry? - he asked his son coldly. Toby was scared. He was afraid to turn his head towards his father.

- Answer me, soldier! - yelled Tord, forcing his son to raise his head a little:

- Y-yes, I'm crying ... - Toby said barely audibly, and Tord hit him hard in the face:

- Look into my eyes when I talk to you! - Tord did not let up. Toby looked at his father with his grey-blue eyes into his red ones. Tord saw his son trembling, and he did not like it:

- Now remember once and for all, Tobyas Larkson. Soldiers don't cry. Never. No matter what happens, you mustn't cry! Tears are a sign of weakness! And you are the next Leader, and you allow yourself to cry over some kind of bioweapon, which is not worthy of it at all! What if you cried in public? That would be a shame! You're already four years old, and if you don't learn to cry now.... You never will!

Hit. Another hit. Again hit. Lots of hits. Toby looked at his father in fear. He never thought that it was his Papa who once loved him.

- Papa... Please... Stop... It hurts... - the boy whispered, realizing that this would not stop his father. He just wanted to protect the one he thought was his mother.... Toby didn't have a mother since birth... He was told that his mother died in childbirth. And no one ever talked about her. Toby felt wrong among his friends. Ethan, Max, Theo, Esmeralda and Malcolm all had mothers, except Toby. Toby was a black sheep among other children, but they treated him with understanding. Yes, and at home he had those whom he could trust. The first was Beth, his nanny and friend of his mother. As soon as she learned about the death of Anastasia, she took this position, and was always with Toby. She fed him from a baby bottle with milk, swaddled him, changed diapers, and sang a lullaby to make him fall asleep and stop crying. Beth didn't become Toby's mother, but she became like an older sister to him. The second person Toby could trust at home was not a human, but a bioweapon, but... Not quite ordinary, as it turned out later, so Toby believed that she was just an obedient pink monster. From the stories of his father, Toby learned that he was referred to her, even when he was a baby. Then he saw her for the first time, but at first he was afraid of her, and wept, but then he calmed down and calmly lay with her. And Toby got so used to it that when he said his first word (which was "Mama"), he went to her and started calling her "Mama". It was also influenced by the fact that Mama was always gentle to Toby, and did not lift her paw on him, but he never understood why. And the thing is that this pink monster, whom Toby calls "Mama", is his real mother, Annya Volkova, who Tord turned into a bioweapon that can be kept as a pet. But Toby didn't know about it, he has yet to find out, and how it will be is still unclear.

Finally Tord stopped, but roughly took Toby's hand:

- Let's go, Tobyas. - he dragged him into the laboratory room, where various bioweapons were tested. Toby asked:

- Papa, why are we here?

Tord chuckled.

-Oh, Tobyas.- He ruffled the boy's hair. - You wanted to see how our monsters fight? This is exactly what we're here for.

There are two monsters here. One was very aggressive, and the other... Nervous. Looking closer, Toby saw that it was ... Mama ...

- M-mama?- Toby whispered fearfully.

- Yes. She didn't behave properly, and this is her punishment. - said Tord coldly. - Same as for you. Since you allow yourself to be "soft", then I have to make you look at how the one you love so much will suffer. And just try to cry!- he added.

For the entire time, Toby had to watch as Mama was almost killed. As his father watched his reaction closely, Toby did his best to keep from crying. Finally, the testing was over, and Tord gave the order to take Anya away and start giving her first aid. He let Toby go too.

*Some kind of timeskip*

- Hello, Mama... - Toby came to visit her. Annya lay, covering her muzzle with her tail. Toby stepped closer to her.

-... I'm so lonely... Even though I have friends, a father, a nanny, I'm definitely missing something... What I don't have is... Mom... I don't have a mother ... She died after my birth... If only I had a mother... She would never let me offend my father... And I would love her very much... But... She is dead . And the dead... Never come back... - Toby hugged his knees and took a deep breath to keep from crying. He did it. Annya looked at him. She saw that it was hard for him, but she was no longer able to speak, so she sighed softly and began to cry. She was crying from the hopelessness she was in. She couldn't kill Tord even if she wanted to. And if she tries, Tord will kill her.

Toby chuckled.

- They say... You shouldn't keep tears in yourself... After all, tears... Distinguish us humans from animals... Even you, Mama, can cry... But I can't... I'm a soldier. Soldiers don't cry. Never. Whatever happens, soldiers do not cry... But if tears distinguish us from animals, then it turns out that soldiers are animals... Like dad... And since you, Mama, cry, it means... You, too, once upon a time was a human... Who are you?- Toby asked. Annya turned away. She really wanted to talk about herself, but she couldn't. Annya is unable to speak, nor is she able to revert to human form.

Realizing that Mama would not say anything, Toby continued:

- I will never cry again. I will never cry ... Never .... - but the tears took their toll, and Toby curled up in a ball and began to cry. It was hard for him. It's hard to be the Red Leader's heir. It became unbearable for him. And with such rules it will be even worse for him. Toby couldn't accept it. Soldiers don't cry