Maybe you were tired. Or maybe you weren’t pushing yourself far enough. That’s the whole point of these exercises, to push yourself. Your file says you usually have an eighty-percent success rate in your sparring matches this year. Dr. Chang says that from what he’s seen before, you’re a vicious fighter, but from your work here, I’d say he’s mistaken. Your opponent can still move, and can still find a way out. You should squeeze until you are sure she’s immobilized. Whether you do that by breaking a few bones or stopping her breath, I don’t care. Do it.

She’s got good spirit, Wally. But I highly suggest you modify their training regime, and do so with your other subjects as well. In this day and age, with what we know, it doesn’t do them any good to be as soft as they are now. Or as rebellious.

They are known for their sudden bursts of strength. They are a warring race, very violent. Just because he let you go doesn’t mean anything. You work with supras, Wally, and for all their wonderful talents, they are still human. But Dr. Chang and I, we study these aliens. We know them and their cultures, inside and out, and they are still unpredictable, even to us.