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[POV: Lieutenant]

The first time I witnessed my leader's deep belief in our cause was also the first time I witnessed how cold and unflinching he could be.
Our men had caught a child, a little girl who had tried to infiltrate our headquarters in order to free her mother, held captive in one of our cells. I don't remember why we'd kept that woman there -- perhaps we wanted to extract information from her. I was told what had happened, and asked what should be done with the child, whether she should be released or not. She was a bender.
I decided that I should consult with Amon. He was in our conference room, staring out the dirty window that faced a wall.
"Forgive me for intruding, sir. I... It seems our people have caught an intruder. A little girl, trying to get to her mother, one of our anti-equalist captives. We were wondering how we should proceed with her."
"A bender?" he asked without turning around.
"Yes," I answered, respectfully putting my arms behind my back and waiting for his orders.
"Bring her to me."
I did as I was told and had two men fetch her. When they brought her, I was surprised at how young she was. No more that seven years old. Long, brown hair, hazel eyes, a charmless face with no distinctive features. She was all tied up, an indication that she'd been difficult to handle. Benders are vicious creatures, no matter their age or apparent fragility.
My leader finally turned to face us. He gazed at the girl and lowered himself to her level, putting one knee on the floor.
"What is your name, my child?"
"Lai," she whispered, with false confidence in her voice.
"And what element do you bend, Lai?"
"Earth."
"Earth. You manipulate the earth. Does this element not do enough for you, Lai? Does it not feed you from its crops when you are hungry? Does it not save you from the waters when you are drowning? And does it not hold your house upon its back and let you marvel at the flowers it allows to grow in the greatest of fields as in the smallest of pots? My poor child, what gives you the right to move it and shape it according to your own will? What gives you the right to trifle with it as you do? To use it as a toy, as you do? If there is no mountain, it is not for you to create one. If you want to be truly connected to this element, you must learn to value it as it exists."
Amon gently stroked the girl's cheek and rested his hand on her forehead and looked her straight in the eyes. He asked us to bring him her mother, and we did. I held her back as she watched what followed.
"Lai, I will give you back the innocence that was stripped away from you when your mother first allowed you to bend. You will not regret your bending, because it is a disease that has made you impure. As impure as was your own mother, standing there, now cleansed of her sickness. You've been lead here by arrogance, arrogance caused by your bending, which made you believe it was alright for a child of your age to expose herself to danger as you just did. This will not do. You will return to the innocence with which non-benders are born. You will be given that innocence. And you will not grow to torment other people, like so many benders do. You will be given the chance to remain as white as snow."
I did not know then what I know now. I did not know that he used hypnosis on her to ease the shock that she would receive.
"No! Please, I beg of you! No! Have... have you no mercy?"
The mother's cries echoed throughout the room and she became so agitated that I almost lost my grip on her.
"It is because I feel mercy that I am doing this," Amon said to her as he grabbed the girl by the back of the neck, placed his thumb on her forehead, and promptly equalized her.
I let the mother fall to her knees. She began to sob uncontrollably, and Amon said we should bring her back to her cell and release the child. The two equalists who had brought the prisoners seemed horrified. I confess that my feelings were not so different from theirs. They, we did not understand. Why equalize a child? We had much to learn.
Oh, what a glorious leader we had. His love for purity and for equality transcended everything. He was cruel, yet he was kind. He was merciless, yet he was compassionate. He should have received that woman's gratitude, but all he received was her hate.

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Description

[POV: Lieutenant]

The first time I witnessed my leader's deep belief in our cause was also the first time I witnessed how cold and unflinching he could be.
Our men had caught a child, a little girl who had tried to infiltrate our headquarters in order to free her mother, held captive in one of our cells. I don't remember why we'd kept that woman there -- perhaps we wanted to extract information from her. I was told what had happened, and asked what should be done with the child, whether she should be released or not. She was a bender.
I decided that I should consult with Amon. He was in our conference room, staring out the dirty window that faced a wall.
"Forgive me for intruding, sir. I... It seems our people have caught an intruder. A little girl, trying to get to her mother, one of our anti-equalist captives. We were wondering how we should proceed with her."
"A bender?" he asked without turning around.
"Yes," I answered, respectfully putting my arms behind my back and waiting for his orders.
"Bring her to me."
I did as I was told and had two men fetch her. When they brought her, I was surprised at how young she was. No more that seven years old. Long, brown hair, hazel eyes, a charmless face with no distinctive features. She was all tied up, an indication that she'd been difficult to handle. Benders are vicious creatures, no matter their age or apparent fragility.
My leader finally turned to face us. He gazed at the girl and lowered himself to her level, putting one knee on the floor.
"What is your name, my child?"
"Lai," she whispered, with false confidence in her voice.
"And what element do you bend, Lai?"
"Earth."
"Earth. You manipulate the earth. Does this element not do enough for you, Lai? Does it not feed you from its crops when you are hungry? Does it not save you from the waters when you are drowning? And does it not hold your house upon its back and let you marvel at the flowers it allows to grow in the greatest of fields as in the smallest of pots? My poor child, what gives you the right to move it and shape it according to your own will? What gives you the right to trifle with it as you do? To use it as a toy, as you do? If there is no mountain, it is not for you to create one. If you want to be truly connected to this element, you must learn to value it as it exists."
Amon gently stroked the girl's cheek and rested his hand on her forehead and looked her straight in the eyes. He asked us to bring him her mother, and we did. I held her back as she watched what followed.
"Lai, I will give you back the innocence that was stripped away from you when your mother first allowed you to bend. You will not regret your bending, because it is a disease that has made you impure. As impure as was your own mother, standing there, now cleansed of her sickness. You've been lead here by arrogance, arrogance caused by your bending, which made you believe it was alright for a child of your age to expose herself to danger as you just did. This will not do. You will return to the innocence with which non-benders are born. You will be given that innocence. And you will not grow to torment other people, like so many benders do. You will be given the chance to remain as white as snow."
I did not know then what I know now. I did not know that he used hypnosis on her to ease the shock that she would receive.
"No! Please, I beg of you! No! Have... have you no mercy?"
The mother's cries echoed throughout the room and she became so agitated that I almost lost my grip on her.
"It is because I feel mercy that I am doing this," Amon said to her as he grabbed the girl by the back of the neck, placed his thumb on her forehead, and promptly equalized her.
I let the mother fall to her knees. She began to sob uncontrollably, and Amon said we should bring her back to her cell and release the child. The two equalists who had brought the prisoners seemed horrified. I confess that my feelings were not so different from theirs. They, we did not understand. Why equalize a child? We had much to learn.
Oh, what a glorious leader we had. His love for purity and for equality transcended everything. He was cruel, yet he was kind. He was merciless, yet he was compassionate. He should have received that woman's gratitude, but all he received was her hate.

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