I'll say that I'm surprised no one has asked if having an Omega's genes even as an Alpha doesn't grant that Alpha something.

But I digress. I hope this chapter is enjoyable, and I thank you for reading.

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Ok, I have to ask. ;) Does that grant that Alpha something like a longer life?

I liked the fact that this chapter made it clear that Ashley's captors/friends were cognizant of the possibility that they could of destroyed their relationship with her...But I disliked how they were also aware that said relationship was something they were willing to sacrifice on their altar of 'behavior correction'.   It at once makes things better - because they're not oblivious little ogres of authorities - and worse - because they're willing to put their job before their humanity, if only to a small (to them perhaps...) degree.   The measure of their respective characters at this point is what they do to heal the damage they've certainly, knowingly caused....perhaps the Omegas have a rehabilitation policy for the people they've already 'rehabilitated'? 

To the point of Alphas avoiding Betas to avoid the possibility of being put in an Omega's 'correction camp', I'm kinda leaning towards agreement...the cost-benefit analysis here has a pretty clear winner. If corporal punishment is the norm, even for accidents, then I'd say most people would be best served by simply removing themselves entirely from the setting where a mistake will get you tortured.  People can only be so careful, can only employ so much foresight...eventually a mistake will be made and it's a craps shoot as to what's going to happen to you when something goes sideways.   It's an even clearer decision from the perspective of a Beta: why expose yourself to an environment where you can be accidently maimed or killed? Is the payoff really worth that? I'd think that one could minimize the potential costs while maximizing the benefits by only exposing oneself to Alphas in scenarios that are strictly controlled in terms of the Alphas you're meeting at the environment you're meeting them in.  Doing this would lose some of the 'exciting' (in a fear of imminent death sense...) spontaneity/randomness, but would gain much more assured safety (for all parties involved!).  Why a beta would be walking in soccer field frequented by potential pancake machines I do not know...And no, this isn't a "she shouldn't have dressed like that!" scenario, it's a "she shouldn't have crossed the freeway on a damn bicycle!" scenario.  You can only expect the people in positions of power over you do employ so much care before the fault shifts from them to you, regardless of how imbalanced the empower may be; humans are literally only capable of devoting so much mental energy to a task such as safety/awareness, which is why "inadvertant manslaughter" can be attributed to a truck driver who runs over a toddler. 

I will definitely stay tuned to see what happens next, because at this point I'm really interested in how this universe's ethics turn out...definitely a cliffhanger for me, in a philosophical sense. 

@SpookyTaco

There's not going to be an 'ideal' system of justice for a long time (tens of millenia assuming no more Dark Ages and/or asteroid extinctions....), but as technology improves society's criminal justice system will as well.  One of the biggest things that stuck with me here is that the existence of telepathy in this particular universe has very big implications (being able to 'perfectly' determine innocence/guilt & being able to avoid the selection of poor candidates for positions of power to name two big ones) that that apply to both criminals and the authorities.  The criminals need not fear being wrongfully persecuted and treated with a level of 'punishment' outstripping their crime; the authorities can be staffed with intelligent and non-psychopathic people (I see through your act Jenna,  you little sociopath you!).   However, upon rereading some of this universes' other stories it may be that the system is set up imperfectly for a reason: the head Omega had gained power but hasn't left her human failings behind (lust for revenge, feeling the need to 'reward' powerful authorities, knowingly appointing less than ideal individuals to power, etc.), so your point about flawed people yielding a flawed system is well taken. (Though it kind of strains my suspension of disbelief when someone who can read minds still has the 'selective empathy' problem that's plagued us since caveman times...how can someone who knows what it's like to be tortured or executed ever condone such a thing when there's even the slightest possibility of being able to pursue an alternative?) .  This doesn't answer your question because it's easier to point out perceived flaws in a narrative than come up with your own, but in short an ideal justice system would improve on past failings, not replicate them to a greater degree. 

The "Jenna divides into two groups" deal wasn't meant to be taken in the 'racist' (sizeist?) sense, but in the 'tribe vs. non-tribe' sense:  Jenna seems to have that (admittedly very common... ) failing whereby she can mentally rationalize the hideous treatment of another person as long as that other person is moved out of her 'people deserving of common decency' category and into the 'non-proprietary undeserving of empathy' category.  This is an evolutionary trait that allowed humans in the ancestral environment to raid/rob/rape/kill other tribes of cavemen for resources, because that's what it took to survive at the time.  This trait is an anachronistic holdover that, IMO, has no place in the modern world.  It infuriates me when people justify terrible abuse of other people just because they've been arbitrarily classified as a 'type of person who deserves abuse'...It's the "no true Scotsman" situation taken to the sickening extreme.  That's what I meant by my "two groups" comment...the fact that someone like Jenna who's capable of visiting such horrors on a fellow human (putting aside the fact that she's mentally ill to the point where she enjoys it) is in a position of power is frankly scary as hell, because it uncomfortably reminds you that that's how things are today.

Finally, the notion that "any system devised by human is flawed because we're flawed" is one I find fatalistic and not worth spending time pondering. The time to label a system as flawed and needing improvement is after one proves itself to be broken, not before you ever make the attempt.  Saying that imperfection exists is like saying the universe will experience heat death some day - it's not something that should factor in to our future plans unless we can so something about it. We my not be able to do anything about the latter (yet!) but we can address the former by steadily removing our flaws such that our future attempts at utopia get closer an closer. One great way to do this is to learn empathy, which quite a bit of forced thinking an trial/error before it begins to stick. (Another good way is to read some philosophies other than Nietzche.....) 

"please don't take all of this as some order to stay away from Betas, to avoid them..."

Yeah, no...

I reciprocate my previous statements: were I an alpha in this universe I'd steer clear of betas.

As for this chapter, I'm glad you decided to wrap it up even if you didn't need to. Otherwise the story may have been left on a sour note that would need to be addressed later. I hope this means we can finally go back to the main story soon!

Well, first off you were right. I was pre-judging Jenna when she doesn't deserve it. I loved how this chapter turned out. It's wrapping up very nicely, and it really put Jenna in a wonderful light. You are doing an amazing job. :D

Notice how Jenna's naive demarcation of people (specifically, weaker people she has power over) into groups either deserving of her psychotic tendencies ("criminals", "monsters", "evil") or not (those arbitrarily classified as "good") perfectly justifies any sort of torture she decides to engage in....because of course, no *true* Scotsman would ever behave badly enough to warrant her attention.

How unsurprising that the same underevolved thought processes that Alphas use to victimize Betas ("my victim isn't actually a person") are the ones employed by the terribly flawed 'peacekeepers' in this broken little world. I guess all that can really be said here is that it's good that these kinds of infantile arguments are so vapid, else they might become commonly accepted. 

OH WAIT LOL

Hmm, this certainly was not what I expected from Jenna. Everything we've learned up to this point about her personality speaks of a much...crueler individual to me then this. In fact, she managed to raise my opinion of her just a bit since she is showing Ashley just how little effort is needed to hurt a Beta.

I would like to know what happened to their relationship, and I want to see how it changed. Because even though they are being easy on Ashley, they still shattered her original belief that she's their equal. And I would be very surprised if that belief ever returns. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it had the same repercussions as the ones Ashley thought of when she was thinking about that Beta boy, and how she effected his life.

"On Jenna, she received those reactions due to being frank. She herself took no pride in any of that and I was hoping it would be apparent that she really did not want to be proven right on her assertion. It's also important to note that that that lack of confidence came from the fact that she was dealing with a criminal that almost killed a dear friend of the her's, and even then she tried to impart a lesson onto Naomi that she did want the girl to take to heart."

Reader feed back time:  It doesn't read like that, at least not to me.  Obviously I don't have all the info you have, but rereading that part it sounds more like she takes for granted she's right, and there's a sense of satisfaction in being proven so.  She doesn't rub it in because she knows it pisses the other two off.  (She still manages to let how she feels slip out in front of both of them though.)

Also your readers don't know what Jenna's true intention was because she got caught off guard and had to adlib a lesson.  She's pretty much just causing Naomi pain when Claire catches her.  Keep in mind your readers had already identified with Naomi.  This is our first impression of Jenna.  It's what needs to be overcome if you want us to see her as something different. 

Aside from that encounter, we know Jenna is not athletic, likes westerns, is a sadist, second of her friends qualified to handle betas, had a sad story with a beta friend who was harmed by an alpha, practically thinks all alphas are the same and that betas should be segregated for their own safety, and is a strawberry blonde.  That's pretty much it, (not counting review responses).  This story it's been one step forward and one back for her.  Just something to consider if you want to change the perception of Jenna since the next chapter will be hers.

P.S.  I hope this doesn't sound like I'm being too harsh on your character.  I look forward to the next chapter.

Speaking honestly even though I seen the consequences story and know how this plays out. I think if the report on Ashley was false then that would create a lot of drama down the road after receiving her punishment, creating an unconfutable relationship with the sisters and gilt with Melody, Claire, and even Jenna. But after going through the 4 chapters so far I'm glad it took this direction, and it seems theres no need to torcher any of the cheracters more than already.

As for the alternate chapter if it doesn't fit the character you've already established, then it doesn't matter how well written it is and should be left out. I don't know the extent on how different it is, but if it's something you don't want collecting dust then you should use it for another characer all togerher. 

A very good chapter and further insight into Claire's character and what methods she uses to rehabilitate her charges.  I dread what Jenna has in store for her, since we now know her true character from the other story.  I don't think there's any way to get around that the relationship between the sisters WILL be changed by this ordeal.  It must be in order for the lesson to stick.  And it must be in order to maintain any kind of realism.  I think the chapter is fine the way it is.  If you must post the alternate chapter, please wait to the story's conclusion to avoid confusion and maintain story flow.

Sorry, that was a knee jerk reaction to when she called out Ashley trying to make a brake for it.