What happens to a wild beast with a leash around its neck?

—Oh, wicked god, I will never submit to you!

At first, there must have been resistance. Free will—how sweet and alluring it must have sounded.

To think and act for oneself, to carve out one’s own destiny—how could anyone abandon such a treasure? So naturally, one would snarl and fight back.

Every time the leash chafed against their skin, twisting in protest, it must have left scrapes and drawn blood. But the more they struggled, the tighter the leash grew—not just around their neck, but around others as …