Of Cockroaches and Synthoids
As he turned to leave the dim, musty room, a slight motion caught his eye.
He tilted his head and looked down, spotting the thing that moved.
His vision magnified 32 times as he inspected it. Its brown, smooth back, its thin, spiky legs... and its hairlike antennae curiously waving in the air—he could see all of it in perfect detail.
He looked down at it for a moment.
After a pause, the cockroach darted forward.
Without warning, he raised his foot and brought it down hard, squashing the insect.
"Zee!" he heard Ro's voice call out to him from somewhere outside the room. "Come on! Let's go!" she said.
"Coming!" he answered, as he looked up to the partially open door.
He looked down again at his foot, giving it a cold stare, and then dragged it backwards, seeing how the insect's remains stained the floor. With that action completed, he made his way out the door and into the hallway.
Ro waited for him with her arms crossed. Zee met her gaze emotionlessly.
"Well?" she asked, somewhat impatiently.
"It wasn't there," he answered.
"Then let's go already. This place is giving me the creeps," she said. "You owe me big time for dragging me here."
He looked at her, and then looked around to scan the details of the room.
Ro grinned as she tugged his arm. "Come on, tin-man. You can repay me with a big, fancy hotel room. One with a comfy, double-wide bed. And a super-sized bathtub—no narrow stand-up shower, for once."
"All right," he said, poker-faced.
She smiled and then let go of his arm as they reached the automatic door.
For a moment, Zee paused and observed the back of her head as she walked in front of him.
Her hair had grown longer in the past several months, he noted, before proceeding to follow her out the door.
o—O—o
A/N: (gasp!) Zee would never squash a bug! Something's not right...
(cue maniacal laughter) Mwahahahaha!