Genesis stadium, probably the biggest and most impressive man-made construction out there. A floating city, shaped like a star... A nice place. Many people. You can hide in plain sight here. Of course, that doesn't mean I can be careless. Outside of my humble 'home' (Nothing more then a storage room with a minimal amount of furniture), I had to hide myself under my cloak. Even when I look like... this. Maimed, damaged. Not even able to breathe without some sort of contraption...

I'm starting to drift away, I needed to focus again. Here I was, in one of Genesis Stadium's many malls. It was 3 o'clock in the morning, and not a soul was here. Of course, not a soul should be here, but I needed to talk things over with my trusted accomplice, Harris.

Heh, 'trusted'. I'm not stupid, I see him eyeing the orb of flux in our laboratory. Almost hungrily, I know it's just a matter of time before he betrays me. But I won't let him get that far. That's why I'm here.

I approach the railing of the balcony. Four, maybe five stories below I could see the terrace of some restaurant or other. After a few moments I turned away. After that fall that nearly killed me and disfigured me, I grew to... dislike heights. Nothing more, I don't fear heights, heh, I don't fear anything. I'm just uncomfortable with heights, wouldn't you, after falling fifty stories? Uncomfortable, yes. But fear? Nonsense...

"You called for me, General?" Someone asked, and I saw Harris approaching me, stifling a yawn. Poor sap... both of his jobs were demanding, it was no surprise he sometimes looked as if coffee was the only thing keeping him upright.

"We need to talk." I simply said.

"And what's so important that we have to do it outside of our laboratory, and on this Ungodly hour?" Harris asked me, his lack of sleep making him bolder then normal.

"All in due time, Harris." I said, gesturing him to come closer. He warily obeyed, leaning his arms on the railing, resting his head on them, looking out over the mall. He stayed so for quite a while, probably out of it. "Enjoy the view?" I asked him, this brought him back.

"I do, actually. I like this place, it calms me." He answered. "I just wonder why you picked this place, with your... discomfort around heights."

"Trust me, there's a reason." I said to him. "Do you have anything to report, any abnormalities?"

"Not really, all is going according to your plans, General." He said.

"How about your own plans?" I asked him, he just laughed softly.

"I'm running two time-consuming jobs. I can hardly get enough time to eat and sleep, let alone have a private life." He answered.

"Oh, but I'm not talking about your private life." I told him, this made him widen his eyes, as he turned to me.

"I...I don't quite get..." He started.

"I know what you're up to. Do you really think I didn't know what you were doing at that astral port?" I told him, and I could see him back away, knowing I was onto him. "I'm not stupid, Harris. I only spared you because I needed you to manipulate that buffoon Maddox. But now, I have no use for you any more." With that I took a hold of his throat, as I turned around and slammed him against the balcony, the upper part of his body being dangerously dangling over the edge. And, as predicted (and hoped) he started begging for his life.

"Please... please... I would never betray you... I swear!" He tried, attempting to pry my metal fingers off his neck.

"Harris, when I told you that I hired you because of your deceitful tongue, I didn't mean you should use it against ME." I said, simply increasing the pressure of my hold, as well as forcing him away from the railing a few more inches. Now he could barely hold his footing, and would fall if I choose to let go. Not yet, his fearful eyes, sweaty fore-head and uncontrolled shivering were truly a delightful sight.

"Please... General..." He continued. "All-All right... I admit, I had some... thoughts about going against you... but I never planned to go trough with it, honest!"

"Honest?" I asked him.

"H-honest." He repeated. "At the astral port, I had a moment of weakness, nothing more." He laughed nervously. "I Wouldn't betray you... I need you as much as you need me." He now skipped from begging to rationalising. This made his final words so much fun to play with.

"Indeed, I need you as much as you need me." I said, carefully pulling him back.

"G-good, good." He carefully said, and I couldn't suppress a chuckle as I tightened the grip once more, one of my fingers actually digging into his neck, causing some serious bruises.

"This, of course, accounts to nothing." With that, I threw him off the ledge. I turned around, not facing the depths, but savouring the scream which ended abruptly with a large and for most people sickening thud. But this wouldn't suffice. I wanted to see his mangled body. Just... not from this height. Taking an elevator, I went down to the floor Harris was laying.

Oh...

He's still alive.

I can't say I wasn't prepared, but all in all, my own survival of a fall was nothing more then some bizarre luck, and this was slightly unexpected, and NOT according to plan, but this could be solved fairly easy. Approaching him, I inspected Harris. Both his arms and legs were laying at strange angles, most probably broken, blood was pooling from the back of his head, and a stream of blood dripping from his mouth made me suspect internal injuries. Pretty serious injuries... but if someone would find him, his chances for survival were big. A bit to big for my tastes. As I walked over to him, he noticed me and started to panic, breathing shallowly and desperately trying to move, only making himself suffer more. I carefully knelt beside him, and lifted his upper body from the floor, holding him close.

"Don't worry." I told him, as I gingerly held him. "Besides these... thoughts, your state of service to me has been nothing short of flawless. You won't be in pain for long." I saw his face, relaxing slightly because he taught I was going to save him. Poor, poor, stupid Harris. "All it takes is a little twist..." With that, I broke his neck. It was delightful to see his eyes snap open the exact moment I severed those vital vertebrae, to be forever have that look of shock and just plain 'why?' in them. "And it's all over." With that I stood up, dropping his dead body back on the floor. Mission accomplished. Looking up at the balcony, I smiled. That place was Harris' favourite spot to hang out, and could become pretty slippery after being cleaned. Just a little bit of fidgeting with footage from safety cameras, and this all would look like an unfortunate accident. And even if they suspected foul play, they wouldn't suspect someone who's considered dead. With those thoughts in mind, I left with an invisible smile on my face.

Never betray a traitor, they can see it coming from miles away.