Operator:
Chapter One
It was all over; that child had successfully planted the Truffula seed. The world was well on its way back to normal-it would take generations, of course, but it was a step in the right direction. The Once-ler shakes his head and, unsteadily, walks back into his Lurkum. Part of him was ready to die, but the old mortal fear of death still lingered in his mind. Sitting at his kitchen table was a young woman in dark sunglasses.
"Who are you?" he asks, his voice shaky.
"Hey, man. You sure have changed over the years." she says, completely disregarding his query. "But, that's what happens to mortals, ain't it?" She wore a long, black trench-coat tied at her waist. Her black boots rest on the tabletop-her legs crossed at the ankle and her fingers laced, resting against her belly-the thumbs drumming against one another. Her long, crimson hair is tied back in a pony-tail. He couldn't place from where he had seen her, but she was so vaguely familiar to him. "Cute that you still wear your old green tux, though."
"Do I know you, Miss?" she takes off her sunglasses and Once-ler feels sick. Her whites are black as coal and her irises shine a bright yellow. Her pupils are in cat-slits. "You again? God, how long has it been?" he chuckles, shaking his head. "I'm an old man now, and you still look the exact same as you did back then." He sits down opposite to her. "I suppose you're here to kill me, right? For the crimes I committed; for my greed? Well, missy, you're a bit late. It's all well on its way to being fixed now." She shakes her head.
"That's not why I'm here, Once-ler. The Master is pleased with the way you redeemed yourself. He has sent me to do something to you that has not been done in nearly a century."
"And what's that?" the young woman rests her elbows on the table and gazes over her hands at him.
"You're an old man now, Once-ler-you said it yourself. Are you really sure you want to die? To burn in hell for your crimes?"
"But I fixed it!"
"Not good enough." She stands up and walks close to the terrified old man. "Think about it, Thneed-man; to be young again. Strong, fearless, and with all eternity at your disposal. Death, age, sickness, injury-none of it will be able to touch you anymore."
"What you're proposing is completely insane." he wanted her to leave, but his curiosity wouldn't let him. Perhaps it was senility beginning to set in, but part of him believed her.
"Is it? Look at me, Once-ler. I'm clearly not human. Hell, you remember that I used to watch you when you were Greed-ler, for fuck's sake. Don't you want it? Power, youth? Say it to me, Once-ler. Tell me you want it." he looks at his feet.
"Are...are you some sort of demon...? Would I be selling my soul to you for this?" At this, the young woman laughs out loud.
"Yes and no, man. I'm no demon-at least, not what you would recognize as a demon. All I ask-all The Master asks in return for this gift is that you spend your immortality keeping the balance of good and evil, seeing that justice is done, and serving His wishes until the end. You gotta say it, though-I can't do this if you don't out-right say that you want it." He takes a deep breath.
"Serve the greater good, keep the balance of good and evil in check, see to it that justice is upheld...live forever...be a young man again..." he looks her in the eyes, "Yes, ma'am. I agree. I want this. I want all that you promised me. I want the power. I want my youth back. I want immortality. I want to be the embodiment of justice."
"Good, now pledge yourself to The Master."
"How do I do that?"
"Sheesh, just say: "I, The Once-ler, pledge myself to the whim and will of The Master. I will see to it that His will be done to my dying breath and that all His enemies be purged from this world no matter my personal cost. If I fail to uphold my oath, He has the freedom to destroy me." Stupid sounding oath, but all you E-Classes have to take it." She bobs her head from side to side in a mocking manner as she recites the oath.
"E-Classes?"
"Just take the oath-that's not important right now, Thneed-man." He stands up, placing his hand on his heart. The young woman rolls her eyes.
"I, The Once-ler, pledge myself to the whim and will of The Master. I will see to it that His will be done to my dying breath and that all His enemies be purged from this world no matter my personal cost. If I fail to uphold my oath, He has the freedom to destroy me."
"Very good. I just need you to do one more thing."
"What's that?"
"Go to sleep." He collapses.
A while later, he awakens to find himself naked from the waist up. Blood splatters soak the wood near him and his green suit is crumpled a short distance away. The young woman stands at his window, peering out between the boards, her back to him.
"You awake, Once-ler?"
"What did you do to me?"
"Made you, what else?"
"But the blood..."
"Don't be a whiner. Go take a look at yourself in that mirror over there." she motions to a dusty mirror propped up in the corner. He shakily walks over to the filthy old mirror. Wiping away the years of dust, he is startled by what he sees. His face is soft, no wrinkle to be found. His hair has returned to its deep ebony shade and a youthful innocence has returned to his blue eyes. He still has a tangle of a mustache on his face, but the hairs are as raven as the hairs on his head. His chest and abdomen are toned, as well as his arms.
"It...it really worked. I'm young again. I'm young again!"
"Fuckin' told your ass," she smirks. "Go shave your face. That 'stache looks bad on you." He nods and runs up the stairs. While he shaves, she collects his suit, sops up a bit of the blood with an errant thneed and casts it aside. Neatly, she lays his suit out on the table and collects his axe, propping it against the table. He comes down stairs-fresh from a shower and a shave, still drying his hair with a towel.
"I can see why you got my suit, but the axe?"
"How else are you going to uphold justice; saying: "pretty please, could you perhaps not be such a douche-bag and perhaps be a little nicer, if it's not too much trouble?" Fat chance."
"What's your weapon, then?" he asks, dressing in his snazzy suit. The young woman smirks and draws a long, black metal and chestnut wood pistol from the depths of her coat. Firing once, she blows a massive hole in his kitchen wall. He turns his head, looking out the window-sized hole, shocked.
"I call her "Debbie". No mortal can handle her. Master had her made just for me." she grins.
"Well, your gun's name is Debbie, what's yours?"
"They call me Number 38." she holsters "Debbie" and turns back to Once-ler. "Slim-Jim, I'm gonna have to Blink you to HQ, now. I'm gonna warn you, the first time is a real bitch, especially for you E-Classes. You may piss yourself, you may puke."
"That sounds nice." She snickers.
"Ready?"
"As ready as I'm gonna be." Once-ler shrugs. 38 places her hand, gingerly, on his shoulder and an instant later, the two of them find themselves in a strange, new place. Many people, some clad in some of the most garish outfits Once-ler has ever seen, roam the halls. Almost all of them have outlandish, awkward weapons and a few of them stop to look at him for a moment. All of them have the same eyes as 38.
"Don't worry about them; you're only the sixth E-Class to be made in about 600 years. They don't see a lot of ex-humans in here very often." she whispers.
"What are we supposed to be doing here?" he asks. "Are we going to meet The Master?"
"No one meets The Master. His countenance is far too much for any of us; Natural or E-Class. Plus, He already knows all about you. Instead, we're going to go talk to Granny 95."
"Granny 95?" he asks.
"She's the den-mother, of sorts. She looks like everyone's grandmother ever, but don't let that fool you. She's killed more than most of us combined." Once-ler gulps, not so certain he wants to meet someone with such a high body-count. "Don't tell me you're scared. She's the nicest old bag ever...as long as you don't piss her off." He looks over at 38. He is beginning to think that this was a big mistake. "Just chill out and you'll be fine. Really." she takes him by the wrist and walks him along a long, blindingly-white corridor. At every few feet, an off-white door rests in the wall.
"What's in those rooms?"
"Most of 'em are dorms. The Master handles most things, and what He doesn't Granny 95 and Heals handle. Granny's quarters are at the end of this hall, and Heals' door is just up ahead. Mine was a couple doors back, and your room will be right next to mine. They'll add the "E-6" on there later." Once-ler can see the slightest hint of grey smoke and faint punk rock coming out from a door just past 54's door.
"Who's in there?"
"That's Dem and Chem-7 and 8. 8 doesn't say much, but she loves her chemical weapons and her music. 7, though, she's the one you have to look out for. Mouth on that one." He makes a mental note of this and follows 38 down the monochrome hallway until the two of them reach a door with the number "95" screwed to it on a plaque. "This'll be her." 38 knocks and a moment later, an elderly woman clad in pale pink with her white hair held back in a pastel pink headband answers the door. A pink lotus pin rests on the front of her shawl.
"Oh, hello, 38!" she says. Her voice is cheerful, and instantly puts him at ease. "So nice to see you again. I trust Debbie is working out just fine. You know, Gears put so much work into that gun for you." Finally, she takes notice of the lanky, green-clad man standing next to 38. "You must be E-6. My, you are just the cutest little thing!" she pinches his cheek.
"That's enough of that, Nine-Dee-Five. I didn't bring E-6 here for you to fawn over him. He needs orientation, and you're the one for it. Tell him what he can expect of himself, the things he can do now. Imma go take his axe to Gears; see what he can do with it."
"Right-o. I'll get right on that; wouldn't want to keep the busy Number 38 from her duties." she says, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I'll drop back by here when I'm done with Gears, Once-ler." 38 says to a worried, wide-eyed Once-ler.
Once 38 has left, 95 turns to him, grinning.
"So, what all has 38 told you, E-6?" she asks, her voice much more cheerful than it need ever be.
"She told me that I'm immortal, now. She said that I have to serve someone called The Master, and I have to serve as an agent of justice." he says, sheepishly.
"Just that? Goodness, sweety. There is so much for you to learn." she claps her hands and stands up. "You no longer have to eat, sleep, drink-any of that. You won't get sick or tired, and you're much stronger now than you ever were as a mortal man." She crosses her arms. "I think that's it-if I missed anything, I'm sure Thirty-eight will tell you; you are her Bairn, after all."
"Bairn?"
"Yes. You are her Bairn and she is your Progenitor." Without elaborating further, 95 gets uncomfortably close to him. "I've got something pretty for you!" she says in a sing-song voice. Reaching to her desk, she produces a black metal box with steel hinges and a steel clasp. "This will make you really one of us, cutey-pie." She hands it to him. Looking the cold, metal box over for a second, Once-ler opens it. Inside, it is lined with black velvet, a black metal collar with "E-6" engraved into the side. "It's your collar, E-6. See? It even has your name on it!" Her grin stretches to impossible lengths and Once-ler tries to hide his discomfort. He tries to hide his anxiety and reaches his gloved hands into the box, the coldness of the collar cutting through the thick cloth. He raises it, unsteadily, to his neck and with an audible snap, it fastens itself, permanently, to his neck.
Meanwhile, 38 walks, without knocking, into 33's quarters. The room is dark with fiber-optic lights illuminating the room. Several computers hum around the walls and a strange, unidentifiable machine sits in the corner of the room. A young man wearing a orange cargo shorts and round eye-glasses sits, fiddling about with some sort of electronic component that 38 didn't recognize. A small robot buzzes around his head, "beeping" and "booping" periodically.
"Hey, Gears. I have an axe for you to grind." she says, smirking. The brown-haired man turns to face her, a bemused look on his face.
"That was terrible, 38. Never attempt humor again." His eyes fall to the rusted axe in her hand. "That E-6's weapon?"
"Yup."
"Can't I just make him something nice-a gun, an energy weapon, something a bit more exotic? An axe is so passe."
"Nah. Master says that this is his weapon. Some sort of symbolism behind it-I don't follow, nor do I care. Just get rid of the rust, sharpen it, and shore up the haft." 33 scowls and 38 rolls her eyes. "Please?"
"There we go, 38. Not so hard to be polite, now is it? Hand it over." She hands him the aged axe and starts to leave the room. "Come back in a couple of hours and I'll have it as good as new."
"Sure." she says as she walks out the door.
By the time 38 returns to 95's room, Once-ler is delighted to see her. The two of them leave for the courtyard.
"So, how'd you like Ol' Granny?" she asks, a wry smile crossing her lips.
"She's...not what I expected, to say the least." He looks over at 38. "What the hell is a Bairn?"
"You. Specifically, you are my Bairn. A Bairn is what a Natural Operator like myself calls the E-Class that they made. You'd call me your Progenitor, but don't. 38 is fine with me, and I'll prefer calling you E-6."
"How about just calling me Once-ler?"
"We'll see." The two of them round the corner and enter one of the four training chambers in the courtyard. "Stay right here." she says. Taking a piece of side-walk chalk, she walks to the other end of the divider and marks a red circle about twice the diameter of his body. "I'm gonna teach you how to Blink, E-6."
"How?" She walks over to him.
"I want you to stare at that red circle. Focus on it until everything else fades away. Clear your mind of everything but that red circle. Once you've focused on it enough, close your eyes, think "red circle", and bam! Blink!"
"That's it?"
"Yup." She walks a short distance from him and sits down on the dirt. "Just getting a little space in case something happens." she calls. Taking a deep breath, he stares at the red circle, focusing on it and ignoring everything else in that chamber. Everything else fades from his perception. He can hear nothing and see nothing but that little red circle drawn into the dirt. He begins to tingle all over and shuts his eyes, tight.
"Red circle." He opens his eyes to find himself standing in the exact same spot he was before.
"Boo! That sucked! Try again, Thneed-boy!" He scowls at her and tries again. Once again, everything fades away from him.
"Red circle. Red circle. Red circle. Red circle. Red circle. Red circle." Again, nothing.
"C'mon, man! This is easy shit! It's not like I'm having you Blink to the other side of the fuckin' compound! It's just 10 feet away!"
"Shut up!" he cries out. He is really becoming frustrated, and her constant insults were not helping him at all. "I've got to do it this time. I can't stand to hear her insult me one more time." He takes a deep breath and centers all his focus on that single point. "Red circle. Red circle. Red circle! RED CIRCLE! RED! CIRCLE!" he Blinks, but just a couple of feet. 38 falls over, laughing.
"Oh, shit, I'm sorry, E-6, that was just so funny! You looked like you were going to fucking explode!" she falls back into fits of laughter. "If it's that hard for you, try saying "red circle" and see how that works." He sighs, getting more and more pissed off. After calming himself down with a few deep breaths, he tries again, this time, completely ignoring 38, who was still giggling from time to time. He shuts his eyes and all vanishes except for the red circle. He feels cold and a calmness like none he had ever felt washes over him.
"Red Circle..." he says, his voice monotone. A moment later, he opens his eyes to find himself standing in the dead center of the circle. A smile courses up his face and he can't help but cheer.
"Hey! Good job! You Blinked 10 feet! It's a good start, but you'll have to practice if you want to actually be able to do this worth a shit." He pouts. She can't even let him have this small victory. "C'mon, let's walk and talk." Try as he might, he can't be mad at her. Already, the urge he had to kill her only moments ago had faded completely and he was ready to listen to anything and everything she had to tell him. Is this what it meant to be her Bairn? "I know I told you that you and all other Operators are immortal, but that isn't entirely true." she says.
"Really? What'll kill me, then?"
"Feeling suicidal?"
"No, just curious." 38 stops and he stops beside her. A serious look comes over her normally smug face.
"There are only two things, and two things only, that will kill us. The first is for us to bleed out every last drop of blood in our bodies. The other," she extends her right index finger and touches the left side of his chest. "The heart. Our heads can be cut off, we can be torn in half, our limbs can be removed, we can be cut to ribbons-as long as our heart is intact, we will regenerate. Hell, even if our heart is removed, if it is put back in, we'll live. However, if our heart is destroyed, we will die." she flattens her hand against his chest and looks into his eyes. "At all costs, Once-ler, you must guard your heart. Let no one cut it from you, let no one crush it. To do so is to die." Breaking the tension, 38 glances up at the clock overlooking the courtyard. "Hell, it's time to go back to 33. C'mon, you need to meet Gears!"
"It's all ready, 38! Sharp, shiny, and strong, just like you asked!" the bespectacled young man says. He hands 38 the axe.
"Ain't mine, bro." she says, motioning to Once-ler. "Give it to him." Scooter zips around 33's head, beeping, as if to reprimand him.
"I know, Scoots, jeeze."
"You can understand that thing?" Once-ler asks. The little robot makes a loud, screeching noise and retreats to a dark corner of 33's quarters.
"Watch what you say. Robot or not, Scooter is really sensitive, E-6."
"Oh. Sorry." he takes the axe from the nerdy-fellow.
"Well, give it a swing-just not near my computers, 'kay? Thanks." He grips the haft of his axe firmly, tightening his hands against the wood. Bringing it in an arc above his head, he brings it down in a diagonal swipe. The blade is so sharp, and the slash is so fast that he can hear the air splitting around the head.
"Nice." he says. He turns to 38. "Hey, Thirty-eight, can we go test it out? I want to see it in action!" 38 grins.
"Sure thing. Come on-I'd like to see how you fight." They leave for the training grounds.
The two of them arrive in the second training quadrant to see a man in a beige trench coat with blond hair carrying a gun similar to 38's. Next to him stands a dark-haired young woman in a skin-tight black-leather costume. She holds two black metal tessen-war-fans.
"Oh ho ho, look at you!" she says, her brown eyes fix on Once-ler. "Aren't you a sexy little fucker?" He blushes and his mouth twists into an uncomfortable sneer. "Like to get you out of that green suit of yours and see what kind of body you have under that. Mmmhmm." She leers at him. "My name is Tsukiko Matsumoto, what's yours, hotty?" She brings her eyes up and down Once-ler's body; starting at his feet, working up to his eyes, then back down, finally settling at his groin.
"E-5, shut up." the blond man says.
"I'm not hurting anyone, Twenty-four! Look at him, you know he's gotta be used to this!" She turns back to him, still eyeing his crotch. "So what is it? What am I going to be screaming later; what do they call you?"
"Once-Once-ler." he stammers. The way that woman looks at him, the hunger and lust in her eyes, makes him feel naked and uneasy.
"Why "once" twice? Like some sort of joke?" she chuckles. "With a wonky name like that, you must have a big ol' dick to back it up, am I right? How big is it? Lemme see." She starts to reach for his pants and he lunges back. He can't believe this! A look of anger crosses 38's face.
"I think you should shut your whore-mouth, E-5." 38's draws "Debbie" from within the depths of her coat-a shoulder-holster-and holds it down, but in Tsukiko's view.
"Pssht, whatever. I'm going." She turns back to Once-ler. "You know, 38 has mannequin anatomy under that like all the rest of the Naturals. If you get tired of Big Red and her bullshit, come see me. I'll leave you raw." she winks and disappears down the hall a short distance behind the blond man.
"Who the hell were they?" He asks, still rather humiliated.
"That's 24 and his partner, E-5-Tsukiko. Stay away from her, she's a skank and...well, let's just say if she wants you, she'll have you whether you want her or not."
"Oh, boy. Goody." He says, his voice flat.
"Don't let her get you down. She's just a dumb slut." 38 smiles. "Now let's do what we came here to do!" striking the heel of her boot against a small button, a group of autonomous targets raise from hidden chambers in the dirt. "You take the ones to the right, I'll take the ones to the left." She draws "Debbie" and Once-ler unfastens his axe from his back. Some wield guns, others wield swords. After about a half hour, Once-ler and 38 have destroyed every last Training Drone in that quadrant. Scraps of black metal lay in hunks against the dirt floor, sparks flying from their ruined husks. "Good work here today, Once-ler. I think you've earned some rest."
"95 told me that I don't need to sleep any more." 38 shrugs.
"You don't need to sleep, but it's still nice to sleep. Can't speak for you, but I'm gonna go grab a shower and chill out for the night. I suggest you do the same."
"Sure."
He walks through the white corridor and stops at his door, "E-6" engraved on a plaque on the door. A thought crosses his mind.
"Inside the room. Inside the room. Inside the room." He shuts his eyes and tries to imagine the inside of his quarters. "Inside the room." he says. Opening his eyes, he finds himself inside of his quarters. "Woo hoo!" he cheers. "I did it! I Blinked my way in! I just wish 38 could have seen that." He finds that he doesn't feel as sick or disoriented as he did last time he Blinked. He looks about his quarters: Blue striped wall-paper, light wood floors, and grey curtains hang over false windows. A brass-frame bed rests, caddy-cornered and decked out with blue bedding. A dark wood chest of drawers and desk rest against opposite walls with a high-backed, red-upholstered chair pushed into the desk. A pair of metal hooks hang on one wall. A dark wood door sits in between the drawers and desk. Paintings of Truffula trees hang on the walls in gilded frames and small photos of his family rest on his desk. He goes over to the false windows and hangs his axe on the hooks resting above the largest one. The scene depicted in the window changes from a brightly lit country-side to a star-lit night sky. Once-ler cocks his head to the side. "I wonder what 38's quarters looks like? Probably all black with guns everywhere." He walks into the bathroom, slips out of his suit and into a hot shower. Dressing in an exact replica of his blue bunny pajamas, he decides to sleep.
The next morning, Once-ler awakes to see 38 sitting on his bed, cleaning her gun. Without looking at him or stopping what she's doing, she says:
"The Master's got a job for us to do. Get dressed, grab your axe, and let's go." He sits in the bed, staring at 38. "What?" she says, just as she finishes cleaning and polishing her gun.
"...Please leave the room so I can get dressed." 38 snorts and snaps up off the bed, quickly holstering her gun.
"Whatever." She Blinks out of his room. Once-ler gets dressed in his green suit, but leaves his sunglasses and top-hat, thinking they'd get in the way. Grabbing his axe, he Blinks out of the room. "That was quick." 38 says, "Looks like you're getting better at this, Sixers."
"What's our job?" She smiles.
"Oh, it's a good 'un! You'll love it! There's this drug-cartel asshole holed up in his compound. We're gonna go there and wipe 'em all out!"
"We have to kill everyone?"
"Yep!" 38 was way too happy about this. "C'mon, I know where it is, and I don't trust you to Blink over long distances". She grabs his arm and the two of them Blink into a deep jungle. A tall, tan-skinned man wearing dark camo pants, heavy boots and gloves, and a bandoleer across his chest stands there, minigun in grasped in his huge arms. He was nearly 8 feet tall and he was twice as wide as a normal man, his arms as thick as both Once-ler and Thirty-eight combined. A brown-green bandana is tied to his shaved head.
"Who's the meat?" he asks, gazing at Once-ler, his black and gold eyes half-lidded.
"E-6, my new partner." she turns to him. "E-6, this is Four-dee-four. We like to call him Minigun." Unsure of what to do, his bows.
"Pleased to meet you, Number Forty-Four."
"Minigun."
"Huh?"
"Just call me Minigun, meat." He looks over at 38. "You ready, Thirty-eight?" She smiles and unholsters Debbie.
"Fuck yeah, Minigun." The three of them head west through the thick jungle, 44 and 38 making Once-ler lead the way, cutting down the thick brambles in their way with his axe.
"Why couldn't we just Blink directly to the compound? Why walk all this way through all," he slices through a particularly thick vine, "this?" He turns to the Naturals, both of them grinning.
"We're here." 44 says. 38 giggles like a little girl.
"Hell yeah! Goin' in guns a-blazin', just like old times, huh, Four-Dee-Four!" Once-ler feels like he's going to puke. 38 pats him on the back. Hard. "Don't worry, E-6, it'll be so much fun! Just remember what I told you about your heart, alright?" 44 and 38 dive into the middle of the compound, firing as they fall. Blood splatters, people are blown in half, heads explode. Through the din, he can make out 38's laughter.
"What kind of monster is she...? These are people-sure they're bad men, but she's enjoying this way too much..." He notices 38 looking up at him as she shoots a couple other people.
"What are you waiting for? Get your scrawny ass down here and start fucking shit up! Hack 'em up with your axe!" Reluctantly, Once-ler Blinks down into the compound and, with his hands shaking and bile working its way up his throat, slices a man's head off, blood spraying onto his green suit. "Good! Now, keep going!" 38 says, changing Debbie's clip and firing into a group across a small garden. It pains him to do this, but he continues cutting through more of those men, taking massive fire as he does. The bullets sting, but they won't-can't-kill him. As he slices one man in half vertically, a smile crosses his lips.
"Wait...did I just enjoy that? What the hell?...I don't like this..."
"I'll finish up out here, meat. The big wig is holed up inside his mansion with a few guards. You and Thirty-eight get in there and kill them." 44 says, turning his minigun on a group of men. Once-ler nods and runs to the front door of the mansion.
As he crosses the threshold, he feels a gun against his head. He freezes as he hears a man shout something in a language he couldn't understand. There is a loud gunshot, and the man falls. 38 strolls up beside him.
"Really, dude? You couldn't have just swung your axe and sliced the fuck in half? Even if he did pull the trigger, it wouldn't have done shit. Imagine, he'd shit his pants once he saw that."
"I-I'm sorry, 38."
"Don't let it happen again, E-6. Else-wise, I'm gonna have to kick your ass." she says as the two of them walk in.
Doors fling open and a group of 20 men step into the hallway. They train their AK-47s on the tall man and woman. 38 smirks and blows a bubble-Once-ler not sure where she even got the gum. The men open fire and he takes shelter behind a lowboy. 38 just stands there, emptying round after round into her attackers. One of them runs, sobbing. 38 grabs Once-ler by the arm and jerks him down the hallway with her, grumbling about him being a "shit-bird" and a "pansy-ass". She kicks down a closet door and finds the one remaining guard-a boy. He couldn't have been more than 14 years old. He holds his hands up, blubbering in what sounded like Khmer. 38 scowls at the boy and raises her gun.
"Stop!" Once-ler grabs 38's right arm, pulling her gun down. "Don't kill him! He's just a kid!" 38 elbows him in the face, knocking him down. Before he can get back up, she fires one shot into the boy's head, nearly blowing it completely off. "No! Thirty-eight!" He can't believe this-he was just a kid! 38 glares at him and, roughly, she takes him by the collar. She jerks him to his feet and pulls him close to her face.
"You listen to me, Once-ler, our orders were to kill everyone here. That means men, women-anybody-they are our targets under the Master's supreme judgment. We are weapons of blind, cold, indiscriminate justice, you hear me?"
"...he was just a little boy..."
"He was a target."
"He was trying to surrender to us!" 38 back-hands him across the face, hard enough to knock him from her grip and to the floor.
"You really are useless. Wait in this closet with the dead kid. I'll take care of Samnang Nimol my damn self. I'll be back when his brains paint the walls of his office." she smiles, her anger and disappointment towards Once-ler vanishing at the thought of killing again. She skips down the hall, giddy.
She reaches a pair of huge, mahogany doors with brass handles. Inside, she can hear someone muttering to themselves, panic in their voice. She draws her gun and blows the door open to find it empty.
"You're shit at hiding, Samnang. I could hear you through the door." A lean, dark haired man steps out from behind a bookshelf, smiling.
"You really think that those were my best men, whore?" he says, his thick accent obscuring the sentence. 38 hears someone drop down behind her, but before she can raise her gun to shoot them, an axe slices through the black suited person. As the blood-spray stops, Once-ler stands there, splattered with blood. 38 smiles at him and, without even looking at Samnang, shoots him in the back of the head as he tries to crawl out the window.
"Good work, Sixers." she says, patting him on the back. "I take it back; you're not useless-but you need to grow a damn pair and learn to kill who you are told to kill." The two of them hear heavy boots plodding down the hall and see 44 walking towards them, his minigun slung over his massive shoulder.
"Samnang dead?"
"Yup." 44 Notices the troubled look on Once-ler's face.
"What's meat's problem?" 38 looks over at him for a moment.
"It's nothing. He'll get over it." her voice drops, addressing Once-ler himself: "Won't you, E-6?"
"Yes, 38." He nods. The three of them Blink back to HQ, their mission finished.
