Part of the program that had begun running two years ago screamed
this was wrong. That holding a man by his wrist, on the top of twenty
story building, letting his joints separate and ignoring his shouts of
pain, was wrong. But right now, that program was the farthest from his
CPU.
And right now, he liked the control over this scum's life. He may not be able control his fate, but he could control this worm's. ------
"L-look! Man, I have no idea who you're talking about! Lemme down!" He was a minor gang lord around here. But he had connection.
"Yes you do. You have a liking for young girls. You even served two years for an assault charge five years ago. That alone makes you quite a good candidate for." Zeta, who's face had been a mask of indifference, let a corner of his mouth curve, "'Street Pizza,' as you said."
The wind began to pick up, blowing through non-existent raven hair and the black coat. The gang lord cried out, both in pain and defeat. "L- look, yeah, so maybe my boys picked her up for a good time. But we didn't do anything! H-honest!" He gulped back bile and saliva at the vaguely angry look on his captor's face. "Desudo wanted to see her. We owed him some favors, so we gave her to him."
"Where can I find Desudo?"
"I dunno! He finds us! Really!"
Zeta made a point of looking down. The worm instinctively did too, but then he understood the unspoken threat. Not enough information to save him.
"Oh, god. Oh, God. Ok, he has friends down 86th street. Oh, god...."
Zeta realized that was the last of the information he was going to get for now. Still, he hadn't found her. Trying to release the raw angry feeling that gnawed at his circuits, he threw the man behind him, against the elevator's housing unit. Not enough to kill or to break, but enough to cause pain. And right now, he wanted to cause a lot of it.
--------------------------
"This is not good. He's gotten reckless. Even when he bucked his programming for the first time, he wasn't reckless." Bennet wondered how long it had been since Zeta was here in the alleyway. A day? A few hours?
West and Rush searched the scene for clues to where the synthoid might have gone next. Even with the wounded taken away to the hospital, the amount of chaos was easily discernable. Bent and twisted metal was everywhere, marking where people were thrown and held in place, like dead butterflies in a collection. The level of anger was almost tangible.
"Well, he went that way, but no idea on what he was after. Besides looking for information on Ms. Rowan, of course." Rush frowned at the display. "Huh, that's strange. There's some faint acoustic readings, but I can't tell from where."
Agent West didn't answer her. "West? Any clues?" He just kept staring up.
"Um, Agent Rush? Is that the source of the noise?" He pointed up in the direction he gazed. And lo, hanging above them was a beleaguered gang member, held in place upside down by one foot, and a sign above him proclaiming "The Fool" in twisted metal. "Wonder what he means by 'The Fool'? I'd have thought he would consider all of these guys fools."
"I think he means the fool as in the Tarot, Agent West." Bennet walked to the two agents.
The looked at him quizzically.
"What? My son's into that stuff." He shrugged.
-------
Author's notes: Although Zeta wrote The Fool, the actual card he's referring to is The Hanged Man, which usually has the man upside down. In this case, the man is The Fool because he gave Zeta answers, and the Hanged Man is a subconscious knowledge that for his vigilance, he's suspending his electronic soul-making him a quite a bit of a sadist.
And right now, he liked the control over this scum's life. He may not be able control his fate, but he could control this worm's. ------
"L-look! Man, I have no idea who you're talking about! Lemme down!" He was a minor gang lord around here. But he had connection.
"Yes you do. You have a liking for young girls. You even served two years for an assault charge five years ago. That alone makes you quite a good candidate for." Zeta, who's face had been a mask of indifference, let a corner of his mouth curve, "'Street Pizza,' as you said."
The wind began to pick up, blowing through non-existent raven hair and the black coat. The gang lord cried out, both in pain and defeat. "L- look, yeah, so maybe my boys picked her up for a good time. But we didn't do anything! H-honest!" He gulped back bile and saliva at the vaguely angry look on his captor's face. "Desudo wanted to see her. We owed him some favors, so we gave her to him."
"Where can I find Desudo?"
"I dunno! He finds us! Really!"
Zeta made a point of looking down. The worm instinctively did too, but then he understood the unspoken threat. Not enough information to save him.
"Oh, god. Oh, God. Ok, he has friends down 86th street. Oh, god...."
Zeta realized that was the last of the information he was going to get for now. Still, he hadn't found her. Trying to release the raw angry feeling that gnawed at his circuits, he threw the man behind him, against the elevator's housing unit. Not enough to kill or to break, but enough to cause pain. And right now, he wanted to cause a lot of it.
--------------------------
"This is not good. He's gotten reckless. Even when he bucked his programming for the first time, he wasn't reckless." Bennet wondered how long it had been since Zeta was here in the alleyway. A day? A few hours?
West and Rush searched the scene for clues to where the synthoid might have gone next. Even with the wounded taken away to the hospital, the amount of chaos was easily discernable. Bent and twisted metal was everywhere, marking where people were thrown and held in place, like dead butterflies in a collection. The level of anger was almost tangible.
"Well, he went that way, but no idea on what he was after. Besides looking for information on Ms. Rowan, of course." Rush frowned at the display. "Huh, that's strange. There's some faint acoustic readings, but I can't tell from where."
Agent West didn't answer her. "West? Any clues?" He just kept staring up.
"Um, Agent Rush? Is that the source of the noise?" He pointed up in the direction he gazed. And lo, hanging above them was a beleaguered gang member, held in place upside down by one foot, and a sign above him proclaiming "The Fool" in twisted metal. "Wonder what he means by 'The Fool'? I'd have thought he would consider all of these guys fools."
"I think he means the fool as in the Tarot, Agent West." Bennet walked to the two agents.
The looked at him quizzically.
"What? My son's into that stuff." He shrugged.
-------
Author's notes: Although Zeta wrote The Fool, the actual card he's referring to is The Hanged Man, which usually has the man upside down. In this case, the man is The Fool because he gave Zeta answers, and the Hanged Man is a subconscious knowledge that for his vigilance, he's suspending his electronic soul-making him a quite a bit of a sadist.