Bondage
by Nyohah
7
The Invisible Thing
Letter to Yuan Li
Reptile was kicked out of the tournament today. He lost three times in a row. And I thought he was supposed to be improved from the last tournament. So he must have really stunk then. Raiden beat him, not surprisingly.
Sub-Zero beat Jax rather easily, Liu Kang had some difficulty defeating Scorpion, and I beat Kitana fairly soundly. Tell me, what is it with men and what they call 'cat fights'?
Much more happened today, though. Number one: Baraka killed Johnny Cage, even though he'd only been defeated twice, and Shao Kahn didn't bring him back.
Number two: Shang Tsung took me on a tour through a gallery of Mandalorian paintings. The Queen was very beautiful. She kind of looked like you. Okay, so I miss you so much I could probably find some reason for an elephant to remind me of you, but honestly, she had the same cheekbones and eyes you do. Only her eyes were green, and yours are very light indigo.
Number three: Shao Kahn told me to watch Kitana. I would have thought it would be the other way around. I guess she found out that Kahn should be her enemy. They still haven't found out what I did, I guess. They shouldn't trust me. I hate them with all my soul.
I donned the invisible robe one night, after you had crashed, and walked down to the Police Department. By this time, I'd already mastered the art of walking and not alerting anyone to my presence. None of the people in the meeting noticed when I opened the door of the conference room.
"...Have been notified by the kidnappers for ransom," Inspector Lau, probably the most competent policeman on the force, was saying.
"Nor has any political or terrorist group claimed responsibility," added the commander, waving about his cigar. It was his son that I was targeting this time.
"Commander, this case is so bizarre. Do you think we should contact Wonder Woman?" asked the man sitting to the commander's left. What should I say about Wonder Woman? She wore a silver mask and a cloak over her short black dress, and fought with darts and a long, flexible blade. She'd almost foiled me the time before. She was getting too close. But this time, I had a plan to distract her.
As the man was speaking I reached between two others, and tightened my right fist around a Coca-Cola can. One policeman noticed this and his eyes grew wide with fear.
"Although Wonder Woman has helped us in the past," replied the commander. "We still have no clue to her identity."
"We have no way of contacting her, even if we wanted to," added Lau. I moved on with my task, writing on a blank piece of paper, right in front of the commander. Your son will be next.
"Based on the fact that all the missing babies are boys," continued Lau, oblivious to the strange happenings in the meeting room, "I believe the kidnappers are not asking for ransom."
"H-h-hey," murmured the commander, trying to get Lau's attention.
"It may have to do with some religious cult." Lau tapped his pointer on his fist, as I spun around and kicked the chalkboard, shattering it into pieces. Lau stumbled away, and the others turned their heads.
The door betrayed me the second time I used it, letting out a loud creak. I slammed it shut and ran behind the door, further into the hallway, waiting for the squad that would almost certainly come for me to leave. All but the one who noticed the Coke can and the commander ran out the door, and into the other room opposite of where I was.
"Did you see anyone rushing out from the conference room?" Lau asked an officer who had been standing in the room.
"No," he answered, confused. The group ran back into the conference room, and I crept out.
I managed to beat the police to the hospital, and hid in the hallway in front of the nursery before the guards were posted, waiting for my opportunity to enter. Finally, a nurse, in her white dress and nun-like headdress opened the door and I slipped through. Luck was with me; she only checked on one baby, and then left, closing the door, and sitting outside. I was about to start with my plan when I heard someone approaching. The nurse stood up.
"Sorry, Mrs. Commander, Officer Lau's orders: no one may enter the nursery without his permission."
Mrs. Commander? This was too perfect.
"Never mind," she said. I waited until her face showed through the porthole, then started. I grabbed two babies, first the target, and then a random girl. Mrs. Commander screamed, alerting the guards, who looked in and saw babies flying in midair for no apparent reason.
I carried the babies to the window and shattered the glass. The nursery was several stories up, but I'd found that I could construct things out of the same material as the robe, and as long as they were in contact with something under the influence of the robe, they too would be invisible. I put the babies in slings attached to roof by several feet of rope, and pushed them out the window. The police immediately ran downstairs, all except the commander, who entered the nursery. That meant I had to be fast.
I pushed myself out the window headfirst (it was a small window), and sat on the edge, clipped the third rope I had attached to the roof to my side. Then I dove backwards, to cut down my wind resistance so that I could keep the babies from slamming against the side of the building when their rope ran out. This was the only part of my plan I was concerned about, though I needn't have worried. Who should show up, running along the power lines for heaven's sake, setting off explosions all the way, but Wonder Woman.
She threw two of her little darts and caught both of the babies, severing the rope to the girl and causing her sling to fall off. The 'sunglasses' I was wearing allowed me to see all the things affected by the robe.
She stopped on another wire and crossed her left arm in front of her chest, but I didn't have time to care about her. My rope reached the end, and I slammed against the side of the building, dampening the impact with bent knees. I began to walk, literally on the wall, as I was hanging sideways, toward the babies. Unfortunately, I had stepped in something and I left footprints on the side of the building. Wonder Woman tracked me and threw a third dart. It tore through my Achilles tendon, causing me great pain, but I'd gotten used to pain by then. I continued on my way, leaving the blood covered dart in the wall.
I finally reached the babies, and tearing the girl loose from the dart, I let her fall down, toward the ground. I had no choice, and essentially, she was only my distraction for Wonder Woman.
I pulled the boy off the wall, likewise, but held onto him, and fastened his sling directly to my belt, just in case. Wonder Woman threw yet another dart, this one attached to the rope, and it wound around the baby girl, just as I started my run up the side of the building. I built up enough speed that I managed to get far enough up to jump, using the force of wind to help me, onto the lower roof of the section next to the nursery.
I had just started down the ladder to the ground, where my car was waiting, when Wonder Woman somehow appeared over the ledge. I never knew just how she managed that.
I drove through the country, as always, because cars without drivers are sure to attract attention that I really didn't need. The sun was just beginning to come over the hills, and I faded back into existence as its warming rays touched me. I pushed my sunglasses up onto my silver reflective headband, which matched the robe, no longer needing them to see beyond the robe's protective veil. Blood from my foot dripped onto the floor, causing a mess I would need to clean up before you noticed it.
Now that I was visible again, I looked like a normal person, wearing odd clothes (a black bodysuit with black gloves, a silver robe, and silver boots, kneepads, and leotard type thing. I drove the car back into the main city of Hong Kong, and parked it in an area only about a mile away from the hospital. I took the baby and kicked off the manhole cover that concealed the entrance to the underworld.
I slid down the ropes, and began to head toward Master's dais. Number Nine jumped down from his position on a pillar, where he'd been guarding the entrance. I spun around and kicked him twice. A fight broke out between us. He never hit me, even though I only had one arm to block with, a baby in the other. In the end I jumped toward him and snapped out the chain I used as a weapon. Number Nine wrapped his fist around it, and when I pulled it back, his little finger fell off.
"That's cost you a finger," I said. "Next time I'll have your head. Now guard the entrance!" I'm not exactly sure what he did with his finger, but if I only had one guess, I'd say he ate it.
I ran to the Master's dais and handed the baby to one of his four Number Eights, guards. "Master," he said. "I brought back the baby you wanted."
Master turned his head, and slowly stood up. He raised the baby high over his head, as if offering it to some sort of god. "Go ahead and take our nineteenth prince inside to rest with his royal brothers."
"Yes, Master," said Number Eight, bowing his head.
"Number Three," said the demon, as he lay back down. "Your heart is beating too fast."
"No, it isn't," I replied. I could not admit the reasons for my feelings. The most obvious was my fight with Number Nine. Next, I was worried about the baby girl. Wonder Woman had undoubtedly saved her, but she could have been seriously injured. I wasn't sure why I was starting to care, but I had a suspicion it had to do with you, or the third thing. I had started to have frequent visions of the raven-haired girl, and they were starting to disturb me.
"You do not need memory," he said, as if reading into my thoughts, "and you should be clear of emotions or feelings."
"I have none, Master," I lied forcing myself to calm down.
"On the next lucky day," the eunuch continued, "I will choose among the princes and one will be the emperor. China cannot be without an emperor."
"China cannot be without an emperor," repeated the remaining Number Eights.
"China cannot be without an emperor," I said.
Let me tell you a bit about this emperor he was going to make. Above all, the Master wanted to take over earth. It was one of the two planets left in our galaxy he didn't have, and if he had earth, he knew he could get the other. His approach to getting earth was quite a bit different than Shang Tsung's tournament. He was going to take over China, using an emperor to rule. But he could not be emperor himself, and none of his servants could be emperor, so he had to raise one differently. Number Eights were raised on the principles of bodyguard servants. Number Nines (of which there was only one at the time, thank God) were raised on human flesh, creating killing monsters. So he was going to raise a Chinese human boy, one destined to be emperor for good measure, and make him his puppet through which he could control China. Once he had China, he needed an army. That's where I came in again. Not only was the robe allowing me to steal the princes needed to find an emperor, but just imagine an entire army of Number Nines, all oblivious to pain, and invisible. Not a happy thought, huh?
A little girl with raven hair in a black jumpsuit and a red jacket struggled up a rope. Another girl, who was standing at the top of the cliff and wearing a white jacket looked down at her.
"You can climb up on your own," said the man standing by her. "Or you can fall. No one can help you."
"Climb! Ching, Climb up!" yelled the girl at the top of the cliff, looking distraught. The girl climbing struggled up, then slipped down a few feet. The girl at the top yelled, "Don't fall! Climb!" and knelt at the edge of the cliff, stretching out her hand.
The girl climbed up a couple more feet, then stretched out her hand, and the girls grabbed each other's wrists. Then the girl in red's feet slipped, and they both slid down a foot, trying desperately to hold on to each other.
They both wailed as their hands slipped apart and the girl in red slid away.
Suddenly, the view changed to first person, and I watched the cliffs tumble by.
I sat up quickly, biting back a scream and shivering, my sheets soaked with sweat. This nightmare had been reoccurring almost every night, for three months. I'd had many other dreams before, all starring the raven-haired girl named Ching. In fact, that's how I decided what I should tell you my name was.
I crawled out of my bed and wandered into the room overlooking the lab. I noticed the plant you had sitting on a stack of textbooks had died. You were by the computer, typing away, then stopping to examine a printout, then returning to the typing. I walked to the right until the light sensed me and turned on. That light used to freak me out so much, you know. Me still getting used to a technologically advanced world, without motion sensors.
"Nightmare again?" you asked, not even needing to look up to sense I was there.
"May I come in?"
"My machines are on," you answered, as if that explained everything. "You know I don't like distractions," you added, to try to make it seem more logical. "I'm sorry. I had a dream last night. I guess it was a nightmare. I dreamt the invisible robe was stolen. Has it always been kept in the safe?"
"Yes, why?" I silently cursed myself for taking the robe that night, even though you were asleep at the computer again, not twenty feet away.
"The police called this morning. They asked me how a man can be invisible. I thought my work was safe here."
"Everyone knows you're a genius," I said. "That's no secret."
"Some genius. I wish it was a secret," you said, as if your intelligence had caused you some sort of pain in the past. "Talking with the police today, I realized I'd invented something that could be a weapon in itself." You were so naïve. You always were.
"Why continue? Try something else."
"Because no one else can do it, Ching. I don't expect you to understand that." I didn't.
"Aren't you afraid I'll take it from you?" I asked, honestly wanting to know the answer.
"Of course not," you smiled. "No one would steal from himself." I tried to get some comfort from the fact that you considered the robe mine as well, and that I had every right to use it. I didn't succeed.
"Do you love me?" I asked spontaneously.
"More than ever."
A few days later I was walking down the street toward the library to return some books for you. I noticed my path had brought me by the same newspaper box we had first met by. Smiling I stopped to look at it as I walked by, but the headline I saw tore my smile away. I stepped back and bought a paper. Anonymous person informs the press that the nineteenth baby will disappear tonight.
I had done no such thing. And the nineteenth baby had already been taken. I changed my direction and headed to the hospital instead.
I walked in the door and started to wander when a nurse called to me.
"Miss? Do you need help?" I nodded, as nothing seemed to be happening yet, and as the reception desk was not far from where Inspector Lau was standing, talking with the other police, and waving around the same newspaper I had bought.
"May I ask your name?"
I thought quickly. "Li Ching." I looked back toward Lau, and saw his wife walking up, wearing a short, low-cut gold dress, and I briefly wondered if she was aware that her bra was showing above where the dress started.
They met right by the desk, and landed a small peck on each other's lips.
"What are you doing here tonight?" asked the inspector, not sounding pleased at all.
"I volunteer at the hospital three times a week, remember?" answered Mrs. Lau. "Besides the elderly lady upstairs..."
"Won't do her physical therapy unless you're there, right?" finished Lau.
"Exactly."
"I'm afraid I can't take care of you. Be careful."
"You too," said Mrs. Lau, and her husband walked away, more important things on his mind. She started to strut away, past me, but she noticed I was watching her, and stopped smiling. I met her gaze, and she looked a little disturbed.
"Miss Li?" I looked back at the nurse. "Do you have health insurance?"
"No," I said.
"Where do you live?" she said, but her question was lost as I saw a man in a workers' uniform walk past, pushing a cart. He had huge bags under his eyes, and I got a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"Will you excuse me for a moment? Which way is the restroom?" She pointed straight back, a parallel hall to where the man was going. I walked down the hall, and ended up, just barely ahead of him, at an intersection between the hall that connected the two. He turned the corner. I leaned against the corner.
"You're the one who called the newspaper."
"You're a cop?" He looked slightly panicked. I just raised my head an inch. "Let me tell you, I'm going to kill all the babies tonight." He reached under a towel on his cart and pulled out a rather dull knife. I picked a glass syringe off the cart next to me, and pressed the top end against the table until it broke, leaving a sharp, jagged edge.
Mrs. Lau suddenly appeared around the corner farther down. She slipped the top half off of an empty portable IV holder, brandishing it as a club.
"Hey," she yelled, "what are you doing?" I put down the syringe, not wanting to look suspicious. Why did she have to interfere?
The man kicked his cart into my stomach.
"Don't!" I yelled, as he spun me around and pressed his dull knife up against my jugular. Sure, I could have taken him out, but I would have ended up bleeding all over the ground until I died.
"Don't come near me, or I'll kill her," he warned.
"Take it easy," commanded Mrs. Lau, still holding her club.
"Drop it or I'll kill her," he repeated, moving toward her.
"Drop yours first."
He turned the knife over, and I felt a slight pain just to the right of my vein.
"Okay," she said, holding the club out at arm's length, "I'll drop it." She did.
"Get inside," he said, pointing to a door. "Get inside!"
She obeyed, and he shoved me in. I turned around, and we both backed away from the psycho. He pointed his knife toward us. "They killed my boy. I want all the other babies to die with him." He slammed the door shut, and locked it. "I'm going to kill all the babies!" he yelled from outside.
Mrs. Lau turned and looked at me, then gasped. "You're bleeding!" She fumbled for a tissue, then reached toward my neck.
I slapped her hand away, and back up, reaching to my neck. Sure enough, I felt liquid there. I wiped it away. "I'm fine."
"You think we can break the door open?" she asked hopefully.
It was two-inch thick stainless steel. "There's no way," I said. "The door's too solid."
"Let me try," she said, almost pouting. She rammed her weight against the door twice. It didn't move a millimeter. I crossed my arms and leaned back against some crates, as she rammed it a third time. This time I heard a jingling sound. She dropped to the ground, and looked under the door. I leaned forward, a little intrigued.
She looked up smiling. "The keys are just outside!" She reached her hand under the door, stretching, but just her fingers made it through. "Missed by just a little bit," she grunted, pushing against the door as if that would help.
"You don't have to be excited," I said. "The lunatic won't be back for a while."
She pulled her hand back out, and shook it, then pushed it back under again. "I'm only worried about the babies. Didn't you hear what he just said?"
I stepped forward and tapped her on the shoulder. "Let me try." If she wanted to save the babies so much, let her save the babies. She wasn't hurting me. I knelt down, and pushed my hand under the door. When I felt it catch against my knuckles, I forced it forward even more, getting past the thick part of my hand to my flat wrists, allowing me to grab the keys with room to spare. I pulled my hand back out, and unlocked the door. I noticed Mrs. Lau was looking at me with a look of horrified disgust. I had scraped the flesh off my hand all the way down to the four bones on the upper section. I walked back to a box of gauze, wrapping my injured hand. I glanced back and saw her still standing there.
"It's all right. I can handle the pain, really." I didn't know why I felt that I had to reassure this woman. She turned around and left, but paused just after the door.
"I'd hurry if I were you," I said, not even having to look to know she had stopped. She hurried away after I made my comment.
As I was leaving, another commotion started. Someone stole a baby and left on a motorcycle. I got a message from the Master telepathically. I sighed, knowing I would have to go take care of this person before he started taking credit for my work. I raced home. You weren't there, and I grabbed the invisible robe out of its hiding spot, and changed into my correlating outfit.
I tracked the motorcycle into an old abandoned warehouse, and walked in just in time to see Wonder Woman deflect a spinning knife back toward the person who threw it. I wouldn't have known who the other woman was, if I hadn't vaguely recognized her the first time I saw her, and spent hours trying to figure out who it was. She called herself Thief Catcher, now, and was a bounty hunter, but it was her blade that proved I was correct in my previous guess. She was Number Seven.
Her own blade spun back to her, and caught her in the tail of the long jacket she wore, pinning her against a pillar. She tried to pull it out, but it was in solid, and she only had a second because Wonder Woman came at her with her long, thin, flexible blade. "Wait, wait!" she yelled.
Wonder Woman slashed with her blade, and about an inch closer, and she would have been slicing Number Seven into long thin ribbons, but she was too far, by design. Number Seven dodged instinctively, and I ran forward, leaping over a staircase, and landed just in front of Wonder Woman.
I kicked her four times, and she stumbled backwards away from Number Seven, who commented, "Uh, what's she doing?" to no one.
Wonder Woman spun her blade around, and would have sufficiently sliced up anything in her reach, but I wasn't there anymore. "The Invisible Thing?" she asked, and I uppercutted her in response. She actually spun in the air a few times before she landed on her back. In my mind I gave her a ten, something I picked up from you, no doubt.
"There's one more here?" asked Number Seven, still attached to the pole.
Wonder Woman must have heard the axe kick I had aimed to break her neck, and she rolled out of the way. She ended up right behind a bucket of old water with incense sticks in it, and thinking quickly he kicked, spraying water all over my body. She tracked me using the water droplets that flew off of me when I moved.
She snap kicked me in the chin, and my head flew back, knocking off the glasses that allowed me to see outside the robe's concealment. I can fight blind, don't misjudge me, but not against someone who is nearly as good as I am, or maybe even as good as I am.
I blocked her first two punches, but missed the jumping roundhouse kick that knocked me off the platform onto the lower level, and she jumped down, kicking me twice before she landed.
She took up a boxing stance and threw punch after punch, randomly mixing in jab, crosses, punches, and uppercuts—not the rising super powerful kind we use in this tournament, but just your everyday, normal kind.
She jumped with a spinning kick that connected with the side of my head, and another jumping roundhouse, that I managed to block this time, but that still forced me backwards with the sheer strength she exhibited. She hit me with another kick, a jumping crescent of some sort, that connected with such force, the jumping kick I had been starting was not only deflected, but she knocked me backwards, into a pillar. It broke. Before I even hit the ground, she hit me with a jumping front snap kick that had to use the force of wind, because I ended up breaking through the old boards on the wall behind me, and landing outside, at least ten feet away from my previous position.
As I crawled back through the hole, I felt something odd on the ground, and picked up my sunglasses, absently smiling. However, I saw that the pillar had set off a chain reaction. The basket with the baby in it had been sitting on a landing, and it, along with the staircase began to fall.
"The baby!" yelled Number Seven, rushing forward. Wonder Woman turned and ran up a tilted pillar that had broken some time before. I picked up a five-foot piece of rounded timber, running forward.
The baby fell further and Wonder Woman jumped, preparing to dive for it. I jumped also, preparing to shove the log into her skull. The woman was a nuisance.
Then something with hands jumped on me and the piece of wood, killing our momentum and making me hit the ground hard.
I woke up a second or two later, to the sound of a baby crying. I noticed that Wonder Woman had still somehow missed, and she jumped through a pile of planks.
"How's the baby?" asked Number Seven, standing up and attempting to pick off the straw stuck to her.
I grabbed her wrist and began pulling her to the wall.
"Whoa, wait!" she protested. I kicked a large hole in the flimsy wall with an axe kick and dragged her through it to the right.
I dragged her several yards, and she said, "That's enough! You're really trying my patience! Who are you?"
I was getting disgusted with her resisting. "Let's go, Number Seven."
She gasped, taking hold of my hand that was on her wrist. "It's you! Number Three." She wrenched off my hand and threw her hands down, disgustedly. "Stop pulling me. Stop. I can walk on my own."
We finally halted in a clearing outside of town, where the huge power lines were. Cotton was flying everything. I deactivated the robe and took off my sunglasses. Number Seven spoke first.
"It's been over ten years. You're still in great shape! Where did the old monster find the invisible robe?"
"Now that you know he's behind this, are you still going to get involved?" I hoped the thought of facing him would scare her into giving up.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I was lucky enough to crawl out of that hellhole. Thanks for sparing my life. Now I really value it. What does the old monster want with so many babies?"
"He's waiting for the next eclipse to choose one to be the emperor."
"What about the ones that are not chosen?"
"Worse," I confessed. "Master will turn them to Number Nines."
"Number Three," she said, "Why don't you do the babies a favor. Just kill them all now." I started to walk away. She followed me. "That old monster had me for three years. When I finally got out, it took me ten years to work myself back to being human. I don't want to see the babies all turn into monsters."
"You can pretend you know nothing," I said. "Stay out of it. Otherwise, if the Master orders, I'll still have to kill you."
"Do it now then!" she challenged me.
I threw a rock at her face. She caught it.
I reactivated the robe. "You won't be so lucky next time," I warned, as I left.
The next day, I was sitting in my room, reading a story you wrote while you were waiting for a test to complete—yours was not the best computer—when a messenger dove flew in through the window I left open for you. This had been happening often, but the messages had been about babies that I needed to steal and when.
I held up my hand and the dove landed on it. I checked to make sure you weren't around, then pulled the message out of the tube on its leg. I carefully unrolled it, and the message was not one I wanted to hear. I could hear the message as the Master would say it in his spirit voice. Whether he was actually repeating it in my mind at that time, I do not know.
*Get the invisible robe within ten days, then kill the doctor. Succeed or die.*
I rushed into the lab, wishing to make the best of the time you were away. I glanced at the foreign-looking American keyboard, then found the main files about the robe. I pushed the button that opened the menu along the top of the spreadsheet, moved my cursor to copy, then hit the enter key. The screen changed, writing COPY very large and coloring the background a bright blue-green.
I looked at your printouts, and searched the files I'd copied. Then, I heard the door open.
"Hey, what are you doing?" I looked up to see you running toward me. I looked down at the desk, saw the sharp-looking envelope opener, and picked it up, holding it like a dagger.
You stopped before you got to me. "I've said it many times." You sounded almost exasperated. "It's dangerous in here. Come on." You grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the computer, I let the letter opener go, and took a few quick steps to catch up so you didn't have to drag me.
"Why is it so dangerous? You're in here all the time and you're fine. But you don't want me here. Are you hiding something from me?"
You shut the heavy-duty door behind you. "No, you know everything."
I walked over to the table and leaned against it. "You said the invisible robe also belongs to me. Then why wasn't I told the invisible robe can now be exposed to UV light?" I baited you, trying to find out whether that was true.
"No, it can't. Not yet," you replied. "When it can, you'll be the first to know." You walked over to me.
I stood up, confronting you. "Then what have you been doing in here these last few days?" I'd noticed you weren't stuck in the same cycle you had been for more than three months.
You raised you finger and smiled at me. "I was working on another project." You indicated a little cloth-covered rectangle, then pulled off the covering. Underneath was a glass aquarium, only with soil in the bottom, and your plants growing inside. "Look, they were dead. Now they've come back to life."
I leaned forward to look at them. "Any flowers?"
"Yes, in a month or so." My attention focused on the flowers, I didn't see you wince in pain. "Ching." You paused as if out of breath. "Will you put them under the sun for me every day and water them every night?"
I reached onto the table to a pile of folded papers, and threw one at you. "Lucky stars, you taught me how to make them. I'm sure you'll see the flowers bloom." That statement in itself was a rebellion against the Master's orders.
You smiled back at me, then left to continue working. I started to water the flowers, then heard the all-too-familiar voice in my head.
*Get the invisible robe within ten days, then kill the doctor. Succeed or die.*
I tried to ignore it, and continued watering.
When I reported to the Master the day after I got the message, he informed me that someone had come and tried to rescue the babies, but had set off the alarm. The intruder was a female, and she had escaped.
"Do you know who the intruder was?" he asked me.
"No."
"She reminded me of someone, but she should have been dead for over ten years."
Number Seven? If it was her, I couldn't let him know she wasn't dead. "Yes," I said. "I killed Number Seven with my own hands. Only Wonder Woman could have gotten in here alone. She's been meddling in our plan. There's a good chance that the intruder was her. Let me take care of her, Master."
He turned and looked at me for the first time. "Leave such matters to someone else," he commanded. "Number Nine!" he yelled, turning his head back. Number Nine kneeled down. "Kill Wonder Woman and if necessary, die with her!"
Number Nine growled in acknowledgement.
I was not in a good position. The Master was starting to not trust me anymore.
Eight days later, I went to water the flowers. I felt something on my hand. I looked down to see that a butterfly had somehow managed to make it through the giant fan without being chopped to bits. I smiled at it. Butterflies have always been one of my favorite creatures. Then I looked down at the flowers. Buds were beginning to show on the plants. I dashed behind the table.
"Hey, there are buds!" But as I looked into the lab, I saw you rise, but fall down, and hit the ground. My smile vanished, and the butterfly flew away, but that went unnoticed. I ran into the lab, full speed, and helped you up. You struggled against me, toward the computer.
"What's wrong?" I cried. "Sit down." I pushed you toward the chair.
"No. I just thought of something," you said urgently, getting away from me, and reaching the desk. "I need to write it down quickly."
"Why don't you sit down first?" I pleaded.
"No. Leave me alone." You pushed me away. I started to try to pull you away again, but something stopped me.
A drop of blood landed on the keyboard.
I stood up straight and looked at you. You were breathing much more heavily than you should have been; you were quite athletic before, and I didn't put up that much of a fight. And blood was dripping out of your nose.
"It's because of your work."
You didn't look at me. "The robe's emitting toxins. It has been for some time, no matter what I do. That's why I've always told you to stay out of my lab."
"But the flowers are budding already." My mind wasn't exactly working perfectly after I'd learned this shocking news.
"If the flowers can bloom, that means I'll be fine too!" You sounded so confident. I don't know why. "Please hurry. Leave!"
"We're partners. How can I leave you like this?"
You blinked and looked around as if something more was wrong. "Where are my glasses?"
They were sitting on your face. "I love you," I said.
You slowly reached up and touched them, as I reached up my right and started to wipe the blood away.
"I will not die before the invisible robe is successfully completed." You grabbed a lock of my hair and smelled it. "I can still smell the fragrance of your hair."
The blood had continued to run, so I reached up to wipe it away again. It kept running, faster than ever, so I pressed one hand against the flow, then the other. Still, a drop of blood ran through, as if telling me, "You cannot stop this."
I felt tears in my eyes for the first time in an eternity, perhaps even the first in my limited memory back then. I heard the click of your keyboard, and I looked down at the screen. "Don't cry..."
You gently grabbed my wrists and pulled them away from your nose. "Why don't we go take a look at the flowers outside?"
I finally looked back up at you, and nodded. We walked back to the door, stepping on papers strewn everywhere from when you fell. You stumbled just away from the door, and fell against the edge.
"I'll be all right. You go on. Get out of here." You placed your hand on my shoulder, and shoved me inside with all your strength. I stumbled forward, not expecting that, and you still maintained most of your physical strength from before. It seemed to be only your lungs and balance that were affected.
I looked back to see you slam the door shut, and lock it from the outside.
I stepped to the side and slammed my hands against the glass. "Let me in! Yuan! Let me in!"
You stumbled back to desk, weaving back and forth like drunk. I flipped the table over in rage.
"Even if you get in," you said, "I won't leave." I picked up a chair, and threw it against the glass. It held. I threw another. It held.
"The invisible robe will be completed when the flowers bloom." You put your chair back on its feet, and sat down. I threw a jar full of brightly colored liquid. That glass shattered and the liquid sprayed everywhere, but the window held.
"You promised me you'd take care of them." I reached for another chair. "Have you forgotten your promise?"
I forced down my tears.
You idiot.