NSA Headquarters, Gotham City, 2:12:33pm February 4th
Zeta was inside the NSA building. He had managed to fool the computer guard into thinking he was Agent West. After taking on West's hologram, he rode the elevator down to Level One, the NSA basement.
He felt very much like his old self, the way he had been before he had left the NSA. He was on a mission, thinking and feeling and caring about nothing except accomplishing his goal by any means necessary. He would've destroyed Eta if he could have, but he couldn't, and that meant nothing to him. He logically mapped out his mission plan- to surrender to Eta, to be destroyed, so that Ro could live.
She wouldn't accept it, he knew, but both he and Eta were far more powerful than she, so there would be nothing she could do. If necessary, he would use force to restrain her.
But if he really thought about that, he knew that he was afraid, afraid of death, of merely ceasing to exist, for he didn't really believe that he had a soul. He was afraid of losing Ro, even though he wouldn't care once he was gone. This was not as bad as Eta killing her. She would still exist to live and enjoy life, even if he could not.
Would Ro feel as terrible as he would if he lost her? He doubted it. He knew Ro cared about him, but that afternoon he had come to realize that the feelings he had for her were different; were what would be classified as love. Ro was human, she had experienced things like friendship and loss before, and she would be able to find someone else to care about her.
For him, there was no one else but Ro, and there could never be anyone else but Ro, for who else could come to care for a soulless machine, to consider him her family and her best friend?
The elevator arrived at Level One. Zeta shifted his hologram to his favorite form; because that was the way he wanted to be remembered. He sighed and stepped off.
Ro was not looking at the elevator as it opened. She was struggling and cursing Eta, who held her wrists so tightly that they were rubbed raw. Her legs and back ached from being forced into an uncomfortable crouching position for a long time, she had no idea how long, and her head still ached from where Eve had knocked her out. She could feel a small train of itchy dried blood on her temple that she had never had a chance to clean.
She knew struggling didn't hurt her enemy but merely weakened her own energy, but she couldn't help it. Ro was not a patient person; she was used to action, and despised helplessness. Half of her yearned for some sort of climax to end this damned waiting, but the other half knew what that climax would have to be, and dreaded it.
No, that wouldn't happen, she told herself. . .he would never be so stupid. She tried to convince herself that he wouldn't even come, when she heard the elevator doors open.
"It's okay," she thought frantically, "It isn't Zee. He's mad at me, he won't come. Oh please, don't let it be Zee. . ."
"Eta, if you've hurt her. . ."
She didn't need to look up. She knew Zee's voice, the monotone sound of it, the dialogue that he had no idea sounded so pathetically heroic, the slight tremor when he was angry. . .but it didn't sound exactly like Zee, not like the Zee she knew. His voice was filled with a passionate hatred, yet the apathetic tone of one who has long realized that there is no hope, even though, turning her head at last, she could see that his hologram's expression was the perfect poker face.
"Zee! I'm fine! But you have to go, she's going to kill you!"
"Ro. . ." he said gently, with the tone of one speaking to a child who will not accept what is inevitable. Ro knew instantly what he was planning, she knew Zeta far too well, and hated him for it.
"Damn it, tin man, stop playing the hero, 'cause I don't like playing the damsel in distress for you. I can take care of myself. Now get out of here, please!"
"I'm sorry."
"She's going to kill you, Zee!" she pleaded, not even realizing that she was no longer being held by Eta. Automatically she advanced towards him, and he took his wide, sweeping steps towards her as well.
"I know," he said gently, coming close enough to put his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe if I died, it would be better for you. Maybe if we had never met-"
"No!" she shouted, clasping his hand in hers. "Don't even say that, Zee. I need you!"
"Ro, I won't let you be hurt."
"But I'm not allowed to stop you from being hurt? What gives you that right?" she shouted in his face. It infuriated her further that his expression never changed, he continued to look at her completely stoically.
"Ro," he said finally, in his very matter-of-fact tone, "I think that I'm in love with you."
There was a tremendously long silence, as everything seemed to stand still. Ro laughed nervously as she said "You'd better not have chosen now to develop a sense of humor, Zee."
"I'm serious," he reassured her.
"Oh, okay," Ro commented lightly. "Then, I guess I think I love you too."
She raised her lips to kiss him, but suddenly, there was a loud pulsing sound and the two of them were surrounded by a blinding bright light. She felt Zee's hands tear away from hers and she screamed his name, but couldn't see anything. She figured nothing could happen, this light didn't hurt, it was just bright and loud. She curled up in a ball on the floor until it passed. Finally, she looked up and looked around.
"Zee?" she asked softly. But Zee was lying on the floor, hologramless, battered, charred, and still. Eta was standing next to a large machine with a large iron cannon at the top, which was still smoking. She left the machine and approached Zeta. Ro stared for a moment, in shock, then ran towards Zee, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Omigod, Zee, are you okay?"
She expected his dull grey eyes to change to their typical bright white, she expected him to sit up, repair himself, and make a casual comment. But he didn't move.
"Zee! Get up, you stupid synthoid-" she yelled at him, even though she knew it would help. Eta regarded her curiously.
"You know that he's dead, right? He's been hit with an EM ray, there's no way he could survive that."
Ro froze, holding Zee, her eyes locking on Eta. Zee was gone. . .he was dead. . .she stared at him, unwilling to believe it. Zee, her family, her best friend. . .okay, more than friend, reduced to a titanium shell.
At this point, most people would cry, give up. But Ro pulled herself to her feet, her eyes now transfixed again on Eta, a steady tremble moving rapidly from her finger tips and spreading like an electric pulse through her body. Her teeth gritted so hard it hurt, every muscle in her body was tensed. Ro was pissed.
"You. . .you. . ." she diverged into a stream of obscenities, despite the fact that Eta wouldn't know what they meant. "You killed him! Godammit, I'm gonna kill you!"
Eta ignored her, putting up the 'Eve' hologram again, this time in an NSA uniform. She turned to go, and the sight of that red ponytail bobbing innocently as she walked filled Ro with such a deep hatred she felt as though her temple would burst. Hot angry tears welled in her eyes, and she lost all reason, instead running at Eta in an attempt to tackle her, hurt her in any way possible.
"Don't you try to leave!" she screamed, socking Eve with all her might. Her fist fell on solid metal, and a cracking sound told her she had broken her fingers. The biting pain felt somehow satisfying, so she hit again and again until her knuckles were sticky with blood. Eve watched, an almost amused expression on her face, but finally she began to tire, and lifted Ro, tossing her across the room.
Ro hit the floor hard, and rolled to a stop at the base of the giant electromagnet, the very same, she thought with indignation, that had been the death of Zee. Her body ached, and just the effort of movement sent a throb through her temple so sharp it blinded her. But her anger seemed to give her strength, the strength to hobble to her feet. The lust for revenge was beating through her body like the pumping of her blood.
The cannon. With that one thought guiding her, Ro pulled herself onto the cannon platform. Eta was already leaving, intending to walk away and leave Ro here. Leave Zeta here.
Groaning in pain, she slumped over the large EM ray. Eta seemed to have noticed her again, staring at her in what for a human would have been shock, but for the powerful synthoid it was calculation. Finally deciding, she began to raise the powerful plasma cannon in her arm to do away with Ro.
Ro saw the cannon and chuckled to herself, unafraid. She wasn't going to loose. They didn't call her bulldozer for nothing. The cannon was already warm for its last use, so Ro merely had to push the button, and then slump over the wonderfully hot metal of the ray. As Eta was engulfed in blinding light, Ro succumbed to darkness.
Author's note~ Yes, I know, I killed Zee off. . .*sniffle* But I had too, see it's just how the plot goes. . .DON'T THROW STUFF AT ME! *dashes off and hides, sniffling*
Zeta was inside the NSA building. He had managed to fool the computer guard into thinking he was Agent West. After taking on West's hologram, he rode the elevator down to Level One, the NSA basement.
He felt very much like his old self, the way he had been before he had left the NSA. He was on a mission, thinking and feeling and caring about nothing except accomplishing his goal by any means necessary. He would've destroyed Eta if he could have, but he couldn't, and that meant nothing to him. He logically mapped out his mission plan- to surrender to Eta, to be destroyed, so that Ro could live.
She wouldn't accept it, he knew, but both he and Eta were far more powerful than she, so there would be nothing she could do. If necessary, he would use force to restrain her.
But if he really thought about that, he knew that he was afraid, afraid of death, of merely ceasing to exist, for he didn't really believe that he had a soul. He was afraid of losing Ro, even though he wouldn't care once he was gone. This was not as bad as Eta killing her. She would still exist to live and enjoy life, even if he could not.
Would Ro feel as terrible as he would if he lost her? He doubted it. He knew Ro cared about him, but that afternoon he had come to realize that the feelings he had for her were different; were what would be classified as love. Ro was human, she had experienced things like friendship and loss before, and she would be able to find someone else to care about her.
For him, there was no one else but Ro, and there could never be anyone else but Ro, for who else could come to care for a soulless machine, to consider him her family and her best friend?
The elevator arrived at Level One. Zeta shifted his hologram to his favorite form; because that was the way he wanted to be remembered. He sighed and stepped off.
Ro was not looking at the elevator as it opened. She was struggling and cursing Eta, who held her wrists so tightly that they were rubbed raw. Her legs and back ached from being forced into an uncomfortable crouching position for a long time, she had no idea how long, and her head still ached from where Eve had knocked her out. She could feel a small train of itchy dried blood on her temple that she had never had a chance to clean.
She knew struggling didn't hurt her enemy but merely weakened her own energy, but she couldn't help it. Ro was not a patient person; she was used to action, and despised helplessness. Half of her yearned for some sort of climax to end this damned waiting, but the other half knew what that climax would have to be, and dreaded it.
No, that wouldn't happen, she told herself. . .he would never be so stupid. She tried to convince herself that he wouldn't even come, when she heard the elevator doors open.
"It's okay," she thought frantically, "It isn't Zee. He's mad at me, he won't come. Oh please, don't let it be Zee. . ."
"Eta, if you've hurt her. . ."
She didn't need to look up. She knew Zee's voice, the monotone sound of it, the dialogue that he had no idea sounded so pathetically heroic, the slight tremor when he was angry. . .but it didn't sound exactly like Zee, not like the Zee she knew. His voice was filled with a passionate hatred, yet the apathetic tone of one who has long realized that there is no hope, even though, turning her head at last, she could see that his hologram's expression was the perfect poker face.
"Zee! I'm fine! But you have to go, she's going to kill you!"
"Ro. . ." he said gently, with the tone of one speaking to a child who will not accept what is inevitable. Ro knew instantly what he was planning, she knew Zeta far too well, and hated him for it.
"Damn it, tin man, stop playing the hero, 'cause I don't like playing the damsel in distress for you. I can take care of myself. Now get out of here, please!"
"I'm sorry."
"She's going to kill you, Zee!" she pleaded, not even realizing that she was no longer being held by Eta. Automatically she advanced towards him, and he took his wide, sweeping steps towards her as well.
"I know," he said gently, coming close enough to put his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe if I died, it would be better for you. Maybe if we had never met-"
"No!" she shouted, clasping his hand in hers. "Don't even say that, Zee. I need you!"
"Ro, I won't let you be hurt."
"But I'm not allowed to stop you from being hurt? What gives you that right?" she shouted in his face. It infuriated her further that his expression never changed, he continued to look at her completely stoically.
"Ro," he said finally, in his very matter-of-fact tone, "I think that I'm in love with you."
There was a tremendously long silence, as everything seemed to stand still. Ro laughed nervously as she said "You'd better not have chosen now to develop a sense of humor, Zee."
"I'm serious," he reassured her.
"Oh, okay," Ro commented lightly. "Then, I guess I think I love you too."
She raised her lips to kiss him, but suddenly, there was a loud pulsing sound and the two of them were surrounded by a blinding bright light. She felt Zee's hands tear away from hers and she screamed his name, but couldn't see anything. She figured nothing could happen, this light didn't hurt, it was just bright and loud. She curled up in a ball on the floor until it passed. Finally, she looked up and looked around.
"Zee?" she asked softly. But Zee was lying on the floor, hologramless, battered, charred, and still. Eta was standing next to a large machine with a large iron cannon at the top, which was still smoking. She left the machine and approached Zeta. Ro stared for a moment, in shock, then ran towards Zee, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Omigod, Zee, are you okay?"
She expected his dull grey eyes to change to their typical bright white, she expected him to sit up, repair himself, and make a casual comment. But he didn't move.
"Zee! Get up, you stupid synthoid-" she yelled at him, even though she knew it would help. Eta regarded her curiously.
"You know that he's dead, right? He's been hit with an EM ray, there's no way he could survive that."
Ro froze, holding Zee, her eyes locking on Eta. Zee was gone. . .he was dead. . .she stared at him, unwilling to believe it. Zee, her family, her best friend. . .okay, more than friend, reduced to a titanium shell.
At this point, most people would cry, give up. But Ro pulled herself to her feet, her eyes now transfixed again on Eta, a steady tremble moving rapidly from her finger tips and spreading like an electric pulse through her body. Her teeth gritted so hard it hurt, every muscle in her body was tensed. Ro was pissed.
"You. . .you. . ." she diverged into a stream of obscenities, despite the fact that Eta wouldn't know what they meant. "You killed him! Godammit, I'm gonna kill you!"
Eta ignored her, putting up the 'Eve' hologram again, this time in an NSA uniform. She turned to go, and the sight of that red ponytail bobbing innocently as she walked filled Ro with such a deep hatred she felt as though her temple would burst. Hot angry tears welled in her eyes, and she lost all reason, instead running at Eta in an attempt to tackle her, hurt her in any way possible.
"Don't you try to leave!" she screamed, socking Eve with all her might. Her fist fell on solid metal, and a cracking sound told her she had broken her fingers. The biting pain felt somehow satisfying, so she hit again and again until her knuckles were sticky with blood. Eve watched, an almost amused expression on her face, but finally she began to tire, and lifted Ro, tossing her across the room.
Ro hit the floor hard, and rolled to a stop at the base of the giant electromagnet, the very same, she thought with indignation, that had been the death of Zee. Her body ached, and just the effort of movement sent a throb through her temple so sharp it blinded her. But her anger seemed to give her strength, the strength to hobble to her feet. The lust for revenge was beating through her body like the pumping of her blood.
The cannon. With that one thought guiding her, Ro pulled herself onto the cannon platform. Eta was already leaving, intending to walk away and leave Ro here. Leave Zeta here.
Groaning in pain, she slumped over the large EM ray. Eta seemed to have noticed her again, staring at her in what for a human would have been shock, but for the powerful synthoid it was calculation. Finally deciding, she began to raise the powerful plasma cannon in her arm to do away with Ro.
Ro saw the cannon and chuckled to herself, unafraid. She wasn't going to loose. They didn't call her bulldozer for nothing. The cannon was already warm for its last use, so Ro merely had to push the button, and then slump over the wonderfully hot metal of the ray. As Eta was engulfed in blinding light, Ro succumbed to darkness.
Author's note~ Yes, I know, I killed Zee off. . .*sniffle* But I had too, see it's just how the plot goes. . .DON'T THROW STUFF AT ME! *dashes off and hides, sniffling*