It was so incredibly silent. He had lost track of time a long time ago. However, as he started to become more aware of himself, recent memories started trickling in, along with common sense. But still, he did not wish to awaken.
He should have been able to register the four men that had started surrounding him, but he went on uninterrupted in recharge. until he suddenly felt something clamp onto his left rear axle. He scanned before he was even all the way online.
It was a chain of a substance he had never encountered before in his existence.
He awoke with a jolt and involuntarily lunged, pulling on the two enormous chains secured around his two rear axles that had him pinned down. Anthony Cutlass, Peter Guerra, Jon Tanner, and a fourth man were standing around him, staring blankly. He was in a huge, dark laboratory room, surrounded by large computers. He was trapped.
"Kyle," was the first thought he processed.
Anthony stepped forward. "You don't need him anymore, Dante," he said.
"What are you doing to me?" Dante fired his engine and his tires squealed as he burst forward. The men jumped back as he flew towards them, but the chains wrenched him back before he could touch them. They dug into his rear axles and he wanted to cry out at the raw pain.
"Don't fight against it, Dante," Anthony said. "It'll only hurt you."
"I demand to know what's going on!" Dante shouted.
Anthony only grinned and turned to the others that had come with him. "Congratulations, Jon and Peter. Another job well done. Peter, thicken the security in case our friends at FLAG come for their AI." He nodded to the skinny blonde man that Dante did not recognize. "Alex, thanks for coming. Start breaking down the AI's security systems."
"No!" He floored the throttle, forcing his speedometer past sixty as he fought against the chains, making them creak and moan in protest. Smoke poured from his wheels, but the men paid no attention as they gathered around the central computer. Dante nearly screamed in pain as one of the chains gave way.
Anthony dodged the Expedition's grille. "Get control over this computer!" he bellowed, glaring at Alex Lopez, one of his newer employees.
"Almost there!" Alex cried.
Pure fear and determination raged through his systems. He had to get away before it was too late. He had to get back to Kyle. Nothing else mattered.
He felt the sting of an external access worming through his systems, gradually taking over, overriding his every function. Chaos broke out in his mind and he screamed, losing his grip on the car's controls. His vision started to fail as the worm wrapped around his systems and squeezed until he couldn't hold on any longer, unable to bear the pain as it slowly drove him mad.
The steering wheel jerked and the SUV swerved uncontrollably to the right. He could not feet the fragile, human body as it came into contact with his right fender.
"Kyle."

*

"Dante."
Kyle was pulled out of his idle musings with a jolt, unsure why he had spoken his partner's name out loud. But then an ominous feeling dropped to the bottom of his stomach like an anvil as he sat up in his seat. It took him a moment to notice that Jenny was glancing at him worriedly from the corner of her eye. Somehow he knew something was very wrong. He could feel it.
"Kyle, what's the matter?" Jenny questioned.
Kyle looked out at the scenery through Domino's passenger window. "How much longer 'til we get there?" he wanted to know, looking slightly unnerved.
Domino's monitor came to life with a map of Los Angeles. She plotted their course to Bellflower Industries' labs and said, "Our current ETA is three minutes."
Kyle took in a breath. "Not soon enough," he murmured to himself.
Jenny pressed harder on the throttle.

Kyle was out of the car before it even drew to a full halt, but Jenny was right behind him. Silently, they went for the front door, incredibly alert, but everything appeared normal. Everything was quiet. Maybe too quiet.
Kyle reached for the door handle and started to open it for Jenny. An angry shout reached his ears and an instant later he found a large man bursting through the door, straight for him. He jumped back in surprise as Jenny threw her full weight at him from behind, sending him face-first onto the blacktop of the parking lot. She jammed her knee into the back of his neck and he was momentarily immobile as he struggled to come back to his senses.
"Thanks," Kyle said.
Jenny nodded in reply and he took over as soon as she jumped up. She stood back and let him take Peter Guerra out.
"Go find Dante!" she heard Kyle shout.
Jenny didn't waste a second. She smoothed out her black jacket and strode casually inside, covering up any possible suspicion. She smiled at a few of the security guards, as she caught them staring. She turned down a long hallway where the staff density was thinned out considerably. She dropped the "sexy woman" façade and her walk took on a more determined pace as she started glancing through every open door she passed without looking too out of place. She was mildly surprised that no one had stopped to question her being here. Each time she turned a corner she tensed up for another possible attack, but each time there was nothing.
Honestly, she didn't know where to look, or if she was even going in the right direction. Every doorway was an office, restroom, break room or conference room. Where on earth were all the laboratories?
She glanced behind her to be sure that no one was there. Surreptitiously, she lifted her comlink to her lips. "Domino, can you scan this place at all?"
"That's what I've been trying to do," Domino replied quickly. "The structure of this building is really strange, and I can't scan through it very well."
"Great," Jenny muttered.
"Sorry, hon," Domino remarked.
Jenny sighed and continued down the hallways. She was on her own for this one.
A strange feeling suddenly came over her and she stopped in her tracks. She whirled around again, half-expecting to see someone lurking in the shadows behind her. But the hall was empty. Slowly, she continued down the hall, and the feeling only grew stronger. Perhaps she was getting closer.
She stopped in front of a door with a sign stating that a stairwell was on the other side. Cautiously, she pushed it open, and when she was convinced that no one was going to ambush her, she stepped inside. There were two stairways: one leading up and one leading down. Down? There had to be a basement floor, then, she surmised. She hurriedly debated on which way to go first. But when she realized that there wasn't any way to take Dante upstairs, she briskly climbed downward.
She had only made it to the second flight of stairs when she started to hear the horrible screech of spinning tires mixed with the deep growl of a powerful engine.
"Dante," she whispered.
A clicking sound reached her ears and her head snapped up. She suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of a gun and her face lost some of its color in her surprise. She froze and slowly lifted her eyes to meet the gaze of Anthony Cutlass.
"I'm sorry, miss," he said smoothly, "but this floor is for authorized personnel only."
Jenny narrowed her eyes. "I beg your pardon, sir, but what is your definition of 'authorized'?" She ducked and kicked out at the same time, knocking the gun out from his hand and dodging the bullet as he instinctively fired.
Anthony jumped back in disgust and swung his fist at her, confident that it would strike his desired target. Jenny's hand also flew out and she grabbed his arm with a surprisingly strong grip. She held her breath as she heaved him up off of his feet and spun him to the ground, flat on his back. Anthony swung his legs out and kicked her feet out from underneath her. Jenny gasped as she tumbled to the ground, the last bit of color on her face drained, but as Anthony lunged for her she planted both of her feet into his chest and kicked. With a startled shout, he went flying back, unexpectedly somersaulting down the last flight of stairs. Jenny scrambled to her feet and watched with wide eyes until he came to a rest, in a heap, at the bottom. She quickly snatched up his gun before following him down. She stood over him for a moment to ensure that he was indeed unconscious, and she bent over to check for a pulse. He was still alive.
It suddenly dawned on her that the horrible noise had fallen silent. "Dante," she breathed. She spun around to face the door at the base of the stairs and kicked it open.
She slipped Anthony's gun in the back pocket of her pants and surveyed the room. It was exceedingly large, but awfully spacious. The walls were all covered in workbenches, computers and other electronics, but in the middle of the room there was nothing. It was, however, obviously a lab. She hoped she was getting closer.
As her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the lab, she saw a man sitting at one of the computers, apparently oblivious of her rather unceremonious entrance. Her whole body tensed. Even with his back facing her, she could tell exactly who it was.
"Jon!" she cried.
The man jumped at the sound of her voice and leapt out of his chair, sending it flying backwards as he faced her, his eyes as wide as saucers. "Jenny!" he exclaimed, his shock clear in his voice. "What." He swallowed hard, "what're you doing here?"
He saw her fists clench with rage and he took a step backward, his eyes pinned on her form in the doorway. She shouted with anger and charged at him. In a flash, she was practically on top of him and all he could do was back away. She bared her teeth as her hands went for his neck. She pinned him to the wall.
"I believe you have something that belongs to my friend," she said, her tone frighteningly level, her face only inches from his. Her eyes flashed with an anger that Jon had never seen before. "Jenny," he choked out, squirming against her grasp, "please. listen."
"Shut up!" Jenny yelled angrily, forcing him harder against the wall as her grip tightened.
"Jenny. please don't. make me do something I really don't want to do."
Jenny's dark expression never faltered. "I think that's something I should be saying to you."
Suddenly, he stopped squirming. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jon's free hand slowly reach into his pocket. But she was faster. She pulled Anthony's gun on him, stopping him dead in his tracks with his hand only halfway in his pocket. His eyes were glued to the gun in her hand.
"We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way," Jenny's calm voice sent chills down his spine. "I am trained. You are not."
Jon went for his gun. So did Jenny. But she was indeed faster. She snatched his gun right out of his pocked, just past his fingers. She took several steps away from him, keeping her eyes and her aim on Jon. She stuck Jon's gun in her own pocket and couldn't help but smirk briefly.
Immediately, she brought her mind back to her more important priorities. Jenny glanced around the lab in search of anything out in the open that she could take as a clue. This lab was big enough to fit a car three times the size of Dante. She had to be close.
And when she lowered her gaze to the floor, she finally found what she had been looking for. Black tire tracks were everywhere, all over the floor, and under her feet. Slowly, she returned her gaze to Jon as she spoke into her comlink.
"Domino, can you scan these tire marks?"
There were a few seconds of silence. Then Domino spoke in a bit of a troubled tone, "Jenny, I believe they belong to Dante."
The silence grew thicker. "How sure?"
"Ninety-six percent sure."
"Can you pick him up on your scanners?"
"Not yet. I'm still trying. Give me a minute."
Jenny's grip on the gun tightened and there was an insane look in her eyes. "I trusted you, Jon," she growled. "How could you do this to me, to Dante, to FLAG? What were you thinking?"
"Jenny, I think you need to relax." Jon was struggling to keep the fear out of his voice. "Why are you doing this? I don't know what you want from me!"
Jenny's face screwed up in disgust. "Stop playing stupid. You don't know how many times I've heard that. I know you have Dante. the AI. And you shot at Kyle through the window of your truck. You tried to kill him! How could you!" Her voice echoed off the lab walls, and she received no other reply. She took in a deep breath to keep herself in check. Calmly, she asked, "Where is Dante?"
No answer.
"Jenny," Domino's voice cut in. "I'm picking up a faint reading of what could be Dante's e-signature."
Jenny didn't acknowledge, but there was no doubt that she had heard her. "I loved you, Jon!" she shouted. "You went in behind my back!" She narrowed her eyes. "If Domino finds Dante in here, you're gonna wish never knew me."
"Jenny, the source of the e-signature is to your left."
Jenny and Jon both glanced over, their eyes settling on a large steel door that was boldly labeled "RESTRICTED ACCESS." The tire tracks disappeared under the door. Jon's face paled and he risked a glance at Jenny, only to see her eyes flash.
"You're done," Jenny muttered and cocked the gun, her finger pressing on the trigger.
"Jenny, what're you doing!" Kyle's voice filled the laboratory as the head operative burst into the room.
"Giving him what he deserves," was Jenny's only reply.
"Jenny, this is wrong and you know it," Kyle said, tentatively stepping towards her. "Don't shoot him. It's murder. He's not worth it. Jenny!"
"I can't ever forgive you, Jon," she murmured and fired.