Winged Memories
The Golden Ostrich

"Dorothy!" I cried as she falls forward, limbs flailing across the damp concrete. The shots echoed in the air, reverberations of the three holes he blew in her legs. She lay immobile on the ground as Schwarzwald aimed his gun at me yet again.

"This is the android that woke the sleeping MegaDeus below the city!" he crowed in delight. "It'll be far more useful than that cowardly decrepit old bird."

"Don't you dare touch her!" I growled.

"It's quite a useless conglomerate of steel and circuits right now," he continued, "but once I removed the memories for this metal shell, it will be worth more than Alex Rosewater himself!"

"You bastard!"

"And then at last, this city will know the truth! The people here will be made to understand why they live without a past, why the world is so limited in its history and knowledge. They will remember what they were once destined to forget and finally realize the fate they were meant to experience forty years ago!"

"There's no point living in the past; it's asinine to keep chasing memories. Something so exclusively intangible is a waste of time!"

"No, memories are not so elusive as you think. My efforts have not been at all fruitless…do you suppose Big Duo just walked up to me of its own accord? It had to be brought back from the dead; painfully, carefully, by a seeker of its memories!"

"And what did all that work bring you? Ten minutes of revenge against the city you hate?"

"I would expect you of all people, Paradigm Dog, to understand my quest. You, dominus of the black MegaDeus!"

"What does Big O have to do with this?"

"Your ignorance is proof of my need to enlighten this world. The Bigs, the MegaDeuses…do you know what they are, Mr. Negotiator?"

"Of course not; no one knows!"

"Oh, but I do. I have yet to uncover the full truth, but I know the real purpose of the MegaDeuses." He leaned forward and hissed, "They are the cataclysm!"

"What?"

"They are the sacred chariots of mankind; guardian angels of this earth. They protect their children, these humans who serve them, through utter destruction and Armageddon.

"Forty years ago, a new threat was presented to the children…themselves. They quarreled and murdered and fought and massacred until the angels stepped forward and erased their hatred. In doing so, we were deprived of our memories, and the human race was allowed to continue living.

"These are the truths that we've all been ignoring! We averted ours eyes, shamed into proper conduct by our guardian angels, though few of which still remain. They alighted back to the heavens, powers of God, taking with them the memories that had flung this world into a man-made hell. Only several doubted the humans would not search out the truth, and you, Paradigm Dog, are the dominus of one.

"Do you see why you are the only true god of this world? You command the power of the angels, the might of God! You alone protect this city with the strength of the heavens at your back. Tell me, Roger Smith, what gives you that right?"

"I'm not obligated to answer that."

"But you are. You have no idea what you're bound to…but you use it for the good of this city, do you not?"

I glared at him as he moved nearer to Dorothy.

"A guardian angel. That is what the Big O is…and you are its god! You are fated to protect Paradigm from the evil that's sent to bring it to its knees. You were born into an alliance with God and a fate you must fulfill."

Closer…

"Do you deny your destiny, Roger Smith?"

"I am not governed by anyone."

"You are a god to this world…you have a destiny!"

He stood over Dorothy now and I could feel my heart beating madly with…what? Anger? Hatred?

Fear. I realized I was afraid for her. I try to suppress it, but such an illogical emotion is also a strong one…

"Get the hell away from her," I snarled.

"'Her'? It's only an android, meant to serve humans. Surely even you must understand that. And now it will serve me in the ultimate purpose." He grinned his evil Cheshire through the mask of bandages.

Dorothy suddenly moved, springing up onto her hands. She flipped over her head and smashed him in the chest with her feet, then fell with a crash to her back. Schwarzwald tumbled backwards against one of the machines and the pistol skittered across the floor and into the shadows.

"Big O!"

The ground trembled and Schwarzwald ceased his search for the gun…he realized what was about to happen, but too late.

The floor heaved and split as Big O rose out of the shattered concrete. His left hand lifted beneath Dorothy and I, carrying us away from the rumbling debris. I saw Schwarzwald as he fell through the disintegrating ground into the deep black, and then there was only the wind and rain above the factory.

I gathered up Dorothy, along with all my strength, and stood up in the downpour. Far below, the city streets were lining themselves with mist and umbrellas.

"He'll be back, won't he," Dorothy said tonelessly.

"Someone like him has no fear of the darkness beneath the city. The promise of new memories will keep him alive."

"It's sad," she said, "that he is so broken." Her words surprised me…it's not like her to be sympathetic. She looked up at me with eyes wet from the raindrops and suddenly pointed to the sky. My sight followed the path of her outstretched arm and I saw a flash of blue flying towards the domes.

"Looks like negotiations are closed…"

author's note: whew that was awful to write...I kept losing all the drafts I had...left my notebook at another school during a chess match, power went out during a thunderstorm and couldn't recover the document...it's not as good as the original, but it'll suffice. Please R&R! One chapter left!