The Mission
Alica left her room around five thirty, finally feeling as though she were prepared for the night's work. She walked down the hall a short ways to room #16, wondering why they were meeting in a dorm rather than a normal meeting room. She knocked on the door quietly and waited for a few minutes. Finally the door cracked open and Singh Long peered out at her curiously.
"You're a little early, I hadn't expected company yet." he turned to glance at the room behind him and then opened the door wider and motioned her in. She sat down on a couch in front of a nice little entertainment center. He went into a back room and started unpacking his suitcase into a dresser.
"So you're moving in here?" she assumed.
"Van requested that I take a room in the building." he replied.
"Sounds like him." she agreed. "So why did you ask us to meet here? I'm sure Van would have been more than happy to assign you a special meeting room."
"I decided not to bother him with a request." She glanced casually about the furnished room, noting that the furnishings weren't much different from her own. However the room lacked any kind of personal touch whatsoever. Except for the entertainment center and a few windows the walls were completely bare. There were no kind of pictures or posters gracing them, no kind of personal belongings lying around on the floor, nothing at all that would indicate anyone was living there.
"Barren, isn't it?" he asked, as he walked back into the room. "If I ever have the time I think I'll go back home to get a few things." He sat down in a large, overstuffed reclined at the end of the couch, put his feet up, and took a cigarette and a lighter out of his pocket.
"I hope you'll get a meeting room next time." Alica complained, thinking about how badly the room would start to smell if he smoked in it.
"I'll mention it to him tomorrow." Long replied, lighting the cigarette and taking a hit. "It bothers you, ne? But it relaxes me."
"It's really terrible for your health." she scolded. He studied her face for a moment before replying.
"I do believe you're showing concern for me." She considered denying it, but couldn't think of a way to do that without admitting that she was only complaining because of her own dislike of the smell. He took one more drag of it and then held it in front of his face and stared at it for a minute. "You are right, I will live without it." He licked the tip of his finger and put it out before flicking it into a nearby trash can.
"Don't quit on my account." He pulled the rest of the pack out of his pocket and chucked it into the trash can as well.
"I'm not. I never really liked it much."
"Then why did you do it?"
"As I said, it relaxed me."
"I see..." They sat silently in the room for a few minutes, the tick of a clock on the wall the only noise they could hear inside the room. "So... I, uh... guess I was a little hard on you earlier today..."
"Think nothing of it." They sat there for a few more minutes, glancing disinterestedly around the room for lack of anything better to do. "So why are you here?" #318 asked, assuming that Alica Tylon would have better uses of her free time. "If you want something then you'd better ask about it before Fox gets here, unless you are in need of his presence."
"Ugh..." Alica moaned, wishing that Fox weren't coming at all. "Alright, but just remember you asked. One question: Why do you act as if you like me when the others are around? When we're alone you're so cold."
"Well, I couldn't have you getting the wrong idea now could I? What with Fox's accusations and all." he looked back at the trash can, wishing he'd at least finished the one cigarette. "Anyway, the simple fact is that I believe you deserve more respect than anyone else in that freak room."
"Because I'm female?"
"No."
"Oh... so you don't like me at all?"
"I like you as a person, but I have no romantic interest in you whatsoever."
"That's comforting." she stated, trying to assure herself of it. Then someone knocked at the door, she checked her watch, surprised to find out that it was six already. #318 went to answer the door and found Fox standing on the other side. He was dressed in a low-cut, hot pink evening gown with a long slit up one side, showing most of his left leg. He had a fake fur wrap around his shoulders and high-heels and a purse to match. Long smacked himself in the forehead and groaned in dismay before holding the door open and allowing him to enter.
"What's a matter deary?" Fox asked. "The purse was a little much, wasn't it? But I so love a matching ensamble!"
"Go sit down Fox." Singh Long ordered. Fox waltzed gracefully into the room, trying very hard to keep his balance on the high heels. Alica couldn't suppress a slight giggle at the sight.
"I'd like to see you walk in these!" he complained.
"I could walk in them better than you can actually." Alica said.
"Can we please get down to business now?" Long requested.
"You know, I have one just like this in my closet. Same design except it's black, and a size too big, but it would look so lovely on you... Why it would blend almost perfectly with your hair!"
"One more such comment and I'll wrap that fake fur around your neck and hang you from my ceiling!"
"Ah! How rude..."
"To business!" #318 commanded.
"Yes sir!" Fox said, adding a mock salute. Singh Long groaned in annoyance and fell down into his recliner.
"So, first of all what kind of job is this?" Alica asked.
"A multiple kill of course," he explained, rising from the chair. "a fairly difficult one." He walked back into his room and shuffled through a few things before emerging with the manilla folder contining the information on the assignment. He sat back down in his chair and studied the information for a moment. "This needs to be done quickly. I thought about using the old man, but he doesn't seem to appreciate my skills."
"True, he probably wouldn't obey orders from you very well." Alica admitted. "Not unless Van was looming somwehere nearby."
"We have 20 people to kill."
"Oh, really?" Fox cried excitedly. "Oooo, this is going to be a busy night!"
"You aren't getting anywhere near them Fox."
"What!?! Why not?" the transvestite sobbed.
"I have another job for you."
"Aw, no fair! No action tonight for the lovely Fox."
"So you and I are doing all the work?" Alica asked.
"I will do all the work." Long got up from his chair and walked over to the coffe table sitting in front of the couch and knelt down beside it. He selected a few papers from the folder and spread them out on the desk for all to see. Alica and Fox leaned foreward to peer at what looked to be a map of a large complex. "What I need you for Alica, is to paralyze their security system. Think you can do it?" She bent over and studied the map.
"This is one of the AMA's buildings." she recognized it. "I've broken into it before, just tell me which levels you need access to and I'll do it."
"Good." said, nodding his appreciation. "Now Hans..."
"Fox!" he corrected.
"What I'll need you for, Fox... is to pre-occupy the perimeter guards."
"Ooo, you mean I get to create a diversion? Great! I love creating diversions! I'll wear my lovely black mini-dress and put my hair down and wear my fake boobs under my push-up bra..."
"I do NOT want to hear these meaningless details!!!" #318 cried, pounding his fists on the table. Both Fox and Alica jumped back in surprise and Long turned to glare at the shocked man. "I already have to kill 20 people tonight..." he growled. "But give me a reason to hurt you, Hans, and you'll be the 21st, got that?"
"Y-yessss S-sir." Fox stuttered, cowering in the corner of the sofa. Singh Long got up from the floor and walked calmly over to sit in his recliner. "I'm giving you both an hour to get ready, then we'll meet back here and leave, understood?"
"Only an hour?" Hans whined. Long glared at him. "Fine, fine..." he jumped up from his seat and headed for the door. "I'll be back in an hour then, toodles!"
"That pathetic excuse of a man annoys me to no end!" #318 growled.
"You might as well get used to it." Alica told him. "When Van made you the top assassin he wasn't joking, you'll be here for awhile."
"What do you think Van would do if I killed him?"
"Seriously?" she looked into his face and saw that he was clearly very serious about it. "I don't know. He doesn't like Fox much himself, no one really does, but I doubt you would go unpunished."
"What sort of punishment?"
"Knowing Van, he would probably kill someone you cared about. Maybe one of your family members."
"Damn." He popped the chair's foot-rest up and leaned back untill he was staring at the ceiling. "Well, you'd better get ready to go. I'm sure you have some sort of equipment to pack."
"You've given me more than enough time, and I had a few more things to say to you."
"Be quick about it." Alica wasn't quite sure exactly what to say. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him. She wanted to know more about his past, his family, and who he was, but how much was too much to ask?
"Tell me something about your family." she requested. "What makes them so important to you?"
"Good question," he agreed. "can't answer it."
"What do you mean? You don't know what makes them so important that you're about to kill 20 people to keep them alive?"
"I suppose it's simply the fact that they're my family. Otherwise I'm not very close to them at all."
"How sad."
"No more than your family."
"True..."
"You know, Van doesn't think you killed your father."
"He doesn't?" This was a surprise to Alica, as she felt Van had always done his best to make her feel guilty about it. "Why not?"
"He says he doesn't think you're a zoanthrope."
"Good." she stated, glad she had managed to keep something a secret from him. "Let him think that."
"Perhaps." #318 replied casually.
"You won't tell him, will you?" Alica demanded.
"Perhaps not." he answered slyly. Her eyes narrowed and she growled and glared at him in undisguised anger. Finally I have this one secret I have kept to myself, and he could ruin it! He was still sitting back, looking at the celiing, but he heard her well enough. "Don't be angry with me, I did mean that I don't intend to inform him of it."
"Really?" she blinked in surprise and calmed back down. "But I thought you... You are so like..."
"Van's little pet?" he guessed. "Please, spare me the indignity."
"No? Hm... well there's more to you than meet the eye."
"I don't belong to anyone." he continued. "No matter how much they may think otherwise, I am my own man."
"I see that." They sat quietly in the room once more for a few minutes. Silently contemplating what they had just been discussing while the clock ticked away the minutes.
"What are you still here for?" Singh Long asked at the ceiling. "Don't you have something better to do?"
"Do you always sit around doing nothing like this?" Alica countered.
"I am thinking. An activity more people ought to participate in if you ask me. Now, you are here for what reason?"
"I guess, because... I like you."
"What!?!" he sat straight up in his chair and stared at her.
"I don't mean it romantically!" she explained.
"That is still quite a statement." he commented, still staring at her face intently. His gaze was so intense she had to turn away and look elsewhere. "Do you... have any idea how long it's been since someone said something like that to me?"
"Of course not." she replied, thinking it was a silly question.
"I am honored."
"D-don't be." she was getting really embarrassed. I knew I shouldn't have said that! What did I go and say that for anyway? He chuckled at her embarassment, it was the first time she'd heard him laugh that didn't sound evil or scary.
"Forgive me if I've made you uncomfortable."
"No, it was my own fault."
"If you would, forgive me for being so cold towards you. It is second nature to me."
"I can forgive you for that." They shared a smile before settling back down in their seats for another moment of silent thought.
"If you are really bored you can turn the TV on." Long offered.
"No." Alica declined, she bent back over the table and studied the maps again. "You didn't say which levels of the building you needed access to." He groaned and slapped himself across the forehead.
"I let myself become distracted from the mission, how foolish!" he scolded, getting up from the recliner and walking back over to the table. "Most of the people I need to kill are down in this area." He pointed to the west wing on the first floor. "The rest are up here." A small room on the second floor.
"And how much time do we have to do this?"
"As long as Hans can distract the guards. As distracting as he is I'm sure we'll have more than enough time, and it won't take long."
"How are you going to pull this off? Killing 20 people as quickly as you will have to is no easy feat."
"I think I will simply walk in to the rooms and slaughter them." #318 explained. "As long as you have the security systems down we should get out quickly enough."
"You know, once I take the security systems down, I could be of some use." Alica offered.
"If you like, you can take the four people up here." he said, pointing to the room on the second floor.
"It would go more quickly that way." she agreed.
"Alright, it's settled then. So, you'd better go get ready for it." She got up from the couch and turned towards the door.
"Singh, may I ask you one more thing before I go?"
"Actually Long would be the appropriate name, what is it?"
"Long..." she turned back towards him. "How do you feel right after you kill someone?" There was a surprised look in his eyes for a moment.
"How do I feel?" he repeated. "Sit down, sit down." He motioned to the couch. She sat back down at the end by the door and he sat on the other end of the couch. He slouched down in the cushions and made himself comfortable. "How do I feel?" he asked himself, staring blankly off into nothing. "I'm not sure I feel anything anymore."
"Nothing at all?"
"The first year is always the most difficult." he remembered, glancing over at her. "Yes, I know when it happened. You have not been killing very long, but just long enough to realize that with each kill some small part inside of you dies." Alica nodded. It is so true, she thought, unable to say anything in reply to his statement. He stared back up at the ceiling. "It has been a long time since I felt the pain of guilt." he continued. "I think most of me is dead already. But it still hurts you... I see it."
"Yes." she admitted, feeling powerless to do otherwise.
"I can remember... killing so many people..." he trailed off, a pained expression on his face. "This is about the time I would cry. I used to cry. Do you believe me? Can you imagine me crying?"
"Well..."
"But my tears dried up long ago, there is nothing left now, just emptiness." A single tear fell down Alica's cheek. She could not help but feel his pain and sorrow, for it was the same pain that she herself felt. She felt it every day, every single time she took another's life. She couldn't stand it. "I remember... sometimes it hurt so much I thought I was going to die. But you don't die... not physically. Only your heart dies." She sobbed, the pain was too much to bare.
"Is this... Is this what's going to happen to me?"
"Perhaps, eventually." Another tear fell down from her cheek, wetting a tiny spot on her lab coat. Then she felt his hand brush over hers, he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "Cry Alica." She looked up at him in surprise. "Did you think I was going to tell you not to?" She nodded her head, and he shook his. "Cry, Alica Tylon. Cry while you still can."
"You're a little early, I hadn't expected company yet." he turned to glance at the room behind him and then opened the door wider and motioned her in. She sat down on a couch in front of a nice little entertainment center. He went into a back room and started unpacking his suitcase into a dresser.
"So you're moving in here?" she assumed.
"Van requested that I take a room in the building." he replied.
"Sounds like him." she agreed. "So why did you ask us to meet here? I'm sure Van would have been more than happy to assign you a special meeting room."
"I decided not to bother him with a request." She glanced casually about the furnished room, noting that the furnishings weren't much different from her own. However the room lacked any kind of personal touch whatsoever. Except for the entertainment center and a few windows the walls were completely bare. There were no kind of pictures or posters gracing them, no kind of personal belongings lying around on the floor, nothing at all that would indicate anyone was living there.
"Barren, isn't it?" he asked, as he walked back into the room. "If I ever have the time I think I'll go back home to get a few things." He sat down in a large, overstuffed reclined at the end of the couch, put his feet up, and took a cigarette and a lighter out of his pocket.
"I hope you'll get a meeting room next time." Alica complained, thinking about how badly the room would start to smell if he smoked in it.
"I'll mention it to him tomorrow." Long replied, lighting the cigarette and taking a hit. "It bothers you, ne? But it relaxes me."
"It's really terrible for your health." she scolded. He studied her face for a moment before replying.
"I do believe you're showing concern for me." She considered denying it, but couldn't think of a way to do that without admitting that she was only complaining because of her own dislike of the smell. He took one more drag of it and then held it in front of his face and stared at it for a minute. "You are right, I will live without it." He licked the tip of his finger and put it out before flicking it into a nearby trash can.
"Don't quit on my account." He pulled the rest of the pack out of his pocket and chucked it into the trash can as well.
"I'm not. I never really liked it much."
"Then why did you do it?"
"As I said, it relaxed me."
"I see..." They sat silently in the room for a few minutes, the tick of a clock on the wall the only noise they could hear inside the room. "So... I, uh... guess I was a little hard on you earlier today..."
"Think nothing of it." They sat there for a few more minutes, glancing disinterestedly around the room for lack of anything better to do. "So why are you here?" #318 asked, assuming that Alica Tylon would have better uses of her free time. "If you want something then you'd better ask about it before Fox gets here, unless you are in need of his presence."
"Ugh..." Alica moaned, wishing that Fox weren't coming at all. "Alright, but just remember you asked. One question: Why do you act as if you like me when the others are around? When we're alone you're so cold."
"Well, I couldn't have you getting the wrong idea now could I? What with Fox's accusations and all." he looked back at the trash can, wishing he'd at least finished the one cigarette. "Anyway, the simple fact is that I believe you deserve more respect than anyone else in that freak room."
"Because I'm female?"
"No."
"Oh... so you don't like me at all?"
"I like you as a person, but I have no romantic interest in you whatsoever."
"That's comforting." she stated, trying to assure herself of it. Then someone knocked at the door, she checked her watch, surprised to find out that it was six already. #318 went to answer the door and found Fox standing on the other side. He was dressed in a low-cut, hot pink evening gown with a long slit up one side, showing most of his left leg. He had a fake fur wrap around his shoulders and high-heels and a purse to match. Long smacked himself in the forehead and groaned in dismay before holding the door open and allowing him to enter.
"What's a matter deary?" Fox asked. "The purse was a little much, wasn't it? But I so love a matching ensamble!"
"Go sit down Fox." Singh Long ordered. Fox waltzed gracefully into the room, trying very hard to keep his balance on the high heels. Alica couldn't suppress a slight giggle at the sight.
"I'd like to see you walk in these!" he complained.
"I could walk in them better than you can actually." Alica said.
"Can we please get down to business now?" Long requested.
"You know, I have one just like this in my closet. Same design except it's black, and a size too big, but it would look so lovely on you... Why it would blend almost perfectly with your hair!"
"One more such comment and I'll wrap that fake fur around your neck and hang you from my ceiling!"
"Ah! How rude..."
"To business!" #318 commanded.
"Yes sir!" Fox said, adding a mock salute. Singh Long groaned in annoyance and fell down into his recliner.
"So, first of all what kind of job is this?" Alica asked.
"A multiple kill of course," he explained, rising from the chair. "a fairly difficult one." He walked back into his room and shuffled through a few things before emerging with the manilla folder contining the information on the assignment. He sat back down in his chair and studied the information for a moment. "This needs to be done quickly. I thought about using the old man, but he doesn't seem to appreciate my skills."
"True, he probably wouldn't obey orders from you very well." Alica admitted. "Not unless Van was looming somwehere nearby."
"We have 20 people to kill."
"Oh, really?" Fox cried excitedly. "Oooo, this is going to be a busy night!"
"You aren't getting anywhere near them Fox."
"What!?! Why not?" the transvestite sobbed.
"I have another job for you."
"Aw, no fair! No action tonight for the lovely Fox."
"So you and I are doing all the work?" Alica asked.
"I will do all the work." Long got up from his chair and walked over to the coffe table sitting in front of the couch and knelt down beside it. He selected a few papers from the folder and spread them out on the desk for all to see. Alica and Fox leaned foreward to peer at what looked to be a map of a large complex. "What I need you for Alica, is to paralyze their security system. Think you can do it?" She bent over and studied the map.
"This is one of the AMA's buildings." she recognized it. "I've broken into it before, just tell me which levels you need access to and I'll do it."
"Good." said, nodding his appreciation. "Now Hans..."
"Fox!" he corrected.
"What I'll need you for, Fox... is to pre-occupy the perimeter guards."
"Ooo, you mean I get to create a diversion? Great! I love creating diversions! I'll wear my lovely black mini-dress and put my hair down and wear my fake boobs under my push-up bra..."
"I do NOT want to hear these meaningless details!!!" #318 cried, pounding his fists on the table. Both Fox and Alica jumped back in surprise and Long turned to glare at the shocked man. "I already have to kill 20 people tonight..." he growled. "But give me a reason to hurt you, Hans, and you'll be the 21st, got that?"
"Y-yessss S-sir." Fox stuttered, cowering in the corner of the sofa. Singh Long got up from the floor and walked calmly over to sit in his recliner. "I'm giving you both an hour to get ready, then we'll meet back here and leave, understood?"
"Only an hour?" Hans whined. Long glared at him. "Fine, fine..." he jumped up from his seat and headed for the door. "I'll be back in an hour then, toodles!"
"That pathetic excuse of a man annoys me to no end!" #318 growled.
"You might as well get used to it." Alica told him. "When Van made you the top assassin he wasn't joking, you'll be here for awhile."
"What do you think Van would do if I killed him?"
"Seriously?" she looked into his face and saw that he was clearly very serious about it. "I don't know. He doesn't like Fox much himself, no one really does, but I doubt you would go unpunished."
"What sort of punishment?"
"Knowing Van, he would probably kill someone you cared about. Maybe one of your family members."
"Damn." He popped the chair's foot-rest up and leaned back untill he was staring at the ceiling. "Well, you'd better get ready to go. I'm sure you have some sort of equipment to pack."
"You've given me more than enough time, and I had a few more things to say to you."
"Be quick about it." Alica wasn't quite sure exactly what to say. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him. She wanted to know more about his past, his family, and who he was, but how much was too much to ask?
"Tell me something about your family." she requested. "What makes them so important to you?"
"Good question," he agreed. "can't answer it."
"What do you mean? You don't know what makes them so important that you're about to kill 20 people to keep them alive?"
"I suppose it's simply the fact that they're my family. Otherwise I'm not very close to them at all."
"How sad."
"No more than your family."
"True..."
"You know, Van doesn't think you killed your father."
"He doesn't?" This was a surprise to Alica, as she felt Van had always done his best to make her feel guilty about it. "Why not?"
"He says he doesn't think you're a zoanthrope."
"Good." she stated, glad she had managed to keep something a secret from him. "Let him think that."
"Perhaps." #318 replied casually.
"You won't tell him, will you?" Alica demanded.
"Perhaps not." he answered slyly. Her eyes narrowed and she growled and glared at him in undisguised anger. Finally I have this one secret I have kept to myself, and he could ruin it! He was still sitting back, looking at the celiing, but he heard her well enough. "Don't be angry with me, I did mean that I don't intend to inform him of it."
"Really?" she blinked in surprise and calmed back down. "But I thought you... You are so like..."
"Van's little pet?" he guessed. "Please, spare me the indignity."
"No? Hm... well there's more to you than meet the eye."
"I don't belong to anyone." he continued. "No matter how much they may think otherwise, I am my own man."
"I see that." They sat quietly in the room once more for a few minutes. Silently contemplating what they had just been discussing while the clock ticked away the minutes.
"What are you still here for?" Singh Long asked at the ceiling. "Don't you have something better to do?"
"Do you always sit around doing nothing like this?" Alica countered.
"I am thinking. An activity more people ought to participate in if you ask me. Now, you are here for what reason?"
"I guess, because... I like you."
"What!?!" he sat straight up in his chair and stared at her.
"I don't mean it romantically!" she explained.
"That is still quite a statement." he commented, still staring at her face intently. His gaze was so intense she had to turn away and look elsewhere. "Do you... have any idea how long it's been since someone said something like that to me?"
"Of course not." she replied, thinking it was a silly question.
"I am honored."
"D-don't be." she was getting really embarrassed. I knew I shouldn't have said that! What did I go and say that for anyway? He chuckled at her embarassment, it was the first time she'd heard him laugh that didn't sound evil or scary.
"Forgive me if I've made you uncomfortable."
"No, it was my own fault."
"If you would, forgive me for being so cold towards you. It is second nature to me."
"I can forgive you for that." They shared a smile before settling back down in their seats for another moment of silent thought.
"If you are really bored you can turn the TV on." Long offered.
"No." Alica declined, she bent back over the table and studied the maps again. "You didn't say which levels of the building you needed access to." He groaned and slapped himself across the forehead.
"I let myself become distracted from the mission, how foolish!" he scolded, getting up from the recliner and walking back over to the table. "Most of the people I need to kill are down in this area." He pointed to the west wing on the first floor. "The rest are up here." A small room on the second floor.
"And how much time do we have to do this?"
"As long as Hans can distract the guards. As distracting as he is I'm sure we'll have more than enough time, and it won't take long."
"How are you going to pull this off? Killing 20 people as quickly as you will have to is no easy feat."
"I think I will simply walk in to the rooms and slaughter them." #318 explained. "As long as you have the security systems down we should get out quickly enough."
"You know, once I take the security systems down, I could be of some use." Alica offered.
"If you like, you can take the four people up here." he said, pointing to the room on the second floor.
"It would go more quickly that way." she agreed.
"Alright, it's settled then. So, you'd better go get ready for it." She got up from the couch and turned towards the door.
"Singh, may I ask you one more thing before I go?"
"Actually Long would be the appropriate name, what is it?"
"Long..." she turned back towards him. "How do you feel right after you kill someone?" There was a surprised look in his eyes for a moment.
"How do I feel?" he repeated. "Sit down, sit down." He motioned to the couch. She sat back down at the end by the door and he sat on the other end of the couch. He slouched down in the cushions and made himself comfortable. "How do I feel?" he asked himself, staring blankly off into nothing. "I'm not sure I feel anything anymore."
"Nothing at all?"
"The first year is always the most difficult." he remembered, glancing over at her. "Yes, I know when it happened. You have not been killing very long, but just long enough to realize that with each kill some small part inside of you dies." Alica nodded. It is so true, she thought, unable to say anything in reply to his statement. He stared back up at the ceiling. "It has been a long time since I felt the pain of guilt." he continued. "I think most of me is dead already. But it still hurts you... I see it."
"Yes." she admitted, feeling powerless to do otherwise.
"I can remember... killing so many people..." he trailed off, a pained expression on his face. "This is about the time I would cry. I used to cry. Do you believe me? Can you imagine me crying?"
"Well..."
"But my tears dried up long ago, there is nothing left now, just emptiness." A single tear fell down Alica's cheek. She could not help but feel his pain and sorrow, for it was the same pain that she herself felt. She felt it every day, every single time she took another's life. She couldn't stand it. "I remember... sometimes it hurt so much I thought I was going to die. But you don't die... not physically. Only your heart dies." She sobbed, the pain was too much to bare.
"Is this... Is this what's going to happen to me?"
"Perhaps, eventually." Another tear fell down from her cheek, wetting a tiny spot on her lab coat. Then she felt his hand brush over hers, he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "Cry Alica." She looked up at him in surprise. "Did you think I was going to tell you not to?" She nodded her head, and he shook his. "Cry, Alica Tylon. Cry while you still can."