"You done well so far in your hunts dog," Zaizen said.
"Oh good, I guess I can now forget the formalities. What do you want now? Another witch for a pet? You bored toying with your hunters and their 'dog'?" Ghost replied.
"You will do well to remember that a dog respects its master."
"Only when it feels respected will it return that respect," Ghost coolly replied.
Zaizen was left without a reply to that. "Respected or not, whether you like it or not, you will do as instructed without complaint."
"Even dogs disagree with their owners sometimes."
"Yes, and those dogs are usually put down," Zaizen said, looking at the band Ghost's wrist.
"Do you plan to kill me already?" Ghost asked.
"No, just make you hurt. From here, I can regulate the amount of orbo that bracelet puts in you. Observe," Zaizen calmly said as he flipped a switch and typed a few keys.
At first, Ghost felt the prick on the needle piercing his skin. Then, he felt the orbo enter his bloodstream. Suddenly, his whole arm felt like it was burning from the inside out. Resisting the urge to grab his arm, Ghost stared at Zaizen, the painful expression covered by one of pure hate.
When he felt that he could use his voice again, Ghost spoke, saying "When I am free of this place, you will be the only one I come back to kill."
"Oh good, then I guess that means that i will be able to watch you die in front of me," Zaizen calmly replied.
"Then I'll see you in Hell," said as he turned and walked away.
Zaizen watched his pet walk away. He knew that the orbo had weakened Ghost significantly. But he also knew that Ghost was still too powerful to get rid of. Yet. Once he had assisted the STN-J enough, he would be killed, just as Raynalia had been; though she didn't make as nice of a pet as Ghost had. Without any bargaining chip, she had flat-out refused his offer and was taken away to Factory and killed. It was a shame too. With the amount of speed she had, she would have proven very useful. Oh well, he had his hound and he was happy with that.
Ghost entered the computer room and looked around. It was empty except for Michael, who was busy tapping away at his keyboard. Ghost then proceeded from the computer room to the elevator and finally down to the well. Sitting down on the edge, he looked at his arm for the first time since Zaizen had injected the orbo into him. He knew that it was only a small amount, but was surprised as the effectiveness. Not much had ever been able to hurt his body through the numbness created by the power of ice flowing through his bloodstream. But then Ghost noticed something. As he looked at the interlocking diamonds on his shoulders, he noticed they looked a bit fainter.
'So the orbo weakens any power of a witch, even if that power is not being actively used, meaning that the more orbo Zaizen puts in me, the weaker this seal gets. So Zaizen has indirectly strengthened me,' Ghost smiled, 'How nice of him to help me kill him.'
Ghost's thoughts were interrupted by another presence. He looked over his shoulder to see Michael standing behind him, hands in his pockets.
"May I help you?" he asked coolly.
"Well, Mr. Ghost-"
"Don't call me mister. I may be your elder but that does not mean you have to show me respect."
"I show you the respect of saying mister because I respect you. You managed to scar Amon, and you've had multiple chances over the past month to kill any of the hunters and make it look accidental, yet you've never taken any of them. You've either grown to respect us, or your love for Raynalia surpasses your hate for us. But that is not why I came outside to talk to you," Michael said.
"So does this mean the 2 dogs of the STN-J have a mutual respect for each other?" Ghost asked, eyes looking right into Michael's own like he was searching for some hint of a lie.
"No, it means the hacker and the witch employed by the STN-J respect each other. Calling yourself a dog means you're more broken than you think you are."
"Whatever. What did you want to know?" Ghost asked.
"Well, at this point it's obvious that you would do anything to save your girlfriend. I mean, it shows in the fact that you're here and we're all still alive and-"
"Get to the point."
"Right, I was just wondering, um, how did you, you know," Michael seemed to be sruggling to word it correctly.
"How did I know that I would do anything if it would give me the chance to see her again?" Ghost finished for him.
"Well, yeah," Michael answered.
"Well, it was simple. You find someone, realize you care, and you do everything that you can to let them know you care. You let them know you're their friend. Then, after you've done that, you let life take its own course. If you're meant to be with her, you will be. Bear in mind though, she doesn't need to love you back for you to still protect her, or for you to be happy to be able to talk to her. It's when you realize that you want what's best for her, not just that you want her, that you'll know that you'll do anything for her," Ghost said, his gaze drifting from Michael to down the well.
"So is that how you and Raynalia started out? Just friends?" Michael asked.
"Yeah. Just friends. It's how it all begins. What you see in movies, where the guy and girl see each other once, and suddenly they know they're destined to fuck each other's brains out by the end? They know that because they've read the script. Real life has no script; there is no way to know what is going to happen. All you can do, is be who you are, love who you want, and hope that they love you back," Ghost said, still looking into the well.
Michael seemed to reflect on this. As he stood to leave, he cleared his throat. Ghost broke stare into the well and looked at Michael. "How do you tell her that you love her?" Michael asked.
Ghost briefly showed a slight smile. "You use words and how you feel. The hardest part is getting started. After that, all you can do is wait for her response and hope she doesn't take a week to respond," Ghost said.
"She made you wait a week before she answerred you?" Michael asked.
"No. She made me wait two," Ghost said, chuckling a bit.
"Heh, that sucks. I'm going to head back up to my computer. I have some thinking I need to do and I do it better up there than anywhere else. Thank you for your help Mr. Ghost. What you said makes sense," Michael said as he turned and walked to the elevator.
"Well, Mr. Michael, you've asked me a lot of questions tonight, now allow me to ask one of my own. Who is it?" Ghost asked.
"A secret," Michael replied as the doors opened and he stepped inside. "She's cute though."
"Well, that rules Amon out," Ghost said as the doors began to close.
Michael's laughter was muffled after the doors had finally closed. Ghost watch the elevator rise up the shaft until it stopped on the third floor. 'Funny,' he thought to himself, 'The one person here that I share respect with is the only other person shackled to this place. How beautiful. Now to figure out how regulate the flow of this damn shackle. Without the seals, nobody will be able to stand in my way. Not the hunters, not that bastard Zaizen, not even Auzzie. But where is he?"