KRIS

"What the fuck was that all about?"

Snively turned in his chair, facing her with a smile and taking a sip of tea. "Ah, good, you're here."

"No thanks to you, asshole."

"My, my, my! Touchy this evening. What seems to be the trouble?"

As usual, he had a way of calming her without even trying. She felt ashamed already. "Just… did you have to put up that much of a show this time? One of those fucking 'bots knocked me out cold."

"Don't blame the SWATbots, Kris. They do the best they can."

"Who should I blame, then?"

She stopped there. If she went further, she realized, she might piss him off.

"They don't have an attack dial on the side of their heads," Snively said, setting down his teacup. "It's either stand by, capture, or kill. Besides, presentation is everything—especially if you don't want your friends to suspect you're working for me."

"I don't think they care, as long as I fuck them."

"There's something we agree on." He leaned back in his chair, smiling even wider. "Compliments in regards to your latest performance. Clever use of the bag of marbles we gave you. Very sexy."

"Uh huh."

"Oh, don't be so modest. Take pride in your work."

"You seem to think I have control over what happens to me."

"Men are prone to suggestion when blood is out of their brains. At any rate, it's easier to say yes to a woman than say no and go through all the drama. I hear blood is a terrible lubricant."

"Spare me."

"Spare you? But that's so not me."

"Oh, that's right. You're the one who likes to pull the wings off a fly just to see if it learns to run."

"Terrible analogy. Do you want it simpler? Do you want to win? Do you want an easier way out?"

"…Easier?"

"None of you have figured it out yet, although two of the others are getting close. I expect a breakthrough any day now."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Alright, then, we'll stay on topic. Riddles are cheap." Snively rose to his feet and approached her. "Take a walk with me, Kris. I have a surprise for you today."

Kris rubbed the back of her head, feeling nauseous already, but allowed him to get close. Together, they walked out of his office via a door she didn't seem to remember entering through. They walked through the access hall.

"Tell me," he said, sounding genuinely concerned, "is everything to your liking? Are you comfortable?"

"I guess. All things considered."

"Right." He slipped an arm around her waist. "Of course."

Her head was spinning. She was trying to remember something he said, back in his office, but his behavior was throwing her off guard. She decided to keeping playing his game. "I have more information for you, if you want it."

"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary."

Coy little bastard. He always made it difficult. "I think… I know something about Holly." She paused. "She's still alive, right?"

Snively yawned. "Refresh my memory. Pig?"

Kris nodded. "We didn't talk much, but it was enough to… well, I noticed a change."

"Mmm, did you?"

She caught him looking at his watch. Apparently her skills for suspense were less attuned than Snively's.

"I think she was seeing someone," she continued, trying to hook him. "And keeping it a secret."

"You take my breath away."

Kris bit her lower lip, resisting the urge to smack him. Strangely, though, in spite of the awkwardness, she felt good about this meeting: like they were coming to a sort of end, and all she needed to do was make the final move.

She smiled at him. "No hints, Snively?"

His arm tightened around her waist, pulling her closer. "What are you afraid of this time? Why the need to peddle information to me?"

"It's what you wanted, re—"

He held up his free hand. "I'm not a cannon, my pet. I'm not going to suddenly stop feeding you contraceptives, and I'm not going to slice and dice any of your close comrades. Timothy and Duncan couldn't fuck their way out of balls, but I can live with it." He patted her on the ass. "I said I wanted to show you something. We're going for a walk. Relax. While you can."

This had to be a test. "I sound afraid to you?" She straightened up and dared to pull inches away from him.

"…No, no, you're right. You got me. It's my absolute favorite part about you. You've got nuts, kid."

She couldn't help but chuckle, and this was enough to allow Snively to pull her back to him.

"I'm serious—an enormous pair. Most of them cowered in fear when they saw me enter the torture chamber. But not you. Not you."

Two years of political debate, head to head with the Princess, had given her an extremely convincing sense of bravado. She was proud of it.

"What was it you said to me when I told you that the Roboticizers were fixed? 'You're full of shit, go fuck yourself'? Priceless."

Both of them broke into a brief chuckling fit. "I still believe it," she said.

"I know. You never told me why."

"Because…" She smiled, sensing an opening. "You and Robotnik don't have the restraint for this. It's an experiment born out of frustration, and you're both overcompensating for a feeling of inadequacy."

"Both? What makes you think Robotnik is behind this?"

His tone made her second guess the path she had been traveling on, but it was too late to turn back now. "I believe that about as strongly as I believe that the Roboticizers are hopelessly out of commission. It's what the two of you do. It's as much a part of you as your inflamed need to interrogate and your sick obsession with group sex."

"Hmmm." His footsteps slowed and his arm withdrew from her waist. "Anything else you can tell me?"

She paused to think. "Oh, about them? Let's see… Red likes to be in charge."

"Pfft. I hope that was a joke."

"Heheh." She paused again as Snively came to a complete stop and turned to face her. She decided to name some off. "Dwane had a huge crush on Allison's sister, Ginger; Lola's father was killed by Tristan in a botched recon mission; Olly and Oscar were having some kind of secret fuck affair, I think…" She shrugged. "Brandon likes blood oranges."

Snively blinked once, looking extremely displeased. "Would it be futile to ask about the location of the other freedom fighter groups?"

Her instincts answered "yes" for her, but the question still caught her off guard.

"Thought so," he said. He turned to face the wall, pulling a remote out of his pocket.

Why would he ask that? He hadn't asked that question since… it seemed like months ago. At the early stage of their working relationship. He wanted non obvious information, but she stubbornly and firmly drew the line at revealing military data. He accepted. That was the agreement.

He had never bothered to ask her since then…

She was silent as he pressed the button that caused the wall to disappear, so they could see into her cell. She had seen this before, so the action didn't surprise her. But what she saw inside did.

"As it turns out," Snively continued, "we've had another informant for quite some time. I think I like her better than you."

God, it was ending after all.

"You… weren't…"

"No," he said plainly, without emotion. "I wasn't."

They both watched the occupants of cells D4 and D5, changed by their metal exteriors, claws gleaming harshly and eyes glowing bright red, staring back at them.

"In fact, it's working better than ever now. You know we can choose which parts of the brain remain dormant? Total sci-fi."

He put a strong hand on her shoulder, but she barely felt it. She was lost in the eyes…

"Don't let the appearance fool you. They're going to act more or less the same."

The eyes, all six pairs of them…

"Look. They can smell you."

They were hungry.

Snively simultaneously clicked the button to open the door and pushed Kris into the cell. Another click and door was closed again. She fell to her knees as her metallic cellmates moved, claws outstretched for her, and as the realization hit and she clawed frantically at the door she was sure she just entered through, Snively smiled, observing the results.

He tapped on the glass. "Did I mention that blood is a terrible lubricant?"