2 Hours Later

William shifted uncomfortably on a gurney. That shot to the groin still pulsed with pain in time with his heart beat. He sat in a small clinic set up on the island for employees who became ill or injured while working at the park. His cuts and scrapes had all been cleaned and bandaged where necessary. The doctor on staff told him there was no permanent damage to his testicles, though they would probably be sore for a few more days. He also said that William's nose was set and healing. The shape would probably change, but that could be corrected surgically.

The door opened and a woman in a dark grey pantsuit walked in. She held a tablet in her left hand. William realized that it was the same woman who had tried to warn him off back at Abernathy Ranch. Now, in the light, he could tell that she was probably in her mid-thirties. Almost certainly the direct assistant to the Head of Quality Assurance. She looked at the doctor, who nodded and stepped out of the room.

"How are you feeling, sir?" she asked.

William let out a harsh breath. "I just killed someone," he said, "How the fuck do you think I feel?"

"She's not dead," the woman replied.

His eyes widened in surprise as sudden hope washed over him. But then he realized she could be lying to him, trying to save him from the reality of what he had done. He mulled the possibility around in his head for a second. What reason could she have to lie to him? Sure, he was a high level member of the Delos Board of Directors, and the company would go to extreme lengths to protect him, but from himself? He squinted at her, trying to read her face for any tells or microexpressions that might give away a lie.

"Bullshit."

The woman looked him square in the eyes. Her gaze didn't waiver. "She's alive. We had already dispatched a team to your location. The Head of Q.A. had become concerned with your obsession with this particular guest, not to mention that you are both very high level VIPs. So naturally, we were keeping track of you. We sent out a security detail as soon as you jumped off the train. We got to Ms. Michaels at the base of the cliff less than five minutes after she fell. She's very badly injured and has a long recovery ahead of her, which Delos will of course finance, but she is alive."

Relief swelled in William so strongly that he nearly cried. He could feel the tears welling up and so looked away from the woman.

"I'm not a murderer," he mumbled.

The woman leaned in, "I'm sorry?"

William stood and looked her in the eyes. More firmly, he said, "I'm not a murder."

The woman smiled sympathetically, "Of course not! You got a little overzealous in playing the game, but you certainly aren't a murderer."


48 Hours Later

Cain Michaels sat on one side of a large conference table in the international headquarters of Delos Incorporated. Across from him sat two stone faced executives and an equally stone faced lawyer. Less than a day ago, he had gotten the most devastating news of his life. News that had caused him to demand this meeting. Now that he was here, for the first time in his life he didn't know what to say.

"As was relayed to you on the phone Mr. Michaels," The man on Cain's right, the lawyer said, "while Delos does offer condolences for the tragic accident that took your daughter's life, it was an accident. And the waivers that your daughter signed-"

"Shutup." Cain said. He didn't raise his voice, but the commanding tone made the man instantly close his mouth.

The silence grew deafening as it stretched out. Cain gripped the arm of his chair while he considered what he wanted. Finally, he leaned forward and pointed a finger at the man in the center of the three.

"I want to see it," he said.

"See it?" the man asked.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid," Cain snapped, "I know you have ways of monitoring your park beyond simple cameras. I use the same technology in my labs to protect against corporate espionage."

The man's eyes widened slightly for just a second, but he turned and nodded at the third man. That man picked up the tablet in front of him and tapped it a few times before passing it across the table to Cain.

"You can adjust the angle by-" he started to say, but Cain held up a finger.

The screen showed Tempe on top of a slope that led to a sheer cliff. Cain's daughter, his precious girl, seemed to be taking in the scenery. He tapped the center of the screen and the recording began to play.

Tempe walked to the top of the slope. However, she stepped on a loose rock and lost her footing. Her body pitched forward and her head bounced off of a basketball sized rock with a sickening crunch. The angle of her fall caused her to roll down the slope. Cain stopped the recording before she went over the cliff. Using two fingers, he adjusted the angle, sweeping around the scenery in a full circle.

"Where's the girl?" He asked.

The three men across from him looked at each other in confusion. Finally the man who had handed him the tablet asked, "What girl?"

"The farm girl," Cain said, looking up at him, "The one in the blue dress. She's always in Sweetwater getting stuff. Her name starts with a 'D'…" Cain's eyes wandered to the side as he tried to come up with the name.

"Dolores?" the lawyer asked.

The other two shot him withering glares. It was only for a second, but Cain caught it.

Cain glared into the eyes of the executive in the center of the three. Very slowly and deliberately, he asked, "Where is Dolores?"

The man suddenly looked slightly nervous, but he answered in a steady voice, "The host known as Dolores had been killed," he used his fingers to make air quotes around the word killed, "in a shootout earlier that day. She wasn't with your daughter at that time."

"You're lying," Cain said. He stated it as though it were an obvious fact.

"Do you want to know how I know you're lying?" he asked, but continued before anyone could answer, "Because my daughter was in love with that farm girl, in as much as someone can be in love with one of your robots. She was so in love with her that over the past several years I have paid you assholes a small fortune just to let the farm girl keep her memories of my daughter."

As he spoke, Cain dragged his finger along the bottom of the tablet screen, rewinding the recording, then adjusted the angle to focus on his daughter's face.

"So now let me ask you something, if someone she loved had been killed earlier that day,"

Cain suddenly stood and slammed the tablet down in front of the three men and pointed at Tempe's face.

"Would she be fucking smiling a few hours later?"

The three men stared at the still image of Tempe Michaels smiling contentedly, as if she hadn't a care in the world.

Cain Michaels grabbed the tablet, turned, and marched toward the other end of the room. As he pressed the button to call the elevator, one of them, the lawyer, finally found his voice.

"Mr. Michaels," he called out as he stood, "You can't take that tablet! That has proprietary Delos data."

Cain turned to face them once more, "You mean like the fake recording of my daughter's accidental death?"

"Mr. Michaels," The man in the center said, his voice frigid, "Don't make us do something you'll regret."

As if to punctuate his words, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. Cain stepped into the car and turned to once again face the three men. With every ounce of disdain and menace he could muster, he growled, "This isn't over!"


The elevator doors opened and the ground floor and Cain strode out into the lobby. Three men in suits each held a finger to their right ears. Simultaneously, they all looked at him and began moving in his direction. Almost instantly, three other men in suits, men that Cain had called for while descending the building, appeared behind the first set. There were several buzzing noises as the first set of men, Delos security, all tensed every muscle in their bodies before collapsing. Cain's men put away their tasers and escorted their boss to his waiting car.


Abraham Montgomery stood at the window of the conference room. From his position, he could easily see Cain Michaels' car as it drove away from the building. He hadn't wanted it to come to this, but Michaels had left him little choice. In his ear, he could hear the line ringing. The person on the other end finally answered.

"Orders?" he asked.

Abraham said two words. "Do it"

A few seconds later, the vehicle he had been watching exploded in a massive fireball.

Abraham turned away from the window, shaking his head and musing, "What a waste."

These Violent Delights have Violent Ends