A/N - I did some edits in earlier chapters. I have a tendency to go back and reread something and think, "it could've been better this way." Then I go and change it. The changes were nothing big, mainly just a few words here and there and grammatical errors and such.

Anywho, here's the new chapter. Hope you enjoy. :)

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VII. Anomalous Artificial Intelligence

"So, w-what do you plan on doing with...the, um...the prisoners?" I asked Handsome Jack as lightly as possible, while trying to make the question sound nonchalant.

I sat in a chair at his desk across from him while he riffled through data disks and digital screens full of numbers and information distractedly. His normally clean work space was a mess of them now. The moon suspended ouside the window behind my boss seemed way too big from here. I wondered exactly where was the burning city of Concordia and it's broken bodies on that surface.

It couldn't just be invisible, could it? It certainly seemed so, as my eyes could pick out nothing unusual. I guess that it was just too far away.

"Who said anything about prisoners?" Jack broke into my thoughts. "I'm going to give them great jobs! Mostly mining. Heh, and you don't have to pay volunteers! Lotsa goodies to be found on Pandora... Eridium... Eridium... More Eridium... Anyways, Hyperion needs a few volunteers to show others that we're really the number one company to work for, since we've been hiring to replace...certain losses. With a few of these moon-stringers with us, we'll let all of Pandora see that we mean business. Hehe, I'm going to be so rich!"

"Is that even..." I clamped my mouth shut.

Luckily he hadn't seem to have heard. He was typing on his computer now.

I thought of several things wrong with what he'd said, and I'd wanted to say something, but I didn't want to push my luck here. I still felt strangely emotionless, and hollow. Nothing inside surfaced. Not sorrow, or even anger. I should have felt indignant at least on behalf of the men and women that'd been enslaved to Hyperion.

But I didn't.

This son of bitch really cared about no one.

Maybe I am becoming like that.

That thought actually scared me.

"Is someone going to...um, clean up there?" I queried as carefully as I could, biting my tongue afterwards.

"Leave all that nonsense to me, 'kay? We've been over this. You're job is to be me. I'll handle everything else, buttercup."

"Um...don't you think-"

"Shut up, kiddo. Do you really want to try my good mood? If you can't show a little...self-control, things are gonna go down hill real quickly."

I fell into silence. There was no use in pressing this. Unfortunately, I was stuck here. I wasn't confident enough to ask permission to leave, and he seemed to have forgotten about it. What was he so distracted with? I figured I was just going to have to be a silent statue until he finally decided to dismiss me at some point.

Then-

"Jack, you're visitor has arrived." Angel's voice stated over the intercom. "Would you like me to send her in?"

Then abruptly, he jumped up and he yelled. "Well, whaddya know!? Yeah-ha, do it! Don't waste another minute! Thanks, Angel!"

I jerked in surprise as he waltzed languidly past where I sat with a spring in his gait. I turned my rotatable chair to watch him in curiosity. He stopped by the fountain, and drew himself up to his full height and stared at the door.

I'd never seen him so excited. He even ran a hand quickly over his hair.

Then, the doors to the office opened, and in walked the visitor. She wore a western-style hat and an unbuttoned leather coat that hung to her legs. Her face had been done up with make-up and her dark hair was hanging loose under the visor. She had her usual boots and wore dark blue jeans held in place with a belt.

"Nisha the Lawbringer," Jack laughed, sounding pleased. "I like the way that sounds."

"You do, don't you?" She said in an insinuating tone, marching up to him without the slightest pause.

She kissed him.

I looked away quickly, trying to hide my disgust.

I couldn't understand how anyone could perform any intimacy with this monster. Although, maybe I could understand Nisha doing it. I'd learned on my ventures in Elpis that the woman was just about as messed up as they came, a sadist, just like her boyfriend. I hadn't seen the gunslinger since the vault had opened, but I figured she hadn't changed at all. Crazy was a very reoccurring theme amongst the people around here it seemed.

I stood up, feeling awkward, staring out the window. I wasn't sure what to do exactly.

"Oh, oops...hey, body-double!" Jack called. "Forgot you were still around."

I turned slowly to find them both staring at me.

"Y-yeahhh..." I responded, rubbing my head uncertainly.

"Well, well, just look at the double," Nisha stated in a strange tone, as if I were somehow causing a problem. "Nothing but a kid with a mask... You've been working at him, haven't you, Handsome?"

She said this to Jack in a way that seemed to be trying to belittle me in comparison to the real thing. She smiled, gazing up at him in adoration as she leaned against him like a sly creature. He returned her gaze.

I wasn't hurt in the least bit, though. All I wanted at the moment was to leave. Preferably sooner rather than later.

He laughed a little. "Well, yeah! Of course! He's gotta be just like me, after all." He looked at me again, his eyes narrowing after a moment. "Well...he isn't me," he muttered as if it were an afterthought. "Hey! You were just leaving, kiddo?"

"Y-yep, righto, boss! I was just going. On my way." Getting the hell out, was more like it.

I was glad to leave, and as I moved towards the door, she said, "the kid really needed training when I last saw him, kept getting in all sorts of trouble, little whiny thing. Have you even taught him how to really kill yet?"

I hurried on out the doors, hoping to avoid Jack's response to that. Unfortunately I did hear more, in fact, the voices seemed to echo through the doors and chase me threateningly down the hall.

"Gettin' there, Nish, these things take time."

"You've got time for me now though, don't you?"

"Of course, I even got you a little something-something."

"Oooh, can't wait,"

My walk was ruined when I broke into a run, making for the door of the office as if my very life depended on it. For a few strange moments, I thought it did.

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Later that night found Timothy laying in his bed, feeling very empty while he stared at the uninteresting ceiling overhead. He didn't feel anything at all but total numbness. It had started earlier, after the terrible burning of Concordia, and hadn't gone away. He wondered if it would ever wear off. He wasn't even sure he wanted it to. He had no idea what would follow.

Would he break down?

Lose it completely?

Then maybe Jack would somehow find out and his life would be forfeit...

He could just imagine it. His emotionally broken body would be laying there in the bed in a miserable state. Then, Wilhelm would storm into the room. He would manhandle him to his meeting with Jack - because there would probably be one eventually - and the man would see what was going on in an instant.

He'd whip out that pistol he'd killed Janey with.

And somewhere, Nisha would stand to the side, licking her lips and goading her boyfriend to murder his body-double.

Timothy rolled over in his discomfort as the image faded, wanting to calm his racing thoughts, but he couldn't stop them. He was certain they would only get worse, but there was little he could do about it.

"Timothy Lawrence," Angel's voice spoke without warning from the Echo communicator.

"Angel..."

"I want you to know that...I don't agree with what Jack did earlier."

"What?!" The body-double exclaimed. Finally, surprise was the first new emotion he felt.

How could she disagree with Handsome Jack? Wasn't she his A.I.? A.I. like this shouldn't be able choose to disagree. Something was definitely off about her.

Tim frowned. "Angel," he repeated.

"I will tell you why...and 'what'. I'm not...a typical A.I.," she admitted.

He'd suspected as much.

He sat up quickly and grabbed his Echo off the desk and stared into her blue eyes flickering in the screen. He felt intrigue now, curiosity. He wondered about this 'Angel' even more now. His instincts screamed that something was up, and he was determined to find out what.

"He killed so many people," he spoke as he watched her for a reaction. She didn't even blink. "He b-blew someone I once considered a good friend to oblivion. Right in front of me. Her head exploded, Angel!"

He felt better having said it, as though he'd just shoved some of its weight off of him. And finally, the pain hit him inside. It was cruel, twisting his gut harshly, forcing a lump in his throat, but at least he felt more human for it. Tears formed in the back of his eyes, and he blinked quickly.

"Do you need a minute?" She asked softly.

"I-I'll be fine."

Her eyes closed then and her lips parted as she sighed. It was so...

"Angel, are you human?" he whispered, but tears were falling over his mask.

They fell for everyone that Jack had slaughtered and enslaved without a second thought. Perhaps this woman was another of his victims? Perhaps it had to do with her voice? Did Jack's method of hiring involve taking what he wanted without that person's say-so?

Either way, Timothy knew Jack would never shed a tear for them.

Her eyes flew open and she locked on his intensely.

"What if I say no?" She asked.

"I don't know if I'd believe it."

Tears were dripping onto the Echo and he wiped them off the screen with his sleeve swiftly.

"I'm not an A.I... but I'm not human either. It's not simple."

She shifted in the screen, and he wondered so many things.

"Then try to explain," he implored.

"I really shouldn't endanger you anymore."

"Danger?"

"Yes, Jack would be furious if he knew of this. He'd probably kill you. Luckily, I control all of his digital sources, so it is unlikely he'd be able to find out that you know this secret. However, it might just slip out of you in a conversation. I'd rather that not happen."

"Please."

"I won't tell you, Tim, because I can't run that risk."

He could see she wasn't going to change her mind, and the tears were desperately trying to burst out. He decided that it was time to end this conversation.

"I'd like some alone time now," he muttered.

"Good night, Tim."

The Echo shut off and he was a little surprised she'd called me Tim. Again.

The tears that'd been mostly held back burst forth now, running rampant on their own. He finally laid the Echo aside and allowed the tears to run completely as he curled into a miserable ball. He wept into the darkness as he thought of everything that'd happened.

And when it was all done, he felt better. More pure, somehow cleansed.

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End of chapter 7.