************

Chapter 9: Blues

************

Roger

************

No clients to deal with, no guns pointed at me, no monster wrecking havoc for the time being. It was late at night and I sat on the rooftop of my mansion, reflecting upon my day. It was my favorite thing to do after a long time at work. It was relaxing, not that I truly had no worries, but it was comfortable sitting out there in the cold while wearing my robe all by myself below the night sky. I sat on a lounge chair, facing the magnificent view of the city. The round yellow dome in front of me, which housed the rich (most of which were associated with the Paradigm company), glowed like a bright ornament in Christmas. The view certainly had all the dynamics to be romantic but I resented the domes, though, and how they segregated the social classes. The rich hated the poor, the poor hated the rich; they rarely associated with each other and could care less about the wellbeing of their fellow human. I liked knowing I wasn't part of the Paradigm company and had no part in the segregation.I was glad I performed the Electric City well done. It was a happy story now with a happy ending until some other Megadeus decides to show up. I left the Electric City area after first destroying the power plant so it could never be reactivated again. That was my way of concluding negotiations, negotiations with the old man and the monster he just happened to create. A manmade titan that gives off electricity. It was unfortunate that old man had to be that scientist and had memories of making that artificial lifeform. It looked like Paradigm received a sample of that old monster but I really doubt they'll go through the trouble of creating another one.

I thought about the odds of the titan suddenly popping up and spreading his electricity to the needy inhabitants of the city who hadn't turned a lightbulb on for forty years. Without the scientist's creation of an evil monster, without my arrival, without Angel's reckless turning on of the turbines, the string of events would not haved paved the way for the Electric City civilian's new lives. It was mind boggling. It was all perfect.

Speaking of Angel. Her blonde hair waving behind her in the wind as she sped next to me as I ran towards the Big O. "If you survive, let's get together sometime," she had said. The nerve of that woman. I wondered what happened to her, if she was faring okay, considering her car unfortunately got waterlogged and certainly had a scare. She probably called some relatives or friends to take her home, stayed at a hotel for the night, who knows.

Sigh.

I walked back in the house to see Dorothy doing something that looked like trying to play the piano-- aggressively. She resembled a blind man on the piano, jerking left and right with the melody, pouring all his heart and soul into the musical notes. Except she didn't have a real heart, much less a soul.

But I noticed it was a different song. It was much slower, sounded like some sort of sad song you'd hear at a blues club.

"How many times do I have to tell you that's it's just pointless to imitate us?"

She immediately straightened up, only letting her hands do all the work, staring blank straight at me with her solemn empty-looking eyes.

"Anyway, how come you're playing the blues?"

"Even I sometimes feel like playing them. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Feel like it? Fine... if you say so."

I was secretly taken aback. Dorothy was a girl of surprises-- but what could she ever possibly feel sad about?

Later that night I was looking for Casseey Jenkin's card, only to find it missing. Girls are girls, androids or not, and I guess I'll just never understand them.