Chapter 2
'...can be cleaned and upgraded. We have the technology to improve some parts. So maybe just upgrade the whole system?' The man is staring at Jack through glasses so thick his eyes are two times bigger then normal.
Jack himself clacks his tongue without looking up from the open chest cavity of the assassin. Beneath him the lung is working normally, inhaling air and pushing it back out. His eyes move up, following a set of tubes that connect the lung to the other one and a set of thick wiring up the assassin's throat. Zer0's mouth is covered by a breathing mask, hiding it and the filtering system inside of his mouth.
'Build a new one.' He looks up. 'From scratch.' Because that way, they will not need to bother with fitting in new parts. Replacing the whole system will be easier.
The man with the thick glasses nods and turns away, very eager to start.
Jack himself sits back down in his chair at the head of the table. With thin, rubber gloves on his hands he grabs a pair of pliers. As a real expert the trillionaire grabs one of the wires protruding from the assassin's open eye socket. With his free hand he grabs the newly constructed eye from the table and begins attaching it to the lose wires.
Twenty minutes later the bionic eye is set in the socket. The skin around it is cleaned neatly with some alcohol and Jack is able to sit back to enjoy his handy work.
Apart from several upgrades the new eye functions the same way as the old. Quite the craftsmanship, if he dares think so himself. Only now Zer0 can also locate Eridium, which is very important to someone like Jack. Not that he will be sending his new best friend out on lousy scout missions but this will help locate any sources of the pink greatness wherever he sends the assassin.
And Jack plans to send his besty to a whole lot of places.
Two days later he and three others are working on the new filtering system. Also upgraded with better filters. Many times more advanced then the older one. So much so they choose to replace the one biological lung with a bionic one as well.
Later that night, Jack is rewiring the assassin's left foot. During the last fight, where his goons captured Zer0, the leg was badly damaged.
Two days after that he installs a variety of chips, replacing older ones that will help with reprogramming the Vault Hunter.
And the day after that he and two others work on Zer0's communication systems. This way, when upgraded, Jack can issue commands, and also see and hear what the assassin experiences. It also helps monitoring health and state of mind. There are traces of such a system attached to Zer0's head, but those have been destroyed and they are unable to tell if they have ever been used in the first place.
Very fucking handy indeed.
After letting the assassin rest and recover for a week, the real fun begins.
The trillionaire is sitting behind a myriad of screens, keeping a close eye on each of them. One of the monitors is beeping softly for any vitals. And on two others rows and rows of date are filtering through the assassin's memory banks. The last one is using a different code, used to crack and reprogram.
Some of Zer0's programs are still offline. The ones that were rebooted have Hyperion etched all over them. Those will be recoded and hidden, should anyone else want to have a gander inside of the assassin's head.
Although it could very well take many hours more, Jack is already wriggling in his undies to online his new best friend. His eyes are tired, he blinks heavily before removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. After a few seconds of silence he pushes away from his desk. Without pushing his chair back he exits the room and enters the one next to this one. The four people inside jolt at his sudden entrance. Jack pays hem no mind at all as his feet take him towards his initial goal. He stops several feet before his target.
Zer0 is glaring bloody murder at him.
The tension in the room is rising. Jack can feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on edge. The sheer hate cascading over his form is thrilling. Without really sparing a thought to it he smiles.
'Sir...?' One of his lackeys speaks up. 'The numbers are already fluctuating and we haven't even started.' He takes a deep breath and continues when Jack doesn't respond. 'He is not ready.'
'Set him loose.' Jack doesn't give two shits, eyes locked with those of his assassin. Zer0 is holding his eyes and even though he is tied to the only metal chair in the room with heavy metal braces he isn't any less intimidating. There is an air around the trapped man. An air of defiance and rage.
Barely contained rage.
'Set. Him. Loose.' His minion in charge of the metal chair hesitated long enough. There is an audible intake of air before buttons are pressed. A soft whirr, followed by a bright and happy ping thunder through the room's silence. The tension thickens when the metal braces around Zer0's ankles, wrists and chest click loose.
Had he not been a hundred percent certain the newly installed chips were working Jack would have wet his pants. The assassin stands up from the chair, his movement so slow and calculated. His bare feet touch the ground without any sound. Menacingly he leans forward slightly, both hands on either armrest. With a gentle push the assassin is standing up.
Not once does he break eye contact with Jack.
The trillionaire realizes that his smile has dropped, but that doesn't really matter. His face is now contorted with barely contained curiously. He raises one hand, very aware as to not make any sudden moves. 'Come closer.' He breathes softly but the other man has clearly heard him.
Zer0 doesn't move an inch.
Jack waits for a moment longer and then throws a glance to his left at one of his minions behind the computer. 'Systems are stable. I will reroute one of the chips' He replies to his employer's silent question. Jack slowly looks back at his adversary, his face as blank as he can muster. While he waits he gives the assassin a one over. Because there have been so many modifications that had to be made on so many different places, his besty's black outfit has been replaced by a simple white shirt and pants. They make for easy removing and quick spotting of any leaks that may bleed through the healing skin of the assassin.
At one point, because his minions are very tense even if the assassin is asleep Jack had opted for a cute blue shirt with baby animals on print. Making the hunter look a little more stupid should have put the people working on him or with him at ease.
Didn't help one bit though.
Zer0 isn't any less menacing is the slightest. The guy is physically in the prime of his life. Jack can't tell how old he is exactly, end twenties, begin thirties maybe. But the wiring in his body, the modifications that have been made. It could easily be that the Vault Hinter is decades older, or maybe even a decade younger then Jack initially thought.
His body is littered with many kinds of scarring, though most of it is now covered up by either his clothing or bandages. Save for his face, there are very few patches of skin naked to the eye.
'Ready sir.' Jack nods slightly, raises his hand once more and beckons the assassin to come closer. After a moment of silence he lowers his arm again and places them both behind his back.
Zer0 hasn't moved. Something has changed in his demeanor but he hasn't moved.
Jack sighs deeply through his nose. Getting no reaction is better then not being strangled to death as a reaction, but he did have high hopes. For a second Jack closes his eyes and swallows.
When he opens them he is startled. Zer0 has closed the distance between them, leaving one foot between them. The assassin is glaring, lips pulling back into a snarl. He can't speak himself, can't voice a complaint but if he could there would be a shitstorm of profanities flying from his lips.
'Everything seems to be in order sir.' The minion dutifully keeps him up to date. There is a slight waver in his voice. A waver of fear.
Jack himself feels more confident then ever. 'This is an exercise in obedience.' He explains, watching the slightly smaller man closely for any reaction. 'I am going to make you do things you might not like to do.' He puts the emphasis on the word like, and he can hear from his restless lackies that there is definitely a reaction coming from Zer0.
'I can make you strip buck naked and make you walk home...' It dawns upon Jack that Zer0 hasn't blinked once yet. 'I can make you go out and kill that thirteen year old pshyco that keeps blowing up my trains...' The lips of the other bare sharp teeth. A loud protest comes from one of his minions. 'If your reproductive organs work properly I can make you do a whole lot worse to her beforehand as well.'
'Sir the chips...' Whatever the guy was saying is overruled by a warning blaring from the computer. The other minions begin to tend to other machinery. One of them has bitten his fingers raw from the stress. 'Sir we better call it, I don't know how long the chips can hold on.'
'We had not anticipated such resistance.'
'Maybe if we...' But the small man behind the desk is silenced when Jack holds up a hand to shut him up.
Zer0's good eye twitches at the sight of the growing grin on the trillionaire's face.
He presses himself against the slightly shorter man. Their chests touch softly and Jack can feel the artificial heart slamming in the other's chest. A grin now practically splits his face as he leans in close to Zer0's left ear and whispers. 'I can order you to get on your knees.' The smaller man's heart literally skips a beat, followed by the bones in his back straightening even more. 'Make you unbuckle my way too expensive pants...' Two of his minions are now protesting. The numbers are off the chart. Either Zer0 will tear his head off or Zer0 will pass out from a heart attack.
'And make you be good to daddy.' The threat lingers in between them. Jack can hear the tendons and wires in the assassin's body tense painfully as he curls and uncurls his hands into fists. Zer0 is so pissed he could easily tear the trillionaire's head from his body without even breaking a sweat.
One of the minions has fled the room.
Jack, body still softly pressed against the other's slowly backs away slightly until he is face to face with his besty.
'On your knees.'
A shudder moves through the other's body. Zer0's mouth opens slightly, then closes, then he swallows thickly, his jaw clenches, his teeth grind against each other. If looks could kill, Jack would be dead a thousand times over by now. 'Zero... Buddy...'
'Sir you have to stop!'
'On your knees.'
'Systems are overloading!'
'Now.'
'Three chips are fried, he is breaking through our firewalls! Sir if we do not stop now SOMETHING is bound to explode!'
Jack keeps his eyes locked with those of the assassin. If anything, he would throw a feast in honor of his new best friend. Even with all of the reprogramming, rerouting, hacking and deleting files and systems Zer0 is still standing. Blood is trickling out of the smaller man's right ear and bionic eye socket. The pressure inside his brain has been so intense that one of the glass lenses inside of his eye has cracked. After what seems like hours a look of defeat washes over Zer0's features. It's almost like he suddenly ages.
He is the first to break eye contact.
'Systems are shutting down.' The assassin wavers before his knees give way. Knowing he would prefer to just fall on the ground Jack catches him and slows down his descent as much as he can.
Fucker is heavier then he looks. 'Easy now buddy.' Jack has two other lackies come over to help him. It takes the three of them to lift the assassin and place him back in the chair he had been sitting in before.
'His eye needs to be repaired.'
'Along with a growing list of other things, sir.' One of the minions adds already compiling said list.
'Get to it.' Jack is shining a flashlight inside the bionic eye. He is startled slightly when Zer0 coughs. It is a wet, heavy cough. His breathing is becoming ragged and there are tiny splatters of blood on Jack's clothes. 'You are a tough cookie to crack.' He whispers, seeing to it that the metal braces are secured.
'Jesus, you don't give up do you?' Jack tries to shine his lamp in the other, baby blue eye but Zer0 moves his head away. 'Come on, don't be such a baby!' The assassin snaps, actually snaps with his teeth at Jack's hand. The clicking of his jaws is audible.
'You and I both know I will win this.' To further demonstrate Jack none to carefully sits himself across the assassin's lap. Zer0 coughs up more blood and inhales a ragged breath from the sudden impact. The trillionaire uses his now free arm to slam his besty's head back against the chair, keeping the blue eye open with his hand while shining the lamp in it with the other.
'See? That wasn't so bad.' Zer0's breathing is erratic as if he has gone through a great physical feat. He might as well have, seeing how many blood vessels have popped in his normal eye.
Remaining seated for a little bit longer Jack pulls back. He frowns at the blood. Probably did go too far. But to be very honest, if they do not test and push the boundaries now everything might be for naught. The Vault Hunter could very well snap out of it when they set him free to kill everyone at Sanctuary. When that happens Jack will have an enemy that is an even greater threat then he already was.
Jack sits back for a moment to let the smaller man breathe and get to his senses. When the other has calmed significantly Jack wraps a hand around the other's neck ever so gently. Zer0 throws him half a glare, all his energy spent just moments ago. He tries to resist but the chair, and Jack's weight have him completely trapped.
Jack presses their foreheads together, staring the assassin dead in the eyes. 'You thought this was bad?' He softly asks, waiting a few seconds for a reply that will never come.
'You don't even fucking know, besty.'