24
"He was in Toshiko's class" Owen said as they sat in the darkened cell.
"Really?"
"Yeh, he's fucking clever. Not as clever as her but enough to be considered a genius. That EMP thing… clearly he's been working on it for some time and I think he has every intention of using it. I remember him spouting off at parties and such that the day would come when the human race had to deal with a loss of technology and some people would lay down and die because they can't wipe their own arses."
Jack sat back "So he means it."
"Yeah. He is prepared to shut down the Sims. Imagine the panic, the complaints and the overall entitled raging" Owen snorted, almost amused at the idea. "It would be chaos in the streets. Cars stopping, service Bots stalling out in the middle of the sidewalk… people would panic."
"But he's been careful".
"How do you mean?"
"Well, he is augmented. Like Ianto, he is part cyborg too. If he turns it up to high, he will blast himself right?" Jack pointed out.
"He told everyone it was while in service… he didn't do his service. He got a doctor's note to say he had weak lungs. Weak lungs. Too scared to do the twelve month military service we all have to do at eighteen. No, he fell off a fucking horse. A horse." Owen giggled. "Can you imagine being rich enough for a Horse and then dumb enough to fall off it?"
Jak smiled as he felt a little better, knowing this meant Ianto was safe. Even if the Sims were toast, Harold could not turn the machine to a setting that would injure himself. Therefore, injure Ianto.
The Sims can all fry, as long as Ianto is OK.
One too strong might kill him.
.
.
Ianto was seething. Not the large, in your face shivering with the desire to flay you seething… no… the ice calm serial killer seethe. Oh yes.
He was walking along the Plass with Agents Cooper and Davidson, their insistence at accompanying him sweet but he knew they would be useless, and he was right. As they came to the agreed area near the memorial stone for some agent who died a few hundred years ago for something called the 456 or whatever, Ianto felt his blood shift from boiling to volcanic lava.
Jack stood with Owen, both men visibly harmed, Owen leaning against Jack for support as Jack lovingly tucked him in under his arm like a big brother might. Both of them re warily watching Harold who strode forward to meet the man who was now mere feet away.
"Doctor Jones. In the flesh" he sneered, reaching out and before anyone could react he sliced at Ianto's face with the small blade in his hand, the action making Ianto flinch back as he barked with pain and Harold stepped back before Andy's fist could make contact to grin, the blood now running down Ianto's face clearly human, so not a Sim.
"IANTO!" Jack roared surging forward with Owen now holding him back.
"It's OK. Tis but a scratch" Ianto called back in a breezy voice "Calm down. The grownups are talking."
Owen sniggered into Jack's side and Jack wondered if the poor man was a little loopy.
"Right. Here are my demands" Harold said as he defiantly sneered at Ianto, the two agents finding themselves pushed back by the other men there, their guns a stark reminder that humans can die.
"I am listening you fucking sanctimonious lying arsehat!"
Harold blinked, then roared with glee. Then he sobered and said "I want a ban on Sim within… well… From the Museum all the way back to the water!"
"The Museum is run, cleaned and consisting of Sims." Ianto said like he was explaining to a child.
"Right… I mean… from this side of the museum. That is the last point of Sim. I want a large wall separating the Free Zone form Sim City."
"I see, so you've even named the Zone already. That will make things easier, no need to argue that point then" Ianto said like it was no big deal.
"Also… we want those scanner gate things, like you put in at Parliament House so Sims are detected and pinged." He said with the same calm.
"Oh, I have handheld scanners now" Ianto said, like a friend confiding excitedly to another "Juat bigger than your stun gun there, you simply wave it at them and it will ping if they are Sim."
"Really?" Harold was interested, Ianto turning to point to Andy who removed one from his jacket. Reluctantly handing it over.
Harold waved it at Ianto.
Nothing.
He then turned to wave it at himself.
Nothing.
He then turned to one of his men and waved it.
PING
Everyone gaped as Harold simply removed a gun from his pocket and shot the Sim in the head, the sparks flying a it folded to the ground impressive to see.
"Well now. What ammo did you use?" Ianto asked "That was quite a light display."
Harold threw the scanner to the other man who had passed the scan "Check all of us. Fucking Sims are everywhere."
"To find one so close must be unnerving" Ianto agreed, still like they were friends "Makes you wonder… how close one can get."
"Exactly" Harold nodded "Why I need to be careful. What else have ya got?"
"Oh. This" Ianto said, removing a candy sized box from his pocket, showing it to Harold while still maintaining control of it.
"What is it?" Harold asked with interest, leaning over it.
"A Booster Pack" Ianto said with obvious glee.
"Oh?" Harold asked, wonder on his face, even as Owen started to pull away from Jack with a look of horror on his face.
"Oh... it boosts anything it can within a block radius" Ianto smiled, his gaze moving from Harold to the Sim Killer behind him on the steps.
"NO!" Owen screamed, Jack feeling the ground shift as he finally got what Owen was scared of.
"We had a deal. You would not harm him… you harmed him. Clearly, you do not keep your word… I cannot trust you. Any danger mut be faced head on" Ianto stepped back from Harold, turning to look directly at Jack. He called out calmly "I love you Jack Harkness, more than I can ever express."
"IANTO!"
"He is going to kill you. That Sim was in the last meeting he had with H4H and to make a statement, he intends killing us both… I had no choice. Like you said… you are the smile of the company. And my heart." Ianto smiled softly, raising the box in his hand. Jack was frozen with horror.
"NO!" Owen fell to his knees as Ianto pushed the button on top of the box and a small noise emitted.
The Sim Killer made a noise as well, Harold swinging with horror to watch as it powered up…
up…
up…
up….
Up…
Harold coughed, a dry hack of a cough as his hands flew to his throat.
Oh my… his Adams apple… soft palette… complete airway? Oh my… he was really augmented wasn't he.
The last thing he would ever see as he began to fold to the ground was a shadow overhead as a huge bird thing slammed to the ground and folded it's wings around the other man who seemed to be dying along with him on the cobbles.
Then…. His light went out.