JMJ
Chapter Six
Between Catwalk and Vat
"Hi, Jenny," said Brad on the phone.
His voice was a little creepy. Jenny had not forgotten about the mall, but there was something in that tone that would have seemed off to her even had they just parted with a hug and laugh last time they had met.
"Are you ready to apologize?" asked Jenny stiffly.
"I'm tired of playing games," said Brad sleazily enough to make her roll her eyes, and yet Jenny felt more uneasy about this call than ever. "This is about you and me and not Bradley Carbunkle, but if you want to ever see your friend again, you will meet me at the Water Treatment Center prepared for your… treatment."
"What?! Who are you!? Where's Brad!" Jenny snapped. "I knew there was something wrong with you today. Where's the real him?"
"I'm surprised that little bug hadn't given it away sooner, actually. You do need me to smooth out those rough edges, but Brad's right here. I'm making him talk as we speak. You come as I say and we'll trade. No mommy. We're too old for that unless you want things to get even dirtier."
"Who are you, first!" demanded Jenny trying very hard to sound menacing, but she was shaking a little.
"Oh, Jenny, don't you remember your designed partner?" asked the voice suddenly turning into one she knew quite well but with loathing— the voice of her old suit that had wanted force her to be a beautiful but creepy bimbo and not fight crime anymore.
Without answering, without hanging up, Jenny bolted upward in a metal-singing flash to the water treatment center. The only thought she had was getting Brad back.
When she landed, the atmospheric darkness around the water treatment center was as annoying as the absence of her adversary. It was going to make this difficult, wasn't it? A heavy mist filled the air just to add to the aggravation.
"Alright, Exo-Skin! Think you're so brave for showing up in a place I could easily remove you in? Water, water, everywhere and plenty drops to spare, right?" asked Jenny challengingly over the campus.
She peered around a digester dome, but she only saw flood lights over polishing filters and round vats of clarifiers. The hum of the treatment center took up most sound; though she could narrow into the more minute sounds if she wanted. There were the steps of the night guard in the building near at hand. There were the sounds of night animals poking about. Brad-like footsteps? Yes.
She turned around.
—There on a catwalk over one of the clarifiers.
Bursting into flight she reached out her hands to grab Brad up and then decide what to do, but Brad (or Brad's body) ducked down faster than he should have been able to.
"Huh?" Jenny gasped and just barely missed running into the office building of the treatment center. She swerved around it smoothly enough and came back around.
"Let's talk!" said the Exo-Skin through Brad's voice.
"No!" snapped Jenny. "Let's not!"
"Are you willing to kill Brad to get me off him?" demanded Brad's voice.
Jenny stopped midflight and paused with a tight grimace.
"Let him go, Exo-suit," she said.
"With pleasure, Jenny Wakeman, or should I say XJ-9 since you prefer that, obviously."
"What're you getting at?" Jenny rolled her eyes and landed on the other side of the catwalk.
"I'll let Brad go about what he was programmed to do as a human and you allow me what I was programmed to do," said Brad with hands on his hips boldly.
"But I wasn't programmed to allow you to brainwash me or to allow you to brainwash someone else," Jenny pointed out, "so how do you expect me to go along with this either way if this is all about programming?"
Before Brad's voice could answer, Jenny shook her head and held up her hand and said, "Tell you what, if you let go of Brad now, I'll have Mom create a body for you to drape around all you want, but this is your last warning."
"Before what?" mocked Brad. "You attack me? You fight this fragile flesh?"
Brad held up an arm, pulled back the sleeve and pinched the skin ever so delicately to prove the point.
Jenny bristled but a sudden thought occurred to her.
"Brad!" she screamed. "You have to fight this. Take control and don't listen to her, you hear me!? It's the Exo-Skin. Remember? The Exo-Skin is controlling you!"
"He can't hear you," said the Exo-Skin. "At least not more than one hears voices in a dream. It took a little while as I was not used to boys, but I've been updated since last you saw me."
Jenny paused. Then without warning as the catwalk was not really that long of a walk, she flung out her arms and tripped Brad into the water. He let out a cry that sounded so sincerely like Brad in a pinch that she felt part of her mind react to want to help him, but it was only for a robotic second. She stood her ground outwardly despite a twitch in her eye.
Brad fell, colliding painfully against the rail before tumbling over it with a splash. She hoped that it was clean water and that she had not knocked him out.
The night guard's hurried steps echoed behind her, and before Brad had even fully broke free of the water again, Jenny spun around and held out her arms and a barring sign as an extra appendage. "No, stay back! I don't want another civilian—"
Splash!
Brad leapt out of the water looking completely unscathed. He was grinning evilly at Jenny as she spun back towards him.
"Just stay back!" she warned the night guard.
"Scared, Jenny?" Brad's voice cackled. "You know you wouldn't have to deal with this kind of stress if you'd just let me soothe your programming into mine! No more fighting the world and its evil, just calmly watching the world go by with those lucky few who worship your beauty."
Again Jenny rumbled.
Water wouldn't do it this time. Wasn't the first time a villain wouldn't allow a defeat in the same way twice, but this was just so dirty a situation that she couldn't stand the fact that it couldn't be washed clean. What else could she do? The suit may be stronger than Brad, but she was not stronger than Jenny. If she could get a hold of Brad, maybe she could gently pry it off.
She charged at Brad. Brad did not run away. The Exo-Skin was confident that Jenny could do nothing. Was it too much to hope that it was also because Brad's body was tired and the Exo-Skin could not keep it up? Brad stuck out his leg at the last second almost with a ninja-swoop (Didn't that hurt Brad's foot if not his whole body? She weighed about 600 pounds), and although Jenny tripped she caught herself easily from falling into the water herself.
"Nice try!" she snapped, and she initiated her updated corrosive reflex. Nothing in the water was getting into her now even if it was a little hard to keep up for a very long time. Brad's scowling disappointed face glared at Jenny as she grabbed the slippery adversary. She tried with all her might not to squeeze too hard. "Now! Hold still!"
With one arm extended to wrap around Brad as tightly as she could without hurting him she experimented with her other arm to see if she had a tool with which to free her friend. First she just tried a shower of water sucked in from the vat at hand, and it was certain that no matter how drenched Brad was, that seriously was not the way.
So what next? There were mallets, spikes, claws, electrocution devices and melting lasers.
"No… no… no…. ugh! No!" Jenny moaned. "What am I going to do?"
"Trade, Jenny Wakeman. Resistance is futile."
"Sounding like something from an evil hive-mind science fiction show is not helping your cause," huffed Jenny without looking back as she went through more of her tools. At last she had a tweezers. "Mph…"
She looked at the sneering face that the Exo-Skin was giving Brad. She was so sorry she had not listened to Tuck and Sheldon now.
Wincing tightly, she took the tweezers with the utmost care and pulled just a little on the skin at Brad's neck. The face immediately contorted with discomfort and pain. She was not sure if the Exo-Skin could feel Brad's pain or not, if it was faking it, or if Brad was doing it by reflex, but Jenny stopped immediately with a gasp.
She tried on his hand, a little less delicate of a spot, but again he winced. She could feel his body retract with real pain. It could be nothing but real pain.
"Ah!" screamed Jenny.
She tried pulling on Brad's hair as humans did not need hair even if it certainly made them look better, but looks weren't important in times like these. She plucked one hair follicle right out, despite Brad's recoil, there was no evidence of the Exo-Skin reacting.
"Rah!"
She took her own fingers instead of the tweezers and tried desperately to rub the suit away from the skin enough to get hold of it, but no matter how delicate she was, the Exo-Skin was able to keep hold of Brad until she saw visibly how terribly red she was making Brad's skin and how awful he looked in the face as a result.
"I can't take it!" she wailed into the night. "Wait! I know! I'll take you back to Mom! Maybe she can get you two apart!"
"Nah, uh, uh!" said the Exo-Skin as Brad. "If you do that, I'll suffocate the human before you get there!"
Jenny shook so hard she rattled. "But then you won't have a hostage!"
"If it comes to that, but I'm desperate!" said the Exo-Skin.
"I know, but—but—but— this is so low! You're almost starting to sound like Vexus! A real human girl who was sweet and gentle wouldn't do this to an innocent person!"
"Maybe if she was desperate enough for her old life she would. Don't you know human psychology?" asked Brad's voice innocently.
"But then you're nothing but a monster!" snapped Jenny.
But the Exo-Skin obviously did not care. Brad was already looking woozy. He was starting to turn a funny color and his eyes were looking very strained.
She was actually suffocating Brad!
"No! No!" Jenny screamed. "Alright! Just stop!"
The Exo-Skin released the hold and Brad gasped for breath and went very limp.
"Okay," gasped the Exo-Skin through Brad's now strained lungs. "I won't let go until you let me take you."
Jenny shivered so hard from fear, anger, and frustration, but she dropped her head as she released her hold on Brad. Brad was then on his knees on the catwalk. Jenny sunk to her own knees, which suddenly felt very brittle under her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she knew the Exo-Skin would keep its word. There was no reason to lie about this, and she knew this was about programming no matter how near-demonic the thing was being about this. It was not Vexus. It was a computer trying to do its primary function with nothing personal about it in the end. Somehow that made it colder. At least Vexus had a twisted passion for what she did.
Jenny held out her hand, reluctantly, but she did it.
The Exo-Skin immediately stretched out its familiar feelers, the sensory tabs on long narrow wire-like appendages. They were a little updated, though. She could tell just by sight. Jenny felt them squiggle creepily onto her fingers, but she did not flinch. She was so miserable about this whole thing that the grossness only seemed to match how she felt anyway.
Those human emotions, you know, she thought to herself sadly.
As the feelers were taking their full hold on her body, she opened her eyes and saw Brad sprawled on the catwalk moaning but free. He was blinking with cognition and recognition.
He wrinkled his nose. "Jen?"
But that was the last she knew before her vision was clouded by the ecstatic thrill of the Exo-Skin blinding her senses from how strong the force of it was. She was not even able to tell Brad to run away.
