NaNoWriMo Day 28

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion!

Word Count: 47,027

Molly

One of the soldiers knocks on my door and tells me that Brandt wants to see me. I exhale sharply to push out some of the nervousness that has begun to buzz in my stomach and I follow him out. The walk is long, almost the entire length of the complex. When we enter the large room I see Joseph doing absolute amazing acrobatics, I don’t know what the hell they did to him but I can’t help but be impressed. Maybe they replaced something of his too? I doesn’t seem like it has been long enough for him to master it to that degree. The soldier stops me at the doorway and no one notices me come in. I realize with no small amount of shock that the Nanodyne board of directors are here, clapping and enjoying Joseph’s show. Brandt is in the middle like a ringmaster, fielding questions about Joseph and boasting about the great future of Nanodyne. He tells the soldier to go get the test subject, whoever that is, and the poor guy marches off on his next quest. Joseph finally notices me and I see that his eyes are wide with terror. He does not move, just stands there with his arms at his sides, breathing heavily.

Brandt tells the big wigs that the demonstration will begin shortly and walks over to me. He quietly tells me that he has a very important job for me. He explains that Joseph will kill someone to prove that they have complete control over him, and when he does I am going to kill the board of directors to prove my loyalty. I look at him, shocked beyond words. He says that Nanodyne has lost its way, that the fossils and yes men gathered in this room have no stomach for the decisions required to be true competitors in the ugly world of arms dealing. Once they have been removed, he can finally step in and help Nanodyne take its rightful place as the world’s greatest and most powerful defense companies, powerful than some whole countries. Governments will fall over themselves to stay in the corporation’s good graces. Wars will be decided by what will be most beneficial to Nanodyne. And it all started with me, he says with an affectionate smile, and he will never forget that. He loves me like a daughter. The look in his eyes, ranting speech not withstanding, tells me that he has completely lost his mind. I can’t think of what to say, and my hesitation visibly angers him. Kill them, he hisses, or he will order Joseph to kill me as well. The soldier returns and the surprises keep on coming because following him is a very lost and confused Candy. The test subject, now I get it.

Candy

Just when I formulated a nice little plan to bolt as soon as they open the door and run out of here as fast as I could, come hell or high water, a soldier opens the door and I completely lose my nerve. Without a word, he grabs my arm and starts to drag me down the hall. I fight and swipe at him, but his grip is iron and he doesn’t even seem to notice my meager blows. He pulls me into a large room and it looks like the gang is all here. There is Joseph, looking happy to see me but standing firmly in place, Molly looking surprised to see me but white as a sheet for what I assume to be different reasons, and Brandt, eyeing me with an evil grin. There are a bunch of suits on the opposite side of the room, watching me with interest. I start to ask what this is all about but the soldier throws me to the ground roughly. He steps back while I hurl insults at him and Brandt takes the floor. Ladies and gentlemen, he says to the suits, this piece of trash is a drug dealer and a prostitute. That’s really not fair. He says that I am a blight on society, that filth like me is what keeps the world in such constant turmoil. He is really laying it on thick. I don’t recall him complaining when I was shoving light bulbs up his ass while he cried and called me mommy. As a demonstration of our complete control over subject beta, he continues while pointing to Joseph, I will now order him to kill this girl and rid the world of one small bit of the slime that thrives on misery. Oh shit. I hop to my feet and back away, looking for a way to escape. The soldier stands at the only door in the room, and he looks ready for action. Brandt looks Joseph right in the eyes and simply says “do it.” Joseph doesn’t move at first, eyes wide with disbelief, but he haltingly starts to advance toward me, walking like Frankenstein. I try to reason with him, as he gets closer, I tell him he doesn’t have to follow this crazy asshole’s orders. Unfortunately, my pleas appear to be falling on deaf ears because he keeps on coming. It looks like I am going to have to take him down.

When he gets into reaching distance, I kick him square in the nuts. I have used this old standby many, many times to great success but this is the first time I’ve ever seen it have absolutely no effect. He just stands there, grimacing in obvious pain, but makes no move to indicate that I did anything but hurt his feelings. In my surprise, I forget that I should be retreating, and my chance passes up as he wraps his hands around my throat and begins to squeeze.

Joseph

Oh god no, please don’t do this, I have to stop but I can’t make my arms listen to me and let go of Candy’s throat. My balls are screaming in pain from when she kicked me, but I keep on going under Wong’s control. Candy is crying and begging through choked sobs, and I start crying too. I can’t kill her, I love her, I have to fight. No matter how hard I try though, it is no use. She is starting to black out, I can see the light fading from her eyes. The board are all intently watching this poor girl get murdered, as if they were watching a movie. Cleaver seems satisfied, I think this is the first time I can ever remember him looking pleased by my actions. I notice that Molly is stalking up behind them all unnoticed, and for some reason she has a large pistol in her left hand. She has the barrel pointed at the back of Cleaver’s head, and I forget about the fact that I am choking Candy to death for just a moment to wonder why in the hell she is about to shoot our boss.

Molly

The only sound in the room is Candy’s terrible choking screams, which grow fainter by the second. Everyone else has their breath held, watching this disgusting spectacle. No one notices me pull a gun and walk right up behind their row of chairs. Wong is furiously concentrating on controlling both of us and Brandt is next to him, watching me and mentally goading me on. My gun is inches from Mr. Cleaver’s head, and I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Do or die time. The crowd gasps and I open my eyes to see that Joseph has managed to pull one of his arms away momentarily. Wong regains control and snaps it back to Candy’s neck, but that was all the distraction I needed. Before he can react, I toss the gun into my right hand and shoot Wong in the throat. That was messier than I planned on, blood sprays the console as he falls to the floor gurgling and choking. Brandt ducks behind the console when I point the gun in his direction. The control link severed, Joseph releases Candy and they both fall to the floor. She is barely conscious, but she still manages to kick him in the face as he hold his groin and apologizes profusely. The board have all begun to panic, and they take to their feet and scurry to the door. Lucky for me they are blocking the line of fire of the soldier who wants very much to shoot me. I yell for Joseph to get up and get Brandt before he can, and I am too late as he manages to reach up to the console. My left hand snatches the gun from my right and points the weapon to my temple. So much for that plan. I close my eyes and wait for the shot but instead I get the wind knocked out of me as a heavy body crashes into mine and knocks me to the floor. The gun goes off and deafens my ear, but I don’t feel any pain. I open my eyes to see Joseph on top of me, pinning my left arm to the floor while Brandt makes it fire harmless rounds into the wall. He figures out the controls for Joseph and now he is choking me instead. I try to hit him with my right fist but I have no leverage, and hitting him is like hitting a wall. I start seeing spots, it looks like this is finally the end.

Candy

When I finally get my breath back the room is in complete pandemonium. The soldier at the door is trying to clear away the panicking suits who are clinging to him desperately for protection. Joseph is on top of Molly and apparently choking her now, and Freidrich is hiding behind some big console, twiddling dials and watching them. It all clicks now. I charge Freidrich with a furious shriek and damn near kick his head off. He falls to the floor with a cry and Joseph jerks back off of Molly. The guard finally pulls clear and aims his rifle at me, but Molly shoots him clean through the heart and the poor bastard crumples to the floor without a sound. Joseph storms over, fire in his eyes, and pulls Freidrich off the floor. He raises his hand to punch his face in, but the floor buckles hard with a massive explosion from somewhere else in the complex and everyone freezes. Jesus, what the fuck was that? There are shouts and gunshots from outside the room. Freidrich manages to pull away from Joseph and he runs to the downed soldier, pulling the man’s radio from his belt. Molly tries to shoot him but the gun clicks and it sounds like she is out of bullets. Freddy screams into the radio to initiate termination of alpha and beta, but the panicked reply on the other end apparently isn’t a confirmation. The hootenanny outside is really starting to sound close, there are small explosions and the screams of men dying just outside the door. Freidrich picks up the dead soldier’s rifle, cocks it, and gets absolutely demolished by the metal door as it is blown off of its hinges from the outside. The thing knocks him clear across the room, and it looks like that will do it for him. I can only see his lower half from under the door where it landed, and I am oddly reminded of the Wizard of Oz. I half expect his legs and feet to shrivel up and disappear. The smoke from the charge clears and who should walk in but General Xu, accompanied by quite a lot of men. He looks just as surprised to see me as I am to see him. I backpedal and stand next to Molly, who is standing there like she is ready for a fight. Joseph joins us, and we stand there and wait for Xu’s move.