Suddenly, a noise. A subtle one, but a noise the same. Harrison pulled himself out, running to the wall. He listened quietly, doing his best to hear whatever had made the sound. Humans just don?t get up and walk away when they?ve been skinned. They just don?t. Harrison inched closer to the opening. This would be a bad situation if humans just walked away after being shucked. Harrison scanned his memory to remember where he had left the blade. A downward thrust to the temple would finish her, this he was sure of. He had left the blade in the pocket of his pants. He kicked himself for not taking the muscles first. Stupid mistakes get you killed, Harrison.
APARTMENT 703, 12:27 AM
Caroline checked the vials of fluid that were given to her by Mr. Huang. They were to be used to pump into her wires, heightening her senses, helping her to deal with the unpredictability of eradicating the Hopper. She removed a vial and placed it into her arm, next to her main wire. She let the wire suck it in, and felt as the fire ripped through her veins. Her video camera eyes retracted as the sense of consciousness a machine is capable of increased tenfold, jarring her. Her fingers twitched, and she rolled out from under the bed; fearless. Her elbow slammed into the metal bedpost hard enough to bend it, making a loud clank that she was sure would bring Harrison coming. Three vials left. She might just keep some of this for herself.
APARTMENT 705, 12:29 AM
Harrison knew Caroline was alive. He knew that she was a Hopper, for that matter, in the sense that a machine can reason well enough to assume what it has been taught was the truth. He was stronger than she, otherwise he wouldn?t have been able to fend her off in the elevator. He spun on his ball-heel into the hole separating the two rooms. He was ready for a fight. He was ready to attack. He was not, however, ready for a knife flung into his forehead.
APARTMENT 703, 12:30 AM
Caroline let fly. The blade arced perfectly in the still air, connecting beautifully with Harrison?s eye. He uttered a squawk and tottered on his feet, then fell backwards abruptly, his shoulders and head connecting squarely with the porcelain bathtub. When he hit, the basin shattered, his head becoming entangled with the skin. Caroline watched as the blade severed the top and bottom from each other when Harrison struggled the best he could. The cold water poured over his metal, making it hard and making the wires twitch and turn.
Caroline turned, located the phone. Began dialing the numbers that she was instructed to after she had completed her assignment. Her small microphone ears pressed against the receiver, hearing the small beeps of the tones.
Mr. Huang answered. His labored breathing made him mispronounce his ?s?es.
?Huang.?
?It?s done.?
?Good. Your government thanks you.?
?How many more??
?Too many to count. They?re reproducing.?
?I?ll talk to you tomorrow. Same place??
?Yes. Right there. I?ll resupply you.?
?Good-bye.?
?Good-bye.?
Caroline hung up the phone. She had to find another suitable human to hop into tonight. Couldn?t board a plane to Washington looking like Terminator. She stood, gathering her bloodied clothes. She walked through room 705 on her way out. She reached the door. Unlocking it, she opened it briskly, checking the hall for humans. None. As she closed the door, she heard a small shattering noise coming from close by. She looked around, seeing nothing but the glass from three cylinders that she had left on the floor and the blade protruding from her abdomen.
She let out a shriek as her wires attacked her throat. Her eyes spun rapidly in her head in opposite directions. Her fingers bent and twisted, the metal snapping. Her back arched, the spine cracking. The drug was working. Apparently, in large doses, it was quite detrimental. Caroline found this out the hard way as the wires grabbed a hold of her jaw and ripped it off. She crumpled to her knees. Hoppers, as a whole, enjoyed watching their pray die. Just before her VidCam eyes shut down, she noticed Harrison?s audience, his chest heaving.
APARTMENT 705, 12:34 AM
Harrison checked the skin one last time to make sure that it was unusable. There had been enough noise up here for one night, and he didn?t want to kill unless he had to. Some of his prey were quite noisy.
Caroline?s head was torn from her eye to her mouth, the nose misshapen by the weight of his head. Her back was torn into her arms, which had small rips in them. Unusable. Harrison put his pants on. He was going to meet Mr. Huang, and he needed a body.
FOLD?S AUTO REPAIR, WASHINGTON, DC, 4:40 PM
Huang was slumped against a rusty Chevette, his oxygen machine resting comfortably against his shin. His dark Vietnamese skin was dulled by the fluorescent tubes of lighting above. When he saw Caroline, his brow raised.
?Right here!? He signaled for her to come over. ?Caroline?, was, this week, an overweight cleaning woman from the Russian Hill apartments who Harrison had happened upon on his way out of his apartment. She waived at Huang.
He sized her up. ?Caroline??
?Huang??
?How?d it go??
?Better than expected.?
?Good. Let?s go back to the Pentagon. They?ve got some more improvements for your CPU. ?
?Super. Mr. Huang??
?Yes, Caroline??
?Has anyone ever told you what exquisite skin you have?? Harrison said, slipping the blade from his sleeve.
http://www.angelfire.com/ks/ShirowFan