Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-27974670-20160710070645

(This will be the first time I've ever attempted posting a story on this wiki. The fact that I'm going to try entering it in Whitix's contest doesn't make this seem like all that great of a decision, but what the hell.)







Part One

“Holy shit, he’s a fucking robot! Look at the gears! And the oil! And the wires, and circuits, and...and...well look!” Troy yelled.

“No, fuck you, fuck you, man! I’m not gonna look at it, and your crazy rambling about it being a robot isn’t gonna convince me! You hit that man! You were doing 100, and you fucking hit him! We’re going to jail! Our careers are over! Do you fucking hear me? Over!” Screamed Nicki, turned facing away from the ghastly sight at Troy’s feet.

“No...no...no...this isn’t happening, I know this isn’t happening, I am certain this isn’t happening. I am dreaming, or I’m high, or I’m...I’m...I don’t fucking know, but this isn’t real!” Divinity blubbered, tears streaming down her face as she sat in the back of Troy’s Porsche, her insufferable crying sounding as fake as the “man” sprawled out on the road in front of us, bits and pieces of metal and rubbery flesh spread out from its shattered corpse.

I was unfortunate enough to be sitting next to the bitch, her tears dripping onto my suit,  and paying no mind to how this might have made me feel. Considering how much I had payed for the damned thing, and was more or less not expecting it to be stained by the pitiful sobs of some Hollywood whore I had no choice other than to associate with, I believe I was justified in slapping her moments later.

“Pull yourself together. Crying over the deceased won’t bring them back. If anything, having to listen to you cry is making this poor...I’m unsure at the moment whether we can call it a man, but for lack of a better word, this man would be turning and twisting right there on the road. If he were alive, that is.” I said, chuckling at the thought of this faux person, this thing of pseudo-flesh and a metallic interior, struggling to move and stand, like a butterfly pinned to a cork board, it’s life slowly fading away, as it struggles to escape its inevitable demise.

“Wh-what was that for, Kaz?” Divinity screeched.

My name is Kazimir Gregori Martin, originally Mikhailov, but my parents changed it fearing that a blatantly Russian last name would make others paranoid and fearful of us. Divinity knew this very well, for I had told her time and time again, often emphasized  by a backhand to her once beautiful, but now horrifically flawless face. Kaz is a bastardization, nothing more.

“My, my, I must not know my own strength, I merely meant to get your attention, not deafen you. My apologies. And if you’d be so kind as to call me by my full name, rather than that horrific abbreviation you insist on using, it would be much appreciated.” I said, patting her shoulder as she looked upon me, the flow of her tears temporarily staunched.

“I heard you Kaz---Kazimir.” She mumbled.

“I know you did. I was making a joke.” I said, smiling at her.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“It wasn’t very funny...none of this is very funny...pl-please tell me it’s just a dream, Kaz, please say it’s just a dream.” She said, tears once again streaming down her face.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">All of this very easily could be a dream. It was certainly fantastical enough to be one, androids posing as humans weren’t something a sane man would claim to see. Yet there it was, right in front of us. A perfectly normal looking man on the outside, but once his insides became his outsides upon collision with the car, his outsides weren’t as perfectly normal as they once were. It truly was like something out of a science fiction film, the kind I would write. A Nexus-6 out of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Something that looked so human, that if any of us were to encounter it alive on the streets, we would surely be fooled. So are we blessed rather than doomed in this situation? Perhaps we inadvertently saved the human race when we struck this machine. But what if it’s just one of many?

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“We need to hide the body.” Troy said, his hysterical visage replaced by a sobered gaze.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Nicki, you grab the legs, I’ll take the shoulders. We should be able to ditch him in the forest, no way they can trace him to us, right?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Fuck you, I’m not helping you hide the evidence of your MURDER! I wasn’t behind that steering wheel, I didn’t tell you to drink and drive, in fact...in fucking fact, I told you, I TOLD YOU, not to drink, cause I knew, I just knew something like this would happen!” Nicki yelled.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Troy’s arm, darted out like a flash, snatching Nicki’s collar, and pulling him towards himself, and down, kicking at Nicki’s leg and making him fall onto the corpse, his shirt now covered in the grey sludge oozing out of it.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Agh! You fucking piece of shit! His blood’s all over---” Nicki was interrupted by the boot swiftly delivered to his stomach, leaving him breathless.

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">“Shut up. You’re part of this now. We’re <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">all <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;"> part of this now, you hear me!” Troy shouted.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">He kneeled down to the corpse, and gathered a pool of the sludge into his hands. He walked over to the car, and poured the sludge onto Divinity’s dress, which seemed like a fitting punishment for what was done to my suit, until the bastard did the same to me.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I don’t know what the fuck this is, it doesn’t look like blood, but it sure as hell looks incriminating. So if any of you are thinking of running to the police, just know that we’ll be going down together. Okay? Okay. Who wants to help dispose of the body before someone drives by and sees us?” Troy asked, an off look in his eyes.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I volunteered, hoping to quickly resolve the situation and get home, and to a washing machine. Perhaps this suit could be salvaged.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:700;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Part Two

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">The suit, unfortunately, couldn’t be salvaged. Like blood, the grey sludge was quite difficult to wash off. Perhaps if the disposal of the body hadn’t taken over two hours, as Troy, the megalomaniacal son of a whore that he is, feared that merely dumping a body out in the middle of the woods wouldn’t suffice, and forced us all to dig through the soft soil until we had a sufficiently deep grave to leave the thing in. Maybe if we’d taken the risk of tossing it to the trees and running like hell, I wouldn’t be putting out an order for another suit. Well, I could at least take solace in the fact that I can get a different color. I always felt my old suit was just a little too dark. But while I waited for its arrival, I had to instead bother myself with the affairs of my colleagues, who found themselves shaken by the event that occurred that night.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">That day I found myself at the home of Troy Daniels, accompanied by Nicki Barrent and Divinity. We were asked inside, as our host promptly locked every door, and closed all the shutters. The downright ridiculous size of his home lead to a few minutes spent awkwardly standing about, no one willing to speak as Troy fulfilled his paranoid urges. At last, he re-entered the foyer, and had us follow him to the living room, where we were more than happy to sit down. He left us yet again to gather snacks, further extending the agonizing wait that the thoughtless retard was forcing upon us, as we all wondered why he had gathered us all there that day. I took this time to examine my colleagues, as there was nothing more productive to do rather than break down each and every one of them to their most basic components, their strengths, how few they may be, their flaws, their fears, their desires, every way they could fail me, every way they could serve me, and every way I could keep them out of my way.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Troy was a natural start. The world renowned film star, the one that the whole world couldn’t help loving. A media darling if there ever was one. But what lies behind that veil that separates celebrity from the common man, he is nothing special. The mystique of stardom is merely a smokescreen, hiding a painfully average, and inadequate man. An alcoholic. A divorcee. A hater of women. A hater of men. There is little he doesn’t despise, as nothing is ever good enough, is it? A stiff drink can only help so much. A woman can only last for so long, degrading over time and forcing him to seek out the next largest and youngest pair of tits to sate his one-hundred percent human desire for pleasure. But his ability to lie is astonishing, I could almost claim it’s better than mine, but to compare myself to that beastly man would be an affront to myself.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Next there’s Nicki. I find it humorous to claim this, but Nicki is a truly innocent soul, or at least as close as is possible in this line of work. He drinks, but in moderation. He is a rampant drug user, but avoids the harder substances, something I consider almost admirable considering my own vices. But this relative innocence has left him soft. Nicki is a director, and by his nature I should personally despise him with my very being, for he would take my work, that which I have devoted my very being to creating, and more often than not, warp it, change it, and transform it from something that is mine, to something that is so horrifically his. But this man lacks the spine, as well as the testicles to be able to stand up for himself in the face of resistance, which I at least, am thankful for, as working for him removes any risk of my vision being muddled by the hands of a lesser mind. He is certainly the most rational of us all, despite his sickening cowardice, not allowing the influence of the industry to completely conquer him.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">And then there is that insufferable cow, Divinity. Divinity, as one would assume, is not this girl’s given name. Divinity is not a name one is born into. It is a title that one obtains. In the case of the former Miz Mary Anne Davidson, she obtained it by tripping into the lap of an exceptionally intoxicated producer, who in his drunken haze confused desperation and ample cleavage for resolve and talent. She was quickly given an audition, and once it was decided that she could act well enough to at least fool a ten year old, she was given a supporting role in an ongoing action franchise, and thus her place among the stars was sealed. And thus Divinity was born. None of this would have been any different if the producer wasn’t specifically a Hollywood producer, in fact, she probably would have been amongst the same company, though her audience would surely have differed. Now despite the image I surely weave, Divinity is by no means some dumb blonde. She is a sly individual, one who has used her wits in the past to weasel her way up into higher paying, and slightly more prestigious roles, but despite this she is a truly weak, and vile woman. Fame has left her rotten on the inside, her only cares being for money and recognition. She doesn’t deserve my respect anymore than an insect may. And it brings me great pleasure to torment her at every turn.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Troy returned from the kitchen, bringing a paltry selection of snack foods. A bag of chips, a bowl of M&M’s, and a six-pack of beer, probably the only thing that he actually had in his entire fridge and pantry, considering most of his staff had quit a few days before.

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">“Is this <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">everything <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">you have to offer?” I inquired, making no attempt to hide my contempt for him.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“You know what, writer man? I don’t have to fucking---” Troy stopped himself, knowing that a confrontation wasn’t in his best interests.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I...I just didn’t feel like cooking, okay? Now, let’s get down to business.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">He sat down in a chair facing the couch, grabbing a beer and sparing no time opening, and gulping it down within seconds. The others eyed him with intent, while I betrayed no interest, though I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious over why he had dragged us all here.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Okay, let’s talk about what happened last night.” He said, after finishing his drink.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“No, no way, I don’t want to even think about last night.” Divinity said, as she began to sit up from the couch.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Sit the fuck down, none of you are leaving until I say.” Troy growled, crushing the can in his hand.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I suppressed a chuckle and put a hand on Divinity’s shoulder, gently pushing her back down to the couch.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Okay. So, I’ve been doing some thinking about last night. Now, it was dark, and we were all pretty drunk, right? Right. And when we hit that guy, I know I said some shit about there being...metal and gears, and shit. It sounds crazy. Like, really crazy. But after thinking about it all night and morning, I gotta say...I don’t think it was just some...some...hallucination.” Troy said, his voice progressively growing into a harsh whisper as he spoke. He grabbed another beer, and began downing it with great speed.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I agree with you. Whatever we saw last night was certainly...inhuman. I was significantly less intoxicated than the rest of you, and I saw exactly what you describe. Metal, gears, plus that grey sludge, the one you insisted on pouring all over us.” I said, glaring at him.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“It was fucking blood, and you all know it.” Nicki grumbled, avoiding everyone’s gaze.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Oh shut the fuck up, you pussy! You’re not an “accessory to murder” like you were bawling about over the phone, you idiot! That thing wasn’t human, killing that thing is the same as killing a deer, or a rabbit.” Troy yelled, tossing a crushed beer can at Nicki’s head.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Now that we’re all in agreement, I’d like to ask you all a question. Do you think it’s possible that there are more of those things out there?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Now that was an interesting question. Again, the idea that there was only one seems unlikely, as the chances of us striking the exact right person running across the road, and he being revealed as a fake are just too miniscule. But I didn’t voice this possibility to the others, for I could see where this was going from a mile away.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I think it is. I think it’s very possible. And you know what, my wonderful accomplices? We’re going to find out!” Troy’s face lit up, as he stood up from his chair, and beckoned us all to follow.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Running through the house, grinning like a maniac, Troy took us to a door, that led down, down, down into the depths of his home, taking us farther underground than I would have ever expected a home such as this to go. Eventually, we reached a wine cellar. Bottle racks lined the walls, but they were all empty, and glass littered the floor. The floor was slick and sticky from many a nightly bender. The lights flicked on, illuminating the darkness, and revealing the way to a door on the far side of the room. It was slightly ajar, without a trace of light radiating from it.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I like your dungeon.” I said, as I scanned the room for anything interesting. Whips perhaps, or maybe even a corpse or two.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“You’re a goddamn riot, you Russian bastard. How the fuck are you so successful?” Troy said, sneering at me.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I didn’t bother answering. As we drew closer to the door, I began to smell something. Sweat. Shit. It seemed he really was running a dungeon down here.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Troy opened the door, and led us into the cramped room.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Lady and gentlemen, let there be light.” Troy flipped the switch, and in a flash of light revealed the source of the awful stench.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Tied up on the floor, a gag in her mouth, was a woman. Her eyes went wide as the light temporarily blinded her, but as soon as she was adjusted, they darted around the room, trying to figure out where she was being held captive. She would have been pretty if not for the dirty clothes, unkempt hair, and look of sheer terror and hopelessness that consumed her. I in no way blamed her, I doubt even the strongest man or woman would be able to stay composed for very long in such a situation.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“This here, is Jeana. She used to be my cook, and for quite a long time. But after last night...I’m not so sure.” Troy stared hungrily at his subdued chef, a sickening smirk on his face as he grabbed a baseball bat from the corner.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“So. Who here’s curious what the little bitch’s made of?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Y-you’re kidding. You’re fucking kidding! You psychopath, what’s wrong with you?! You’ve tied up you’re cook, and are now planning on beating her to death with a baseball bat, all because you deluded yourself into thinking she’s some fucking body snatcher!” Nicki snapped, shouting at Troy as he walked up, bat in hand.

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">“Actually, no, I’m not planning to beat her to death with a baseball bat. <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">You’re <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;"> going to beat her to death with a baseball bat, Nicki boy.” Troy said, manic glee in his eyes.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I’m sorry...what?” Nicki said, dumbfounded.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“You know what you saw last night, you’re just in denial. If you get up close and personal, maybe it’ll convince you of what actually happened. And you know what, if it turns out I’m wrong, I’ll turn myself in. You’ll get none of the blame, and all of the satisfaction of seeing me head off to the clink. So, you gonna do it Nicki boy?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I was unsurprised, when moments later, looking down at his feet, Nicki’s hand darted out and grabbed the bat fro, Troy. He probably thinks he’s proving himself, but we all know he’s still weak. Well, at least I do. Troy is too happy to have someone else join in on his bloodlust, while Divinity is too scared to show she can form her own opinion. I barely know this woman, this victim, but I have no reason to watch them suffer. They’ve done nothing to offend me, they are not of my concern. But the two seem set on what they want to do, so there’s nothing left for me to do other than to watch.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Nicki was standing over the woman, Jeana, baseball bat held high, looking unconfident in what he was about to do.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Come on, Nicki boy. You don’t even know the girl, why are you hesitating? She doesn’t mean anything to you, especially if I’m right and you’re wrong. So why don’t you hurry up and get to it?!” Troy goaded, slapping Nicki on the back.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I watched as Nicki shut his eyes, and raised the bat up to strike. He whispered something to himself, I couldn’t quite make it out, but it sounded quite a bit like ‘god forgive me’. Though it was just as likely he was saying ‘oh fuck me’, he never seemed like the religious type.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">She was dead after the first five blows to the head, but Nicki just didn’t know when to stop. The moment she went limp, and her skull burst into gooey metal shrapnel should have been a good enough hint, but alas he didn’t catch it, and kept bringing the bat down, over and over again, until eventually the body was so broken that it was practically unrecognizable as having been a woman. Or at least, a machine masquerading as a woman.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Nicki finally opened his eyes minutes later to see what it was he had done. His scream was ear-piercing.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Jesus Christ! Jesus fucking Christ! What did you make me do?!” Nicki cried in horror.

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">“I didn’t make you do anything, you didn’t <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">have <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;"> to do anything.” Troy laughed.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“You motherfucker! You made me into a murderer!” Nicki cried, tears welling up in his eyes.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Now what the fuck is it you’re talking about? Can’t you see I was right? Look, the grey sludge instead of blood, just like last night! The chunks of metal! Her goddamn head…” Troy kneeled down, and with little effort plucked the mangled head, face too beaten in to look human anymore, from where it lied on the ground.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“...has wires! Wires! Fucking wires hanging from her neck hole! Are you blind? How don’t you see this? How are you so clueless? Kaz! Look at it! Do you see what I see?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I nodded.

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">“Divinity, do <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">you <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">see it?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I...I don’t know what I see.” Divinity muttered, sinking to the floor.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“DO YOU SEE IT OR NOT!?” Troy exploded, running over to where Divinity sat and brandishing the head in front of her face as she looked away in fear.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I don’t know! I don’t know what I see!” She shrieked.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Look at it! Look at it! Do you see it? Do you fucking see it?!” He screamed, spit flying into her face.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I don’t---”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Answer me!”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I don’t---”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“ANSWER ME!”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Yes! Yes I fucking see it, I see it, I see it, I see it, I SEE IT I SEE IT I SEE IT!”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Troy was more than pleased with her answer, and threw the head away. He stood up and walked back towards Nicki.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“You’re outnumbered, Nicki boy. If anyone here’s deluded...it’s you. You’re the only one who can’t come to terms that these people were robots. So you can keep denying it all you want, but it’ll do you no good. Now, if you’re thinking of even breathing a word of this to anyone, no matter how in the right we may be, I’ll do much worse to you than you did to her. Okay? Oka---” A strong blow to the chest from the now splintered bat was enough for Nicki to temporarily silence Troy. But not nearly enough to keep him down.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Troy took a moment to assess his wound. He had a large cut across his chest that was bleeding...well isn’t that interesting?

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">“You nicked me, Nicki. Ha, <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">nicked me <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">. Why’d you have to go and do that?” Troy chuckled, as he grabbed the bat out of Nicki’s hands, who barely put up a struggle.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“I’m gonna have to pay you back for that, man. Sorry.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Troy made good on his promise. What I witnessed him doing to Nicki was certainly worse than what Nicki had done to poor Jeana. It didn’t help Nicki in the slightest that the bat was left splintered after he used it,  making it capable of drawing blood as well as breaking bone. One of the larger bits of wood sticking out from the bar entered Nicki’s eye as Troy swung it towards his face. I was a little disappointed when his eye didn’t leave the socket when the bat did, but seeing the splinter stay lodged within was just as satisfying. Though the violence as pointless, it did prove very inspirational. I didn’t think to stop myself and chuckled at the sight, Divinity glancing at me with a look of horrified confusion. I glanced back, delivering a withering look that made her turn away. When I looked back at the spectacle before us, I was almost sad to see it was over. Nicki lied there on the floor, dead, his fluids leaking all over the floor and mingling with that of the woman’s.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Suddenly, Troy exhaled, lifting himself off of Nicki’s corpse and looking back at us, that horrific smile that I detested so finally gone for the moment.

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">“Okay, now that that’s settled...I think we’ve come to a conclusion. I think everyone’s one of these things. Everyone but us. And maybe the rest of Hollywood, but that’s debatable. But you two do realize we need to keep this secret if I’m right, right? Cause if I’m right, and I haven’t been wrong so far, we’re outnumbered. They’ll see us as murderers, and we’ll be imprisoned as such. So, do I have your guys’ word that you will never tell this to anyone unless we are <span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;white-space:pre-wrap;">certain <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;"> that they are human?” Troy asked through gritted teeth.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I nodded, barely smirking at him as I found all this somewhat funny considering what I saw. Divinity took a little longer to decide, but eventually she nodded as well.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Okay! Well, now that we’ve been enlightened, I think it’s about time we started to take advantage.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:700;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Part Three

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">And we did take advantage. Divinity somewhat less so than Troy and myself, but we all took advantage nonetheless. It felt good to have a chance to release the darker side of myself knowing that my victim wasn’t actually human, and thus subject to anyone truly mourning them. We were killing robots. They looked like men. They acted like men. They sure screamed like men. But they weren’t men. So I had no reason to be affected, and anyone aware of the truth knew I didn’t do this out of some malicious intent, but rather that deep down I always knew they were all fake and worthless. But Divinity was never truly convinced.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">We no longer confined ourselves to Troy’s wine cellar. Too suspicious, and overall just impractical. So after telling a few producers I knew about the truth of the world, and immediately having to give them proof to get through their fat skulls, the three of us were given a warehouse out in the countryside that was refurbished to suit our needs. Once a month we’d take three people off the streets, and bring them to this warehouse. It was always someone nobody would miss, or ask about if they disappeared. Just another victim of the acting bug, gone to make a living in Hollywood and escape his old life. It was on a day that we got some fresh faces that Divinity decided to cause trouble that would ultimately upset things quite a bit.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“How can you be so sick in the head to enjoy torturing these people?” She whined.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“They’re not people.” I was quick to reply as the shot from my pistol rang out, sending the man in front of me sprawling to the ground.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Ah, don’t tell me you’re still hung up about this Div!” Troy walked into the room, a gagged and blindfolded girl in tow behind him with a chain and collar around her neck.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“You saw for yourself, they’re machines, they’re just simulating being human.”

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I don’t know what I saw.” <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">She whispered.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“What was that?” Troy asked aggressively.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Fuck off!” Divinity shouted.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Oh I’m sorry, Little Miss Empathy, you must feel real sorry for these metallic pieces of shit considering you killed just as many of them as we have!” Troy said, berating her.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“What choice do I have?” She asked flippantly.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Oh I don’t know, the choice to just refuse more victims? You don’t have to be a part of this! I’m not making you do anything! All you have to do is stay silent, and we’re golden. You chose to keep killing them. That’s not on me, that’s on you. So if you really feel so sympathetic for these things, first consider the fact that you just came back from decapitating the guy we brought you to criticize us for the same thing.” He said.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“You really want to know why I kept doing it? Do you? Well it’s because I was never lying when I said I don’t know what I see, because I DON’T KNOW WHAT I SEE! Sometimes when I’m in a bad mood, or depressed or some shit, I come here to stick it to one of these guys, and I see what you two see. But whenever I look at you doing it, I see blood, I see guts, and I see human lives being wasted!” She cried.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Okay! So maybe they’re not all machines, we can start filtering them, testing to see if they’re the real deal or not, will that make you happy?” He asked exasperatedly.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“They’re all the real deal you psycho! Don’t you get it? There’s something wrong with us, there’s something wrong with our eyes, or our brains, or something! You and Kaz have no empathy, and I don’t either. We’re all just self-serving pricks who get a kick out of the pain of others.” She said, looking between the both of us.

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">“You’re wrong. Not completely, but you’re wrong. I am going to admit it, lay it all out in the open for you Div, you’re right. I <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">do <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;"> lack empathy. But not for you! Not for Kaz! Not for our friends and family! Only for these rusty hunks of junk! And why should I? They are mockeries of the human form. And I’m doing humanity a favor by thinning the herd a bit.” He said.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“You sure about that Troy, are you really sure about that? Mr. Daniels, you can come in.” Divinity shouted to the entrance of the warehouse, where an older gentleman walked in slowly, taking in first the weapons on the walls, then the blood on the floor.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“So this is the slaughterhouse, huh? Got quite the facility here, don’t ya?” Mr. Daniels said, impressed by what he saw.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“D-Dad? W-what are you doing here?” Troy stuttered, in shock at his father’s appearance.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Divinity told me about this place on set, and I being the curious mind that I am decided to take a look. So...what’s this talk about...robots?” Mr. Daniels inquired.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“We’re about to find out.” Divinity grabbed the pistol from my hand and emptied its magazine in Mr. Daniels’ chest, throwing it to the ground as he collapsed.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I didn’t say a word, didn’t try to stop her. It was too late anyway, there was nothing I could do, and no motivation to do it even if I could.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Troy was speechless, only staring, mouth wide open and eyes like saucers, watching, waiting for any movement from the corpse in front of him.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“What do you see, Troy? What do you fucking see?” She yelled.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“What do you FUCKING SEE?!” She screamed, leaning in close.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Blood! I see fucking blood, you...you...you fucking maniac!”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Kazimir, what do you see?” She asked me calmly.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Grey.” I replied.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Same.” She agreed.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“He was one of us! What is wrong with you, HE WAS ONE OF US!” Troy lunged from where he was standing and tackled Divinity to the ground. They started rolling around on the floor, one trying to get the upper hand over the other. I stepped away and watched at a distance. Troy was coming out on top, he had a grip on her throat and began to squeeze. But Divinity’s nails came in handy, scratching at his eyes and forcing him off of her, giving her a window to run and find a weapon. They both made chase for the shelves stocked with tools, and I pursued them slowly, removing my tie.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Divinity grabbed a knife and stabbed towards Troy, but he managed to evade the blow, grabbing a hammer in the process. Their weapons of choice fit them perfectly. The knife sharp and precise, but lacking any real substance. The hammer strong and having a lot of force, but a blunt tool. Troy brought the hammer down hard on Divinity’s knee cap, and I could almost hear it shattering like glass. I was only a few feet away now, and had an incredible vantage point.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Divinity’s leg buckled, but she kept fighting, slicing and dicing with the knife and rendering Troy’s flesh ribbons, but this didn’t stop him either. He kicked her onto her back, and was about to break her ribs, until she rolled out of the way, destroying her arm instead. The other still wielded the knife, which made a swift cut into an artery in his leg. He was bleeding now, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Divinity was crawling away now, struggling to stand but finding it pointless. Troy was on top of her almost immediately. He turned her over, and pinned her arms before she could make another go with the knife. That smile was back.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“What I did to ol’ Nicki boy will look like a walk in the fucking park compared to what I have in store for you.” He growled.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">I wrapped my tie around his throat and began to tighten it, squeezing the life out of him as he clutched at his throat. I kept going like this for a while, not long enough to kill him, but not short enough to where he’d be getting back up again. I walked over to Divinity, who lied on the floor, staring in awe at what I had done for her.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“The knife please.” I said, hand outstretched.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Without a word she gave it to me, and I went about my work. I stabbed downwards into Troy’s neck, severing the jugular and allowing a geyser to erupt. But it wasn’t red, as I knew it wouldn’t be. It was the same grey as it was when I learned the truth. When Nicki drew blood shortly before his demise, I wasn’t mistaken thinking I saw grey. I was back at Divinity’s side, kneeling beside her and cradling her head.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Do you see it too?” I asked.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“S-see what…?” She questioned, not sure what I was asking about.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“What do you see?” I asked again.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">“Blood...what else would I be seeing?” I didn’t allow her a chance to continue, the blade was through her throat by then. And it was grey. Not red, but grey.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:14.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Where did this leave me? The people who I learned alongside about these mechanical fakes turn out to be themselves mechanical fakes. Did this make me the only normal one? No...no, that didn’t make sense. I’d never been truly normal, just a mimic. Much like these androids. But I’m flesh and blood, I knew this. I knew this. I knew this.

<span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">Do I know this? There’s only one way to find out. I took the knife and ran it across the palm of my hand, just deep enough to draw blood. I stared at what the cut revealed. Motionless. Breathless. I didn’t speak, I didn’t need to. So I was right. <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">So I was right. <ac_metadata title="Captive Audience (In need of criticism.)"> </ac_metadata>