The V.I.C.I. Diaries: MGV (Metal Gear Vicki) Part 9

[DukeNukem 2417]

The doors of the express elevator opened with a polite ding, allowing Vicki, Jamie and Chris a pretty nice view of….a hallway.

“I thought this elevator led to the showroom,” Jamie complained, “and this isn’t even a room---it’s just a hallway with a door at the end!” Chris sighed; “I’m hoping that the door at the end of the hall leads to the showroom proper,” he mused, “otherwise I may have to go back down to the shelter and politely ask Madame to give me my money back.”

Vicki didn’t acknowledge either of them---she was too busy linking up to the building’s security network.

Cameras aren’t picking up any life signs…..other than robots under glass, there’s nobody in the room---except for whoever’s standing behind the door at the far end.. With a small nod, she terminated the connection and glanced at Jamie. “The control center for the showroom is down the hall, to the left and up a flight of stairs,” she informed him in a near-toneless voice. “Ah, okay,” he replied, looking confused. “That information could actually come in handy in the next few minutes….but why exactly are you giving me direction to this control center---”

“Chris,” Vicki continued, without taking her eyes off Jamie, “go with him and lock the door behind you when you get in.”

“Ah, Vicki,” he responded, “you do know that, as men, Jamie and I can handle ourselves----“

“As soon as the door on the far side of the showroom opens,” Vicki droned on, “activate every single security lock you can find. Use these keycards---“ She practically shoved the envelope of keycards at him, and Jamie was shocked to notice tears in her eyes. “Use these if you have to,” she finished, her voice calm. “If there’s a multiband radio in there, Jamie---get on the emergency frequency and send out a distress signal….”

Jamie siezed Vicki by the shoulders. “You’re not facing this guy alone, Vicki---“

“I HAVE TO FACE HIM ALONE!” Vicki screamed, tears streaming down her face. “I DON’T WANT ANYONE GETTING KILLED BECAUSE OF ME!” She collapsed into his arms, shaking and sobbing. “I don’t want to see anyone die,” she whispered, crying into Jamie’s shirt. The suddenness of the action surprised him, and for a few seconds, he had no idea how to react; in the end, he settled for holding her and letting her cry for a few minutes. “Nobody’s going to die because of you, Vicki,” he murmured. “Nobody has died because of you….”

“I….I know,” Vicki croaked. “I just……this idiot who’s been dressing up like Psycho Mantis, and Jason, and the Fury….I can’t help but think that he’s treating this like a game….but it isn’t. You can’t….” She wiped away her tears on Jamie’s sleeve. “You can’t just press a button and reset everything, and bring the dead back to life just so you can ‘try again’….that’s not how it works…”

“Nobody ever said this was a game, Vicki,” Jamie informed her, “but if it was…..you’d kick major butt.”

His remark prompted a tearful grin from the brunette gynoid. “Thanks.” She hugged him again, drying her eyes and taking a few breaths to calm her nerves. “I just….I didn’t want to lose you.” She glanced at Chris; “I didn’t want to lose either of you.”

“Point taken,” he replied, giving her a nod.

Vicki nodded. “Good. Remember, Now, both of you….try not to press anything that’ll nuke the building, ‘kay?”

“We’ll do the best we can, m’lady,” Chris replied, bowing. “What he said,” Jamie added, chuckling. “And if it gets too heavy in there, just yell for us and we’ll drop a light fixture on him or something.” “’Or something’,” Chris scoffed. “I’d rather mow him down with a forklift---“

“Guys,” Vicki chided, “I’m trying to get psyched up for the fight, remember?”

With that, Jamie and Chris headed for the stairs that would take them to the Showroom Control Center, leaving Vicki to her thoughts.

Not surprisingly, there wasn’t much for her to think about.

As she walked out of the elevator, Vicki reflected on all of the oddities, coincidences and other weirdness she’d borne witness to in the Silicon Dynamics plant. The recurrences of the number seven, the “blood trail” inside the virtual representation of the building’s computer network, the theory about the neurotoxin that she’d come up with on the fly……

….the idiot who dressed up as two different Metal Gear Solid boss characters and Jason Voorhees…..

“Get a hold of yourself, Lawson,” Vicki muttered. “You don’t know for sure that he’s the one behind all of this…it could all just be a massive coincidence……” She scowled. “Yeah, and I could be Princess of Mars.”

The sliding doors to the showroom was already partially open; this is it, Vicki realized. The big one…….

She parted the doors all the way and stepped through, prepared for the fight that lay ahead.

Predictably, the showroom was massive---almost as big as the SJSU Event Center’s basketball court, or a large parking lot. Glass cases set into stone squares dotted the room, each one holding a robot from the Silicon Dynamics catalog. Not surprisingly, the gynoids were clad in their full costumes from the catalog, with the appropriate “props” either in their hands or in a display case at their feet. Small datascreens were set up near each display, listing height, weight, eye/hair color and programming (along with a few more details that prompted a groan from Vicki), as well as the cost of each. Anyone else in her position would’ve stopped to view the robots on display, commenting on their attire, the pricing and a few other details. Had Jamie and Chris followed, their “don’t let Vicki get hurt” thought patterns would most likely have been derailed by the sight of so many impossibly-beautiful specimens on display.

For Vicki, none of that mattered.

Her eyes remained locked on the massive door at the other end of the showroom. “I know you’re in here,” she called out, “and I’ve already figured out who you are.”

The doors stayed shut.

“Those were some pretty impressive tricks you pulled,” she continued, “with the Psycho Mantis simulation, the costumes….even trying to attack Madame in the virtual network. But it’s over.” She put her hands to her mouth and shouted: “THIS ENDS HERE!”

The doors didn’t open.

“I know you can hear me,” the brunette gynoid yelled, “and I know you’re chomping at the bit to get out here and finish what you started---not just with this place, but with me.” Her eyes narrowed as she walked towards the door, her auditory sensors picking up the subtle sounds of locking mechanisms releasing. “If you want to fight me, then get out here and let’s DO this thing, already! I’ve put up with enough craziness today to last me a hundred lifetimes, and I have no problem ending the day with a brawl……..”

The doors remained closed.

“THAT’S IT!” Vicki screamed, abandoning all pretenses of subtlety. “I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH THIS CRAP! EITHER YOU GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW AND FACE ME, OR I’M GOING TO RIP THOSE DOORS DOWN AND----“

A low rumbling filled the air; the massive doors were finally opening.

“….and…kick your………butt?” she finished, whimpering.

Light poured into the room as the doors slid open, revealing the figure of the enigmatic intruder. “Well, well, well,” he drawled, “Vicki Lawson. What a surprise.” The man chuckled as he stepped forward, confirming the brunette gynoid’s suspicions. “I must say, you put on quite a great show earlier….telling everyone about my plans to gas every pathetic sod in this place with neurotoxin; I shouldn’t have left that blood trail back in the simulated network, to be honest….I was letting my, ah, inner showman get the better of me.”

“Save the speeches for later,” Vicki snarled. “I knew it was you as soon as I figured out why the number seven kept popping up---“

The intruder laughed, sending a chill up Vicki’s titanium spine. “I was wondering if anyone had been able to pick up on those,” he admitted. “Still, it could’ve been much worse---“

A throwing knife grazed Vicki in the shoulder as the showroom lights kicked on, revealing her attacker in full.

“I could’ve just killed you right at the beginning,” Faceless crooned, “and been done with it.”

Vicki glared at the masked psychopath, feeling an uncharacteristic urge to break bones and smash faces creeping over her. “Why’d you do it?” she muttered. “Why did you have to put me and everyone else in this facility through seven kinds of hell---“

Faceless threw back his head and laughed, the sound reverberating like a demonic chorus. “You just don’t get it, do you?” he taunted. “This whole place----everything in this facility could have been MINE! It was all right there, in the palm of my hand……Rengold Cybernetics was going to revolutionize the robotics market and bring lifelike androids to the masses---not that I cared about any of that. The only reason I was even at the meeting was to make sure it all went down without a hitch, so my latest cash cow would continue to thrive while I…..satiated the undeniable urgings of my soul.”

“Except it didn’t go down without a hitch, did it?” Vicki sneered.

She could sense the murderer frowning behind his bone-white mask. “I had the contract in my hands,” he muttered, “and the nub of the pen was just barely touching the paper when that damned speakerphone started ringing.” His voice took on a familiar, ugly edge. “Some incompetent bitch called Madame decided to crash the meeting---sent in three of her ‘girls’ and had them show off what they were made of…..”

Vicki couldn’t help but chuckle. “All this, because you lost out to a computer---“

“I DIDN’T LOSE!” Faceless roared. “That stupid useless whore of an appliance practically ripped that contract out of my hands and threw it in the fire! All the plans I had made….ruined……”

He shook his head. “A slight of that magnitude simply could not go unavenged.”

Before Vicki could stop him, he slammed his palm into a nearby datascreen; paralyzing bolts of electricity shot through her titanium frame, immobilizing her. “All this time,” Faceless continued, watching as Vicki was forced to her knees by the shocks coursing through her, “I waited, even forgoing a chance at ending your pathetic existence in front of your so-called friends at SJSU….” He strode up to the immobilized gynoid, looking down at her with pitiless eyes. “After all the trouble you’ve caused me today,” he hissed, “I am definitely going to enjoy this.” He raised his right hand, allowing her to catch a glimpse of the blade hidden in his sleeve.

“You wouldn’t,” she pleaded.

“You’re right,” he replied. “I wouldn’t.”

He knocked her to the floor with a savage backhand strike.

“All the times I let you get away,” he declared, kicking her in the side as she struggled to get to her feet, “and this is how you repay me!” He grabbed her by the hair, staring into her eyes with unfettered malice. “Of course, I never really ‘let’ you escape,” he chuckled---seconds before slamming her face into the floor. “I always knew it would come down to this!” He lifted her back up by the hair and laughed. “You are just pathetic,” he sneered, slamming her face-first into a display case.

Tears streamed down Vicki’s face as she tried to get to her feet. How is he doing this?! I---

A brutal kick to the back sent her sprawling back down to the floor. “GET UP!” Faceless ordered. “Get up, so I can crush you like the pathetic little toy that you are….”

Vicki stared into his eyes…and shook her head. “If you want me…..come get me.”

“Have it your way, then,” the masked psychopath snarled.

Before she could react, Vicki felt a jarring pain shoot through her left arm; Faceless was methodically stomping on her limbs, trying to render her useless before she could get back to her feet. “Hurts, doesn’t it?” he hissed, rearing back and kicking her in the face before she could answer. “WELL, GET USED TO IT!”

Unable to keep herself from sobbing, Vicki managed to get to a kneeling position just in time for her psychotic opponent to tackle her to the ground. “This reminds me of another girl I killed,” he mused, “except she was just a human…..well, she started out as one……” He chuckled. “Of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t use the same technique on you…” He began smashing Vicki’s chest with hammer-fisted punches, every impact jarring the gynoid’s senses. “And for the finale,” Faceless hissed, “a little something I like to call ‘Gutting You Like a Fish’….” He swung his right arm wide, allowing the blade concealed in his sleeve to extend and lock into place. “Any last words?” he intoned, his arm in a perfect position to stab downward and slice through Vicki’s throat.

“Just two,” she whispered. “Freur Frei.”

Faceless’ eyes widened in shock. “What---“

Four arcing bolts of electricity shot from the corners of the room, pinioning him in place as Vicki crawled away. “You’re not the only one who knows the inner workings of this plant,” she declared, rising unsteadily to her feet as the masked murderer screamed.

The electricity sparked out seconds later, and Faceless crumpled to the floor in a shuddering heap.

“You….you think you’ve got this whole situation under control, don’t you,” he hissed. “I think it’s time you got a news flash….YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE!” He staggered to his feet, his eyes blazing with hatred as he glared at Vicki. “You should read the system logs of this place one day….you might find it rather interesting to know that at least one robot in this facility has lobbied for the human workers to be fired, and the full automation of every single Silicon Dynamics factory IN THE WORLD to be made a priority.”

“Not my problem,” Vicki replied without missing a beat. “If that’s your best shot---“

“You should also know,” Faceless continued, “that not everyone in your oh-so-trustworthy ALPA is as saintly as they appear…..that blonde doll, for instance---Alicia, I think her name was---had her own reasons for inviting you to that stupid little club of hers last month…. Oh, and then there’s your friend Anton Malvineous….has he ever mentioned that tiny little conviction for assaulting a police officer back in ’03? Probably not…just like ‘Mr. Tell’ would never admit to having a full copy of your blueprints for….’private research’…..And let’s not forget Dear Old Dad---who stoically ‘volunteered’ to visit a Hreftech factory while his own father was in hospital with the bird flu---“

“SHUT UP!” Vicki screamed, no longer trying to stop her tears.

“You may as well stop trying to kid yourself,” Faceless drawled, “you’re the best of a rotten bunch. Every single one of your so-called allies are self-serving, egotistical, control-freak sociopaths who only want their way, and to Hell with everyone else.” He chuckled, intentionally lowering his voice: “Search your feelings, Vicki….you know it to be true.”

“All I know,” Vicki spat, “is that you wanted everyone in this place dead…and that’s all that matters.”

“You think I’M the one who wanted that neurotoxin?” Faceless retorted. “I already mentioned one particular robot wanting a ‘no humans’ policy to be put in place---here and in every Silicon Dynamics plant around the globe…..who’s to say that one particular robot didn’t want to make that policy known in a….somewhat lethal fashion? And as for those investigators you’ve been so valiantly fighting to protect, they haven’t exactly been Boy Scouts---the vast majority of them acted more like rapacious cavalrymen than anything else….gassing them might have been the best option---“

He saw the red-white blur of Vicki running at him just a second too late; her fist slammed into his head at speeds unmatched since Butterbean’s heyday in the boxing world. The blow knocked the bone-white mask from his face, sending it to the floor with a clatter.

“You’re not even the real Faceless, are you?” Vicki taunted. “I bet you’re just some imposter hired by---“

She stopped, horrified, as her opponent turned to face her again.

“Would an imposter go this far just to look like me?” Faceless inquired, sneering. Vicki had only seen him unmasked once before, but the image had stayed with her---and provided absolute proof that the man standing before her was definitely the real Faceless. The cheeks were still sunken, the “nose” was still nothing but a formless, triangular bulge, the lips were still barely-there….

…but it was the scars that proved it.

“You can’t fake scars like these,” he taunted, circling around the stunned gynoid. “Oh, people have tried---I have no clue why anyone would go so far as to mutilate themselves just to look like me, but they’ve tried. I’ve seen idiots in emergency rooms who’ve doused themselves with acid, set their faces on fire, gone to town on their own heads with heated knives and turkey carvers….all valliant efforts, to be honest…but NOTHING beats the original.” He backpedaled to retrieve the mask, smirking as he beheld Vicki’s terrified expression. “So, as you can see,” he stated, putting the mask back on, “I’m not just some idiotic doppelganger without a life….but enough about all of that. If I remember correctly, you mentioned something about……wanting to fight me?”

Vicki’s stare didn’t waver. “I did,” she replied, “and I still do. I couldn’t care less that you lost out on a chance to bring realistic pleasure androids to the world---which you admitted to being indifferent about---and I’ll do the necessary fact-checking on all of that bullroar about the ALPA once I leave here….but as of right now, the one thing I want, more than getting Jamie and Chris out of here in once piece….” She cracked her knuckles. “….is to kick your teeth down your throat.”

Faceless laughed, as if the very idea of Vicki fighting him was some sort of elaborate joke. “Vicki, Vicki, Vicki,” he chided, “when are you ever going to learn?! Fighting me is a lot like playing Russian Roulette….” He swung his left arm out in a wide arc, allowing the blade in his sleeve to lock into place in its “launcher”.

“…except that here, your odds of surviving are…..zero to none,” he hissed.

“No blades,” Vicki countered. “We do this my way…..no tricks. I don’t use Detaining Grip, you don’t use your blades. Just you and I, fighting with bare hands.” Faceless glared at her, but shoved the blades into their launchers anyways. “If you prefer blunt force trauma to stab wounds,” he taunted, “so be it.” The two locked eyes, sizing each other up……

Vicki flicked her head to the left; the distraction gave her just enough time to close the gap---

Faceless’ elbow hammered into her throat. “Did you really think I’d fall for something that obvious?” he snarled, rearing back to stomp on her chest.

“No,” the gynoid replied, “but you’ll fall for this!” She hooked her leg around his and pulled, sending him to the ground with a crash. As he struggled to get back to his feet, she elbowed him hard in the head, dodging his own clumsy strikes with ease until he managed to throw her off of himself. “Clever girl,” he groaned, “trying to knock me senseless early on….pity my skull is a lot harder than your---“ His sentence ended in a strangled cough as Vicki’s foot caught him in the abdomen.

“You were saying?” she taunted.

With a growl, Faceless lunged at her, intending to tackle the gynoid to the ground and rip her teeth out by hand; she rolled to the side at the last possible minute, causing the masked psychopath to crash into a display case for “Inga the Ski Bunny” and fall to the ground in a shower of glass.

Knowing that any attempt she made to attack him while he was down would only give him an opportunity to ground her, Vicki let Faceless get back up before she moved in for another strike---a brutal knife-edged chop aimed at his throat. The hit staggered him, but didn’t knock him off his feet; within seconds, he had recovered just enough to grab Vicki by the wrist and force her arm behind her back. “Don’t do that again,” he hissed, pulling upwards on her already-damaged arm with as much force as he could muster.

Might as well try something a little different….

Vicki kicked backwards, nailing Faceless right in the shin with an audible snap. He howled (more out of anger than pain) and let her go, trying not to rest too much weight on his wounded leg….but Vicki came at him again, this time with a spinning hook kick that knocked him to the floor, right on the snapped shin.

“GYAAAAAAHHH!” Even with his face covered, Vicki could tell that Faceless’ rough landing hurt.

“Need a hand?” the brunette gynoid asked, half-jokingly.

“GO TO HELL,” Faceless snarled, using Inga’s display case to pull himself up. “This isn’t over….”

With a lunge, he rebounded off the case and tackled Vicki, knocking her to the floor with all the finesse of a crippled gorilla. Before she could even try to throw him off, a vicious right cross slammed into her face; a left hook followed soon after. Within seconds, Faceless was punching the gynoid in the face like a pissed-off UFC fighter, smashing lefts and rights into her nose, eye sockets and mouth with wreckless abandon.

Enough of this…

As another right cross descended towards her, Vicki grabbed Faceless’ wrist with her left hand and slammed her right as hard as she could into his arm, snapping it at the elbow. The psychopath let loose with an enraged roar, giving Vicki just enough time to throw him off. “Just do yourself a favor and stay down,” she offered, “or I might have to start fighting dirty---“

“SHUT UP!” Faceless screamed, hobbling to his feet. “You can break all the bones you want, but I’ll STILL be able to kill you without so much as a second thought!”

“So you’ve been practicing,” Vicki mused, “am I right?” She circled around the wounded killer, her bubble memory processors loading up as much information on martial arts as possible. “Or, should I say, you’ve been rehearsing for this….” “So what if I have?!” Faceless spat. “I’ve wanted to kill you ever since that little incident back in August…..nobody humiliates me and gets away with it!” He lunged towards her, swinging his right arm at her and grazing her face with his broken hand.

“You should try something a little less traditional,” Vicki chided, dodging the blow easily.

“The only thing I’m going to try is holding back when I finally pin you to the wall,” Faceless snarled. “NOW STAND STILL SO I CAN KILL YOU!” He swung wildly with both arms, trying to club Vicki across the hand; he wasn’t kidding about practicing, she realized. Something tells me he’s actually broken his own limbs in those exact spots just to prepare for a fight like this!

“You do realize that it’s difficult for a rehearsed routine to fit in with broken rythym, right?” she called out, ducking another clumsy swing. “Rehearsed routines---“ She sucked in air through her teeth as his left hand caught her across the nose--- “lack the flexibility---“ Another flail-arm attack came her way, and she easily shoulder-rolled under it--- “to adapt!” She spun around Faceless effortlessly, driving her left fist into his kidney and moving seamlessly into a fighting pose as he collapsed to the ground, scrabbling at the air. “See what I mean?” she asked, smiling.

“YOU….USELESS…BITCH!” Faceless struggled to get back to his feet, nearly falling into a display case holding a long-legged, rusty-haired hiker chick named Brooke. “You….you’ll never break me….until the day I DIE….” He braced himself on the glass, propping himself up with his elbow; “And trust me,” he hissed. “that won’t be coming any time soon …..”

He stopped; Vicki was running full-bore for the doors across the room.

“You little…..” With a growl, he grabbed one of the ski poles from Inga’s display case, snapping it at the base and tying it to his wounded leg with the pleasure droid’s scarf. With an animalistic grunt, he hobbled as fast as he could towards the door. “Trying to get away from me…..I’ll show her….GET BACK HERE, YOU USELESS WASTE OF PLASTIC, SO I CAN---“

A kick at ground-level caught him in the left leg, sending him crashing to the floor with a scream.

“You never learn, do you?” V.I.C.I. chided, standing over him and wagging her finger. Before he could even attempt to reply, the brunette gynoid stomped down on his left leg---at the knee.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

A red stain blossomed beneath the fabric of Faceless’ pants where his kneecap had been shattered. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO---“ His shouted question was cut off with a kick to the ribs, followed by an attempted groin-stomp that only missed due to his fast reflexes. “You….vicious little bitch,” he hissed, chuckling despite his debilitating wounds. “All this time, you had the potential to kill a human being with your bare hands tucked away in that pathetic excuse for a processor…..”

“Not really,” V.I.C.I. replied. “I’m just looking up 12 different martial arts disciplines at once.”

Before he could shout at her again, the gynoid charged at him in a perfect spear, sending the two of them crashing through a display case containing an angel with feathered wings and a gauzy slip alongside a red-skinned, cloven-hooved devil. V.I.C.I. rolled her eyes at the banner above the case---“Heaven and Hell: the best of both worlds!”----before Faceless’ fist slammed into her midsection, sending her to the floor. She scrambled out of the way as he tried to drop an elbow onto her, cringing as his attack propelled his already-broken elbow into the base of the Heaven and Hell display with a sickening crack.

“You could always give up,” she suggested. Faceless yelled something so unintelligable that it didn’t even have a vowel in it.

“Okay…..that was---“ V.I.C.I.’s remark ended abruptly as Faceless slammed into her again, shoulder-blocking her through the display case of a cheerleader droid. Both V.I.C.I. and the motionless cheerleader fell through the glass---V.I.C.I. landing hard on her side, the cheerleader hitting the floor with all the grace of a wooden plank.

“GET UP!” Faceless screamed.

“What do you think I’m trying to do,” V.I.C.I, muttered, groaning, only to stare, wide-eyed, as Faceless pulled himself into the cheerleader’s display case and curled his left arm. He’s not seriously going to try this, she hoped, already getting to her knees to scramble away

With a war cry that would’ve made Gunnery Sergeant Hartman proud, Faceless lept from the case----

---and drove his elbow into V.I.C.I.’s back right between the shoulder blades.

The two collapsed to the ground in a tangle, the cheerleader’s frozen form only further complicating things. As Faceless fought to push the ecstatic face of the pleasure droid away, V.I.C.I. was already in a sprinting position. “It’s been fun,” she lied, “but---“

Her remark ended in a shocked gasp as she felt Faceless’ fist drive into the back of her leg.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he snarled, kneeling on her leg, “until---“

Without warning, the cheerleader activated, her flailing arm clocking Faceless across the side of the head and sending him to the floor. V.I.C.I. looked up towards the showroom control center, her magnified vision allowing her to see Jamie and Chris giving her a thumbs-up. She grinned and saluted the pair, only to whirl around as Faceless returned to his feet. “What….the HELL was that?!” he roared, staggering towards her---and getting knocked on his butt again as the stocking-clad foot of a burlesque dancer kicked through her display case and nailed him right in the side of the head.

V.I.C.I. ran past Faceless as the burlesque dancer kicked her way out of the display case, only to be shoved to the ground by the masked psychopath. “GET BACK HERE!” he shouted, dodging a robot in a sports bra and yoga pants as she touched both palms to the floor, seemingly unaware of the chaos around her. After fifteen seconds of limping past display cases, the maniac decided to abandon all subtlety; as V.I.C.I. ran past another display case, he threw himself through the glass with as much force as he could muster, knocking the cave-girl robot inside to the floor.

“YOU WON’T GET AWAY FROM ME, VICKI LAWSON!” he shouted, ignoring the cave-girl’s writhing. “I’LL RIP OUT YOUR INTERNALS WITH MY BARE HANDS IF I HAVE TO---“ An aerobics-instructor robot knocked him to the floor with a high-kick, calling out “LIFT, two three four!”and ignoring the masked murderer’s obscenity-laced screams.

Behind another display case, Vicki watched the scene with a grin as her PDA tapped into the control center’s communications link. “Any chance you guys can call up some support down here?” she asked.

“Other than all of those beauties?” Chris gasped. “You really are a finicky one….”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Jamie replied.

“Thanks.” Vicki terminated the link and laughed as Faceless got shoulder-tossed by an athletic robot in a black belt and tight-fitting gi. “I’M OVER HERE, YOU BUTT!” she yelled, knowing the childish taunt would only serve to further piss off the already-wounded (and angry) killer. Predictably, Faceless let loose with another profane shout and shoved the judo-bot to the floor, shambling towards Vicki with every intent to rip her head off. “You’ll never get a black belt with that attitude!” the robot called after him. “THE HELL WITH YOUR BLACK BELT!” Faceless screamed, hobbling as fast as his broken legs would allow.

Vicki took the long way around the display cases to the exit; in his current state, Faceless had no chance of catching up to her without risking serious injury to himself---especially if he decided to dive through any more display cases. Ted did tell me to bring him in alive, she remembered, so it’s probably best if I keep him from pulling any more case-dives in the near future…

Behind her, Faceless punched a flight attendant robot in the head and limped onwards.

“What in the crimson hell did you do to him?” Chris asked; apparently, he and Jamie had been watching the entire brawl from the control center. “I just broke his legs and arms, dislocated one of his shoulders and pretty much kicked him around,” Vicki replied with a grin. “Y’know, nothing too serious.”

“He’s bleeding all over the place, Vicki,” Jamie cut in. “I wouldn’t joke about it if I were you…”

“Yeah, well,” the brunette gynoid snapped, “maybe he deserves to be bleeding all over the place. He nearly killed everyone in this building, he lied about Dad---“

“That wasn’t a lie, Vicki.”

Ted’s voice startled her. “He…..what?”

“I really did choose to visit a Hreftech plant instead of checking up on my father,” he admitted. “I…I wasn’t really thinking about his health at the time….I didn’t want anything to distract me from my work.”

“And….Strange Animal?”

“Guilty as charged,” Anton’s voice sighed. “Granted, I was arguing with my girlfriend at the time….”

Vicki’s next word came out as nothing more than a squeak: “Tell?”

“If I told you that Faceless was a lying sonofabitch for making up that statement,” Tell replied, “I’d be an even bigger liar than the guy who sold me my car and said the previous owner was an old lady who only drove it to Walmart and back. I do have a copy of your blueprints, V….but not for whatever sick reason Faceless said; the copy I have was given to my by Ted himself, so that I could carry out any and all future upgrades on you if he ever became…incapacitated.”

“I might as well fess up now,” Alicia interjected. “I did have my own reasons for inviting you to the C.O.T.A. last month---and in case you were wondering, none of them involved the two of us hooking up, in any sense of the term. I was going to mention it after Sophia left, but since that didn’t exactly pan out too well, I never got around to metnioning why it was so easy for you to get in….”

“We’ve all got baggage,” Anton concluded, “but that’s no reason for anyone to look down on us or act like they’re better than us---especially Faceless.”

Vicki nodded. “I guess honesty really is the best policy….”

A scream from behind her cut off her line of thinking; Faceless had hurled a gladiator robot in scant, impractical armor through another display case and stolen her sword. “WHERE ARE YOU, VICKI?!” he shouted, the words coming out as a derranged, sing-song warble. “WE’RE NOT DONE PLAYING YET!” The slow, deliberate way he shouted the word “playing” concerned Vicki; fatigue was beginning to set in for the masked psychopath, meaning that his focus was likely shifting from simply beating her to flat-out torturing her.

I don’t want him destroying these robots just to get to me…

Her hand fell to rest by her side, brushing against the Tazer pistol she’d received from Hardcastle. A grin crept across her face; she’d promised not to use her Detaining Grip, but seeing as how she’d conveniently forgotten to mention the Tazer…..

Several feet away, Faceless was fighting to free himself from the grip of a well-endowed beauty in secretarial garb while a raven-haired tennis playing robot with a golden-bronze tan began doing warm-up stretches a few feet away. Targeting recticles appeared in Vicki’s HUD; I really hope this works….

After a five-second count, she pulled the trigger.

At first, she thought the shot had somehow taken Faceless’ arm off---the impossibly-bright flash, coupled with a scream that mixed rage and pure, unadulterated pain, made that outcome seem all the more likely. Once the dust settled, however, Vicki could see that she hadn’t taken Faceless’ arm---she’d merely hit the gladiator’s sword in his hand.

That being said, the results were still pretty impressive.

The shock had gone straight through the blade, frying the leather grip on the hilt and shooting through the pommel into the masked psychopath’s hand as he held it aloft. The impact from the shock knocked him off his feet; the secretary had to fight to keep him standing, and even she had trouble keeping him from collapsing to the floor.

Vicki smirked at the scene and headed for the exit, knowing Faceless would pursue her.

“Jamie,” she called out, “what’s in the next room after this?”

“A few short hallways, then another showroom. Also, one of the halls apparently leads into some sort of jungle area….I’m guessing it’s a scenario chamber, but I have no idea why that would be here…..”

“Thanks for the info. Chris, you still there?”

“Where else would I be?” Vicki could almost hear the smile in his voice. “Just for the record,” he added, “I’m glad you didn’t force Jamie and I to get on the bus…..this has been the most entertaining night of my life!”

The remark drew an exasperated sigh from Vicki. “Just be ready to haul butt to the garage as soon as I take down the intruder….and see if you can find a vehicle with a roll cage, or anything I can chain him to. For that matter, try and find one of those policewoman fembots and see if they’ll lend you some handcuffs---I have a feeling I’m going to need them---“

A bronze streak hurled past her and embedded itself in the far wall. She didn’t have to squint to realize it was the gladiator robot’s sword.

“VICKI LAWSON!” Faceless thundered. “YOU’RE DEAD!”

“Gotta go,” the brunette gynoid muttered, blinking to terminate the PDA connection.

A “rear-view mirror” display in her HUD popped up to show that Faceless was, once again, limping towards her at incredible speed; he’d immobilized his shattered left leg with what appeared to be a broken ski pole and the black belt from the judo gynoid, while his right shin was still supported by one of Inga’s skis.

He’s persistent, I’ll give him that…..Vicki shook her head at the absurdity of the situation. Being chased down by a maniacal killer whose legs had both been broken was definitely not how she had expected this mission to end---she’d envisioned herself leading the gynoids against Faceless, or swordfighting him on the roof of the building (which, in and of itself, would’ve been slightly pointless, seeing as how the “roof” of the facility was a public highway). To be realistic, how would I have even been able to get a sword in the first place? she wondered---only to remember the gladiator’s blade sticking out of the wall a few feet ahead of her. And there was the one Chris had given me, from that Kitsuki robot….

The door to the showroom behind her closed with a menacing clang. Please tell me he’s still in there….

“THOUGHT YOU COULD RUN AWAY FROM ME, DID YOU?!”

Vicki didn’t have to turn around to see the pissed-off look in Faceless’ eyes. “No more games,” he snarled, “and no more teasing.” He took a painful step forward, blood dripping from his pants legs as he moved. “Time to play…….” He whipped out his arms, allowing the blades to lock into place. “Time to DIE.”
-------------------------------------

[Brytestar]

I have the feeling that there is more to it. Alicia got to reveal a LITTLE something. <thinks>

[DollSpace]

Just when I thought you couldn't ratchet up the suspense anymore, you outdo yourself! I can't wait to see how this one ends. And, as a plus, I like seeing Vicki get a bit emotional; it adds a, err, human dimension to her character, and is one of the reasons I've said to you in the past that it would be really awesome to be friends and get to know her. I am eagerly awaiting the end, and, like Brytestar said, more of the reasons Alicia invited Vicki to the club in the first place.