Aidan_Zimnisky

“The twin blades flashing back and forth were somehow graceful as they painted the surrounding walls red.” The world has recently recovered from a large-scale crisis in 2245. From the remains of the broken governments rose the tech companies that had led the people out of this crisis. One such company is EDGE, which is the leading weapons design company in the global market. Their two most powerful weapons are androids, a male named 4-HN, and a female named 5-AE. Their job? To assassinate high-ranking leaders of EDGE's competition. 5-AE, however, is different. Despite her eyes being designed to change color based off of the emotions she feels (a method of keeping their androids' actions in check), not once have hers deviated from the listless silver that indicated feeling absolutely nothing.

Angels' Edge

4-HN felt uneasy. Over ninety seconds had passed since 5-AE had entered the building. It was unlike her to take so long. Looking through the barred window was not possible, as there were no vantage points that provided a clear view of the inside. The wall that the window occupied was likely heavily trapped as well, making climbing up the side of the building more trouble than running in from the bottom floor would be. 5-AE was not responding to his telepathic messages. Also very unlike her. Something was wrong.


What could have happened to her? Was the security really so strong it could stop even 5-AE?


4-HN sprinted up the stairwell into the corridor that made up the second floor. He wasn't as monstrously fast as 5-AE was, but he was far faster than any human could hope to be; augmented or not. The sight in the hallway in front of him was enough to make any man lose a large portion of whatever food happened to be in his stomach, but working with 5-AE over the past few years had gotten 4-HN accustomed to scenes such as this. 


About halfway down the lightless hall, he saw a door slightly cracked open. He bolted toward the door, almost slipping in what might have been a person along the way. What did 5-AE even do to these guards? The thought slipped away as soon as he burst into the room.


"What are you doing?" he hissed, silently breathing a sigh of relief. 5-AE was holding a small stack of papers in one hand, a midnight black sword in the other. The sword was pressed against the throat of a young boy. The boy looked like a husk of a human, wired to countless machines that must have been the only reason he was still alive. 5-AE didn't pay him any mind. "Why didn't you respond to my messages? I thought something went wrong," he said, louder this time.


5-AE looked up now, turning the papers in her hand towards him. The red that now occupied 4-HN's eyes were reflected in 5-AE's own silvery white ones.


"Your voice was distracting me. It was annoying," she said bluntly. There was no aggression or mocking in her tone; there never was.


Ignoring the very honest comment from his partner, 4-HN looked at the paper in 5-AE's hand.


24-hour monitoring necessary. Critical Condition.


Emergency number can be found in document 55-C.


The rest of the words melted away as the realization hit him. The founder and current CEO of LiFE Enterprises was Lionel Foy. This boy was his son. The heir to LiFE. 4-HN turned his head back toward the boy's sorry figure.


"He's been hospitalized for the last three years," 5-AE stated. "I think it's about time we head back. The people at EDGE will be displeased if we take any longer."


4-HN couldn't help but be reminded of the times he had gone to visit 5-AE in her "experimental" chamber. He was furious when he first saw how she was being treated. Almost immediately, he had been ready to turn around and find the nearest EDGE worker and threaten them into releasing her, but 5-AE's smooth voice stopped him. 


"Don't. If they release me now, they'll only find other ways to get me back in here."


Her expressionless face was very similar to the one the boy wore now. He looked between the two androids in front of him. Then, he spoke, surprising both of them.


"You're here to kill me, aren't you?" He smiled. There was no happiness in his eyes. "It's okay. I've always been close to death. Today was no different than any other." He already understood what it meant to die. He had even come to terms with it. He was not foriegn to pain, nor to the knowledge that there would be people after his life due to his father's position. This was the inevitable outcome for his life.


5-AE looked at the boy, who was an almost perfect reflection of herself not two years before, and jerked the blade across his throat.


4-HN - Acquainted With Death