SkyQueene sat patiently behind the wheel of the black sports car. Could it be? After all this time in hiding, he’s finally let his guard down? She glanced down at the clock; within minutes it would be time for the meeting with her contact. She opened the car door and stepped out onto the pavement. Cautiously, she took a look around at the red brick houses and the decorative walls and structures in the vicinity designed to make the neighborhood look pretty. Mannsdale Housing Projects. All this effort to make a run-down place in the slums look good. She sighed as she shut the door behind her and pulled her jacket a bit tighter around her.
SkyQueene carefully approached the small courtyard where Anti M usually liked to set up shop. When she rounded the corner, she could see that Anti M was nowhere to be found and a man dressed in black leather was standing alone in the courtyard.
The man looked nervously around before finally spotting SkyQueene standing in the opening. “You made it,” he said. “I was afraid you might back out.”
SkyQueene approached slowly, glaring at the man with a look that only one consumed with the thought of vengeance could accurately portray. “Don’t waste my time. Just tell me what you have.”
He sighed as she drew closer. “Sky…it’s been over a year now. This vendetta of yours…it’s…”
Within mere seconds, she drew her SMG and pointed it at the man. “Where is he?”
With another sigh, the man started to look away, but hesitated as he looked back in SkyQueene’s direction and a shadow fell over the courtyard. SkyQueene could feel her hair begin to stand on end.
“Behind you,” came an all too familiar voice.
SkyQueene turned in a flurry of movement, her gun pointed directly at the Algorithm. At last, she was face to face with her nemesis. She took a look at him. It was the same Algorithm that she remembered. The dark silhouette RSI, the arcing electricity. But he was weakened now, thanks to the work of TranqueThePhilosophe and the others who took out his lieutenants. She had him right where she wanted him. Watching the Algorithm carefully, she spoke to her contact. “You set me up.”
The Algorithm let out a diabolical laughter, the kind typically associated with the evil villain in movies. “How perceptive of you, Miss Sky. I’m sure you’ve dreamt of this very moment every night since you discovered the truth.”
There was a long silence, the tension between program and human palpable in the chilly winter air. The look emanating from SkyQueene’s eyes dripping with venom and hate. Minutes passed, and at last she spoke. “You were defeated. You’ve seen what humans are capable of…what do you hope to accomplish?”
Despite his RSI being a silhouette, she could tell he was smirking at her. “Why, I want the same thing you do, my dear. Revenge. You see, my failure was a learning experience about your species. Each of you have claimed to want everlasting peace…and yet…your urge to rebel keeps you from it. I offered it to you, and I was fought. That…was more desirable to you than simply sacrificing yourselves for what you claimed you wanted.”
SkyQueene snorted contemptuously. “There’s a difference between never-ending peace and all-encompassing genocide. If you ask any of the ones who beat you, I’m sure you’ll find that they still stand by their decision.”
A large bolt of electricity arced from the Algorithm to a nearby power line as he laughed again. “I’m sure they do. That is why the decision will no longer be theirs to make.”
She tightened her finger around the trigger of her SMG. “You don’t have the power. Not anymore. You’re nothing.”
“Partially correct. I may not be as powerful as I was, but rest assured, I have regained more than enough power to solve this problem. But more importantly, dear SkyQueene, is that you…” The Algorithm’s voice took on a more hostile, evil tone. “…are no longer a part of this equation!”
The Algorithm reached his hand out in SkyQueene’s direction, and a burst of white-hot electrcitiy arced out from his hand and coursed into her unsuspecting body. Her body began to twitch, writhing in painful agony as her finger reflexively tightened around the trigger, firing several rounds into the brick surrounding them. The gun falls from her hand as her body goes limp and she falls to the cold, hard ground, body still twitching as electricity courses through her.
Her contact had been watching the altercation as he leaned against the far wall. He straightened up and approached the Algorithm. “Was that really necessary?”
The Algorithm glanced in his direction before taking one last look at SkyQueene. “You should be happy for her. Now she knows what peace is.”
“I know…it’s just…it looked so painful…” he responded.
The Algorithm nodded sagely as he looked down upon the human. “Pain is always associated with a higher understanding of what surrounds us. Have you managed to locate Dr. Hoffman?”
“Unfortuantely…no,” said the man hesitantly as they began to walk back toward the street. “The last report we have of him is one from several months back. He allegedly contacted some folks out in Las Vegas…but I think we both know the truth behind that. Regardless, however, SP-41 is ready for deployment.”
Electricity began to course around the Algorithm’s RSI as he grinned with what could only be described as a deranged happiness. “Good. Come with me...it’s time I finished what I’ve started.”
SkyQueene could see the two walking away as her vision began to blur. I’m sorry, Brian. I’ve failed you… That was the last thought that went through her mind before everything around her went black.
