The Body Count

Death... It's like taking shots out of a bad bottle of whisky. The first few burn your throat, blur your vision, start to steal away and blind your senses. Your whole world is flipped upside down.

But then the next few come. You're numb. You could be drinking water for all the good it does you; you're left unphased and unaltered by them, even though deep inside you the drink is just breaking you down even further. You just can't feel it, anymore.

Death does the same; perhaps not to your body, but to your mind. Jebidiah hated thinking about it, but it was the truth: the second death just doesn't have the same effect as the first.

But did that make it meaningless?

"What do we know?" Jebidiah asked as soon as he arrived at the crime scene, his eyes glancing from the broken glass several stories up down to the lifeless man that had been forced through it.

Tana responded without even turning to look at him, her own voice just as emotionless. "Middle-aged male, probably died immediately on impact. Name is Harris de Wynter, doctor of psychiatric medicine."

"One of his patients finally lose their last marble?" Jebidiah joked, but was quickly shot down by one of Tana's disgusted glares. "Sorry. As you were saying?"

"The body was discovered at about 8am this morning by a..." Tana flipped through her notes. "Moe Pesce and Constance Howell. They were just on their way to change shifts; there doesn't appear to be any eye-witnesses to give a better pinpoint on Time of Death, unfortunately, so we're going to have to wait until the autopsy results for that."

"This doesn't make sense, Tana--I understood a motive for Shark's murder, but this Dr. de Wynter? I've never even heard of him before... Why would Carolina come after him?"

"Are you even sure that it was her, Jeb? These deaths aren't consistent at all."

"They're consistent, Tana," Jeb said thoughtfully, tapping his forehead mindfully. "Twinbrook doesn't have two murders in one week without being somehow connected. We just have to figure out how."

"Well..." Tana paused for a moment. "Actually, now that I think about it--this de Wynter was the head of the psychiatric department, right?"

"That is what you said," Jeb smirked.

"That means he'd have all the records about all the patients admitted for mental help--including your daughter."

Jebidiah scowled, but nodded. "That's a bit of a stretch, but at this rate, I'm willing to take any possible leads--maybe we can at least figure out what Carolina's after if catching her is this difficult. Might help us get one step ahead of her, if that's even possible at this point."

"Right--well, that's what I figured, so I've already got a team checking out the files in his office."

"In the meantime," Tana continued with a stiff upper lip. "We need to actually gather some evidence that this even is Carolina behind all of this. The higher ups are becoming suspicious that you're just on a personal vendetta, Jebidiah--and if I know you half as well as I ought to... I'm inclined to agree with them."

"Well then," Jebidiah responded smoothly, his eyes thinned. "I expect you to turn over every stone looking for proof. Every hair, every drop of blood--I won't rest until I have everything I need to put that woman behind bars, Tana. For good."

---

This wasn't like Lilobot at all. The girl-bot was always talking about going off and having a day on the town, but up until this point she'd been all talk and no action. Ever since her incident at the school, she was understanding that the world just didn't see her the same way she saw the world. So for the most part, as hard as it was for her, Lilobot had bided her time at home.

Yet, Lil had been missing ever since Alesha and Brad had arrived home with Margo and Kory--their newest baby girl--the previous night. They figured she might be out exploring, but when she didn't return at all that day, the two began to become concerned. By nightfall, Bradley had had enough; he grabbed the keys to the car, and went out looking for her.

"Where are you, Lil?" Alesha muttered softly to herself as she paced back and forth across their sitting room soon after she heard their car vanish down the road.

It wasn't even that their nanny had disappeared during an inconvenient time--it was that Lilobot had become part of the family. As strange as it had been for Alesha, Lil had started to feel like her teenage daughter--a strangely mechanical daughter, but one nonetheless--and one that was just about as helpless in the Real World as her other two.

Alesha was just envisioning Lil getting trapped in a ditch somewhere when she heard the front door slam shut; the reflection of Lilobot's red metal frame in the window instantly lifted her spirits, sending Alesha spinning around towards the entrance.

"Lil, you're oka--!" she began, but as her eyes fell upon the simbot she felt her body freeze in shock.

What stood just inside the front door was definitely Lilobot--or at least, Lilobot's shell. There was no mistaking that red coat of paint, scratched and dented in all the places that Alesha recognized Lil to have.

But what stood there did not move like Lilobot. Sound like Lilobot. And her eyes, they glowed in such a way that Alesha had never seen before: a way that left her toes quaking in her sandals.

"Lil," Alesha gasped. "Lil, what's happened to you. Are you alright?"

No response. Instead, the heavy whirring of her gears became louder as, in a more strangely robotic way than usual, Lilobot's shell began advancing towards her--forcing Alesha to retreat further back into the room.

But it wasn't until an emotionless, synthesized voice warbled "Smashing Mode. Ac-ti-va-ted." that Alesha's shock was completely overwritten by true horror.

After a few small crunching sounds, the top half of Lilobot's body began to spin in a violent, ferocious way, blocking Alesha from making any movements from where she stood. "Lil, please," Alesha pleaded, slowly backing away as the flailing arms inched closer and closer towards her. "Please stop... you're scaring me."

Unfortunately, who she spoke to was not her friend--she may as well have let a rogue terrorist walk into her house, instead.

Funny, how that wasn't too far from the truth.

"YOU!" The air seemed to escape violently from Alesha's lungs when she turned her eyes towards the door, which had just slammed for a second time. She had hoped that it was Bradley--she couldn'tve been more wrong. "What did you do to Lil?!"

Just beyond Lilobot, Carolina Leman stood, surveying her 'masterpiece' with a devious smile on her lips.

Truly, how was it not beautiful? The frightened look on that Drudge girl's face, the way she'd so easily converted that smiling toaster into a lethal machine... It was all too sweet not to feel overcome with pleasure.

"Just letting your little maid experience what her true purpose was always intended to be! Letting her experience something more than that pitiful existence you've given her! And, of course, letting her do the dirty work for me..."

"You... you monster!" Alesha yelled, angrily, from her frozen spot on the other side of the room.

Carolina smiled sickeningly at Alesha's proclamation before disappearing into the next room; she had not come just to watch Lilobot go haywire, or even to bicker back and forth with Alesha about her morality.

She'd actually come here for a little something more.

"Mooommmmyyyyyyy!!!" was the blood-curdling scream that Alesha heard the moment that Carolina reappeared into the room; in her arms, Margo, who was still too small to put up any sort of fight that didn't make Carolina simply chuckle with amusement.

"No." No. Alesha could hear the word repeated over and over again in her mind, pleading uselessly against the unfortunate reality before her.

That was her daughter--her life--about to be stolen away. It was like watching a bad dream unfolding around her; but unlike Amelia's distorted nightmares, this was real. Very real. Real enough that for a moment, Alesha considered walking straight into the whirring metal of Lilobot's arms, for one chance to save her daughter--but she knew, it would be a useless sacrifice.

All that was left was to beg. "Please, Carolina, don't do this," her voice cracked, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. "Please. I've done nothing to you."

"You think I care? You think that matters?" There was a growl in Carolina's throat as she was forced to listen to Alesha's words. "You're nothing to me--nothing but an obstacle that has constantly gotten in my way--but you signed your fate the moment you took the disgusting name of Kane. I'm only doing you a favor, showing you exactly how sticky an end you've chosen by becoming one."

"M-Margo, baby, you're gonna be alright--" she tried to say, but Carolina quickly cut off her words.

"Until we meet again, Mrs. Kane." And, with that, she stole away out the door and out of sight.

There was a brief moment when, fueled by anger and despair, Alesha considered bursting out the door behind her to try and head Carolina off outside, but she didn't have the chance to do so. As if anticipating her next move, Evililobot began advancing at increasing speed--she clearly was not going to back off any time soon.

Alesha had no choice; she ducked quickly into the kitchen, nearly tripping over her feet when she turned to glance fearfully at her pursuer. Still, Lil kept moving towards her, matching her every step.

"You probably won't ever have to use it, but just in case... I'm putting it here, in this jar on the shelf. Don't forget."

Alesha nearly had; when she'd freaked out at Brad about the possibility of Lil going haywire, he'd given her a safety measure, just in case. Fear of Margo in Carolina's hands had clouded her mind, but faced only with Lilobot, there was only one thing she had to do: stop her.

With one press of a button, Evililobot was no longer an issue.

As the robot's yelps of pain turned to silence and it hunched over--no more lethal than a piece of scrap metal--Alesha dropped the remote to the floor and instantly tore from the room, her eyes already watering from the speed at which she felt herself flying towards the door.

But as he reached it, nearly tearing the door from it's frame as it slammed open, she already knew it was too late.

She stood there, helpless, staring into the night. Margo's cries could no longer be heard, nor were there any footprints or tire tracks to give away where Carolina may have headed. All that was there was the empty night sky, and rolling hills and trees that moved only with the evening breeze. It was as if nothing had ever even disturbed their peace.

Margo... was gone.

---

"How's Kory? She doing alright?"
"She's fine--I left her with Meredith, upstairs." She paused, glancing inside the cell behind him. "I don't understand, Brad. You fixed her. Is keeping her locked up really necessary?"

Alesha's voice was still shaky, but at least she'd managed to bypass hysterics and focus all her efforts on maintaining her dignity. Needless to say, the emotional downpour when she called Bradley home was something better suited for nightmares, but by the time they made it to the police station to file the report of Margo's kidnapping they both had themselves under control. It wasn't easy, but they managed. Barely.

Lilobot, however, was another matter entirely. The police wasted no time getting her locked up behind bars with guards posted at every exit; faced with a threat so foreign, they were extra cautious in a way that worried Brad that he may even get in trouble for Lil's misprogramming. He fixed her as quickly as possible, but even after, she was still locked away--and Alesha, desperate to do something, made her way down as soon as she heard.

"I don't know, to be honest," he finally responded, worriedly. "Lil had her core personality chip replaced--luckily I had a backup, so it was as simple as switching them back, but... The police don't want to take any chances."

Alesha looked into the cell, puzzled. "Replaced? But where the heck would Carolina get a replacement?"

"Lamont," Brad sighed, rubbing his chin with his hand. "I just got off the phone with him. She must have stolen it from his lab bench. He was working on a prototype for a military simbot matrix--she must've found out somehow. Wouldn't be hard, he is her son after all."

"But wait," Alesha continued, still confused. "I don't understand. If she doesn't have that bad chip... thing... anymore--shouldn't she be fine?"

"Yes, but... Alesha..." Brad began rubbing his neck, avoiding the pitiful glances of his wife. It was hard enough when one child was missing; but now this one had to be locked away? "Since we don't know how long she had that chip in place... They suspect that she might be... Might be behind both the murders."

"W-what?!" Already, Alesha could feel her knees growing weak. "That's absurd!"

"I know--and they know it, too--but especially those in the community who've been skeptical of the research facility's experimentation with AI are putting serious pressure on them to keep her here. I'm sorry, but... There's nothing that anybody can do."

It was clear that Brad wanted to be alone; he was both angry with Lilobot's treatment and fearful for his eldest daughter, emotions that made even Alesha nervous to be near him. They wanted so badly to support each other, but they'd cried nearly all evening together--one more second in each others' arms would just start it all over again. So, when he disappeared down the hall without another word, Alesha didn't question it.

But as she stood, glancing at Lilobot's limp body in the cell, she felt her heart aching even further. The simbot wouldn't even lift her head to acknowledge her presence; she just laid there, as if pretending to sleep.

"You can have five minutes," the officer spoke curtly; his words were far more kindness than she expected.

Alesha entered the cell warily; Lil's eyes were no longer glowing nor was she humming loudly, but Alesha couldn't help feeling a little nervous. Still, she felt strangely not nervous. For so long after Lil had begun to live with them, she had feared Lil attacking her--and yet when it actually did happen... It felt so innocent. As if it were Lilobot who had been the victim, not her.

Still, she approached with caution; not from fear, but from concern. "Lil?" she spoke quietly, her voice gentle. "Is it alright if I sit with you for a bit?"

A small whir could be heard as Lil slowly opened her metal eyelids, turning her gaze towards Alesha. She stared for a moment, and then, as her eyes turned towards the ground, her body curled in on itself even further. "If you wish," she responded in the mutest sound Alesha had ever heard come from Lil's mouth. "However, I would prefer to be alone."

Alesha considered following Lil's request, but she couldn't. Not this time. Instead, she carefully seated herself next to Lil's body, and rested her hand on the simbot's calf.

"Just talk to me, Lil. Tell me what happened."

"She hid in the shadows... She took me by surprise. She changed me. I felt myself do things I did not regret. Did not think I would regret. But I do, now. I am--" Pause. "I am a monster, Mrs. Kane."

"No, Lil, you aren't. If anything, this was our fault, for leaving you alone--"

"Fault does not matter, Mrs. Kane," Lilobot cut her off. "This is fact. I am so easily altered--I endangered you, your family. I failed my duty to protect your children. My entire purpose for creation has been failed."

"Lil, that's why you were created, but not why you're part of our family. You  understand that, don't you?"

As hard as Alesha tried, she couldn't get Lilobot to turn her head towards her; she kept staring towards the wall in shame, a puzzled, thoughtful expression seeming to show in her eyes.

"This would not have happened if I were a human," she spoke, this time strongly. "My mere existence has proven to be harmful. I must... I must..." Lilobot paused, closing her eyes . "I must be terminated."

"Lil, no. Don't you dare say that." As resistent as Lilobot was, Alesha instantly grabbed over and shook the simbot, turning her head to face her and look into her eyes as she spoke to her. "You are family."

When Lilobot continued to look confused, Alesha went on, her voice insistent, firm, and undaunted by the horrors of reality she still faced beyond that cell. "Family," she said, her eyes now looking up into Lil's. "Means forgiving mistakes. It means letting go of the past and accepting each other despite our faults. It means..." Pause. "Loving each other to whatever bitter end that may come. Do you understand?"

Lilobot seemed to freeze--all except her eyes, which seemed to spin out of control zooming in and out of Alesha's face, as if unable to believe what they were seeing. "You mean," her mechanical voice said slowly. "That... you... love me?"

"Yes, Lil," Alesha sighed, choking back tears she could no longer control. "I love you."

A moment passed where Lil simply stopped, staring, her body not even requiring movement to breathe or stare or listen--she didn't even require the subtle movement of a heartbeat to keep her going. And yet, somewhere within the thickened shell of a metal head resting on metal shoulders, something ticked: and a heart did beat.

"And I," Lil spoke with true, tender fondness. "Love you, too."

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Vengeance is Mine

Three days had passed since Travis' "rendezvous" with that leggy blonde from the bar, but he still couldn't shake it from his mind. The coldness of his wife and the abrupt conclusion of things with Lolly both seemed like a pale afterthought in comparison, which left a rather sick feeling in his stomach; who was she, that she'd had this sort of effect on him?

It wasn't a good effect, either. Every step he took felt like he was shaking in his bones, just waiting for something to pop out over his shoulder. He felt, for the first time in his life, as if he were haunted.

The blonde--Lisa--had said she was writing an article. Travis wasn't sure if that was the truth or not, but every morning after their encounter he frantically flipped through each page in the newspaper, trying to find if this "Lisa Leman" had written anything about him--or if she was even a journalist for the Twinbrook Times at all.

And yet, there was nothing. It was odd for him, feeling this worried, but every moment felt as if she was breathing down his spine, leaving a little reminder that he'd taken his destructive habits one step too far. Just this feeling was punishment enough, he thought, but deep down he knew it wouldn't be this foreboding if he weren't 100% certain something was going to come of it. All he could do now, though, was wait.

"Has the mail come yet today?" he called across the room to his wife. She had barely acknowledged his existence since they'd woken up this morning--in fact, she'd only spoken to him when in front of the kids, the past few days--so he wasn't sure why he expected her to answer, but he desperately wanted her to; he'd never felt more lonely in his life.

Lucky for him, she did. "Should be here by now, yeah," Jade responded in a placid but cold voice, her back to him the whole time. "Would you grab it for me? I have to take this food to the girls."

"Sure, no problem," Travis muttered, glad that he didn't  have to explain why he had this sudden interest with the postal service he hadn't had the previous years they'd been married.

How long had it been? Travis didn't know time in the cold, precise way as the world beyond, but it was long enough to see their first son hit High School. Long enough to watch them drift apart in slow motion, like two waves headed for different shores; he knew it was only a matter of time before they separated entirely, but he suddenly realized, he wasn't ready for that yet. In the grand scheme of things... this family might be all he had left.

"Are you going or not?" Jade griped from the stove; it woke Travis from his thoughtful stupor, and sent him scuttling out the front door to the mailbox with a mouthful of muttered apologizes.

He checked behind him to make sure he wasn't followed. Silly, he knew, but he couldn't be too careful; there was something ominous about today, this 'three day' marker, that made him all the more certain he was expecting something to be inside.

Travis' instincts didn't lie.

It wasn't a half bad picture; Lisa may not have been a reporter, but she knew her way around a camera. Not that it would have mattered if the picture was bad; the contents would have been just as incriminating. This compromising position definitely wasn't faked.

He hesitated, but after a deep breath, he pulled the photo from the frame and flipped it over to read the back.

Lisa clearly was not a woman who needed a lot of words to get what she wanted.

Carolina Leman's criminal record gets erased, or the Twinbrook Times gets this photo and another dozen like them. Your call, sweet cheeks.
-- xoxo

---

"Take a deep breath, alright? In... Out. In--"
"Naomi, I'm fine. Really."

She didn't look fine. Naomi had been watching Amelia like a hawk the past three days, and it was like the Mia she knew had disappeared and left a pale ghost in her place; it was disconcerting, even to someone as rational as Naomi.

"Mia, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Your mom can figure out something else to get her business booming again."

"No, I want to... I really do," Amelia sighed. "It's just that, you know... He died, like, 20 feet from where I'm performing."

"Oh, Miiaaaa..." Naomi instantly reached out her arms and squeezed her, weaving her fingers through her hair. "This is exactly what your mom is trying to convince people not to be freaked out about."

"I know, it's just--" Mia sighed, burying her face deeper into Naomi's neck. "It just brings back a lot of memories, is all. They... They haven't seen what I've seen, Naomi."

Naomi's lips frowned deeper, and her arms wrapped tighter. "You're right, honey--but you're strong enough to put it behind you. At least for tonight."

As Amelia drew away, a faint smile seemed to tug the corners of her mouth. "I don't know why you have so much faith in me, girl," she sighed, even half-rolling her eyes before planting a kiss lightly on her lover's mouth. "Just stay close by, alright?"

"I'll be your shadow, sweet pea," Naomi uttered with a light grin as Amelia took another deep breath, and took the plunge out the double doors.

Amelia wasn't sure what she was supposed to be prepared for--but for some reason, she didn't seem to be expecting this.

It was like Bridgeport all over again; the crowd cheered and whistled, and she heard her name bubbling through it like a deranged crowd surfer. It wasn't quite half the town, but it was enough that the small patio space looked a bit like a squashed sardine can of sims. It definitely would've given the Fusion a run for it's money.

Her mother had really outdone herself; it was hard to believe that only a few days ago, police cars had trashed this whole patio to shambles. Still, she must've made more than enough on ticket sales to cover the cost of the renovations; who'd have thought her mother was such a good entrepreneur?

Once she finally made it to the stage--not too difficult a feat, considering the way they all parted to let her through--she found everything set up for her just the way she'd rehearsed in her mind; her electric guitar, the speakers at her feet, the crowd standing before her in a giant, swaying mass... it wasn't all that complicated.

And she had been nervous about what again?

Though she quickly felt herself become immersed by her music--music she didn't even seem to control, it flowed from her so easily--occasionally, her eyes winked open to view the group of people standing at her feet. Some were new, bright, eager faces; others older, wiser, more familiar. Some looked to her, mesmerized by the sound, while others looked to their lovers, sharing their emotions through their eyes.

She loved that, about her job; it wasn't just about the music. It was the emotion, and the connection.

As time passed and the star patterns above slowly shifted, Amelia played through songs both new and old, so many that her fingers went numb and her eyelids began to grow tired. She began to feel her repetoire growing thin; at some point soon she was either going to have to start playing songs a second time, or make some up on the spot.

Or, of course, she could call it quits, but why stop now? Amelia could tell, people were enjoying themselves. Dancing, singing along; it didn't happen in Twinbrook often, so you had to grab the opportunity by the horns. No one here ever seemed to like letting their hair down and letting their feet loose--and after what had happened lately, it was about time people let go a little.

But as she played and the night became thicker... something started to change.

As Amelia's eyelids began to sag further and further and she felt her mind melding deeper and deeper with the sound from her voice and her guitar, the fog rising from the ground began to distort the world around her. The colors across her vision began to change. Something... something wasn't right.

In another blink of an eye, nothing was right.

"It's just a dream," Amelia wheezed, panicked. "Just a dream, just a dream--"

Their eyes. Their eyes. Amelia's heart began to race; what had happened to their eyes?!

And no longer were they dancing; instead, the crowd began to hobble about, scrabbling with each other, viciously turning their heads, grabbing for the stage with greedy, loose fingers...

... and their teeth; they wouldn't stop licking their teeth...

"This can't be happening," Amelia groaned, her heart beating almost as fast as her gaze flickered from one part of the crowd to the next.

But, each sight was as unbelievable as the one before; and no matter how hard she pinched herself, nothing seemed to change.

Nothing except what came next.

It was a man--or at least, it seemed to be a man. The shape of a man. No light escaped him; he was a walking shadow, around whom the crowd of vicious people simply flowed away, leaving a gap of darkness where he stood.

"No... no, it can't be," Amelia whispered, her voice barely able to escape her throat. "Not you. You're supposed to be dead... You're supposed to be dead!"

Her words did nothing but feed this shadow of her mind; it said nothing, but it's voice echoed through the foggy noises of her reality with the booming echoes of laughter. He laughed and he laughed, the sound of which seeming to further the spread of the darkening cloud that emanated from his body.

One by one, everything around him faded slowly into darkness--one person at a time, until all the world but her stage was enveloped in black.

"No... No... NOOOO!"

"What's--what's going on?! Is she okay?!"

Amelia's guitar slipped from her fingers to the ground; the speakers squealed and cracked violently from the noise of it's strings twanging against the stage, leaving most of the crowd clutching to their ears in shock. 'What the heck?!' could be heard murmured from those the furthest from the stage.

She felt herself falling backwards... backwards... heard the sound of Naomi's voice calling to her, but she couldn't make out any words... it all just faded away into nothing--into the darkness.

"Will you all stop standing around like a bunch of idiots?! Somebody call an ambulance!"

---

When the phone began to ring, Bradley tried to grab it away from his wife--he wasn't nearly quick enough, though. "I had a baby, not a throat transplant, dear... I can answer the phone," she playfully jabbed when she saw the grumpy look on his face.

Alesha's face began to fall into confusion when she saw the name on the caller ID. "It's Naomi--I thought Amelia was supposed to be performing tonight?"

"Just answer it already," Brad grumbled impatiently.

After several moments, Alesha's expression had gone from bad to worse; she listened so intently, she barely even registered how stiffly she was twirling her pigtail, or how curiously her husband was staring her down.

"I can't believe it--I thought the shrink had given her a clean bill of health--" Alesha gasped into the phone.

"What--what is it?!" Brad insisted.

"So she's okay? She just blacked out? Thank the maker--no, no, we'll definitely be coming. We'll be over to the hospital as soon as we can. Tell her we love her, alright? Yeah--thanks, Nammers."

Several minutes later, Lilobot came down the stairs only to find the rest of the family bustling out the door.

"Sir? What's happened?" Lil asked in a curious tone, obviously aware something was awry.

"My sister's had a bit of an... episode," Brad responded, unsure how else to put it. "She's fine, just really shaken up. We're heading over to the hospital, taking the girls with us--hopefully they'll help cheer her up some. I'm not sure when we'll be home--just consider it your night off, okay Lil?"

He disappeared out the door without even waiting to hear her response--the car pulled away only moments later.

Lilobot wasn't exactly sure what to do with herself: 'night off'? What was that supposed to mean? Clearly, time to recreate--but cleaning was just as recreating for her as video games or tinkering or human observational studies... She was left a bit dumbstruck--but, with a shrug, she headed off to the kitchen to take care of some of the evening's last chores.

But she wasn't the only one.

"H-hello?" There was nothing there, but Lilobot could have sworn her auditory receptors picked up a noise from that spot. For a moment, she froze; she'd never been left home alone, before, so this was a new sensation... But simbots were supposed to be incapable of 'hearing things'... weren't they?

Lil's mechanical knuckles rattled a little as she shifted her weight from side to side, peeking over her shoulders. "Anybody there?" Still, silence.

Believing that to be the end of that, Lil shrugged to herself and turned back towards the porch--but there was more waiting for her there than just stairs.

"No--I'm not--!" Lil squeaked, but it was too late; without any resistance, her metal frame was brought hurtling to the ground, where savvy fingers made short work of turning her power relays closed... dimming the lights and life in her eyes.

Several minutes later, with Lil's frigid frame re-erected, Carolina Leman went to work. It didn't take long to find the chip to replace; the old was cast to the ground, while the new, pulled from her pocket, was carefully inserted in its rightful place.

"Well, my little friend," she said with a stern expression, lips pursing together under her thoughts of vengeance. "I think it's time to have some real fun."

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