What Good Is A Tool Without An Owner?

Adam sighed. It wasn’t even a question worth asking to be honest. He was just useless scrap, pointless and without purpose. Why couldn’t the old man have just kept things nice and boring? Their life was cold but that is exactly how he liked it. He was a tool to be expended and Sinclair was a hedonistic master unfazed by the suffering of others. It was how it always was. Why did that prick have to go and change everything by giving his tool value? Value was pesky, it forced him to have annoying thoughts about self-identity, regret and other human garbage.

“Don’t worry, nothing to worry about,” said Grey breaking Adam’s thought bubble. “We will just wait for the next one.” The detective looked down at the boy with a warm smile.

Adam raised his head, his dead fish pupils looking around him.

“Oh, we missed the train,” said Adam reassessing the situation, “and we got split up.”

Grey chuckled lightly, “Not fazed by much are you?”

“Perk of being a hitman’s son. Or did you not hear about that part?”

“Smart ass too,” said the detective putting his hands behind his head, “You remind me of my little girl.”

“For your sake detective, I hope your daughter isn’t anything like me.”

“And why is that?” said Grey a bit dismissively, “We’ve been standing here this whole time. I don’t have a gun or anything, you could’ve run or tried to hurt me anytime you wanted. But nothing. Speaking of which there isn’t any reason to have these anymore,” Grey took out a pair of small metal keys and unlocked Adam’s handcuffs.

Adam looked up at the large man. Was he an idiot? Did the guy not know who he was? Just because he hadn’t hurt him yet didn’t mean he wouldn’t eventually. Adam caught a glimpse of Grey’s face and it surprised him. The detective’s face lacked any fear or distress or anxiety. Not in a scary way though like his father. The detective’s face held not nothing but a sort of content air, something almost bordering complacency. It was strange. Adam wasn’t used to people being so relaxed around him.

“I think the two of you would get along pretty dang well, you and my girl Kiki,” Grey put a finger to his lips, “Or you would absolutely hate each other, one or the other.”

Adam was taken aback a bit. It was strange, when normals ever saw him, like truly saw him, it was always met with one of two reactions. Either disgust of the monster hiding in a child’s skin or pity of the circumstances that had created it. Both reactions were equally as annoying.

“Kiki’d probably force you to go to one of her spelling bees. She’s one of those grammar freaks that knows half the dictionary. Then when it was over she’d lord over you that you’d never heard of half the words.”

Although Grey held neither of those reactions. He wasn’t putting on a front either, he was just genuinely this naïve and trusting. For Adam though the detective’s stupidity was rather fun to be around.

“She can be a fucking jerk when she wants to be. Just like her mom.” Grey looked at Adam in surprise as if remembering something, “Oh shit! Sorry about the language. I forget about the cursing sometimes,” said Grey with an embarrassed look.

Adam smiled a bit. He was a murderer and a monster and this guy was worried about saying swear words. The guy didn’t make a lick of sense that was for sure.

“Eyyyy! A smile and not a creepy one at that!” said, Grey, his face glowing at the development.

Adam looked away and tried to change the subject, “How old is Kiki anyway?” said Adam.

“Your age about,” said Grey pulling out his wallet.

Adam wasn’t sure why but he actually just wanted to have a nice conversation for once. Maybe it was because of all the change that was happening, or maybe it was because his old man had cracked his worldview so bad. Adam didn’t know the reason but he also didn’t want to think about it too much either. He just wanted to enjoy the moment as it lasted.

“There she is.”

Grey handed Adam a small photo. The picture was of a dark-skinned, short girl with a rounded face. Her bottom lip was pushed out, obviously upset at getting her picture taken. She had light eyes that held a fiery attitude if Adam had ever seen one.

“Pretty cute,” said Adam.

“Damn right!” said Grey, pounding his chest with his fist, “she’s got my fucking genes for sure.”

Adam chuckled again. There went the cursing again.

“She’s bordering on really cute,” said Adam with a half grin, “What’s she doing this weekend?”

Grey snorted, “She’s too much woman for you kid. But you’re welcome to try. The rest of the fam is out of town until the weekend but why not come over for dinner this Saturday? Then we can see if you are up to the challenge.”

Adam looked up at the detective, he couldn’t sense any ill intent or ulterior motive. Once again, he was genuine, but who would ever willingly invite a monster into their home? Why would he do that? As he thought about it a chill swept over his body. There was almost no circumstance in which he would actually be able to fulfill that invitation. Either he would be reunited with his old man and things would continue as always or he would be caged like a beast for the foreseeable future. Despite that, the thought of sharing dinner with Grey’s family was somehow warming. He could almost imagine it, the smell of overcooked steaks coupled with bland veggies. The steam of burned biscuits and the crack of ice as Kiki poured too much sugar into a pitcher of tea. It was an image far from perfect but that is exactly what made it so alluring. It was strange, for he had never even slightly desired it before, but now he felt that twinge. The twinge to feel something so human.

A woman screamed, ripping the moment away from Adam.

A deafening gunshot went off and with it, Grey collapsed. He clutched his shin as blood leaked through his fingers. Adam’s smile disappeared.

“ONE OF THE TARGETS IS HERE!”

Adam turned his head towards the subway entrance to see two Avaes soldiers coming their way, guns pointed at their targets, black uniforms powdered with sulfur. The civilians still in the subway made a mad dash for the exit. It seemed Avaes wasn’t fooling around anymore if they were willing to make this much of a scene. They had their ways to quell media and law enforcement yet even so they almost always worked low-key. This had changed the game though. Someone in the upper brass wanted the Sinclairs, no matter the cost.

Adam massaged his wrists and stepped towards the Avaes men. A heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him in place. Adam turned to see Grey shaking his head. The detective stood on his good leg, biting back the pain before putting on a bright smile as if nothing had happened. Grey began limping towards the soldiers, the gunshot in his leg dripping blood onto the concrete.

The Avaes men aimed their guns true again, “Don’t resist detective!” yelled one of them, “Adam Sinclair is coming with us!”

“Guys, guys,” said Grey putting his hands up in good faith, “I’m not resisting, let’s just talk for a second. No reason to make more of a scene man.”

The soldiers ignored his pleas and as they came into range one of the Avaes men smacked Grey with the butt of his gun. Adam’s muscles tensed. As Grey slumped onto the ground Adam placed a Twin Snake in between his teeth.

One of the soldiers then clicked on his radio, “We’ve got Adam Sinclair at the Eastpoint Subway, no sign of the main target though.”

The two soldiers then turned to where Adam was standing, but he was gone.

“Where’d he go!” said one of them. They had only looked away for a moment but it was like he had just vanished into the air. The Avaes men spun, scanning the platform for any sign of the boy. It was completely empty, all of the civilians had evacuated so it was just them, or so it seemed.

“You know,” said Adam’s disembodied voice, “I couldn’t care less about Avaes's beef with the old man. However,” Adam paused, “I was quite enjoying that conversation, and you two went and ruined it,”

The men panicked, running their eyes over their brick surroundings, trying to find where the voice was coming from. The director had warned them about the kid. DAMN IT how could they let him disappear like that. The soldiers backed up slightly in caution.

“Too bad too,” continued Adam his voice brimming, “cause the man you just hurt was the only one keeping you two safe.”

Adam clicked on some music. It seemed like there were a few more chores that needed to be taken care of.

-----------------------------------------

“Why did you choose me over your own daughter?”

The question hung in the air. Sinclair stared at her in silence making Dandy’s breath tremble. Sinclair had saved her twice, but the second made no sense to her. In the death game, Cicero had given Sinclair the choice between Dandy and Holly. Why did he choose to shoot his own child! It went against everything she knew. The question had haunted her, ripped away her sleep and scared away hope at resolution. No answer that popped into her head made sense. Why would the silver jackal, the right hand of Avaes, the most terrifying man in the city, kill his own daughter to save a girl like her?

“Is the answer, truly worth so much to you?” said Sinclair, his eyes unwavering.

Dandy bit harder into her lip. Finally, she nodded.

“You may be disappointed,” said Sinclair raising his chin, “I made the choice I did because it was an easy one. Cicero thought he gave me the choice between two lives, however, that was a lie. Cicero did not know Holly as I did. If she witnessed me murder a woman in front of her eyes, the girl would break."

Dandy's breath caught in her throat.

"Holly had a tender heart but was weak to the world and wouldn’t be able to handle such a harsh truth. I killed Holly because if I had killed you, she wouldn’t be able to muster the will to live.”

Tears began to flow down Dandy’s face.

“I didn’t choose to save you,” continued Sinclair, “I chose to save one life instead of none. If you thought that you had some kind of value to me then you are sorely mistaken. Our history had nothing to do with my decision. I would’ve made the same decision if Cicero himself was my other choice. I simply thought it was a waste to kill two instead of just one.”

Dandy’s head slumped down. It had been so simple. She wasn’t sure what she was hoping for but it wasn’t that. Dandy shook her head, tears dripping onto her knees. She was acting stupid. She had bombs strapped to her chest and she was letting some dumb feeling fill her head. Despite that, her heart hurt like nothing she’d ever felt before.

Sinclair bent down and picked up the unconscious Caliban, slumping the detective over his shoulder.

“You should know,” said Sinclair, “I shall use the same logic for dealing with this challenge as well. Why sacrifice a whole train full of people when only one needs to die otherwise?”

Dandy lifted her head to look at him, “One?”

The train doors opened suddenly, the outside wind blowing Dandy’s hair wild. The scenery was a blur. A new voice came through the displays.

“Hey old man,” said Adam’s voice, “I found the controls, so your welcome by the way.”

Sinclair stepped towards the open double doors, the detective over his shoulder and the plastic trigger in his other hand.

Dandy wanted to yell out to him, to say something, but words wouldn’t come to mind. There was nothing she could say that would hold any meaning to him. It was all pointless.

The train slowed as it went into a bend. Without even looking back Sinclair jumped.

Just like that, she was alone, completely and totally alone. Cicero’s digitized voice came back onto the displays.

“7 minutes.”

It was just her, why did the voice still need to mock her? Maybe this was for the best after all. Her whole life had been pretty pointless. She had no real reason to keep living. She had wanted to die her whole life, and yet…

Tears continued to flow down her cheeks. Why did she hurt so much? Why was her heart screaming in agony? Sinclair’s words tore through her like a barbed arrow.

“If you thought that you had some kind of value to me then you are sorely mistaken.”

She hurt people and used people and yet expected anything different from others? It was silly but true. She was a hypocrite but she couldn’t help it.

She had thought that maybe just once someone had cared. Maybe just once someone wanted her. Maybe just once in this awful world, she wouldn’t just be tossed out like nothing. She was disgusted with herself but it was true. Holly was murdered in front of her eyes and yet she wasn’t horrified. All she could think about was that for the first time in her life someone had chosen her. For a moment she had tricked herself into thinking that someone valued her. That someone needed her. She didn’t care if it was a murderer or a monster. She just wanted to be wanted.

Dandy cried out. It hurt so much.

It was all a lie. She was just another piece of garbage in a world of trash. She had survived one death game due to luck but she wouldn’t survive a second. She would die to save some mannequins in another train car. Some pieces of human filth that had loved ones and people that cared. They were people that had value. It made sense. She had no value beyond a beating heart. No one needed her. No one wanted her, not even Sinclair. At the very least death desired her.

The minutes to her demise passed like seconds.

“6 minutes.”

“5 minutes.”

“4 minutes.”

“Please just make this world go away.”

“3 minutes.”

“Make it all go away.”

“2 minutes.”

“End it all.”

“1 minute.”

“And make this world of garbage and mannequins go up in fucking flames.”

“Times Up.”

-----------------------------

The explosion shook the city for blocks, a plume of flame, debris, and smoke rising up to the sky.

Adam shut the passenger door as Sinclair cranked the car. The engine revved with a roar.

“Interesting decision,” said Adam looking at the trigger laying on the center console between them, “What was your thought process?”

“I didn’t have one,” said Sinclair stone-faced, “I just decided on a whim.”

Adam looked forward, “You’re lying. You don’t decide anything on a whim.”

Adam sighed. It seemed the monster really had grown a heart.

-------------------------

Dandy looked up, her eyes blurry with hot tears. Even from here she could see the explosion from the airport. A red candlelight twinkle in the distance. Thousands must be dying right now but, Dandy had never seen anything more beautiful.

“Why am I still alive?” she said with a shaky voice.

She asked but she already knew the answer, although she was scared to even say it. There was no way, but it was true.

He had chosen her.