Snake Eyes

Chapter 2

He glanced down at his pocket watch and sighed. He'd seen maybe two people that could pass, if he wanted to have a low probability and production rate, and neither had inspired him to do much more than look up from his note book. It was quickly filling with more ideas, as it always did, and most of them were just possible ways to rewrite the initial code for the project to ensure success with a less than perfect specimen. It wasn't something he wanted to do by any means, but if he had to, he would to try it out.

"We're going to have to change everything, aren't we?" At the sound of the low, deep toned voice he glanced up and flicked the brim of the hat. The little rumble from above him was a clear sign of distaste.

"We are not changing everything. We just might have to alter a thing or two, nothing drastic, Gregory." Another rumble from above him and he was rolling his eyes. One of these days the hat would learn to stay silent and let him do this. Instead, his assistant had to question things, had to double check everything. In life, Gregory had been a good man; dutiful, loyal, and had followed him wherever he went, no matter what. The day they'd died, they'd done so together, and now they were here, together. Pentious figured they had been loyal to each other for so long now, that to discard the other would have been weird for them both. Not to mention, the straw that Gregory had been dealt was a bit of a different one. The man shape shifted, but it was easier and less conspicuous if he took a form no one would look twice at. This was especially true given his regular demon form; a rat.

"I hope you're right, for your own sake. You clearly set your sights on him, and he flat out refused you." Glaring up at his assistant, he debated on simply throwing the other man and making him walk by himself for the first time in what had to be thirty years. As if he needed to be reminded about what he was here to forget. He turned his attention back to his notebook and sighed again. Why had he written the code to be so damned specific? He was sure the number sides of it could be worked with, but he would need a type of demon that would have a compatible gene type as himself. That left him with very few options beyond another snake, and there was no way he was going to choose another of his kind. If for no other reason than every other snake demon he'd ever met had rubbed him the wrong way. There was no way he was going to find a snake that would meet his needs and patience. He flipped a few pages back and stared at the study drawings of the spider he'd met. He found himself spacing out again, turning to a new page and writing more equations for how he might get it to work with a new ideal, and hating everything he wrote. He wouldn't have even looked up for hours, had it not been for the clicking sound Gregory started making. It was obnoxious and easily broke through his concentration and that's why his assistant did it.

He flicked the edge of the hat before the article jerked forward on his head. Looking around the area, he took in everything around him again. The shops, the people enjoying their day out by flirting, playing, or in one case of a couple on a bench; fornicating. Rolling his eyes he went to flick the hat once more but something else drew his gaze. Everything inside of him focused across the park, across the street, to a town car he recognized now. He watched the burly spiders exit the front seats and watched as one opened the door to the back. Even from here it was easy to spot the man, given his undeniable features and that same deadly aura about him. Today, though, he wasn't alone. Not that he'd been alone the last time Pentious had seen him, since he'd had the goons. No, no, today there was a woman with him, and watching her slide out of the car was more akin to seeing a diamond for the first time. She was pretty; tall and shapely, with long hair, and most importantly she was a spider. Pink and white and perfect for someone like him. He felt the tension above him and made good on the flick from earlier. "He said no before, remember? He doesn't do experiments with psychos." Sliding from the bench, he tied his notebook and slid it into a pocket inside his jacket before heading toward home.