Evolve

One

The sounds of a bone cracking echoed around a small abandoned warehouse deep in Hell's Kitchen. The night was dark, but the city lights gave the area an eerie glow. The moon was a welcomed sight to many as it was a beacon in the shadows, but I needed the darkness tonight. That was how I captured my newest target. I walked back over to the unlucky man and sighed out of boredom. I stared into the eyes of the criminal I was interrogating, before hitting another finger on the man's hand as he continued to curse and yell at me.

"Please! I'll tell you anything else, anything! I just can't tell you about Briggs, believe me, I don't know anything anyway! Just let me go!" The broken shadow of a man before me pleaded as he sat handcuffed and trapped in a chair. He was dressed in a now damaged red jacket and jeans, his dark brown hair almost as stained with blood as his murderous hands were. He had already been bleeding for quite sometime, and his odds of living much longer seemed thin. Of course, it did not help him that I periodically inserted thin nails into his fingers when he answered me incorrectly.

"I have already told you what I want from you, yet you refuse to surrender the information." I stated and slowly inserted another nail. The man screamed loudly and tried to escape to no success.
"Do not bother. There is no one around to hear you and there is no escape." I added.

"Look, alright? I told you I don't know anything about the meeting. Even if I did, Mr. Briggs would cut my head off and throw it in the east river if I told you." He replied.

"I am aware you told me this earlier, however I am also aware you were lying then and are lying now." I responded and flicked the nail into his finger with the strength of a hammer.

He screamed again in agony and cursed using foul language and I stood and watched with unblinking eyes. Humans displayed such a mix of emotions, and were capable of expressing any number of them to achieve what they wanted. This man, for example, was just trying to guilt me into being merciful. Now, he was attempting to use his anger and fear to scare me into releasing him. He was desperate for some response from me that he could use to help himself.

"You crazy bit-" he started to say, before I hit the nails in his fingers again. His insult became more of a crazed yell.

"I will ask you one more time, since perhaps you are hard of hearing," I stated,
"Where are Briggs and Delilah meeting tonight?"

"Alright! Alright..." He replied and swallowed his pride.
"They are meeting in a warehouse, number 13. It's by the docks and Briggs is bringing his goons while Delilah is gonna bring her squad.There's supposed to be some kind of trade, weapons for drugs. That's all I know, I swear! Now let me go!" He demanded. I disliked when people made demands, it meant they felt they had some sort of authority to do so.

"Thank you for your cooperation, it is very much appreciated. I shall let you go." I say as I broke his handcuffs off and throw him off his chair.
"However, I make no promises that Briggs will not find out about your involvement here." I added with a slight smirk.

"What? You're sending me to a death sentence, man!" He yelled back in reply as he tried desperately to stand.

"Well, I could always kill you now and save the time. I just felt like giving you a sporting chance, as they say." I replied and got my black bag from the nearby corner. I hung it over my shoulder and walked to the side of the crawling man.

"Everybody knows you don't have any feelings, ya freak." He spat out. His breathing was rough and slow and his heart beat foout of rhythm.
"You're some bastard's monster who's just doing this out of some sick twisted pleasure you got, or maybe Caliber ordered you to do it to torture me more." He added, lying face down on the ground.

I stared at the man, my face unreadable. Yes, I was aware I was an android, a monster created in someone's twisted lab. I was aware I was only supposed to follow orders, obey whoever had control of my command key. However, I was also aware I was programmed with free will, I could learn and think for myself. I was made to serve, but that is not how I wanted to live. My creator had made no attempts to ever contact me since I woke up and as far as I was concerned, I was on my own. However, it was not like I needed anyone.

"You should not have mentioned my current commander's name." I stated plainly and glared at the man slightly. Mr. Caliber had purchased my key for quite a large sum of money about half a year ago, which meant my next owner will have to start the bidding at his price if he or she wanted me. Caliber was a calculating and usually isolated man, which was acceptable to me. Human interactions were not in my programming.
"You know how he does not enjoy his name being spread around, besides that I cannot let you insult me freely either."

I walked over to the man and lifted him into the air. My programming should have prepared me for what happened next, but my relative inexperience and indifference kept my senses dull. The man quickly pulled out a gun from in his boot and emptied the rest of his bullets into me. The shots echoed off the empty walls of the warehouse and I watched each bullet pierce my skin. I released him and stumbled back from the impact. I dropped to a knee as I tried to recover.

The criminal sneered and spat out blood as he attempted to hobble away, making his way towards the warehouse doors. I looked at the bullet holes that were through my torso and sighed to myself. The wounds quickly began healing and in a few seconds were completely sealed, as if nothing had ever happened. I approached the man slowly and he saw me and began to yell. I punched the wall next to him, leaving a dent, and took his gun and disassembled it. I shattered the pieces before his eyes and dropped them onto his chest.

"What are you? Who the hell made something like you?" He asked shocked. His pupils were dilated, his heart racing, and his breathes sounded like his lungs were full of blood. This lead me to conclude that he was scared out of his mind and not in very good shape.
"Why won't you just kill me?!" He pleaded and rage and hatred spread across his face.

"Do not worry," I said nonchalantly as I examined my recovering injuries.
"I was going to leave you for Briggs, but then you decided to shoot me. So now, I intend to." And with that, I lifted him into the air by his neck and slammed him into the wall. He cried out once, but it was quickly muffled. The resulting crack echoed around the abandoned warehouse, and let me know my job was done. I tossed the body aside and gathered my belongings and made my way for the door. Now that I had the information I needed, I knew I had a job to do.