Guiltless

Chapter 9

*Simon*

29 January 2009

"Assassin, report!" Clara barks and I bury the simmering anger as I walk out of the building. Have control over yourself. I reprimand myself mentally as I note the need to enter the suspension cell again. But that'll be a long time from now. First things first.

"Target has been eliminated. Making my way to the extraction zone." I have no choice but to play her games. She still thinks that I'm just a little boy who will never stand up to his master. Little does she know that I can do so at any moment. The only reason I'm not doing so is because I have no reason to. At least, not yet. "Will be at the alpha check-in in sixty minutes."

"And the tracers?" She asks with impatience. But I can't respond to that impatience without making the situation bad. So I simply add a worthless comment and report. I'll have to make preparations though. Any day she may send me after the 'Creator' and then have me killed. And while I look forward to the first, I really don't want to die.

"Cleaned so well, even detergent scientists will envy. I have made sure to plan my path so that none of the cameras, except the entrance, get me. And even they won't have anything to identify me."

"Behave!" She barks loudly in my ear and I stop, consumed by the violence building in me as a response to this attempt of domination. I barely manage to keep myself in control as she continues her reprimand. "Don't get cocky. Control your words in public, even if it's too low for them to hear. And you still haven't answered my question. Did you get the records or not?"

The worst part about having emotions is that the behavioural changes they bring about. I have to work hard in reigning them in before I respond in a voice that sounds professional and clipped, not like a surly brat. "Acknowledged. Yes, I have them." I really wish Mark was still alive. I don't let that thought go any further, not willing to acknowledge how much things would have been different.

"And what about the records they'll see? The backups?" She demands and to avoid getting lost within my unhelpful thoughts, I mentally recall the execution of these objectives. Unlike the actual kill objective, this was a real pain to carry out. The people were absolutely crazy when it comes to their security.

"Done and done. The code was activated the moment I introduced it into the system. It will run through all the records and network pathways, erasing every record it can find. I also introduced it to the mainframe, ensuring that the same code runs from there as well." I report. There is a light drizzle starting and the people, already lost in the hurry to get to their destination, run more hurriedly to wherever they were going. Not that anyone would notice but I force my body to relax so that the lone 15-year-old boy walking through the rain doesn't stand out too much. As just another teenager, yes, but as a genetically trained assassin, no. And then my mind takes me to one piece of the past that still is a bleeding wound inside.

'I wish you could be free to feel the sun, the wind, the rain, a normal life or just any type of life, kid.'

"Acceptable enough." Clara responds and then the connection breaks off. Undoubtedly, she will have this communication network destroyed after that incident. I put off the earpiece and crumble it to dust in my hand as my mind strays to that day of my biggest mistake. Almost three years ago, the feed had been reversed from one of the dead operative's cameras. By the time we found this out, it was too late. A lot of data had been transferred, including my slip-up. When I had found that out, I had embraced another feeling: terror.

But in this moment, in the rain, I smile and let myself feel. I have been keeping track of any tails and I know definitely that there isn't any. Every drop and every sensation is a delight. And, with the blood of my latest kill still behind my eyelids, though I easily shift her out of my mind now, I let the repressed tears flow freely. Unknown to me, there had been a deal made between father and Cathy a long time before that fateful night and it had to be carried out. And when Cathy found out from the hidden cameras of the room that I had my emotions, she knew it was time.