Janus 02.Redemption #Wattys2018

3.04 Alex

"Brava! Bravissima! Excellent performance! Almost poetic. Almost true. " Alex entered the building clapping his hands. "You almost had me at that moment of your hesitation but then I realized that Mark had been with me all along, monitoring your systems the moment the virus was uploaded to you. I checked his logs and every camera. He didn't upload anything to your system. So what's going to be now? Are you going to keep on swapping the floor pretending to be deaf or are you going to stand up and show me what really happened?"

Eden stood up checking her chignon at the mirror and correcting her dress' fit since she was half naked thanks to the previous battle.

"You traded me for a chip. This part of the story is solid, isn't it?"

"It was not a trade. Think of it as a short-time leasing. We took you back."

"Did you? If you were sure about that, we would be making this conversation drinking our beers at a bar. You wouldn't keep me sedated like a lab rat. Are you that afraid? You know that I can still wake up if I want to." Eden approached Alex.

"You killed Ofiss in cold blood. You had no authorization upon that, yet you made that call. There is no guarantee that if I wake you up, you won't shoot anyone else."

"Anyone else or just you Alex?" Eden's dress disappeared and she revealed herself in her black combat uniform underneath her coat. "We both know that my guns are completely useless in this simulation so it's kind of boring trying to deceive each other."

"I am not interested in what you can do. I want to learn what you have become."

"Don't challenge me Alex. You can't handle that."

"I know that you are bored. You become lethal when you are bored. This time I am determined to kill you. If I don't own you, nobody else will."

The lobby's walls were smashed and everything started crumbling down to the ground.

"It's tea time Alex." A white room emerged with two black leather armchairs and a black rag beneath them in a hat's shape. Eden transformed into Janus and started purring tea from the teapot into her cup. She sat on her armchair making herself comfortable.

"Be careful when you stare into the abyss because the abyss is staring back at you." She told Alex while her voice was changing into Jim's voice.

"Sugar? Oh! forgive me. I forget that you don't like sugar." Jim said while slowly appeared bit by bit on the other chair holding his own cup of tea. "Milk maybe?" Jim said using Janus' voice.

 "Just imagine the impossibilities; a creature being both a man and a woman at the same time. Come on. Take a closer look at two completely different people being able to exist at different places simultaneously while sharing one body. What if one of us is actually standing behind your back right now, pointing a loaded gun at your head? Define the word "bored" one more time please, just for old time's sake. " Janus and Jim said at the same time with their voices completely synchronized.

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*"A Mad Tea-Party" from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll where the Hatter asks Alice his famous riddle: "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"