Finishing the call, Sarah clenched her teeth to prevent the flow of uncontrollable curses toward the general she had just spoken to. Each time she had a conversation with CSA’s watchers, Sarah confirmed her old theory – the top positions in the military were occupied by the most brain-dead individuals with enormous egos. Confident in their own absolute correctness, ruled by the strict directives that they personally liked to twist as they want, while demanding the immediate and full execution from any subordinates, freed from the responsibility of failure and backed by the higher-ups in the government, they were expecting everyone to obey without any second thought, no matter how stupid the command was.
Unfortunately for them, Sarah’s position and accumulated experience in using the messy mass of multiple contradictory laws, directives, and additions gave her enough leverage not to follow their wishes blindly. This time it was about the destruction of the Facility. If there was any chance of information or technology leakage, Sarah would be the first to blow up the whole set of laboratories to prevent any potential harm to supers as no one knew how the stolen things would be used. However, she was confident that there was none. Or at least she was 99% sure.
That left her in a particular situation where not risking and destroying the underground laboratories would cause the huge bill to put on CSA for destroying the property without any real evidence of leakage. It wasn’t a direct check to pay, just in the form of a reduction the government funding, but painful enough to close some programs, directed at increasing the friendly picture of supers as the guards of the society instead of being seen as a threat. Her boss wouldn’t appreciate it at all. Her subordinates would be scared to push the “red button” without a doubt, avoiding such huge responsibility with potentially ass-whipping consequences like a plague, thus making Sarah decide. On the other hand, leaving it intact led to the demand from the military, which was in constant search for any mishap, trying to find where they could bite CSA to blame them for something, and using the mistake to get more money for their own usage. In the end, it was always about the money.
Sarah knew quite a lot of dirt on the specific general, who was attached to her as a watcher. Freely using the military funds for his personal comfort, the man was doing his best to use any weak spot to gain a few medals for the honorable merits of serving humankind. Only her boss prevented Sarah from disclosing the information, telling her that the well-known greedy but stupid enemy was much better than an honest and smart one. Therefore, she had to silently nod, while listening to the outraged general until he poured everything he got and just hung up.
“Are you ready to get the information, ma’am? Sir?” Asking with caution, the guard that accompanied her and Truthful Eyes attempted to hand her over a tablet.
“Yes, just a second,” Nodding, Sarah glanced at her smartphone and got a noticeable crack on the screen before inwardly sighing and finally returning the main object she had in this place – to interrogate the potential villain. Pocketing the phone and thanking for the device, she quickly dived into a relatively short profile. The guard was already repeating some facts aloud.
“I will explain everything to your… colleague, while we are getting to the subject’s cell. The lift can’t move faster – the safety precaution to give enough time for us to react in case of an attempt to escape,” he apologized, getting a weak smile from the super. The latter almost had no distinctiveness in his clothes from Sarah, wearing the same dark gray formal attire. However, the complex bluish tattoo that covered his face, long bright red hair, and a golden ring on the nose, made the man’s status quite recognizable. That, and the embraided inscription on his blazer’s back that literally repeated his superheroic name.
“We haven’t got much from the past three days, but still there are some details. The subject, code name – Golem, is potentially class four Brute type. He was placed in the corresponding cell, but showed no attempts to… do anything, apart from lying on the bed…,” the guard was interrupted by the super.
“Golem?”
“It wasn’t me who named him like that,” the man hastily defended himself before explaining, “According to the data that we gathered through multiple scanners, the subject consists of metal, having no organic matter at all. Only his heart is different, made from something akin to an energy-filled sphere, protected by a force shield. Further tests showed that Golem indeed behaves like a living metal. There was no reaction to the cold or heat, while his body simply adjusted to the surrounding’s temperature, keeping the corresponding number. The lack of oxygen, when we started to suck out it slowly had the same effect – no reaction. He never asked for any food, water, or even clothes to cover his nudity. Therefore, the Golem – an artificial being, made from inorganic matter.”
“Hm… So, there were no attempts to speak with someone? No demands or requests?” Sarah asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
“Nope, ma’am, not even a motion. The scanners are recording that he is doing something inside his body, but we can’t track anything in detail. Still, just from the observation and the provided video the subject is at least class four with a potential being higher. His already confirmed abilities are enhanced strength, toughness, and self-sustainment, but we can’t be sure that there is nothing else… and another thing – his weight might be changed on will. In his current calm state, it’s around 3200 kilograms (around 7000 lbs.), while the data from the staircases indicates that at that point was much lower – the damage on the surface doesn’t fit the calculations,” almost as if the guard made an internal countdown, the man finished in exactly the same moment when the lift finally reached the needed level.
“Anything else worth mentioning?” The super asked, glancing around and noting five different armored doors that were located around the lift in a star-like manner.
“Nothing comes to mind, but you can check the profile for more details. This way, please,” pointing at one of the doors, the guard proceeded with a short check-up. Smiling into the camera and typing a long password, the man identified himself before proceeding with the names of the visitors, their access level, and even the long serial of a permit to be here today. Only after that did the door finally move to the side, opening an empty space with a similar door on the opposite side. Going inside, and getting cut off from the lift, Sarah and Truthful Eyes finally got to the point where they could see the so-called Golem.
“The microphones will be on in ten seconds. You can speak freely, and he will hear you,” the guard commented the final thing before stepping to the far corner and moving the automatic rifle into his hands as if preparing to shoot at any moment at the first sign of danger. And that was despite the clear working force shield that separated their group from the potential villain. However, both visitors were not newbies and never had been in the High Castle – the giant prison in the form of a tower, located right inside the city on the small artificial island in the middle of the huge lake that was created by the part of the fallen Comet. So, they just calmly waited for the reaction from the subject. However, there was none – Golem seemed to lie motionless as before, completely oblivious to the guests.
“Hello,” Sarah coughed, not knowing how to begin. Despite multiple similar meetings, it was a rare occasion when she was ignored by someone who willingly surrendered. She had to repeat it several more times until the giant moved, putting his feet on the floor and finally rising upward at his full height, towering above them like they were children.
This was the first time she got a clear picture of the man with dusty albino skin. Inhumanly enormous, with thick legs and arms, he was an ideal representation of how brute looked. A muscular figure of the bald bouncer with a wrestling background, whose appearance was often enough to stop even hot-headed guests under the influence of alcohol, who thought that they were martial artists and had an unstoppable wish to show their capabilities. An unwelcoming fierce face with rough facial features and absence of eyebrows or eyelashes made the sight even more disturbing and scary as if she was looking at the bloodthirsty beast. His piercing gaze only intensified the feeling. Especially, when the man tried to smile. It looked like he completely forgot how this expression looked, showcasing his version of bared of the predator.
“Well, hello there, Sarah. Glad that you found time for me,” grimacing in the futile attempt to look harmless, the man turned around and sighed, “I would offer you to get comfortable, but as you can see, I am desperately short of furniture.”
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“And clothes,” the super couldn’t resist but point at the obvious nudeness of Golem.
“Yep, but that’s because my hosts are rude enough to experiment on me without giving me even underpants. I might like the feeling of freedom underneath, but that’s just not gentlemanly to meet such a beauty with my balls visible… Not before we are alone,” frowning with clear dissatisfaction, the giant suddenly stepped forward, covering the distance to the force shield in a fraction of a second and causing a wave of panic in his guests. Despite all his words, his groin was still open to the eyes, while his clenched fists looked like two hammers, ready to crash anything or anyone. However, instead of the powerful hits, he once again made his parody with a gentle smile before dropping on the floor right in front of the force shield, “Relax. Just wanted to be closer to you. Tell me about yourself. Any hobbies? Maybe a training routine that explains your excellent figure. Any pets? I hope you are not a…”
“We are here to discuss you, but you…,” Sarah tried to stop this torrent of nonsense, but was interrupted with another awfully played expression of sadness.
“Am I rushing things? You see, maybe I don’t have enough time for our relationship… Oh, I got it – you're just a dominant type that loves to show the leading role. I can go with that… But let’s exchange questions than… I even can agree to one mine against two yours. I am first – what type of ice cream do you like?”
“Mister, we are here on official business…”
“It’s even better. You can mix the work with pleasure then. So, let’s shorten the distance between us, getting to know each other!”
“The distance between is already enough,” Sarah’s calm mask almost cracked under the ongoing farce. The nude giant with clearly insane behavior and the look that was eyeing her figure with either desire to kill her, or to have sex, was just too overwhelming to keep her cool.
“I assume you are not single. Husband… No, a secret boyfriend! Well, that really sucks, yeah… And I bet Demonologist is a lucky guy. What did you even find in that horny moron? Is it a classic thing that good girls fall for baddies? Or is it your fetish with the hellish creature… No, don’t tell me! Don’t ruin your image… Damn it, now I can’t think about anything, except what form do you prefer? Those multiple arms might provide an enormous pleasure, am I right, Sarah?” Not hiding a mad grin, Golem leaned forward pressing his face against the force shield as if expecting the answer.
“We are here to ask you some questions, and it’s in your interest to answer them truthfully,” clearing her throat, the senior agent tried to finish her assigned task, despite the situation.
“Or, what, Sarah? Will you torture me, like the guards here? So, they already made an attempt to suffocate me and to boil like a frog by slowly turning my place into a local residence of hell? Or will you sell sex tapes of the nude man in the prison that the staff here might be using in a personal interest? Will you try to conduct more tests like a laboratory mouse? Or will you just shove me inside the prison for doing nothing? Oh, wait, you already did it. So, what will you do to MAKE me?” Changing his expression, the man asked, still trying to be sincere, but Sarah had a lot of experience to look through the play. Especially this bad.
“I can just leave, prolonging your pleasant stay here until I find another free spot in my schedule to pay you a visit. By answering my questions you can prove your innocence, thus leading to your immediate release,” Sarah spoke, calmly pushing her agenda, “What will you choose, Mr...?”
“Robert, my name is Robert… Okay, if you formulate it like this, I think I can play along. But you will owe an apology for the treatment in this facility… And I will leave a bad rating, unnegotiable.”
“As you wish, Mr. Robert, but after we are done here,” Returning her calm state, Sarah glanced at the super, who slightly nodded her, confirming readiness. Closing his eyes, the man activated his ability, giving a green light for the agent to proceed, “How did you get inside the facility?”
“Your scientists used some kind of machine to bring me into their laboratory… I literally appeared inside the force shield and in a dozen seconds everything started to collapse,” the giant answered, watching the interaction between the super and Sarah with interest. The latter had already moved slightly backward to see the hero’s hand. Watching a single raised figure, she continued.
“Did you take anything with you from there?”
“Nope. I just went straight to the exit to get out of the place, while avoiding hurting anyone. Facing your armed group, I surrendered at once. I didn’t take a single thing from there,” another raised figure confirmed the truth, finally releasing a hidden pressure from Sarah. She made the right choice not to destroy the facility. However, she still had to confirm it fully.
“Did you have any accomplice to get inside?”
“No! I never wanted to get inside at all… Oh, your freak friend is your mobile analog of polygraph. That bullshit device can’t work properly on ordinary humans, not speaking about me, so you brought him here to check my answers. Nice. Now I like you even more… It’s a real pity that the left side of your bed is already occupied. Or is it right?” Sarah only grimaced at the comment, focusing only on the gestures from Truthful Eyes.
“Did you have a goal to get inside the facility? Did you…,” The questioning continued for around half an hour until she was sure that it was a pure accident that this man appeared inside the facility during the attack of Gray Lion’s junior brother. Neither he was cooperating with anyone, nor did he have any malice intent in breaking in, finally clarifying his being inside the restricted area.
“Good, Mr. Robert… We just need to confirm your identity for the last check-up,” Sighing with relief, Sarah spoke, “We couldn’t find you in a database, but it must be because of the physical change. We still will need to put you through a few sessions with psychotherapists to be sure that you can control yourself, despite the dramatic influence of omicron-particles.” Not getting the answer, she raised her eyes to see the awkward expression on the giant’s face.
“About that… I am Robert Flop, but I am sure you won’t find me anywhere. I don’t have family or friends or anyone else to confirm it. I don’t have any documents to prove it… Better treat me like a man with no past and amnesia on top, that just appeared in the wrong place and time. Especially the latter, heh. But I am ready to start from a blank page, to embrace the world how it is, to find my place in it…,” The man continued to talk as if trying to overwhelm the with words, while Sarah exchanged glances with the super.
“But do you have your memories?”
“No...,” the clenched fist of Truthful eyes indicated the first lie during their conversation, “Okay, yes, I do, but you won’t believe me… and it has nothing to do with our topic. Your friend had confirmed that I am clean as toilet paper in the package on a supermarket’s shelf.”
“Are you a villain, Mr. Robert Flop?” Squinting her eyes, Sarah asked, while paying attention to the gesture of her colleague.
“No, absolutely not. Just look at me! Do I like one?... Well, I do have the typical appearance of a bad guy, but I can reassure you that I am not a villain. I don’t even know how you classify them,” the raised figure showed the truth, or, precisely speaking, the belief in it, but Sarah wasn’t convinced.
“I will rephrase using your own words – do you think that you are a bad person, Mr. Flop?”
“No, I am the nicest guy in the universe,” a fist was an answer to this obvious lie, but it didn’t matter as Sarah was already on the track of uncovering the hidden part.
“Did you kill anyone?”
“Anyone kills… Like you can squash a nasty bug or fly, and forget about the thing in a minute,” The giant tried to avoid the answer, but Sarag was too persistent.
“Do your kills include humans? Or any sapient beings?” She quickly added, remembering how some villains treated ordinary folks.
“No, I haven’t killed anyone in the facility this time! I appeared and just directly went to surrender. But you already know it,” The emotional shout was another truth, albeit with odd wording, but Sarah already knew it, focusing on the previous events. She wasn’t going to approve the release of the man, who was a murderer.
“And what about before it? Did you kill any sapient being, Mr. Flop?” She pressed, feeling that she already knew the answer. There was a long pause before the man sighed loudly as if giving up on trying to find another elusive answer. Then he raised his head, which he tried to cover during the previous questions. All his playful and mad demeanor was gone, instead replaced by the calm confidence and the coldness of the man, who experienced a lot. His piercing gaze met her eyes, and he spoke, for the first time getting serious. His low voice dropped a single word that felt as heavy as the man himself.
“Yep.”
“How many?”
“More than you can count if we are speaking about sapient beings.”
“Do we speak about tens? Hundreds?”
“You see, sapience is a vague characteristic, and I am not a biologist to distinguish each living being I killed into categories. But if I need to speak from my understanding, then it could be like hundreds of thousands… My first years were quite bloody ones… Those… alie… creatures were coming in masses.”
“Are you speaking about the animals?” Not understanding the answer that was confirmed by Truthful Eyes, Sarah tried to clarify.
“Not them, but I’ve killed animals too…”
“Did you kill innocent people?” She didn’t have time to uncover the dirty background of another mad murderer, whose traumatic past together with a broken brain could create absolutely wild pictures inside their minds that never existed in reality. She wasn’t there to study psychos. Sarah's task was to understand if the wielder of supernatural abilities might cause problems for CSA and society itself. So, even if it was in the mind, it was enough to set a red flag.
“Yep, not that I am proud about it… Was in a barely stable state. And they kinda deserved it…”
“Will you kill in the future?”
“Considering my status – obviously I will,” for the first time showing a genuine expression in the form of a sad smile, Robert grimaced, making an unreadable expression.
“We are done here. Mark him as a villain. The codename Golem is approved,” Turning around without sparing a single glance toward the standing giant, she spoke to the guard in the corner, “And raise the danger level to class five Brute – I feel he has more than he shows. Much more.”