Cell Division
30
I followed him, clipboard and recorder in hand. He walked fast, as per usual, his hands behind his back and his head bowed. I recognized this as his “thought” mode, the place he put himself in when he distanced himself from the mundane. He probably had terribly deep thoughts going on right now.
God, I admired that.
“Hojo,” Rufus greeted as we approached the cells. His eyes flicked to me, to my neck, which I could feel still bled sluggishly. “Miss Grey,” he said respectfully.
“Mr. President,” I answered in my most polite tone. “You look well.”
Hojo, not paying any attention to either of us, lit a smoke and stared through the reinforced glass walls of the cell. “He’s pathetic,” he stated, referring to the prisoner. “What have you done, starved him?”
“Yes,” Rufus admitted. “He hasn’t eaten in days.”
“Hmm,” Hojo said, taking a syringe from his lab coat. He held it to the fluorescent light. A press of his thumb made a squirt of clear fluid jet. “Stay here, Miss Grey,” he said, not giving me his full attention. “”Mr. President, I’m entrusting you to ensure her safety.”
“I’m on my best behavior,” Rufus murmured.
“I know.” Hojo opened the door and stepped inside. “I’ll kill you if you touch her.” He shut the door.
I put my back to the door, studying the president of the world’s most powerful company. “Mr. Shinra,” I murmured.
“Miss Grey,” he replied. Once again his eyes dropped to my neck. “Having fun with your master?”
I smiled. “Oh yes,” I answered.
“You’re bleeding,” he replied.
“I’m not surprised.”
I heard screaming behind us. Turning, I lifted the clipboard, engaged the intercom and hit record on my portable.
“I told them everything I know!”
“Somehow, I don’t believe it.”
Feeling sick, I watched Hojo throw his empty needle to the side.
“What do you want?” Mr. Still demanded, shrinking against the far wall.
“Answers,” Hojo replied. From his pocket he drew latex gloves. He put them on slowly. “You have two choices, Mr. Still. You can give us the names of the people you work for, or you can stay silent. One will allow you your life; the other will grant you blissful death. Which will it be?”
“I-.”
“Quicker than that,” Hojo chastised. His fist lashed out. The man fell, his jaw shattered.
“Does he hit you that way?” Shinra asked. He stood right behind me.
“He doesn’t need to,” I answered. “I give him whatever he wants.” I patched the recorder into the intercom, thankful it wouldn’t document my conversation with the younger Shinra. “I give the professor whatever he wants,” I stressed again.
“But, why?” Shinra moved closer. “He’s never had a real shortage of pussy, which confounds me. What’s he got that I don’t?” He put his hand on the wall beside the intercom panel. I sensed he had tons more complaints to vocalize over Hojo.
I spared him a glance. “You’re handsome, Mr. President,” I said. “You’re powerful and able to get whatever you want.” I looked through the glass at Hojo, who held the prisoner up by his shirt lapels. “It isn’t a matter of comparison.”
“Then tell me what he does for you,” Shinra asked in a whisper. “At this point I wouldn’t just dispose of you, Miss Grey.”
“I believe you,” I murmured. “But, I already belong to Professor Kanaye Hojo.” I smiled and shrugged. “As for what he does for me?” I smiled even more broadly. “I’ll let him inform you.”
“He won’t,” Shinra groused.
“He would if you’d be polite.” I averted my eyes from the brutality inside the cell. “Don’t assume, Mr. President.”
Shinra glanced inside and blanched. “He’ll get the answers,” he said quietly.
“He will,” I averred. My stomach rebelled at the cruelty I saw, but I could not flinch. I just couldn’t show any weakness in front of Rufus Shinra. “My master is entirely capable.”
“You’re awfully loyal for being his property less than two weeks,” Shinra commented.
I smiled. Men were the basest creatures on the planet. “My master is persuasive and powerful,” I murmured. “He’s very good to me. For everything I give up, he gives something back.” And, this was very true. Hojo treated me well and reciprocated gestures of generosity.
“Like what?” Shinra sounded genuinely interested. He leaned against the wall, blocking my view. He didn’t seem to realize his obstruction.
I looked at him dead on. I preferred it, actually, because if I looked ahead I would see Hojo brutalizing Mr. Still. “He would tell you himself if you would just give up your ego,” I told him.
“I don’t understand.” Shinra made a face. “What do you mean?”
“Do you want to thrill a woman, Mr. Shinra?” I asked point blank.
“Who doesn’t?” Shinra grinned. “A pleased woman is generous.”
The sound of a body hitting the wall made me flinch. I took a deep breath. I could not look. “For everything you take, you must give back,” I said. “Professor Hojo gives me security, protection, and even gentleness when I ask for it; what do you give?”
Shinra bit his lip. “Nothing like that,” he admitted.
“Don’t you want a mate?” I asked. “Don’t you want someone to stop the aching loneliness at night? Is it enough for you to fuck and toss women away?”
He looked at me as if I’d dropped from the moon. “How do you know I’m lonely?” he asked softly.
I felt sorry for him. “We’re all lonely,” I said gently. “I think we’re born that way, Mr. President.”
Shinra looked past me and into the cell a moment, his brilliant blue eyes troubled. “Hojo never seems lonely,” he murmured. “But, I guess his slaves help.”
Well. He wasn’t as stupid as I imagined.
“We’re all lonely,” I repeated. “Some of us more, some of us less. You’re lonely because you’re selfish and extremely powerful. It’s a tough combination to fight.”
He stared at me. “I can’t believe you just insulted me,” he said. “And, I can’t believe it didn’t make me mad.”
“I’m a psychiatrist, Mr. Shinra. If I wanted to I could make personal observations sound like compliments. I won’t, however, because it defeats the purpose of self-exploration.”
Shinra finally blinked. “You’re a shrink? Where did we pick you up?”
“Does it matter? Your men abducted me, took me from an established practice and injured me in the process. Now I will always be here, a slave.”
“Better a slave than dead,” he replied, a flicker of discomfort in his eyes. “But, I guess I can understand being Hojo’s slave is daunting. You should have chosen to come with me.”
“I would be dead, had that occurred, wouldn’t I?” I reminded him. “I believe you termed me ‘disposable pussy’.”
“Did I say that?” His eyes moved to the side. He shifted a little.
“She’s a captive and quite disposable; I see her slave collar,” I quoted. “Dates are easy; it’s the disposable pussy that’s difficult.”
Shinra sighed. “That sounds like me,” he admitted. “You remembered that?”
“In my position, wouldn’t you remember?” I didn’t bother to tell him about my excellent recall. “Have you ever had a psychiatric evaluation, Mr. Shinra?”
“No.”
“I’ll give you one, if you like, but my master will insist upon attending.” Wouldn’t hurt to offer. Perhaps his cruelty had deeper roots than self-indulgence. I suspected Hojo’s propensity to cruelty had deep roots as well.
“What’s your motive?” Shinra frowned in suspicion.
“It was my chosen vocation, Mr. Shinra; do you think Professor Hojo would be very happy if you took him out of his lab?”
“I guess not.” Shinra shrugged. “Set it up, then. I love to hear about myself, even the bad stuff.”
“Especially the bad stuff, because it reinforces your urge to self-indulge,” I pointed out. “You like to convince yourself you’re evil. True evil needs no convincing. Case in point, the man behind us currently beating a prisoner to death.”
Shinra backed up a step, actually looking afraid. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said lowly.
“Don’t feel bad about it. You’ve obviously been raised on a steady diet of negative reinforcement and outright neglect. Most people find something to cling onto, to nurture for the sake of creating an identity. Your choices were limited.”
Shinra stopped frowning. Tilting his head, he gave me a long, judgmental look. “I can see why he wanted to keep you,” he muttered. “You’re just as brutal in your own way.”
“I won’t be kind. Compassion is for people who treat me humanely.”
“Humans are the unkindest creatures,” he argued, turning his attention to the door.