Sighing to myself as I finish putting on a fresh change of clothes after a very thorough shower, a turtleneck sweater and a pair of blue jeans to help keep me warm, I sit down on my bed and flop back onto it, staring up at the metal ceiling of my room within the Aspect headquarters. Memories flash before my eyes, reminding me of what happened only hours earlier in the day. The humiliation as Paladin took me like an object that he could just possess.
"That bastard... I swear I'm going to make him regret doing that!" I shout angrily, my voice echoing softly in the large room, the spacious living quarters courtesy of Hivemind, the one who built this entire base, "The only real positive here is that I learned something new about my Psichotic powers! I guess I got some of the debt lowered too, but fuck... I'm a living being, damn it!"
Groaning in pain as I sit up, I slide the sleeve of my sweater up enough to see my bare, furless arm, a far cry from the coat of fur that I had somehow managed to get rid of halfway to the headquarters. I didn't need to shoot anyone, since the hired 'help' was smart enough not to make any snide comments about what happened. Realizing that the sun is likely hanging low on the horizon, I grunt softly as I make a visible effort to stand before plodding towards my door, all my earlier grace and finesse tossed out the window.
"God damn it, I'm so sore...maybe Hivemind has something that can help," I mutter, pressing the button beside the door and stepping through it after it opens automatically with a soft hissing noise, "It's not like that mad genius hasn't come up with something more complicated than painkillers. Should be a walk in the park."
Chuckling softly to myself as I imagine the robotic man in a doctor's coat, a stethoscope around his neck, and a pair of glasses over his blank, metallic face, I nearly stumble on my way down the hallway and towards his personal lab.
"Snrk! M-maybe we should retire from being Villains and just open a pharmacy! Ha, I bet we could do it...not sure what I would be doing, but fuck it," I dismiss the silly idea with a wave of my hand, stepping to the side to avoid one of Hivemind's larger bots as it carries a crate filled with something I can only guess at to another room, "I think I'd die of boredom, even if we could pull something like that off. Been too much thrill in my life lately, though..."
Snickering at the idea of me wearing office apparel and sitting at a computer, I knock at the door next to me, adorned with a logo of a brain with a trio of hexagons stacked behind it. Waiting a few moments for the sounds of machinery inside to die down, I give the one who opens the door a shit-eating grin, waving a hand in greeting.
"Yo. Is the doctor in, Hivemind?"
"What the hell are you blathering on about now, you fool? Get in here, we need to go over what went wrong during your mission and how we can prevent it from happening again," he says with a frown, his metallic features somehow able to move and change like everyone else's, despite his clearly mechanical body, gesturing for me to enter and stepping to the side, "You think Paladin will stop because of your terrible jokes? That he'll laugh himself to death? Get serious, Kitsune."
The grin falls from my face, replaced with a scowl as I step into the huge laboratory and take a seat near his desk, the usual place we discuss matters like this, "Fine, I'm fucking serious. I seriously want to kick Paladin's ass. I seriously want to put a bullet between his eyes! I seriously want to tear him to pieces for what he did!"
"Understandably," Hivemind simply responds, closing the door to his lab and taking a seat behind his desk, his steely gaze filled with malice. Were it aimed at me, I would be very concerned right now, "You went through a horrible experience. Paladin may have a job as a Hero, but he is scum. The public opinion is what protects him from the law, and I suggest that rather than being angry, we focus on solutions."
"Solutions to what? Do you have a way for him to un-fuck me? To make sure he didn't get me pregnant!?" I practically screech, gasping softly as I realize who I am raising my voice to, "S-sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."
"No harm done," he says with a roll of his eyes, then opens a drawer in his desk before placing something on the table. Leaning closer, my eyes widen as I realize that this is a type of bullet, the tip painted an angry shade of red, "This, however, will most definitely do harm. It's a prototype bullet, filled with Psichotic energy and patterned to implode along with its immediate vicinity. It's tested for up to six inches of spatial implosion. Stop worrying about offending me, and focus on using this to get your revenge."
"Y-yeah...what am I going to tell Marissa...?" I halfheartedly ask, letting my gaze fall to the floor below me, not a speck of dust in sight to focus my attention on, "I can't just keep it a secret from her."
"You tell her the truth. If she is truly the one for you, she will not leave you. She will support and care for you, especially given that the waste of protein forced that on you," Hivemind simply suggests, shrugging his shoulders before standing and walking towards a display with a cloth draped over it, "Speaking of Marissa, I made something that you and she can make good use of. Let me just..."
Grunting softly in annoyance as the cloth gets snagged on something, he furrows his brows and gives it a harder tug, then gives it a firm yank before smiling in satisfaction as the snag tears free. The display previously hidden below it contains a pair of golden and black gauntlets, easily reaching up to the elbow, with sharp metal claws on each fingertip.
"Here we are! I call them cat claws! I also installed a slot for a small vial of poison, or if you need to collect a fluid," he says with clear cheer, excited about showing off his newest successful project, "You might not be able to use them anymore, given recent developments, but Marissa most definitely can! Spend the night with her and give her this, maybe get a meal and watch a movie. You need to relax for a bit while I make more things to completely ruin Paladin's day."
"You're sure?" I ask, lifting my head to meet his gentle gaze, a soft smile on his face. Blinking for a moment, I shake my head to try and get rid of my surprise, the genius roboticist almost never seen with anything but a scowl or neutrality, "I...I still owe you for the retrieval fee, don't I? Shouldn't I be going on another job?"
"You aren't just exhausted, you're traumatized. It's entirely understandable, but you need the love of your life with you to help you through this. Not a middle-aged robot who couldn't work up the courage to ask his crush out to prom," he says with a wink, making me cringe softly and recoil from him, "What? I can show empathy, you silly fox. Just get out of here and enjoy the night! Forget about the fee, too! It's on the house this time!"
Jumping a bit from the sudden change in volume, I nod my head and jump from my seat, hurrying towards the door with wide eyes, "Y-yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"
"Take the damn claws with you, you airhead!" Hivemind calls to me, sighing in frustration as I come to a screeching halt and run towards the open display, "Have you lost all sense? She's going to need those by tomorrow morning, or I get ten percent off of my total payment!"
