(li.)

"So... now what?"
"What do you mean, 'now what'?"

Louis looked across the empty alleyway. He dangled his feet down, off of the side of the roof, and looked down, into the inky blackness.

"Well, I mean, with Omnivion. They--"
"I think we pretty much won. We've arrested all of their 'employees', except for one, who we killed."
"But what about the Chairman? The CEO? The CFO? The--"
"It's all one guy. And he's been in the same place, this whole time. He's not that much of a threat to us."
"He's not?"

Chet pulled a cigarette out of his pocket.

"No. He's not, actually. Most times, he's drunk off his ass. And he's not the quickest drunk, either. He's a happy drunk."

He fished around in his pocket for a lighter.

"And it's not as though the Toyota corporation is going to do anything drastic to get that Frank guy back from us."
"So... he doesn't actually work for Omnivion?"
"No. We fucked up. But it was fun to beat the shit out of him," he giggled. "Where the fuck is my lighter?"

"You don't think he may want to, y'know, go back to work? Or, y'know, his family?"
"Listen to me, Louis, we're the government. And we've arrested him. Unless anything drastic happens to change that, he stays in our custody."

A stray arrow zipped by his ear.

"Sir? Uh, I'd call that drastic--"
"It was a fluke."
"But--"
"A fluke. Nothing more."



[chapter lii.]