Hostage

Leela and Zhou's Place
Undisclosed Location
3-29-116  23:22

Leela finished drying off after her pre-bed shower.  Her damp hair stuck to the sides of her face and blocked her vision, so she brushed her bangs out of her eyes in frustration and examined her face in the mirror on the bathroom wall.  The bags under her eyes told the tale of her sleepless nights worrying over Ryven's current state.  He had shown up a few days ago, eyes wild, unshaven and reeking of booze.  He wept and clutched a small cloth doll stained with blood and told her the story of the morning after Kat broke up with him.  He was convinced he murdered a family, including a little girl, a sin for which he felt there could be no atonement.  She did what she could to comfort him, but he fled to parts unknown, afraid of the danger he represented to anyone and everyone.  So, naturally, after spending several hours crying herself, she set about trying to find a way to fix Ryven's problem, specifically, trying to figure out how to free him from the Other Ry.  The evil Ry.

She finished her nightly ritual and, dressed in her sleepwear, a pair of black silk pajamas, she walked out into the living room to find Zhou and let him know it was time for bed.  "Zhou.  It's time to--" She stopped in her tracks, her eyes taking in the scene.

Ryven, attired entirely in black, dripping from the rain, stood in the center of the room, a dagger held to Zhou's throat.  Zhou's eyes signaled the seriousness of the situation.  Ryven, the Other Ryven, sneered, his eyes colder than Leela had ever known they could be.  She felt a revulsion welling up within her.  How had she ever been married to this man?  Of course, she then remembered she hadn't been married to this man.  She'd been married to a very different Ryven.  This one was a wholly different animal, and that's exactly what he was, an animal.

"Good evening, Leela.  It's been too long." Ryven's voice was drenched in mock-cheerfulness and familiarity. "I felt it was time for a visit."

"You really should call ahead next time.  I could've arranged a much more festive welcome, Ryven." She responded coolly.  "Although, your manners leave something to be desired, so it's probably better that I didn't." She managed a wry smile.  She wasn't about to let him intimidate her.  Zhou was a capsuleer.  If he died, he'd wake up far away from here, safe.  So, go ahead.

"Feisty as ever.  Moments like these, I wish my other half had kept you as his better half, well, apart from me, I mean."

She laughed bitterly. "If you're his better half, I don't think we'd have much going for us."

Ry grinned. "As much as I'd love a tete-a-tete, I'm here on business."

Leela rolled her eyes impatiently. "Then I really wish you'd just get down to it already.  These theatrics may work on schoolchildren or whoever it is you prey on these days, but it's fucking tedious to me."

"Schoolchildren?  So, my other half made a visit here, did he?  Told you about the poor little girl I murdered, I suppose?" He smiled, pleased with himself.

"Did you?  Even the Ry from the old days wouldn't have murdered a child."

"Does it matter if I did or didn't?  What matters is that he thinks I did." Ry grinned, his eyes telling her what she already suspected.  "Besides, I am Ry from the old days, remember?"

She shook her head. "No you're not.  You think you are.  He thinks you are.  I know different.  Remember?  I knew the old Ry and the new.  You're neither.  You're something else.  You're the old Ry, but twisted, more sinister.  You're the old Ry minus all the things that made the old Ry great.  You're a shadow of the old Ry."

Ry yawned and gave a dismissive wave with his free hand. "Sticks and stones."

"So, get on with it.  What brings you here?"

"I need you to figure out how Shalee's little sprite, Red, functions.  How does her consciousness infect the holograph systems?  I need you to figure that out, and then I need you teach me.  I'm sick of sharing this body with my stupider half."

Leela considered this for a moment.  If he were able to inhabit the holograph system, he would be free to roam, but he'd be lacking physical substance.  What harm could he do in digital form?  Actually, probably a lot, but would it be on par with the harm he already was doing?  Further, the digital realm was Leela's forte.  She could deal with this impostor much more easily in such a form.  She made up her mind. "Okay, deal."

"You made that far too easy." Ry smiled darkly. "I'll be taking Zhou with me, as insurance."

Leela seethed, but she didn't say anything.  She just nodded, barely containing her rage.  She made up her mind then and there that she would end this fucker.  "Fine.  You hurt him, I promise you, you will wish you hadn't."

Ry just laughed and drug Zhou back out the front door, leaving Leela to begin her research, her rage fueling her.