THE TOWER OF BRAHMA - Prelude

10/16/03

Looking down at the bullet-riddled corpse at his feet Agent Spider counted thirty eight separate entry points. A quick scan of the surrounding area told him that these were accurately fired shots from a fully automatic machine gun. There were no more than seven bullet holes in the far wall. Someone shot his partner thirty eight times to make a statement. A closer look at the bullet wounds suggests that it was fairly close range. Not that he needed this forensic evidence to know who did this.

It was a message. A friendly little sticky note passed between former co-workers. The bullet holes themselves might as well have spelled out the message if you connected the dots. "We know." But even this seemed a tad extreme for the Agency. This was personal. This was an old friend trying to get under his skin. An attempt to trigger an emotional response. To bypass his logic centers of his brain. Run off half-cocked looking for revenge.

Agent Spider wasn't the same man he was when he was with the Agency. He had since graduated from the Society. No one is ever the same after the day they first wake up in the Society. And none of the graduates would ever fall for so obvious a challenge. Never fight on their terms. What was needed now was to retreat, cause them to get impatient. Let Gallows make the mistakes while he got a new partner.

In a way it was a relief. This one never would have had the balls to destroy the world.