Criminal Energy
a
Trust Machines story
by
clancy688
Afterwards, Mr. Peter couldn't really say what had spiked his attention in the first place. It may had been the fact that the odd pair hadn't come out of the Venn Machine in front of his store. It may had been something else. But whatever it may had been, he'd just stood in front of his store, smoking a cigarillo as his reward for another day of work being over when it had happened. Which had meant that he had had a premier seat to watch over the enfolding spectacle.
Mr. Peter's raised his eyebrow as the peculiar looking pair entered the mall. They looked hilarious. First of all, there was a miniature rhino stomping into the mall. It wasn't even remotely the size of a real rhino, but it was notably bigger than a pony, probably pushing the maximum size which could fit into a Venn Machine to the limit. The Rhino was equipped with large saddle bags and on its back there was a rider, his appearance being even more amusing. He looked like a wiry, six-armed monkey, wearing combat boots and three pairs of work gloves.
While appreciating his cigarillo, Mr. Peters was wondering what those two wanted to accomplish here. They'd entered the mall already changed, so the Venn Machine couldn't be their target. So what...?
Now the unusual pair stopped and the monkey disembarked. He pointed at something and the Rhino nodded. Then it started trotting forwards, gaining speed rapidly. Mr. Peter's curious smile froze as he realized that the Rhino was headed almost directly for the large shopwindow of Bottrop's Jewels. With apparently no inclination of slowing down or stopping.
But that's armored glass! a voice in his head gibbered. With steeled shutters in front of it! There's no way a living being can breach this without the help of tools!
But quite obviously nobody had told the Rhino that it was impossible to break through such defenses by muscle power alone. And Mr. Peters could only gape as the shopwindow disappeared into an expanding cloud of shattered steel and glass as the walking battering ram punched clear through.
********************************************
"That's one hell of a job!" Detective Miller muttered while standing amidst the wreckage of what had been Bottrop's main salesroom. Together with an aghast Mr. Bottrop and the mall's two shocked security guards, he was watching the footage of the robbery. The Rhino had gone through the 'burglarproof' shutters and window like a knife through butter and on its way in punched three vitrines in half until it had managed to stop. Then it had waited for its companion who'd followed only seconds later through the gaping hole in the store's front.
The monkey hadn't wasted time. One hand swinging a hammer and smashing vitrines, the other five ones grabbing whatever valuables they could find, storing them in the patiently waiting Rhino's saddle bags, he'd devastated the rest of the shop. The whole robbery had barely taken two minutes, then the monkey had mounted the Rhino again and the duo had charged out. Confronted with one ton of muscle accelerating with a vector pointing directly at them, the mall's alerted security guards had been faced with the decision of either experiencing a practical lesson of Newton's laws of motion or getting the hell out of the way. Needless to say what their decision had been. So they'd only been able to watch helplessly as the duo had crashed through the mall's spinning door and disappeared into the accompanying woods.
"The Rhino must have weighed over a ton." he said now. "Look at the force it had when it went through the windows!"
The other men agreed and the senior mall guard spoke grimly. "But we'll get those bastards. They must have used a Venn Machine somewhere. There's no way they have traveled large distances in these bodies. They have changed using some Venn Machine around here. And all Venn Machines have video surveillance. We'll get the bastards, I swear!"
Miller nodded approvingly, but actually he wasn't so sure about that. The entire operation had been too meticulously planned. Those robbers wouldn't have overlooked that their change would be taped by CCTV. So they'd either disabled a camera in front of a Venn Machine or changed somewhere were there weren't any cameras. He'd already contacted the surrounding malls. He didn't have the surveillance tapes yet, but no mall had reported a camera failure. Which, in his opinion, left only the second possibility.
It looks as if I have to give my... other employer a call. he thought and excused himself, fishing for his private mobile phone.
"That's one hell of a job!" Detective Miller muttered while standing amidst the wreckage of what had been Bottrop's main salesroom. Together with an aghast Mr. Bottrop and the mall's two shocked security guards, he was watching the footage of the robbery. The Rhino had gone through the 'burglarproof' shutters and window like a knife through butter and on its way in punched three vitrines in half until it had managed to stop. Then it had waited for its companion who'd followed only seconds later through the gaping hole in the store's front.
The monkey hadn't wasted time. One hand swinging a hammer and smashing vitrines, the other five ones grabbing whatever valuables they could find, storing them in the patiently waiting Rhino's saddle bags, he'd devastated the rest of the shop. The whole robbery had barely taken two minutes, then the monkey had mounted the Rhino again and the duo had charged out. Confronted with one ton of muscle accelerating with a vector pointing directly at them, the mall's alerted security guards had been faced with the decision of either experiencing a practical lesson of Newton's laws of motion or getting the hell out of the way. Needless to say what their decision had been. So they'd only been able to watch helplessly as the duo had crashed through the mall's spinning door and disappeared into the accompanying woods.
"The Rhino must have weighed over a ton." he said now. "Look at the force it had when it went through the windows!"
The other men agreed and the senior mall guard spoke grimly. "But we'll get those bastards. They must have used a Venn Machine somewhere. There's no way they have traveled large distances in these bodies. They have changed using some Venn Machine around here. And all Venn Machines have video surveillance. We'll get the bastards, I swear!"
Miller nodded approvingly, but actually he wasn't so sure about that. The entire operation had been too meticulously planned. Those robbers wouldn't have overlooked that their change would be taped by CCTV. So they'd either disabled a camera in front of a Venn Machine or changed somewhere were there weren't any cameras. He'd already contacted the surrounding malls. He didn't have the surveillance tapes yet, but no mall had reported a camera failure. Which, in his opinion, left only the second possibility.
It looks as if I have to give my... other employer a call. he thought and excused himself, fishing for his private mobile phone.
********************************************
Nathan wasn't a happy man as he strolled into the abandoned mall at a brisk pace. He'd insisted that there should be guards stationed at the Venn Machine at all times. But the boss had disagreed. It would surely be enough to only guard the thing during the Monster Fights. Who'd drive to an abandoned mall when other Venn Machines were readily available at more convenient locations after all?
People who don't want others to know that they have used the Venn Machine, that's who! he cursed. And now the fat's in the fire. Goddamn it!
"Where are those fuckers?" he barked at one of his goons who was waiting for him and the man winced as his scathing tone registered. "Sorry." Nathan said then and smiled crookedly. No point in chiding subordinates for things they weren't responsible for. "Not your fault."
"We've put them into one of the old stores next to the Venn Machine." the goon, his name Jeff, said, his face showing relief that his boss wouldn't bite his head off. "Jorge got them pinned down when they entered the mall to change back. I think he put the fear of God into those two."
"Damn well he should." Nathan muttered, already feeling a little bit better. Jeff led him into a storeroom. In one corner, a Rhino and a six-armed monkey huddled, their pockets stuffed to the breaking point which their loot. Nathan smiled viciously as he looked at the source of their fear. He gave Jorge an acknowledging clap on one of his legs and passed him to glower at the pathetic pair. Behind him, the giant, salivating spider stepped back a few paces and stopped snarling.
Most Monster Wars participants only knew Jorge as the Club's towering, Venn-enhanced bouncer. Only few knew that he was also participating in the fights. And only tiny handful knew that 'Jorge' was actually Inez, a seventeen-year old former child prostitute who'd managed to flee her tormentors and found work and shelter at the family's business. She'd vowed never to be a helpless female again and since then, she was mostly being 'Jorge'. Or one of Monster War's attractions.
As Nathan had gotten the call by Detective Miller, informing him about the robbery, he'd drawn the same conclusions as his 'colleague'. Colleague because both of them weren't so different, after all. Detective Miller was a trouble-shooter for the government, enforcing the governments rules in the official world. Nathan was something quite similar, also a trouble-shooter and also enforcing rules, albeit those of the shadowy world. Since both were aiming for the same goals, that is stability and order, it was only logical to engage in a little bit of unofficial cooperation. In Miller's case, the two thousand dollars in cash he was receiving for his administrative assistance every month didn't hurt either.
So when he'd gotten the call that a couple of robbers had probably used the family's Venn Machine in the abandoned mall for criminal activity, he'd immediately dispatched Jorge and Jeff in order to intercept those two. He'd concluded, quite rightly, as it appeared, that they would use the machine afterwards to change into different shapes for covering their traces.
Mercilessly he smiled down on the two robbers.
"You stupid fucktards." he began now pleasantly. "You thought you could use our Venn Machine,-" he stressed the pronoun, "-to engage in a little R&R, didn't you?"
The Rhino didn't show any visible reaction, but the monkey nodded.
"That was pretty dumb stupid of you." Nathan proceeded. "Oh, don't get me wrong. Your plan was quite ingenious, it did work after all. But unfortunately, now the police will be looking for the Venn Machine where you have changed. And they will probably check out this abandoned mall, looking if this Venn Machine is still here." his face became stone-hard. "And this we don't like. At all. We don't like the police snooping around our property. Oh, we'll probably be able to stave the investigation off. A favor here, a benefit there. But it will be expensive. You will cost us money. A lot. What do you intend to do about this?"
Trembling, the monkey removed the Rhino's saddle bags and pushed them toward Nathan. He looked at the loot but didn't touch it.
"So you want to pay us with our own goods?" he asked sweetly and the monkey's eyes became wide. "Yes, exactly. The shop you've looted and, not to forget, devastated, belongs to us."
This statement was only half true. Bottrop's Jewels belonged, of course, to Ezra Bottrop. But he was paying an indifferent sum each month to the family in order to ensure that such robberies didn't happen. And neither Nathan, nor his boss, liked having failed in their responsibilities.
"As far as I see it-" he said now, "-you have debts and nothing to pay with. We, on the other hand, want you to keep a low profile for a long time, until the investigation in your robbery has fizzled out. Let's say a year would be sufficient. Therefore I propose a compromise: You're going to work for us for a year, paying off your debts and simultaneously staying out of the public life. What do you say?"
Slowly, both the monkey and the Rhino nodded and Nathan grinned. Then he waved Jeff to come closer. The goon had a loaded shotgun in his hand, the muzzle trained on the Rhino.
"Jeff here will bring you to the Venn Machine. There I'll change you into a form which's more... appropriate for the kind of work I'm proposing to you. Jeff here, together with Mr. 12-Gauge, will make sure that both of you don't fuck with me while I'm changing you. If I come out of the Venn Machine and even one hair is different, he'll splatter your sorry brains all over the mall. And if you think you can somehow overpower Jeff, there'll still be Jorge left to also splatter your brains, albeit more messily... and slowly."
Menacing, Jorge reared his spidery body up on his four hind legs and revealed a pair of hungrily twitching dagger long fangs in his maw.
With a feral smile, Nathan looked at the frightened pair. "I'm sure you realize that it won't kill you, 'cause you're venned. But it'll make you wish we had."
"You two dumbfucks get this?" he asked very softly. Both of them did.
"Scare them, but only shoot them when you have no other choice." Nathan whispered secretly to Jeff as he and Jorge ushered the robbers to the machine. Jeff nodded grinning. He'd been working for Nathan a long time and already knew his boss's mantra. Nathan went to great lengths to put as much fear as possible into his 'customers' - exactly to prevent events which would make violence necessary.
After all, it was always good to be loved by your friends. But it was essential to be feared by your enemies.
********************************************People who don't want others to know that they have used the Venn Machine, that's who! he cursed. And now the fat's in the fire. Goddamn it!
"Where are those fuckers?" he barked at one of his goons who was waiting for him and the man winced as his scathing tone registered. "Sorry." Nathan said then and smiled crookedly. No point in chiding subordinates for things they weren't responsible for. "Not your fault."
"We've put them into one of the old stores next to the Venn Machine." the goon, his name Jeff, said, his face showing relief that his boss wouldn't bite his head off. "Jorge got them pinned down when they entered the mall to change back. I think he put the fear of God into those two."
"Damn well he should." Nathan muttered, already feeling a little bit better. Jeff led him into a storeroom. In one corner, a Rhino and a six-armed monkey huddled, their pockets stuffed to the breaking point which their loot. Nathan smiled viciously as he looked at the source of their fear. He gave Jorge an acknowledging clap on one of his legs and passed him to glower at the pathetic pair. Behind him, the giant, salivating spider stepped back a few paces and stopped snarling.
Most Monster Wars participants only knew Jorge as the Club's towering, Venn-enhanced bouncer. Only few knew that he was also participating in the fights. And only tiny handful knew that 'Jorge' was actually Inez, a seventeen-year old former child prostitute who'd managed to flee her tormentors and found work and shelter at the family's business. She'd vowed never to be a helpless female again and since then, she was mostly being 'Jorge'. Or one of Monster War's attractions.
As Nathan had gotten the call by Detective Miller, informing him about the robbery, he'd drawn the same conclusions as his 'colleague'. Colleague because both of them weren't so different, after all. Detective Miller was a trouble-shooter for the government, enforcing the governments rules in the official world. Nathan was something quite similar, also a trouble-shooter and also enforcing rules, albeit those of the shadowy world. Since both were aiming for the same goals, that is stability and order, it was only logical to engage in a little bit of unofficial cooperation. In Miller's case, the two thousand dollars in cash he was receiving for his administrative assistance every month didn't hurt either.
So when he'd gotten the call that a couple of robbers had probably used the family's Venn Machine in the abandoned mall for criminal activity, he'd immediately dispatched Jorge and Jeff in order to intercept those two. He'd concluded, quite rightly, as it appeared, that they would use the machine afterwards to change into different shapes for covering their traces.
Mercilessly he smiled down on the two robbers.
"You stupid fucktards." he began now pleasantly. "You thought you could use our Venn Machine,-" he stressed the pronoun, "-to engage in a little R&R, didn't you?"
The Rhino didn't show any visible reaction, but the monkey nodded.
"That was pretty dumb stupid of you." Nathan proceeded. "Oh, don't get me wrong. Your plan was quite ingenious, it did work after all. But unfortunately, now the police will be looking for the Venn Machine where you have changed. And they will probably check out this abandoned mall, looking if this Venn Machine is still here." his face became stone-hard. "And this we don't like. At all. We don't like the police snooping around our property. Oh, we'll probably be able to stave the investigation off. A favor here, a benefit there. But it will be expensive. You will cost us money. A lot. What do you intend to do about this?"
Trembling, the monkey removed the Rhino's saddle bags and pushed them toward Nathan. He looked at the loot but didn't touch it.
"So you want to pay us with our own goods?" he asked sweetly and the monkey's eyes became wide. "Yes, exactly. The shop you've looted and, not to forget, devastated, belongs to us."
This statement was only half true. Bottrop's Jewels belonged, of course, to Ezra Bottrop. But he was paying an indifferent sum each month to the family in order to ensure that such robberies didn't happen. And neither Nathan, nor his boss, liked having failed in their responsibilities.
"As far as I see it-" he said now, "-you have debts and nothing to pay with. We, on the other hand, want you to keep a low profile for a long time, until the investigation in your robbery has fizzled out. Let's say a year would be sufficient. Therefore I propose a compromise: You're going to work for us for a year, paying off your debts and simultaneously staying out of the public life. What do you say?"
Slowly, both the monkey and the Rhino nodded and Nathan grinned. Then he waved Jeff to come closer. The goon had a loaded shotgun in his hand, the muzzle trained on the Rhino.
"Jeff here will bring you to the Venn Machine. There I'll change you into a form which's more... appropriate for the kind of work I'm proposing to you. Jeff here, together with Mr. 12-Gauge, will make sure that both of you don't fuck with me while I'm changing you. If I come out of the Venn Machine and even one hair is different, he'll splatter your sorry brains all over the mall. And if you think you can somehow overpower Jeff, there'll still be Jorge left to also splatter your brains, albeit more messily... and slowly."
Menacing, Jorge reared his spidery body up on his four hind legs and revealed a pair of hungrily twitching dagger long fangs in his maw.
With a feral smile, Nathan looked at the frightened pair. "I'm sure you realize that it won't kill you, 'cause you're venned. But it'll make you wish we had."
"You two dumbfucks get this?" he asked very softly. Both of them did.
"Scare them, but only shoot them when you have no other choice." Nathan whispered secretly to Jeff as he and Jorge ushered the robbers to the machine. Jeff nodded grinning. He'd been working for Nathan a long time and already knew his boss's mantra. Nathan went to great lengths to put as much fear as possible into his 'customers' - exactly to prevent events which would make violence necessary.
After all, it was always good to be loved by your friends. But it was essential to be feared by your enemies.
"I have to say-" Salvatore mused appreciatively, "-that you have handled the Bottrop robbery quite well."
Nathan cocked an eyebrow while enjoying his whiskey, only partly listening to the unnatural cries and noises coming out of the arena behind his table, or the audience's cheers. He was currently sitting in Monster War's VIP-zone, the young man on the opposite of the table being his boss' youngest son Salvatore. But contrary to many of his useless, arrogant, braindead siblings he was a pleasure to work with and Nathan was virtually sure that when the old man would finally resign his responsibilities, Salvatore would take over the family business and not one of his retarded siblings. And damn well he should.
"Yeah, I thought so, too." Nathan allowed himself a tiny bit of complacency. And it was true. Mr. Bottrop's insurance company had, of course, covered the accrued damage and the family had offered Mr. Bottrop a brand-new security system, a total refurbishment of his store and a distinct discount in tithes over the next two years. The discount was big enough that it easily covered the increased 'official' insurance tithes Mr. Bottrop had to pay as a result of the robbery now. This was intended as an apology for the family's failure to protect him and his business from incursions, of course. Mr. Bottrop had been wary at first. While the family was known for being scrupulously fair, excessive magnanimity was certainly not one of its features. Of course he hadn't known that Nathan had sold his stolen goods on the black market, receiving a neat sum which went into the family's pockets.
Nathan noted that his whiskey glass was empty and raised it. Almost immediately, one of the new waitresses scurried forth and refilled it nervously, retreating just a little bit too hastily. Amused, Salvatore watched her disappear on her eight, stalking legs.
"You know it's just a tad unusual that a scorpion girl is afraid of you instead of the other way around." he said and Nathan grinned sheepishly into the glass. The way he'd handled both robbers had been one of his best ideas ever, he'd concluded. He'd transformed both of them into scorpion girls, basically scorpions with a cute, human, female body attached above their pincers.
He'd always thought that Monster War lacked waitresses which fit into the whole franchise, and both scorpion girls had hit off with the customers perfectly. It was totally creepy seeing them scurrying around on their arachnoid bodies, but the patrons loved it. Before the robbery, the duo had been a young, broke couple. The monkey had been the girl and the Rhino had been the boy. Fortunately she had worked as a waitress before, therefore she had been able to teach her boyfriend (now girl-scorpion-friend) the basics.
And much to Nathan's surprise, both had started to like their new occupation after the first couple of weeks. They'd first been horrified by their new bodies, but they'd coped with remarkably fast. He looked over at one of the scorpion girls now, chatting with a group of customers and blushing as they were obviously flirting with her. He thought that it probably was the boyfriend, but he wasn't sure, both girls looked nearly identical after all.
Well... he thought while he relaxed in his chair, savoring the whiskey. Perhaps I've done a good deed this time. I may have spared those two a life as petty criminals, doing one small robbery after the other and spending most of their time in jail. Now they are at least working a honest job... of sorts. And it looks as if they're having fun.
Grinning, he took another nip from his glass. I just love to help people. Happens way to sparsely in my kind of occupation.
Nathan cocked an eyebrow while enjoying his whiskey, only partly listening to the unnatural cries and noises coming out of the arena behind his table, or the audience's cheers. He was currently sitting in Monster War's VIP-zone, the young man on the opposite of the table being his boss' youngest son Salvatore. But contrary to many of his useless, arrogant, braindead siblings he was a pleasure to work with and Nathan was virtually sure that when the old man would finally resign his responsibilities, Salvatore would take over the family business and not one of his retarded siblings. And damn well he should.
"Yeah, I thought so, too." Nathan allowed himself a tiny bit of complacency. And it was true. Mr. Bottrop's insurance company had, of course, covered the accrued damage and the family had offered Mr. Bottrop a brand-new security system, a total refurbishment of his store and a distinct discount in tithes over the next two years. The discount was big enough that it easily covered the increased 'official' insurance tithes Mr. Bottrop had to pay as a result of the robbery now. This was intended as an apology for the family's failure to protect him and his business from incursions, of course. Mr. Bottrop had been wary at first. While the family was known for being scrupulously fair, excessive magnanimity was certainly not one of its features. Of course he hadn't known that Nathan had sold his stolen goods on the black market, receiving a neat sum which went into the family's pockets.
Nathan noted that his whiskey glass was empty and raised it. Almost immediately, one of the new waitresses scurried forth and refilled it nervously, retreating just a little bit too hastily. Amused, Salvatore watched her disappear on her eight, stalking legs.
"You know it's just a tad unusual that a scorpion girl is afraid of you instead of the other way around." he said and Nathan grinned sheepishly into the glass. The way he'd handled both robbers had been one of his best ideas ever, he'd concluded. He'd transformed both of them into scorpion girls, basically scorpions with a cute, human, female body attached above their pincers.
He'd always thought that Monster War lacked waitresses which fit into the whole franchise, and both scorpion girls had hit off with the customers perfectly. It was totally creepy seeing them scurrying around on their arachnoid bodies, but the patrons loved it. Before the robbery, the duo had been a young, broke couple. The monkey had been the girl and the Rhino had been the boy. Fortunately she had worked as a waitress before, therefore she had been able to teach her boyfriend (now girl-scorpion-friend) the basics.
And much to Nathan's surprise, both had started to like their new occupation after the first couple of weeks. They'd first been horrified by their new bodies, but they'd coped with remarkably fast. He looked over at one of the scorpion girls now, chatting with a group of customers and blushing as they were obviously flirting with her. He thought that it probably was the boyfriend, but he wasn't sure, both girls looked nearly identical after all.
Well... he thought while he relaxed in his chair, savoring the whiskey. Perhaps I've done a good deed this time. I may have spared those two a life as petty criminals, doing one small robbery after the other and spending most of their time in jail. Now they are at least working a honest job... of sorts. And it looks as if they're having fun.
Grinning, he took another nip from his glass. I just love to help people. Happens way to sparsely in my kind of occupation.