Altered Destiny


	"Are you waking up?" Dorothy asked, standing over the form of Roger Smith.
 
	Roger opened his eyes slowly, blinking them profusely to get a clearer picture. He saw 
 Dorothy standing over him, and he sat bolt upright in his bed.

	"Roger?" Dorothy asked him, a hint of confusion in her voice.

	"What the hell?" Roger answered her question with one of his own.

	"You were hurt." Dorothy explained. "I had Norman bring us back here."

	"But--"

	"I carried you."

	"What the hell is going on here?!?"

	"I don't understand. Please, Roger, you need to rest."

	Roger slowed, pausing to look at the android for a moment. She looked.....concerned? "I
 guess you're right Dorothy."

	"You should rest. Norman and I will cancel your appointments for the day."

	"Dorothy?"

	"Yes?"

	"Do you think you could bring me something to drink? Some tea or something?"

	"If you like."

	"Thanks."

	The android looked back at him quizzically, then turned towards the door, exiting the
 room. "Am I....alive?" Roger Smith asked of himself. He held the palms of his hands out in
 front of him and examined them. "It all felt so real."

	Roger's thoughts were interrupted by the returning Dorothy, who now bore a mug of hot
 tea. "Here you are, Roger." She informed him.

	"Thank you Dorothy. You can just set it on the nightstand over here."

	"All right." Dorothy walked towards the aforementioned nightstand, holding the cup out 
 in front of her. Carefully, she set the fragile mug on the nightstand, as Roger had requested.
 What she hadn't expected was for Roger to grab hold of her arm. Dorothy turned her head to face
 the negotiator. "Roger?"

	At that moment, Roger threw his weight to the other side of the bed. Dorothy, who was
 unprepared for this, went with him. She was knocked off balance and fell onto Roger's bed,
 approximately on the spot he had occupied only a moment ago. Not giving her a chance to react,
 Roger rolled back over and effectively pinned Dorothy to the bed, although they both knew that
 she could overpower him at any time she wished. "Roger, stop it! You are hurting me!" Dorothy
 called out.
 
	"Funny, I didn't think you could be hurt!" Roger retorted.

	"What are you doing?!"

	"Something I apparently should have done along time ago!"

	"I don't understand! Roger!"

	"You were going to betray me, weren't you Dorothy?"

	"What?!"

	"Admit it! You were programmed to kill me, weren't you?"

	"NORMAN!" Dorothy yelled out.

	"WEREN'T YOU?!!"

	"NO!"

	"You can lie too, eh? They built you well!"

	"Roger you are frightening me! STOP IT!"

	Roger felt Dorothy begin to resist him. Almost instantly, Roger grabbed ahold of
 Dorothy's right wrist. He knew there was no way he could overpower her, but perhaps he could
 deny her the ability to use at least one of her limbs. "Let me go!" Dorothy cried.

	"NEVER! Not until you tell me who and what you really are, and why you have betrayed
 me!"

	"I haven't betrayed you!"

	Suddenly, Norman burst into the room. "Miss Dorothy! I heard you scream! What's the
 matter?"

	"Norman, be careful, Roger is not himself!"

	Roger turned his head towards his trusted butler. "Norman!"

	"Yes Master Roger?"

	"So you're in on this too. This makes sense. It would've taken an inside man."

	"In on what, sir?" Norman wore a thoroughly confused look on his face.

	"Get away from me! I know you're both out to get me!"

	"Master Roger? I beg your pardon, there is no one here out to get you, sir."

	Roger looked into the eyes of Norman and saw no deception within them. "Norman?"

	"Sir?"

	Roger looked down at the form of Dorothy beneath him, who was frightened but trying not
 to struggle lest she damage her protector more than he already was. "Have you been getting
 fresh with Miss Dorothy, Master Roger?" Norman asked.

	"Dorothy?" Roger released his grip on Dorothy, and rolled off of her. For her part,
 Dorothy sat up.
 
	"Roger, what is wrong?" Dorothy inquired.

	"I-I don't know Roger responded. He fell forwards. Dorothy caught him, gently wrapping
 her arms around his torso to support him. "I think I'm losing my mind....."

	"It is all right." She gently lowered Roger's head to his pillow, slowly letting go of
 him. "You just need to rest."

	The negotiator turned away from his butler and android. "I'll be okay." He said quietly.

	"Miss Dorothy and I will come and get you after you have rested a bit." Norman added. He
 then motioned for Dorothy to follow him out of the room. She lingered for a moment, than
 hesitantly complied. After passing through the doorway, Dorothy shut the door to Roger's room
 behind her.
 
	"Norman," Dorothy asked,  "what has happened to Roger?"

	"I wish I knew, Miss Dorothy. I don't even know what could have brought this on. He
 hasn't been acting strangely lately. At least, no stranger than usual."

	"He accused me of betraying him."

	"Good heavens! Why?"

	"I do not know. I have not done anything to betray him. He told me that I was programmed
 to kill him."

	"Surely that can't be true."

	"No. And even if I was, I can assure you that I would have no desire to do so."

	"But what ever could convince Master Roger otherwise?"

	"I think that something has happened to him. Norman, where did Roger go yesterday.
 Besides the subway tunnels."

	"He was investigating the string of bizarre murders. I believe he might have said
 something about going to see that Rosewater fellow."

	"The president of the Paradigm Corporation?"

	"No, his father."

	"I see. Norman, if you need me, I will be in my room. I am going to be running a
 complete diagnostic on myself for the next few hours."

	"Understood."

	Dorothy stared at the butler for a moment, then walked past him, heading in the
 direction of her room. After she rounded a corner and disappeared from sight, Norman cautiously
 opened the door to Roger's room, to see if his employer was all right. Roger twitched slightly
 on his bed, but Norman thought better of disturbing him. He knew all too well that what Roger
 really needed at the moment was some time to compose himself.
 


	Needless to say, the mansion was rather quiet that night. The balcony doors remained
 shut. No notes drifted forth from the bowels of the piano. With Roger and Dorothy both resigned
 to staying in their own rooms, the house felt empty. Still, Norman prepared dinner as though
 everything were perfectly normal. He wouldn't feel right unless he did. Norman was sitting in
 the kitchen, enjoying his own meal, when at length, he was joined by Dorothy.

	"Norman, something is wrong."

	"What's the trouble, Miss Dorothy."

	"While performing the diagnostic on myself, I found several files within me that I had
 not been previously aware of."

	"Really? And what information do they contain?"

	"I do not now. They are all time locked. I am unable to either open or delete them. Most
 of them are set to activate approximately eight months from now."

	"How come you never noticed them before?"

	"I cannot be certain. In fact, it is possible that there may be even more of them within
 me that I am unable to detect. But I am positive that every one of them originates from the
 Paradigm Corporation. We must tell Roger about this."

	"Indeed."

	"I think that I now understand what Roger was talking about. I have a strong suspicion
 that whatever is in these files is linked to why Roger thinks I have betrayed him. If this is
 the case, I may have to ask you to deactivate me until we are certain that I am not a threat to
 Roger or anyone else."

	"Why Miss Dorothy, that's preposterous! We're not just going to deactivate you on some
 simple whim. You have just as much a right to live as anyone else."

	"I do not live. I merely exist."

	"You shouldn't speak of yourself that way."

	"Why?"

	"The man has a point, Dorothy, just try listening to him." This voice caused both the
 elder man and the girl to turn towards the doorway it was coming from.
 
	"Roger."

	"You know, it's finally starting to make sense. It's like a told you once before,
 Dorothy. Everything in this city happens for a reason. And that reason is the Paradigm
 Corporation. I think it's time we paid a visit to them, wouldn't you agree?"

	"Yes."

	"I say, Master Roger, it is good to see you up and about again." Norman enthused.

	"You'll probably see it a lot more, now that I know who my real friends and enemies are.
 Have the car ready in the morning, Norman. Dorothy and I have some business with Rosewater."

	"As you wish, sir."

	Now it was Dorothy who was curious. "Roger, what do you plan on doing when we get
 there?" She inquired.
 
	Roger smirked confidentially. "Get some answers, of course." He explained.
 
	Dorothy knew what that meant. If nothing else, tomorrow would prove to be very
 interesting indeed.




************************************************************************************************


	I'm glad to see that a lot of people seem to be liking this so far. A lot of you seem to
 be confused about what is going on. Hey, it's okay, I'm not entirely sure myself. Sometimes I
 feel like I'm just a passenger of this story too. Be patient with me though, folks. Who knows,
 I may actually work in some genuine Roger/Dorothy WAFF after all. Maybe. If you're all really
 good.

	Anyone have a guess as to what is going to happen next? Feel free to guess away, it
 keeps interest in the story alive.

	As always, please be a thoughtful reader and leave your review. Even if you don't like
 it. Hey, it's okay. I'm a big boy, I can take it. 

Leave your compliments and complaints in the review section (hint hint).


	You may also feel free to send your questions, comments, love letters, death
 threats, marriage proposals, and ransom demands to:


Lord Malachite
ranger_writer@yahoo.com

	As always, standard disclaimers apply. I don't own "The Big-O," I'm just
 blatantly borrowing its characters without permission, in order that I might
 express myself. I'm not making any profit off of your creations, Sunrise, so
 don't bother! I don't recommend suing me either, because what little I own,
 is already owed to the government, or to Mastercard.


This is the end of the file! Go and do your homework!

===============================================================
=    This has been an official Swead Entertainment fanfic!    =
= Visit Swead Entertainment @ http://www.intcon.net/~sonny/se =
===============================================================