Complications Roger woke up without much difficulty the following morning. He was mildly surprised at this, because he hadn't awakened to Dorothy's usual piano concerto. He was tired, he knew it, but mentally rather than physically. Today would be the day he would go to Paradigm HQ to try and dig up some answers, but at the moment, he didn't feel very enthusiastic about it. There was a large part of him that was rather certain he wouldn't like the answers he got, assuming of course he could even wring any out of Rosewater. His life was becoming just a tad complex, as though it were all hurtling towards some kind of focal point. He didn't like it. He enjoyed his day-to-day existence. He had never been looking for some greater purpose. Roger Smith was perfectly happy to just take life one day at a time, deal by deal. When he got too old for his profession, he would retire in style and fade into the background of this forgotten city. That had always been his plan. He had no desire to be famous, and he didn't care if his name was forgotten after he retired. Dorothy, however, was making this plan considerably more difficult, because she had the nasty habit of actually motivating him to do things, things he ordinarily wouldn't even consider. In fact, ever since she had come to live with him, he had taken on several jobs that weren't even in his job description. Sighing, Roger got dressed, and made his way downstairs for a little breakfast before taking care of business. He had a busy day, after all, and Norman had always told him to make sure he started it right. The drive to Paradigm was a tad awkward. Roger kept making glances at Dorothy. He would start to say something, then stop and resume his fixation on the road. Dorothy found it extremely irritating. "If you are trying to apologize, there's no need. I'm not angry with you." Dorothy tried to explain. "That's not the point, Dorothy. The point is I treated you badly." Seeing where this conversation was headed, Dorothy made a sharp turn to avoid it. A faint smile almost crossed her face as she spoke. "You've treated me worse before." "Err.......well, yeah....." "Roger, don't worry about it. I want to talk to you about Paradigm. Don't you think it's dangerous to go there?" "Maybe, but I don't think Alex is going to kill the city's top negotiator." "Perhaps." Dorothy admitted. They drove the rest of the way in silence. "I'm here to see Alex Rosewater." Roger barked to the security guard stationed at the front desk of the Paradigm Corporation. Dorothy stood beside him, pondering the exchange. "You and everybody else." The guard remarked. "Like I tell everyone, if you want to see the boss, apply for an appointment, and he'll try to fit you into his schedule if he feels like it." "Do you even know who I am?" "Not really. Should I? Mister....." "Smith. Roger Smith." "Never heard of you." "You work in security and you've never heard of me?" "Nope." "Do you have any idea how many times I've helped the man who signs your paychecks out?" "I'm afraid not." Roger sighed, stifling a growl. "Look. I have some important information to discuss with Rosewater. It's about the last job he hired me for." "All right, look. I'll give his secretary a buzz and see if he'll see you, all right?" Roger grinned. "Tell her I've got some information on Zebach." "Yeah, yeah." Dorothy turned to the negotiator. "Do you think he will see us?" "If not, then I guess I'll have to count on you to 'convince' him, Dorothy. One way or another, we're going to handle this." "I understand." "I won't allow them to do whatever they want to you, Dorothy. Whatever they're trying to do, I'll stop it." "I thank you, Roger Smith." "Thank me when we've gotten to the bottom of this." "I will. But if anything should happen to me before then....I just wanted you to know I appreciate what you are doing." Caught off guard, Roger wasn't completely sure what to say in response. It was one of the most emotional things he had heard her say, on par with when she had pleaded with him to save Instro, or rescue Pero, or even destroy the ghost they had found in the subway tunnels. There was only one thing Roger could think of. "Understood." It lacked the emotion of Dorothy's words, but it was elegantly simple and direct, something he knew that Dorothy would appreciate. The guard hung up the phone and turned towards the visitors. "Miss Lovejoy has instructed me to send you up to Mr. Rosewater's office." Roger smirked. "I told you. Next time, remember my face." The guard said nothing, but motioned towards the elevator. He and Dorothy boarded it. The doors closed and the elevator began its ascent. "It's dangerous for me to have brought you here." Roger stated. "Perhaps." Dorothy tentatively agreed. "Still, I'm hoping to show Rosewater how serious I am. This is not a negotiation. In fact, this matter is completely non-negotiable. Whatever Paradigm is doing to you, they're going to stop, and now. Then they are going to undo whatever they've done." "That may be easier said than done." Roger grinned. "Well, we won't know unless we try, now will we?" "No, we won't." The elevator came to a stop and its doors opened. "Well, well, Roger, I see you've finally returned to us." The woman known as Angel smiled behind her glasses. "And it looks like you've brought your lady friend with you." "What's your boss up to, Angel?" "Oh, nothing much. But I'm sure he'd love to hear whatever it is you have to tell him about Schwartzvald." "All in good time." "And how is your Miss Dorothy today?" "I'm fine." "That's good to hear. Well, come on, Mister Rosewater will see you now." The two entered Rosewater's gigantic office, and Angel quickly excused herself. Rosewater rose from his chair to greet the negotiator. "Greetings, Roger Smith. It's good to see you." "I'm sure." Alex crossed the room to meet Roger, and Roger graciously accepted his hand. "Please, have a seat. I'd like to hear about this Schwartzvald fellow I've been told Zebach has become." "I'd be delighted to tell you, but first you're going to have to tell me something, Mr. Rosewater." "Oh?" "Yes." Roger placed his hand on Dorothy's back. "Would you mind telling exactly what you and your company have done to my client here?" "I beg your pardon?" "Tell him, Dorothy." "Upon my last self-diagnostic, I discovered several time-locked files within myself that originated from the Paradigm Corporation." Dorothy explained. "And you're going to tell us when you put them in her, why, and how to remove them." A smile began to play across Rosewater's face. "You're very clever, you know that? You two really do make an excellent team. It's rather obvious we chose well." "What the hell are you talking about?!" Roger asked, angrily. Rosewater merely smiled, obviously pleased. "You never told him, did you, Dorothy." "Told me what?" "Roger, if you recall, delivering Schwartzvald's retirement check was not the first time we asked you to locate him." "No, it wasn't. The first time I encountered him face to face was beneath the city. I remembered drawing up the report that detailed the events that lead to his death up for you." "We hired you that time because we knew you would find him, with a little help from your friend, that is." Roger grimaced. "Dorothy?" "We knew what Scwartzvald had found down there, Negotiator. We knew all about the ancient MegaDeus. We knew about because we had already found it. In fact, we planted some information inside of it, and allowed Zebach to find it himself." "But why?" "So we could send you after him, of course. So that you would bring her down there. So that she would be compelled to activate it, as she did, if you recall." "No!" Dorothy cried. "Yes." Alex said. "You didn't just transfer information into that MegaDeus. It transferred information into you, as we intended." "It violated me." Dorothy said firmly. "I remember. It forced itself into me. Into my mind." "Dorothy...." Roger said slowly, concerned, confused, and just a tad bit frightened. "You never told me....." "Wasn't it obvious, Roger Smith? The way in which Dorothy acted during your battle? She was frightened, and hurting, and all you did was try to snap her out of it. It never really occurred to you to wonder why she was feeling that way, did it?" "Damn you!" Roger shouted, restraining himself from lunging at Rosewater. "What's wrong, Roger? Are you upset because it was she who was chosen instead of you?" "What the hell are you talking about? What was Dorothy chosen for?!!!" Dorothy told him. *********************************************************************** Things are certainly starting to get interesting, now aren't they? Hopefully I've managed to keep all of you hooked! There's still a few twists and turns I have yet to take you on, so don't let go of that lap bar just yet, folks! As always, keep sending in those reviews! I love reading them, especially you people who take the time to single out what they thought was really good. It helps me shape future fics. 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. And remember! Marriage proposals are better e-mailed! Unless of course you want to let everyone know how you really feel about me..... (j/k) This is the end of the file! But feel free to start over at the beginning, if you like. =============================================================== = This has been an official Swead Entertainment fanfic! = = Visit Swead Entertainment @ http://www.intcon.net/~sonny/se = ===============================================================