The machine god

'Kill a man you're a murderer ... kill a hundred a serial killer ... kill a million you're a monster ... kill them all ... youre a God ' He pondered those philosophical words as he sat next to Rebecca in a van , Simply stating down at the metal ground below as pillar joked with Sasha, Attempting to cop a feel of the woman who slapped him with a red face as he slammed into the back doors of the van .

" Oi ... keep it down back there " Maine called as he sat with dorio in the front, The blonde not so discreetly glaring at sebastian through the mirror in the middle of the van.

" Yeeesh girl you got a slap on ya " Pillar rubbed the side of his head as she crossed her arms and gave a humph , Putting her back to the man " So doc got any new preem cyberware I can try out , Anything that can you know "

Raising his eyes to meet pillars own , Sebastian simply shook his head , Eyes staring into the mid distance whilst he was preoccupied.

Of course pillar couldn't see the look on his face thanks to his helmet being in place , Its skull like visage simply giving a cold chill to anyone that looked apon it . It was human , too human , Yet wasn't quite human and deep down everyone that stared at it knew , it rubbed against their subconscious , Triggering ancient long since buried ingrained fears encodes into their DNA, It was uncanny , And they didn't like it .

" Don't disturb the client pillar " Maine growled , Attempting to reduce the exposure of his team to the man as much as possible , And sebastian couldn't blame him for it .

He had them walking on a very tight rope here , Sixty k eddies for one simple babysitting job wasn't normal and it had them all on edge .

" That mask you've got on is creepy as fuck you know " His mask turned to the small blonde beside him as she toyed with her pistol .

" Then it's doing its purpose " He turned his mask back to the ground before him , A sort of headache eating at the back of his head , It was annoying , Itching , A sort of pressure between his eyes .

Pucking her lips , She rose from her seat and stared deeply into the side of his helmet , Glaring a hole in the side of his head .

A deep hiss escaped his helmet , A chilled mist falling from the nostrils as rebacca shivered abit .

" Pssst ... what are you doing " Pillar asked Rebecca as he leant over .

" Exposure therapy , Gonna stare at it until I'm not afraid any more " Rebecca replied , However shrunk back as she turned her gaze back to sebastian , Finding the glowing iris's of the helmet staring directly into her once more .

" Bitch " She swung on instinct, Her open palm slamming into the cold fibre that made up the masks surface " OOOOOWWW "

She wrung her hand , The throbbing pain causing her to flick it around as he turned his head away once more , A sort of low droning synthetic laugh coming from within the helmet .

" Find that funny did ya , Well is this funny to ya " She pointed her pistol squarly at the centre of his forehead , Her face contorted in anger , Her white teeth flashing exposed .

The barrel rested on the cheek of his mask , Yet he turned to her unfazed , Where he lowered his protected forehead to the barrel , Where he pressed the barrel squarely against his forehead .

Everything went silent in the van as Sasha and pillar watched in bated silence , The droning of Maine and dorio being lost on both sebastian and Rebecca as the lenses of his helmet drilled squarly Into Rebecca's eyes.

" Do it ... It won't end how you expect it ... " He said as Rebecca's face contorted again to show she was serious about what she was saying " Don't be afraid "

His right hand flashed out and caught her hands in his own before she could pull the barrel back .

" Maybe you'll feel better instead of being scared " He pressed again as the grip on her hands tightened .

" Maybe you'll put down the man who stole your brothers hands " He leaned over , Her arms bending as he began to stand over the girl .

" Put down the man who gave you that scar on your chest " His voice was low , his left hand reaching out to gently caress the shallow cut that sat firmly between her breasts , she shivered under the contact , leaning back further into the cold wall of the van .

" DON'T DO IT BECCA " Maine called from the front of the van as sebastian simply lowered himself closer into Rebecca's space .

" Do it becca " He pressed .

" I .... I ... " Rebecca slowly began to shake as she stared onto his helmet .

" DO ... it " He growled as her fingers trembled .

" DO IT " A bang escaped the pistol as silence reigned , Pillar and Sasha sitting back in fright as the end of the barrel smoked .

" GOD DAMMIT BECCA ... WHAT'D YOU DO " Maome turned back and froze at what he found .

Rebecca's lip quaked as she was allowed to drop the pistol from her grip , Her back against the bench of the van , Whilst beside her head was a smoking bullet that had fallen from the mask of the man standing over her .

The mask itself was completely unharmed , Simply staring down at the girl before sebastian moved back and sat back in the position he had previously been in .

" Tsk " Maine turned away as he stared ahead , returning to watching the road as he frowned in thought .

" Phew that was intense man , How'd you know the gun would backfire " Pillar asked as Rebecca slowly sat herself up , Her heart hammering in her chest as she refused to look at sebastian for the time being .

" It didn't... " Rebecca whispered as her hand landed on the flattened bullet that had landed at her side after it had impacted sebastian squarly in the temple .

' Now what was I thinking about ' Sebastian mused ' Ah yes ... I remember '

...

" We're here ... call us if you need backup " Maine said over the back-seat as sebastian simply opened the back door to the van , Not saying anything as Rebecca looked at the back of Sebastian's robe as he stepped out and closed the door .

" Tsk ... bastard " Rebecca hissed as she crossed her arms , Fingers toying at the trigger of her gun as she tapped her leg .

" Now what the hell was that about Rebecca "

....

Stepping away from the van , Sebastian pulled the hood of his robe up , Hiding his face and helmet as he began to cross the road , The base of the robe billowing in the wind as the sheeth of his sword followed with the winds .

On his left hip was the sheeth of his blade , Whilst his pistol was clipped to his right hip . A belt with two magnetised grips keeping both suspended to his waist .

Coming to a stop at the centre of the lanes of the street , He looked up towards the large three storey building that the scavs and maelstrom were now using to store and divvy out the scavenged cyberware they had stolen .

[ Does system maker wish for makers amygdala to be suppressed once more Y/N ? ] The red key asked as he shook his head in response .

' No ... This time its different ... I won't be so ... Emotional ' He replied as he quickly hacked into the systems of the warehouse , Shutting off the cameras enmasse as he began to approach the courtyard to the establishment.

' Turn on the deadzone ... I don't want them to see me coming ... or see me at all ' A field expanded around him in a hundred meter radius , Causing all optics and lenses to not be able to catch a glimpse on him once again.

He stepped around the corner into the courtyard , Right infront of the maelstrom out front who were sitting atop a couple of broken run down vehicles .

He approached , Aware they couldn't see him as he simply passed by and up to the buildings front door.

' Open ' The door opened on its own at his bidding , Where he cast a glance over his shoulder before finally stepping into the buildings bowels .

...

The lights within the corridor he stepped in went out as soon as he stepped in , As his sword sung to life as it was pulled out of its sheeth , As his left hand gripped the hilt of his pistol .

" What the hell was that " A maelstrom turned to look at the front door , Only to find himself splitting at half at the waist , Whilst a brief flash of muzzle fire escaped Sebastian's pistol , Splattering brain matter on the wall before he simply moved on past the dead maelstrom member whose brain had been given a lethal dose of fresh air .

Nobody within the corridor could see anything else as the pitch black of the corridor refused to allow them to see , Casting nothing but a blanket of darkness for them to peer into .

" Dum fuck you there " A maelstrom called out as he raised his rifle , his optics trying to see through the dark , But with it being entirely night time outside , The shudders of all windows being closed with all light sources within the corridor being off , It might as well have been easier to simply stare across at the bottom of the ocean floor .

A low , Metallic sounding breath of air responded . It sounded forced , Like air was being forced through a tight set of tubes, It sounded unnatural . It sounded wrong .

And the man didn't even see the source was directly beside his left ear , As sebastian raised his left hand , Hand balled into a fist before he punched clean through the side of the man's head.

His fist exploded through the side of the other man's head , Fingers loosening as deep crimson fluid ran down his fingers , brain matter coating his arm as the man's optics bulged , Blood running from his nose and lips .

Pulling his hand back through the man's head , The body slumped uselessly to the ground , Sebastian using the infra red of his optic ware to look at the nearest maelstrom currently looking around in confusion.

" Weak " He growled , Voice droning as he turned to the third man in the corridor , The man seemed spooked at the sudden and unfamiliar voice .

Spinning around in his direction as he squinted through the dark .

" Who are you ... where are you " The man asked as he pointed , Attempting to pull out a light for him to see in the dark , Yet his fingers fumbled the source as he dropped it to the floor .

The phone fall flat on the ground , Of which sebastian leant down and picked it up .

He smirked in thought, It must have been terrifying to the man , Who's kegs were now shaking.

As he wasn't able to see anything but his phone slowly rising , Suspended in the air by an unseen force as his optics simply couldn't pick up Sebastian's form .

" What is this ... YOU BASTARD WHO ARE YOU " Sebastian turned the light to the man and made a show of slowly approaching , The man turning his smart rifle to face the cone of light , Yet felt his fear sky rocketed as the weapon simply refused to fire in the direction of the light .

With each step he took closer to the man , His behaviour became more and more eratic , Breathing becoming laboured before finally screaming and rushing the light of his own phone , Weapon overhead as he intended to bring the butt of his weapon down on whatever it was he couldn't see .

' A shame ' Sebastian leant back , His right leg swinging out as he twirled , Dropping the man onto his back with a wheeze of air before sebastian sunk the blade of his sword into the man's nose , Puncturing through the back of his head with laughable ease .

With the third man dead , The lights of the corridor turned back on , Leaving sebastain alone amongst the three corpses , Where he pulled the blade of his sword back out of the man's head , With a small spurt of blood leaking from the hole .

Sebastian walked forward towards the back of the corridor , Where a lobby sat on the opposite side , With nine gang members looming around , Having turned it into a sort of barrack for them to rest in Whilst they guarded the way into the rest of the building .

' It won't make a difference ' Sebastian smirked slightly before opening the door with his cyberware , Pressing himself against the wall as it slid open , Alerting the maelstrom within .

" Yo what the fuck is that " One of the gang members rose from the chair and began to walk towards the corridor, Squinting as he looked towards the body of the one dubbed dum fuck .

" Ayo what the " His face promptly slid off of his body as sebastian Sliced upwards with his blade , The entire front portion of the man's face simply falling to the ground .

Blood sprayed from the open blood vessels , The half of the remaining brain sagging slightly whilst the nostrils and back of the mouth gagged and moved before the body collapsed to the ground .

The group rallied at seeing the face of their compatriot fall away from his body , Leaping up just as a man draped in black stepped from behind the doorframe , Regarding them for but a moment before they all fell to the ground , Their heads shaking rapidly, violently as their cyberware reached temperatures high enough to fry their brains , Liquifying the precious material as it flooded down their ear lobes and pooled at their feet .

Seeing the eight all fall to the ground , Sebastian remained unfazed , Watching the bodies fall at once before he stepped properly into the fawyer.

His eyes scanned the room , The red lights above cast the dark room in sinister light , The stairs to the back no doubt leading into the storehouses where they had their , Wares ' Stored .

' The layout indicates there should be a warehouse beyond in the next room.

SCAN THE ROOM ' The customary heat of the red key rose over the base of his neck , A sensation he was very accustomed to at this point.

Over his left optic , A live display came to show the interior of the adjacent warehouse .

' Hm ' Sebastian growled slightly , Stepping past the corpses at his feet as he looked at the live feed .

' So the head of this whole mess is Patricia huh ... I knew someone higher up had their hands in this , I had pegged to be more Royce than the woman ... ' And true to his words , There were about fifteen maelstrom pulling barrels of klept parts , bits and pieces of the regular people just trying to get though each day . Children robbed of their spines , Hands , Feet. Whatever the monsters could get their hands on. Mothers , Fathers , Brother , Sisters... how many people were torn apart to fill those barrels .

A deep malicious growl resonated from Sebastian's mouth , As four more vans entered the warehouse , More maelstrom stepping out of the vans and pulling more out.

He was about to step out and through the doorway into the warehouse , Before an alert from the red key gave him pause , A buzz as the back of his neck as another feed came to life .

' Enable audio scans ... I want to know what they're saying ' A message panel appeared beside the live feed as a group came up to Patricia, The woman laughing and jumping onto one of the barrels as she addressed the groups .

' They're corpo ' Sebastian realised as the leader of the group , An Asian man with a raised eyebrow scrunched his nose and leant away from the barrels .

[ Have you done what was asked of you ] The Asian man spoke, Sebastian reading the translated conversation through the silent feed as the red key decoded what they were saying.

[ Of course , The targets you wanted gone right here ] patricja laughed , Reaching down into the nearest barrel to pull out a disembodied arm of a young man [ Nothing we couldn't handle ... though why you wanted us to plant those ... things is beyond me ... but you know ]

Sebastian squinted , Committing the Asian man's face to memory.

[ Did any of them have what we were looking for ] He asked , Making sure not to get any blood on his pristine clothing.

[ Just one ... but she ... lacked the mental fortitude ... She passed shortly before arrival ] Patricia shrugged , Motioning to one of the vans where two of her goons pulled out the body of a young adolescent girl out from the back doors , Dumping the body at the base of the executives feet.

[ Unforntunate that she couldn't make it ] The man rolled the dead girl onto her back , Leaning down as he grabbed her face and contorted her cold cheeks with his fingers [ Atleast the body was able to be recovered , We'll be taking her with us .. in the meantime ... continue your hard work ... load her up ]

The corpos goons came forward , Dragging the girls body into the trunk of the car , Before the corpo monsters ultimately left the scene without much more fanfare .

' Record the credentials of that man and his vehicle ' The red key acknowledged his order , As sebastian decided to wait a couple minutes more before interfering in their business.

...

' The time is now ' His fingers curled around the hilt of his sword , Face becoming slack as he allowed the red key to reduce the usage of his amygdala.

' Open ' The door to the warehouse opened , The orange irises shining behind the black lenses of his mask glowing ominously under the red light as he stepped into the warehouse proper .

They hadn't noticed his arrival yet , But they were about to as his metal boots rose to the railing of the second story walkway , Before he ultimately stepped over the side and fell to the first floor.

His collision with the ground halted all movement within , As the ground beneath his legs buckled , Cratering slightly as the black robes he wore made him look akin to a sinister mountain of black fabric with glowing eyes .

" And who the fuck are you supposed to be " Patricia accused aloud , The fifteen maelstrom present dropping whatever they were doing to reach for their weapons , All the while Sebastian slowly rose like a spectre , Coming to stand tall as his blade was pointed directly down at the ground beside his feet.

" Who I am is of no importance ... what I am ... well ... that doesn't matter to you anymore anyway " Patricia had no more time to ponder , As he simply vanished a moment later , Appearing behind the maelstrom higher up with his blade hoisted I front of his body.

" Pathetic wench " The man's deep baritone voice cut through the tension of the warehouse.

She made to say something. But the expression on her face shifted as she became Keenly aware of the face she was no longer able to form and coherent sentences .

As metallic blood gushed from her mouth , A sudden cold ran down her spine , Well , What should have been her spine since she in fact couldn't feel much of anything anymore.

' When did he have to to do that ' Patricia thought, As her arms and torso fell away from eachother , The last thing she was privy to seeing being her men lighting the man up , Firing everything they had at the spectre of black .

He moved like a shadow , robes twisting and contorting, Black a black blur of night as it moved far beyond the speed of what any of the maelstrom within thought possible .

" HOW THE FUCK IS THIS GUY SO FAST " One of her men screamed as she sounds around her began to dim , Her eyes watching as his sword flashed out. Left , right , Up , Down , To the side . Yet he didn't move from his position he had taken after cutting her down . Nor did he need to , As audible cracks were heard , Hundreds within moments.

' He's blocking everything .. ' True enough , Bullets flew towards the man , Only to be sent wayward away from his body in random directions with each purposeful sweep of that terrible weapon in his hands .

' Run you fools ' Was Patricia's last thought as everything finally went black against her will , The cold biting at her senses as her hearing finally failed her.

...

' Shock ' Sebastian finally acted instead of blocking , Leaping to the side as he cast a downward sweep at Patricia's neck for good measure , Severing her head from her dead shoulders just incase as he leapt towards a goon behind a barrel.

He dashed around its bulk , The code on his blade shifting as he stabbed directly into the man's heart , A barrage of electricity exploded from the man's body .

Wizzing in the air alerted sebastian to more bullets hailing down apon him , and with a quick duck , He reached up , Pushing the blade through the man's body and out the other side where he went back to blocking and redirecting the wall of lead flying at him.

" Head one removed " Sebastian mocked out loud , The red key erupting to life as the room around him came alive with movement.

" AHHHH " Several of the maelstrom cried out as their senses became momentarily overwhelmed, Their audio relievers emitting high frequencies , Their eyes practically burning . All this thanks to the red key to allow sebastian to leap forward.

He twisted mid air , Boot flying out as he caught on of the goons around the neck with the top of his boot , Dropping the man to the ground where his head erupted , Spraying metal and brain matter as sebastian rounded and severed the heads from three more .

" Why don't you kill yourselves " Sebastian spoke just as the overwhelmed maelstrom regained their senses , And half of the remaining ten responded to his request by raising their weapons to the bases of their chins and spraying the ceiling with the contents of their brain cases .

" Now that there is a much more favourable five of you ... " Sebastian pointed his balde at the chin of the nearest survivor " Who don't you tell me everything I want to know "

" Fuck you ... we won't say shit . . ".

" Very well "

....

" Yo what the fuck man " Pillar exclaimed as they erupted into the warehouse , Guns pointed in all directions as they spotted sebastian beginning to pour fuel all over everything that wasn't the barrels.

" Ah " Dorio shuddered as she , And everyone else present looked up to the ceiling rafters " Your handiwork "

Blood slowly dripped down from the roof , where two maelstrom members were currently reaching for them , Gargling as their necks were suffocating thanks to the chains wrapped around their necks.

The other three had already succumbed to the succofations as they bodies simply danger from the rafters .

" Obviously ... now take what you want ... you don't have much time " Sebastian didn't bother looking at them as he held the drum of furl overhead , Shaking it rapidly around to continue pouring the fuel all over the building in vital areas that would allow for eh quickest and most effect burn .

" Right ... Let's get this done " Maine cringed , Especially when he felt Sasha gently hold onto his jacket in open terror , One of the two surviving maelstrom hanging above passing away as his arm fell to the side, Eyes losing their light whilst his body gave a final shudder.

" We'll... just take the barrels ... Pillar dorio get them back in the vans , We'll take em with us " Dorio and pillar gave him betrayed looks , Not wanting to get any closer to the man currently hopping onto a bunch of crates , Humming to himself as he poured the fuel all over the wooden boxes .

" Jsut hurry up , The quicker it's done the better " Main whispered to the ground as Rebecca moved forward and began to drag one of the barrels towards the vans , Dorio biting her tongue and grabbing pillar to move to the other two .

" Sasha ... go back to the truck .. we'll see you at the hang out " Maine assured the girl, Sending her back the way they came , The girl giving a thankful nod and fleeing .

" Let's pack this shit up "

....

With the warehouse now bare of the ... acquired goods . Sebastian stood at the centre of the room, Looking up to the final stubborn maelstrom member , Whom was still struggling in vein against the fate that was to befall him .

" I wander what it's like, Knowing that no matter what you do ... it's all futile ... if you escape you die . If you fail you die ... there's just no way out for you. You're alone , Your friends are dead ... and you should know I'll be going for your family next . I wander what you'll choose ... allowing your neck to snap ... or will you endure long enough to survive the flames of hell that I bequeath to you ... personally I hope you get to experience them " Sebastian slowly pulled out an old fashioned lighter , Opening it to reveal the single orange flame within with a simple click.

" Do try and make an interesting pose when you die ... I'll be watching " Sebastian tossed the lighter to the far side of the warehouse , The rotors in his spine and shoulders activated with a hum before the lighter even made it a quarter of the way across the room.

" HHYYAAAAAAHHHH " The maelstrom members creamed in defiance as sebastian burst through the walls with the force of a tank , Moments before the warehouse was consumed in an inferno that would wake up the neighbourhood and alert the authorities all round.

....

3 MINUTES AWAY

....

" That fucker really did it " Maine cursed as the ground beneath the truck shuttered momentarily, Raising his gaze to look in the console mirror , Watching the explosion expand as it consumed a small portion of the nearby buildings.

" Of course I did " Maine would never admit a scream escaped his lips , As he swerved onto the curb and back. Turning to face the man who all but appeared in the passenger seat of the van .

" Maine you alright " Dorio asked over comms. The van ahead of them slowing down slightly , The one she was driving as she made to check up on her boyfriend.

" Peachy " Maine responded slowly. Turning off comms to regard the man who he now realised without a doubt scared the shit out of him and his crew .

" First of all how the fuck did you get here so fast ... and into the van ontop of that ... " Maine asked , Sebastian simply Shrugging.

" I'm just fast ... our deal is complete ... everything I tested is working at peak efficiency... And ... I believe you've learnt a discount at my clinic should you come in " Sebastian side stepped the answer just as main suspected he would .

" I'll drop you ... off " Maine turned his head to where sebastian had just been , Only to find the door to the van open , Blowing in the wind with the man himself nowhere in sight , The streets entirely bare of his presence as if he never been there .

" Yes babe I'm alright " Maine finally answered after another couple seconds of ling winded silence .

" Let's get the fuck out of here ... "