Face Off

Mironova was cornered. In front of Glenn, in his building's elevator, stood Eldon Tyrell, with four guards, machine guns aimed at Glenn's face. Behind him, blocking exit through the Pyramid's entrance corridor stood Rutger, a Blade Runner, and Byron Joseph, Glenn's friend and colleague.

"I understand your gripes with the company Glenn. Your friend just died, and you've been under a lot of stress. I didn't want to give you such responsibility, but you're part of my best team. Michael may have been telling you some things that aren't true, he wasn't stable at the end, and it was partially my fault. I won't make that mistake again; I won't make it with you. I want to make sure you're with me, make sure you're still part of the team."

Glenn pulled out a pack of cigarillos, not tobacco, but Moxlin, a sedative that would calm him down. His hands were shaking as he lit it. The first inhale calmed him. He took another breath, then said to Tyrell, "I've seen what you're trying to do. You sold two million replicants to Pyramid Industries, a roof supplies company in the North. They have two subsidiaries Off-World; there is no plausible reason for them to have that many replicants. They're just a holding company for you. You're amassing a personal stockpile of replicants, of which there are at least two million. I've seen your files, and know what it means." His hands were shaking, and he took another inhale from his cigarillo.

Tyrell looked at him from behind his outsize glasses. "I'm not going to lie to you. Pyramid is my company, and our replicants are there for a reason. We need them more than they need us, I'm just furthering evolution, we are the catalyst."

"It's over for me. I'm not going to be a catalyst for my own extinction," Glenn said. He looked out at the media surrounding Lee's body. He threw down the cigarillo, and crushed it under his heel. "Kill me? I want you to do it. The more bodies that pile up, the more people become suspicious of what you're doing."

Mironova began to walk away. Tyrell blocked his guards from firing. Glenn opened the glass door to the outside, and standing in the doorway said, "Things will change, you're not a God."

"That's where you're wrong, Glenn." Tyrell smiled. Mironova walked back to the street. Flash bulbs popped as he walked past the crime scene. He felt the computer disk in his coat pocket. He had the bullet; all he needed was the gun.

Date: 2002-08-29 01:10