“Dammit!” Chuck shouted as he slammed his fist against the floor.

  Merrin cringed at the impact. Her heart ached to see Chuck in so much pain. His wounds from fighting CX21 were still healing and she felt how he was in so much pain. Beyond the physical pain, what hurt him more though was the pain of his wounded pride. His greatness was easy to see, but others just didn’t understand it. Not yet at least. Once they destroyed Chuck’s original body, he would be able to realize the true magnificence that Merrin saw inside of him.

  ”Just rest so you can recover. That way we can put things into motion and get the revenge you deserve.” She said in a soothing voice from a distance. He was in a violent mode so she knew not to approach him.

  ”I hate him!” Chuck said as he pounded against the floor with his eyes squeezed shut.

  Merrin could not help but feel a rush of satisfaction at hearing Chuck say that he hated CX21. If there was one good thing that came from the pain that Chuck was experiencing, it was the fact that it devalued other people in Chuck’s eyes and made Merrin indisputably the most important person to Chuck.

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  “What are you smiling about?” Chuck said.

  Merrin coughed into her hand and tried to think of a believable lie, “I was just imagining the look on his face, when you show him what a truly evolved being looks like.”

  Chuck growled in a darkly determined way that made Merrin’s face flush, ”I’ll be sure to teach him a lesson. The arrogance of one of my creations to think they can best me, to think they can look down on me. It’s unbearable. It needs to be corrected.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, I already taught him a lesson by killing his wife,” Merrin said with a sweet tone.

  Chuck smiled for the first time in too long, “Actually that does help. Part of me feels like we need to hurt his daughter as well to really drive the lesson home.”

  “Focus on your recovery first. We’ll have plenty of time to plan our revenge when you’re in the chrysalis,” Merrin suggested, then motioned to the carcass of the alligator, “now eat while it’s still fresh.”

  “Thank you for helping me regain my composure. If it weren’t for you, things would be much more difficult.” Chuck said, and then began to feast.

  Merrin’s heart fluttered at the compliment. She savored the feeling and promised herself that she would do anything to hear her words like that from Chuck again. She secretly eyed the drone floating nearby and set to destroy it after Chuck was in his chrysalis. She was the only one who would be useful to him. No one else deserved that recognition; Not CX21, not the FBI, nobody.