Exterminator number 3210 completed the warm-up exercises with ease, thanks to his enhanced arms. In fact, all the Exterminators completed the exercises easily; they were only there to weed out those whom were dysfunctional. He headed out to the extermination hall in the local jail, dressed in his plain black workclothes. He had a knife on him as well as a gun; he always did. As an Exterminator, he was authorized to carry one. Once, he had been a real person, not a reanimated shell of what used to be… But he hadn’t been nearly this strong, this powerful, and he had felt the weaknesses of emotion. Standing silently, knife in hand, he waited for his next victim to pass through the door of the Spartan room.
A young girl walked into the room, no older than seven. She was being escorted by two men in bright green jumpsuits, the color of the human workers for the city. At seeing E-3210, the girl’s eyes widened.
“Daddy?” she called. “Daddy, is that you? Please help me!”
Her voice seemed too old for such a young child, as it was more low than high-pitched; she had been through hardships. However, the exterminator had a job to do.
The girl’s escorts let in another woman as well. That was strange; they usually only had one person killed at a time.
This woman was older, in her mid-thirties. E-3210 instantly knew that she was the girl’s mother. The expression, the eyes… They were the same. His enhanced eyes caught everything—her disheveled hair, sad eyes, rebellious expression. However, she still was what might be considered beautiful by humans.
One of the escorts spoke while the other bound the people to the wall with special straps. “We got orders to kill these two, even the girl. Mother and daughter, they are. They ain’t been in jail for more than a day, sir. It seems like they’ve caused some serious trouble, especially the woman. Seems they don’t want bad blood in today’s society.”
“I see. I shall complete my work; you may go,” replied E-3210. With that, the escorts left the room.
“Any last words?” he asked coldly, not meaning it. He brandished the knife, and moved closer.
To his surprise, the woman spoke. “Jax?” she questioned confusingly. Then she seemed to remember something, and she seemed upset. “Jax, snap out of it. They told us they wouldn’t modify your memory, that you would come back home. But I suppose not…”
E-3210 replied. “My name is not Jax. I know of no Jax. And I do not know who you are. I am Exterminator number 3210, and I am here to take your life.”
The woman’s voice sounded as if she was about to cry, hoarse and brittle. “Jax, you have to remember me. I’m your wife, Blair! And you have to know who she is,” Blair said, pointing at the girl. “She’s your daughter. Kennedy.”
He paid no attention to her lamenting. He moved close to the girl—he would kill her first.
Kennedy was silently crying. “Daddy, I love you,” she said.
He faltered as you near her... He tried to keep the thoughts out of his mind, but they eat it up... Pity. E-3210, an Exterminator, who was supposed to feel nothing, was feeling something.
Then he collapsed.
*

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*
Blair was confused... How could Jax be so cold-blooded? He had been ready to kill his own daughter. He hadn't been that way before...But they had done something to him. They said that they'd give him a new, better life when they reanimated him. That they wouldn't take his memories away. But she had been wrong to trust them. They had to be stopped before they could do this to more people... It would've been better for her to let Jax stay dead instead of subjecting him to this. All the more reason to join the rebellion... She took out the crumpled, faded piece of paper in her pocket. To the unknowing outsider it may have seemed like a scrap that had meant to be thrown away, or a phone number, but she knew that it was really a location... The location of the safe house.
*

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*

E-3210 woke up after a minute. That voice… The girl’s… It had triggered something. An avalanche of emotions flooded his mind, and he realized what he had done wrong. The emotions spread through his mind like water, outlining everything he had done since he became an exterminator. He had been about to kill that little girl who might even be his daughter. He couldn’t believe it. The countless innocents he had killed… He wasn’t about to kill any more.

He got up slowly, but knew what he had to do. “Come with me. I know a way out.”

The woman—Blair—eyed him suspiciously. Her eyes were distrustful and afraid. And he knew why… Only a moment earlier he was on his way to kill her, and now he was helping them? He wouldn’t trust himself either.

He sighed, and searched for words to describe what had happened to him.“Just trust me. That little girl’s—my daughter’s?—voice did something. I can feel now. And I’m not going to kill you.” To prove his point, E-3210 quickly unstrapped both mother and child. As soon as they got out of the bonds, they rubbed their arms… There were red marks where the straps had been, and he winced. They must have been tight…

“Follow me,” he said, and he uncovered a hidden keypad. He quickly typed a code in, and a door automatically opened. “The back exit. In case of emergency, they always have one.”

Blair nodded, and they walked out into the back alley of the jail. It was easy going into the city from here.

“Where do you want to go? It isn’t safe anywhere where the Jailers are monitoring…”

“I know a place,” Blair said simply. “Shouldn’t you be leaving us now? Going back to your little killing job?”

“I can’t do that anymore. The killing…” He shuddered.

“What suddenly changed your mind?” she sneered. “Just a moment ago, you were happy to kill us.”

He turned on her. “I could easily take the both of you and complete my job. I’m coming with you. I’m much, much, much stronger than humans. I could take the two of you apart with my bare hands right on the spot. Don’t you think that I’d have done it by now if I wanted to?”

Blair backed away, and E-3210 immediately regretted what he had done. He had just made her distrust him more.

“You’ll have to be blindfolded on the way there, then,” she said after a moment.

He sighed. “Fine. Just take me there. I can help you with your rebellion. I have much knowledge about the strategies of the government. It seems that they had become a bit overconfident in their cyborgs.”
*

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*

Of course, E-3210 had forgotten about the location sensor in his brain. Every cyborg had one in case something went awry. The alarms had been raised as soon as they figured out that he had left the complex before normal working hours were over.

When E-32310 reached the hideout, the authorities got coordinates of the safe house and headed there… And they were going to destroy.