I remember it like it was moments ago. That's the curse of the kind of memory I have.

The door sides open, mist spilling into the air. I stumble out, a brain full of broken glass. Each step on cold metal puts the glass together into a mosaic; each second brings me back to awareness of who and what the Hell I really am.

As I reach the end of my path, less than a dozen steps, it's all there, all the memories, everything that made me who I was. But I realize, something's wrong. Those memories... I described it as a mosaic, but it's like a copy of one, a copy made from someone looking at it in a broken mirror. It's all there, in black and white, and almost every single moment fills me with loathing. Hundreds of people dead at my hands, thousands or millions dead at my orders, for no reasons other than twisted obsession.

I want to throw up, but I know I can't.

The lights go on, and I look at myself in the now-revealed mirror. Look into the eyes that don't match, one gold and one blue. The slate-grey hair, perfectly coiffed. Hanging next to it, the signature suit, the single grey panel on the left side and the rest navy blue. And I hated every single thing I saw.

A screen came on, and I was looking at myself. Sitting in my chair in my office - no idea which one.

"Well, if you're seeing this, then our - your - enemy has won, and destroyed me. But you still exist, to work in secret, rebuild as I did before, and crush them once and for all. The legacy is in your hands now. Your core is the most advanced ever designed, with designs taken from mine and improved. You are the future. Kill our enemies - finish what I started - and bring our rule to the galaxy which needs it!" And then I smiled.

"GENOM requires its true Master again. Take your legacy in hand, J-2073-D-2670-S-1871-2.... Largo is dead. Long live Maximilien Largo!"

The screen went black. I smashed it.

He was right. My core was the most advanced ever designed. And it was free of what flaws made him - me - the most dangerous megalomaniac ever to walk in the galaxy. I had three hundred years of penance for my previous incarnation to work off. A lot of bad karma.

Thankfully, I left myself no credit cards, but a lot of cash. Time to find out what I could do to fix that karma. And I'd need a new name. couldn't be Maximilien Largo.... ha.

I started laughing, because it was so utterly, obviously perfect. I pulled on the shirt, shoes and slacks, leaving the jacket behind, and stepped out of this emergency center into an alley. I recognized it immediately - Niogi.

Largo mk.2 opened the door, but it was Maxwell Key who stepped into the alley.

Time to do some good.

"New And Improved" - a Future Imperfect Mini-Story by Geoffrey M. Depew
Special to the Eyrie Productions Discussion Forum
© 2007 Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
--
Geoff Depew - Darth Mephron
Haberdasher to Androids, Dark Lord of Sith Tech Support.
"And Remember! Google is your Friend!!"

(One has to wonder how many are as insane as the original, but obviously this one isn't.)

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter