Reckless Dark Desire

I.

Quorra wasn't easily frightened.

That fact, however, quavered just as violently as her resolve when the chilling glow of orange on black caused her green eyes to snap upward.

Clu – the evil twin of her beloved Creator – strode towards her with a feral grin that reached into her very code and obliterated any form of rational thought. Her mind just couldn't grasp the reality of the situation… that the same eyes, same face that had gazed at her with so much compassion years ago were now aglow with dark delight at her capture.

He came to a stop barely a foot away from her. She wondered briefly if he knew how torturous the proximity was and stood so close as a mockery of her waning strength, but when his hand stroked her cheek with a gentleness that didn't seem to fit the situation at all –

"You're a rare bird, aren't you?" A new, even darker emotion was evident in Clu's voice.

"Thanks to you." Quorra was glaring at him with all the ferocity she muster, but it was to no avail. Might as well try to intimidate a black hole.

"And why would such a proud creature fly so willingly into my cage if she did not want to be caught?" There it was again: that perversion of the smile the Creator bore so frequently. It was beginning to agitate her.

"Because I am loyal to the Creator." She said firmly, tilting her chin up ever so slightly.

"Hmm…" he trailed his hand from her cheek across her collarbone. In a quick, discreet motion, he pulled her sleeve up over her ISO marking. "We shall see about that. Rinzler, take her to my quarters."

Quorra watched as Clu backed away, and felt as his henchman program clasped her arm and began to take her elsewhere. Deciding to resign herself to the fact that she wasn't derezzed yet, and wasn't immediately in dire straits, she allowed a sigh to escape her.

"Wait."

Rinzler came to a halt at Clu's order. Along with her heart.

She felt a hand grip her shoulder. "I'll take her myself."