As soon as Jenny realized what was happening, some instinct within her told her to take this advantage. She dashed back away from her opponent as well as she could, given how dark it was. She could see a pale ring of light around where the sun should be, wispy like a cloud - but it didn't seem to be enough to light anything up here. She tried to feel her way further back in the dark, but she overstepped and ran into a bush, which gave a loud rustle.
The moment she did, she saw her attacker. The trim on her outfit flared up with an eerie purplish light, as did the four quadrilateral "wing" shapes that hovered behind her, casting a dim glow on her immediate surroundings. Jenny could just see Artemis off a ways back, her skin patterns barely illuminated by the light, but visible against the darkness. Her arms were raised high, and it looked...it looked like she was praying, or something...
Minus-four turned to face the direction the sound had come from. Jenny was free of the bush now, but she saw her opponent start to move towards her, and took off in another direction. Again, it was too dark to see where she was going, and she bumped into one of the park trash cans. As before, this drew the attention of Minus-four, who moved faster toward the place the sound had come from. This time, though, Muriel was up again, and launched herself out of the dark to grab the girl.
Minus-four once again found itself in the arms of the woman. Her grip was tight, yet...it felt so nice...why should physical contact make an emotional impression? But it did...all these feelings, they only got in the way of it completing its purpose, and yet...no! No, it wanted them gone. They needed to be gone, so that things could continue, so that this existence could be brought to its end...why this water...tears? There was nothing wrong with its eye!
It threw the woman off itself again. She landed with an "oof!" as the wind was temporarily knocked out of her. And now that was causing an emotional reaction...it made Minus-four feel uncomfortable, like it wanted to turn back time and find some other way to free itself...this was chaos! Nothing had gone truly right since the moment it had been incarnated in this body! If it could not control itself, how could it fulfill its task? If it could not fulfill this task, what was its purpose for existence?
Jenny stood transfixed for a moment while her mom grabbed the girl again and was thrown, but it looked like she was okay, and she knew her opponent would be coming for her again. She began to make her way around the edge of the clearing again, in this seemingly-endless game of tag, but she stopped short when she stubbed her toe on something, something in the grass. She bent down to feel what it was...
It was her mother's gun! Hardly even thinking about what she was doing, she scooped it up off the ground. It was so heavy in her hands...she could hold it, but if she fired it'd probably knock her over. But she didn't want to shoot anybody, and somehow she knew that she could use this to her advantage without ever having to...though she did check to make sure the safety was off.
Jenny whirled to face her attacker, who was picking her way cautiously over the grass and looking...almost sad. She levelled the gun, took a deep breath to steady her nerves, and let her own lights flare up into a bright white. "STOP!" she said. "Stop or I'll...I'll shoot!"
Minus-four stared at Four and at the object in her hand. Not a talisman, then - a weapon! A weapon which was now trained directly on it...not her native weapon, but still. Did she know how to use it? She must, if she was willing to stake the fight on it, not moving away. If it was deadly, and it was possible that her target knew how to use it...then...she could end this existence before...before it had a chance to fulfill its purpose! If Minus-four were..."killed"...and it had not even completed its one task...
"Killed..." The word had meant nothing when Four expressed dissatisfaction with the plan, but now that...now that this was a possibility for...for it, it felt a sense of dread...what did it mean? What happened to a creature that was "killed?" Was that a simple cessation of existence, or was it some other fate? Would this consciousness that it was now burdened with cease, or persist into some other form of existence, to plague it for all eternity? The uncertainty was intolerable...
It stood still. "Killed" was not acceptable. This was an impasse, then, and must remain so until it could figure out a way to resolve it and continue with its task. Perhaps, if it could not fight, it could reason with Four...
"This must end," it said. "Zero-summation must take place."
Jenny shook her head. "I don't wanna get killed!" she said. "You don't either!"
Minus-four mimicked the negation gesture. "It is necessary," it said. "Your existence is a threat...my existence is troublesome." My...what a strange word that was...
"No!" Jenny said, starting to tear up a bit. "Ex...existin' isn't bad! It's nice! Don't you know that?" Her adversary stared blankly at her. "I don't wanna be done with this!" she said. "I like bein' here with Muriel, an' my friends, an' it's nice out, and I get t' go t' school, and I get to play and visit Grandma an' Grandpa...isn't there stuff you like?"
No...no! The feelings were coming back...memories of the sensations of the day...warm concrete and cool grass and cool air on soft skin, hair brushing at the back, the amazement and wonder that was its first taste of food...no! This was not how it was supposed to go! This was not the plan! But it couldn't deny that...the thought of never experiencing these things again...
"N-n...not...relevant," it said. "Not..." It trailed off, emotional memories now replaying; feelings it didn't understand and didn't know what to do with, but something about even having them...felt...enriching...this was wrong! If it became apparent that Minus-four was compromised... "I-it must happen," it said. "It is n-necessary for...for the plan..."
Jenny shook her head. "It's not a good plan if they want you t' die!" she said. "Aren't you scared?"
Was it? No, why was it even considering this question? But...to die...this thing it was not certain it understood...to die, and to never feel the physical sensations of this life again, to never have a chance at understanding these feelings, to face that monstrous uncertainty...no! Stop this! To face that...
...it couldn't do it. It was a mistake to ever incarnate...these feelings were taking over. Every time it fought back, they weren't destroyed, just shoved off to the side until they slid back in, and the more it contemplated the prospect of being forcibly separated from it all...stop it! The consequences of these thoughts...
...could be...could be...no... It was too late. The attention was on it...a verdict was being handed down, and Minus-four could not help but understand it.
Subject under investigation: compromisation of field agent for Number annihilation.
Corruption: irreparable.
Recommend forcible separation to prevent further infection.
Severing...
Snap. It was over. She was separated.
Abandoned.
Alone.
She dropped to the ground, barely even managing to remain upright, and began to wail. It wasn't a shriek in repsonse to physical pain, or a child's cry of sorrow, quite...it was some kind of mournful anger, the scream of something that had just been torn out of its entire world, uprooted from its whole existence.
