"Well?", I asked him, wanting to get this over with- one thing's for certain about him, his decisions are seldom influenced by sitting on them with no new information.

He thought about it actively, and I could see the expression on his face move around. Damn, he's not just toying, he really is thinking about it. Shit. This has got to be the last thing I'd expect... I don't want to kill him, really. He's been kind... and it's not like it's really his fault. Maybe that line of thought will change when I finally can do it, sour grapes and all that, but there's no way of knowing.. even for me. After the initial shock for both of us wears off (assuming we survive the implant withdrawal), it'll be just like now.. only I can tell him to fuck off and die when he tells me to do something.

I could almost feel the scales in his head (and see Sarah, strangely enough, dressed as the Justice holding them) turning this way and that- having us unimplanted holds certain combat- and 'I've got friends'-related advantages, and huge 'Oh shit, they're not my servants anymore' disadvantages. And he's not going to let the emotions get in the way, except as a place on the scale, a value to be counted in.

And as he came to his conclusion, it seemed to dawn on him that there was an inevitable decision, and he knew what it was.

"Oh, hell yes."

"YES!", I screamed in pure joy. The Anarch obediently called down the materials, as the four of us shared a group hug that galvanized me in a way I've never felt before. Finally. Fucking finally. Thank you so much, Howard.

"I have a suggestion, Howard.", the Anarch said evenly as he took note of the usage procedures.

"What?", he replied from our embrace.

"Include me in the unimplantation. I.. cannot explain why properly." Howard looked startled for a moment and then considered it.

"All right. There is one other I'd like to bring. Fido." That didn't occur to me. "And guys.. especially you, Paul.."

"What- you think I'll croak? So what if I do?", Paul replied off-handedly.

"Dammit, this isn't one of our usual fights.", I told him, as we slowly broke off our hug. "No one's survived this. No one. Even with the precautions.. fuck, I wish we could test this!" But I guess I only get one wish granted in years.. a chance. And chance it is.. luck and our will to live.. hopefully the latter will outweigh the former.

Howard just smiled a bit. "Pfft. You're telling me. For me.. there isn't a choice, it's either this or the painfully inevitable. But if you guys.." He smiled wider, anticipating our reactions.

Of course we gave them to him, and they were nearly simultaneous. "Like hell!", I exploded. "Fuck you!", Sarah spat out. "Kiss my ass!", Paul shouted.

He nodded, still smiling very wide. "...That's what I thought." His sense of humor never ceases to amaze me. Then again, I'll be in a position to play the jokes in not too long.. given that I survive, of course.

"So, this is it, Howard. No more commands, no more doing what I don't tell my body to do. It's going to be all gone, like a bad dream.", I said, and a horrible thought entered my mind. I imagined, for a brief moment, that he wouldn't let us use the other connections after all, say 'Just kidding!' and unimplant himself, smiling. Or, worse yet, this isn't even the Anarch, and this is just Howard with an extremely well-thought-out joke, making us think that we'd finally be free when we wouldn't.

Neither of those were true, of course. "Yes, Billy. No more commands. All of them are gone, right now." He means.. "You heard me. I don't know if set commands can affect implant withdrawal or not. All three of you can do whatever you want." I heard a subconscious scream in my mind, as if a demon had a holy sword plunged into it, and I felt simple, unrestrained happiness. I felt Sarah looking at me, as if to say 'Well, are you going to take your revenge when he finally takes them out?' There seemed to be no revenge to take, and even if there was, I wouldn't want it.

"Thank you... Master.", I said to him, smiling as I've never smiled before. It was one of the first commands he ever gave me, never to call him that.

"Yes, Howard.. thank you. Thank you so much. You're the best friend anyone could ever want, both of you are." Paul said, a large smile on his face. Aww, thanks. "I guess I'll just deal with the pain. He didn't order any anaesthesia for me.."

"It's not safe.", the Anarch told him. "Although the symptoms are similar, this is not a traditional epileptic attack. Further brain modification is not recommended."

"It's going to hurt like crazy, but we all need to be conscious for this. There's the knockout gas for us, too, but we're not getting any of that either.", I said. We have to be awake for this.

"There exists a sedative for bioengineered humans?", the Anarch asked, as if one should never have been developed.

"Huh? You didn't know? I wasn't brought here kicking and screaming.", I told him. "I know it's a complicated chemical, any good filter will catch it, and it doesn't do jack to normals."

"Why would such an item exist?", the Anarch asked. "Your bleeding is too rapidly regenerated for that to be effective. Similarly, any anaesthetic will impede your regeneration. Other than the circumstance of engineered servants, there appears to be no use for such a chemical.", he said, clinically.

"The.. previous Dominator told me it was in case of incredible pain.", Howard said, uncertainly, as if he was thinking of it being developed for use against him. "They didn't give any of it to me with that arm, though." Which was unrelenting agony, the only logical time to use something like that for medical purposes. "Shit, that is weird. It's almost impossible to use as a weapon, though." But easy to hide in, say, wall vents.. He didn't want to think about it, and I realized, morbidly, that they didn't need to use it- he's already got implants in his head...

"So we're going through this with nothing but what amounts to a crude dampener.", Sarah said. "Nothing to stop the pain. Good. For once in my life, I can't wait." Coming from her, that was an amazing thing to say. Unfortunately, we did wait, we had to. Howard was visibly nervous, eager to get those cursed things out of his head, and find whoever put them in and kill them. I understand, Howie. Completely. I didn't want to say anything, because it might possibly change his mind- a silly concept, I know. Like the Operator's choice more than twelve years ago, it was an easy decision, without much hesitation at all, and he's not going to change his mind about it. He's giving us a chance to end the nightmare or die trying. He wants us.. well, not free, nobody is, we still have secrecy after all.. but unimplanted. Maybe it's really for his own benefit, because he thinks we might get taken over somehow (a distinct possibility). Maybe I'll never ask him why. Frankly, I don't care. I changed clothes from black to my copy of his white suit. Implanted but uncommanded, looking exactly as he does.. now, once and for all, I'm really his twin.

The unimplantation device came from heaven like a gift from Santa Claus, and in moments Sarah had brought it back. We laid in a circle on Howard's bed, heads near each other, eagerly waiting. For a moment I imagined saying, 'Wait, Howard- whoever controls you obviously needs you, and almost certainly won't do anything to hurt you. Nobody has ever survived implant withdrawal, no matter what. Let's stay the fuck alive.' Then I laughed at myself inside, because there is no chance in hell I'd ever say anything like that. It's time to end the nightmares.

"Enough connections for everyone...", Sarah said. "All right. I'll do it, guys. Everyone at once. Anarch, can you do yourself?", she asked.

"Yes." Here we go.

"Then do me and then you after I do them.", she said, and went for Paul first, placing the connectors expertly on his cranium and activating them. The implant remover blades sliced open two neat circles on his skull, and flipped them open like a door. Paul held very still, and didn't react to the pain. Then it grabbed the implants, both simultaneously, and they went with an audible pop. Paul's face went blank, and the connector snapped onto his head. Sarah then immediately rushed to me and Howard, and placed the connectors on us, and I held very still as the guided blade cut into my head, knowing that it was carefully designed not to damage its subject's brain. It didn't hurt nearly as much as I expected; the blade was consistently thin. I felt it popping up my skull as it had Paul's, and it popped out the implants, and there was nothing but--