AcmeShorts

"Even the most hardened criminal needs some code to live by...perhaps it is the loyalty with which he stands by his partners-in-crime, or perhaps it the need to express publicly and concretely his contempt for a system that rejects him. Then again, it could be the precise, methodical, and painstakingly efficient manner with which he engineers and executes his heinous acts; his artistry, so to speak." Feeling deeply satisfied with this speech, I glanced surreptitiously at the harnessing table to observe the effect of my eloquence on Nathaniel, only to find that far from evincing admiration, the scrawny whelp was now emitting a series of choked blubbering noises and had redoubled his efforts to free himself from the straps and wires. A dizzying flood of rage and pain coursed through me as I staggered to the control board and turned the black dial to 70.