CRIME SENTENCE STARTERS || ALWAYS ACCEPTING! || @numerophobic
numerophobic asked: At least I'll know why I'm being murdered. - to the muse you feel most <3
[Dexter really should have anticipated some complications tonight. Although Murray's factory was currently unoccupied, having been caught up in a fierce custody "battle" between corporate entities, it still saw familiar faces every now and again. Employees going in to pick up one last paycheck or say their goodbyes, tying up loose ends, that sort of thing...and then there was Murray.]
[Murray's comings and goings had become practically nonexistent over the past few days, but that was to be anticipated...considering that, for some ungodly reason, he'd attached his home to the damned place. It wasn't hard to believe that Murray would have holed himself up there in performative grief. Don't get him wrong -- Dexter understood how it felt to lose a loved one. The first time he'd awakened to his own emotions had been when he grieved Rita. The feeling was incomparable, absolutely devastating. He'd nearly abandoned everything and everyone because of his profound loss. He understood what Murray was going through.]
[...But it wasn't the deaths of Murray's wife and child that Dexter would be "avenging."]
[In the hands of corporations, murder became a complicated beast -- especially when handled by the justice system. There were no death penalties for company casualties, only fines and warnings. Dexter's targets had always been those who would escape the consequences of their actions, one way or another...so perhaps his hunts were most justifiable in instances like these, wherein deaths could be traced to a single source. Edwin Murray was that source.]
[Murray's creations hadn't always been sinister, and it was likely that he hadn't anticipated any of the deaths that resulted from one of his contraptions, the springlock suit. The thing was a damned death trap. There were countless articles detailing the gory incidents, many of which had taken place in a crowd full of children. The continued use of those suits alone was grounds for a kill, but he'd incidentally uncovered emails of Murray's that made the springlock situation so much worse. Teenagers. The company would hire teenagers to operate the suits. Children who were simply incapable of operating machinery that complex. Dexter had always had a soft spot for kids, but now that he was a father himself, the hatred and disgust he felt for Murray became too much to bear. And so...tonight had become the night.]
[Dexter had a kill room prepared in the factory, so the only thing he would need to worry about was sedating Murray. Equipped with a hacked data diver and a syringe of M-99, it should have been very straightforward. Enter Murray's house through his office, drag him to the kill room, then fulfill the needs of his dark passenger. But when he entered the factory...a much different scene awaited him. He had company.]
[Arnold had since become his burden, as had the literal killing machine that Arnold informed him about. There wasn't just one murderer he had to worry about tonight. He'd have to call off this kill, much to his chagrin, and now he had to protect the two of them from a threat that he couldn't neutralize.]
❝ There is no "why." ❞ [Dexter grumbled, then peeked around a corner and scanned for movement. He had just enough experience in dealing with killers to feel comfortable with this part of the hunt. For now, stealth was their only option -- at least until they reached Murray's office.] ❝ We're not dealing with a human being. ❞ [Though if you asked him, anyone who could do the things Dexter did no longer qualified as human anyway.] ❝ There's nothing personal here. Well, not unless you did something to piss off Murray. ❞
[Dexter gestured for Arnold to follow him, then stopped in front of one of the factory's doors. He twisted his data diver into the panel beside the door, then fixed Arnold with an intimidating glare.]
❝ Wait here. I'll be right back. ❞
