<P><DC=128,128,128><JC>TOOL
<P><JC>by JHW
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<P><JC>1: The Pain Associated
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<P>The moment I hit the release button I can feel my strength growing. The stuff almost instantly kicks into effect. I can feel it flowing through my body. My heart beats faster, the muscles in my body tense and it's as if my nerves stop working. I become faster, stronger and much more accurate. My mind starts working in double-time, making the world seem to fall into slow motion.
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<P>I lurch forward, flaming metal flying from the muzzle of my weapon. Oddly, I wonder who mined this lead. Who brought it to the refinery where it was turned into what it is now. Shaped it into these pellets of death that now reside in my unsuspecting victim. He was dead before he ever felt the pain. He falls to the floor, blood pouring from the four small holes in his back.
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<P>I didn't really need to fire four bullets, but before I had managed to release the trigger, they were already off. Just the same; I fire again. And again. And again. They drop before me as before an angel of death. I am superior. I am oblivious to the heat and the stinging pain that I know I SHOULD feel. I just fire and fire and fire.
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<P>There are seven dead bodies on the floor. As I stand in the grey haze of smoke from our weapons, I feel my muscles relaxing. I feel my heart slowing down to just a bit more than its normal speed. I feel the world once again speeding up and I sit down in reply to the dizzyness that sweeps over me.
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<P>Then comes the pain.
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<P>It always does.