Is that what you think? Do you recall all the times we had together? I know that I do because of how few and unique they were.

[He was still struggling to shove the Soldier away from him, to escape the pin that held him to the wall. There was blood running down where his hand was pinned by the scalpel, but even then he was pulling his hand. Scalpels were instruments for cutting, but they were small and sharp and their hold on walls limited by their own sharpness and the thinness of the blade.

The Soldier was still technically physically his better, but he was well-rested, better fed and newer to this city. He fought back.]

I was different. I know this to be true. You may have been a weapon, but you were intelligent, eager and loyal. After so much inhumane treatment, I gave you something different... [There was almost a sighing breath of bliss from him.] And oh how you thrived. How you performed. You believed.