Back in his white room, he started a new simulation using the previous simulation as a starting point. He zoomed in like last time, then examined the goons. When he zoomed in close enough, he could see what they had under their jackets and found that two were indeed caring pistols, but two were caring Tasers. He made some edits, deleted the goons, but left Gefen and Henry, then started the simulation.
When the simulation started, like last time, Henry just stood there blinking for a few moments, trying to process the sudden disappearance of the goons. Mr. Gefen, on the other hand, continued to smirk at Jack like a pervert about to see a good show. His smirk turned to a grimace of anger when the goons didn't appear from behind him to grab Jack.
"What are you waiting for? Seize him. I want that ticket!" Gefen commanded.
When nothing happened, Gefen said, "I swear-" but the words died in his throat when he turned and saw that the goons had disappeared. He started walking towards the door saying, "Now where did those-"
"They're gone," said Jack. Then he leaned over the chair in front of him and picket up something that was sitting on the chair seat. Pointing it at Mr. Gefen, he said, "and you're not going anywhere."
"What?" Gefen turned back around, then froze when he saw Jack pointing a weapon at him. Instead of showing fear or surprise, Gefen's expression quickly changed to the stern look a father would give to a disobedient son. He put his left hand on his hip, then pointed at Jack with his right while saying, "Boy! Put that thing down before you hurt yourself."
Gefen commanded with such stern confidence that for a brief moment Jack felt the urge to obey, but his past practice with the cops in front of the convenience store and his growing rage at the shameless old man, made it easy for him to keep his hand steady.
"Shameless old rat," Jack scoffed. "You're going to remember this for a very long time."
Then he pulled the trigger. Two silvery streaks shot out from the Taser and streaked towards the old man. One struck him in the right shoulder, the other in the stomach. As soon as they struck, Jack heard the well known rapid clicking sound of an active Taser and Gefen started twitching.
Not wanting to kill the old rat with a heart attack, Jack released the trigger on the Taser, and watched as the old man toppled to the floor. Jack walked around the convergence table, holding the Taser up high so the wires didn't catch on the chair backs. Then he approached Gefen and stood staring down at the man who was lying on his side.
Gefen groaned, then rolled over onto his back. Staring up at Jack, he said, "You'll regret this, you little shit. I'll make your life a living hell."
Jack smiled and pulled the trigger again, then watched as Gefen twitched and jerked for a few seconds before releasing the trigger. "What was that, old man? Who's in hell?"
With a look of anger and defiance, the old man said, "You won't get away with this. I don't know how you got to my guards, but I'll make you pay. You, them, your family, their family, all of you. I'll make you all pay."
Damn, this old goat just doesn't know when he's beat, does he? He pulled the trigger again, this time counting to five. Gefen's face still showed mostly stern anger, but now Jack could see just a hint of concern.
"Do you know who you're messing with, boy? I have friends in high places, and low places, and if any of them find out about this, they'll make you wish you were never born."
Jack pulled the trigger again. He intended to continue until the old goat showed some genuine fear. And if the old goat died, Jack could just roll back the sim and try again, but with shorter bursts of shock therapy.
The smell of ozone filled the room as Jack kept zapping the old rat and the old rat kept issuing various threats, until finally, after enduring nearly ten seconds of continuous Taser therapy, the old man changed his tune.
Gefen's mask cracked and fear leaked into his expression. "Please," he said, "what do you want?"
Before Jack could answer, Henry interjected, "Maybe he just wants to hear you beg?"
Jack had been so focused on Gefen that he had forgotten about Henry. He turned and saw that Henry had moved away from the door and was standing a short distance away, staring down at Gefen.
Noticing Jack look at him, he looked up and said, "I had no idea this law firm was harboring such a rat bastard. I'm grateful to you for triggering this revelation. I don't know how you got rid of the goons or what you're planning to do with him, but I hope you have a way to deal with this, because I really don't want to go to jail."
Jack smiled. "No worries. I can say with absolute certainty that you will not go to jail."
Jack turned and stared down at Gefen. "Beg," he said. "Get on your knees and kowtow before me. I want to feel the reverberations when your forehead strikes the floor."
Gefen scowled at him, then opened his mouth to speak, but then clacked it shut as fifty thousand volts slammed through him. Seven seconds later, Gefen was left staring at the ceiling, face slack, eyes glazed.
"Shit, was that too much?" Jack muttered.
"Nah, he's still alive, I can see his chest moving," said Henry. "I gotta say, you're just full of surprises. I knew you were smart, but I had no idea you had what it takes to do something like this."
Jack shrugged, then looked back down at Gefen. He nudged the old man with the toe of his shoe. When the old man didn't respond, he kicked him, but not too hard. The old man winced and grunted, then blinked his eyes a few times, before focusing on Jack.
"Please," the old rat begged.
"On your knees," Jack commanded. "Beg."
The old goat groaned as he rolled over, then struggled to get on his knees. Once on his knees, the old man placed his forehead on the floor and said, "I beg you, please spare me."
"I didn't feel that," Jack said. Then looked at Henry. "Did you feel that?"
"No, I didn't feel anything. Maybe he needs more high-voltage encouragement."
The old goat growled and started to say something, but Jack gave him a little fifty thousand volt tap. The old man jerked, then slumped for a second, before raising up and taping his forehead on the floor. There was a faint thump sound, barely audible, before the man said through gritted teeth, "Please, I beg you. Spare me."
"Harder!" Jack commanded. "Or do you need more encouragement?"
The old man raised up then struck the floor with his forehead. Thump. "Please, I beg you. Spare me."
The sound of Gefen's forehead striking the floor was audible, but Jack still didn't feel it reverberate through the floor. "Harder! Do it like your life depends on it," he said firmly. Then added with a guttural growl, "Because it does."
Gefen sat up and looked up at Jack, and Jack grinned savagely down at Gefen. Seeing there was no mercy to be had, Gefen turned and slammed his head down onto the floor. THUMP. The old rat's head struck hard enough that Jack could feel the reverberations of it with his feet.
When the vibrations from Gefen's head striking the floor passed through Jack's feet, a wave of tingling, refreshing coolness washed through his body.
"Again!"
Gefen sat up slowly, then slammed his forehead into the floor a second time. THUMP. Again the reverberations traveled up Jack's feet, and again the tingling refreshing coolness washed through his body.
It was almost like power was being drained from Gefen and transferred to Jack. For the first time in his life, Jack felt like he truly had power. Until this moment, he had always felt like he was a minnow swimming amongst sharks, doing his best to avoid being noticed, and enduring when he was bumped and pushed about. But now, he felt powerful for the first time in his life and IT FELT GOOD!
"AGAIN! HARDER!"
Gefen sat up, wobbling slightly, and looked up blearily at Jack. Jack stared back hungrily. Gefen looked down, then leaned back further before slamming forward. BANG. The pens in their holder on the conference table rattled.
Yes, Jack hissed. Damn, that felt good.
"Jesus," muttered Henry.
"Hmm?" Jack said, looking at Henry.
Seeing the look of shock and concern on Henry's face, Jack looked back down at Gefen. The old rat was listing to one side and he could see some drool leaking out of the old goat's mouth. Did I overdo it?
Nah, he thought. Worst case, I roll back the sim to the first good thump, and copy him from there. He didn't want to templatize an old man with brain damage. So, at worst, he'd have to templatize a version of the old man that hadn't cracked his skull on the conference room floor.
He watched the old goat for a while, but eventually had to accept that the old thing had actually concussed himself. So, with some reluctance, he paused the sim and rolled it back to just after Gefen had performed his third kowtow, the one that he could feel through his feet. Then he exited the simulation, selected Gefen in the simulation sphere, and triggered the template creation process.
While his physical self got out of his car and headed in towards the law office to meet with Henry for real, his soul space self created an instance of Gefen so he could interrogate the old goat and see what he could learn.