Mike was driving, Betty sat on a big cushion and more members of the black corner group were in the car and the other two cars. It was a group outing, time to learn something, they were invited to demolish a large building 100 kilometres north of Bigtown.
It was a huge building, Mike's heart sank, it was far too big for the black corner group. A crowd of demonstrators were parading up and down and shouting “Save the empire!” A group of policemen were standing about. Mike ignored all of them, empires did not need saving.
“Hello, pleased to meet you. My name is Paste. Why don't you come in and meet my boss, Mr Grimes, the mayor of Knowtown.” Mike did not want to be impolite and they had been driving for an hour, so in he went with Betty and the others.
Mr Grimes greeted them, he handed out hard hats, he did all the talking, he showed them around the building. “I'm sure you guys could knock this old building in a weekend, let's get rid of the ugly thing, you could do it next weekend.” He explained that he wanted to build affordable houses for ordinary people on the site.
What was Mike to do, he was very nerdy and had no soft skills. He knew that the building was too big. He knew that Betty knew that too and that Betty didn't like Paste and Grimes – Betty was a big help sometimes. Mike liked the building, he was surprised that it was not a listed protected monument.
“We'll have to think about it. We ought to speak to those demonstrators first.”
Grimes exploded, “You don't want to talk to those scum.” He waved his arms at the policemen, who immediately attacked the demonstrators with nightsticks.
Mike politely asked the police to stop their brutality. The police laughed and tried to hit Mike – bad idea. Soon there was a heaps of broken nightsticks and folded guns and policemen.
Betty stood and watched – she had something on her mind. The black corner group had done what was necessary without Betty.
One of the policemen recognised Betty and cried “It's THE BETTY!” The police crawled to their cars and drove off fast. Paste and Grimes also drove off.
One of the demonstrators walked up to Mike. “That was fantastic. Is that really THE BETTY?”
“Yep, that's Betty, small isn't she, but she's stronger than me.” Betty smiled. “We are the black corner group. I have a question, what is that old building.”
“It's the Empire Steel Works, used until thirty years ago, part of this country's history, a protected building, but Paste and Grimes want to pull it down and build a golf course and a big swanky wellness hotel. Don't believe what they say about affordable housing, they're a bunch of crooks.”
“I see.” said Mike, “Betty is signalling to me that the two of them are worse than nasty, they are evil. We will find them and kill them.”
“Kill them?” asked another demonstrator.
“Yep, Betty likes killing people. Betty can follow the hate, she will guide us, there is no hiding place, it may be dangerous, but it won't take long.”
The black corner group jumped into their cars and drove slowly into town – Betty was guiding – Betty was following the hate. They bumped over some railway tracks and entered a strange part of town – big buildings behind high walls.
Overhead were high tension cables, electricity crackled through the air. The navigation screen turned blue. An odd voice said:
“Location: South China Sea. Emergency. Go for the life boats!”
Betty guided by pointing. She directed Mike the wrong way round a traffic roundabout – perhaps the other side was mined. They stopped at a police road block – two black corner guys got out, disabled the policemen and raised the barrier.
Mike stopped by a transformer sub-station, electricity crackled through the air, Betty knew that Paste and Grimes were inside.
“OK, guys, this is going to be dangerous, they're probably armed.” Mike rushed the door, it was thick steel, locked and bolted, but no problem for Mike. Inside were four men, Paste and Grimes, the local police chief and the bartender. Inside was a bar.
The bartender hid behind the bar, the police chief charged forwards, firing with two guns. Mike was still holding the heavy steel door, he let it fall and crush the police chief. Paste and Grimes lasted another ten seconds.
Betty stood and watched – she had something on her mind. The black corner group had done what was necessary without Betty.