by Logan Jacobs
“Factors for this Miles Nelson character,” my inventor clarified. “You want me to help you create something to combat him, right?”
“Right,” I said. “He’s too clever. I tried to keep myself one step ahead of him at all times, but he out maneuvered me from the very beginning.”
“I see,” Julien said, and then moved toward one of the tables. Julien cleared off the papers and the debris to one side and pulled out a notepad.
Once my inventor cleared off the paper debris, he pulled out a notepad and started to sketch while we talked. He still preferred to work with paper and pencil instead of a tablet, so he let his thoughts cover the paper now in designs and schematics. He was old, so I allowed him to begin his plans this way, but once we got past the planning stage, I insisted that all final blueprints were digital.
“By the way,” Julien began as he continued to sketch, “did Beacon and Penumbra also quit?”
“They joined Miles,” I said, and I hoped I would not have to discuss those two traitors anymore.
“That seems unfortunate,” Julien replied without looking up.
It was often hard for me to read Julien. He was a different sort of intelligent than I was, and he was always more silent, thoughtful, and observant. He believed in my mission, but sometimes I wondered if he disagreed with my strict adherence to my code.
“What do you mean?” I demanded when the old man gave no further explanation.
“I only mean--” Julien paused but still didn’t look up. “I mean that perhaps you should have treated them more kindly.”
“I treated them with plenty of kindness,” I growled. “I trained them to be heroes. I didn’t just coddle them.”
“No, you didn’t,” he replied. “But if you had shown them more kindness, perhaps they would not have betrayed you.”
“I told you not to fucking lecture me!” I bellowed, and my voice echoed across my underground lair.
Julien finally raised his head to stare impassively back at me. He placed his pen back on the table and let the notebook rest in his lap, and I suddenly felt like a child who had just been scolded in front of his whole class.
“What is it, exactly, that you want me to help you craft?” Julien asked.
He’d never asked me a question like that before, and I wasn’t entirely sure how to answer it.
Miles Nelson had so much technology that there would never be just one way to counter him. He was more advanced than any other villain I’d ever fought before, and that was also why he infuriated me more than any of the others. I had never been so thoroughly outsmarted before, and I had to rethink my entire approach. Where was I supposed to begin when it came to planning against a man like him?
“Start by building a tracking device,” I spat. “Something more advanced than what we already have. It needs to be able to follow him wherever he goes. I want to know his every movement.”
Julien raised his silver eyebrows again, but he nodded and let his pale blue eyes drop down to his notebook once again. It didn’t seem like he was going to try to pick a fight anymore, so I was free to explain to him what my plan for Miles was.
“He’s clever, so I doubt he’ll ever be alone, and he’s very likely to have improved his security,” I explained. “I either need a distraction for his female partners, or I need to wait for them to find a natural distraction.”
“A natural distraction?” Julien repeated.
I ground my teeth together. I knew he wouldn’t appreciate this next line of thought, but it was the only way I could think of to get Miles in a situation where I would be able to fight him alone.
“If they go after one of Grayville’s supervillains,” I said finally. “That could occupy his women and leave Miles all alone for me.”
Julien met my gaze with an unreadable expression, but he picked up his pen, dropped his head down, and once again began to jot down notes, scribbles, and basic schematics in his notepad.
I took that as a sign to continue.
“I want everything I have to be upgraded,” I continued. “My suit, my weapons, everything. But I also want to start on another vehicle modeled after the tank. It needs to be sturdy enough to last against someone even as strong as Optimo.”
“You believe that Miles and his women are quite powerful,” Julien observed.
“And I also need to improve my AI,” I said like the old man hadn’t spoken. “I want it to be capable of remote operating the other car models. Do you remember that idea we had for an AI-controlled group of small cars?”
“The one that could drive around and capture petty criminals?” Julien asked.
“Yes, that one,” I said. “I want us to make that happen. I want to be able to patrol the entire city without having to personally be there, and since I’ve been wanting to test it out for a while, we might as well try that now.”
“I understand,” Julien replied. “And did you want them controlled only by the AI system?”
“They should be able to operate on their own, yes,” I said, “but I want to be able to take over manual control if I need to.”
“That’s quite a complicated system you’re asking for,” my inventor said as he put his pen down again and leaned back. “And this is all for Miles Nelson?”
“It’s necessary,” I growled. “He killed an entire prison full of people.”
“Full of supervillains,” Julien corrected me.
“People,” I snarled.
“Slade,” Julien sighed, “I have worked with you for a very long time.”
“And?” I demanded.
“And I think it’s finally time for me to retire,” my inventor said.
“And why is that?” I growled as my hands curled into fists. “After all these years, why now?”
Julien fell silent again, and his gaze drifted up toward the rocky ceiling of my underground cave lair.
“Julien, why--”
“How many civilians has Miles Nelson killed?” he interrupted but kept his gaze on the ceiling.
“None,” I snapped. “But that doesn’t excuse--”
“I offered my help to you on the pretense that you would use my inventions to protect Grayville,” Julien murmured. “This is where I draw the line. After this, I will no longer offer you my assistance.”
“Fine,” I exhaled through my teeth. “Then after this, I will no longer be paying you.”
“I was never in this for the money,” he said as he dropped his gaze back to his notepad. “I need some time to think about how to implement your designs. I will return tomorrow.”
“You do that,” I spat.
I was in no mood to humor Julien, his lectures, or even his presence any longer. My hands shook at my sides, and I thought that if he didn’t leave now, I might end up slamming my fist into his face, but the inventor stood and made his way back toward the elevator and then disappeared as the doors closed behind him.
As soon as he was gone, I crushed my fist into the concrete beam again. It cracked and shuddered under the impact, but it didn’t fall apart.
If Julien wanted to quit after this, that was just fine with me. I was perfectly capable of creating inventions on my own, and I could definitely come up with a plan to defeat Miles Nelson. It wouldn’t be easy, and it would take a lot of time, but I was willing to do whatever it took.
I wished that I had months or even a year to make sure I covered every possibility when it came to Miles, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait that long. There was no way that Miles Nelson would sit still that long, and he would probably be back up and running in a week at most.
And that meant that in just a few days, he could be out there killing more of my supervillains.
He could even kill Maniac, and that wasn’t something I was going to risk.
I could fix this. I could expel Miles from my city, I could win back Beacon to my side once again, and I could be the hero that Grayville deserved. All I had to do was get Miles Nelson out of my city and return everything back t
o how it used to be.
Still, I knew that deep down, I didn’t just want him out of my city. I wanted to toss him into prison to let him rot for the rest of his life as punishment for all of his murderous crimes.
But I also knew that if I was really honest with myself, I didn’t want to just throw him into prison. For the first time in my entire career, I found myself willing to break my code.
I needed to kill Miles Nelson.
End of book 3
End Notes
Thanks for reading Evil Genius 3! I’ll start writing book 4 when this book gets 100 reviews, so please leave a review right here. Thank you!
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Logan Jacobs