Paradise of Lead Trilogy

by Mackenzie Morris

  Byron leans over and gently kisses her lips one last time. "Leena . . . we'll be together again. This isn't the end."

  "I know." Leena smiles. "Goodbye, Byron."

  Byron picks up the button in his fingers and his hand begins to tremble. "Goodbye, Leena." The machines stop and he feels her last quiet breath leave her body.

  15

  Byron barely notices when Blice, Isidore, and Damien enter the bar. Isidore and Blice don't say a word as they join him. That's normal from Blice, but strange for Isidore. Maybe they know. Talking to them is the last thing on the planet that Byron wants to do right now. He wants to be left alone and drink all the tequila in the building. Maybe then, the memories will leave him. How much tequila does it take to kill a man? Trial and error. He just won't stop until he stops breathing.

  Damien sits next to Byron at the bar. "Hey, man. Tell me good news. Please have good news."

  "She's gone." Byron says then he takes another shot of tequila. He then picks up the bottle and drinks straight from it.

  Damien pats Byron's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm so sorry. We'll avenge her death. Don't worry about that. We will hunt down those Inquisition bastards and make them pay for what they did to her. She didn't deserve a death like that. No one deserves that. Is that her ring?"

  Byron holds up the delicate silver band between his fingers. "Yes." He hasn't stopped holding it since he left her side. As he looks at it, he notices an engraving on the inside of the inside of the ring. To the earth we bring the life. Interesting. Then there is the familiar daisy inside a triangle: the symbol of the Inquisition.

  A note slips across the counter from Blice. Be careful with that. It's Inquisition technology.

  Inquisition technology? "What do you mean?" Byron asks. Then he remembers there was something else he needed to ask Blice about. "First, why did Leena have the same last name as you?"

  Blice scribbles on another slip of paper and passes it to him. That's a surprise to me. No relation. As for the ring, can't you feel the radiation field around it? Be glad you're a M.A.G.E. or you could suffer bad effects from it.

  "But Leena wasn't a M.A.G.E." Byron says.

  Blice sighs and passes another note. How are you so sure?

  He has a point. But Leena was a woman. "I thought women couldn't be M.A.G.E.s."

  "They are if they are born with the genetic code." Isidore says as he orders another round.

  "Do you want to have a funeral for her?" Damien asks.

  Byron ignores them. He feels detached from the noise of the bar, the clinking of glasses, the laughter, the shouting. All of it seems so far away from his own island of isolation where no one can find him. The others talk amongst themselves, but Byron doesn't feel like he is one of them anymore. Maybe he died as well. Nothing matters anymore. Every time he finds something that makes him happy, it is taken away from him and he is alone once more, having to start from scratch. How long is this going to go on like this? Why did they shoot Leena and not him? She had so much more to live for. She was the innocent one in all of this. She could have gone on living and done great things for the people of Rubble City. Not now. Could he have done anything different? Byron could have left her in that dirty bar in the middle of nowhere. She would have had a terrible life, but she would still be alive.

  "Byron?" Damien puts his hand on his shoulder. "You have our sympathy, but you can't sit here and drink yourself to death. We cared about Leena too and there's nothing we can do to change what happened. It's done. It's over and we have to move on. You've done this before."

  Byron slams his glass on the counter. "That doesn't make it easier." He stands and pulls away from Damien. "I'm tired of this place. I'm tired of living this life. Take a good look 'cause this is the last time you'll see me alive."

  "Byron! Don't." Isidore calls after him.

  Byron leaves the bar and the door slams behind him.

  * * *

  Byron's feet balance on the edge of the canyon and he watches as pebbles and shards of earth crack and plummet down into the dry riverbed below him. The morning sun peaks over the horizon, transforming the landscape with pinks and oranges that glint off of the broken glass and piles of twisted and discarded metal. The wind picks up and blows through his hair. A delicate fragrance of flowers fills his lungs. All of a sudden, he feels more alive than he has in years. The sensation is almost tangible and he doesn't want to lose it. No, he has to focus on what he came out here to do. This doubt is only his mind's natural reflex to the idea. It's only making him weak. He takes a deep breath and inches closer as the rocks break away below the arches of his feet. He is so close. Why can't he just do it and get it over with?

  He was going to jump. An hour ago, Byron had been so certain that this was what he wanted. Now the tequila is wearing off and with it, he is losing his courage. Some say that suicide is a coward's way out. Not to Byron. It takes guts to do it and right now, his resolve is crumbling like the parched land below him. As the edge of the canyon is illuminated out from the shadows of night by the golden sun, Byron stares at his boots. One step. He could take one little step and not feel this pain anymore. He wouldn't have to go on suffering knowing that there was something he could do to save her. What would it feel like to fall? Byron closes his eyes and just as he lifts his foot, someone calls out to him from behind.

  "Byron!"

  Damien. Honestly, Byron is more relieved than anything that someone is here.

  "What the hell are you doing?" Damien pulls Byron away from the cliff and embraces him. "Don't do this. If you kill yourself, you're just letting them win. The others said you'd be back, that you were just bluffing . . . but I had to come find you." Damien's voice cracks as he starts to tremble. "I can't lose you."

  Is he crying? "Damien . . . thank you."

  Damien looks at him and wipes his eyes on the back of his hand. "You can't do this to me. Look, I'm a wreck. I knew I'd find you out here. Were you actually going to jump?"

  "At first. Some people call it liquid courage. More like liquid stupidity. I didn't mean to upset you. I just don't know what to do. Leena didn't do anything to them."

  "I know. They're heartless. They only care about themselves. Come with me. Let's get you away from this place. I don't like it here."

  * * *

  Byron leans into Damien's chest as they sit together a few feet away from the edge of the canyon and drink to forget the world around them. While Byron wants to push Damien away instinctively, he resigns himself to the fact that he is glad there is someone here who is willing to hold him like this and ensure him that things will get better from here. They have to get better. There is no way things can get worse. The more he drinks, the more Byron knows he needs his friend. Damien is the one force in this sad and lonely universe that is keeping him alive right now. How will he ever repay him for this simple but life saving comfort?

  Damien passes the tequila bottle back to Byron. "I promise you that Leena is happy now. She is in the paradise that she was always meant to be in. She was never made to be in a world like ours."

  "Can she see me? Does she still care?"

  "I know she still cares. She's watching you right now and smiling. She knows you did all you could."

  "I can almost hear her singing." Byron says.

  "I hear it too, buddy. I hear it too."

  Byron pulls Damien's arms tighter around him. "Tell me, why did you come out here after me?"

  "Because I care about you. I do. Honestly, I have no one else in this world and you're the person I care the most about. So I can't lose you. As pathetic as that sounds, it's the truth. I need you, Byron. I need you."

  Byron looks into Damien's hazel eyes and knows he's telling the truth. And even if Bryon won't admit it, he knows that he needs Damien just as much. Hell, he's going to say it anyway. "I need you too, Damien. I guess we'll have to look out for each other, huh?"

  "Like brothers."

  "Like good brothers, not the kind that try to kill each other."
Byron says. "We're not going all Cain and Abel with this, are we?"

  Damien smiles and shakes his head. "You're always one to ruin the mood."

  "What mood?"

  He takes Byron's hand. "Nothing." Damien sighs and they look out over the desert. "Think we should head back? I can picture Isidore and Blice killing each other."

  "Sometimes I wonder if that would be such a bad thing."

  "You're awful." Damien says.

  "You're not much better."

  "That's true. We have a lot in common, you know?"

  Where is he going with this? Byron has to take it at face value. "Maybe."

  "Never leave me."

  Byron squeezes Damien's hand. "I don't plan on it."

  16

  Byron examines himself in front of the reflection in the window on the side of the van. He never thought he would look good in white camouflage pants and a red shirt. But here he is, a Rubble Rebel. After what happened to Leena and knowing how much she cared about the people in Rubble City, Byron had to do something to carry on with what she wanted . . . to keep the people safe. He swore allegiance to them and now he will do anything and everything he can to defend Rubble City from the Inquisition. Damien and Isidore joined him as well. Blice declined.

  Now the citizens will look to him for advice and help. This is what Leena would have wanted. If any Inquisition bastards even think about coming near this place, they will all unleash hell and risk their lives to defend everyone. Byron has never had a cause to fight for. Even just a year ago, he never would have dedicated himself to a purpose other than himself. Now he is happy to do it. This feels right. He gets to defend the only people he has ever felt were his people, protect the M.A.G.E.s who have sought refuge behind the barbed wire and pieced together walls, and honor Leena at the same time. Who knows? Maybe he will get to kill some inquisitors and feed his ever-growing bloodlust. He needs revenge on them for all that they have taken from him. Another advantage of joining the Rubble Rebels? They get pills for free. Even Isidore.

  The other Rubble Rebels live inside the city, but there aren't enough shacks for them. So they still live out of the van, much to Isidore's happiness. Even being this close to him all the time, Blice continues to grow more and more distant with every day that goes by. He has stopped writing them notes and only leaves the back of the van on occasion. He stays curled up under a blanket or locked inside the van with Isidore when Isidore is here and when he's not, Blice turns up the radio to his rock music that he likes so much. Occasionally, Blice will head off into the desert and not be seen for a couple of days. Byron isn't the only one who has some suspicions about Blice McSage. He has come up in meetings more than once and each time the evidence against him grows and more and more rebels want to question him and his behaviors. The only thing keeping the Rubble Rebels from dragging Blice inside the city and interrogating him is Isidore.

  For some unknown reason, Isidore is the only one close to Blice. Isidore talks to him and Blice writes books full of notes to him. They aren't the only ones growing closer. Byron and Damien have been talking and drinking while they play card games every night and even when they are busy with scouting out some building or finding weapons for the Rubble Rebels, Byron and Damien are together. Byron can't stop thinking about him and how he saved his life after Leena's death. He realizes now how much he truly needs Damien. Damien is the brother that Byron never had.

  A month has gone by since he lost Leena and even though life gets a little easier to deal with every day, he still has breakdowns. When he does, Damien is right there to comfort him and bring him back away from the edge of the cliff again and again.

  Even now, Byron sits with Damien behind the van and they share a sandwich while they watch the ever-changing strangeness that is Blice and Isidore together. Today they are dancing and giggling together as they pass a bottle of vodka between them. Byron shakes his head. "What is with those two?"

  "Oh, leave them alone. I'm glad that Isidore is connecting with someone who is actually human. Maybe he's making some progress towards figuring out who he really is. If we have any luck, he'll forge a bond with a human being and he won't want to destroy that part of his mind. I really hope he doesn't try to do that."

  "What will he be like if he does that?" Byron asks.

  "I honestly don't know, but it doesn't seem like it would be a good thing. He wouldn't be able to function like a normal human. He has to remember that even if he has the brain of a computer, he still has a mortal human body."

  "That's true. Do you think he would actually try?"

  "Yes." Damien says as he tosses the crust from his bread out into the dust. "Isidore deals with some hardcore depression sometimes. I watched them one night. He's been getting pills from Blice. I don't know what they are, but he takes a bunch of them. I think they help him sleep. He's been not sleeping for up to a week straight at times because of the codes and numbers in his mind that he can't control because he doesn't have an operating system. The sooner we get him a customized operating system, the sooner he will be able to sleep and then work on clearing his mind to figure out what is truly important to him."

  "How do you know so much about him?"

  "Let's just say I have done some research in my spare time and know some programmers."

  Byron notices the glint of the sunlight off of something metallic in the sky. "Hey, Damien, do you see that?"

  "That's a space transport." Damien stands and helps Byron to his feet. "What's going on?"

  The swooshing sound grows closer until the tiny silver sphere lands feet in front of them. A slender woman in all black step out of the transport and immediately locks eyes with Isidore.

  Isidore stops what he is doing and stares at her as if he is entranced.

  The woman comes up to them and smiles a bright smile. "Hello. I am Katarina." She says as she pushes her long silver hair back behind her shoulders.

  "You . . . look young for being in space for fifty years." Isidore says.

  "Our programming doesn't let us age beyond a certain point. You're a T.I.M.E. as well, aren't you? Is your name Isidore Williams?"

  "Yes. That's me."

  "I'm your grandmother. I heard what happened to my son and his wife. I had to come see if you were okay." She takes Isidore in her arms and holds him close.

  Byron's mouth falls open. She doesn't look more than thirty years old. Are all T.I.M.E.s like this? And his grandmother? All this time, Isidore had thought he was alone. Maybe she can help him though some of the issues he has been dealing with. There are so many questions that Byron wants to ask her, but he can't form the words. Even if he could, he will let Isidore handle this. It is his family, after all.

  Isidore pulls away from her and takes her by the shoulders as he looks her over. "Wait. My grandmother?"

  "Yes. What's wrong?" Katarina asks. "You are so handsome. I never got to meet you, but I have heard so many radio transmissions about you and my files have pictures but you are so much better in person."

  "Files? So it's true? We really are computers."

  "We are, but we're still human, Isidore. You can't forget that or it becomes a long and lonely life for you. Please tell me you have a human partner."

  Isidore looks down at the ground and rubs his neck. "I'm not married. There's no girl."

  "Do you have a boyfriend?" Katarina asks.

  "No. It's nothing like that." Isidore says cautiously. "I have what you could call a girlfriend."

  "Girlfriend?"

  "Her name is um, Vanessa. I've been with her since I was thirteen."

  "Can I meet her?" Katarina asks.

  "I guess." He leads her to the van. "This is Vanessa."

  "What? Where?"

  Isidore puts his hand on the hood of the van. "Vanessa is my van."

  "I see. I guess when they replaced seventy-five percent of your brain with computer parts, this was bound to happen."

  "Seventy-five percent?"

  "Yes." Katarina says. "You were
the first one they did that to. You are technically more of a computer than a human if we go by your mind. I was hoping that you were able to move past that and find an intimate connection with a human."

  "I've never been interested in human women." Isidore says.

  "I see. I can't stay here long, Isidore. I am outside the range of our network. The Inquisition will notice and they will come looking for me. From what I've heard, you don't need more inquisitors around."

  "Are there more of us?" Isidore asks.

  "There are many more. I would love to take you with me, but my transport is only big enough for one person. Maybe someday you can come meet everyone. I know they would love to meet you."

  "Are any more of my family T.I.M.E.s?"

  "No." Katarina says.

  Blice runs up to them from the gates of Rubble City and his purple swirling magic dances in his hand. He points at Katarina and reaches into his shirt. He holds something up, but Byron can't see what it is.

  Katarina gasps and bows. "Forgive me. I'll be leaving now. I didn't realize you were here. I will report back immediately and give Paradise a call. Forgive me, Master Director."

  Blice places the necklace back inside his shirt and crosses his arms as he watches the ship take off. His magic fades. He shakes his head and goes back to the van. He slams the door and cranks the rock music back up again.

  Master Director? What is that supposed to mean? What is going on? Byron doesn't know enough to create the entire picture. Something is going on, but he doesn't have all the pieces he needs. The more he thinks about it and tries to figure it out, the more confused he becomes.