"You should all start praying." Isidore says.
"Shut up."
Isidore shrugs his shoulders. "Fine. I tried to lead you to salvation. People never listen to me when I tell them to pray."
"Isidore Nikolai Williams, by the order of the National Court of The Unified State, you are to be put to death on this day. May God have mercy on your soul." The soldier holds up his hand. "Fire!"
The sound of gunshots fills the air as Blice cries out and Agent Monroe holds him. When the courtyard goes silent, Blice knows it's over. He grits his teeth and looks up where Isidore was standing. Isidore drops to his knees in the silence. A pool of blood spreads out around him and he collapses. Then Blice sees it . . . the tiny grin and a glimmer of mischief in his friend's eyes. What is he doing? Minutes pass as Isidore lies there in his growing puddle of blood.
A tiny blue and black butterfly flitters across the courtyard and lands on Isidore's shoulder. Yuri? Blice notices a tall man in a black trench coat move up through the parting crowd. He takes off his face mask and tosses it to the pavement. Blice knows that face all too well. Kazimir Dark.
Kazimir reaches to his back and pulls out an AK-47. "Babochka. Svoboda."
A blast of power spreads out over the crowd as Isidore stands to his feet. The lead handcuffs fall to the pavement in melted mangled pieces. The people scream and run away as guards hold up their guns again. The blood trickles down Isidore's pants and through his clothes, but he holds out his hands and smiles. A mist of green regeneration magic surrounds his body. "I will not be stopped. Every single person who has stood against me will die on this day."
Kazimir tosses Isidore his Colt .45 revolver. "Get shooting!"
As Isidore shoots down two soldiers with graceful ease, he does the one thing Blice thought was impossible. He uses dark matter. Blice would know that black and purple membrane of glittering emptiness anywhere. When Agent Monroe and the other Secret Service agents try to surround Blice and push him back away from everything, he instead pulls free and runs up to join Isidore. They'll fight them together.
14
Byron swipes his Outlander Force key card through the blue hologram at the front gate of Paradise and speeds through the streets as people run the other direction and hide in their homes. "What kind of program does Isidore have that could do something like this?"
Clara hides her face and holds Katarina close to her chest as an explosion rings out, sending flames through the streets. "It's not the alpha code. If he activated that, we would all be dead already. I don't know what this is."
There are more screams as a large mass of dark matter slams into the side of a building, taking away part of the walls and ceiling.
"Is that dark matter?" Clara asks as they speed by, trying to avoid the panicked people.
"Blice must be fighting."
"No. That's Isidore's."
"Isidore's a M.A.G.E.?" Byron asks.
"Not technically. Talk to Kazimir about this little development. I'm sure he's behind this. He wanted Isidore to be a weapon while every other scientist wanted him to be a slave for . . . other purposes."
"Oh God."
"Yes, exactly what you think." Clara says then points towards the courtyard. "Over there. I see them. You have your gun, right?"
"Sweetheart, I always have my shotgun." Byron turns down a side street and heads away from the courtyard.
"What are you doing?"
He slams on the brakes in front of the Presidential Palace. "Get out. This is no place for a baby. I will take care of Isidore and my brother. Get Kat to safety. Let the men fight this battle. There will be plenty of time for you to fight with us later, I'm sure."
"No! I want to help."
Byron grabs Clara's arm and shakes her. "Get inside before I carry you inside. I will not let you endanger that baby. Now be a good woman and do as you're told."
The look on Clara's face reflects her shock as she obeys and carries Katarina inside.
Now to get back there and finish this . . . whatever this is. The alarms sound out over the city, but Byron knows to follow the gunfire back to the courtyard. As soon as he gets to the courtyard, he wishes he wasn't there. Everything has been decimated. Bodies are strewn all over the ground, some still bleeding and crawling away. The only positive aspect he finds is that the dead are all soldiers and police officers. When a surge of electricity fills the air and a crack of thunder echoes around them even though there isn't a cloud in the sky, Byron jumps out of the car and focuses his attention on the caster.
Isidore. He's covered in blood and mud and sweat rolls down his pink face as he sends out another blast of fire and electricity at the same time at the group of soldiers. When the guns fire, Blice dives in front of Isidore and holds up a shield of dark matter, sending the bullets ricocheting back into the crowd. Isidore's skin glows faintly with the eerie light green of regeneration magic. Then there's that other man. Kazimir Dark with his AK-47 mowing down row after row of soldiers, the dark matter ripping holes into their body armor. That's Blice's dark matter. Byron can tell the difference. It's more . . . brutally destructive than the mystical flashiness of Isidore's.
Byron pulls out his sawed off shotgun and holds up his hand as the fire jumps to life. He's not going to sit back and let them have all the fun. He runs up behind Isidore. "Hey, man."
"Get shooting. We're trying to get to the palace."
He shoots down one man and spreads out a wave of fire on the ground under their feet. "I have a car. If you can get there, we can be at the palace in no time."
"Behind us!" Kazimir calls out.
They all turn around to see a black armored tank roll up surrounded by fifty soldiers. An officer steps forward and points at them. "Surrender now or we will shoot you all down right here."
Isidore catches his breath as the last of the soldiers fall and instead turns his attention to the new reinforcements. "Seems like they mean business."
Blice laughs. "That means we're making quite the impression, Niko. It also means that they're getting desperate. Take that tank out."
"Yes, owner." Isidore holds up his hands as if he's surrendering and steps forward towards the soldiers next to the tank. Yuri flitters over and lands on his shoulder. "We surrender."
The soldiers look around at each other, obviously surprised at this. A few surround Isidore and begin to handcuff him.
Kazimir calls out to him. "Babochka!"
Isidore drops to his knees in the street as Yuri begins to glow brightly. The soldiers cover their faces as their sensors begin to ring and beep. Amidst the chaos, Isidore crawls back into the open towards Byron.
"What did you do?" Byron asks as he watches the crowd of soldiers coughing and screaming then collapse.
"Ever heard of radiation poisoning?" Isidore asks with a dark grin on his lips.
"The levels would have to be insane."
Isidore picks himself up and wipes the sweat from his face. "Welcome to Inquisition technology. Get down!"
They drop to the asphalt as the explosion sweeps over them.
"What was that?"
Kazimir points to the edge of the street where Blice's dark matter shield has blocked the brunt of the explosion. "The tank's internal components don't handle extremely high levels of radiation very well."
Byron stands up and helps Isidore to his feet. "So what now? Wait. Do I hear helicopters?"
"Yes. Surely you didn't think this was going to be over so quickly."
"Come on, we can't fight them all in the open. Get into the car."
They take off running and jump in the car. Byron drives as fast as he can through the streets filled with flames and screaming citizens as the black security helicopters chase them overhead and pelt the streets and the roof of the car with bullets.
Byron takes the chance to gain his bearings. He turns to Isidore in the seat next to him. "You're alive."
"So are you. Congratulations."
"You didn't actually think I'd let him die,
did you?" Kazimir asks as he reloads his AK-47. "He's worth so much."
"We've already found out that I can take a few bullets and live." Isidore says with a big smile on his face. "Besides, I'd rather go down fighting. Is Clara safe?"
"Yes. Your baby is too."
"Really? Thank God. I was so scared."
"What about Damien?" Byron asks.
Blice doesn't look amused. "What about him?"
"Is he dead? Did you find him?"
"No. He's a coward and probably hiding somewhere." Blice takes off his coat and starts cutting it into strips. "If this is going to last much longer, we need to get these wounds taken care of. Once your adrenaline calms down, you will start to feel them a lot more."
Isidore watches Yuri crawling on his arm. "It's okay, really. I can deal with a little pain."
"But I can't see you in pain. So you're getting some bandages." Blice wraps a strip of cloth around Isidore's arm and ties it tightly. "Even with your regeneration magic, you're still bleeding pretty bad."
Isidore winces with the pain. "I have bullets in my arms. What do you expect to happen?"
"Be glad your magic isn't radiation based or you wouldn't be able to cast it."
Kazimir grins. "You have me to thank for that."
Byron stops the car as more gunfire sounds out down the side alleys. "Soldiers."
Kazimir opens the door and jumps out into the street. "Come on, Created One."
Isidore follows and reloads his revolver. "Go on, Blice. We'll fight these last few off."
* * *
Blice storms inside and immediately begins issuing orders to the staff. "Lock the doors. Move those desks in front of the door to keep anyone from breaking in. Get something up to block the windows. This fight is far from over."
Agent Montgomery runs up to him and bows. "Mr. President, you have a call from Damien Montgomery. He wants to end this."
"Give me the phone." Blice takes it.
"About time I get a hold of you, McSage." Damien says.
"I don't make deals with the devil."
"Hear me out, McSage. I have a little piece of information that I think you will find quite valuable. If you agree to my terms of cease fire, you will remain as president, Isidore will be pardoned, and Clara will be reinstated."
"What about Katarina?" Blice asks as he pushes open the doors to the Oval Office.
"The little abomination will live as well."
"What do you want, Montgomery?"
"I want the robot." Damien says.
Robot? Surely he doesn't mean Isidore. "What robot?"
"The butterfly."
Oh. Yuri. Why on Earth would he want Isidore's butterfly? "Interesting."
"I will make all of your problems in Paradise vanish if you hand over the butterfly. I have the authority to drop all charges and offer immunity to Isidore if you swear to uphold every aspect of the Android Laws from here on . . . including the new ones."
Blice turns on the television and shakes his head as the news reporters show the ongoing destruction. "New ones?"
"Yes. The new ones you will sign into law once I deliver the cease fire agreement."
"What are the new ones?"
"We can't take the chances of this kind of uprising happening again, so I have written some new regulations that will only make Isidore conform to stricter training." Damien says.
This doesn't sound good. "Training?"
"Every android will be with their owner at all times and they will show evidence of discipline."
Evidence of discipline? Blice's stomach turns. "What does that mean, Damien?"
"You know exactly what that means. Bruises, red marks, etcetera. Seeing the androids like that will soothe the worries of the citizens and let them know that the owners are keeping the androids beaten down. It's for the greater good."
Dear God, that's terrible. Damien's serious . . . but how serious? "You know, I think we'll just fight this little battle until the end. How's that?"
"Not smart. You forget who I'm working with. Clark has calibrated the satellites to launch missiles and guess where they're targeted? That's right. Your nice fancy palace. If you don't agree to our terms, you will be blown off the map. I couldn't care less about Paradise at this point. Think about your precious Niko. Do you want him and his baby to die a horrible fiery death? You and I both know that he hasn't evolved enough to unlock his full potential. That little display earlier was quite the show. I'll give him that. He's learning quite quickly."
Damien is bluffing. There's no way he got clearance to do this . . . wait. Blice quickly searches through the database on his computer until he finds Damien's profile. Damn it. He forgot that he gave Damien level 10 clearance back before this all went down. When Blice had trusted Damien to take control of the government so he could get clean, which still hasn't happened yet, Blice gave Damien level 10 clearance. That explains everything. Blice realizes that he truly is out of good options. They could try to fight, but that's a death sentence. They could run, but they'd have to leave Isidore behind due to his slave collar that will explode if he goes past the city gates. Blice won't leave Isidore behind.
"I need your answer, McSage."
Blice is once again backed up into a corner with no way out. He'll have to agree to this. If it was just him and no one else, he would go down swinging, but he can't place a baby in danger. "I'll sign it and give you the butterfly. One more thing. Give me control back of Isidore's slave collar so he can leave the city without dying."
"Deal."
* * *
"Isidore!"
Isidore turns around and sends a wave of fire out from his hands that engulfs the alley, trapping the soldiers inside as Byron's flames fill the other exit. "Got 'em."
Kazimir rains down bullets from on top of the roof of one of the buildings. When the helicopters return, he shouts down at Isidore. "Take down those helicopters, Isidore."
"Yes, sir." Isidore closes his eyes and raises his arms to the sky as the helicopters move closer.
Byron watches in awe as something in the air begins to change around them. He can feel it tingling on his skin and his hair stands on end. He can't be. There's no way Isidore is that powerful.
Isidore grins as the helicopters reach the end of the street. Without opening his eyes, he takes a deep breath and quickly lowers one of his arms. The birds in the sky stop flying and drop to the rooftops. He lowers his other arm and the buildings in the vicinity begin to crack and crumble. "Are you ready?"
"Go ahead."
When Isidore drops to his knees, the helicopters stop in the air then plummet down in an inferno of flames and wreckage. Everyone is pulled down to their knees as the air around them becomes heavy and dense. Once the helicopters are reduced to flames and rubble, Isidore opens his eyes and holds out his arms again as the air turns back to normal.
Byron shakily stands. "Did you just . . . control gravity?"
Isidore doesn't answer.
Kazimir joins Byron's side. "You're welcome."
"Thank you for your help, Kazimir. Did you install all of those programs?" Byron asks.
"Indeed. I had to make sure Isidore would be able to fight for himself in case something like this happened. Once I heard about him being in court, I knew he was about to be faced with a difficult fight for his life. So I sneaked inside to his cell after Blice left and quickly installed them. It was all too simple."
"Let's get out of here while we're still alive." Byron notices that someone is missing. "Isidore?"
Isidore has collapsed and is lying on the ground breathing heavily and making tiny moaning sounds.
"You okay?" Byron asks.
Isidore groans and holds up his hand weakly. "I'm good."
"I'll take care of him. You get back to the palace and check on Blice."
Byron heads off towards the Presidential Palace.
* * *
It seems like an hour goes by as Isidore tries to regain full consciousness and the ability to use h
is arms and legs. No matter how much Kazimir tries to help, it isn't working. So instead of fighting for it, Isidore just lies there with his face on the warm pavement. At least no one is trying to shoot at him right now. Bringing down those helicopters completely drained him, but he did it. He can only hope that he made Kazimir proud.
Kazimir kicks Isidore in the side. "Get up, Isidore."
That hurt. No matter what he does, he can't. He can push himself up partway, but he just falls when his arms give out. "I can't."
"I order you to get up, Created One."
"Please. I can't." Isidore starts to beg, hoping Kazimir will see the pain he is in. Despite the regeneration magic he casted on himself, his body is shutting down. His vision starts to fade as the world spins around him and he coughs up blood. "I'm dying."
"Don't talk like that. You're going to be fine. Now stand up."
Isidore knows he can't so he doesn't respond.
Kazimir sighs then picks Isidore up and carries him down the street in his large arms. "Just close your eyes and clear your mind. Today took a lot out of you."
"Don't be mad at me."
"I'm not mad at you, Isidore. You did your best. I know you're hurting. I will take you home to your wife and your owner."
"I thought you were my owner too." Isidore says sleepily.
"After seeing the way Blice cares about you and risked everything to defend you, he can have you. He's a good owner for you."
"I need him." Isidore whispers.
"I know. Tomorrow we will sort out the details and do a full restart on your system."
"Why? I could die."
"Something isn't working right if you can't recover from using those programs." Kazimir says. "Your wife and I will treat your wounds and get you ready for Blice."
"I need Blice."
"You said that already."
In a fog of exhaustion, Isidore thinks about Blice and smiles. "I'm his slave."
"Yes, you are. That makes you happy now, doesn't it? Good. Serve him well, Created One. You will never have a better friend."
It does make him happy to be Blice's slave. He never thought it would be possible to enjoy being a slave, but here he is . . . at peace to know that the collar around his neck tells the world that he belongs to Blice McSage and no one else. As long as he can obey Blice's orders, Isidore's purpose will be fulfilled. That is a wonderful feeling. While he drifts to sleep, he focuses on thoughts of Blice and the possibility that Isidore could make his owner smile.
Paradise of Lead Trilogy Page 65