15
After restarting Isidore, Blice sits on the bed next to him and watches his shallow breathing as he sleeps. He pushes Isidore's bangs out of his face. He never wants to be that close to losing him again. It's nothing short of a miracle that Blice is able to touch him right now. He vows to never put Isidore in that kind of danger again. Even though Blice likes to think they are equals now, he knows deep down that Isidore has to be controlled. It's not pretty and it's not perfect, but what in this world is? If Blice was a good owner, he would have made the decision about the plea bargain and saved Isidore from almost dying again. Though, knowing Damien, Isidore would have been close to death after the torture from that too. At least Clara was able to remove all the bullets.
"Is he doing okay?" Clara asks as her and Byron are playing with Katarina on a blanket on the floor.
"He's going to be fine. Let him rest."
"So the fighting is over now, right?" Byron asks.
"Temporarily. Once I sign Damien's agreement, it will end for good."
Yuri crawls on the pillow next to Isidore's face and studies him with his tiny black robotic eyes. Blice watches the tiny robot and notices that for something created that is nothing more than programming and materials, Yuri seems to actually be concerned about Isidore. Maybe they did form some sort of electronic bond. That only makes Blice feel worse about taking him away from Isidore. It can't be helped.
"What are you waiting for, then?" Byron asks.
"I have to give Yuri to Damien."
"Then do it."
"Not yet. I have to let Isidore say goodbye to his friend." Blice says. "Damien can wait. Isidore has sacrificed enough and I'm not going to traumatize him even more by getting rid of his companion without giving him a chance."
"It's just a robot."
That's where Byron is completely wrong. "Remember how he was with Vanessa?"
"The van he made love to?"
"Yes. Isidore makes intense emotional connections to electronics and appliances." Blice says. "He loves Yuri like a brother. The day I gave it to him, they spent hours together. Isidore would study him and talk with it like it was another person. The mind of a T.I.M.E. really is a fascinating place."
"It's true." Clara joins in. "Even though I'm the first human woman Isidore has ever been with, he views Vanessa as his first true love. It's a connection that humans will never be able to understand."
"Come on, guys. I'm not that weird, am I?" Isidore asks as he sits up and stretches his arms.
"You had sex with my blender." Blice says.
"Okay. Maybe I am a little weird. So what's going on? Why are we still in Paradise? Aren't they going to kill me?"
"Damien has offered to drop all the charges and return things to normal if . . ."
"If what?"
Blice doesn't want to do this. He has to. "Say goodbye to Yuri."
Isidore looks completely devastated. "What? Why?"
"Damien wants him in exchange for ending this fighting and dropping all charges."
"He's my friend. I need him."
"I know, but there's no other option at this point." Blice says as he rubs Isidore's arm. "There are missiles targeting the building we're sitting in right now. If we refuse this deal, then we all die. Think about what's more important. Yuri or Katarina."
Isidore glances over at his daughter then picks up Yuri in his hands and kisses him then holds him out to Blice. "Don't let Damien kill him."
Blice folds the butterfly's wings and places him in the wooden box. "I won't."
Kazimir enters the room and hands Clara a cup of tea. "We'll get Yuri back. Don't you worry. Let Damien think he's won so he can feel like a man. Then when things have gone back to what some can call normal, we will get Yuri back before your final mission."
Blice tightens his fists. Final mission. So it's still in the plans. Isidore still doesn't know. He will have to discuss that with Kazimir. Blice already has an alternative plan in place, but it's by no means the best course of action. He can't think about that yet. At least the world political situation is more stable than it has been in the past few years. Maybe W.A.N.D. can wait. Then there's the fact that Blice trusts a live hand grenade more than he does Damien at this point. He might just forget about W.A.N.D. altogether.
Agent Monroe enters the room. "Mr. President, Damien Montgomery is in the Oval Office waiting for you."
"Perfect. Everyone just stay here. If you hear gunshots, know that one of us is dead. Actually, come with me, Niko. I think he'd like to see you."
Isidore doesn't look pleased with that idea, but he obeys and follows Blice down the hallway and into the office.
Blice closes the door behind him and crosses his arms. "Well, well. How is the traitor today?"
Damien only smiles. "You've never been one for flattery, have you?"
"Shut up. Let's get this over with."
"Hello, Isidore." Damien says as he steps up to him.
Isidore remains silent and looks at the floor.
"Look at this, Blice. If you had taught him to behave like this earlier, then all of this could have been avoided. I look forward to seeing you mark him up. What are you planning to use? A whip? A belt?"
Sadistic bastard. Blice glares at him. "Say one more word and I will kill you right here."
Damien places his hand under Isidore's chin and lifts his face to look at him. "How does that sound to you, robot?"
Blice notices the hatred flare up in Isidore's eyes and he quickly shakes his head as a warning. "Behave, Niko. Don't do anything you'll regret."
Damien pats Isidore on the head. "That's right, little computer. It's okay. You really hate me, don't you? You can speak freely."
Isidore pulls away from Damien and slaps him across the face. "I will see you burn in hell. Don't touch me like I'm some kind of animal."
"Isidore! No!" Blice shouts at him.
Damien rubs his face where a red handprint forms. "I see. Well, Blice, in accordance with those papers you just signed, you have to punish him. I want to watch."
This is exactly the sort of thing that Blice doesn't understand. Isidore knew that if he did something like that, Blice would be forced to hurt him. Then Isidore gets so defensive and pathetic afterwards. He has to do it now. Damien won't let this one go. Blice holds his hand out to Isidore. "Give me your belt, Isidore."
He backs up against the wall. "Blice, don't. Please."
"Give me your belt. Begging won't help your case."
Isidore removes his belt and hands it to Blice.
God, how is Blice going to do this? He can't think of Isidore as a slave anymore and this is beyond cruel. He has to remember the way he was before . . . when he could beat his friend without mercy. He has to be that Blice again, at least for a few minutes until Damien is satisfied. Then he sees the tears sliding down Isidore's face. "Take your shirt off and face the wall."
Isidore obeys and doesn't protest, except for the tiny whimpering sounds he makes.
"Do it, Blice. Make him beg for mercy." Damien says as he sits down and props his feet up on the desk.
Blice's grip tightens around the leather. "How many times should I hit him?"
"You have to break the skin or he won't learn a thing."
Blice raises the belt. "First, did you already sign the document?"
"Of course." Damien says.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I added that clause about the president still having full authority over slaves, servants, and possessions in the confines of the Presidential Palace."
"That's correct."
"Good. Also, you gave me full protection from having any actions taken against me, right?"
"Where are you going with this, McSage?"
"Just answer the question."
"Yes."
"Good." Blice spins around and hits Damien with the belt then tackles him to the floor. As he punches Damien in the face, Blice screams at him. "Never tell me what to do with my property in my own home. If Isidore ever
leaves this building again, I will beat the hell out of him and make sure that he is covered in bruises and lashes. But you will never order me around." Damien tries to push Blice off of him, but Blice puts his hands around his throat. "I could kill you right now, Montgomery."
"Do it. I dare you." He grabs at Blice's fingers as he struggles to breathe.
A tiny shaking voice whispers to Blice. "Don't kill him, please."
They both look up at Isidore who is crying.
"Don't kill him over me. I'll take the punishment. No one else needs to die."
Blice stands up and kicks Damien in the side just for good measure. "Get up and leave immediately."
Damien wipes the blood from his lip as he pulls himself to his feet. "Well played, McSage. Next time you won't be so lucky. You should know that the guards and police officers have been ordered to kill Isidore if he is ever seen outside of this building without his slave collar or marks on him. You better practice using that belt."
"Sit still and I'll practice on you."
Isidore steps between them and holds out his arms. "Please stop. Blice, no more violence. Damien . . . forgive me."
"You have nothing to apologize for, Niko." Blice says.
Damien pushes past Isidore and goes to the door. "There is so much I want to say right now to you, Blice. But I know that it's not the time. If your father had beaten you when you started becoming so selfish as a child, you would be a better man and leader of this country. I pity you."
"You don't have the right to speak about my father." Blice says between his clenched teeth.
"Do I not? Is that what you think?" Damien laughs and turns back around. "Why don't you look over that document one more time?"
Blice picks up the papers and flips through them. There's nothing out of the ordinary here. "What am I looking for?"
Damien crosses his arms. "Are you done stealing apples, Blice?"
What did he just say? "Apples? How do you know about that?"
"You stole those apples, not Isidore. But he loved you so much that he took the blame. If you had ruled over him with an iron fist, he could be a loyal and devoted mindless slave now who would die for you."
"I don't want him to die for me or anyone." Blice says. "He may have been created to be a slave, but I want him to live freely and be his own master. You don't understand what he went through and helped me live through so many years ago. I owe him my life and so much more. It is a debt I will never be able to repay."
"You think I don't know about you overdosing over a hundred times? You think I didn't hear you and Isidore crying together in the middle of the night after you beat him? You were always so weak. Once you give slaves any freedom, you spoil them. Isidore wasn't given to you to be a friend. You know that."
"Then why did my father give him to me?" Blice asks. "Why? To be some terrible sex toy?"
Damien steps up in Blice's face. "Your father gave him to you so you would learn some responsibility and numb your emotions that have always governed your mind. You are weak and you were supposed to dominate that android in order to be a stronger man."
A stronger man? So abusing his friend was supposed to make him a stronger man? Blice can see the evil in Damien's hazel eyes. Something dark and hidden emerges in Blice's mind. He can't control it any longer. "I am a stronger man than I was. Yes, I had problems and continue to have issues with drugs. I'm aware of that. Yes, I have hurt people and I have sex with prostitutes because I feel too worthless to find a woman and get married. Yes, I raped my friend. Yes, I have stolen thousands of dollars and sold orphans to slavers just so I could get my fix. Do you think that makes me happy? Do you think I revel in those memories of my childhood? For years, I cursed God, I cursed my mother, my brother, my android. But then one night when Isidore was gone and I thought I would never see him again, I had a handful of pills in one hand and a loaded pistol in the other. One way or another, I was going to end it all right then. But then I stopped and I realized that all of my anger was completely justified. Then I cursed the one person who took me to that low. My father. My father is the one who shaped me into the terrible monster I am. You will never know what I lived through as a child. So don't you dare try to justify the actions of that demon."
Damien pushes Blice against the wall and screams at him. "That demon loved you. He wanted to see you happy, but you never listened to a word he said to you. You were too pigheaded to open your damned purple eyes to see the truth about the world we live in. There's nothing good here, boy. There's no happy sunshine or singing flowers. You've always been a girly boy and I'm surprised you didn't have any male prostitutes."
Blice knees Damien in the groin and throws him across the room. "How dare you?"
Damien is obviously in pain as he braces himself on a chair. "How dare I? You're only upset because you know it's true."
"Fine. What's wrong if I'm attracted to Isidore? Last time I checked, it's not against the law for a man to be with another man."
"So you don't deny it?" Damien asks.
"I have never been with him sexually. What happened between us was anything but pleasurable."
"Maybe your father should have gotten you a female android to fuck."
A ball of dark matter speeds past Damien's face and spreads out on the wall behind him. Blice readies another one. "At least I didn't rape my mother like he did. Then he beat her and sent her out to live in the wasteland because he didn't want to tarnish his image. He exiled her and my brother because they weren't good enough. How does that make him any more of a man? A real man has restraint and learns to control himself."
"Says the drug addict."
Blice sends another surge of dark matter at Damien who dodges.
"Getting angry, Blice?" Damien asks.
Out of the corner of his eye, Blice sees Isidore sitting in the far corner of the room with his head in his hands and his knees pulled up to his chest. "Niko, go back to the bedroom and be with your wife. I don't want you to see this."
Damien blocks the way. "He needs to know what kind of man you are."
"And what kind of man am I, Montgomery?"
"You're not a man, Blice. You're a boy. A selfish, conceited, spoiled brat who couldn't even give his father a funeral."
That wasn't his fault. "I had no way of doing anything about that. Besides, maybe I didn't think he deserved a funeral. No one would have come. No one cared about that heartless son of a bitch. He deserved to die alone."
"That's some big talk from a loner like yourself." Damien says.
"At least I have people who care about me."
"Do you? Name one."
Blice looks at his friend. "Isidore."
"He's your slave who has been programmed, trained, and brainwashed for years to need you. Next."
"Byron."
Damien shakes his head. "Your brother who you let suffer in the wasteland then you used your dark matter to kill his girlfriend. Nice. Next."
Now Blice is sweating. "Clara."
"Your one night stand who never left in the morning. You just can't get over her. Maybe if she was a man, you would have seen the opportunity that night and done something about it. The only reason she's still around is because you let her marry your little robot. Touching. Face it, Blice. You have no friends. You have no one to love. And no one loves you. You will die alone just like your father."
"At least I will die knowing that I tried." Blice says. "I tried to break free from the life he laid out for me. I may have failed miserably, but I tried to be better. If I could say one last thing to him, I would tell him to burn in hell."
"Then tell him right now." Damien injects his arm with some clear fluid and a program starts on his sensor. Slowly the face of Damien Montgomery morphs and changes until the face looking back at Blice is one he knows too well from his past.
Blice reaches out to hold onto the wall. No. This isn't real.
"You know who I am, don't you, boy?"
His throat is dry and his heart races. Blic
e can't think clearly. This is the last thing he ever thought to see today. Surely this is some sort of trickery.
"I knew you would send this country to hell. I tried to raise you right, but no matter what I did, you clung to that android and wouldn't listen to a thing I told you. Insolent brat."
A sudden wave of dread and fear overtakes Blice as he looks into the dark grey eyes that are now glaring at him, surrounded by hundreds of wrinkles like spider webs. Now he realizes why he has been smelling that familiar smell of pipe smoke. Everything makes sense now. Blice gasps for air as he nearly faints. He grabs the document again and flips through it until the finds the signature. Vladimir Evans. "Father . . ."
16
Xavier holds the hand of his little brother as they skip down the streets of Paradise in the warm sunlight. Zach is nibbling on some blue cotton candy and making a mess of it. Sometimes it's difficult for Xavier to think of Zach as a kid, but seeing him with the sticky blue syrup on his face makes him smile. Maybe he's not just some bloodthirsty killer after all. Either way, it's nice to be out with him like this. They do spend every moment of their lives together, but it's mostly in the Inquisition base down in the Unclaimed Lands where nothing grows and they have to wear radiation suits to go outside. Here in Paradise, however, they can see the sky and feel the breeze on their skin.
He taps on his golden sensor and checks for any messages. Nothing. It's been days since they've had an assignment. Things had been so exciting during the days surrounding the Android Trial, as it has come to be called. But now the happiness is just plain sickening. Where are the explosions? Where's the blood and screaming? Too bad Isidore managed to get away.
Why did their father have to stop the fighting? It was so fun to watch a T.I.M.E. in combat like that, especially with his new programs. Too bad they're going to kill him. How does an android scream? Will he cry as he takes his final breath? However Android 42 dies, Xavier is certain that it will be beautiful.
Paradise of Lead Trilogy Page 66