Paradise of Lead Trilogy

"Okay."

  Blice follows Kazimir out of the room and into the Oval office. "Have a seat, Kazimir."

  "What's so secretive that you don't want Isidore to be here for?"

  "I want you to operate on me." Blice says. "Figure out how much of a computer I am then turn it on. It seems to be dormant right now, but I need you to do this for me."

  Kazimir crosses his arms. "Why?"

  "I figured out what you're doing with those butterflies."

  "Ah, so you know how brilliant it is."

  Brilliant? More like insane. But that can wait. "Well, I want to be the one to activate W.A.N.D."

  "You need the alpha code."

  "I'll get Isidore to transfer it to me."

  "You'll die." Kazimir says.

  "At this point, my life really doesn't matter to anyone but Isidore. Not only that, but Isidore is a single father now. That sweet little baby needs her father in her life. He has saved my life countless times and I owe him this."

  "Do you think he'll let you sacrifice yourself?"

  Isidore will never let anything happen to Blice. "No. That's why I need your help. We need to get the computer part of my brain working then we need to find a way to get Isidore to accept my gift."

  "Well, with you it will be a little easier." Kazimir says as he takes out a small notebook and a pen. "You are pretty much halfway between a regular T.I.M.E. and nearly a full computer like Isidore is. About half of your brain is a computer."

  "And why haven't I known about this?"

  "The members of the Paradise Awakened Project all agreed that you should never find out unless it was an emergency."

  "What's the Paradise Awakened Project?" Blice asks.

  "A group of extremely intelligent scientists and researchers whose original goal was to augment humans with artificial bodies and cyber enhancements. The primary foci were on bionics and robotics. The original members were Jacques Leblanc, Anton Lifestone, Sergei Nabokov, your father, my wife, Seth, and myself."

  "Seth?"

  Kazimir makes notes on his paper. "Seth was a T.I.M.E."

  "What? No way."

  "It's true. He hated T.I.M.E.s, though so he was always so harsh with them. Well, except for your father. If human becomes a T.I.M.E. after age twenty-five, they just stop ageing wherever they are at that point."

  "Anton Lifestone? Was he related to Clara?"

  "He was a T.I.M.E. and her grandfather." Kazimir says. "You know Alexi Nabokov, commander of the Rubble Rebels? His grandfather was one of us. And before you ask, yes, Jacques Leblanc is Prime Minister Leblanc. And yes, he is a T.I.M.E. We all were. We worked together on that space station while your father covered for us, hiding our experiments that we were performing on the other T.I.M.E.s who had no idea why we were actually up there. It was all going perfectly until your father began developing some secret program that took away his attention from our projects. Now I know his project was W.A.N.D. and the ability to change his appearance at will. We had actually been developing that until he shut down the project and claimed it wasn't functioning correctly. I guess he actually got it working. If you hadn't figured it out, a lot of our experiments revolved around nanobots."

  "I figured."

  "Anyway, your father didn't want you involved with any of the research. The problem was that he decided to conduct experiments on you and Byron without our permission. We were supposed to vote on any research matters, but that obviously didn't work out."

  "And that's what led to the T.I.M.E. rebellion." Blice says. The entirety of the situation is finally coming to light.

  "Precisely. When you sent Isidore, Byron, and Damien up to the space station, I know they found what had happened to the other T.I.M.E.s."

  "I've been meaning to ask you about that." Blice says. "Why did you slaughter them all?"

  "I had to get their microchips, but that's not the way they died. They all died from nanobots that went rogue in their programming. They grew and ate their way out of their host bodies. When they came in contact with the air, they stopped working and disintegrated. Sound familiar? It should. That's what will happen when the alpha code is activated, only on a much larger scale. And those nanobots won't die as quickly. They will find new hosts and wipe all of the humans out in the vicinity. Look at what happened in Eden. When I found out what had happened to the T.I.M.E.s, I realized that all of that research was pretty much wasted. I was so angry that I decided to blame you just to get you riled up."

  "Why?"

  "Because you are my worst enemy's son." Kazimir says with a smile as he looks up from his notebook.

  "Oh. I guess that makes sense. So how many T.I.M.E.s are actually left?"

  "Me, you, Isidore, Damien, Zach, and Leblanc. That should be it, unless any of your father's conversions have been successful."

  "Isidore told me that the androids he developed are still just androids, not T.I.M.E.s yet." Blice says.

  "Do you know if Isidore had his camera running while he was in there?" Kazimir asks.

  "I don't think he did. My father was preventing him from using his programs, but I guess there's a chance it could have been turned on and he wouldn't have known it. I can hook him up to a monitor and we can see if he has any video files saved."

  Kazimir rips out a page of paper and hands it to Blice. "These are the things I need from you if we are going to go through with this. We're running short on time, so do this as quickly as you can. Then I'll put you under, saw open your skull, and dig around in your brain."

  Blice holds up the paper and reads the list. A surgeon's kit, morphine, propofol, a sample of Isidore's DNA, and a pint of your blood. "Is it bad that I have all of this stuff except my blood ready to go?"

  "Even the drugs?"

  "Especially the drugs. What are you going to do, exactly?"

  "I have to activate your computer hardware." Kazimir says. "You already have an operating system, so that shouldn't be an issue. Then I have to make a copy of your microchip. Oh, and one question. Have you ever wanted to fly?"

  * * *

  Isidore knocks on the door to the bedroom Byron has been sharing with Clara. Now that he knows what had been going on between those two, it's not surprising. How could he not have suspected that?

  Byron opens the door and it's obvious he has been crying, but he's trying to hide it. "Hey, man."

  "Can I talk to you for a bit?"

  "Sure. Come on in."

  Isidore steps inside and immediately has to choke back tears as the smell of vanilla and apples graces his senses. Clara. Her smell is everywhere in here. He can't be in here. Her clothes are strewn around on her bed and on the floor as if she will come back any minute and pick them up. Her makeup sits on her vanity where her bobby pins are lined up below the mirror, just as she always liked to keep them. One of his own shirts is on her pillow. Maybe the last night she slept in her own bed was when they made love last. Every night since then she has been in Byron's bed.

  "I'm sorry." Byron says.

  "You don't have to keep apologizing. It's not all your fault. She wasn't ever truly happy with me. I think she only wanted me for my body."

  "That's . . . true. She told me that she loved sleeping with you because you are perfect."

  "She told you that?" Isidore asks, feeling more and more uncomfortable the longer this meeting continues.

  "According to her, I could never live up to you."

  "Then why did she leave me to be with you?"

  "This is getting a little weird, but I'll tell you what she said. Clara told me that you had the perfect body but you didn't know how to pleasure her with it."

  And now Isidore feels sick. "Really?"

  "Yep."

  Figures. "I tried. I did. I asked her and everything and she never complained."

  "Women. They'll say everything is great but usually when they seem happy, they aren't."

  "I hate to ask this, but what else did she tell you about me?" Isidore asks.

  "Usually when she told me this
stuff, I would ignore it because I have no desire to hear about another man's . . . endowments."

  Dear God, why? "I don't know what to say."

  "How about we start by not saying anything more about this subject?"

  "Sounds good to me."

  Byron sits on his bed. "Have a seat."

  Isidore looks around at the room and realizes there are no chairs. "Where?"

  "Come sit on the bed with me."

  That is absolutely the last place in the universe that Isidore wants to be. "I'll sit on the floor."

  "If you're upset about me and Clara, we did it on the floor too."

  "Then I'll just stand." Isidore begins to think that this wasn't such a good idea after all. But he has no other options at this point. He sighs and sits at the foot of the bed next to Byron. Sitting here on the edge of the bed where his friend has been sleeping with his recently deceased wife is certainly a new and horrifying experience. He has to think about something else before he screams. "I need to ask you a favor."

  "What's up?"

  Here goes nothing. "You know that the Inquisition has started developing androids for mass production to be used as slaves and experiments, right? Well, they will be sold off to the highest bidders who will either turn them into computers or use them as domestic servants and companions."

  "Okay."

  "Have you ever wanted an android of your own?" Isidore asks.

  "I've never really thought about that. I guess having someone around to keep me company would be nice. I could teach them how to fight and we'd be unstoppable."

  "Would you be opposed to having a female android?"

  "Would I get to . . . you know?" Byron winks at him.

  "I'd prefer it if you didn't, but I guess if she belonged to you, you could do what you deem to be the best for her as her owner."

  "Then sure." Byron says. "You know I love women."

  Isidore glares at him. "Yes. Everyone knows."

  "Sorry."

  "Anyway, I can have Blice write up a contract and he'll help you get her registered." Isidore says. "Blice can teach you how to be a good owner. We'll get her a slave collar and then you can begin training her as you want to. She's very impressionable at this age and she could grow to absolutely adore you."

  "You have one picked out for me?"

  "Well, not exactly-"

  "Who is she?" Byron asks excitedly.

  "My daughter."

  Byron looks stunned. "What?"

  "I'm giving you ownership of my daughter. She's half android so the Android Laws still apply to her. She has to have an owner, not just a father. There's no one else I would rather be her owner than you."

  "Wow. Um . . . I don't know what to say. I'm honored, but . . ."

  "If not you, then there's no telling who could get her." Isidore says. "Blice already said he won't adopt her so I doubt he'd be her owner. Besides, while I would trust Blice to be her father, I don't trust him to be her owner. He gets very impulsive and controlling when he's stressed and I don't want Katarina to be abused by him like I was. It's the power he gets from it all. Blice would be a good father, but not a good owner for her. Does that make sense?"

  "If he's her father, then he would recognize the difference." Byron says.

  "Exactly. He wouldn't have that need to dominate."

  "Why me?"

  "Even with everything between you and Clara, you have always been the one person aside from Blice who I could trust. You've been there for me. You're a good guy and I know that you wouldn't hurt my daughter. The fact is that I will die in a week. We need to get this process going so I can die knowing that she is safe and protected by her owner."

  Byron embraces Isidore. "I'll do it for you, buddy. I swear I'll keep her safe and I'll tell her every day how great of a man her father was."

  26

  Isidore smiles as Blice enters the room with some fast food that he tosses on the table before removing his suit jacket and falling back on his bed. What's wrong with him? "Blice?"

  "Be silent." Blice orders coldly.

  "I'm sorry."

  "You don't get to speak. Now shut up."

  It's been a long time since Blice was this harsh with him. Isidore doesn't quite know how to react. When minutes pass and Blice doesn't move, Isidore decides that he needs to try something. He goes over to the bed and crawls over until he's looking at his owner. He stares down at him.

  Blice manages a grin. "What do you want?"

  "You yelled at me."

  "I'm sorry, Niko." Blice reaches up and grabs Isidore's slave collar and pulls him down closer.

  Isidore smells Blice's cologne and his stubble pricks his face as their noses touch. "What are you doing?"

  "Just stay here and let me think."

  Well, this is a bit strange. Blice's breath is warm on his face and they remain here in the silence. Even if Isidore wanted to get away, he couldn't. Blice's grip is tight around his collar and any quick movement could send an electric shock into both of them.

  Eventually Blice sits up and pulls Isidore into his lap. "Sit. I need to talk to you."

  "What is it? Why are you acting like this?"

  Blice still doesn't let go of his collar. "If you go down, I want to go down with you."

  "I thought we weren't talking about that."

  "We need to start talking about it. We have six days left." Blice tugs on Isidore's collar, making Isidore stiffen and dread what could happen at any moment. Blice doesn't seem concerned as he continues. "We probably have less than that, actually. Administrator Ming of the Red Republic was assassinated this morning. Then this afternoon, Queen Catherine of Great Victoria was killed in what some are ruling a suicide. But I know better. I've seen some of the preliminary reports and this directly matches how Maria died."

  "Nanobots?"

  "Nanobots. There's another code black, Niko."

  "Who?" Isidore asks.

  "Styx suffered in indirect attack about an hour and a half ago. Half a million people died. It's just like Eden. Guess who is being blamed for all of this mess?"

  "You."

  "Not this time." Blice says. "They're blaming each other. Turns out that Leblanc is playing everyone like a puppet master. The Red Republic has declared war on Great Victoria. Look up in the night sky and you'll see the space fighters going at it. It's not going to be pretty. I know for a fact that both countries have nuclear weapons and nanobot technology. According to an international sanction, both of them have agreed to not use them, but with the way things are going, they could snap at any time. Looks like I made the right call about getting things ready for W.A.N.D."

  "What about us?" Isidore asks.

  "I am trying to stay as low key as possible and avoid getting involved. We need them to stay distracted with killing each other and leave us alone until we are fully prepared to activate W.A.N.D. In a couple of days, we will begin moving supplies and people down into the new Paradise. If my father is going to make a move and try something, I think it will be then. We don't need to be caught up in a pointless war while uprisings are happening here in the city."

  Isidore tries to pull away from Blice, but he can't. "Why are you holding onto my collar?"

  "I need to feel some control over something. Sorry. Just stay here and let me do this. It's helping me calm down. I can feel your pulse."

  Then he'll know how nervous he is right now. "That's comforting."

  "You're freaking out, aren't you?" Blice asks.

  "A bit. I don't like getting shocked."

  "Then don't fight it. Being submissive again for a few minutes won't kill you." Blice says as he pets Isidore's hair with his other hand. "What did Byron say about Nika?"

  "He will be her owner."

  "Good. I got her a slave collar already. I'll teach Byron everything he needs to know."

  "Thank you." Isidore says.

  "So, I have a question. Why are you not more upset about dying in a few days?"

  Isidore sighs and leans back ag
ainst Blice's chest. "I don't know. Should I be upset? I guess when my life has been dominated for so long by others, losing it doesn't really matter."

  Blice stands and pulls Isidore up with him. "Our food is getting cold."

  "Something else is on your mind."

  "I will be leaving you for a few days."

  Panic builds in Isidore as he clings to Blice. "No. Don't leave me!"

  "Stop."

  "You can't go. I can't do this without you. Please!" Isidore screams at him.

  Blice tightens his grip around the collar and slides his other hand under it as well, making Isidore unable to breathe. "Stop screaming. I'm not leaving you. I will be meeting with someone and then coming back. I swear that I will be back with you before you use the alpha code. I won't let you die without saying goodbye."

  Isidore grabs onto Blice's arms in a desperate attempt to loosen his grasp so he can breathe.

  "Do you want to breathe, Niko?" Blice asks with a grin on his face.

  Isidore gasps for air and feels his legs buckle under him as Blice pushes him down on the bed. He looks up with begging eyes at his owner as his vision begins to fade.

  "If I let you go, you have to promise not to freak out. No screaming. Okay? Isidore, wake up." Blice lets go of the collar.

  Finally. Isidore takes deep breaths between coughing. "What . . . the hell . . . was that for?"

  "You were beginning to panic. I can't have you doing that right now." Blice slaps Isidore hard on the back.

  Isidore screams and digs his fingers into the bed. "What the fuck?"

  "Oh my God, I forgot about your sunburn."

  "Don't touch me. Dear lord, I think I'm dying."

  "Are you crying?" Blice asks.

  "Go eat your food and leave me alone." Isidore says as he sits up and tries to bear through the pain. "I will get you back for that one."

  Blice laughs and tosses him a burger. "Sorry, man."

  He returns the smile as he wipes the tears from his eyes. "You'll be sorry."

  "So, I need to get my mind off of everything. Want to play your favorite game? You can be those creepy robots again." Blice turns on the console. "I figured we could take one last night to be like we used to be. This may be our last chance. What do you say?"