"I'd love to."
* * *
When Isidore wakes up on the sofa with a half empty can of beer in one hand and potato chips covering his shirt, he has some questions. When he sees the bright purple lipstick smeared on his arms and notices his pants are undone, he has even more questions. What happened last night? He doesn't remember anything and the more he tries to remember, the more his head hurts. He rubs his eyes and wishes that he could destroy the sun.
Isidore groans as he sits up and looks around the room. The place is a mess. Blice's pyramid of beer cans is still standing next to two empty tequila bottles and a slice of pizza hanging off the back of a chair. Lime green spray paint is smeared on the walls in some unintelligible language. Some woman's sequined bra is torn in half in front of the door and broken glass covers Isidore's bed. The video game is still running and Blice is passed out with an empty syringe between his fingers. Wait. Why is Blice wearing purple lipstick? The more concerning question is why is Blice wearing ruffled panties with glitter in his hair and lying between Isidore's legs? Oh God.
What to do now? What can he do now? Then he notices the bullet holes in the wall where someone painted a target and Blice's Uzi propped up near the window. Still, he doesn't remember anything. The longer he studies the aftermath of the night before, the more Isidore doesn't want to remember. Is that a place where someone injected him with something on his arm? No wonder he feels out of it right now.
Isidore shakes Blice's shoulder. "Blice."
Blice doesn't respond.
He shakes him harder. "Blice, get up."
"Mmmm . . . what?"
"I have some questions that I really need answers to."
Blice rolls over.
Isidore pushes Blice's face away from his crotch. "No. Get up."
"What time is it?" Blice asks.
He looks at his watch that has some sticky substance all over the display. He prays that it's soda. "Noon."
When Blice sits up, he has about the same reaction to everything as Isidore had. He wipes his lips and the purple lipstick coats the back of his hand. "Um . . ." His eyes move from the lipstick to Isidore's arms and down to the traces of purple on his jeans. "Why am I wearing lipstick and why is it all over you?"
Isidore zips his jeans. "You tell me."
"You're the one covered in glitter."
"Really?
"Yep." Blice says as he brushes the sparkles from his chest.
"Perfect. At least I'm not wearing panties."
"True." Blice seems to be still a bit in a fog. "This place is trashed."
"Blice . . . what did we do last night?"
"I don't remember. I honestly have no idea. You?"
"Nope. The last thing I remember is you getting mad because I beat you on our game. Then there was something about getting hungry and I remember techno music and some woman named Lavender."
Blice's face goes pale. He looks at Isidore then back at his freshly painted fingernails then back at Isidore.
"Nice nails, Blice."
"I honestly don't know what's going on." Blice stands and exchanges his frilly panties for a pair of boxers. "Here's what we're gonna do. Neither one of us says a word about this to anyone. I don't know what happened and I don't want to know. If either of us remembers, we have to swear not to tell the other. Okay?"
"Deal."
The door opens, pushing discarded wrappers and cans out of the way. Byron looks around in shock and starts laughing. "What the hell happened in here?"
"We don't know." They say in unison.
"I have so many questions right now. Nice hair, Isidore."
"What? What's wrong with my hair?" He reaches up and pulls off a pink wig. "I don't know what this is or why it was on my head."
"Okay . . . well, Prime Minister Leblanc is here."
Blice grabs some clothes and runs into the bathroom. "Did he say why?"
"He told me to tell you there was a code green. No idea what that means."
"Why today? Why does this always happen to me? Isidore, why is the bathtub filled with orange gelatin?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Isidore asks.
Blice screams then there's a crash.
"Are you okay?" Byron asks.
"There's a turtle in the toilet."
What? "A turtle?"
Once the shower turns on, Isidore shakes his head and brushes the potato chips off of his clothes.
Byron picks up the bra and looks it over. "I knew you two were partying last night. I didn't know it was this much of a party or I would have come over."
"Did you see a woman come in here?"
"No. It was just you two. Oh, gross." He tosses the bra across the room. "I don't want to know who was wearing that. You should get cleaned up after Blice. The hospital called for you. It's about Kat."
"What's wrong?"
"They wouldn't tell me, but they sounded serious."
* * *
Blice fixes his tie and scrapes off the remaining bits of purple fingernail polish before stepping to the Oval Office and shaking hands with Leblanc. "Prime Minister, what brings you here?"
Leblanc places a briefcase on the desk and unlocks the latches. "Six hundred and seventy-five trillion dollars."
He opens the briefcase and checks the money. It's real. "That's a lot of money. Cleaning out your piggy bank?"
"Will you sell him?"
"Sell who?" Blice asks.
"Android 42."
So he wants Isidore. Interesting. Though, not completely unexpected. Blice sits down and picks up a stack of bills. He flips through it as he talks. "Do you know the paperwork it takes to register an android with a different owner? Besides, he's been trained to be my slave."
"Slaves can be retrained." Leblanc says. "In his case, a little intimidation has proven to work just fine. Turns out that he doesn't like being tortured. Who knew?"
"How did you come up with this amount?"
"I calculated how much has been invested into him and the program altogether."
"Why should I make a deal with you after you destroyed Eden?" Blice asks.
"Because if you don't, then I kill you." Leblanc draws a laser pistol from his coat. "Do you know what this is?"
Blice doesn't move. He's not scared. "I'm guessing some super special pistol."
"It's a laser pistol. It makes microscopic holes in things then if it comes in contact with metals, it melts them. It's all thanks to a very concentrated beam of light and nanobots. And lucky you, it's extremely effective against T.I.M.E.s."
"Sounds like it would be fun to blow it up."
"You don't want to do that." Leblanc says. "It's powered by a tiny nuclear reactor. Destroy that and all of Paradise is gone. Get the picture?"
Speaking of pictures . . . "I actually wanted to show you something. I don't have any problem getting rid of 42. I thought you might like to see this picture over here on the wall. I had it commissioned for you."
Leblanc eyes him curiously then follows him to the wall.
"What do you think?" Blice asks.
"What is it supposed to be?"
"Don't know. It's abstract, but it reminded me of you."
"Why?" Leblanc asks.
"You have to see what's on the back." Blice puts his arm around Leblanc's back then removes the painting. He pushes Leblanc into the wall where the dark matter sears into his skin. As he screams, Blice rips the gun out of his hand and aims it at him.
Leblanc stands up and touches his face where the dark matter has left a deep black and purple gash across his lips and cheek. He holds up his hands. "Don't be crazy, McSage."
"I will never sell my friend. Is that understood? I don't care how much money you try to give me. And intimidation won't work. I would rather die than let Isidore be owned by someone like you. Guess what, Leblanc? I know your secret. Get down on your knees and beg me to save your pathetic traitorous life."
Leblanc spits at him. "You don't know anything."
"I know you're a T.I.M.E." Bl
ice says. "Want me to melt your microchip and watch you suffer an agonizingly slow death?"
He backs up against the wall. "Don't. I'm warning you. If you kill me, then the other nations will find out. They will declare war on you as well. I tried to do this the nice way."
"The nice way? How is abusing my friend and killing two million innocent people the nice way? No. I've had it with you and your false intentions. Let them declare war on me. I dare them to."
"You're just like your father." Leblanc says as his voice shakes.
"No. My father would torture you until you died. I'm ending this right now. Save a spot in hell for him when he joins you." Blice rapidly pulls the trigger as Leblanc cries out and eventually stops squirming. "Thanks for the money."
27
Isidore steps out of the bathroom while he dries his hair with a towel. What could the hospital need to tell him? He has been on edge ever since Byron told him that. If something happened to his daughter, Isidore will fall apart.
"Calm down." Byron says from the couch that he has cleaned off.
"She's my daughter, Byron. Did you expect me to not be anxious?"
"We have some other business to take care of first." Byron says as he stands and cracks his knuckles. "How do we want to do this?"
"Do what?" Isidore asks.
"Does Blice use a belt or what?"
Oh hell. That's right. Isidore's cuts and scrapes from fighting against Damien have already healed. "Blice uses my belt. He used to use a whip. I guess you get to pick."
"I don't want to do this."
"I know." Isidore takes his shirt off and unbuckles his belt. He hands it to Byron. "Here. Just make it quick."
"Your sunburn . . ."
Well, this should be fun. "Doesn't matter. I have to see my daughter. Get used to this. You'll have to do it to her too."
"No way."
"It's the law."
"I don't care." Byron says.
"If you don't do it, then someone else will. They'll make it worse on her." Isidore puts his hands on the wall and braces himself. "Now hit me, Byron."
"I'll count to three. One . . . two . . . three."
The belt hits him. Isidore drops to his knees as the pain takes his breath away. Not again. He can't do this. When he can take a breath, he screams. The tears slide down his face as he lies down on the floor. "Stop!"
"Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay! Damn, Byron. I can't. I can't take another one. If I wasn't sunburned, I could take it. But not this."
Byron helps him up. "You're crying."
"How about we leave you in the desert for a week then I beat you? We'll see if you cry."
"Then what are we going to do?" Byron asks.
"I'll get the paperwork from Blice for you to be Katarina's owner and we'll fill it out. That should be good enough for the medics to tell you what is wrong with her."
Someone screams from down the hall.
"What do you think that was?" Isidore asks.
"Sounds like someone getting hit on their sunburn."
"You're not funny."
Blice opens the door carrying a suitcase. "What's going on in here?"
"What's going on in there?" Byron asks.
"Leblanc is dead and I'm rich. Why are you crying, Niko?"
"Byron hit my sunburn with a belt."
"Dear God, why?"
"So I could go see my daughter, but I can't take it." Isidore says. "I need you to give Byron the paperwork so he can be Katarina's owner now."
"Sure. Byron, I'll get you Clara's key card as well, as promised."
"Thank you."
Blice turns to Isidore and gently takes him in his arms. "I have to leave now, Niko. After I get that paperwork to Byron, I won't see you for a couple of days. Please be strong. You're my everything. You know that, don't you? My life means nothing without you. So stay strong for me while I'm gone. When I get back, you and I will have a very serious conversation so don't run off. There are some things I need to tell you before everything goes down. Be good for Byron. I'm leaving you in his care."
"I'll miss you, Blice."
"I'll miss you too, buddy. But this is for the best."
* * *
Damien is getting tired just watching Zach jumping around the room as he operates on an android who is strapped down to the operating table. Every so often, a tear slides down the android's face and hits the table. There's no need to anesthesia when these things aren't human. They don't truly feel that pain. Besides, it's a good tool to teach them with. They have to learn that their owners will give out punishment and they should obey at all costs. It's what they were made for and no matter what they try to do, it won't change. Every one of them has had their tongues cut out and they have learned to stop making any sounds whatsoever. It's peaceful to watch this, even with Zach's caffeine-fueled dancing. Something is wrong with that child.
Now that he thinks about children, he remembers that two androids are supposed to be mating, but they've been avoiding each other. That simply won't do. No matter what Damien does, they refuse to touch each other. He didn't want to have to do this the hard way, but they are making difficult. How else will he and Clark populate the space colonies?
And Seth always said that the moon idea was dumb. Well look who has a base already set up with human slaves in place getting the place ready for life? That's right. As soon as all hell breaks loose in Paradise, Clark will escape and join him out here. Then they'll drop off the kid somewhere and take all the androids into space. It will be wonderful to watch the world burn from up in the atmosphere. Then after the radiation dissipates enough, they will go back down and take everything left behind then create a new government. At first, it sounded like a crazy idea, but now it looks like it is actually going to happen.
"Daddy, this android is pregnant." Zach calls to him.
He goes over to the table. "It can't be pregnant. It's a male android."
"But I have the ultrasound right here. There's a fetus."
Damien studies the screen. He's right. "That's . . . concerning. Cut him open and get it out. I want to see it."
"Okay."
* * *
When Byron enters the room carrying a tiny bundle of blanket and bandages in his arms, Isidore leaps up and the runs to him. "Is she okay?"
Byron smiles and hands the baby to him. "She's going to be perfectly fine. They just wanted to make sure that she had an owner and discuss her . . . modifications."
Isidore kisses her face. She smiles up at him and grabs onto his finger. "What modifications?"
"From what they could tell, Damien had been attempting to turn her into a M.A.G.E. Until she is older, her abilities won't fully be known. Though, from the look of her eyes, she is starting to change."
Isidore pushes her black bangs out of her face and looks at her eyes. That color is identical to Blice's. "They're turning purple."
"She'll be a dark matter manipulator like Blice." Byron says. "Damien must have injected her body with nanobots and lucky for her, her body accepted them."
"But then she'd have to be part computer, right? To regulate them?"
"Not necessarily. She carries your genes, too. Your regenerative body prevents you from being overwhelmed by nanobots. So because of that, she has the same kind of regeneration properties that you have. Be glad, Isidore. The medics said that if she was human, she wouldn't have survived that entire ordeal."
Isidore runs his fingers over the thin leather collar around her neck. "You put her collar on."
"I had to. Don't worry. It's not a shock collar like yours."
"Thank you, Byron."
"Hey, she's my responsibility now and I don't want her getting hurt. That's why I got her something special." Byron turns her collar around to reveal a diamond butterfly pendant.
"It's beautiful."
"Maybe she won't grow up hating to wear her collars."
"I am so grateful for you doing this." Isidore says as he holds her hand in his. "She
will love you. I know it."
"Hey, I'm going to go out for a bit to get her some things. You stay here and spend some time with her. You don't have much time left to be a daddy."
That hits him hard and he holds up his daughter in the air as she laughs. "Okay."
"Don't cry, Isidore."
"I'll try not to."
* * *
Damien wipes the blood from his arms and dials a number on his sensor. "Clark, we extracted a live fetus from one of the androids."
"Oh, that's good. Is it going to survive?"
A baby cries from the other room. "They'll both live. There's an issue, though."
"What?" Clark asks.
"The parent android is male."
"Hold on. Which one?"
"44." Damien says.
"I thought we might have problems with that one. There were some mistakes with his development that were hormone related, but we thought he'd become regulated in time. Apparently we were wrong."
That doesn't explain the overall question here. "But how did he get pregnant?"
"He didn't get pregnant. He decided that he wanted to reproduce so he did. 44's brain is entirely a computer. My best guess is that he was able to simulate a womb and some genetic code then he probably got hold of some of those drugs you keep there and after a few weeks of trying, he created an android inside of him. It's just like us creating an android in a tube. Except this one was inside of him."
"So he was able to manipulate his body using his programming?"
"Exactly." Clark says. "What number are you going to give to this one?"
Damien already has an idea about that. "Actually, since it was created from a part of a male android, I thought it would fun to name her Eve."
"Perfect."
28
"Blice? Can you hear me? Wake up. You're scaring me."
The voice sounds far away from him and he can't think straight. Something is softly buzzing in his ears.
"Come on, man. It's been three days. You have to wake up. I didn't give you that much propofol."
Blice slowly opens his eyes as he becomes more aware of his surroundings and the knowledge that he is alive. His body feels weak as someone's large hands help him to sit up. He looks around blurrily at the world around him. He's in his office and he's freezing. His hair is wet as if he just washed it and when he takes a deep breath, his lungs burn a bit.
Paradise of Lead Trilogy Page 75