She started to speak, hesitated, and glanced away.
"Why are you still so uncomfortable? Is it because of what I did to your boss at the television station?"
She studied her hands in her lap.
“I’ve only tried to give you a fresh start,” he said, rising from his seat. “Can't you see I tried to help you? Look at this, Nancy. My billion-dollar view.” He stretched his arms and breathed in deeply. "This is what I’ve worked so hard for. I was an orphan, after all." He gazed at her. "I came from nothing, and I created this. The universe even tried to take it away from me with this sickness in my blood.”
"But then a miracle happened," he continued. "I found her. How this happened, I don't know. What do you think, Nancy? Do you think it was fate? Do you think I was meant to live?"
“Yes. I think you were meant to live.” Nancy’s voice sounded as monotone and lifeless as his androids.
Vance leaned against the edge of the rooftop, a waist-high steel and glass fence the only thing separating him from taking a plunge.
"And so you’ll help me?" He kneeled next to her. "Will you do this for me? I feel I know you. You and I didn’t meet under the best of circumstances, but in a short time, I’ve come to trust you.”
Her hair fluttered in the wind that whipped along the roof. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly. He was finally getting through to her, winning her to his side.
“You’re smart. Gifted,” he said. “You see beyond what others see. There’s something I haven’t told you. You remind me of my mother, Nancy. My mother is everything to me.” He gazed into her brown eyes. “And now I’m trusting you with my life. With my resurrection."
Thirty-Three
J-Man and Singlet escorted Ida to the rooftop. She faced Vance and the woman from the zoo, who was introduced as Nancy.
“Nancy Brown,” Ida said. “I’ve been looking for you. Milt and Howard from the station say hello. They think you’re in danger. I guess they were right."
A flash of recognition crossed Nancy's face, but the woman was guarded. Ida chalked it up to too much time spent with the unpredictable Vance. That would be enough to put anyone on edge.
"Hmm,” said Vance. “Your detective skills are not on par with your powers of healing. She's been right here all along. Nancy works for me now. She's here entirely of her own free will. Aren't you?"
Nancy slowly turned her face toward Ida, smiled, and said, "Yes, I work for Vance now. There's no problem."
"If you say so," said Ida.
“On to more important business," interrupted Vance. "How exactly do your powers work? Do I get on a table and you put your hands on me?"
"I can't predict my power,” she said.
"What do you mean?"
"I've only ever used it on people who are wounded or unconscious." She paused. How far could she could take this? If she could seed doubt, maybe she had a chance. But she couldn't make him suspicious.
Vance considered. “So to be safe, I need to be put under.” He glanced at Nancy who whispered to him.
Ida noted the calmness the woman exhibited. Perhaps she’d warmed to Vance. Or maybe she’d been brainwashed.
Vance turned to Ida. "What else? Do you need knowledge of my condition?"
"Yeah. I need to study it for a month."
"Don't mock me. Paul wouldn't like it," he sneered.
She clenched her fists.
"Rest assured, I have Paul hidden safely for now. If you fail to heal me, Paul will die. It will be a slow and painful death. And, you’ll not be around to help him." His tone sounded like a teacher reprimanding a student. "Furthermore, if you try any tricks while I'm under, Paul will die, slow and painfully."
She started calculating whether she had enough time for a running leap to grab Vance and shove him off the roof.
"Lastly, if I die, or if you fail and I'm still sick, my droids have instructions to track down your Lucy and your pet wolf and destroy them.” He paused, checking for her reaction. “You will cooperate. Heal me and your friends may live. Questions?"
Ida swallowed hard.
"I asked if you had questions."
Her heart sank. This was hopeless. “No questions.”
Thirty-Four
“Nancy,” said Ida, surprised to see the woman alone, off Vance’s tight leash.
She’d unlocked Ida’s room with an access card and entered later that afternoon. “I don’t have much time,” she said with a long face. “He’s in his workshop getting a tune-up, as he calls it.”
“Are you hurt? Has he hurt you?” Ida asked.
“I’m fine.” Nancy adjusted her glasses. “Shaken up a little. You really saw Milt and Howard? They told you about me?”
“I went to apply for a job and showed up just as Vance left the station.” Ida hesitated, unsure what Nancy was seeking. Maybe she wanted reassurance someone was watching out for her, that someone cared. “They were definitely concerned about you. They asked me to find you. I told them I would try, but I had no idea where to start. And as it turns out, Vance found me instead—”
“He’s a monster,” Nancy said quietly.
“You work for him now. Do you want out of this?”
She nodded. “More than anything.”
“You’re to put Vance under tonight, right? Can’t you up the dose and make it lethal?” whispered Ida.
“No, he thought of that. He has one of his medical droids measuring out the precise dosage. I won’t touch it.”
“Could we lock ourselves in the room? Do something to fight back?”
Nancy glared at her. “Don’t you see? He thinks of everything. His men will be there too, and they always have their guns ready to pull on you. I’ve spent a lot of time with them. They were already on edge, and now it’s worse since you’re here.”
“Leave the bodyguards to me,” said Ida. “What about the droids? Is there a way to disable them? How does Vance control them?”
“They’re self-automated. He commands them with his voice too, but they don’t listen to anyone else unless Vance says.”
“If only I could get a weapon,” said Ida.
“You won’t. Like I said, he thought of everything.”
“Describe the room we’ll be in,” said Ida. What detail had they overlooked?
Nancy closed her eyes as she pictured the room where she’d seen Vance emerge in his new cyborg state. “Tall ceilings the size of a basketball court. The walls are concrete, perhaps to block out the noise of the machines. Machines are built into the walls. The droids make themselves and assemble more robots every day.”
“Right. How many droids do you think will be there?”
“Maybe a dozen, plus his two men, and me.”
“Where are they keeping Paul?” asked Ida.
Nancy wrung her hands. “I don’t know.”
“Here’s the plan. I’ll take the two men,” Ida said. “Subdue them, grab their guns, and hold Vance hostage while he’s under.”
“No, he designed a special chair for you. You’ll be restrained while the process takes place.”
Ida’s heart sank. Unless a miracle happened, or her power failed, she was doomed to heal Vance.
“He tried to think of everything,” said Nancy. “But he didn’t anticipate this.” She held out a closed fist. “Take it.” Nancy dropped a small glass bottle with two pills inside into Ida’s palm.
“What is it?”
“Take these ten minutes before the procedure. They’ll put you in a temporary coma. Your power won’t work if you’re unconscious, right?”
“I suppose not. Where did you get these?”
“One of Vance’s many doctors gave them to me. He felt sorry for me, I think.”
“How do I get out of this coma?”
“It wears off after six hours,” said Nancy. “Or I have the two pills that’ll revive you immediately. Vance has no idea. He’ll just think you’ve fallen ill. Do you think your friends might come to help you?”
“So, we’re buying time then?” Ida received a quick nod in reply. “My friends aren’t necessarily…They can’t help us here. The place is crawling with bots. They’d be shot and thrown into the river before they ever got to us.”
“I don’t have much time. Vance’s men will miss me and know I’m up to something. What other choice do we have?”
Ida recognized desperation in Nancy’s eyes, and something else too. The woman was unraveling. “Where do you keep the antidote pills?”
Nancy raised her right leg onto a chair, pulled up her pants leg, and revealed a small pouch secured around her ankle. “When the time is right, I’ll revive you.” She hid the bag and pulled her leg off the bed. “Or you wake up in six hours.”
“Can you bring me back without Vance knowing? If you can unlock my restraints, I might be able to surprise him and take him hostage. You and I could escape that way.”
“Yes,” said Nancy. “That might work.
“You’re sure these pills will work like you say?”
“Trust me, I want Vance dead as much as you,” said Nancy. “This is our only hope.”
Nancy left the room, locking it from the outside.
I’m putting my life in the hands of a woman I barely know, thought Ida. But what other choice do I have?
Thirty-Five
Two bridges downriver from DremCorp Towers, Lucy and five hybrids gathered on the rooftop of Dox as a soft, pattering rain started. The mutants had all arrived heavily armed and ready to work on a plan to infiltrate the home of the most powerful man in Spark City.
“How the hell do you expect us to go up against a robot army?” whined Mac. His DNA had been combined with a greyhound and his pointy face nearly brushed against Gatz as the discussion grew heated.
“Look, I know this sounds insane,” Gatz told the assembled group. “I have a device that can disable the droids. Three, in fact. The girl and I were able to get four bots down from within fifteen feet.”
Jinks, who had the head a leopard with the treacherous fangs to match, took the device from him. “What do you call this thing?” he asked, inspecting it.
A northern wind had settled on the city. Lucy wore a long coat borrowed from Gatz. She turned the collars up against the wind and rain. The fabric smelled like him—faint smoke, spice, and a hint of cologne.
The scene unfolding in front of her was surreal. She’d been around Gatz enough to get used to his appearance, but these new creatures were something else. Hybrids usually kept to themselves, segregated in Section H. They had their own financial ecosystem, legal structure, and mainly governed themselves. Some, like Gatz, had ventured out to start businesses and try to coexist with humans. Lucy couldn’t stop staring at the leopard mutant.
Two of the newcomers had not spoken at all yet. Lucy quietly observed them as Gatz tried to explain the situation. One creature was birdlike—an owl hybrid. Wearing a black baseball cap, he returned her stare. Perhaps he wasn’t used to seeing many humans. Maybe I look just as strange to them, she thought.
The last hybrid wore a hood drawn closely about the head, a scarf wrapped around its neck, and a long, dark blue trench-coat. Whenever Lucy tried to make eye contact, the creature glanced away.
Cursing herself for not taking more of an interest in hybrid history when she was in school, she vowed to seek out information about these fascinating creatures. If she survived the night.
Lucy was prepared to die if she had to. She would try everything to save Paul and Ida. She knew Gatz felt the same. But she was snapped out of her thoughts, dazed, as Gatz said, “…and that’s how we’re going to beat the ever-loving shit out of DremCorp.”
He had on a brave face; he was good at persuading the others.
“Are you in?” Gatz asked each hybrid individually.
All accepted, except for the last—the curious creature who remained well-disguised.
Suddenly a sharp beeping noise sounded three times. “We have company.” Gatz peered over the roof’s edge. “Stay here. I’ll go down.” He drew a pistol from his pocket. Mac, the greyhound, pulled out a gun and followed.
Feeling courageous, Lucy approached the hooded hybrid even though the creature towered over her by at least two feet. “What are you waiting for?” she said. “People are going to die. More are going to die once Vance Drem becomes indestructible. Are you going to help us?”
The mutant’s hood fell and undeniably feminine features stared back. Lucy gazed at midnight-black eyes shaped like large olives and rosy oval ears that trembled in the wind. Shadowy gray fur covered her face and the rat-woman’s pink lips curled into a snarl. “I want to help your friends, but I think it’s a losing plan.”
Gatz appeared with Mac. “We have company,” he said in his deep voice. “Don’t worry, it’s a good thing.”
Two men in dark raincoats appeared from behind him. One smoked an electronic cigarette, and the other had a long scar running down one side of his face.
“I believe you’re all acquainted, at least by name,” said Gatz. “I’ve been working with Baine and Nealon for long time now. We can trust them.”
“We’ll see about that,” said the rat woman, crossing her arms and scowling.
“I know we’ve had our differences in the past,” said Gatz. “But this is our chance to come together. To stop Drem. You’ve all seen what he’s doing to our city. The force of his police. He’s amassing them like an army. Soon, his androids will be on every corner, and that’s the end of folks like us.”
A few in the group nodded.
Gatz had momentum and was about to continue when Lucy grabbed his arm. “What?” he asked, annoyed. She whispered in his ear.
“Pilar,” said Gatz to the rat hybrid. “She says you have a different plan? Care to share with the rest of us?”
The mutant stepped forward. “I believe in the same things. I want to stop Drem, too. But your plan is worthless.”
“What would you have us do?” asked Gatz, rain dampening his gray-black fur and dripping from his pointed ears.
“I’d smoke them out,” she said. “That’s what people do to rats like me.”
Thirty-Six
Vance admired himself in the floor-length mirror in his private bathroom. This evening, he entertained a trio of beautiful models visiting from New York. Sipping a martini in The Phoenix, enjoying the gorgeous company, he felt alive again.
He was on the edge of resurrection. Soon, he’d be cured of his blood disease. Not only that, with Ida by his side, he’d be unstoppable.
As he smiled at the beautiful women, ignoring their simple-minded chatter, he considered his future. He would achieve so much beyond even his wildest dreams.
His plans now extended beyond Spark City, which he had worked so hard for. He would take over all of the major cities. In doing so, he would rebuild the American nation that had once been the greatest power on earth. Rebuild it, and restore it to its former glory.
He would rebuild it in his image.
Vance couldn’t recall a time when he’d been happier or more optimistic. He returned to his table with the models, only this time he ditched the suit jacket that obscured most of his cyborg body.
A sheer black shirt revealed his muscular steel chest and cybernetic arms. One of the girls, buzzed, giggled as he climbed into his seat. Another model’s mouth hung open in disbelief.
The most brazen of the three dared to stroke his arm. She ran her finger along it, tracing the steel. “Is this a joke? One of your ads? I heard you were into kinky stuff, but this is something else.”
He leaped from his seat, knocking her aside, then shoved her to the ground, before realizing people were staring. The restaurant was packed with Spark City upper class and VIPs from other cities.
He quickly composed himself and helped the fallen model back to her seat. “I didn’t mean to offend,” she muttered. “Just, you don’t even look human anymore. You’re like a hybrid.” The last part came out breathy, as though she regretted the words leaving
her mouth.
Vance studied her, making a mental note to have his men stage an accident for her. As he turned to leave, he registered stares of morbid fascination. Someone said, “So it’s true—” too loudly, before being hushed.
These people are nothing. Vance sauntered into the elevator and spoke into his biocuff, “Move up the start time. I want the procedure to start now.”
Singlet banged on Ida’s hotel door. “Showtime,” he said.
Behind the locked door, she pulled on her leather jacket, making sure the two pills were in her pants pocket, ready to grab. She’d been summoned earlier than expected and wanted to be sure it wasn’t a false alarm.
But she reconsidered. This might be her last chance alone. The men might search her. She popped one of the pills, swallowing it with water from the faucet.
They led her down the elevator and through a long fluorescent-lit hallway below ground.
Nancy was right about the vast size and immense ceilings. We must be several levels below ground, she realized.
If Gatz was searching for her, she doubted anyone would know this space existed. No wonder Vance preferred his dirty work to happen far below ground, away from the prying eyes of hotel guests and fancy restaurant people.
Would Gatz even bother to come after me? she wondered.
Her heart raced. She was about to cure a madman of a terminal illness and likely cause the death of thousands of others who would suffer a lifetime of his abuse.
That, or she would fall into a coma caused by a desperate woman who’d been brainwashed by her sadistic captor.
The situation was completely screwed any way she looked at it.
Thirty-Seven
Dark figures journeyed like shadows through underground tunnels cut below the river bed. Lucy tried her best to keep up with the hybrids. Pilar led the way because she knew the underground like no one else.
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