Paradise Awakened Trilogy

by Mackenzie Morris

  Katarina is crying as she clings to Byron's arm. She whispers something to him.

  Byron looks angry as he speaks. "Katarina stands by her story and says that Doss deserves whatever you do to him."

  That hits Doss hard. He thought they had been friends. He thought that he had been friends with everyone in this room. So now they'll mutilate him and humiliate him in front of the entire city. But then he begins to calculate a plan in his mind as he looks around the room. The large windows overlooking the gardens, his hands unbound, everyone sitting . . . he could make a run for it, or a leap. He knows he can't stay here and face this injustice. If only he had his sword . . .

  Doss takes off running across the room then smashes into the windows, sending glass down into the gardens and the street. As he jumps, he spreads his wings and takes off into the night. The gunfire and shouting follow him, but he drops down into a dark ally and hides his wings quickly before removing his now tattered shirt from where his wings slashed through it. The sirens sound out above Paradise and Doss hides in the shadows. There is no way to get up to the surface on a normal day, much less when Paradise is in lockdown. He'll have to stay hidden until he can find someone to help him.

  Someone whispers to him from behind. "Archon."

  He spins around, ready to fight, but lowers his fists when a blonde man in a red beanie extends his hand.

  The man grins as he shakes Doss's hand. "Zach Montgomery, android hunter, at your service."

  11

  Gabriel stretches his golden wings as he pulls on his pants and white robe. He has to hurry and get ready before the others begin to worry about him. The longer he's kept here on the moon base, the weaker he feels. Now that Clark let those Paradise morons take all the androids, there's nothing left to eat, not that the archons would want to eat androids anyway. Sure, they don't have to eat, but it's nice to get the surge of energy from it every once in a while. Two archons meet him in the hallway. "Michael, Raguel, come with me. I'm calling a meeting of all the archons. I have received some news from Clark about a certain fallen archon. Where are Remiel, Raphael, and Zerachiel?"

  "They should be in the main room with Clark." Raguel says as he tosses an empty bottle on the floor.

  "Good. I don't want Clark to be included in this meeting. He's held us here for long enough."

  "It's been twelve hours, Gabriel." Raguel says, not amused.

  "I'm growing tired of waiting. Get the other archons in here so we can discuss our next moves before I go insane." Gabriel kicks the bottle out of the way and looks at Raguel. "Are you drinking already?"

  Raguel shrugs his shoulders. "Just some wine. I have to try to keep peace between you two and the others. Try not to make Remiel cry this time, okay?"

  "God, he's just like Uriel sometimes. How are they so emotional?"

  "Doesn't matter." Raguel says as he scratches his thick red beard. "You need to be kinder to him."

  "Kinder?" Michael asks. "Maybe he should be the archon he is and actually stop cowering behind his protector."

  "Raphael enjoys taking care of him. Why are we talking about this? Don't you have some important information to share with us, Gabriel?"

  Gabriel steps through the automatic doors and into the conference room where the others are gathered and waiting. "Go sit down and let me deal with this. Attention everyone, I have news that I think will either make you very happy or want to kill someone. Turns out that Doss has returned to us."

  The one with the light green robes and boyish features jumps up at this. "Doss? You don't mean Uriel, do you?"

  Remiel, the youngest one in both appearance and maturity. Gabriel will let that outburst slide this one time. "The one and only. On Earth, he goes by Doss Monroe. Turns out he has been down on Earth since he fell."

  "Fell?" Michael asks with a facetious grin. "Don't you mean pushed?"

  "No, actually. I mean he fell. Surprisingly, I had nothing to do with it. It was all his own stupidity. Admiral Velex says that Clark reported to him that Uriel was working with the president of Paradise. Who knew?"

  "Does he still have his wings?" Raguel asks.

  "Yes, though after what Clark did to him, they're a little worse for wear. After he fell, they engineered a way for him to hide his wings in his back. That makes it a bit more difficult to find an archon when they look just like a human. So, when do we want to go pay a visit to the little traitor prick?"

  "When we have enough firepower to eradicate the host species." Michael says as he looks through some battle plans on a blue hologram above his desk.

  Remiel looks worried as his clear wings begin to wrap around him defensively. "You don't mean the humans, do you?"

  "That's exactly what I mean."

  Raguel's boisterous laughter fills the room from between his copper wings. "I appreciate your dedication, but don't forget we were created to protect humans."

  "What? Just like Uriel tried to do?" Michael asks. "Now he's just a slave pretending to be one of them. Our allegiance is owed to the IGR."

  "But Kazimir Dark-" Remiel starts to speak, but is interrupted.

  "I don't give a damn about him." Gabriel snaps as he slams his fist on the desk. "He's just a crazy Russian scientist who wanted to stroke his ego. What has he done for us besides give us life? I'll tell you. Nothing. He hasn't cared about us since he sent us up here in 1999 in preparation for Y2K. After that hassle was dealt with, he forgot about us and went on to better things like androids."

  "So now you're hating on the androids as well?" Zerachiel asks as he sips a cup of tea, his jade wings glimmering in the light. "You know how I feel about the innocent ones."

  "Actually, quite the opposite." Gabriel says, trying to garner support for his cause. "I want to unite with our brothers and put an end to human dominance. The only thing standing in our way is Uriel."

  The very young looking Remiel leans forward again. "Why do we have to kill Uriel? Wouldn't it be better for everyone if we could get him to come back to us? What if it was all a misunderstanding?"

  The archon to his right who looks much older with his eyes covered by a black cloth and has his hand on the boy's shoulder nods in agreement. "We could offer him an ultimatum. Either surrender peacefully and face judgment from the IGR or we kill him right there. There's no reason to rush into this blindly."

  "Raphael, you know that isn't going to work. What is wrong with you four? Michael and I are fully prepared to get this going, but all you want to do is focus on how Uriel feels. Who cares?"

  "I care." Remiel says, cowering behind Raphael's dull silver wings.

  Raphael gently pushes Remiel back. "Let me handle this. Gabriel, what happens if we get down there and the humans decide to engage us? What if they have made some kind of bond with Uriel and don't take too kindly to him being killed? If you are wanting to create some kind of treaty with the androids down in Paradise, then you need to have the favor of every citizen. Don't forget that Isidore is an android, but some of his closest advisors and family members are humans. Don't start a civil war unless you are willing to offer aid and stay with the innocent people until the end. We can't easily bring refugees up here and I personally don't want humanity to be destroyed. Yes, I agree that Uriel must face punishment for his crimes against us and the IGR, but annihilating an entire race while endangering another is not the way to do this."

  Michael's black wings send a gust of air across the room as he flies to the middle of the room and points at Raphael. "This is the only way. We have remained peaceful for far too long. Now is the time to take action before Uriel has the chance to cause another apocalypse. Do you want that to fall on your shoulders when it happens?"

  "It won't happen again. Uriel knows he messed up."

  "Does he? He's lucky that a few survivors managed to piece together enough of humanity to keep it going for the second time. We gave him too much leniency when he caused the first one. Now this latest one made all of humanity go underground into Paradise. Is that how we want them to
live forever?"

  Zerachiel, who always looks for peace, sets down his teacup. "Sounds like you just presented a solution to our problem, Michael. We send one of us down to meet with Isidore and tell him the truth about who has been causing all of this global upheaval. When he finds out that Uriel is the one who nearly wiped humanity from existence twice, maybe he will join with the Imperial Galactic Reich and hand over Uriel willingly."

  Gabriel weighs his options quickly. Zerachiel has a point. While he wants to side with his friend, Gabriel knows that Michael's rashness will undoubtedly have its place. "I've decided. We will go with Zerachiel's plan. But who are we sending?"

  The entire room looks over at Remiel who is hiding behind his clear wings that catch the light and colors dance over the feathers. He is making whimpering noises as he clutches onto Raphael's arm.

  Michael grabs the young Remiel and roughly drags him into the middle of the room. "I vote we send Uriel's little friend. We all know how close they used to be. If any of us has a chance to either persuade Uriel to come back or be the bearer of soul-crushing news, I think it should be Remiel. Even if things go poorly, he won't be harmed because Isidore has a soft spot for children. He looks about his son's age, so I think this will be the best option."

  Gabriel grins darkly. "So be it. Remiel, you are tasked with going down to Paradise and meeting with Uriel and Isidore. You are not to return until one of them has decided to help us."

  * * *

  Katarina watches the servants clean up the broken glass from where Doss crashed through the window to escape. The sirens are blaring in the night as everyone starts searching for the fugitive. When Isidore picks up the phone on the desk, Katarina starts to panic.

  "I am issuing a shoot on sight order for Doss Monroe." Isidore says. "Do not try to arrest him. He is dangerous and must be eliminated."

  "No!" Katarina shouts, pulling away from Byron. "You can't kill him."

  "Why not?"

  She has to tell the truth now. This is going way too far. When she told them he was trying to rape her, she didn't know they would take it to this extreme. "Because . . . because I lied."

  Bryon's rough hands turn her to face him. "Lied about what, Kat?"

  She looks down at the floor, feeling Byron's glare on her. "Doss wasn't trying to hurt me. I was the one who told him to let me massage him and all he did was kiss me. I'm the one who tried to remove his pants."

  "I'll have to call you back in a bit." Isidore hangs up the phone and stares down at Doss's insignia in his hand. "Don't make up a story to protect him."

  "I'm not. It's the truth. He didn't hurt me and he had no intention to. I blamed him because I was scared."

  Byron lets her go and rubs his eyes. "Let me get this straight. Because you were afraid I would yell at you and be a bit angry, you destroyed Doss's life? He can never go back to the Inquisition. Never. Once you're removed, there is no way to get back in. Not only that, but you would ruin his reputation and his name, making sure he would never be able to work in the city again? Then you'd let him be emasculated and tortured in front of the entire city for a crime he didn't do?"

  "I was scared."

  "Go to our room immediately and find the box under the bed. I want you to open it and remove what's inside then stay there until I get back. If you think you're scared of me now, just wait. Go."

  Katarina looks to her father who turns his back to her. Kazimir and Master Director Monroe don't say anything. No one will understand why she said what she did. She doesn't want to anger Byron any more than he already is so she leaves and goes down the hall to the one she shares with Byron. After closing the door, she wipes the tears from her eyes and goes to the bed. Slipping the box from under the mattress, she places it on the bed and removes the lid. What lies inside scares her more than anything. With shaking hands, she pulls out a nasty-looking whip with knots tied in the end and a slave collar that is much more intimidating than the thin leather one she wears on a daily basis. This one has some sort of computer chip in it. Then it dawns on her. It's a shock collar. Would Byron actually make her wear this?

  Silent minutes pass as Katarina stares at the collar and the whip. Her heart is pounding in her chest and she can't stop crying. She brought this on herself and she knows it. When Byron enters the room and locks it shut behind him, she nearly dies.

  Byron takes off his jacket, tosses it on a chair, then picks up the shock collar. "Move your hair. This is your new collar now. I can't trust you to behave and make good choices on your own so I will be tracking you and controlling you with this. I don't care if you think it's ugly. I don't care if it hurts you, which it will. What you did to Doss is inexcusable. Since when are you so heatless?" He slips it around her neck and locks it into place.

  Katarina gasps as it burns her skin. "It hurts."

  "Good. That means it is connecting to your nerves. That is nothing compared to what will happen if I decide to shock you with it. Now take off your shirt and lie down face down on the bed."

  He's going to whip her, actually and painfully whip her. "Byron, please don't. I'm your wife."

  "Which only means I have to do this more." Byron says as he picks up the whip and slaps it hard on the bed. "No wife of mine is going to throw away the life and accomplishments of an innocent man who has done nothing but good things for this country. You don't falsely accuse men of rape. Never. That is one of the worst things you can do. Don't you get it? Even after he's found innocent, he will never have his life back to the way it was. There are always going to be people who think he did it, all because of your lying. Well, I've had enough of your attitude. I'll beat it out of you if I have to."

  12

  Doss follows Zach down into the metal-walled laboratory. The air down here is cold and causes him to shiver. He is only wearing jeans and his boots after all. The more he looks around and hears the electronic buzzing coming from the rooms on either side of the long hallway, the more he remembers, not just about this place, but about everything in his past, even the things he has been trying to forget. It wasn't as bad when he was here to rescue Katarina. Now that he's not hyped up on adrenaline and backed by his inquisitors, he feels exposed. He turns to Zach as they go into the lounge. "I've been here before, not just the other day."

  "Nope. You've been in Kazimir's section of this building. Far down the hall and to the left, there is a door that leads to his laboratory."

  "You work with Kazimir?" Doss asks.

  "Of course!" Zach exclaims excitedly as he tosses Doss a can of soda and a t-shirt. "He's the most brilliant cyber engineer in all of Paradise."

  Doss gratefully pulls the shirt on. "Why are you helping me?"

  "Let's just say that I'm tired of getting played by Katarina as well. Besides, you are an amazing specimen that I couldn't let be killed. I've been developing some very interesting pseudo humans."

  "Pseudo humans?"

  "Cyborgs. You know, humans with robotic and computer enhancements? That's what the Paradise Awakened Project is all about. We aim to help humanity evolve into a higher, more powerful race."

  Doss finds a place to sit on a torn up sofa after he pushes a stack of papers to the side. "Kazimir is one of the people trying to kill me."

  "But we can get you off the hook once we force Katarina to admit that she wanted it." Zach says as he winks at him.

  What? No. "I didn't rape her."

  "But you slept with her and she's trying to use that against you."

  "No. I didn't sleep with her." Doss says. "I just kissed her. Where did you get your information?"

  "The news reports. Apparently this entire story has been blown way out of proportion. They're painting you out to be a serial killer."

  A serial killer? How did they get that? "What? Who do they say I've killed?"

  "All those female androids that went missing from the cathedral. They say that you have been killing them."

  So now they're accusing him of murder? "Zach, I'm not a murderer. When could I h
ave done that? I've been on the moon base mission."

  "Don't ask me. I'm just telling you what I know." Zach says.

  "I don't believe you."

  "Here." Zach turns on the television. "See for yourself."

  He watches in horror as his picture is shown and the reporters confirm what Zach has been saying. How could they do this to him?

  Zach pats his shoulder. "Don't worry. I know you couldn't have killed them. Plus, I know who did it."

  "Who?"

  "Android 114, goes by the name of Benjamin Crowe."

  "Who's his owner?" Doss asks.

  "He killed his owner."

  "That's . . . terrible."

  "Yes. He's been on the top of my most wanted list for months." Zach says as he turns the television down and finishes off his soda. "As an android hunter, I have all the info on every android in Paradise, just for instances like this. The problem is that 114 was never registered."

  "So there's a rogue android killing other androids?"

  "Yep."

  "Why would he kill his own kind?" Doss asks.

  "So those murders will be blamed on a human and incite a civil war. If you haven't noticed, tensions between androids and humans have been on the rise lately. There is a band of rebel androids that has been plotting against the government and gathering weapons. They needed someone high up in authority to blame it all on and I guess they picked you. The whole Katarina scandal just put fuel on the fire and got your name involved. Isidore is walking a thin line trying to keep this country from falling into complete anarchy. Mark my words, Doss. Paradise is going to be a war zone soon. That's why I decided to help you. I know what you are and I know that you will help humanity."

  This isn't anything that Doss has an interest in. "I don't want to get involved in a war, Zach."