by E. P. Wyck
“Sounds good.”
Kali exited the vehicle and took the lift into her building. The vehicle had landed in a parking garage, and she had to go up to her apartment.
Ryn noticed two Seraphim get out of a parked vehicle and take the next lift. He did not see them pull up. He started to worry that maybe they waited for her to arrive home.
He exited the car and sprinted to the lift. “Hold the door!” Ryn shouted. One of the Seraphim frantically tried pressing something. He squeezed between the doors as they closed. “Thanks! That was close.”
“Don’t mention it,” said one of them before pressing floor seven.
“Would you press eight for me?” Ryn asked. “Thanks.”
After the two of them had disembarked the lift, Ryn watched to see where they went. They split up. One left and one right. ‘Well, that doesn’t surprise me.’ He thought to himself.
Ryn got off the lift and looked for the stairs. He followed the signs to the end of the hallway. He ran as fast as he could. He jumped down a flight spreading his wings just enough to slow the fall.
He rounded that flight of stairs and jumped down the next. He folded his wings and burst through the door. He ran directly into one of the Seraphim, knocking them on the ground.
“Ouch, watch it! What was that for?” The confused Seraphim said.
“Sorry, trying to find a friend,” Ryn said as he helped her up and continued down the hall. He saw the other Seraphim and noticed she loitered around the hallway.
‘Maybe she is working alone, and the other just lives here.’ Ryn thought. He slowed down and pretended he tried to find the right number apartment.
He walked closer to the Seraphim he suspected of stalking Kali. He smiled. “Good evening,” Ryn said.
“Hello,” she responded.
As he passed her, he noticed she held her hand in her jacket despite the warmth in the corridor. “What do you have in your pocket?”
“None of your business.” She said.
The Seraphim Ryn knocked down at the other end of the hall started walking toward them. “I don’t want any trouble,” he said, starting to back away.
“That’s right, you don’t. If you know what is good for you’ll leave before you become the next victim.”
“Victim?” Ryn inquired.
“Might as well,” said the Seraphim who just walked up.
“We came here for one reason. Ms. Black is still disappointed about you know what.”
“No, I don’t know what,” Ryn said.
“This doesn’t concern you. Last chance to walk away.”
“I like this place. I think I’ll stay.”
“Have it your way.” The two female Seraphim started walking towards Ryn. He banged on the nearest door then while backpedaling he hit the call button on the next door.
“What is it?” said someone through the intercom.
“Where does the Triumvir’s daughter live?”
“Number three I think, why?”
“Someone is here to kill her,” Ryn said before he took off running straight at the two on their way to kill Kali.
He lowered his shoulder and pushed as hard as he could. He knocked one down. He dodged the grasp of the other and ran down the hall.
He remembered seeing number three on the left side. Now on his right side, he slid to a stop and turned the handle. Sure enough, the door opened.
“Kali!” Ryn shouted, “Kali! They’re coming for you. It isn’t safe. We have to get out of here!”
Kali came out of a room down the hall and said, “What are you doing here? I said nobody comes here.”
“Well, you sure fooled me, but you didn’t fool those two gendercide fanatics outside,” Ryn said as the door started to open. He leaned against it forcing it closed. He locked the door.
“They’ll go away. I told a neighbor someone was trying to kill you. They’ll call security, right?” Ryn said.
“Maybe.”
Ryn tapped on the video feed for the intercom. “Kali do you have another way out?”
“Why?”
“Cause they’re planting explosives on the door.”
“Get back!” She shouted at Ryn. They headed toward the back of the Apartment. The thunderous blast knocked them forward.
Ryn moaned on the ground. Ears ringing. Dust settling. Kali did not move. Ryn’s hearing started to return to normal and he heard footsteps crunching over debris.
He wanted to defend Kali, but the effect of the explosion caused his head to spin when he tried to get up. One of the attackers easily pushed him back down. “Not so fast.”
Kali sprang up. She punched the attacker across the face then in the stomach. Kali landed an uppercut that tossed her opponent back, she tripped over a piece of the door and fell next to a wall.
Kali moved forward and kicked the knee of her opponent. The powerful kick caused the joint to bend in an unnatural direction, and the woman screamed in agony.
The second attacker entered the room weapon drawn and fired at Kali. She scored several direct hits in Kali’s chest, and she slumped down on the ground.
“What did you do?” Ryn shouted at her.
“You’re next. But first, you’re going to help me with her.” She said pointing at the woman with the damaged knee.
“You know who that is right?” Ryn said pointing at Kali’s motionless body.
“Of course I do. Why do you think I shot her? She has been going around killing good Seraphim women for years. It is about time we got her.”
“I don’t think this is going to work out in your favor,” Ryn said.
“If you ask me this should have happened a long time ago. However, we had to ‘make an exception’ for the broken-hearted daughter of a Triumvir. Cry me a river.”
“I have a feeling Triumvir Genevieve will bring the full force of Trinity’s government down on the gendercide movement when she finds out that they had a hand in her daughter’s death.”
“I doubt that. We killed her precious Egil, and she did nothing.”
“Her daughter exacted retribution on the spot. What was she supposed to do? What more could be done?”
Kali rose up, startling everyone in the room. She charged after the second attacker pushing her out into the hallway.
They slammed against the wall. Grappling with each other Kali maneuvered the weapon out of her hands and tossed it behind her. Ryn picked it up.
He walked into the hall and held the weapon to the head of the gendercide fanatic. “Enough!” He shouted.
Kali stepped back letting go of the other woman. “Give that to me. You’re a scientist. You wouldn’t know what to do with that anyway.”
Ryn blinked a few times gaining his composure, “You’re right.” He handed the weapon to Kali.
She trained the weapon on the woman and fired dozens of shots into her face. The sight caused Ryn’s stomach to turn, and he faced away.
“Why’d you do that?” He asked.
Kali didn’t answer him. She walked back into her apartment and picked up the overturned table then set the weapon on it.
The woman on the floor said, “Just kill me. I am not telling you anything. You’re going to kill me anyway.”
“Maybe I’ll let you live. Tell me what I want to know. Who is Ms. Black?”
“Not happening. Just get it over with already.” The woman begged.
Kali picked up a piece of the broken door and hit the woman across the disfigured knee with it. The cries of pain made Ryn uneasy.
“Next time it’ll be your good knee. Now tell me who is she!”
“I am not telling you anything. You’ll have to kill me!”
Kali smashed the woman’s knee with the piece of the door. The woman grimaced. Kali struck again, then again, and on the final time, the knee cap slid to the inside of the knee.
“STOP!” she shouted. “Even if I wanted to tell you I can’t. We use code names and generic avatars for a reason. I don’t know who she is.”
<
br /> Kali walked over to the table. She picked up the gun and killed the woman.
“You didn’t have to do that!” Ryn shouted.
“Of course I did. These women attacked me. It was self-defense.”
“Aren’t you going to call it in?”
“No. This isn’t the first time they’ve found me. I have three apartments all over the city at any given time. I use a fake name on two of them. There isn’t anything here really.”
Ryn looked around the apartment for the first time. He did not notice earlier when he barged in. Nothing personal decorated the apartment. It looked like she just moved in.
“Do you even have food?” He asked.
“Probably not. I usually eat out.” Kali walked out of the room. When she came back, she carried a small bag. “Are you ready?”
Ryn nodded and made his way out into the hallway. He stepped around the dead Seraphim trying not to look at Kali’s gruesome execution work.
They made their way back to her craft and headed to his home. They flew in silence. Ryn still processing witnessing two deaths.
After a few minutes, Ryn blurted, “How are you not dead?”
“I was wondering when you’d catch onto that. I have a friend who knows someone at a corporation. They’re developing super medical tech. They call it ‘Nanites.' Basically, tiny robots that can heal me.”
“If I didn’t see it with my own eyes I wouldn’t believe it. How do they work?”
“I don’t know exactly. All I know is they are smaller than a single cell of blood, and they can fix any injury I sustain.”
“Huh. I suppose those come in handy with your adventures.”
“First time I’ve actually been killed,” Kali said.
“Wait, you’re sure you died?” Ryn asked.
“Pretty sure. I mean it really hurt and next thing I know I am coming to and I hear you talking. I wait until I think nobody is expecting anything before I get up.”
“I was not expecting you to get up. I was expecting to get killed.”
“You should have seen the look on her face when I stood up.”
“You should have seen the look on my face when you stood up.”
“You’re probably right. You know, you’re not that good in a fight.”
“Oh, well thaaaank you. Next time I’ll just wait in the vehicle and let you handle it.”
“That probably would have worked out just fine. However, despite not being worth anything in a fight I appreciate that you took the risk to save me. Means a lot to me.”
“Did you just insult me to compliment me?”
“Maybe, but my point is, thank you Ryn.”
“That’s the nicest thing I think you’ve said to me since I met you. You’re welcome, Kali.”
“Arriving at destination. Prepare for landing.” The automation announced.
_ _ _
When they walked into Ryn’s home the smell of delicious food greeted them. “Oh man, that smells good!” Ryn said loud enough to hear throughout the home.
“It’s your favorite!” his wife said loud enough for them to hear from the kitchen.
“You know, after 3,000 years of marriage she still cooks for me. I don’t know why. We could easily afford to have all of our meals prepared for us,” Ryn said as they entered the kitchen.
“Is he talking about my cooking again?” Ryn’s wife said.
“Yes. I am honored you still cook, but you should let me take care of that for you.” Ryn stood behind her and slid his hands around the waist of his wife and kissed the back of her head.
One meter 88, Ryn stood almost a full head over his wife. “Forgive me, this is my wife Aurora, and this is Kali. Daughter of the Triumvir Genevieve,” Ryn said.
Aurora wiped off her hands and turned around to greet Kali. “Call me Rory. Welcome to our home Kali.” She embraced Kali and said, “I understand you’ll be staying with us for quite some time?”
Kali didn’t expect the hug and awkwardly reciprocated. “Yes, for the foreseeable future. My mother thinks it would be best given all of the accusations that I have a concrete alibi.”
“I see. Well, I’ve prepared our guest suite for you. If anything isn’t to your liking, please let me know.”
Ryn tasted some of the dinner with his finger, “Absolutely scrumptious. You’re in for a treat, Kali!”
Aurora swatted at his hand, “Get out of there! Go on, get! I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”
Kali and Ryn walked out of the kitchen. “I’ll show you to your suite,” said Ryn. They walked down a long hallway until they came into a large room.
The room had two other rooms that entered from the left and the right. “You’ll find you have plenty of room to store anything you like; this is your closet and over here you can take care of your hygiene.”
“This is very nice, Ryn. Thank you,” Kali told him while she looked around.
“You’re welcome. I’ll give you a minute to change. You’re still,” Ryn pointed at her healed wounds, “messy.”
“Oh, I completely forget. I am surprised your wife didn’t say anything.”
“She probably noticed, but she doesn’t pry,” Ryn said. “I’ll smooth it over later, don’t worry.”
“What are you going to tell her?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll look out for you and your secret robots,” Ryn told her as he left the room.
Chapter 10
The warm breeze passed beneath Keon’s wings. He glided side to side, enjoying the pre-dawn air.
In the weeks since reviewing the research and coming up with his plan to use gravitational projectors to kill a black hole, Keon had completed his calculations. He knew everything the team will need to conduct their experiment and believed they will go down in history as the first to see a black hole devolve.
With gendercide attacks increasing daily he didn’t want to risk his life flying to work anymore. He only did so this morning because he wanted to be early for the presentation he would give to the Triumvirate Maximus today.
Keon pondered why Ryn trusted him to lead the advance party and set things up in his absence. ‘I wonder if he expects me to replace him when he moves on,’ Keon thought.
Keon flapped his wings to gain more altitude. The rustle of his wings echoed through the city below. He didn’t have the silent advantage of Seraphim wings. Keon checked his surroundings with each flutter, aware that the noise may draw unwanted attention to him.
Something caught his attention and Keon looked up just in time to see a female Seraphim diving towards him. He rolled to the left and smashed into a building. Pain shot through his left wing and shoulder.
He fell toward the ground and flapped as hard as he could. The excruciating pain prevented him from completing more than a few flaps of his wings. He had slowed his speed, but the fall would hurt a lot.
He closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. Before he hit the ground, the Seraphim swooped in and grabbed him by his good wing. “Why are you doing this?” He yelled at her.
“Shut up, Cherubim!” she shouted back. She flew higher and higher until they flew above the buildings. She passed over a rooftop and dropped him a meter from the roof.
He rolled to absorb the fall. His left wing fell limp due to dislocation causing unbearable pain.
Before he had time to gain his footing, four Seraphim females descended on the roof. “Don’t beg. It won’t change anything,” one said.
“I know. I hate it when they beg,” another said.
“You don’t have to do this. I am a Cherubim. I am not part of this,” Keon said.
“You had to go and beg. You didn’t listen, did you?”
“I thought the gendercide was only about Seraphim males,” Keon said.
“What little you know, Cherubim. Let me help you out a little. See what I did there… anyway, the gendercide isn’t about Seraphim or Cherubim or Dominion. It is about male lust and desire. The future is female.”
“He
makes me sick!” one of them called out.
“Me too.”
“Quiet!” shouted the woman who acted like the group’s leader. “Your pathetic gender can’t keep your baser desires in order. Anytime one of us catches your eye you’re suddenly love struck or at least lustful. This has caused most of the wars between Empyreans in the past.”
“Yeah, we have to stop it,” one of them said.
“That’s why all of the males have to die.”
“That’s crazy. You can’t keep the species alive with just one gender!” Keon tried reasoning with them.
“There is research that suggests we can reproduce without male seed. We know of at least one Seraphim capable of this. See, we don’t need you.”
“How is that even possible?” Keon asked.
“I don’t know. It’s science, though. They made a girl who can clone herself.”
“Clone herself? This is your idea of preserving your species?” Keon asked.
“What, you don’t think we can do it?”
“That’s not what I am saying. I am saying what is there to stop this girl from cloning herself so many times she creates her own army and goes to war with you?” Keon asked.
“Impossible!”
“Not really. She clones herself; her clones clone themselves it’d accelerate exponentially!” Keon said.
“He has a point.”
“What happens when you have armies going to war that are all clones? Or what happens when a clone commits a crime and then another clone or the original takes the fall?” Keon asked.
“What are you talking about?” The group leader said, “Why are you still talking?”
“Let’s get him!” one of them said and charged him. He held up his good arm and backpedaled. He tripped over a vent falling square on his tail bone.
The agony of his tailbone breaking caused him to wince and curl up. The charging Seraphim kicked him in the face and broke his nose. Blood flowed. Pain coursed. Vision blurred.
Keon knew he would not live. He thought of his mother. Another Seraphim kicked him in the back. She stomped on the joint of his right wing causing the wing to tear from his back.
He thought of his father. She twisted his ripped wing until it pulled free. The pain became his final friend. As long as he felt it, he lived. He thought of his sister.