“Is there any way to combat those effects?” Daniel continues.
“We have only been successful with two subjects at the moment, a male and a female of the same family, and we are trying to breed offspring to see the results.”
“You want to create a breeding species of these creatures?” Veronica asks. “I thought that you made your subjects sterile when you start their testing.”
“Normally, yes, we do,” Dana explains.
“The male is sterile,” I add. “The female was created for the purpose of trial breeding. Tubal ligation was not performed. We used artificial insemination.”
“And the progress?” Hashita from Japan asks, curious.
“So far the embryo is progressing healthily, albeit rapidly,” Kyle tells them.
“If she managed to produce a healthy offspring, you’re telling us that breeding these weapons will be quick?” Duncan of the Australian Regime asks, his eyebrows high.
“At the moment, it does look that way,” Kyle nods. “But there will be other complications faced with breeding. Space, nutrition, care, and education…we still do not know what these weapons will produce when breeding.”
“As you stated, this could become the next nuclear weapon,” Francesca from the Republic of Brazil starts, calling our attention to her. “And here in the proposal, it states that you are willing to trade.”
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” my father nods, jumping in on his specialty for the proposal. “It is unfair that we ask the rest of the world not to notice the weapon we have created and not realize the potential for another super-weapon. Therefore, we agree that the countries of the world should be allowed to purchase these weapons as all other weapons are purchased over the globe.”
That causes murmuring to spread through the room as I glance around at those who are part of the Commission. We share the knowing glance.
“You are suggesting that we pay you for these weapons and throw money at you?” Klaus growls.
“No, no,” Leader Simon says quickly. “Not at all. As it says, we are willing to trade. We do not want this to be secret, we want the people of the world to know that these are weapons we created and that every country has them. As stated in section five of the proposal, we are willing to remain at equal or lower number of the country with the most of these weapons. We will only breed or sell as needed for other countries.”
“This will be an intense economic haul,” Veronica says, shaking her head. I notice that she has not opened the proposal once. “The Commission has already stated that it does not know what these creatures need for care, or what sort of medical treatment they will need in the future from any complications. The trade of this weapon would mean that facilities would have to be built for them, and they would have to be regulated strongly. Numbers would have to be closely monitored to be sure that everyone is keeping up with their registered number of allowed weapons.”
“That could be regulated through customs,” Daniel says.
“Which seriously lacks in authority,” she counters simply. “There is a branch of the World Convention that can be redirected to handling the regulation of numbers, but it will be an economic boom of constant buying from the Commission of the People to a bust when they can breed within their own facilities. This could be devastating to the economies of countries. And if you plan to tell the people about it, there is no guarantee that they will agree with the expenditure.”
“Thanks to the winged creature from the Central Angels, the entire world is in fear with their eyes on America,” the man from India explains. “There have been calls for stronger weapons and assurances against such creatures attacking the people. The people already understand that this is an arms race. The people want what keeps them safe. Perhaps you forget the horrors the entire planet faced seven decades ago.”
“I have not forgotten, but there is great potential for this to throw the planet back in that horrible state.”
“You are right, Miss Harris,” I agree. “Perhaps it is still too early to discuss trade and economics when we know so little about these weapons and their capabilities. Perhaps our attention could be focused more on the discovery of their abilities.”
“What do you mean?” Daniel furrows his eyebrows.
“Our male has agreed to be our subject of observation for monitoring his abilities. What we would need, though, would be an outdoor facility, a large camp or enclosure that would allow us to further test him. That will also allow us room to grow the numbers of these weapons as we discover new DNA to use.”
“The funding calls for quantity, Miss Sandover,” Klaus says coldly.
“I understand that,” I nod. “However, we could be losing a lot of money if we mass-produce these weapons without knowing everything we can about them. These are living weapons, and we must be sure that we understand them completely before we turn them over to other countries.”
“You have done so with other experiments,” the Korean translator relays from her leader.
“We understood those experiments and what they were capable of,” Dana explains. “There were no surprises with their abilities, because it was what we designed them with. With this project, there is no telling the full extent of what he can do. So far, he has been one surprise after another. I agree that it would be foolish to go ahead with sale and trade when we do not understand them, including their needs and upkeep, as well as breeding restrictions.”
“But you are asking for fourteen billion more dollars to construct such a facility!” Daniel hisses, flipping through the papers in the folder and seeing the schematics we had designed for a possible facility, though I know we’re going to change them. “We’ve already given you nearly eighty million to develop these weapons!”
“We understand that—”
“Fine.”
The soft voice causes everyone to turn, cutting my father off, mouth open in shock.
Veronica looks around the table.
“I said fine,” she repeats. “I’ll fund the facility.”
“Miss Harris,” Leader Simon says slowly, being the first one to recover from the shock. I glance at Dana, both of us trying to read the situation. “This is fourteen billion dollars…and you know when constructing anything you always need to double the price.”
“I will fund what it takes to build the facility,” she says. “I have all the funds you need.”
“The World Convention won’t want—”
“I am personal sponsor,” Veronica cuts me off, turning her bright eyes to me. “If you are going to mass-produce these creatures, I’ll be damned if you’re going to do so without understanding them. As long as I have an active role in the development of the project, I will fund the facility and what it takes to run it.”
No one can speak for several long moments. I turn to Dana and he leans to me, allowing me to whisper in his ear.
“I thought she was against the project…”
“I did as well…”
We straighten and Dana turns to her with a smile.
“We would appreciate your generosity, Miss Harris. Provided, of course, that everyone else agrees.”
Diplomats turned to their advisors and Leader Simon turned to Dana, asking him quietly if he thought it was a good idea to involve someone from the World Convention. I stare at Veronica, who is also looking at me. We share an intense stare as I try to figure her out, though I am unsuccessful. There is a part of me that is concerned about the sudden support and willingness to throw so much money into the project, but I figure that by working side by side with her, I would have more of an opportunity to get to know her.
After the deliberation, Leader Simon looks over the other leaders.
“All in favor of allowing Veronica Harris to privately fund the construction of a research facility?”
Every country except for Korea raises their hand.
“Majority rules.”
“Miss Harris, we would like for you to come to the Commission as soon as po
ssible and discuss the facility,” I tell her, never once breaking eye contact.
“I would be happy to, Miss Sandover.”
“What are you calling this project?” the man from India asks.
“We’re calling it the D.E.M.O.N.,” Dana grins.
* *** *
My high from the meeting is not broken when we return to the Commission, even after the guard comes up to me and tells me that my puppy has been badly hurt in the back. I’m a little annoyed by the news, but my mood does not change.
Rather than join Dana for a celebratory shower and fuck, I have to go and deal with the puppy…
By the time I reach his cell, Clark is bandaged and crouching in the corner, crying. The guard walks up next to me as I look into the cell.
“What happened?”
“He fucking lost it…” the guard sighs. “He was suddenly screaming and bashing his head against the walls. He started smashing his face into the wall over there, which is why his face looks like that.”
“Fine, I will talk with him,” I groan, rolling my eyes and reaching for my card. I can think of so many other things I would rather be doing right now…
“Miss Sandover, do you think that’s a good idea?” the guard says quickly. I turn and blink in surprise, shocked he would think of telling me what was really none of his business.
“Excuse me?”
“I-I just mean…he’s upset, and you have a tendency to make it worse…”
“Be careful what you say, Jeremy…” I hiss. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood. I won’t throw you into the holding cells today.”
His eyes widen and he backs away.
“Yes, Miss Sandover, please forgive me, that was out of line.”
“Yes, it was,” I agree, opening the lock and stepping inside the cell, motioning the young guard away and quickly forgetting about him as I look over the face of my puppy. He looks up at me, one of his eyes bandaged and the other nearly swollen shut. There are dark spots forming all over his face and his neck is in a brace, his hands covered in mittens that are locked to him to keep him from scratching at himself.
“Clark…”
“Stay the hell away from me…” he practically gurgles.
“You look like something from beyond the grave,” I sigh. “I guess I really have broken you…”
“Broken me?” he hisses. “You’re a fucking psychopath! How could you become this?!”
“Oh, you’re so dramatic,” I groan, rolling my eyes. “Really? You just bashed your face against a wall and you’re talking about me?” I straighten. “Oh, wait, I’ve heard about this…is this a ploy for my attention?”
“The hell it is!”
“Am I not spending enough time with you? I thought we had fun last time. I know I left you hanging, but things came up,” I sigh, shrugging. “If you want, we can start again right now and maybe I’ll let you finish this time, if you’re a good boy…”
“Fuck you! Stay the fuck away from me!”
“Oh…maybe we should wait until your face heals,” I agree. “But I’ll try to be better. Things have been so crazy lately, I know I’ve been ignoring you.”
“I didn’t do this for your attention!”
“No?”
“No! I was trying to kill myself, you fucking psycho!”
I continue to stare at him, surprised at how easily he broke. It was far too easy. I guess Dana did a lot of the work for me long ago. It was finally time to decide what to make out of Clark. He was not going to be any more fun like this.
“You were trying to kill yourself? For heaven’s sake, why?” I laugh.
“Anything is better than being here with you…” he growls, trying to put up a cute display of defiance, even though his face totally contradicts the spark of ferocity he might have had.
“I made you do this?”
“Yes! You’re a monster!” he screams. I love the fear in his voice, the way it echoes off the walls and reverberates in my core. It makes me shiver. A smile creeps over my lips. I must make it a priority to be there when he starts his testing so I can hear his screaming more often.
“Apparently, I’m not the only one…” I sing, looking over his battered face. I do not understand how he can bash his own face in like that just because he is trying to get away from me. I know I did a lot to get away from Dana at first, but bashing one’s face takes an immense amount of self-discipline.
Then again, I guess he couldn’t really use his teeth after I had proven how weak his bite actually was.
He starts crying, curling forward on the floor, shaking and sobbing. I feel the muscles in his body relaxing, but in exhaustion and defeat. His final barrier has fallen and he has crumbled at my feet, ready for me to mold back into a beautiful, powerful form.
He’s in the perfect position.
“Aw…you broke him…” a voice says at the door of the cell. I turn to Dana and my heart beats quickly at the sight of him. Dana smiles and steps into the cell, walking to stand next to me. “I heard what happened…I was wondering why you weren’t with me.”
“Well, he is mine. I figured I needed to come see what kind of trouble he’s gotten into,” I groan.
“How bad is it?” Dana asks curiously.
I lift my foot and toe Clark over, exposing his mangled and swollen face. Dana cringes.
“Well…that’s a new one…I’ve never seen anyone do something like that before.”
“He’s totally broken.”
“I can see that.”
“He won’t be too much fun as he is…”
“Then we need to decide what is to become of him. Do you know what you want to do with him?” Dana asks, his arm going around my waist as we both look at the subject on the ground, crying and screaming in an agony that was not physical.
I look at Clark and smile, glancing over his face, watching how it contorts in agony…
“I think I have some ideas for what to do with him…”
Epilogue
Veronica sighed as she felt the elevator slow. She could feel the approaching disaster in her bones and she was desperately trying to find a way to minimize the damage. There was no way to avoid it completely, but perhaps she could curb some of the larger repercussions.
However, considering how much everyone supported Dana and his associate Lily, there was no way Veronica would have enough leverage in her current position to change much.
Sixteen months and twenty-one billion dollars later, the facility was finally ready for the transfer of the first D.E.M.O.N. prototypes. It would also be the first time that Veronica would see the twelve individuals in the same space. Dana would not let her observe them in the Dome when they socialized with each other. As much as they could, both Lily and Dana limited the amount of contact Veronica had with their prized experiments.
She walked out of the elevator and to the door leading into the offices of the Commission of the People. Sean greeted her, almost colliding with her.
“Oh, Miss Harris,” he smiled, holding the door open for her. “I’m so sorry, I guess I’m a little late.”
“No, not at all,” she assured with a gentle smile. “Actually, I’m a few minutes early.” She really liked Sean, and felt bad for the way the crazy twins pawed and scraped over him. But she understood that there was no way out for him. If he did not obey, he would become subject to further torture.
She also liked him because he was similar to her, wanting to keep the damage as minimal as possible.
“Getting excited?” Sean smiled knowingly.
“I’m curious,” she corrected gently. “Tell me, where are Dana and Lily?”
“They’re overseeing the loading process. They asked me to come and get you. Do you wish to ride with them? Or would you rather have a separate car?” Sean asked, leading her through the now-familiar door that led to the security checkpoint into the back of the Commission.
“Oh, there is no need to waste more resources on me,” Veronica laughed, stepping forward and
flashing her own card to the security desk, even though they knew very well who she was and had been letting her through without a fuss for over a year. “I will ride with them.”
“…are you sure?” Sean pressed tiredly. “There’s a lot of excitement over what’s going on, so they’re going to be acting…well…”
“Thank you for your concern, Sean,” Veronica said with a small smile. “But I can handle myself.”
“I’ve noticed that…” Sean agreed, opening another door for her and leading her through the lab to walk into the holding cells and to the car garages. “I want you to teach me…”
“Oh, I wish I could,” Veronica chuckled brokenly. “But if I told you how I managed to stay strong against Dana and Lily, you would never believe me.”
She brushed past the confused head of security and walked through the aisles of the holding cells, looking at the faces behind the glass. She was able to see each and every face as she passed. There were a few who deserved to be imprisoned, but she also noticed that several of them should never have been locked up. It tore at her heart to see such horrid circumstances for those people, but there was an etiquette to what she was doing, and she knew she had to act very carefully in order to save as many people as possible.
Sean opened the door to the car elevators, where voices immediately greeted their ears.
“Remember, if you try to run, these will detonate and blow your head clean off. So, just sit like a good girl, and wait for us to bring you where you’ll be living,” one of the guards told one of the D.E.M.O.N.s. Veronica sighed heavily and started forward.
“Do you think it’s safe to move them?” Sean hissed. “Their strength tests have been frightening.”
“I’m afraid that nothing is really safe with them,” Veronica admitted. “They are too powerful to be contained by human means. Thankfully, they still retained their humanity and react to fear and intimidation all the same. It’s the only thing keeping them in line.”
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