"I eat this every day before class."
"They do random drug testing, you know?" Rav asked.
"Trust me, alcohol is the least of my worries."
"I . . . I thought you were clean."
"I lied, mate. Surprise!" Vance giggled as he dropped another handful of sprinkles over his cream-drenched pancakes then opened a bottle of tequila to drizzle it over the top. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You said you were clean. I thought you had stopped. We didn't have this conversation in the past. I wasn't concerned with drug testing or school or anything back then."
"What are you babbling about, mate?"
"N-nothing. I gotta pee. I'll be right back." Rav stood from the table and hurried down the hallway to the bathroom at the end. He shut the door behind him once his feet hit the cold linoleum. Throwing open the cabinets, he rummaged through the plastic baskets and wooden bowls. There had to be something in here. There had to be evidence of it. If Vance was serious about being on drugs again, then Rav had to stop it.
But then he stopped. No, he did not have to stop it. None of this was real. Still, he wanted answers. Had the real Vance been lying to him?
Vance knocked on the door and called from the other side. "You okay in there, mate?"
"Yeah, just looking for some floss. I got something stuck in my teeth."
"It's in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror above the sink."
Rav had not thought of that place. He stood and pulled the front open to see the cotton balls, dental floss, and bobby pins. Nothing out of the ordinary. But then his fingers brushed against a thin plastic emergency room bracelet. As soon as he picked it up, he blinked and the world around him shifted again.
"Put this on your friend's wrist. We don't have much time. Nurse, get started on chest compressions. Give me his vitals. Someone bring me a crash cart. He's in bad shape. Looking at possible illegal drug overdose."
Rav looked down at the thin plastic wristband the emergency room doctor had handed him then back up at the scene unfolding in front of him. Bright lights shined down in the open room where four nurses and a doctor were busy stripping away Vance's clothes and getting him strapped down to a hospital bed. Machines and wires filled the room and were soon affixed to the younger Vance.
How much younger were they? Eight years old. And Rav was nine. Rav knew. He knew this memory all too well. He had tried his hardest to forget it about entirely, but here it was, trapping him inside once again. His little chubby hands held onto that bracelet, waiting for the opportune time to put it on the dying boy's wrist, a boy had only just found in the alley. A boy who would change his life.
At nine years old, he had dragged he unconscious boy across the city to the closest hospital he could find and paid all of his allowance from his wealthy father to get the boy the best care he could. Watching it unfold now, looking back and knowing how important Vance would become to him, was more difficult than the first time.
"We have no pulse. He's going into cardiac arrest. Someone get that kid out of here."
A nurse with large kind eyes took Rav's wrist and pulled him outside the room that was then closed off by curtains. She took the bracelet and patted his head. "I'll make sure your friend gets this. You go on home, okay? Tell your dad we said hi."
Rav was left with nothing as the nurse returned behind the curtains and the doctor issued orders that he still could not understand. More doctors rushed down the hall and through the curtains where all manner of alarms were sounding. Even though he knew Vance was going to pull through, Rav felt sick from the thought of someone suffering like that. After that shock had somewhat worn off with the knowledge that Vance was in good hands, Rav turned his attention to himself and the problem he was now facing.
He was barely as tall as the doorknobs. His messy red hair was hidden under a black beanie, his jeans were pressed and adorned with tiny gold strands, and his buttoned white shirt was clean underneath a small brown suit jacket. The expensive solid gold watch on his left wrist told him more than the time. It told him the date. This was back before his family had turned him into little more than a slave and before they had abandoned him. Two weeks before that.
What else happened on this night? Rav could not quite remember, but he knew he had to go somewhere. Vance was safe with the doctors and it was getting late. Trying to keep his emotions in check, Rav walked down the hallways where the nurses rushed past, seemingly unaware of his presence. He stepped through the sliding glass doors at the entrance and into the city.
A heavy hand tightened on the back of his neck and pulled him backwards. "Hey, little man. What are you doing out here so late? Didn't your daddy give you a curfew?"
Rav pulled away then turned to see the broad-shouldered dark-skinned man in the red suit with the bleached short-shaved hair. "Cousin Darren!" Why did he say that? He hated Darren for sleeping with his wife.
The nineteen-year-old man rustled Rav's hair under the beanie. "Let's get you home before your daddy finds out about you running off in the middle of the night. Actually, I have a better idea. Why don't I show you what can happen to young boys who roam the city streets after curfew? There are some savage predators out here who would love to catch the youngest son of Dimitrius Cyrino and take him somewhere where he would never be found again. Kind of like this. Tie him up, boys."
"What? No. This didn't happen." Rav tried to run, but his arms were caught by two Cyrino family guards. He looked up at the tops of the buildings and cried out to the program while his young voice cracked. "Computer, this didn't happen. What's going on? None of this happened! I-" His words were muffled by a dirty sock being stuffed in his mouth.
"Quiet, boy. It will all be explained soon enough. Hold still."
Rav whimpered from behind the sock gag when Darren's fist collided with the side of his head and he went limp with unconsciousness.
* * *
"What do you think you're doing?"
Rav sniffled through his tears as he squinted in the light around him in the very tiny brick-walled room. He was still small and in the same clothes as he was earlier. The world came back into focus and he met eyes with the teenage girl in a blue kimono whose raspberry red hair and soft brown skin was instantly familiar to him. "Camille?"
She smiled at him and pulled a metal chair over in front of the one he was sitting in. "Kind of. We need to have a chat, Rav Tillman. My name is Brooke. I am currently using this body as a way to communicate with you through this program. I am an Olonictian."
"Stay away. I don't want to play your game. Let me out. At least give me my older body back. I don't like being little."
"Do you feel helpless, Rav? Well, let me tell you something. You are helpless. Right now, your mind has been removed from your physical body in the real world. We are doing everything we can to stabilize you so we can keep you from going on a rampage and destroying the universe as we know it. In your Hive Guardian form, you are nearly unstoppable."
"Hive Guardian? What's a Hive Guardian?"
"You are a Hive Guardian, a very strong and formidable Olonictian. When Vance Trainor dropped you into that lava pit on Dualictum, your Olonictian side was awakened in the high temperatures. That has always been dormant in you, but it took over just in time to save your life. We immediately shut your brain down and transferred you here where you have been in a stasis to help normalize and calm you before we transplant you back into a human body that we are currently building."
"Why not just let me be an Olonictic insect?" Rav asked. "I don't care what I look like."
"But the rest of the universe does care, Rav. We need you to help take out Tirlmayn, but you can't do that in your Hive Guardian form. You will instantly be viewed as the enemy by humanity. Elysia will attack you and try to kill you. In turn, you will lose control. Once you lose control, like you have before with those control codes, you are nearly unstoppable."
"That's not true. That's not the real reason you locked me in this program. You
're hiding something from me, something you know I'll hate. What is it? Oh, space. Is it Nemo? Did something happen to my son?"
Brooke took a surprised step back. "Please remain calm. We are here to help you."
"You're not helping me. How is playing games inside my head with my memories supposed to help me? You're holding me against my will-"
"We are allowing you to remain free to traverse your memories in this helpful program while we rebuild and repair your body so you can eventually return to fight for us."
"What if I don't want to fight for you?" Rav asked. "I didn't ask for any of this. You did this without my consent."
"You gave your consent through the hive mind. Nemo talked you into it."
His hands clenched into fists. "Where is my son. Why does everyone here not know he exists? If these are my memories, why isn't Nemo in them?"
"I'm afraid I cannot disclose that information."
Rav slammed his fists into the arms of the chair. "You'd better. He's my son. I have every right to know where he is and if he is safe. Tell me where my son is!"
"I cannot do that. Now, be a good little boy and go home."
"Turn me back. I don't want to be a child."
"Staying a child will protect you in many ways in this city. There are evil people who would harm an adult, but will think twice about doing the same to a young child. You are safer in this form. And please, Rav, do not go looking for any ways out of this program. You will be fine in the end, but do not go around causing trouble. If you do, we will find ways to stop you."
"Are you threatening me?" Rav asked, his eyes narrowing. "You can't keep me in here."
"Are you adamant about disobeying? Well, let me show you something. I have absolute control over this program and over your son. If you disobey again or decide to go around looking for ways out, I will do this over and over. Hey, Dalan, is the boy in place on the metal frame?"
The man's voice came from somewhere overhead. "Yes, ma'am. The electrodes are in place."
"Good. Shock Nemo."
"What? No!" Rav gasped when the audio played around him. Nemo was screaming at the top of his lungs while the buzzing of electricity could be heard in the background. "Stop it. Stop hurting him, you bastards. Stop it!"
"That's enough, Dalan."
Nemo's screams turned into sobbing and blabbering before the audio cut off.
The woman in Camille's body leaned down to pat Rav's head. "We will get what we want out of you, Rav Tillman. And to do that, we will torture that boy until he's black and blue and bloody. Is that what you want? Because your son's fate rests solely in your hands. Obey us and stay in the program or your son gets hurt. Now, what do you say? Will you agree to my terms, or do you want Dalan to turn the electricity on again?"
Rav hung his head. "I'll obey. I'll do whatever you want, just don't harm him. Don't hurt Nemo. What all have you done to him? Tell me what you've done to him."
"All will be revealed in time, just know that we have no laws preventing us from doing whatever we need to with the boy."
"Turn me back into an adult so I can say what I want to say and not have to listen to myself say it with this boyish voice. You need to hear how angry I am without stopping to say how cute I am. Got that?"
"Whatever." She flicked her wrist and Rav was instantly back in black jumpsuit. "There. Adult Rav."
Rav stood from the chair and stormed up to her, towering over her with anger flaring in his cold blue eyes. "I want out of here. I want to go back to my life, but I don't want to go back to a broken boy. I had a hellish childhood and I have done everything in my power as a father to keep Nemo from going through the same stuff I did. But I've failed. Everywhere he goes, people abuse him, they hurt him, and no one cares. No one gives a damn about him except me. If you want to hurt someone, you hurt me. Not him. Strap me to that frame and electrocute me. Not my son. Not an innocent boy who is already broken down and empty. He's so empty. Don't you get that? He's been beaten down his entire life by his mother, by Darren, by captors like you. You don't see him as a person, but he is. He's not just a mass of computers parts. He's alive. He thinks, he feels, he understands more than most people will ever know. Through everything, he has stayed so strong, but I know he's crumbling inside. My greatest fear is looking into my son's eyes and seeing nothing, seeing that emptiness that I know is growing there. Have mercy. He's a child, a child who only wants to be happy and to be loved." Rav turned to the door and pulled it open.
"Where are you going?" Brooke asked.
"I'm going to whatever memory you send me to. I'm going to play your game so you won't hurt him anymore. But know that if I ever get out of here, I will kill all of you."
"Rav, we are the good guys."
"Good guys don't torture children. Period. I don't normally use language like this, but I think now warrants it." Rav held up his middle fingers as he stepped backwards through the doorway. "Fuck you."
Chapter 6
The morning after, most of the poison had left Ben's system and he was able to wake up from a slightly restful sleep. He had awakened in his husband's arms and eaten breakfast with him that was brought to the room by a servant. He went through the motions without saying much of anything to him. Vance had been kind and loving the night before, but now that Ben was back in his right mind and not actively dying, he had work to do. He had to kill Vance.
And so the game was on.
Ben sat on the bed where the remnants of their breakfast were scattered around on silver platters. He grinned darkly when Vance stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. When he heard the shower curtain being pushed open, his heart began to race.
Vance cried out and a crashing thud sounded from inside the bathroom. Seconds later, a slime-covered, half-dressed Vance opened the door and glared at him. He held out his hand where the clear goop shined on his fingers. "What is this? Lube?"
"Butter . . . mixed with some apricot jelly."
"From breakfast? You coated the bathtub with it, hoping I would slip and fall. Clever, but not good enough. Keep trying, mate."
Ben growled through his gritted teeth. Of course lube would have worked better. Why had he not thought of that? But it was not yet over. There were other traps he had set up all through the room while Vance had been out at a meeting with Tirlmayn. At least one of them had to work. It had to. The rebellion was counting on it.
As Vance showered, Ben threw back the blankets then started dressing in the tight burgundy jeans and flowing black shirt with the laces up the sides that Vance had laid out for him. As soon as he had pulled his pants on, he heard the popping of the explosives from the bathroom.
"What the hell? Benjamin! You little sneaky snake."
Ben chuckled, but the voice yelling at him told him it wasn't enough to kill him. Those small explosives were the only things Visht had on him. He needed more. "What's wrong, darling?"
"Don't play the loving husband card. Who puts explosives in the toilet? So far, you're not impressing me, Ben. Wait. What's this? My toothbrush smells funny."
"No idea, honey." Ben snickered. Of course he knew. "I'm sure it's fine."
"Blah blah blah. I can't believe a word you say." Vance pulled the door open and glanced cautiously around the bedroom, obviously checking for anything that could fall on him or attack him. "I'll give you this, mate. You know how to make a man paranoid."
Ben gave a mocking bow. "You're welcome, Prince Aveni."
"If you want to kill me so badly, why don't you just try when I'm asleep?"
"Because you and I both know I'm not a fighter. You have a good one hundred pounds on me. The second you woke up, I would be the dead one."
Vance tiptoed around the room as he dried his blond hair with a towel. "You're not going to give up on this, are you? Did last night not prove to you that I love you?"
"It's not a matter of love. It's a matter of defending those who can't defend themselves. I can't let you kill innocent people, even if you feel that you
will be saving more in the long run. I just can't. If you are so far gone that you are unable to control your violence, then I have to put you down."
"I want to end this war and ensure that there are no more wars. Ever. Don't you see? That's the only way to do this."
"And what about Nemo? You would use that boy as a weapon?"
"Ben, Nemo is a computer, okay? He's-"
"Capable of feeling everything, just like us. You're his father."
"I know, mate. I know. But sometimes we have to make sacrifices."
"You would sacrifice him?" Ben asked, his surprise mixing with anger.
"That's not what I meant. I . . ." Vance sighed as he began strapping the gold and white belts of his prince uniform across his bare chest. "I'm walking a razor's edge right now, playing both sides-"
"Both sides? You're only playing one side. And that's the Vance side. You don't care about anyone else."
"I care about you."
Ben shook his head as he combed through the knots in his tightly curled hair. "You don't care about me. You think you do, but you really don't. If you truly cared about me, you would have listened to my advice. You would have done what I asked you to do. You would see how much this is affecting me. You know I come from a very troubled background. You know what my father did to me. He sold me. You know what my ex did to me, what that demon of a man did to me for years. You promised me that you would deliver me from all of that, keep me safe, and never let me fall back into being used like that. Now you're becoming just like him."
"That's a lie, Ben, and you know it. I never raped you. I never beat you. I never locked you in a room and kept you there for days at a time."
"You didn't have to, Vance. You did something so much worse. You gave me love again after I believed I was unlovable. Then you ripped my heart from my chest and tore it to shreds. You tricked me into believing that I was worth something. It's the worse thing anyone has ever done to me."
Vance actually appeared to be hurt by that. "Ben, no."
"After I kill you, I'm taking myself out too."
The Genesis Sequence Books 6-10 Page 31
