Paradise Awakened Trilogy

by Mackenzie Morris

  "Isidore? Oh thank God you're all right." Doss says as he walks into the room followed by Remiel. "How are you feeling?"

  "Terrible."

  "Do you mind if I go get Dmitri and bring him in here? I'm sure he'd love to see you."

  "Go ahead." Isidore says.

  Katarina looks up from where she fell asleep between Byron's legs and she smiles as she pushes her bangs out of her face. "Dad!"

  "Hey there."

  "I can't believe you're up and alive after what you went through yesterday." Katarina says.

  "Well, thank the morphine for that accomplishment. Don't expect me to do any fighting or anything requiring me to move for a long time."

  "Daddy!" Dmitri runs up to him.

  "Careful." Doss warns him. "Don't touch him. He's hurting."

  Dmitri sits next to Isidore and looks at him with his big eyes. "I was so scared that you died."

  "Yes, so was everyone else. Can we not talk about this anymore? Let's just move on."

  By this time, everyone else has woken up and they whisper to each other as Kazimir enters the room and slams a clipboard on the table. "Welcome back to the living, 42."

  Isidore shakes his head and occupies himself with his coffee as he broods, feeling the gaze of every person focused on him. Can't they just leave him alone? If they want to talk about it, then they will be sorely disappointed. When minutes drag by and no one moves, Isidore looks up. "What do you want from me?"

  "To know that you're okay." Blice says. "We're all very concerned about you, Niko."

  "And with the nature of some of your injuries-"

  "What injuries? I'm fine."

  "Denial is your new coping mechanism now?" Byron asks. "You have to accept what happened or you will never be able to move on. I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but pretending that nothing's changed isn't the way to do this. Your body is never going to be the same."

  "Shut up. You don't know. You have no proof of anything so drop it. There's nothing wrong with me. Is that clear? I'm the same as I was yesterday morning."

  "Oh my God. You wanted to have more children."

  That's it. Byron has no right to say anything to him. This ends now. Isidore picks up a steak knife from the table and throws it at Byron, barely missing his neck, but slicing into his shoulder.

  He grabs at the wound and tosses down the knife. "What the fuck? You could have killed me."

  "Remind me to aim next time." Isidore says darkly.

  Kazimir claps his hands. "I need everyone except for Isidore, Remiel, Doss, and Zach to leave for a while. We are going to have something like a family meeting." He waits until they all leave before continuing. "All right, my whiny little children, before we go any further, we need to have a chat. First things first." He holds out his hand across the table to Isidore. "Isidore, give me the drugs."

  Everyone looks at Isidore who sinks down in his chair and crosses his arms defensively. "What drugs? I don't have anything."

  "Give me the vial of nanochems and the syringe in the left pocket of your jacket. Haven't you learned by now that you can't hide things from me? I created you so I might know how you think. And don't lie to me, Isidore. You're a better man than that."

  Reluctantly, he pulls the vial and syringe from his pocket and places them in Kazimir's hand.

  "Thank you. You're not getting any more of this for as long as I'm alive. Is that understood? There is absolutely no reason for you to follow in Blice's footsteps. While I realize that he programmed you to learn from him and evolve based on his actions and behaviors, I expected you to have enough control of your own free will to not make stupid decisions. You've gotten completely out of hand. You may be the leader of this country, but I'm your creator and I'm putting my foot down. Next, Remiel . . . you have ten minutes to live."

  The young-looking archon jumps up with panic showing in his bright blue eyes. "What? Why?"

  "I'm going to kill you. You've betrayed me and Uriel."

  "It's Doss." Doss says grumpily.

  "When addressing the other archons, you will be called by your real name. Anyway, Remiel, you put everything at risk by joining the IGR with the others. I had such high hopes for you."

  "No! I only did what Gabriel and Michael told me to do. Uriel is my friend . . . he used to be my friend." He grabs Doss's arm. "Tell him that I wouldn't hurt anyone!"

  "You're a traitor just like the rest of them." Doss says.

  "Uriel!"

  Kazimir cracks his knuckles. "Well, if even your buddy won't stand up for you, then you'll have to hear my ultimatum. Either you tell us everything about the other five archons and their dealings with the IGR or I kill you right here and shut you down so you can never be activated again. Don't think for one second that you can fly down here after cutting off any communications with me for sixty years and spy for them. Zach, take our little spy into the interrogation room and extract that information from him. Use whatever methods necessary. If he won't cooperate, then scrap him. We can use the titanium in his bones for other projects."

  "Will do, boss." Zach quickly binds a thick leather band around Remiel's chest that secures his arms and wings before leading him out of the room.

  "Don't hurt him." Doss says.

  "Interesting. So you still care? You should be concerned with yourself, Doss." Kazimir takes Doss's wrists and holds them out, exposing the cuts. "These cuts better not be what I think they are. Did you bond with another child?"

  "Yes. I'm Dmitri's guardian."

  Kazimir twists his arms and yells at him. "How many innocent children are you going to kill? Was the first one not enough? Was my only son not enough?"

  He pulls away from Kazimir. "Stop. You know I loved him."

  "But you loved him too much, didn't you? Isidore, leave us. I need to speak with Doss alone."

  Isidore stays where he is. "No. What's going on?"

  "Didn't Doss tell you that he bonded with Dmitri?"

  "Yes. I asked him to be his guardian. I thought he would keep Dmitri safe."

  "You sentenced your son to death." Kazimir says. "I'm sure Doss didn't tell you that each of the four boys he has bonded with before Dmitri died within two weeks of Doss becoming their guardian. My son was the first one to die. Then Clark's son died, followed shortly by Sean Velex. Yes, that's right, the son of the IGR admiral. Oh, and remember Prime Minister Leblanc of Common Ground? He had a little brother before Doss claimed him too."

  What? He looks at Doss and reaches for another steak knife. "How could you?"

  Doss pries the knife out of his hand. "Isidore, listen to me. I never meant to kill those boys. I'd never intentionally hurt anyone placed in my care. Why would I want to harm Dmitri? He means the world to me."

  "Why did you kill the others?"

  "I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

  "Four accidents?" Isidore asks. "Really? You expect me to believe that?"

  "Why don't you tell Isidore how they died?" Kazimir asks.

  Doss sighs and holds his head in his hands. "Nanobots."

  No way. This has to be some kind of joke. "Nanobots? What the hell?"

  "I killed each of them with the nanobots in my blood."

  "Dmitri has destructive nanobots in his blood now after bonding with you?"

  "Yes." Doss whispers.

  "Why would you kill him?"

  "He's not dead yet."

  Isidore hits the table with his fist. "He might as well be. Kazimir, can't you give him some of that stuff you take that makes them dormant?"

  "Not with the way Doss's are."

  "Please hear me out." Doss begs. "I did it so Dmitri could get used to them. I know eventually it will work."

  Kazimir slaps Doss across the face. "You can't keep sacrificing children for your twisted experiment, Doss! I don't give a damn what Zerachiel told you. He is just as crazy as Gabriel. The IGR has been trying for decades to find a cure. There isn't one. Give it up. You can't save everyone. I should have you killed right here. I should have do
ne it after you infected my son, but I showed you mercy. I see now that it was all a mistake. I knew you were trouble from the moment I first activated you."

  "Please don't scrap me, Kazimir."

  "It's not my say. Isidore, he is killing your son. I'll let you hand down a punishment that you deem fitting."

  Isidore says the one thing that comes to mind. "Tear him apart while he is still alive and can feel it all. I want him to suffer. No one touches my children."

  Doss kneels down in front of Isidore. "Please don't do this. I'm not a bad person."

  "Anyone who kills children is a bad person. I want you to stop existing, the same fate you gave to my son."

  Kazimir presses a button on his watch. "Zach, I need you in here."

  Zach enters the room and looks around. "What is going on?"

  "Take Doss into the scrap room." Kazimir says. "Take him apart and salvage what you can. Those platinum wings of his are expensive and we can use the funds for our upcoming rebellion."

  * * *

  Doss goes willingly to his fate. Is there really a reason to fight it? He knows that he did the wrong thing . . . again, but it's for the right reasons. If they can just make this breakthrough, the medical possibilities are endless. This is the one thing that he ever agreed with Zerachiel and Raphael on. They have been spending countless hours testing and developing potential cures for destructive nanobots that have infested the blood of victims from nanoweapons.

  But Doss wants the cure for a better, grander, and holier purpose. Every day, hundreds of innocent people are dying to IGR nanobots on their man made home planet, Himmel, at the edge of the Milky Way. Doss made the nearly lethal mistake of flying too close to one of their warships years ago. That's when he first discovered that Clark was an officer in their military and it turned out that he didn't appreciate Doss attacking them. So Doss paid for that with the longest feathers of his wings to ensure he could never fly far enough to reach Himmel.

  It's what he saw happening on that ship that drove him to take action. For nearly two centuries, he had heard of the atrocities happening within the IGR. Only then did he see the horrific nanobot experiments and the suffering of those enslaved humans firsthand. At that moment, Doss knew that he had ultimately been doing the right thing the entire time.

  Now it seems that he will pay the price for his pride of ever thinking that he could be the one to save them all. If he is destined to die here, then he must do one thing first. He silently follows behind Zach until they are in a room filled to the ceiling with scrap metal, broken electronics, and circuitry. The air seems colder in here, but that might just be Doss's sudden terror. Nothing about this room is okay. Will he soon be just scraps added to these piles?

  "All right, archon. Here's how we're going to do this."

  Doss stops him. "First, as my last wish, I'd like to say goodbye to Dmitri. I know all the accusations make me look terrible, but I truly do care about him and I didn't take my vow to him lightly. I will give my life for him. It will crush him when he finds out that I died without a farewell. So before I die, let me explain some things to him."

  "See, Doss, it's this aspect that I can't understand, but I admire it." Zach says. "You're not going to say goodbye."

  "Please. I will get down on my knees and beg you."

  "Let me finish. You're not going to say goodbye because it will risk revealing my plan. I figured Kazimir would try something like this." He reaches behind one of the piles of spare parts and retrieves a backpack that he hands to Doss. "Take this. Oh, and your sword is on that crate behind you. At three this afternoon, the security barrier around the southern maintenance gate to the surface will be down for five minutes. I will reroute the Inquisition surveillance butterflies to another sector of the city. I want you to fly away from here and never come back."

  "Why are you helping me?"

  Zach sighs and takes off his beanie. "I don't know. You remind me of someone."

  "Xavier? Your older brother you killed when you were ten?"

  "How do you know that? Did Isidore tell you?"

  "I've been watching humans who I found interesting for a long time." Doss says. "I know a lot about a few of them. So this is it, then. I don't know where I'll go, but I can't go back up in space. My body can't handle the extreme temperatures and harshness of it anymore. Not only that, but I can't fly like I could before I fell. I guess I'll try to make myself useful in the wasteland. Thanks again, Zach." Doss slips off his wooden crucifix and places it in Zach's hand. "Please give this to Dmitri. Tell him that I'm always watching over him."

  17

  "Next order of business, you have a meeting tonight with a very important contact." Kazimir says to Isidore. "You are to be courteous and listen to what he has to say."

  "Who is he?"

  "Android 114, Benjamin Crowe."

  "The murderer?" Isidore asks.

  "The same. Is that a problem for you?"

  "I usually try to stay away from murderers, but look at who I've been working with recently."

  "Benjamin Crowe is the android resistance leader and I've granted him an audience with you. He wants you to take some action against the terrorists, who are all humans by the way."

  "Why would you set this up?"

  "Because I want to get involved." Kazimir says. "No one hurts my creations and gets away with it. I'm vindictive that way. Why do you think Blice is still a butterfly? I have made a working robotic humanoid form that I could give him, but if he made you feel minuscule and unimportant, then I'll let him suffer for that crime in the same way. I want to you hear him out. You've been riding the fence for too long. It's time for you to choose a side and make a difference for your people."

  "My people? Who are my people, Kazimir?"

  "Androids. They are suffering and starving in the streets because their owners abandoned them and punish them brutally if they try to go back home. Android children are sold like slaves in the market to the highest bidder. Most of them end up dead before adulthood. The ones who do are so conditioned to obey that they can't function normally in society. You have the power to change that."

  "And you think that a civil war is the only way?" Isidore asks.

  "I know it's the only way. Not only that, but if fighting breaks out, we will undoubtedly lure my other archons down here and therefore get the IGR to intervene."

  Isidore knows what this is about. Kazimir just wants revenge. "So you primarily want revenge on the IGR?"

  "No. On Clark."

  "What's the story about the bad blood between you two, anyway?"

  Kazimir becomes uncharacteristically soft-spoken. "He had my wife killed for installing that free will program in you."

  That was him? "Oh. He did that?"

  "Yes. He gave the orders."

  "Damn. Okay. I'll meet with 114 and see what he proposes, but I'm only doing it for your wife because I owe her at least that much."

  The door slides open as a tired-looking Dmitri shuffles inside. "Where's Doss?"

  Isidore doesn't have the heart to tell Dmitri the entire truth so he tries to explain it in the simplest way possible. "Doss isn't going to be here with us anymore."

  "Why not? Where did he go?"

  "He . . . um, had some very important archon stuff to tend to."

  Dmitri looks to be on the verge of tears. "When will he be coming back? I don't feel good and Doss told me that he would make me some soup."

  "What's wrong?" Isidore asks.

  "My head hurts and I feel dizzy."

  Kazimir gives Isidore a worried look as he leads the boy out of the room. The others fill the room and look confused at the change in their numbers.

  "What was all that about?" Blice asks.

  Isidore doesn't feel like saying it. Maybe if he pretends it didn't happen that Dmitri will be okay, but now that the symptoms have started, there's no telling how much time they have left. He looks around the room at everyone. "Doss is no longer welcome here. He was supposed to be scrapped, but
Zach let him go on the surface."

  "Why? What did he do?" Katarina asks.

  "Dmitri is dying."

  "What?" Byron asks. "No! How?"

  "The nanobots in Doss's blood from their bond. They're killing Dmitri and he'll be dead within two weeks."

  "Did Doss even know?" Katarina asks.

  "Yes." Isidore says. "Doss knew. It's happened four times before this and still he did it. There's no way to reverse it. Even Kazimir's concoctions won't slow them down enough." He shakily stands to his feet and heads to the door. "Don't say anything to Dmitri about this, please. I'll speak with him when we're ready. For now, try to keep things from blowing up more than they are. I have a meeting to get ready for."

  * * *

  Isidore pushes open the door to the Oval Office and shakes hands with the large black-haired man with a goatee and bandoleer of hand grenades across his chest. "You must be Android 114."

  "Greetings, 42. It's a pleasant surprise to see that you've been recovering from what those terrible humans did to you. I heard they were devious jewel thieves."

  "Jewel thieves?"

  "You know, how they stole the family jewels." The man says with a smile.

  Isidore isn't amused. "Did you come here for an actual purpose or to just insult me?"

  "Forgive me, Mr. President. That wasn't my intention at all."

  "Then you have five seconds to tell me why you came here or I will have the Inquisition arrest you and lock you away like the dirty criminal you are."

  "Don't involve yourself with that human institution. Listen to me. I want to work with you to bring true justice into Paradise where justice has been one-sided for far too long."