Paradise Awakened Trilogy

by Mackenzie Morris

  Icarus comes over and examines the cut on his shoulder. "Any pulse?"

  "Nope. And his blood pressure is at zero."

  "Someone else try theirs."

  "I'll do it." Kazimir cuts his finger and waits. "Nothing. Zach?"

  "Already on it. Nope. No blood. What could be causing this?"

  Icarus takes the razor blade and cuts the back of his arm. Sure enough, deep red blood trickles out. "Hmm."

  "Why are you bleeding and we aren't?" Zach asks.

  "I'm not a T.I.M.E. Something must be bugging up with the living computer programs."

  Kazimir takes Icarus's arm and drags him over into the corner of the room and starts whispering to him. Velex shakes his head and looks over the data on the monitor. He puts his fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse. His heart isn't even beating. How long has it been like this? Zach probably didn't realize his system acting weird because of his artificial heart that doesn't beat. Kazimir has been too busy to notice his and the same goes for Velex.

  Kazimir claps his hands together as he and Icarus come back over to them. "Well, when we can't figure something out, we have to experiment. Trial and error, boys. One of us needs to be rebooted so we can see if it's just an error in the operations."

  "That's too dangerous." Zach says.

  "Reboot me." Velex says. "I'll do it. I haven't been restarted in a while so I'm the most stable."

  "Are you sure? There's always a risk that you won't turn back on."

  "I'm sure. Out of all us here, my system is the most reliable. I've never had a virus or anything. So go ahead."

  Blice flutters into the room and lands on Velex's shoulder. "What's going on in here?"

  "The T.I.M.E.s aren't bleeding. They have no blood pressure and no pulse. Any ideas?"

  "Yeah. What if someone was able to modify the T.I.M.E. program to make us all immortal?" Blice asks. "I know we all live for an extremely long time anyway, but we can still die. Who would want to make T.I.M.E.s truly immortal?"

  Icarus crosses his arms and leans against the wall. "Someone who had a T.I.M.E. that they didn't want to lose."

  "Gabriel."

  "What?"

  "Gabriel has Jayce down in Paradise." Blice says. "Something must have happened to Jayce and now Gabriel is trying everything he can think of to bring him back."

  "Don't talk like that."

  "Now isn't the time for sugarcoating things, Icarus. You've worked in crime scenes so don't even try to say this bothers you."

  "I just don't like to think about people dying when they're not supposed to or not being able to die when they should. It's unnatural."

  The door to the laboratory slides open and an archon with long white hair and glistening jade wings joins them. He sips on his cup of hot tea as he takes inventory of the situation. "I agree."

  Zach shakes his head. "Zerachiel? We thought you were dead."

  "No. I have wings. I can fly."

  Kazimir runs to him and holds him to his chest. "Where have you been?"

  "Around."

  "You're not funny."

  "It's not my job to be funny, Creator." Zerachiel says plainly.

  "What's gotten into you?" Kazimir asks as he strokes his hair. "Your behavior is strangely melancholic."

  "I lost a friend. How do you expect me to behave? Doss and I had our disagreements, but in the end, we made up. He was a dear friend who will always be remembered fondly."

  * * *

  Katarina is curled up next to Jarred with her head in his lap as they fly in the unmarked Nymph ship back to Himmel. She smiles when he smoothes her hair and rubs her arm comfortingly. His scent is the most comforting thing, though. Being able to feel him here and smell his unique scent that she has become unexplainably and intimately connected to is enough to keep her calm, even in this strange and tumultuous time. It must be like this for all androids, to be drawn to their owners like this.

  "I hope you know I wasn't really going to do that." Jarred says as he traces her lips with his fingertips.

  "Selling me? Really?"

  "You were being really annoying. And I could use the money." Jarred says with a smile.

  She sits up and pushes his hand away. "You're not funny."

  "Are you sure? I think I see a smile. I will train you yet. I just had to scare the hell out of you. It was all for your own good. You're welcome. By the way, are you sure you aren't a man?"

  "Why would you ask that?"

  "Because it took some serious balls to do what you did back there."

  "You're the one who is always telling me to man up." Katarina says.

  "True."

  "I really scared them, didn't I?"

  "I think you did more than that." Jarred says. "They looked like they were worshipping you."

  "Because of my dark matter?"

  "Yeah. Why do you think they decided to start taking orders from you? So, since you're making the calls now, what's your brilliant plan for once we land on Himmel?"

  "We stick to the shadows, avoid anyone in uniform, then find Kazimir."

  The floor of the ship shakes a bit and the sound of the engines dies down.

  "We must have landed." Jarred says.

  From outside the ship, Katarina hears voices growing closer as well as what sounds like rain pelting against the exterior of the ship. She listens closely to the people talking on the other side of the wall.

  "Search the ship. Strip everyone on board and arrest anyone bearing the Nymph mark."

  "Yes, sir."

  Katarina shakes Jarred's shoulder. "What now?"

  Jarred rolls his eyes. "Fantastic. This was your idea. How's your big brilliant plan now, Kat?"

  People begin screaming in other parts of the ship as heavy boots clank against the metal floors. The same voices from outside are now inside the ship issues orders and yelling for the crew to be compliant. "He's a Nymph! Kill him."

  "No. We're under orders to take them in alive." Another man says.

  "There's no way in hell I'm letting these demons into Himmel alive."

  Katarina jumps when the gunfire echoes down the hallway. Are they actually killing anyone with that tattoo? She feels a little relieved to know that she's not a Nymph. But Jarred's iron grasp on her knee reminds her that he is a Nymph and very much in danger. What are they going to do? There's no way out that wouldn't put Jarred in danger of being discovered.

  The metal door slides open and three men in tan trench coats with the familiar daisy in a triangle symbol of the Inquisition step inside with machine guns and laser pistols drawn. The one with the bright orange sideburns moves closer and gasps. His laser pistol hits the floor. "Jarred?"

  "Hello, Samuels."

  6

  Jayce shivers while he's strapped down to a metal table without a shirt on. His purple wings are restrained as well to prevent him from getting away or struggling. Ever since the pain started in his lower stomach a couple of days ago, Gabriel has been conducting all kinds of experiments and tests on him to find out what is wrong. That beating he took probably didn't help anything. Jayce has been taking extreme caution to never speak French again. Even with his regenerative android skin, those bruises haven't healed yet. Every day that crawls by so slowly makes Jayce secretly want to kill these people. At night, he dreams about hundreds of excitingly agonizing ways to kill them and make them suffer for what they've done. With Jarred gone, Jayce has nothing to lose. He just has to plan and wait for the right moment to strike. There's nothing left in life that has any meaning aside from revenge. And how glorious that revenge will be. But this is not the time for such thoughts. Now he's here with Gabriel and Clark prodding him with their fingers and all kinds of medical equipment.

  "Why didn't we think about hacking into the T.I.M.E. management network earlier?" Gabriel asks.

  Clark's thin cold hands move down Jayce's chest with calculated precision, feeling his ribs as he breathes. "Because Kazimir hid it so well. But little does he know that he left his notebook con
taining all of his research and pass codes relating to T.I.M.E. technology down here. Now he's millions of miles away on the other side of the galaxy and we're here with all the information and technology with need. What's even better? Uriel isn't alive anymore to stop us. I'm telling you now, Gabriel, we are on the verge of a new Paradise, a new galaxy, and a new government. We will have the power, the technology, and the manpower to make this happen. I've been waiting for this chance for over two hundred years, ever since Kazimir put the plans in place for the creation of the IGR planets. Once Hans Dressler took power and I was delegated to little more than a glorified slave to Dressler, I knew I had to lie low and wait for my chance to seize power."

  "Which is why you were in the first Paradise for years before it was moved down here."

  "Precisely." Clark roughly pokes at Jayce's abdomen. "Hand me the ultrasound machine."

  Jayce tries his hardest to remain calm as they set everything up and Clark begins examining his lower stomach.

  "Huh."

  "Is that what I think it is?" Gabriel asks.

  "Interesting. Talk to me, Jophiel. Look at that monitor and tell me what that is."

  Jayce shakes his head. "I can't see it, sir."

  "Oh, that's right." Clark says. "Here, I'll connect the video feed to your mind so you can see it for yourself."

  A sudden and undeniable surge of panic sweeps over Jayce as he sees the image in his mind. This has to be a trick. There's no way this is even possible. Clark and Gabriel must have done something awful to him for this to happen.

  "Tell me what you see, Jophiel. I want an explanation."

  "It's . . . a fetus."

  "Yes. Care to explain how you, a male android, got pregnant?" Clark asks.

  "I don't know, sir."

  "Have you even been involved with anyone since you've been down here?"

  Gabriel turns the machine off. "Yes. Me."

  "Oh. You didn't tell me that you were using those training tactics."

  "I didn't know I had to."

  "From here on, you are under orders to clear every action you make regarding Jophiel with me. Is that understood?"

  Gabriel shrugs his shoulders. "Sure."

  "On top of that, I want to know everything you've done to him up until this point. I've seen a male android reproduce in this manner once before, but we were unable to isolate any direct causes for it."

  "What are we going to do with the fetus?" Gabriel asks.

  "I'm not sure yet. First, we're going to find out whose DNA it carries. We will analyze that and take action from there."

  * * *

  Jarred locks eyes with Samuels who appears to be in a state of shock or as if he saw a ghost. In a way, he has. So what happens now? When Jarred and Samuels were imprisoned in Paradise for two months, they discussed Jarred's tattoo. He knows that he's a Nymph. Are they going to kill him right here?

  One of the other inquisitors aims his machine gun at Jarred. "Take off your clothes and put your hands on the wall behind you. One wrong move and you're both dead."

  "No." Samuels pushes the man's gun away and steps up to Jarred. "How are you alive?"

  "I don't think I should divulge that kind of information to someone who's about to kill me."

  "Stand down, men. These are prisoners, not Nymphs. Well done, Inquisitors. We've rescued the hostages. I'll take care of these two. Everyone else, check the cargo hold."

  "Yes, sir."

  Once they leave the room, Samuels picks up his laser pistol then embraces Jarred. "Everyone thinks you're dead. Tell me the truth. Are you two slaves or here willingly?"

  Jarred pats his back. "All we're trying to do is get into Himmel and find Kazimir so we can get a plan going to rescue Jayce."

  "Kazimir and Velex are meeting with Chancellor Dressler right now. Listen, it's not safe for you here. The Inquisition has been reinstated up here with the sole purpose of hunting down Nymphs."

  "What do you do with the Nymphs?" Katarina asks.

  "You don't want me to answer that question. Now's not the time to talk about this. Here's what I'm going to do. My inquisitors are busy in other parts of the ship so I can escort you two to my car and take you to Kazimir's lab. We'll talk more on the way."

  * * *

  Velex's eyes dart between Kazimir and Dressler who sits on the opposite side of the conference table as Kazimir drinks vodka from a flask he keeps in his coat and Dressler glares at him. Velex makes it a point to check his watch. They've been here for five minutes, but no one has said anything.

  Dressler slams his fist on the table to shatter the silence. "Does my authority as chancellor not mean anything to you people?"

  "What do you mean?" Kazimir asks.

  "When I issue orders and punishments, I expect them to be carried out. Hello, Velex. How was your time in the stocks before you managed to further defy my orders and escape?"

  Before Velex opens his mouth, Kazimir speaks. "Don't answer that. Hans, how dare you treat Velex like that? Do you realize what he suffered through in one day?"

  "It's not my problem."

  Kazimir stands and leans over in Dressler's face. "It is your problem. Velex has done nothing but follow your orders, even to the point of leaving his friends on Barren Void to die. Then you strip him of any dignity he had and put him in the pillory as a spectacle to be beaten and raped?"

  "Again, it's none of my business. I couldn't care less what happens to criminals."

  "Damn it, Hans. You are destroying this country. The IGR would be better off without you."

  "I am the IGR!" Dressler screams.

  "No. No, you're not. You may have the title and the money, but you don't have the real power here. I'm the one who made this. I made all of this! I have four PhDs: robotics, biology, computer science, and political science. What do you have? Nothing. You're nothing but a college dropout with a Napoleon complex and an artificially inflated ego that you hide behind because without it, you have nothing. If it wasn't for me, you would still be on the street corner of New York City selling hotdogs during the day and your body at night. Oh, wait. New York City doesn't exist anymore. It's gone. You'd be dead. So shut up, listen to the one person who gave you all of this, and stop berating Velex or so help me, I will hack into every computer system and make them do extremely unpleasant and humorous things."

  "You think you can threaten me?"

  "I know I can." Kazimir says. "That's why I'm doing it."

  "Well, either way, I have to take disciplinary action against Velex."

  "Let me handle it."

  "You? What are you going to do?" Dressler asks. "He doesn't deserve to have the title of admiral."

  "Then remove him from his position."

  What? He thought Kazimir was on his side. "No! Please don't. I'm sorry. I've been admiral of this country for over two hundred years. There's no one else who could run the military. It's been under my control all this time. I've tailored everything to function like I want it to and it works."

  "Just calm down and let me handle this, Velex." Kazimir says. "Hans, I agree that Velex needs a new line of work. After all the controversy surrounding Doss and Clark, it would be the best decision to not have him in a position of authority. Plus, with the humiliation he went through, none of the troops will have the same respect for him as they did before. Instead, I'll employ him in my laboratory. He has the educational requirements plus he's already proven himself to be more than capable."

  "Then that settles it. Axel Velex, you are hereby removed from your position and discharged from the military. You are no longer permitted around the airbase, barracks, or armory. I have to confiscate your military key card, laser pistol, whip, and your uniform."

  "Don't do this. Please don't do this. I can fix everything."

  "No, you can't. It's over, Axel."

  All Velex has known is now falling apart around him and there's nothing he can do about it. Okay. If they want to do it this way, then he'll have to do what they say. As much as he wants
to fight this, he knows that Kazimir won't let him down so he draws his laser pistol and places it on the table in front of Dressler. He continues to remove his uniform until he's in his boxers and undershirt. "There. Happy?"

  "Thank you. You're dismissed."

  Kazimir glares darkly at Dressler one last time before taking Velex's arm and leading him out into the hallway. "Don't worry. I'll put you to work on something much more important than some stupid military. Where we're going, planes and soldiers are useless."

  Velex follows him outside into the cold sunlight and down the white steps the street. "And where's that?"

  "What's the opposite of Paradise?"

  "Hell?"

  "Precisely. Buckle up, cupcake. We've got a long night ahead of us."

  A group of six rough and dirty-looking men stumble out of a bar on the other side of the plaza and the large one in front points at Velex. "Hey! Look who it is. It's our little bitch from the stocks. Awe, he's already taken most of his clothes off for us."

  "Looks like you made some friends."

  Velex backs up into an alley as the men draw closer. "Yeah, don't remind me."

  "I think they want to remind you."

  "But there's something about me that they don't know."

  "Ah. So you're prepared?" Kazimir asks as he rolls up his sleeves.

  "Good thing we waited to restart me, huh?"

  "We'll do that later."

  "How you wanna do this?" Velex asks.

  "You go first. I'll tag in after a bit."

  "I've been dying to do some actual fighting." Velex says. "If I'm no longer the admiral, I can afford to have some fun. Remember our old motto, Cousin?"

  "Breaking laws and breaking jaws." Kazimir steps back until he's up against the wall. "You're up."

  "Gladly." Velex holds up his right hand. "Hey guys, watch your backs!"

  The thugs turn around as Velex shouts and unleashes a surge of energy from his hand that swirls around the men. They scream and fall to the pavement where they roll around in pain. Red blisters rise up on their skin. "What is this?"