House of Dolls 4

by Harmon Cooper

  “Relax.” Kevin got out of his chair and came around to the front of his desk. He leaned against it, watching the toxin take effect.

  “More,” Kevin told Obsidian.

  Seeing Sandy sit there with a dazed look on her face had started to give Kevin an erection.

  There was a time when Kevin would have hidden this fact and been ashamed of it, but now he no longer cared. Placing his hands on the front of his black uniform, he began touching the head of his penis through his pants as he watched the glazed look come over Sandy’s eyes.

  Eventually, the empath started to drool, still staring at Kevin, barely blinking. After another moment, Obsidian looked from the woman to Kevin to see him touching himself.

  “Right here?” she asked Kevin as she came over to him, her tail lightly flitting against her shoulder.

  “Why not?” Kevin pulled his cock out and Obsidian slowly lowered to her knees, bringing it into her mouth. She bit the tip of it for a moment, looking up at Kevin as he stared at Sandy’s dazed face. “I like her,” Kevin said as she started up. “I think we should hire her.”

  Chapter Thirteen: Future Plans

  “You look agitated,” Ava told Roman. They were at a restaurant near the Centralian Intelligence Agency, a cozy place with a lunch special designed for the numerous tastes at the agency. His dolls were seated with them as well, Casper deactivated in his pocket.

  A waiter came by and filled their glasses of water, assuring them that food would be ready at any moment now.

  “I just don’t know how to process all this,” Roman finally told her. “You have to admit it is strange, right? To go from not having a power to suddenly having your power back and being told to kill someone you used to work with…”

  “Our government has its reasons,” Ava said, something flashing across her eyes.

  Roman could tell she was having a hard time with her sister’s passing, that it was still heavy on her mind. They hadn’t spoken about it today, but he could sense it from her, and he really wished there was something he could say or do that would make her feel better.

  “You don’t have to go with us. You should stay,” he told her for the second time.

  “No, it’s good for me to get away, and I have been to Ravja before,” she reminded him. “It will be interesting to see how it has changed in ten years.”

  “I can only imagine.”

  Ava nodded. “Ten years ago, Mister Fist’s team came to the aid of a Western Province patrol that had found…” She reached for her water and took a sip of it. “Well, to be frank, they’d found the people responsible for the Western Plague, for spreading the vampiric infection.”

  “Who was responsible?” Roman asked, wondering if it aligned with what he’d read.

  “A telepath who had grown up with Margo, of all people. Looking back now, I believe it was this encounter that sent Margo over the edge, because up until that point, and still for a little while after, Margo had been a valuable asset to the Western Province government. In fact, that’s who we were coming to rescue.”

  “You were in the Western Province to rescue Margo?”

  “That’s right. Margo, the man you know named Orange, and two exemplars who have since died named Destry and Amethyst.”

  “And they were all on the same team?”

  “I think I told you this before, or at least alluded to it, but one of the ways the Western Province dealt with the spread of vampirism was to have squads of high-powered exemplars go out on lengthy patrols, which weren’t really patrols at all but hunting missions. They were known as the Protectorate. They killed as many as they could, sometimes indiscriminately, and once a vampire was dead, they retrieved the person’s information for the government’s records. They were a highly effective group, but they couldn’t stop the spread due to their low numbers and the density of the city.”

  “I didn’t read anything about that,” Roman said.

  “What? In fantasy comics and novels?” Ava smirked at him.

  “I mean, I knew there was a fictional element, but I thought at least parts of the stories were true…”

  “Unfortunately, the story of some of these patrols has never been told before. There are statues in the city dedicated to them, but they are unmarked,” Ava explained, “or just labeled as ‘The Protectorate.’ The Western Province still has a Protectorate program, and they don’t want to draw attention to it. Where some civilizations would use these people as a point of pride, or as a selling point for joining the military, the Western Province has mostly kept it classified. And for good reason. These exemplars are trained to be soldiers from an early age. If they were to develop a large enough group of them…”

  The food came. Roman had ordered grilled fish with a side of vegetables while Ava had gone with vegetable soup and half a sandwich.

  “Well regardless, you still don’t have to go to the West with me…” Roman said. “I can handle myself.”

  “You really don’t want me to go, do you?”

  “It’s not that at all. I just don’t want you to be involved with my crazy life anymore. I know it has affected you, and…” Roman started to cut up his fish. “You know what I’m trying to say here. I don’t want to trouble you any longer.”

  “I trained you, and I want to be there when you complete this mission. Aside from that, I know the city better than anyone on Rafner’s team, and we’re basically going in without any leads.”

  Roman took a bite of his fish. It was soft, and the sauce drizzled on it was a bit tangy for his taste, but it was good and he was happy.

  Roman still found it hard to believe he had been given access to a teleporter who could actually move across the border freely. Sometime this afternoon he was supposed to go with this teleporter and Ava to the Western Province, no passports or visas necessary.

  Through the same teleporter, he would move back and forth between the compound they would be staying in, which was apparently a place used by Centralia to move people in and out of the country freely.

  And Roman had a feeling this was only the tip of the iceberg.

  What else would he experience in his new role? How did his government behave abroad and what was actually their mode of operation?

  Roman shook his head.

  A morbid part of him was curious as to where all this went. But another part of him didn’t want to know at all, preferring to be just like any other person in Centralia, not knowing that their own government could order someone to be killed.

  Streamlined removal...

  Roman understood that what Kevin Blackbook had done was a crime.

  He wasn’t certain about all the other details of it, like working with this doctor they had mentioned, but if Kevin had purposefully killed people, he should be held responsible.

  But to execute him without a trial?

  This was the part Roman didn’t agree with, and even if he planned to do what he was told this time, it still didn’t sit well with him.

  A message came in from Nadine.

  Roman. Are you able to visit me for lunch today? I have the paperwork.

  As Ava spoke about her dog, Bonbon, and how her friend was going to take care of it while she was in the Western Province, Roman responded to Nadine.

  What kind of time frame do we have here?

  We can do this right now. It would be really helpful to me. I’m at my office near the border.

  I may be going away for a few days, so it’s best we do this now.

  Roman felt something on his leg and looked to see Celia lightly patting him. He smiled at the doll, waiting for the message from Nadine to give him a location.

  Once it came in and he’d agreed to meet her there in thirty minutes, Roman tuned back in to what Ava was saying.

  He played along, not able to take his thoughts off what he was doing later today or what had happened last night between him and Nadine. And then there was Ava, the beautiful redheaded woman who sat before him, someone he felt a true connection wit
h—yet here he was, his mind adrift.

  This was one thing he’d enjoyed about visiting the Eastern Province, at least from what he could remember, that he’d been able to get away from it all.

  Maybe he’d be able to do that again, just escape.

  How glorious it would be to be free from all the bullshit.

  A woman walked by and Roman tried not to glance at her.

  She locked eyes with him; he glanced back to Ava. The woman looked like Catherine with her mousy features, her petite form, a wild look behind her eyes cleverly disguised by a facade of fragility.

  He almost took a double glance but decided not to.

  He knew better, especially with Celia to his left, Coma to his right, and Ava sitting before him.

  Curiously, another message came in, this one from a service that was used when a person hadn’t been given permission to message someone.

  Hey, it’s me, Catherine. I’m sorry to be contacting you this way. I’m just afraid the Centralian government has started reading my messages. I have friends telling me about that, and I thought it was better if I sent a message anonymously. Can we meet today? You can reply to this service and the message will be transferred to me.

  I’m busy today, Roman thought back to her, not too concerned that she had used a service like this.

  They’d started popping up a few years back when there were a bunch of theories that the Centralian government was actually listening to people’s mental messages. After what Roman had been told to do recently, he wouldn’t put it past his own government to do something like that. And regarding Catherine and her immigration case, maybe it was a better idea for her to stay under the radar.

  You’re always busy, aren’t you? she thought back to him. What about tomorrow? For lunch? Could you meet me then?

  I’m going away for a while, Roman thought back to her as he ate some of his vegetables. I don’t know when I’ll return.

  That’s no fun. Surely you want to meet me. Don’t you miss me?

  I’m taking a trip. Get in touch with me in a week.

  In a week? I don’t know if I can wait that long. I miss your big cock.

  Roman smiled, and Ava quickly picked up that he was getting messages.

  “Do you need me to give you a moment to respond?” she asked, a note of concern in her voice.

  “No, it’s not important. The people from my former job are asking me for some things. One of them wants me to come back, if you can imagine that. ”

  In a way, what Roman had told her was close to the truth.

  He felt bad about the way he was treating Catherine, but he also knew it was necessary, especially now that he had…

  Roman shook his head.

  As soon as he’d gotten his powers back, he had dropped the woman who had been with him over the last month, regardless of his exemplar status. He’d never fully liked Catherine, but he did enjoy being with someone, and she had satisfied that urge.

  Plus, she had started to grow on him, not only becoming better in bed but more accustomed to his personality, less needy.

  But it was going to be impossible to continue a relationship with her, and he knew that.

  That said, Roman needed to hold up his end of the bargain and counterfeit a good amount of money for her as a going-away present. He knew she was struggling, and maybe she could use the money to get back to the Northern Alliance and restart her life there.

  Perhaps it was better that way.

  Centralia was an incredible country with opportunities aplenty, but the place still had the capability of eating someone alive and spitting them out.

  I will try, Roman finally thought back to her. But I truly am going away for a while, so if it isn’t for a week, just understand I’m not trying to blow you off. And I’ll have a surprise for you next time I see you. Just be patient with me.

  Sure, I can do that, and I have a surprise for you too. Just message me on this channel, I will keep it open for you. Anytime, you know that. It doesn’t matter if it’s late at night. Also, you didn’t tell me you moved.

  It’s a very long story, and right now I’m sort of in between places. I’ll have things settled soon, and we’ll be in touch.

  I look forward to it, Roman.

  “Well?” Ava asked.

  “I have to make a quick trip after lunch,” Roman told her, thinking of Nadine, “and then I can meet you and we can go together.”

  “A quick trip, huh?”

  “Yes, I just want to see to something before we leave the country. No big deal.”

  “So secretive,” Ava said, smiling at him.

  Roman shrugged. “I’m a spy now, right? Isn’t that how we’re supposed to be?”

  Ava started to laugh, her eyes turning to flames and then settling again. “You aren’t going to be able to use that excuse every time. You know that, right?”

  Roman smiled at her. “I know, I know. Hopefully, I won’t be long.”

  Chapter Fourteen: Official

  A tingling sensation started at Roman’s feet, moving up his body to his shoulders and finally the crown of his head. Then it spun around the top of his head, cascading its way down his body as Roman and his dolls took shape at a construction site along the eastern border.

  The teleporter nodded at them and disappeared.

  The sky was pale blue, and a few hazy clouds basked in the orange light of the sun. There were a couple pallets of construction materials to Roman’s right, and he could see a watchtower being refurbished along the horizon.

  Roman noticed a group of people all wearing hard hats. One of them looked at Roman and started walking toward him.

  “So this is who we are coming to see?” Celia said.

  “Yes,” Roman told her. “But I don’t believe it should be very long.”

  Nadine wore the same orange hardhat as her colleagues. She was in a green blouse with a matching scarf around her neck. A briefcase was flung over her shoulder, and as she approached Roman, she motioned him toward a gazebo he’d yet to notice.

  “I’m glad you could join me,” she said, offering a curt nod to Roman’s dolls. As she led Roman to the gazebo, she offered him food, explaining that they had just finished up lunch and there were still plenty of leftovers.

  “I’m just coming from lunch, actually,” Roman said as he acknowledged the spread of food, which featured everything from sandwiches to soups and desserts.

  “It looks better than it tastes,” Nadine said as she took a seat at a picnic table behind the gazebo.

  “Having once been a government employee,” Roman said, deciding not to add that he was still a government employee, “I agree with you completely. It’s strange, how they can acquire food that looks so amazing yet tastes so bad.”

  “It is truly an art form,” she said as she brought out paperwork and two passport books.

  “Great, I can work with this.” Roman opened the first passport book and saw it already had a picture of Eli in it.

  “It’s relatively easy for us to copy the way the Centralians take photos for passport purposes,” Nadine explained. “What’s difficult is making all the information look right, and especially the hidden information for those with psychometry skills.”

  “I’m afraid I won’t be of much help there.” Roman started to rearrange some of the information on the passport, the ink pooling together and reforming. He’d seen so many passports and visa stickers that this came to him naturally.

  He was just about to ask Nadine why she even needed him to do this in the first place when he turned his attention to the other paperwork, which happened to be birth certificates of people who were possibly alive.

  Looking at the passport he’d just rearranged, Roman started to work on the birth certificate, carefully focusing so as not to make any errors. One of the problems he ran into was the Centralian seal stamped over the information, which he remedied by removing the seal completely, pushing it to the corner of the page while he finished adjusting the information.


  “You are too sweet,” Nadine said as Roman started to focus on Lisa’s paperwork. He made the modifications, and when he had just about finished, the ground shook as the sound of people screaming reached both of their ears.

  Roman looked past the gazebo to see a man in a green shirt and matching pants, his arms made of steel.

  There was dust all around him now, and as a woman in a hardhat ran past the man, he grabbed her by the throat and drove her into the ground.

  Concentrated energy blasts burst out of the dust as a female exemplar rose into the air, followed by another woman with wings, her wrist guard aimed at the Centralians.

  “Rebels,” Nadine said, cursing under her breath as she fired off a few mental messages.

  “From where?” Roman asked as he crouched next to Nadine, Coma now in front of them, Celia still seated and calm.

  “The Eastern Province. They’ve been giving my government trouble as well…” Nadine shook her head, clearly angry as she continued sending a mental message to someone. “We have to engage.”

  “Engage?” Roman asked, even as he started to nod. “Let me see your scarf.”

  Nadine removed her scarf quickly as a bolt of energy struck the gazebo and more people screamed.

  “Centralian troops will be here any minute,” Roman said, “but…”

  The fabric expanded, tearing itself away from the rest of the scarf. Roman wrapped it around his face, and as he did so the scarf formed a mask that made only his eyes visible.

  “Coma.”

  As soon as the words left Roman’s lips, his combat doll dropped her hands to her sides, her skin peeling back as long metal blades formed.

  Nadine nodded as she started to wrap the original scarf around her own face.

  “No, you should stay back,” Roman told her, his hand now on her arm. “You don’t want your colleagues to know what you can do. Trust me.”

  “But you may need help.”

  Roman looked at Coma. “I won’t need help.”

  Nadine nodded.

  “Celia?”