Cruel Twists of Fate
2020
"Lori, do you even
know how to use a gun?" Lydecker asked snidely. Loren sat on the
floor across from him with a pistol trained on his head as they awaited Nick's
return.
"Um...Like do I like press
that like little levery doobob, and like the bullety thingies like come out the
like hole, right?" She asked in her best valley girl. Lori sighed
irritably and glared at him. "First of all, Deck, this a semiautomatic,
magazine-fed Beretta pistol *not* a gun. I thought you knew that.
And, yes, I do know how to use it. I have perfect aim. I lived with
an X4 for six years. There are very few forms of self defense he didn't
teach me. Nick's a worrier." She paused, running her thumb along the
grip of the gun. "Why did you do it, Deck? Why did you put poison in
those vitamins? Why did you kill my
baby?"
"You couldn't have that
child, Loren. Manticore would have taken her from you. Don't you
understand the potential one of your offspring would have? Your daughter
would have had the abilities of an X4 and the IQ of Albert Einstein.
That's a dangerous combination."
"Or
a fruitful one. If, say, you were to train her to be a soldier like the
others." She spat. "You killed my baby, Deck. Is that really
your excuse, because its pitiful. I should shoot you
now."
"I only did what I knew your
father would have done." Lydecker answered
simply.
Lori's eyes narrowed.
"I don't doubt it. I wouldn't put it past that man to kill his grandson
because he was the spawn of an X4. You killed my son, Deck. I can
never, never forgive you for that."
X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4
"All right, 452, one more
time. Where are the others?"
"Go to Hell." Max hissed. She had to avert her gaze when they
applied the electricity to Logan once again. She couldn't give in.
Wouldn't give in. Logan didn't want her to. She could see that much
in his eyes. Still...what would she do if they actually threatened to kill
him.
"Are you really willing to
sacrifice this friend to save the rogue X5s, 452? I don't think he'll last
much longer."
Max caught Logan's
gaze and held it. He was so much stronger than she had previously
imagined. They could break all the bones they wanted, but Max had a
feeling that they could never hope to break Logan's spirit.
X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4
Nick stood just inside the
room in front of the closed door, holding RX by the shoulders. Lori didn't
notice him there until it was too late. How much had he heard? "Hey,
baby, look what the cat dragged in." Nick greeted with his usual
smile. God, how she'd missed that
smile.
"RX! I knew there
wasn't a computer or electrical system built that could hope to stump you." Lori
handed the gun off to Nick who took up guarding Lydecker. "I take it you
boys have already met."
RX nodded
and handed her the bag they'd retreived from the lab. "Yep. Nick
found me in the hallway. I helped him get
that."
"Great!" Lori pulled
the items out of the bag and ran over a mental inventory. "Okay, Deck,
this is how its going to work. You are going to help me, RX, Nick, 452,
and her friend escape from this hell hole of yours. And this is
why." Without another word, she measured a pale blue liquid into a
syringe. Carefully, she slid the needle into Lydecker's arm and depressed
the stopper until every last drop was gone. "We have twenty-four hours to
stop the effects of the Lethe retro-virus." She stated with a cruel
smile.
Lydecker's eyes grew wide
with fright. "You gave me Lethe! There is no way to reverse that,
Lori!"
Loren quirked an
eyebrow. "Do you really think I'd give Manticore a brainwashing program
without having a way to counteract its effects? Granted, there is a minor
catch. You only have twenty-four hours after the virus is introduced in
which you can administer the bactrophage...And, just so you don't get any wise
ideas, I'm the only one with a bactrophage capable of killing Lethe. Those
men in your labs could never come up with one in
time."
"In time?" Lydecker
gulped and stared at the empty needle in her
hand.
"I gave you enough Lethe to
ruin your long and short-term memory. In forty-eight hours, you will be
reduced to a mindless vegetable, Deck. You will forget everything; your
name, how to speak, how to write, how to walk, how to control your bodily
functions. Everything."
Nick
and RX turned to look at each other in shock. Neither of them had thought
Lori capable of an act that despicable. She was ready to wipe her
godfather's mind clean if he didn't help them escape. Nick visibly
paled. More had happened to his wife in the last two years than he could
ever hope to understand.
"If
I get you out of here, Lori...you'll give me the antidote?" Lydecker
didn't seem convinced. The vein in his jaw throbbed with
anger.
Lori nodded. "If you
save us, I will save you. I swear that much, Deck. Now, are you
going to help us?"
Lydecker
sighed. "What choice do I
have?"
Lori removed the gun from
Nick's hand. "You won't need that. If he tries anything, he's going
to suffer a fate worse than death."
Nick frowned at his wife. "Don't you think this is a little...well,
harsh?"
"Harsh? Nick, after
what that man has done to us...I don't think anything I could do to him would be
'harsh'. Besides, we don't have time to argue right now. We need to
get moving."
Nick sighed. "I know
you're right, Baby...but can I just have one more minute?" He asked with
his best puppy dog look.
Lori tried
unsuccessfully to look annoyed. She couldn't hide her smile. "One
minute. Starting now." She was caught completely off guard when he
closed the distance between them. His muscular arms encircled her small
waist, bringing her own body as close to his as humanly possibly. He
stared down at her face for just a second before he lowered his head and pressed
his lips to hers.
During his two
year absence, Lori had dreamed of his kisses. But, even she hadn't
remembered them as being quite this passionate. She could have melted
right there. When neither one of them could continue for lack of air, he
pulled his head away. He did not, however, let her go.
"I've been waiting two years to do
that." He whispered, cupping her cheek with his hand. "I love you,
Loren."
RX groaned.
"Man! Get a room already! Max and Logan are probably being tortured
by Ratboy and you two are in here making
out!"
Nick raised an eyebrow.
"You adopted this kid?"
"It seemed
like the thing to do at the time." Lori answered with a
shrug.
"And, I suppose you're
against leaving him here?"
"We
really shouldn't. It wouldn't be fair to Manticore."
"I heard that." RX muttered
angrily. "God help me, I'm going to have to live with *two* of them
now."
Lydecker glared at the
trio. "If we're going to get you out of here, we're going to need a
plan."
Lori caught Nick's eye as she
giggled. "Of course, we always need a
plan..."
"And, I think I've got
one." RX concluded. "Listen to this and tell me if it isn't
ingenius..."
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