Chapter Two: Los Angeles Babes
It was almost one when the two of them stopped the car the second time around.
When they had left the Koya Luxie had taken her time in practically drooling over the other transgenic's car. While driving to the midnight black market they had had a ten minute 'No, you first,' session before giving each other their names and Luxie learnt that her supermodel non-friend went by the name Heresy.
As for the car Heresy claimed she had borrowed it.
"Then I accidentally sprayed it black, lost both number plates and got leather seats installed. It had all happened so fast. I was gonna give it back," she added with her sly smirk that Luxie thought was becoming some sort of trademark. Luxie had gotten one grand out of the eight that Heresy had managed to get for the choker, and she proudly thought of it as silencing cash.
"This doesn't look like general residency," Luxie said looking at the place they had parked in front of. She jumped out of the car in typical Hollywood movie style and read the name written over the building's entrance. It was written in a Grunge style that made it look like it was written with blood.
"Savage, the hottest club in town," Heresy said and walked off with her supermodel stride. She walked straight up to the bouncer who had been eyeing her all the way from the car. The other people in the line protested but unimpressed by their cries Heresy moved in close to the guy and ran her finger along his lips. "Hey, Tommy, I can get in free of charge, can't I?" she asked her voice dripping with seduction.
Luxie noticed something strange about the way she was acting and glanced around at the others. She saw all male eyes on Heresy and then realized what the woman was doing. Heresy was in heat and was spraying her feline pheromones all over the place. Every man in a vicinity of 16 feet was under that vixen's spell.
"Sure, baby," Tommy said with a grin. It was the kind of grin that thought he was getting some tonight. "How about we get together later?" he asked and confirmed Luxie's suspicion. She was standing slightly off so that she would not immediately be identified as one of Heresy's personal acquaintances.
"Sure," Heresy said that smirk not leaving her face. "Later." Then she walked into the club without a protest. The guys outside watched her and eventually noticed what they were doing and pretended it was all part of the manliness that made them who they were.
Eventually Luxie bounced over to the door, gave Tommy a slick grin and walked into the club without even bothering to ask. She looked around but could not spot her female companion. It was fine by her but the problem lay with the fact that Heresy was her ride home.
"I'll find her," Luxie said and began swaying to the music. The music in Los Angeles was more than never brand new and sung by either woman with sweaty and oily breasts or men who did not seem to own a single shirt, let alone pants that actually fit. But Luxie did not mind because she had come to learn and like the real world where this was normal, which was what she wanted to a certain extent.
She watched guys dancing with girls and practically humping them at the same time. She grinned and walked on to the dance floor to be one of those girls. Her life in the real world was just beginning and it was gonna be better than ever.
Jondy Morgan watched the girl who had followed Heresy into the club. She was short and curvy but attractive nonetheless. She had unruly black hair, brown cat-like eyes and clothes that seemed to come out of a dumpster. Poor girl did not know what she was risking hanging around with Heresy.
If there was one thing Jondy knew, it was that Heresy was a devil in disguise. She would corrupt the young girl before there was even time to save her. Jondy took a sip from her beer to celebrate the future suffering.
"Poor, poor child," she muttered to herself and watched the girl dancing with the guys. The way she moved she seemed like Heresy had already gotten to her.
Jondy straightened her back, rolled her shoulders and then felt an arm sliding around her waist. Men – so predictable. She really did not feel like a man right now and ran through the possibilities of getting rid of him ASAP.
"Hey, babe," she heard a deep voice and turned around to look at her newest admirer. He looked good enough but there was no way he would be able to utter anything intelligent. Jondy could tell, just from the way he tried to seduce her by smiling. She gave him a look to let him get on with it. However, he was not particularly intimidated: "Do you think you can sing a little song, do a little dance…"
"Make a little love? I don't think so," Jondy said with her friendliest 'piss-off' smile.
"Come on, babe," he said letting his hand wander. "You know you want to." Jondy gave a huff before grabbing his hand and twisting it. The man turned and gasped in pain although Jondy was not doing very much in her own opinion.
"I said no," she informed him and twisted a little harder.
"Let go, bitch!" he yelled at her and she gave a small laugh. People around them were already beginning to stare and Jondy had taken twelve years to stay unnoticed, it would not end here. She gave him another twist, then let go and strode off like the woman she was.
"Self-defence classes," she informed a group of stunned women on her way to the bottom level. She rushed down the stairs pushing past the people going the other way without much consideration and took another swig.
Sure, the running was not much of a big deal nor would the alcohol have any effect on her but it was the taste that really got her. She had had that French wine that everyone was talking about but that was expensive for one and did not give much thrill when gliding down ones throat. So Jondy stuck with the beer and the bitter taste kept her from forgetting where she came from.
"Heresy," she said as if the woman was in front of her. She did not know where her unit-mate was but she sure had heard it. Thanks to their super-sensitive hearing the two of them could hold conversations in clubs packed with people and drowned in music that blasted their ears. The two of them were glad they had had enough LA time to learn to tune their ears.
"What?" she heard the younger woman's voice next to her. Heresy had dashed all the way from the dance floor and snagged someone's beer on the way. She downed it. Jondy looked Heresy up and shook her head. She always had been one for looking like a super-star, no matter the occasion. Heresy noticed the look and smiled.
"Who's she?" Although there was no implication of which girl was meant, no nod, no glance, nothing, Heresy know Luxie was the subject.
"Caught me when I was at Koya," Heresy said with a sigh. "She needs a place to stay for the night and threatened me. Also managed to snag a grand from my prize." She was quite upset about that and thought Luxie deserved to be drawn, hanged and quartered; shot if possible too.
"Poor Heresy got caught. I thought you were the master thief," Jondy said with a smirk crossing her face. She always enjoyed seeing Heresy loose a place on her food chain. She glanced towards Luxie who was looking very amused with the guy she was talking with. "So is she staying with us?"
"We'll kick her out tomorrow," Heresy said pulling her nose up. She was certain Jondy did not like the pale girl either. The blonde girl just gave a nod and indicated she wanted to leave. She downed the remaining half of her beer and walked towards the door giving a slight wink towards Tommy.
Heresy threw her empty bottle onto a nearby counter and slandered over towards Luxie and her fellow.
Luxie smiled at the guy in front of her. Normally she was not one of the most friendly people especially upon meeting them the first time. Generally she was described with the word 'bitch'. However, it was her first night in the beautiful city of Los Angeles and Dustin was really a nice guy.
He was charming and quite persistent in buying Luxie drink after drink. Although Luxie could see right through his façade of wanting her drunk and being an easy catch, she played along. Like Jondy and Heresy Luxie's blood broke down the toxins almost immediately so there was no damage to her liver and no hangover to look forward to tomorrow morning.
"Wow, you must be really rich," she said with a fake blonde giggle. She twirled a piece of hair in her finger. Dustin had just informed her that he and his brother had inherited their father's company and cash always was one of Luxie's favourite subjects.
"I supposed. I've only just started and I have to get used to everything first. I'm not even sure where all the money is," Dustin said with a smile. He took another gulp from his bottle. Luxie did the same and thought that this guy could hold his alcohol pretty well too. Dustin had had almost as much beer as she had and he did not look the least tipsy.
"You know you're kinda hot," Luxie said and reached over to him. She ran her hand down his chest but moved it away before she could touch places she did not want to. "I wish I'd met you earlier," she added. She thought about the comment that had just flowed out of her mouth. It was actually a good comment, which was saying quite a lot. If she had met Dustin before she had gone on her illegal spree and met Heresy, she might be staying at his giant mansion tonight.
"Are you legal?" Dustin asked with a playful grin. Damn, he really was hot. Luxie smiled and straightened.
"Course I am," she said slightly too gruff. Her 'drunkenness' had disappeared and she seemed perfectly fine. "And don't even think about that," she added and took another swig. Since this was America, Luxie cherished the way she did not care much about rules, because the eighteen-year-old was not entirely legal.
"Hey, is she bothering you?" came Heresy's honey-sweet voice and Luxie felt the elder lean onto her shoulders. She turned to glare because now Heresy had come and was definitely going to take what Luxie rightfully deserved… again.
"No, not at all," Dustin said smiling at Heresy. Her demon poison had already begun to work on him and Luxie felt like getting up and leaving. She tried but Heresy had a tight hold on the younger transgenic.
"I have to take the girl home though," Heresy said emphasizing the word 'girl'. Luxie growled a little which was a bad idea. "She still has to take her meds."
"Thanks, Heresy."
"Heresy," Dustin noted. "That's a real original name."
"It's cause she's a heathen from hell," Luxie growled and pushed Heresy off herself. She got up with an angry glare. He had seemed so interested in her before that woman had begun spreading herself around. "Bye," she said and turned.
"Wait," Dustin said before she could even begin walking. Luxie slowly turned around and watched his hand slip into his pocket. He smiled as he handed her a crumpled business card. "I got these recently made. Sorry about the crinkles." Luxie took the card and looked at it suspiciously. Heresy leaned over the other girl's shoulder, trying her best to look over Luxie's head.
"Infinity Incorporated? Seriously?" Heresy said with a snigger and grabbed the card. "You wish," she said throwing it back at him. Then she walked off which was Luxie's cue for her ride home. She looked back at Dustin whom she was still angry with. He took the card and gave a slightly pained expression.
"Does it seem that unbelievable?"
"She's a cynic," Luxie said and held her hand out. "Gimme!" Dustin chuckled and handed her the card.
"She's not going to ban you from the phone, is she?" he asked with that sweet smile of his.
"Her? Pft, she couldn't rob a museum without my help," Luxie said grinning at the direct comparison. "I don't know how long I'll be in the city though…" She did – for as long as possible. But her Manticore mind had clicked and flashes of 'Escape and Evade' clustered her mind. She was not to make any emotional connections to anyone, because that was a sure fire way of people getting killed for the cause.
"It's okay," Dustin said the smile still there. "As long as I know a beautiful girl like you has my number, I'll be just fine." Luxie grinned at him and stuck her tongue out before running off without a goodbye. She had remembered that her ride was the heathen vixen from hell and if she wanted a place to stay, she had to be in the car to get there.
"Took you," Heresy said when Luxie jumped into the back of the car. She would have seated herself in the passenger seat again but there was a blonde girl in her place. Jondy turned around to look at the younger girl and smiled.
"The name's Jondy," she said. "I was in Heresy's unit."
"Luxie," the younger said slowly. She planned on being quite suspicious about anyone who was in any way connected to Heresy, even if it was her clone's unit-mate's clone's mother's real son. Anything that was related to or even came into contact with the wannabe supermodel was very possibly evil.
"Hey, don't worry. I'm the good twin," Jondy said laughing at Luxie's expression and turned back to the front of the car. Heresy rolled her eyes and increased the high speed she had already been using. Luxie turned to her left and leaned onto the side of the car. The nightlife in Los Angeles really was amazing. She remembered some girls from other units talking about the City of Angels and wanted to see it for herself.
"That's Infinity Inc.," she heard Heresy's voice and looked up. The transgenic's hand was pointing straight forward and Luxie gaped at the huge tower in front of them. It was almost as tall as the hotel she had seen earlier and just as impressive.
Near the top there was an 'Iinc' logo glowing a bright blue and green and illuminating the top floors. It was amazing how the company looked so modern. It must have been built after the pulse because something like this would have never survived.
"We've gotta do a school trip there," Luxie said her mouth hanging wide open. Heresy snorted and rolled her eyes. She took a right and Luxie turned her head. Sadly the view was now obscured by broken buildings lying around everywhere.
"It's not that impressive inside," Jondy explained and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She fixed a loose piece of hair back behind her ear and continued her speech. "Of course it has it's fancy entrance hall and the few rooms where customers go and the showroom, but most of it is manufacture."
"What do they make?"
"That place?" Jondy said not a question. She was just using the extra time to come up with a nice way of saying it. "The big guns."
"The big guns? That sounds like a stupid rock band," Luxie said with a laugh. She could almost imagine 'The Big Guns' on tour with gun-shaped guitars and leather all the way.
"No, stupid," Heresy interrupted Luxie's comical thoughts. "Real big guns. And small guns. All kind of guns actually. Knives too. Things that kill people in general."
"Guns don't kill people," Luxie said cocking an eyebrow. Guns were never much of a threat to her. She had been shot once or twice (or was it twelve times) and survived every time. Thanks to Manticore's ingenious genius in general Luxie had not a single scar to prove it only the memories. Even the files reporting her little encounters of the wrong side of the gun were now gone forever in a fire that had set Luxie free on the world.
"People kill people." That she had experienced as well. It was a normal Manticore event and every soldier, even those that could barely walk encountered it. There was murder everywhere in Manticore and eventually no one cared anymore.
"Aww, that's cute," Heresy said mockingly. "But guns do kill people and you'll just have to live with that." Luxie was just about to protest when Heresy turned a sharp curve into an underground garage and made a sudden stop into a parking space.
Apart from Heresy's there were three more cars and all of them were in a much worse state. Luxie realized that anyone who saw them driving down the road would have thought them rich. She sniggered a bit and got a glance from both Jondy and Heresy. She stopped sniggering and grinned at them instead.
"You're quite the cheerful one," Jondy said shaking her head and got out of the car.
When they entered the apartment and Jondy flipped the light switch Luxie expected to see something as spectacular as the car and possibly as fashionable as Heresy's dress, but she did not.
The place looked quite Spartan and reminded her greatly of captivity at Manticore. There was a double couch across from a small TV, a kitchen area with a bar and some stools and three rooms leading off.
Luxie rubbed her eyes in disbelief and glanced at the two women. Jondy had already disappeared into one of the side rooms which Luxie expected to be hers and Heresy was looking for something in a bowl on a drawer. She found a remote and pushed a button. Within seconds music began blaring from another room which was probably Heresy's. The stereo system probably did not belong to her.
"You can sleep on the couch," Heresy said dropping the remote back in the bowl. Then she walked off not giving Luxie anything else so the younger took her backpack off and walked over to the couch. A place to sleep was still a place to sleep even if it was a couch in a boring apartment.
Just before Luxie reached the couch Jondy came out of her room and called the black-haired girl over to herself.
"Don't mind Miss Sourpuss," Jondy said and the two of them heard a crash from Heresy's room. "She hasn't had sex in a few hours and that generally tenses her up a bit."
"I thought there was something," Luxie said and glanced into Jondy's room. It looked like something out of an old TV series with silk drapes in bright colours and dimmed lights.
"Oh, come on in," Jondy said and stepped aside. Luxie dropped her bag next to the door and walked in. Apart from the drapes Jondy had also hung up several wind chimes and posters. Some of the posters had Heresy on it but most of them had guys on them. There were lots of photos of people that obviously did not know they were being photographed. Jondy also had a little book shelf and an open closet.
"Nice," Luxie said although the room was not really her style. It was comforting, however, and Luxie was glad that it did not look like the main part of the apartment. She looked and then stopped when her head was turned towards Jondy's bed. She had spotted various barcodes next to the blonde girl's bed.
"332960073452," Luxie read the one that was in bright red. "Who's that?" she asked because she knew that it was a Manticore number. The number seemed familiar to her but Luxie's memory was not one of the best.
"My sister," Jondy said sadly. She was still standing by the door. "They were all in my unit," she said and walked over to her bed. She climbed on it and slowly ran her fingers over the barcodes. "This is Heresy." She grinned and pointed at a bright green one. There were two photo of Heresy above it; one of the other woman posing and one of Heresy's neck to prove the resemblance.
"Why are they on this wall?" Luxie asked and let facts run through her mind. From what she had thought so far was that Jondy and Heresy were only out here on a mission, but now it seemed as though they had been here for much longer than that.
"I just want them close to me," Jondy said and then smiled widely. She did not reveal Luxie's suspicion. "Not that I'm here very often."
"Why?"
"I don't sleep," Jondy said and again she smiled. It seemed Jondy really was the good twin because her smile did not in the least remind Luxie of Heresy's sneer. "Max and I always said we had shark DNA."
"Max?" Jondy ran her fingers over the red barcode. Luxie nodded and then turned to leave the room. Jondy grabbed Luxie's arm and turned her around.
"You sleep here," she said as if it were obvious. "I don't need the bed. I usually watch TV all night." Luxie nodded remembering what Jondy had said only moments before.
"Thanks… Jondy, right?" she said trying to get the name right. She had been fighting between Jodi or Jondy but Jondy just seemed like something a transgenic would pick over the other. Jondy nodded and got up.
"I hope my siblings keep you safe tonight," she said as she left the room. "And if they don't, I'll be right here."
"Thanks again," Luxie said and sat down on the bed. Jondy grabbed Luxie's bad and threw it towards her. Then she pulled the door closed and left Luxie to her lonesome.