Another chapter!


Iason and Riki stood in front of the office building where the Blondie worked for his entire life. The mongrel had dyed his hair a bright red so that he looked like a higher up elite; Iason had simply cut his to just past the shoulders and styled it differently. So far neither of them had been caught or recognized, so the simple disguise must have worked. The two took a deep breath, looked at each other and then headed inside.
Riki gave Iason's hand a squeeze and turned down a corridor, heading for the control room. He walked with purpose, as if he belonged there. Iason had managed to get him a cloak befitting someone of an elite status, so nobody got suspicious. He made it to the control room and it was just a matter of shooting the three guards there- that was a piece of cake, even though he felt guilt gnawing away at him.
Iason went straight for Jupiter's room, knowing that he could shut her down if he got to the machine in the back. He reached the overly ornate door and typed in a code- shocked that it still worked when the door slid open smoothly. He stepped inside and found himself face to face with his former master.
"Hello, Iason." The AI said smoothly. "I thought you had entered the building. I sensed your presence."
"And alerted the guards, correct?" He said, not wasting time and heading for the computer in the back.
"No, my child. You are still my child, are you not? I haven't alerted anybody to your presence, I thought I could advise you to stop."
"You're wrong. I'm doing this so I can live with my family in this world. Your laws won't allow it, so I can't allow you." Iason finished typing and downloading his virus into the computer, so he turned to glare at the holographic image. "In about fifteen minutes you'll begin to shut down. The virus is unstoppable, and it's fast."
Jupiter seemed unfazed. "You're talking about your mongrel pet, are you not? What if I allowed you to live here with the children unharmed. You could return to your Blondie status, and get your job back here with minimal punishment."
"Ahh, but there is punishment."
"Minimal. Of course I'd have to submit you to psychotherapy to make sure your mind is still intact and you're still fit to run my world."
"And then I'd be taken away to receive mind erasing again, right? Then no deal."
That got the AI angry. Her usual greenish hue turned orange and she got bigger. "You really think that releasing a virus into this computer will kill me?"
"No. But I think the bombs that Riki's placing in your backup data room will." The AI froze for a minute, and then an alarm was sounded. Iason turned and bolted out of the room, heading towards where he said he would meet Riki.
The mongrel shot out of the control room, shooting behind him at guards who came out of the other door. "Let's go!" He shouted to the Blondie. The control room door shut and the pair ran down the hall before Riki pushed a button.
Behind them the control room door hit the wall on the opposite side of the hall as the first explosion took off. They made it to the stairs when the second explosion hit, the one that would demolish the entire floor. It caught Riki by surprise and he stumbled down, though Iason picked him up and helped him run the rest of the way.
They tried to run to the first floor in the confusion, everybody was evacuating the building now. The third explosion was set to go off about fifteen minutes after the first two. The pair agreed that it would kill too many innocent people if they weren't allowed to evacuate. But something must have gone wrong, the third explosion went off only five minutes later, they were both on the fourth floor. Flames shot from above them, down the stairwell. Iason jumped into the fourth floor just so that they wouldn't be burned there.
And now what could they do? The two were trapped on the fourth floor, now that the explosion had taken out nearly everything above them; there was no way to go. The roof was caving in as they scrambled around the building, searching desperately for a way out
Then the roof collapsed. Riki yelped as he was hit with a burning ceiling tile. Iason picked him up and carried him, heading for the windows. Better to jump and have broken legs than to die here, right? He picked up a piece for debris and hit the window as hard as he could. What the… plexiglass? Who put this stuff on windows? "SHIT!" The Blondie screamed, very mongrel like of him.
"Iason…" Riki groaned. "Are we fucked?"
The Blondie looked around them. Windows were out… stairs were out… elevators were DEFINITELY out… "I… I think so." He turned to look at the mongrel, reaching forward and gathering him into his arms.
Riki was shaking. "Shit… shit… we made plans for the kids, but I didn't think this would happen…."
Iason shook his head. "No. It's not going to happen. We'll get out.. we just….." He moved away and ran to the other side of the building. Into the bathrooms… nothing. Into the kitchen… nothing. Aha! There was a small chute that was used for laundry and other things. Iason opened it up, not caring that the metal was burning his hands, and looked inside. It dropped down to the garage, into a laundry basket. It was safe. "Riki… you can fit in here. You can escape."
The mongrel frowned. "What about you?"
"I'm lost." Iason said, shaking his head. "I've got no chance of fitting in there. You're small enough to just barely make it."
"I can't go without you, though!" Riki clung to Iason. Now that he finally had his Blondie, he wasn't going to let go of him again.
Iason slapped him. "Get in there! Think of our children! I'm not important enough, they need a father! They need you!"
Riki held his cheek, tears slowly slipping out of his eyes. He just shook his head again and buried his face in Iason's chest. Iason held onto him, shaking his head. "Get out of here… you can't stay…" Though he too was crying, the emotion only evident by the break of his voice.
Neither of them left. They turned to each other and let their lips meet one last time as the building around them collapsed. They died, master and pet. But they died as equals. Jupiter's computer was destroyed, along with all backups. They created a better world for their children, and for the children of elites and mongrels all over.
Raoul watched the explosion from his home. Somehow he knew. Of course all the Blondies knew Jupiter was dead. But Raoul just had the feeling that his very best friend had also perished in the fire. He clenched his wine glass too hard, shattering it in his hand as his head dropped.
Katze also watched the explosion from his apartment in the slums. He'd been following Riki and the kids, without them knowing of course. He was concerned about the mongrel who worked for him so many years ago. His head dropped and tears streamed from his eyes.
Daryl and the children saw the explosion from the apartment. Both kids ran to the window and shouted "Wow!" at the same time. Daryl put a hand over his mouth, gasping in surprise, then he cried out in pain as the bracelet on his arm burned and then broke. It was the bracelet that identified him as Iason's pet. If Iason's ring was destroyed, then his bracelet would be broken as well. When he realized what had happened, the furniture screamed out in agony. His master and his best friend… both were certainly gone now.
Rion and Guy went to hug him. "Daryl? Are you okay?" Guy asked, looking up with big eyes.
Rion was quiet for a long while Guy asked questions and Daryl collapsed to the ground. When the furniture finally quieted down, he finally spoke. "Is it about mommy and father?" Daryl only nodded and hugged them both closer.


DON'T WORRY, this isn;t the last chapter. I have an epilogue, then I'll need input. So review me please!