The following occurs in December 3450

Chapter 8

I am now running at high speed jumping from building to building on my destination to 54th Street, Uptown Manhattan. I run to a possible face off with Madeline Hudson's kidnappers. I should have stopped them when I had the chance. I was so stupid! I never imagined that the androids would get themselves involved in a federal crime such as kidnapping. Ever since the creation of the droids the number of criminal offenders among them was relatively low. No droid has ever been charged or involved in the crime of kidnapping, until now. My mental distress was becoming stronger the more ground I covered. I was also reminded of the ambush I suffered after searching the hideout of the one who sent Madeline's parents the email promising them more time to deliver the ransom money. Who the fuck electrocuted me and threw me into the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir? As the pouring snow struck my face at my speed I was suddenly familiar with the address. The area was one of the largest junkyards in Manhattan. It takes me just four minutes to arrive from the old Manhattan port to 54th Street, Uptown Manhattan which was the location of a 2,500 acre junkyard. Upon arrival I was beginning to witness a large gathering in progress. I picked up the sent of about 2,000 individuals; all were droids. Bon fires were lit all around the middle of the junk yard and many of the droids were shouting and cheering to the words of a man in the midst. In a single bound I jump upon a huge pile of old, rusting vehicles. From a distance I saw that the speaker within the midst was one that was all too familiar. It was the droid who accepted custody of Madeline, Adrian Thorpe. What had transpired was a speech he was delivering to his fellow droids. "The humans have been fucking with us for too long," said Thorpe. "This time, we won't just sit by and watch our race be exterminated by these self-righteous, bigoted pigs. We have found an ally that's been fighting and defeating the humans for centuries. They have shown us that that the droids are the superior race and the humans are the fearful inferiors. The humans know goddamn well that we reign supreme in the areas of intelligence and longevity. This kind of shit from them has been going on for two centuries now. In order to secure our place in this world the inferiors must be eradicated so that only the droids will stand powerful. This time is our time to rise and stand firm, my brothers!" At these words the crowd of male and female droids of all colors roared.

I was still on top of that pile of cars trying to figure out how I would exactly make my move on Thorpe without attracting this huge crowd of droids. Just then I was spotted by a male droid in the crowd. He alerted the attention of the droids close to him and pointed at my direction. The droids in the crowd pulled out laser rifles and fired them at me. I jumped off the pile of old cars and the rounds destroyed those cars. The laser shots alerted many the droids and soon they about 700 of them drew high tech weapons and began unleashing them at me. Some were armed with large laser canons that fired devastating laser rounds that exploded on impact. About fifty droids armed with these laser canons fired their rounds at me. At high speed I dodged them and the rounds made huge explosions behind me. Immediately I drew my sword and charged the crowd. At lightning speed I slashed 60 of the armed droids. Those droids then collapsed on the ground into blood and robotic limbs. I then charged towards a hundred droids who fired their laser rifles at me. Using the blade of my sword I blocked many of the rounds which ricocheted off the blade. At high speed I vanquished them one by one. I passed through the crowd of droids at high speed decapitating as many droids as I could. In no less than ten minutes I killed 1,500 droids. The remaining droids began scattering all over the junkyard. They hid behind old cars and began firing their weapons at me. It was now becoming a war zone. About five rounds from five lasers canons were fired at me. I jumped out of the way and a massive explosion occurred when the rounds impacted the ground. I rushed towards the five droids who fired from their laser canons. The closer I got the more they fired. I kept dodging many rounds as I ran towards the large crane that the droids fired from. At the same time six droids that were hiding behind an old bulldozer twenty feet behind me were firing at me with their laser rifles. I was now about five feet away from the droids behind the old crane when one droid sprang up and fired one round from his laser canon at close range. In the blink of an eye I sidestepped the round and it flew right into the direction of the droids behind the bulldozer, making a huge explosion on impact, destroying all six droids. I then rushed towards the five droids behind the crane and beheaded them each. At that moment my ear caught the whistle of a laser round fired from a laser canon. I jumped out of the way as the round destroyed the massive crane. I flipped in mid-air and landed within the middle of the junkyard and soon a barrage of laser fire rained upon me. I was struck five times by shots from a laser rifle. I began running at high speed towards one particular pile of old cars where there were about seven droids were taking cover and firing their laser rifles at me. I rushed towards the pile of rusting vehicles and began slashing through until I reached the droids. At the speed of light I decapitated them until their body parts flew all across the area. It was at this time I realized that my wounds were taking longer to heal than usual. Before I could take this into consideration several rounds were being fired at me from a long line of scrap metal that formed a trench from about thirty feet away from me. I ran as each round made a cloud of smoke behind me. I then saw another old crane ahead of me which gave me an idea. I stopped at the side of the crane, sheathed my sword and lifted up the crane in the air with my both hands. I lifted the crane above my head and saw about twelve droids firing from laser rifles. I then threw the crane towards them and it landed on them crushing approximately seven of them. I then looked down at my abdomen and saw the wounds slowly closing up.

About fifteen more droids appeared behind the trench-like area and fired their laser rifles at me. Suddenly a round fired from a laser canon barely missed me. I rolled out of the way as the explosion made a lingering cloud at the side of me. I realized that the round came from an old watch tower ahead of me. I rushed towards the watch tower as the droid inside kept firing at me with each round exploding behind me. In a single bound I jumped towards the watch tower and landed inside. Inside I took off the droid's head and the droid's body fell twenty feet down. On the floor I saw the head of the droid and the laser canon it dropped from its hands. I then realized this canon could become an asset against my current foes that night. I picked up the canon and just then my ears picked up the sound of a round fired from a laser canon flying towards my direction. Immediately I jumped out of the watch tower and the laser round destroyed the watch tower on impact. I landed on the ground and saw two droids firing from laser canons in a distance. I ran as about five rounds exploded behind me. I then took cover behind an old truck with the laser canon in hand. I peered to the side and saw three other droids firing from laser rifles into my direction. I placed the canon on my right shoulder and fired a round. The round flew into the direction of the droids and exploded upon impact destroying the droids. In the corner of my right eye I saw a round fired from a laser canon heading toward my direction. I rolled out of the area and the round destroyed the truck. I then fired six rounds into the area with destroyed approximately twenty droids who were taking cover and firing from there. I spun around and fired seven more rounds at thirty droids who were firing in six different areas of the junkyard. Those droids were destroyed which each round I fired. Each time I spotted the droids firing from their positions I would fire at that position. Five minutes had passed and I was out of ammunition. It was at this time that nearly half of the junkyard was leveled down and huge clouds of smoke were billowing everywhere. I was absolutely certain that I have destroyed all of the droids. Suddenly my ear picked up the sound of running footsteps at my right. I turned my head to the right and saw about forty armed droids running towards the abandoned warehouse. Among them was Thorpe himself. I dropped the canon and at the speed of light I ran towards the warehouse.

Upon entering the warehouse I spotted one droid who spun around and fired his laser rifle at me. I took seven shots at point blank range. With the Final Dawn I slashed him until his body was dismembered three times. I then looked around and found the warehouse empty. Despite this, I felt the strong presence of the droids. I looked down at my torso and saw that my wounds were not fully healed despite the fact that about twenty seconds had passed. I walked slowly through the warehouse, sniffing with every step I took. I was picking up the strong scent of the droids that was on a platform at my left. I jumped towards the platform and crept along. Suddenly four droids appeared from behind the wall in front of me and began firing their laser rifles at me. I blocked the shots with the blade of my sword and charged them. One by one I took of their heads and dismembered them from the middle of their torsos. Just then a barrage of laser shots came down at my direction from the right. I began to run away as each round ricocheted of the steel platform. I then stopped in my tracks and faced thirteen droids on the platform away from me. One droid appeared and began firing his laser rifle at me. I dodged the shots and threw my sword straight at him. The blade dove into his chest and through his back; then I jumped across the platform, pulled the sword out of his chest and beheaded him. I then engaged the other twelve dismembering them one by one, limb from limb. I was soon taking laser fire from about six droids from the floor. I blocked the shots with my sword and jumped towards the floor. Once I landed on the floor I moved at high speed dismembering the droids into several pieces. One droid, a female, tried to run away. I rushed towards her and slashed her from the middle of her torso, dismembering her in half. I then moved slowly through the power plant and started sniffing around trying to pick up the scent of the other droids. Suddenly a round fired from a laser canon headed straight for my direction. The round barely missed me exploding into the wall behind me. I rolled across the floor and look ahead; soon a barrage of laser fire and laser canons were headed straight towards me. I ran towards the direction of the killing zone, dodging the rounds and blocking them with my sword. About twenty droids were throwing everything they had on me from every direction. At the speed of light I slashed them one by one until there was nothing but blood and body parts.

There was a silence that took over the warehouse that lasted for what seemed like eternity. The silence was suddenly broken by the footsteps of one individual. The individual appeared from behind a wall and began running away thirty feet in front of me. I recognized the individual all too well. It was Thorpe armed with a laser canon making a pitiful attempt to escape. I began to run towards him when suddenly Thorpe stopped and fired eight rounds into my direction. I dodged each of the eight rounds as I made haste and they made massive explosions behind me. At the speed of light I rushed in front of Thorpe stopping him in his tracks. Thorpe then aimed his weapon at me and in the blink of an eye I destroyed the canon cutting it in half with my sword. I then landed one massive kick into his abdomen which sent him flying into a wall. I rushed towards Thorpe, lifted him off the ground with one hand and punched him in the face sending him flying down the power plant. When he landed on the ground I rushed in front of him and kicked in his side sending him sliding across the floor. He stopped ten feet away from me; by now he was bleeding profusely. In a single bound I jumped from where I was and landed in front of him. I lifted him off the ground and threw him into the steel wall at my left. The steel wall dented upon impact. Once Thorpe landed on the floor I rushed in front of him, raised him off his feet by his hair and landed one punch into his chest which sent him flying across the power plant. Still holding the locks of blond hair in my hand I rushed in front Thorpe and placed my boot on his chest. "Where is the girl?" I said as I began to interrogate him.

"What are you talking about?" said Thorpe spitting blood. I began stomping on his chest which was sure to damage his internal systems. Blood began to run from Thorpe's mouth like a river. "Where is the girl?" I said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Thorpe weakly. With one massive kick I sent Thorpe flying across the plant once again. I ran at high speed into the direction he was flying. I stopped near the edge of a platform and soon Thorpe landed right at my feet. "Where is the girl?" I said fiercely. I got no answer from Thorpe. All I got was his labored breathing. I then began to press my boot against his neck with all my strength. "Where is Madeline Hudson?" I said. I received no answer. "Where is Madeline Hudson?!"

"Fuck you!" Thorpe gurgled. I pressed my boot harder on Thorpe's neck. "Go ahead, bitch. Kill me. I'm not programmed to tell you shit."

"Where is the girl?" I said.

"She's with Omega537," he said.

"Who's Omega537?"

"My creator. I was programmed not to release any information on Omega's operations,"

"Stop fucking with me!"

"That's just the way I was created, bitch. That's the way all of my brother's and sisters were created. And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Oh really?" With one stomp I severed Thorpe's head. His head began hanging over the platform by the wires and blood began raining down. I grabbed the wires and carried Thorpe's head over my shoulders jumping all the way back to lower Manhattan.

In five minutes I make it back to the heart of Manhattan. With Thorpe's severed head in my possession I intended to find the information of Madeline's kidnapping by hacking into Thorpe's C.P.U. which was within his brain. I descended upon one of my many places of refuge in New York; an old house in a deserted suburb. Once inside I laid Thorpe's head on the floor, connected the wires to a functioning car battery as a power source and reached into my trench coat and pulled out what was called the X-37 compact computer. It was a small device used to hack into the toughest online security systems given to me by a vampire hunting group whom I fought alongside with in the past named The Sons of Righteousness. As a gesture of appreciation I was given this device. I never really had a need for it until now. As I hacked into what personal information Thorpe had within his C.P.U. I discovered that Omega537, the group that created him and many of his henchmen was called Generation Thaddeus. Omega537 was actually an alias of sorts to hide their true name. I was familiar with this group. It was a vampire organization that operated throughout Manhattan. It names itself after one of the most recognized vampire organizations of the 18th Century called Shadow Land Society whose leader was Thaddeus Fredrickson. I came to the conclusion that Thorpe was created illegally in secret. Under federal law it was an offence for a private citizen to create a droid. What I didn't know was how this group was able to gather the materials needed to build a droid. Thorpe was programmed to find humans that were willing to undergo a transformation that would make them, not vampires, but superhuman. He found four individuals: three men and one woman. There names were Heath Simms, David Hamm, Colin Berg and Lacey Phillips. Thorpe's memory indicated that they were given serum used by the U.S. Military for enhanced strength and speed. What I discovered caught me by surprise. Simms, Hamm, Berg and Phillips were the individuals who broke into the household of the Hudsons and kidnapped Madeline! Hamm, Simms and Phillip were once members of an underground criminal organization that operated right around the area of the abandoned port. Their services were then surrendered over to Thorpe and his group. It was up to Simms, Hamm, Berg and Phillips to grab Madeline, keep her under the watchful eye of their organization and then transfer her over to Thorpe. I then discovered that the secret base of operations was a 105 storey penthouse located at 125 Ford Street, Manhattan which also housed an underground facility where droids were illegally built. The penthouse was owned by the leaders of Generation Thaddeus named Camellia, Sonya and Cecilia Hansen; each was 1,700 years of age. They were identical triplet sisters who led Generation Thaddeus for 1,600 years and three were of impure blood; victims of a vampire plague that swept through half of Europe initiated by none other than Dracula himself in the year 1750. What set these sisters apart from certain vampire leaders was their twisted sense of humor. Not only did they kill for their own survival but they also killed for their own amusement. In one case after drinking the blood of a young man they beheaded him, had him disemboweled and placed his head within his body. Another case involved them dismembering a woman drained of her blood and sewing her arms to the bottom of her body and her legs to her upper body and carving "CROOKED BITCH" on her stomach. To these sisters making new vampires were not as important as killing them and making sure that only the vampire was earth's sole occupant. The triplets had several covens in New York, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles each having their own leader. I have fought against them once in the year 2370. Their weapons of choice were the Wakizashi swords. They possessed speed that was almost similar to mine and often moved in unison. Despite their clownish personalities they possessed great skill with the Wakizashi. The next thing I learned of the triplets was that they were the masterminds behind the kidnapping of Madeline! Thorpe was actually programmed to find Simms, Hamm, Berg and Phillips to do the triplets' dirty work. Not only were these human individuals involved in the actual break in and kidnapping of Madeline but they were also responsible for providing security for the triplets. I was then taken back to the incident where Madeline's parents were contacted online by someone using the name The Fourth Horseman. Through the memory that was installed in Thorpe's C.P.U. I discovered that the identity of The Fourth Horseman was none other than Camellia herself. I soon became enraged at how low the triplets had gone. Kidnapping was not on their resume. I could only imagine what they were putting Madeline through at that very moment. However I did not want to dwell on the very thought that Madeline was going through absolute hell. By the time I was through with hacking into Thorpe's memory I unplugged all the cords that were connected to his C.P.U. and left his severed head lying within the room and departed the house.

It was now 5:35 a.m. with hours to go until the kidnappers' deadline was up and minutes until sunrise. I sat on top of The Chrysler Building in the heavy snow dwelling on what had transpired during the night. I learned that a handful of old nemesis known as the Hansens had orchestrated the kidnapping of Madeline. The Hansen sisters were illegally building and programming androids all from the comfort of their penthouse. They programmed Adrian Thorpe to recruit four humans to carry out the kidnapping of Madeline and possibly to cover their tracks. Apparently the Hansen sisters had promised Thorpe and his fellow droids protection and dominion over the humans that persecuted them. But what had they promised the human criminals? Suddenly I was taken back to the riddle given to me by Jacob Vidor. "There once was a wizard who transformed three women into three identical rose bushes. One of the women had a husband and three children. This woman begged the wizard to allow her to see her family. The wizard agreed taking her to her home one day and then leaving the following day. The woman's husband then set out to look for her and came across the identical rose bushes. Eventually he was successful in locating her." From this riddle I had drawn my conclusions. The wizard represented the Hansen sisters and three rose bushes represented the three dominant races on earth. The case of the woman begging to see her family was a possible reference to Madeline herself. In this riddle there is a heavy emphasis on the number three. This only meant one thing: the entire riddle is a reference to the triplets. Now that I had my information I was ready for a standoff for that night. As I sat at the top of The Chrysler Building this one S.U.V. hovered pass me very slowly. As I looked closer I caught a glimpse of the passengers within the car. In the front passenger seat was the leader of The Winds of Eternity, Alexia Dakin. In the back seat were her closest associates Vanya Bermel, Devan Hallet, Fran Ingles, Karris Meier and Dakin's second in command Erzulie Roux. As their vehicle passed I noticed that they were close to their windows and were showing me the finger as they passed by. As the vehicle hovered away I shook my head in disgust, stood up and began jumping from building to building on my way to Brooklyn.