After the failed attempt to shut off the supercomputer, the trio made their way back to the main floor of the factory. Caleb looked to the west and saw the sun setting.
"Dusk approaches." Caleb said.
"In that case, I'm heading off." Isaac said. "See you all soon."
"Shouldn't you be getting back to the city?" Caleb asked Olivia.
"Oh, I'm in no rush." Olivia said. "I was told to return with you in my captivity. For all they know, I have yet to find you. Plus, I do want to know more about your culture other than what the propagandists feed us."
"For a North Parisian, you certainly have great interest in our culture." Caleb said.
"Why do you think I visit your city so often?"
"Doesn't your fiancé notice you're gone?" Caleb asked.
"Will?" Olivia asked. "He's too busy fucking our women soldiers and preparing for his father's arrival in two days. I doubt he's even noticed I left."
"Wait." Caleb said. "The first part..."
"You heard me right." Olivia said. "He even forces me to watch."
"Some fiancé." Caleb said. "And you just stand there and take it?"
"What choice do I have?" Olivia asked. "I am a woman."
"What does that have to do with it?"
"There's only two jobs for women in this city: Whore and soldier." Olivia said. "I'm only an exception because of who I'm engaged to. Even though we're engaged, he still treats me like one of his whores."
"And you still love him?"
"I never loved him. My father's forcing me to marry him."
"Ah." Caleb said. "An arranged marriage. A parent's last resort to keep their child under chains."
"Agreed." Olivia said. "Hey, I gotta pee. Where's your bathroom?"
"What bathroom?" Caleb asked.
"What do you mean 'what bathroom'?" Olivia asked.
"This factory's over 200 years old, there's no indoor plumbing let alone a working bathroom." Caleb said. "So you have two choices: The river or the floor."
"That's just indecent!" Olivia said shocked. "I'm not stooping that low."
"In that case, you can just piss yourself right here."
Olivia just walked away.
"If you look for so much as a second, I'll make sure to beat the living shit out of you."
She then found a large pile of rubble and walked behind it. Making sure nobody was around, she pulled down her skirt and underwear and squatted down. As she was peeing, she noticed a large hole in the ground with a makeshift stairwell.
"Hey Caleb! What's that hole in the ground?" She shouted. Caleb walked over to her.
"This one?" He asked.
"AHH!" She shouted. "I told you not to look! I'm not done yet!"
"You're the one who called me over." Caleb said. "So what did you want?"
"Just a second." Olivia said. She then finished her business, wiped herself and pulled up her garments. "Anyways, I was going to ask about that big hole in the ground."
"You wanna see The Killing Floors?" Caleb said smiling. Olivia just nodded slowly with an unsure look on her face.
Caleb then took her down the stairs and turned on the lights. Olivia could only stand there motionless as she made out what was in the dimly lit room: The walls were covered in blood and dead bodies and the floor consisted of hundreds of bloodied corpses sewn together. She then looked up and saw bodies from the waist up hung up by meat hooks through their heads, human skins stretched across the ceiling and decapitated heads hanging on strands of barbed wire like pearls on a necklace.
"So what do you think?" Caleb asked. "I take the bodies of my victims from both sides of Paris and place them all down here as rat feed."
"But why?" Olivia asked.
"Dunno." Caleb said. "There's just something arousing about having mutilated corpses of the people you despise hung as trophies."
"Interesting..." Olivia said. She then looked down and saw a rat hiss at her. She jumped back a bit startled as the rat ran past her. "Is there any place I could stay the night?"
"Why not the factory?" Caleb asked.
"I appreciate your hospitality, but I feel like I should be some place a bit more…umm, homely."
"Understood." Caleb said. "The bar that Sharpshooter tried to mug you in? That's also an inn. Lucky can probably set you up."
"I thank you." Olivia said. "And I'll tell Will and the others that my stay may be a bit longer than I thought."
"You go do that." Caleb said.
A few minutes later in North Paris, Will Dunbar and his family were in the Zanbato Industries tower while the former was talking on his phone after receiving a call from a very close friend.
"Alright then." Will said. "And don't forget: I want him alive. Love you too."
Will then hung up.
"Who was that?" His brother Theo asked.
"Olivia." He said.
"Did she catch that thief yet?" Jonah asked.
"Patience, my brother." Will said. "My fiancée has only been out for less than a day. He could be anywhere."
"Maybe you could actually do more than send some wench to do your bidding." Hannibal said. "Don't you have those lobotomized robots at your disposal?"
"And risk an invasion?" Will asked. "I think you underestimate their strength."
"They're South Parisians!" Hannibal exclaimed. "Next to you, they're the stupidest and laziest animals on the planet. They're nothing but a bunch of unorganized savages praying for a lost cause."
"Anyways, you two!" Theo said. "I've been meaning to tell you something."
"Yes?" Jonah asked.
"Remember how Dad always said that one day we would each fall in love and find a women of our own?"
"Yes." Will said.
"Well, I talked to Carolyn and…"
"You mean…?" Jonah asked.
"She said 'yes'." Theo said smiling.
"Really?" Hannibal asked. "Theo, this is great. When's the wedding?"
"She want's it done tomorrow." Theo said.
"She doesn't want to wait until Dad comes back?" Will asked.
"Will, who gave you permission to speak?" Hannibal asked.
"I don't understand, though." Jonah asked. "How come we're hearing about this Carolyn person only now."
"You know Carolyn." Hannibal said.
"Remember Carrie, you old babysitter?" Theo asked. "That's her."
"You mean Carrie? The greatest babysitter ever?" Jonah asked. "That's her?"
"Mhmm." Theo said.
"I knew you had a crush on her when you were ten, but I didn't think she'd actually return the feeling." Will said.
"Will you shut up?" Theo asked.
"We can hold the wedding at Will's gardens at his palace." Hannibal said. "I'll make preparations and let the press know."
"Uncle, please." Theo said. "I want this to be a private event. No cameras, no news, no hype. Just a man, the woman he loves, their families and their close friends."
"I can respect that." Hannibal said.
"Thank you, Uncle."
"I shall return to the palace and start the preparations." Hannibal said. He then turned to two female soldiers carrying submachine guns. "Come with me."
He then walked off with the soldiers by his side.
"Jonah, prepare the Artemis." Will said.
"Where are you going?" Theo asked.
"City patrol." Will said. "After that incident, the people know we're vulnerable. I refuse to inherit a city nation knowing that I'll be seen as vulnerable."
"I see." Theo said.
Will and Jonah then headed off while Theo made his way in the other direction.
I do apologize for my lack of updates. The thing is I just started college and I'm going to be pretty busy with that and other stuff. I'll try to update at least once a week, but no more. So do bear with me.
Please Review.