"Are you in or not?" Thailog asked Coldsteel urgently.
"I have successfully hacked into the city's camera network," Coldsteel replied in his cold tone, "But there are thousands of cameras at work and hours upon hours of footage to search through, it will take a few minutes, even with my advanced processing system."
Thailog gave a low, frustrated growl.
"Focus first on the cameras near us," he commanded, "Then look at the area around the museum campus. That's where most of the reports on social media are coming from."
"Oh course, Thailog," Coldsteel replied, "I have gained permissions to every camera in the parks department system. If Brooklyn is there, we will find him!"
A window had popped up on Thailog's monitor, showing him an endless flash of footage, moving far too quickly for even his keen eyes to catch anything. But Coldsteel's computer brain worked unspeakably faster, and all Thailog could do was wait and see what his ally came up with. His impotence in the situation made him antsy and irritable.
Meanwhile, Demona had been deposited on a dusty sofa in the corner. She had long since ceased undignifying herself with vain attempts to escape Coldsteel's snare. Now she watched them with a silent, infuriated glare. Thailog caught himself glancing at her occasionally as he waited, and each time her pretty lips curled into a sardonic smile as if she were a predator, content to watch her prey until she was hungry enough to attack and tear its testicles off. Thailog shook his head and angrily turned his back on her. Why should he allow himself to be intimidated by this broken, unstable female? He was strong while she was weak! He was level-headed and calculating while she was deranged. Most importantly, he was free while she was bound and at his mercy. He laughed at his own folly and didn't notice the robot's keen focus on him.
"My friend, please consider that Demona would make for a most valuable ally in the scheme you are planning," Coldsteel began casually, "She is a strong warrior, cunning, and determined."
"'Determined' is a most charitable way of saying it," Thailog replied with a sneer, "One might say 'obsessed' is more accurate. Her madness makes her a pawn, easy to use and manipulate, but she is too reckless and unpredictable to be trusted."
"Ah, but Goliath, my poor, trusting brother, loves her," Coldsteel observed craftily, "This makes her a more important player than you realize."
Thailog snickered again.
"Loves her?!" Thailog exclaimed indignantly, "After all she's done to him? No one is that cuckolded! Certainly not the same warrior who supplied my flesh and blood!"
"She has been allowed to return to the castle and she has given the clan several children by him in recent years."
"So, she's an egg maker and a bit of pleasure for him," he snickered, "It's not as if there is a extensive variety of nubile gargoyle females for him to choose from, and perhaps even a virtuosic warrior-knight like Goliath has needs?"
"Surely she is more than a 'bit' of pleasure," Coldsteel argued, "I remember well. Their passion for one another was once a subject of great envy within the clan."
"Having had her myself, I find that hard to believe," Thailog sneered, "To each his own, of course, but she failed to satisfy my tastes. Unlike my unwilling genetic donor, I require submission and obedience."
"That reminds me, Thailog," Demona called snidely from the corner, having overheard far more of their repulsive conversation than she would have liked, "Whatever happened to your love slave? Delilah, was it?"
"Quiet, you!" he growled irritably, before reminding himself that she was beneath him and he was not to let her goad him.
"Oh come now!" she continued with her taunting, "Do you mean to tell me that you took all the trouble to clone, enslave, and program the perfect lover for yourself and she STILL ran from you the first chance she got? What a splendidly hilarious example of justice!"
"My critical mistake was using your DNA in the mix, Demona!" he replied bitterly and she laughed at him in cold scorn.
"Oh, I would like to believe that! But I suspect you'd have the same result with any female gargoyle. Perhaps the dog pound has more of what suits you?"
"See what I mean?" Thailog hissed under his breath, "Do you really think the great Goliath would negotiate with us, for that delightful personality?"
"Oh, my friend," Coldsteel replied in a tone as sympathetic as a mechanical voice box can allow, "You do not yet understand how it is for us, do you?"
Thailog's eyes narrowed at this thinly veiled accusation of naivety, which he was not prepared to tolerate.
"What are you saying?" he demanded.
"Kind or ill-tempered, loyal or unfaithful, wise or foolish, it matters not. Once two gargoyles are mated, we are bound for life!"
"That's ridiculous!" Thailog replied with scorn.
"It's no surprise that you and Demona could not please one another," Coldsteel continued, "She was never yours to begin with. She was always his. They were bound centuries before you were ever thought of, and they say the younger a gargoyle couple is, the stronger the bond. As hard as it is to believe, that lovely, unstable, conniving, bundle of malice over there on your sofa is as precious to your enemy as his own life."
"You're either a fool or a liar," Thailog accused arrogantly, "A few years ago, Goliath wouldn't touch that witch with a ten foot pole. Why do you think it was so easy for me to scrape her up and have my way with her? He was fully prepared to banish her from his life, and from the entire clan, forever."
"Could he have lived without her? Certainly. There are other things, other purposes, other vocations to engage oneself in aside from love. But he would never be truly whole without her. Oh yes! You can be assured that my brother would listen to his mate, even if she spoke on our behalf. He would defend her honor. He would negotiate on almost any terms for her. He would die for her, if it came to that. You have a trump card in your deck, my friend, and you don't even realize the possibilities!"
Thailog put his claw to his broad chin, clearly considering Coldsteel's words, though he was not entirely convinced. He was clever enough to realize Coldsteel's capacity for manipulation, and he was not one to be manipulated, especially by a machine! Still, he found Coldsteel's claims intriguing. Perhaps this miserable wretch possessed some potential for his plans after all?
"Now, here's something else that might interest you," Coldsteel announced, stopping the endless reels of video on a specific image.
Thailog leaned forward on the desk, staring at the small window of black and white video footage in disbelief. Slowly a cruel smile came to his face.
"Well you were correct that it is not Brooklyn and company!" he admitted, "Though he can't be too far away!"
"I don't know," Coldsteel replied as, one by one, more windows with surveillance video popped open on the screen, "None of the known Manhattan clan appear in any of these."
Thailog chuckled to himself as he watched the small, awkward figures on the screen before him.
"We've got him," he mused to himself, "We've got him at last!"
Then in a voice that thundered in comparison, he barked, "Demona!"
Her brows raised and she shifted her weight as best she could with Coldsteel's unbreakable tentacle wrapped around her. Thailog seized her shoulder and thrust the tablet in her face, since she could not hold it with her arms bound.
"I believe that I have found something that belongs to you, my dear," he purred disingenuously and Adelpha gasped, to his great amusement.
"Bonnie!" she whispered weakly as she watched the child on the screen in horror.
"Bonnie," Thailog replied mockingly, "How sweet! And a few others as well, whom I assume you recognize?"
"What is that place? What are they doing there?" she demanded in a desperate tone, "Why are they alone?"
"All fair questions," Thailog replied patronizingly, "I'm afraid you just can't trust these babysitters nowadays."
Adelpha looked away, dismayed and trying to make sense of the situation without revealing her fear.
"How long ago was this taken?" Thailog demanded.
"Just under two hours," Coldsteel replied.
"Long enough that the trail is a bit cold," Thailog mused out loud, "Still, I believe we can catch up with the little lost urchins. Can you delete these videos from the city's server?"
"Of course!"
Thailog grinned wickedly at Adelpha.
"We wouldn't want some other hacker to find them before we do! If social media is to be believed, the local mob has a price on each of their darling wee heads!"
"You leave my children alone!" Adelpha threatened him.
"Ah, but we couldn't do that!" Thailog replied with feigned outrage.
"Chicago is a wicked, dangerous city," Coldsteel observed, "No place for young hatchlings to be wandering the streets alone!"
"Exactly, my friend," Thailog responded, trying to put on a spirit of valor that did not authentically exist in his soul, "Who knows what might befall the little lambs if we do not intercede! We must rescue them at once and return them to the safety of their mother's…gentle…loving… wings!"
Enraged, Adelpha snarled at him and charged his breast, doing little more than knocking some air from his lungs. He laughed as he grabbed her and tossed her playfully back toward Coldsteel.
"What do you think you're going to do?" he asked with a deep laugh, "Bite my ankle? Take her into the other room, Coldsteel! We've got some hunting to do tonight!"
"Of course, Thailog," Coldsteel replied with a tone of deference that Adelpha found revolting.
"Lasers, blades, tentacles, and every other piece of advanced weapon technology," Adelpha mourned as Coldsteel hauled her into the bedroom and released her onto the carpet, "And yet he didn't have the sense to add a pair of balls to the design?"
"Now, Sister!" Coldsteel replied, "Xanatos is a brilliant man, but he isn't a miracle worker! We both know I never had the courage of you or Goliath or…"
"You haven't the courage of a rabbit!" she accused.
"It's true," Coldsteel admitted and Adelpha raised a brow suspiciously at his unwillingness even to defend himself.
"Well, now if your moment to shine, Brother," she informed him in a tone that was almost a plea, "Defy Thailog and release me!"
"It is not in our interest to do so," he replied mechanically.
"I have to search for my children!" she exclaimed in frustration.
"Fear not! Thailog will find them and bring them back here safely. He knows what they are worth."
"Neither of you could ever, ever comprehend what they are truly worth!" she insisted, a sob rising in her throat as she spoke, "Please…Brother! Release me and I give my word, I will tell Goliath what you have done!"
"It isn't enough," he protested.
"What would be enough?" she pleaded, "What is it you think I can do for you? I have nothing! As you so frankly observed before, I am little more than a prisoner of the clan. I've relinquished my power, my sorcery, my wealth, my resources, all for their forgiveness. I've nothing to offer you!"
"All your resources but one," Coldsteel corrected her and she returned a confused and incredulous expression.
"What then?"
"Alexander Xanatos," he replied.
Adelpha stared at the machine, unable to understand.
"Alexander…?" she repeated, a million questions overwhelming her mind at once. Finally she settled on, "Why?"
"Because he has been given a great power by a certain sorcerer," Coldsteel explained, using a laser on his arm to project the image of a wild-looking person on the cracking plaster wall beside her.
"This mage possesses an amulet with the power to reinstate the mortal form of myself and my brother and sister, and he has entrusted this powerful magic to Xanatos' son."
Adelpha looked from the image on the wall back to Coldsteel.
"Then you are not as content with your current form as you said you were?" she questioned, still quite confused at this strange and incomplete request.
Coldsteel hesitated before answering and Adelpha could almost imagine the squeaking and turning of gears as he attempted to process the question.
"I…prefer the power and immortality of this mechanical body," he began, "But my brother and sister wish to live again. They wish to feel and sense the world. They wish to hold and caress one another. They wish to live as they were meant to live and…I mean to give them that chance, even if I must sacrifice this form along with them."
Adelpha's eyes widened at this confession. It was possibly the last thing she had expected to hear from her brother's sound system, and she didn't know what to make of it.
"Are you asking me to steal this amulet from Alexander?" she asked finally.
"You are the one who cast the spell that condemned us to this fate," he replied, "Now I ask you to do the magic that will release us from it."
As Adelpha tried to sort out what she was hearing, Thailog's shadow filled the door frame.
"I thought you were processing these videos," he barked at Coldsteel, "Whatever expertise Brooklyn has developed at avoiding video cameras, he seems to have passed the secrets on to the clan's offspring. They appear to melt away from one frame to the next. I see four hatchlings running past one camera, and when I switch to the next, they are gone."
Adelpha gave an irritated scowl at his untimely arrival.
"My children have been trained by the best," she informed him with a hint of pride.
"Forgive me, Thailog," Coldsteel replied quickly, "I will have their current whereabouts in just a few minutes." With that promise, he left them alone in the room.
Thailog gave Adelpha a sickening smile.
"Perhaps, if you will promise to behave yourself, we can remove that restraint, Demona," he suggested.
"Behave myself?" she replied in a scandalized tone, "Whatever do you mean by that?"
"Only that I was perhaps too…unforgiving in my treatment of you before," Thailog explained, trying to maintain a sweet voice, "After all, we still have a lot in common."
"No," Adelpha replied succinctly.
"And as Coldsteel pointed out," he continued, "We can work together for our mutual benefit."
"No," she repeated.
"Come, my dear," Thailog purred, reaching for her face and stroking it, "I can't really be so repugnant to you! After all, I am a genetic copy of the love of your life! The same love who keeps you imprisoned like an animal, all while prancing off to have his way with your human enemy. I can do at least as good as that!"
Adelpha drew a deep breath and sighed, her frustration complete.
"Thailog," she began in her sweetest voice, "I thoroughly detest you with every fiber of my being. This has nothing to do with my bond to Goliath, who you certainly are not 'as good as', nor could you ever be 'as good as'. However, even if he should cease to exist entirely, that would not change the fact that you are no less than the most vile, disgraceful, pathetic imitation of a true gargoyle that could exist in any universe. Furthermore, you copulate like a human. You are unfit for any use and I have no interest in forming any allegiance with you whatsoever. Now kindly let me go so I can go look for my children!"
Thailog laughed wickedly.
"You will regret that, Demona," he vowed as he seized her from the floor and pinned her down on the edge of the rotting mattress.
"Let go of me!" she snarled through gritted teeth as his claw clenched her throat.
"No, I don't think I will," he replied in a chillingly casual voice and he pressed down on her, "You see, my dear, it's quite possible that I suffer from something of an 'identity crisis'. It isn't as much that I want you, but that I can't tolerate him having you!"
Adelpha thrashed in helpless rage as Thailog fondled and caressed her with his cruel claws. Finally managing to yank her throat free of his grasp, she managed to shriek a cry that brought Coldsteel racing back to them in a state of genuine surprise.
"Thailog!" he cried, grasping his shoulder, "Stop this! Leave her!"
But the clone was now both aroused and obsessed with possessing that which belonged to his original and shoved the meddling cyborg away.
"Get off of her!" Adelpha heard the computerized voice command again, just as she thought she might be losing consciousness.
But then, she felt the restraints on her arms and wings release and with all the might she could muster, she shoved Thailog from the bed. Before he could recover from the surprise of her sudden freedom, the same mechanical band which had been restraining Adelpha whipped loose like a frightened serpent, and twisted around his throat. Desperately, Thailog clawed at Coldsteel's tentacle, disembodied but clearly still within the robot's power. Slowly, the giant slunk to his knees, then fell forward to the floor, until Coldsteel was satisfied and loosened his grip, summoning the mechanical arm back to his own body like he was slurping up a giant noodle. Thailog gasped for breath, drawing his claw to his bruised throat.
"I am afraid, Thailog, that I cannot allow you to molest my sister," the cyborg informed him in an incomprehensibly neutral tone, as if he were explaining the rules of the playground to children, "I asked for civility before, and I really must insist upon it now."
A still gasping Thailog looked up at the robot with a mixture of fury and newfound humility. He nodded his agreement.
"Very well," Coldsteel replied, "Let us find those poor, frightened children before it is too late!"