No, D_Light answered in his mind. Learning the who and when of Fael’s personal life was far from a turn-on to him.
His familiar pinged confirmation and replied telepathically. You have purchased sixty percent of intimacy permit #29483723201DC for a cost of 1,342 points. This permit will expire at 20:23 tomorrow.
Transaction complete, D_Light planned to meet the girl at the bed, but she was too fast. With her seemingly boundless energy, Fael sprang up, crossed the room with one long leap, flung her arms around his neck, and kissed him passionately.
Beyond the archive feed, D_Light could hear a general clamor of approval. Apparently, the congregation really liked where this was going.
“Forget the lion outside,” Fael whispered. “I’ve found myself a lion in here.” She purred in his ear. D_Light thought the line sounded rather cheesy, but he liked it just the same.
Fael led D_Light to the foot of the bed and knelt down on it. She then began fumbling with the back of her suit. “Let me help,” offered D_Light, a bit too urgently. He had no idea how to take off a living garment, but he thought it only polite to try.
“Yeah, please.” Her voice quavered. Her breath quickened.
D_Light ran his sturdy hands along the sides of her heaving torso and gently stroked the silken fabric while making his way to the back of the suit. He pulled her closer. Starting just behind her ear, he allowed his lips to travel down her long, supple neck, and she trembled with excitement. The girl smelled sweet, delicious. She was a present for his unwrapping. Nearly forgetting his offer to assist with the removal of her clothing, D_Light looked over Fael’s shoulder to see what he was working with. It was just then that his senses were flooded with Smorgeous’s presence. Master, red alert! Poison concentration has jumped 31,245 %.
D_Light twisted his head toward Fael. Only a few inches from his face, her smile was gone. Her breath was warm. My Soul, she’s going to cash me in! D_Light realized with a shock.
Adrenaline dumped into his bloodstream, enabling D_Light to twist out of the girl’s grasp with lightning speed. She took a swipe at his face, a dark patch of glistening liquid barely visible on her sleeve. The sleeve narrowly missed his face, and only the girl’s nails nicked him. In one fluid motion, D_Light spiraled away from the bed, pulled a throwing disc from a fold in his suit, and threw it at Fael with a great arching of his arm. Once released into the air, the disc’s six spring-loaded blades popped out from the outer edge and sent the weapon rotating.
D_Light had aimed low, having anticipated her to be on the bed, but she had already jumped up; the disc struck her in the thigh with a muffled thump. She did not make a sound. D_Light could see that she had something in both hands, something that looked like long needles-spring-loaded syringes. Like most people, Fael was ambidextrous. If she got close enough, there would be no way he could prevent one of those needles from sticking him once. Just once would be all she needed.
Fael leaped from the bed at him. Wounded, the move was slightly awkward, allowing D_Light to sidestep out of reach. The blades of D_Light’s disc were long and should have sunk deep into her flesh, but they had barely penetrated her muscular quadriceps. The living fiber of her suit must be tough indeed, for his throwing discs were very expensive, designed to penetrate even armor.
Smorgeous, attack! D_Light ordered telepathically.
As a rule, familiars were not designed for combat, but they certainly could distract or slow down an opponent. However, Smorgeous was already latched onto Paxos’s neck, trying to trip and pin the other familiar. Apparently, Fael had already ordered Paxos to intercede on her behalf. To D_Light’s benefit, Smorgeous’s AI was advanced enough to take the initiative to counter Paxos. The two familiars spun and flipped in a frenzy, each trying to gain the upper hand.
It was clear to D_Light that his first objective was to stay out of range of those needles, so he immediately maneuvered to get the table between himself and his attacker. He then proceeded to throw at her everything at hand-decorative books, glassware, a potted plant, and even precious trophies of which he was quite fond. Between throws and desperate grunts, he maneuvered as fast as he could to keep the table between himself and the onrushing woman. She was definitely taking a beating, but she was also resilient and, despite her wounded leg, quite fast.
Deciding that he needed to up the ante, he forcefully threw his plexi desk chair at her. Although she was struck solidly, throwing the bulky object slowed D_Light down, allowing her the opportunity to close most of the distance between them. With no time to withdraw, D_Light flung himself under the table and rolled, coming up on the other side. She was rushing him again, but he had just enough time to retrieve another disc and throw it. The disc struck her in the face, and because she was unprotected there, the weapon reached its terrible potential. A gurgling scream came from her as she dropped the syringes and grasped at her mangled cheek. A torrent of blood was spilling out, streaming between her fingers as she tried in vain to contain it. She had been sliced from the back of the jaw to the lip, and through the gushes of blood he caught a glimpse of gums and teeth.
Assuming nothing, D_Light ran backward a few steps and readied his next disc. Fael scrambled for the door, a deep spatter of blood marking her passage. He threw his last disc, this time putting all of his weight into the throw. It gouged into her back, pierced the tough suit, and stuck into her firmly. She arched her back and let out a short, garbled scream.
Still, his date kept on her feet and continued on. D_Light was breathing shallow and fast, and his heart was beating so hard that it felt like it would split open his chest. Feeling dizzy, nauseated, and somewhat disconnected from reality, he hurried to his closet and pulled out a crossbow. It was always loaded.
Fael stood at the door, crazily fumbling at the lock while making a terribly disturbing noise that was difficult to classify-crying, perhaps, or the sound of a badly damaged windpipe. Her one hand fumbled uselessly at the lock while the other, slick with blood, slipped on the door handle. D_Light rushed up to only a few paces behind her. He was a pretty good shot, but he wanted to get close, not trusting his trembling limbs. He could not risk a miss. She did not turn to face him when he finally pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER 4
When the time came that you could buy a genetic engineering kit as easily as past generations could buy an erector set for their children, you knew a pandemic of monumental proportions was just a matter of time. In fact, the genesis of the TerriLove virus was traced back to a disgruntled seventeen-year-old suburban boy. Unlike other angry youth of history who went on killing sprees of varying magnitude, Justin Flairon ended up killing four out of every ten human beings on earth. He himself was the first victim of his monster.
The social aftershocks from this culling were nearly as bad as the virus itself. Death begot sorrow, desperation, and anger, which in turn begot war and anarchy. And so when the OverSoul came to humankind and offered her guidance, it was the answer to countless prayers. The Authority promised shelter-shelter to a people who had gone from a post-scarcity economy where famine and poverty were history, to a raging nightmare. The OverSoul, in her divine wisdom, fulfilled her promise with the Game-a system of rules and an economic framework wherein everyone, nearly regardless of their talents, could find security, prosperity, and above all, a purpose. Indeed, through the Game, one could conquer death itself.
D_Light turned off the feed, as the congregation would be bored with additional footage anyway. His obligation to them was met, and the rest was no one’s business. No one needed to see how, after leaving her body there, unable to look at it, he had leaned into his window and stared into the darkness for what seemed like an eternity. No one needed to see the cleaning bots dispose of Fael’s body and the fluids that had spilled from it. And most importantly, no one needed to see how D_Light took a mega dose of tranquilizers and went to sleep.