KETTY'S SUBDIVISION Wattys2017

Chapter 20-Part VII

Mon-catasto weighed the cartridge in his hand. "I have to be sure this serum is compatible. I have to know you haven't pulled a double cross, then, and only then will I let your little harlot go." Mon-catasto was no fool. He knew he had pushed Greer to his limit. If not for the transparent nature of society, with watchdog groups and constant surveillance, he would eliminate them all. But that was impossible since everyone who cared to look would know Ketty was here at his house and if they disappeared or died in some mass accident, he would be the one to blame. Besides, his robot army wasn't ready yet. He could tell Ketty didn't fall far from the family tree, and he had battled her father and lost in the past. It wouldn't happen again. He was so close to realizing his dreams he didn't dare take a chance. He needed Boondock's blood because it was the key to the next generation of robots.

He didn't know for a fact Boondock was the chosen one, not even Ketty knew. He had only guessed because of how cunning Ketty's father was. Her dad had always been one step ahead of the game, seemingly without effort despite Mon-catasto's wealth and power. The one common thread had been Boondock who was always around and provided the perfect hiding place for secret research right under everyone's nose. The next generation would not be clumsy, discombobulated morons, but true fighting bots capable of ushering in a new society where humans took their rightful place under robots. And he would be the leader of them all.

Moreover, there was one he could blame everything on, then he would control the Subdivision. So he smiled and said, "Very well. Have it your way. I will see you all at dinner tonight?" as if nothing had happened.

"Fine," said Greer, relaxing a bit. "Max, Boondock, let's go." The cartridge weighed in Greer's pocket as he made his way up to the guest suites where Kato and Mikenzy watched Ketty sleep. He was so deep in thought, he didn't see Purline pull Boondock into a side room and disappear somewhere deep in the house. Despite hundreds of hours of research into the Mc'kee family, he couldn't shake the feeling he had missed something, but that was about to change.

Mr. Greer," said Mikenzy, standing so close he could smell peppermint on her breath, "Don't you think you should see what Boondock is up to? I really don't think we're going to make it to dinner."

That shocked him, as if she had been listening in on his conversation, but he looked down at her tablet. What he saw there was anything but comforting.

"Ketty, wake up, it's time to go," said Greer. He shoved his last air pack into her mouth and slapped her across the face.

For Ketty the last few months had finally caught up with her and she seemed to be in a coma. She tried to open her eyes, but it was a losing battle. She could hear them talking but her limbs were too heavy to move and it was easier to remain hidden in her dream. Finally the fresh oxygen cleared her brain and she pried her eyes open. Still glued shut with sleep, she could barely make out Kato and there was a strange girl standing too close to him who looked hauntingly familiar, and they were holding hands. A stab of uncontrolled jealousy made her sit bolt upright. She looked around, confused.

"Where is Boondock?"

"Oh, crap," said Mikenzy, "they're going into my father's study."

"Where is that?" asked Greer.

"Come on, I'll show you." Kato was confused, unsure how he had come to holding her hand in the first place, but there was no time to worry now. Mikenzy wasn't a traitor, she just wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

The two robot runts never seemed to stay out of trouble. Boondock and Purline crouched below the desk at one end of the room, communicating wirelessly so as not to be discovered.

"Mistress Ketty will never believe me when I tell her," said Boondock.

"I saw this coming three years ago, but no one asked me, so how could I have told them?" Purline chimed in.

"Mon-catasto is in trouble, look!"

Two figures stood at the far end of the room, one human, one not so much. They could hear faint clicking as the Baird alien subdued his prey with ease. Mon-catasto had liberated Harazel from his prison cell, and now he handed him the small chip key that controlled every bot produced by the Firm. Then he handed him the cartridge as well. Boondock's sensitive hearing made out the faint words as Mon-catasto bowed in submission to the alien.

"Welcome my Lord, I pledge my allegiance to you." And that metal mouth, with the power to kill tried to turn to a smile, if it only could. Harazel accepted what he had known to be true all along. He would master the humans, and destroy them.

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