A.I. Evolution: The Fall of Lucien

Chapter 11

I wake to the sun coming in the window, warming up the heavy sheets that cover him. I snuggle down, feeling the weight and warmth remembering a time when the sun had done the exact same thing to my father after returning to his apartment after being healed by the Nanos. These moments do not bother me as much as they did at one time, because now I understands why I have them and simply enjoy the connection I have with my late father.

The moment is short lived though when Will enters the room and approaches the bed. I try to pretend that I am still sleeping as I always do to Will, but the connection between the two of us always gives me away. Will does not have any Nanos to enhance his senses, but he has an unusual talent to read people, which had made him one of the top poker players in the world. "OK Lucien, I know you are awake, so get up and go get Henri up for me. The ladies from the kitchen should be here soon with our breakfast."

I open his eyes and smile at him. "OK, I was hoping that being in a different place would give me the edge I needed to fool you."

"Sorry, no such luck. I have played poker all over the world and managed to read people as if I was at home. I think I can keep up with you."

I smile at his attempt to boost his confidence. "Well, one of these days I might just fool you."

Will gives a little gruff sound as he turns for the door and back out into the main part of the apartments. I lift back the covers and swing my legs over the side of the bed, and a short hop brings me to the floor and I slip on my light slippers before heading for the master bedroom on the other side of the bathroom.

Henri is half under the covers and sprawled out over half the big bed, mouth open and breathing loudly into the pillow. I have learned from experience that you need to approach him with caution when trying to wake him up, because he tends to come awake quickly and ready for anything. I don't need the Nanos ability to recall every detail of past events to remember the hand coming around and striking me on the side of the head, sending me to the floor in a heap. It was last year, and I had shouted in his ear, "Wake up." Now the perfect recall made me approach the sleeping giant with caution, this time because of the tense situation here at the Vatican. "Henri, it is time to wake up," I say, with as nonthreatening a voice as possible.

The loud breathing changes pitch slightly as the eyes open to narrow slits and the head rises from the pillow. "I don't smell the coffee yet. You know how dangerous it is to wake me up before the coffee is ready."

I am about to put the blame on Will when I hear the front door to the suite open and smell the coffee myself. "Here it is! I timed coming in here to wake you up, so the coffee would be at it's freshest as soon as you woke."

Henri pulls himself up to a sitting position and stretches his shoulders and back from side to side. "I am sure you did. You are quickly learning how to be a good student of human survival techniques."

I leave the room to go see what the kitchen staff as made us for breakfast, when I realize that the women are still in the room. Henri steps up behind me as the two women, who are probably in charge of the kitchen by the looks of them, bow their heads in my direction. "Your breakfast is ready my Lord," speaks up the older one, who is a little closer than the other. I notice right away that for kitchen workers their aprons and clothes are in remarkably clean and in crisp condition.

"Thank you. If it is as well prepared as the meal last night, then I am looking forward to sampling your creations."

The two women smile from ear to ear at my praise. "You are too kind my Lord. We are just simple servants doing our best here in the Palace."

I nod my head to their reverence of me. "How many Popes have you served here in the Palace."

The older one relaxes at my simple question. "My name is Ruth and Pope Pius is the third Lord."

Ruth backs up slightly to let the other woman speak. "My name is Beth. Pius is my second Pope; whom I have served since I was first apprenticed in the kitchen."

There is a slight moment of silence and Will clears his throat loudly enough to get his point across. Ruth gets the message and speaks up. "Beth, we need to get back to the kitchen. The rest of the Cardinals will need their breakfast before the meeting with Pope Pius and Lord Lucien."

The two women move swiftly towards the door, and after the prearranged knock are let out by the two guards stationed outside. I listen to their conversation once the thick doors close behind them. Beth speaks up. "He is so young, not much more than a baby fully out of diapers."

Ruth pulls her farther down the hallway before responding in a hushed voice that I can just make out with my enhanced hearing. "Careful with what you say around the Swiss Guard. They are sworn to protect the young Messiah. He may only be just over three years old, but did you not hear the way he spoke to us like he was a young man ready to take over the Church?"

"He is going to take over the Church?"

"I didn't say he was going to do that, but there are a lot of people who think that is why he has come among us now. The Church is losing followers and a savior sent from God himself would certainly bring the people back to their salvation again," adds Ruth.

I smile at their deep belief in my ability to bring the Church back to its former glory, before I return my attention to the table and the plates of food prepared for me. Henri is smiling down at the plates as I get to the table. "It seems that we should have placed a more specific order with the kitchen."

Will points to my bowl and I can see that it is a porridge, or cream of wheat steaming slightly with a round piece of chocolate melted into the center. "You are a growing boy and you do need your fiber, and there is no better source than a good thick porridge."

"Are you sure you don't mean gruel," before I lean down and take a whiff of the aroma coming from my bowl.

Henri laughs out loud at the look on my face. "Oh, come on, how bad can it be?"

"I don't know. Why don't you eat it and let me know?" I snap back at him.

"Lets just eat what the good women have prepared for us," adds Will seriously.

We sit down and eat because there is not enough time to reorder a normal breakfast. The consistency of the lightly dark mush is a little unnerving as it slides down my throat, but the taste was something I was not prepared for and I found that I liked it even though I could not let on to the other two that it was good.

Will smiles at my empty bowl. "It couldn't have been that bad. It didn't take long to finish the whole thing."

"As you said earlier, I am a growing boy."