Body of a Man, Mind of Machine – Chapter Two
Introduction:
Romantically bound for the first time in his life, Adrian struggles to figure out how his life will change and how much information he can trust Jenny with.
“What’s the emergency you called me about?” Amanda asked with worry as she climbed into Jenny’s car.
“I need to talk to you and I can’t do it in your house or mine,” Jenny said sheepishly as she pulled out of Amanda’s driveway.
They drove out of the suburbs and deep into the woods, stopping at the side of an unpaved road. They were half an hour’s drive from the nearest house or real building and only after being absolutely sure that both Amanda’s and her own phone were turned off an out of reach did Jenny finally pull over.
“Ok, do you need to talk to me, or are you going to kill me? I’ve never seen you this nervous.”
“I just need to tell someone about this but I have to make sure no one else finds out,” Jenny said, taking a deep breath and gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her hands were white. She then turned to her friend. “Listen, I don’t know how to say this delicately, so I’ll just be blunt… Adrian and I made love last night.”
Amanda shifted through so many facial expressions so quickly that she looked like she had opened the Ark of the Covenant. She didn’t know whether to be happy for her or be horrified. Jenny just waited for Amanda to respond with a guilty look on her face.
“So… how was it?”
Jenny gained a nervous smile. “To be honest, it was better than I expected and I had really high expectations.”
Amanda was almost taken back by the response. “Really? He was good? Wow… I don’t know what to think anymore. Seriously, I can’t decide if this is luck or skill, or if you’re just trying to sabotage yourself. This is like if you got pregnant and I couldn’t tell whether to congratulate you or suggest an abortion. Speaking of which, you are on the pill right? Because you might really need to get an abortion.”
“Yes, I’m on the pill, but this is serious! I don’t know what to do!”
“Well do you regret it?”
Jenny smiled. “Not at all, it was the greatest night of my life. I just don’t know what to do now.”
“Well what happened? I need details!”
“Well my parents weren’t home when he drove me back, so I told him there was something I really needed to talk to him about. I brought him up to the bedroom and I told him that I loved him and I wanted to give him his virginity.”
“Well while I think that it’s stupid that you actually love this guy, I’m glad you had enough sense to give your virginity to someone you love.”
“At first he was really defensive, you know how he just wants to be alone… He thought it would be a really bad idea, he said that we would both regret it, he warned me that if we started a relationship it would inevitably end after a short while and we would hate each other, and he thought I was being an idiot for wanting to give his virginity to him. Finally, he told me that he would follow my wishes, but he would erase the memory of the whole night so that it would have never even existed for him.”
“How romantic,” Amanda said with sarcasm drier than the world’s greatest martini.
“I know… the build-up was less than desirable. But when he finally agreed and we had that first kiss… I’m still shivering. And then after we kissed… well I already told you that it was the greatest night of my life.”
“I got to say, that last part does sound pretty romantic. So what happened afterwards?”
“Well he got up, got dressed, and said that he had to go home. I was worried he was going to be true to his word and erase the memory, so I asked him if he enjoyed it. Instead of answering, he turned to me with the warmest smile I had ever seen and asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner tonight. I told him again that I loved him, he teased him a little, then he winked at me on the way back to his car.”
“Damn, you are good. You brought him back from the brink and made him human. So are you really going out with him tonight?”
“Well I don’t have his number so I’m assuming he’ll call me. I just hope he really will call. I know he was pretty shell-shocked afterwards and wasn’t quite in his normal state of mind, I’m worried he could crash mentally. I don’t know whether I should give him space or stay close and keep an eye on him. He went from emotionless robot that just wanted to be left alone to being physically intimate with someone that loved him. I’m actually really scared for him; his identity completely changed over the course of an hour and that’s not good for someone’s psyche.”
“Wait, over the course of an hour? Does that include…”
“No, neither of us was quite confident enough for foreplay, but there was a “transition” between kissing and the actual sex and we were intimate for over an hour.”
“Wow, he’s got some serious self-control. I have to say, I’m kind of jealous of you now.”
“Thanks, but remember, you can tell no one about this. If Adrian and I are in a relationship, then it won’t take long for people to find out. I just don’t want them to know we were intimate.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
Adrian was sitting in his bedroom with his mind set in a self-induced trance. For what he planned to do, he needed to fully work together with his subconscious. Having achieved a perfect meditative state, Adrian delved deep into his mind and created a space for his consciousness to solidify into a projection of his physical body, the same as in a dream. He constructed the background of the dream into something fitting the situation, choosing the form of a nightclub. The walls were dark purple and decorated with lit candles and the ceiling was covered in mirrors and the tiles had intricate patterns. There were no tables, just booths lining one side of the room opposite to the bar, with a small lamp dimly illuminating each one.
Adrian was sitting at the bar, looking at himself in the mirror.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I weren’t desperate, so let’s at least get this over with.”
Two copies of him appeared, sitting on the stools on his left and right. One was the embodiment of Adrian’s physical desires, an entirely separate personality that he kept locked away. The other was the embodiment of his emotions, which according to Freud, kept desires in check and applied meaning to them.
“Id, Ego… it sure has been a while.”
“Wow, you really are desperate,” Id laughed.
“Let it all out,” Ego said.
“I just have no idea what to do. What can I possibly say when I see Jenny again? I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
“Tell her that you want to screw her on every possible surface and in every possible position,” Id grunted.
“She loves you, stay with her and it won’t take long for you to have the same feelings. When you see her, I want you to wrap your arms around her, kiss her, and tell her you want to be with her,” Ego said, patting him on the back.
“You guys are completely useless, could you at least try to be unpredictable?”
“What the hell do you expect? I’m pure emotion and he’s the sum of your physical desires. You haven’t given us much to work with,” Ego replied.
“Enough talk, just rip her clothes off an fuck her!” Id yelled in impatience.
“You love her, tell her that.”
“Id, shut up. And Ego, YOU love her! That’s your job! I’m the Superego; I’m a separate personality with my own desires. I exist as my view of myself and what my identity is, and I’m not sure I want to identify myself as the guy that loves her.”
“Well did you regret rocking that tight body of hers?” Id asked.
Adrian hesitated before answering. “No, I don’t regret it, at least I’m not sure that I do. I have no idea what to do now. Do I just erase the memory as planned and go back to the way I was before and continue on to my goal of transcending the human race? Do I keep the memory and try to have a relationship with Jenny? On one hand, statistics show that our relationship would inevitably fail, but on the other… I was happy. Every aspect of my night with her was like… it was better than… I hadn’t felt so good since I walked out of the hospital and stood in the rain.
I remember everything so vividly and can’t help but go over it over and over again in my mind in an attempt to relive it; the feeling of our bodies melting in perfect harmony, the warmth and softness of her naked form pressed tightly against mine while we held each other in that sweet embrace, the way she ran her fingers through my hair when she kissed me with her rose petal-like lips, and that nearly spiritual euphoria of the simultaneous climax we shared. Just thinking of it all makes my body tremble like it did when we finally separated.
But I don’t know what to do now. Do I forget about her? Do I just go along with it and enjoy her as long as I’ll have her and try to endure the pain after it ends? Do I try to fight the odds and make the relationship work? Do I forsake my goals to be with her? I just need a voice that isn’t my own to tell me what to do. I haven’t felt confusion in years and I don’t know how to face it all. I need help, but there is no one that can help me.”
“It doesn’t matter who you get involved with, the plan must come to fruition.”
He turned around, facing another copy of himself. He was wearing a bulletproof overcoat and all of his clothes were made of Kevlar. Protruding from the back of his waist was the hilt of a weapon, hidden in its sheath that hung diagonally from his belt.
“The other half of my Superego, the symbol for my world plan. I was wondering when you would show up.”
“Id, Ego, and Superego; you divided yourself up into those three mental forms in order to help you achieve your goal of transcendence. However, I have a personal stake in this too. You created me for the sole purpose of completing your ultimate goal of changing the world,” the ominous entity muttered, staring at Adrian with those same calm steely eyes.
“Tell me something I don’t know. I’m well aware that she could get in the way of my plan and I don’t need you reminding me of that. Either give me something I can use or vanish,” Adrian cursed, wishing he hadn’t even bothered contacting his alternate personalities. For the first time, he actually wanted someone to talk to.
“Hey, we’re all you got. You’re the one that doesn’t want to have friends, remember?” Ego reminded.
Adrian’s eyes widened. “Damn it, you’re starting to respond to my thoughts. You’re reminding me that I don’t want friends while I’m regretting not having anyone else to talk to. We’ve been in contact for too long, we’re starting to merge back together. This discussion is over.”
Adrian banished Id and Ego back to the confines of his subconscious, leaving him alone with the other half of his dominant personality.
“You want my advice? Very well. Trust her. Take a risk. Should she get in your way, you can always eliminate her the way you’ve eliminated so many other traitors and obstacles. You have enough money to hire an army of subordinates and have them do anything you want them to do, anything except trust and follow you. She on the other hand is completely loyal to you, and that could greatly come in handy. If she loves you then she will follow you. Mold her into something that you can use.”
“I refuse to merely use her. She is not my subordinate. I won’t take advantage of her like that.”
“Well if anything, she can serve as both the barrier and the cushion between you and I. You are well aware that as you move forward in your plan, it will be harder and harder to separate us. To the people around you, you are Adrian Alexander, a youth focused on breaking his own physical and psychological barriers. But there are so many names for me, the commander of your legions. The question will eventually become which of us is actually the mask.
You have already killed many people, both through orders and by your own hand, and I am the prison that keeps your sins contained and protects you and the plan from your conscience. If you keep her close, then she can help you bear the sins you must commit, and she can make the transition between us easier as well as make it easier to stay separate from me.
The plan must be brought to fruition; there can be no excuses and no failure. In order to change and save this world, we must be successful. You and me, two goals, the two sides of the same coin that will act in tandem, two of multiple personalities that share this mind and work together. We can do it if we don’t let ourselves get trapped in this farce that is known as “your life”. It all comes down to what you are willing to cast aside and what you are willing to bring with you when we finally make that leap and reveal ourselves.”
The entity turned away from Adrian and slowly disappeared as the dream melted like a painting on thawing ice. Adrian opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He was back in his room and his body was sore from maintaining the meditative position. He took another deep breath, stretched, and walked over to his desk to retrieve his cell phone. This was actually the first time in years he had called someone other than his parents, clients, or subordinates. He took another deep breath and typed in the number. Adrian tried to maintain his composure as the phone rang. At home, Jenny was picking out an outfit with Amanda helping her. Both women exchanged glances when Jenny’s phone began ringing on her bedside table.
With shaky hands, she answered. “Hello?”
“Hey Jenny, it’s Adrian,” he said, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to speak.
“Hey Adrian! How are you?” she asked, instantly lit up.
“I’m good, I was wondering if you were still open for dinner tonight?”
“Of course, I’m always open for you!” Jenny replied, regretting her choice of words before she was even finished speaking.
“You sure are, slut! You sure are!” Amanda laughed.
Jenny gave her the middle finger before continuing. “I mean I wouldn’t miss it for the world. So when and where do you want to go?”
“Well I know a great restaurant in town, so how about I pick you up at six?”
“That’s perfect. I’ll meet you outside so that you won’t have to lock horns with my dad.”
“Thank you. All right, I’ll see you then.”
“Bye,” she said before hanging up.
Adrian turned off his phone and released a huge sigh of relief, while Jenny and Amanda jumped up and down and squealed in excitement.
Between hanging up and leaving, Adrian did everything he could to keep his mind preoccupied and relaxed, while always keeping an eye on the time. He worked on his laser to use up his time, he filled his body with relaxing endorphins with exercise and self-control to keep his nerves steady, and he tried to come up with dinner conversation, seeing as how he had absolutely no idea what he and Jenny would talk about. Twenty minutes before six, Adrian stepped out of the shower, got dressed, and went upstairs into the house. He stepped into the living room, where his parents were watching the news. They almost jumped in surprise at his footsteps, as he rarely came up from the basement and talked to his parents even less.
“I’m heading out, I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Adrian could see Jenny sitting on her front porch as he came up the driveway. Regardless of the dropping temperatures, she had chosen an outfit that complimented her body beautifully. She was wearing high-heeled shoes, a short black skirt that hugged her tan thighs, a large belt around her stomach, and a white top with lace around the collar. Her beautiful smile and bright eyes were fully illuminated by the setting autumn sun, with the light shining through her long blonde hair that flowed smoothly in the evening breeze. Jenny stood up and walked slowly towards the car with her hips swinging from side to side, trying to hide her excitement.
“Hi,” she whispered simply as she climbed into the car and kissed him on the cheek.
“Hello,” Adrian replied, not knowing what to say.
“So where are we going?”
“I set up a reservation at a fancy restaurant in town, I think you’ll like it.”
“How can I not?”
They locked eyes, and her smile became less ecstatic and more heartwarming. “I’m really glad you called.”
Adrian could not help but smile when he responded and said, “I’m really glad I did too.”
Dinner was awkward to say the least. They were sitting on opposite ends of a table, waiting for their food to arrive and trying to think of something to say. Adrian was tightly wrapping the corner of the white tablecloth around his fingers, trying to stay calm. While his mental balance was in turmoil, Jenny’s beautiful smile had not waned. She just looked at him with her eyes full of love as she ran her finger around the rim of her perspiring glass of iced tea. In front of him was a glass of water, already close to empty from nervous drinks. Between them was a bowl of untouched biscuits and a narrow vase with a few roses.
The restaurant was brightly lit, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and lamps set up on the walls to look like candles. Outside, the last few strands of light from the setting sun were lost in the noise barrier of trees and bushes, shielding the restaurant from the sounds of the nearby street. While the building was packed, it was very quiet, for few people were talking. Except for kids dragged by their parents, Jenny and Adrian were the youngest people in the restaurant.
Desperate to end the silence, Adrian said the first thing that came to mind to lighten the mood. “We’re on our first date and we’ve already been intimate. Normally this would be preceding a shotgun wedding,” he mused with a nervous smile.
Jenny chuckled. “You’re actually the second person to say it’s like I’m pregnant.”
“Really? Who did you tell?”
“My friend Amanda. Don’t worry, she’ll keep it a secret.”
“So… how did you sleep?” he then asked, trying to regain his conversational momentum.
Jenny blushed. “It took me forever to fall asleep. I was just so excited and in disbelief. I wish you had been able to stay, I know I would have been able to fall asleep with you holding me. Maybe we can spend the night together next time.”
“Next time…” Adrian murmured with uncertainty.
Jenny’s smile faded and worry filled her eyes. “You want to do it again, don’t you?”
“I don’t know… I’ve never been so unsure of something in my whole life. I don’t know what I want, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, and I don’t even know who I am anymore. I don’t know if I should forget my goals to be with you or end this relationship before it’s too late and try to pick up the pieces of what I strived for.”
Jenny reached forward and slipped her hand beneath his.
“Adrian, you don’t have to forsake your goals to be with me. You can still break free of the human race and the fact that you have a human lover should not hinder that fact. Besides, if you somehow can transcend to the level you seek, you will still be in a human world. My heart doesn’t have to get in the way and you and your goals, my heart can be your home when you achieve them.”
“But what possible chance do we have when nobody our age can keep a lifelong bond? To be honest, I have no faith in this relationship.”
“You’re the last person I would expect to compare us to a regular couple. Besides, you have no idea how much it warms his heart that you just said we’re in a relationship,” she said with a small chuckle, her reassurance rekindling his own smile.
The waitress showed up and gave them their food.
“Listen, let’s stop talking about such glum things. Tell me, Adrian, what do you want to do when you grow up?” she then asked with a smile and her chin resting on her hand, while using her other hand to pick up a fork-full of spaghetti.
Adrian hummed for a moment while he tried to come up with a response, stirring his soup and looking into the swirling ripples for the right answer. This was the moment, this was when he had to choose his words carefully and see how much he could truly trust Jenny.
“I have plans. You told me last night that it was people like me who have the power to change the world, well I sort have been working on it already. For years I’ve been collecting the power I would need to finally make my move.”
Jenny’s eyes widened with interest and amazement as she tried to figure out what he meant. She was suddenly remembering why she had fallen in love with him in the first place. “What you mean by that?”
“I’ll tell you later. What about you, what do you want to do?”
“I’ve always known what I want to do as an adult. I want to become a florist. I want to run my own flower shop or even a whole botanical garden. Last year, I had one of the top grades in Biology class, and it was because of how much I love plants and how interesting they are.”
Seeing the smile on her face and hearing the soft light-hearted tone in her voice filled him with warmth and made his grin widen.
“You know, you are the one person that can make me smile. I can’t remember the last time I was in such a good mood for so long.”
“Well that must be a good omen for our relationship,” Jenny said warmly.
“Then with that omen, I think I want to give this relationship a try.”
With Jenny’s hand wrapped around his, they walked out to the parking lot and climbed into his car.
“How about we go find a dark and empty parking lot?” Jenny suggested with a coy smile.
He instantly understood the meaning, but his enthusiasm was far less than hers. “No.”
A look of fear crossed Jenny’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong, I just don’t want to do it in a car. Jenny, I don’t know what my feelings are for you, but I don’t want us to be intimate like this. I want every time to be special, not just for physical enjoyment. If we do this for the hollow physical feeling, then the act looses the emotional meaning and just mirrors what everyone else feels as pointless sex. The act would loose its individuality and so would our relationship. I don’t want to insult the bond we shared last night by reenacting it for sake of pure physical desire.”
Jenny’s face was radiating with admiration. “How is it that such an emotionless robot can have such a big sentimental heart? Hold on, I have an idea.”
She then reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, quickly typing in the number. “Hey mom, Adrian is going to drop me off at Amanda’s. She is going to want a lot of details, so I think I’ll just spend the night at her house. …Ok, bye.”
She turned to him and put her hand on his thigh. “I have an alibi and a whole night to spend with the man I love.”
“So are you sure that your parents won’t notice me?” Jenny asked as they moved to the back of his house.
“Don’t worry, my parents give me complete privacy. Even if they open the door, they never even come down the stairs. We won’t be interrupted,” he said as he opened the double doors and they stepped down into his bedroom. Adrian turned on the light and went back to close the doors.
“Your bedroom is just so cool.”
He walked over to his stereo and turned it on, filling the room with calming white noise. He didn’t want any sounds to reach the rest of the house and the white noise would capture and muffle anything audible. Adrian walked over to Jenny and could feel nervousness filling his heart. Would this be as good as the first time? Would it be awkward? Was he doing the right thing by deciding to continue this relationship?
“Don’t worry, darling. You never have to be intimidated by our bond,” she whispered as she placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed herself against him. He couldn’t believe that she was able to sense his worry even through his constant melancholic expression.
“How is it that you can read me so well?”
“I can read you because I love you. Even if I’m not completely in your heart, you are in mine, and I can see into your soul with that bond.”
“My heart wants to be with you, but my mind is screaming at me to be logical. I don’t know who I am anymore and I won’t ever be able to find out once this relationship ends. I’m happy with you, but I will not able to rebuild once this bond is severed. Whatever you say to me, someone somewhere has said the same thing to the one they love and their relationship failed. How can I put faith in your words and feelings when they will falter with time? I can’t open my heart and protect myself from the future pain.
I’ve sacrificed everything to achieve my goals, and now if I make a single mistake, all that sacrifice will have been for nothing and I will be left with nothing. I will be unable to move forward or back, trapped in the shattered remains of the world that I created. I’m gambling my life on a relationship that is practically doomed to fail, but I cannot stop myself. I want to end this now, I want to erase my memories of you, and I want to go back to way things were when I knew my path in life… But just as much as I want those things, my heart will not let me do them. I don’t know what my feelings for you are, but some aspect of my consciousness will not let me abandon them. I can see myself making a mistake, but I can’t do anything to stop myself.”
Jenny moved her hands from his shoulders to his cheeks and stared deep into his eyes. “I told you that I would never love someone unless they could completely amaze me, you told me that you couldn’t break free of humans without becoming the greatest human on Earth. Adrian, you are the greatest human on Earth through my eyes. No one will ever amaze me more than you do, so I will never love anyone more than I love you. I know you don’t trust the human race and you have no faith in relationships, but we are not all failures. If you were able to become what all humans were meant to be, then maybe our bond can become as strong as all others were meant to be. Statistics don’t control their fates, we do!”
“No, we don’t. Our futures are out of our control. We only do what time tells us to do and statistics allow us to see into time.”
“They are only that, statistics! Reality and time doesn’t only bend to probability and patterns. The world isn’t just data and possibility, and even with all the data in the world, there are things that not even you can predict! If there is one person you can have faith in, it’s me. If there is one bond you can have faith in, it’s ours. Use your mind to see the world and use your heart to change it. You don’t need to prepare for the end of the relationship if your will is strong enough to protect it.”
Jenny then pressed her lips against his and they maintained that sweet embrace for several seconds. They began to slowly and gently pull off each other’s clothes, while refusing to end the kiss for even a moment. With their lips still touching, Adrian swept Jenny off her feet and she pressed her hand against the center of his chest. Holding her beautiful naked frame in his arms, he carried her to the bed and laid her down.
Jenny took her top off after several minutes, showing her full teenage breasts, which were barely being held by the red lace bra. Adrian reached behind her back and unclasped the bra hook, letting the red lingerie slip off her. His hormonal side had smashed through the psychological barrier and had shoved his rational mind aside, and indulged his desires by licking Jenny’s round tits, causing her to gasp and hum in bliss.
As he sucked on her nipples, he moved his hand down and unfastened her skirt. She slowly pushed them down her smooth thighs, along with her panties.
“Adrian, I want you to lick me, I’ve always wanted to know what it feels like,” she said as her whole body trembled in arousal.
“As you wish,” he said dryly.
She looked into his eyes and gained a warm smile, apparently seeing something within him, regardless of his empty tone. “So you are human after all.”
He silently crouched down as she spread her legs, showing him her pussy. He held his face just inches the soft lips, which were already wet with arousal. His primal hormonal side was savoring the fruity aroma and the proximity. He experimentally reached out with his tongue and brought it up between the wet lips, causing her to arch her back and moan in ecstasy. The taste of her juices was a very peculiar one, both bitter and sweet.
He gave a broad lick, thoroughly enjoying the taste and feel of her lips on his tongue. He worked in a rhythm, exploring her hot wet insides as much as he could with my limited reach. Jenny was gripping the edges of the bed, giving a continuous high-pitched moan and blushing all over.
“Oh god, Adrian! You’re driving me crazy!”
He stood up and undressed, standing over Jenny. He gripped my erect manhood and guided it to her pussy, slowly pushing it in. Jenny emitted a crystal-clear chime, like that of a bell. With his hands on her hips, I began moving back and forth in a steady pattern, sending his cock deep inside her. With the two of them perpendicular, he was able to get great penetration, thrusting his cock all the way in and give her unparalleled euphoria.
Strangely, Jenny seemed much more calm than before. She had a look of sleepy bliss on her face, only giving the softest of coos with each thrust. Her eyes were closed and she was gently running her fingertips along her smooth skin, almost as if she was just waking up from a nap. It almost looked like the ecstasy that had stimulated her body before was now relaxing it, almost like a massage.
Deciding to go further, Adrian reached down and picked her up with his hands beneath her back. Surprised and unbalanced, Jenny wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He fully held her up off the bed, using only his arms to bring her up and down on his cock. Just from being in his arms, Jenny knew that Adrian was far stronger than he looked. In truth, she was light as a pillow to him. Jenny had a tired smile on her base and was blushing as he moved her.
“I love you, Adrian,” she said tenderly as she ran her fingers through his hair.
In reply, he held her up against the wall, and reawakened by the resulting thrust, Jenny reached up and held onto a pipe above her head for dear life. She resumed her hymn of moans as he used the angle to probe a new corner of her pussy, relishing the feeling of her hot wet insides. Everything on the wall rattled with each thrust as he put every drop of strength he had into satisfying her. Nearly an hour later, Jenny’s stamina was on the verge of giving out. They were back on the bed, this time in cowgirl position, and while Adrian was still full of energy, Jenny looked like she was about to pass out.
“Adrian, I’m going to cum,” she panted.
Using the springs in the mattress to take the burden off her, Adrian began thrusting upwards at top speed, sending his cock into her as hard and fast as possible. Finally, they both had a simultaneous orgasm, just the last in a long line, and once again soaking each other in DNA. Jenny collapsed on top of him, gasping for air but continuing to run her tongue and lips across his scars. Her long blonde hair was stretched across his face, and every breath he took brought with it the sweet smell of her perfume and sawdust from the table. They were pressed together to the point where they could feel each other’s heartbeats, and their combined body heat was as intense as a furnace.
As Adrian’s erection lost its luster, so did his Id’s control over his body. It slowly went back to sleep, returning power to his logical mind. With his semi-hard dick still inside her, Jenny pushed herself up, her hair hanging down around her angelic face. She had one of the warmest and sweetest smiles he had ever seen, and her eyes seem to glow as she gently ran her fingers through his hair.
“I love you, Adrian,” Jenny whispered as she put her hand on the center of his chest and felt his heartbeat. Adrian did not give a reply, for he did not know what to say.
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell me you love me. I know you’re confused; I sure was before I knew that I loved you. Take all the time you need to figure everything out, I will never run out of patience.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me, just hold me,” she said before kissing him and rolling on her side. He wrapped his arm around her and held her close with her warm back against his chest and the smell of her hair filling his senses. It would have been perfect, but Adrian could feel a headache forming.
Jenny and Adrian walked out of the parking lot and towards the entrance of the school. It was the first day of the new semester and their schedules had changed. Both of them were nervous.
“So should we just wait until after school to be together or is there some sort of protocol? I don’t want our relationship to be a secret, but neither do I want us to be one of those idiot couples that stand in the hall and make out to display to everyone. You know, they act like going to separate classes is such an impossible distance and length of time for them to be apart and just jump all over each other after class because being away from each other for an hour is “such a strain on their love”.”
Jenny burst into laughter as they walked through the front door. “I hate those exhibitionists too. They always act like Romeo and Juliet because classes are keeping them apart, and then just show off their relationship in the hall while acting like they don’t care what people think. How about we go back to the way we were before, but with one small difference…”
She then gave him a very quick and modest kiss. It was not a regular, teenage, over-exaggerative “I’ll be counting the seconds while you’re gone” kiss, but a simple “have a nice day, honey” kiss. Everyone that saw them gasped in disbelief, unable to process the sight of a cold emotionless recluse kissing one of the most popular girls in school. Just his reputation as Adroid made it impossible to accept; everyone figured he would be dead before he entered a relationship.
“Ok, I’ll see you later,” Jenny said with a smile before walking off to her new first-period class.
“Bye,” Adrian said with a smile of his own as he walked off in the opposite direction, leaving people to gawk at what they had seen.
Throughout the day, Adrian was on his phone at every opportunity, not for work, but to study. He was looking up relationship tips and advice on how to interact with romantic partners. Academically, he has mastered the study of human psychology, but now he needed a crash course on casual human contact.
“I’m not going to be in school tomorrow, I have to meet with my clients,” Adrian said as he zoomed through his math homework.
“Oh, you’re going to sell one of your inventions?” Jenny asked with excitement as she worked on her science work next to him. Jenny was in his room, the two of them doing homework before they could switch into relationship mode.
“Yep, I finally finished it, tested it, and I’m ready to sell the designs. Let me show you what this thing can do.”
Adrian reached under his desk and pulled out the finished creation. It was a surgical laser, as large as a remote control, and could easily be held with one hand. In the back of the base was a plug for an extension cord, and the nozzle was focused into an adjustable cone shape. It used inductors made of gold leaf to increase the charge supplied by the cord, making it capable of cutting through steel with the power of a standard wall socket.
Adrian plugged an extension cord into the base of the laser and then secured a pencil into the brace of his workbench. He held the laser steady, set it to a low level, and activated it, sending an invisible beam of light that sliced through the pencil like a blowtorch through paper. Jenny gaped in amazement.
“That was the low setting. A higher setting could let me cut through metal. With all the clients I’ll sell it off to, I estimate I’ll be able to make thirty million dollars and still keep the prototype.”
“Wait, THIRTY MILLION?!” Jenny exclaimed.
“Technology like this is worth a lot, depending on who you sell it to. Yeah, I already have well over a hundred million dollars in my bank account now from all of my inventions. In fact, I even offered to buy my parents a mansion with all the money I make, but they said they didn’t want to be even farther from me than they already were.” In truth, that one bank account was pocket change compared to the combined profits of all of his corporations.
Jenny gained a coy smile, walked over, and sat down on his lap. She leaned down and gave him a small kiss. “You’re smart, strong, handsome, sentimental, rich, and you can read my body like brail. I swear, my friends have been asking me all day why I’m with you, but I don’t dare tell them because they’ll all try to seduce you. Maybe when Spring Break comes, the two of us could go on a romantic vacation, maybe the Bahamas?”
“Maybe,” Adrian said simply. He turned his attention to the clock. “I have to get you home, I don’t want your dad to kick down my front door.”
Jenny gave a sad laugh and kissed him again. She stood up but he didn’t.
“Adrian?” she asked when he didn’t get out of his chair.
“There is something I want to show you.”
Jenny raised one of her eyebrows as Adrian walked over to his bed and pulled two metal cases out from under it. One looked like it was used to hold a billiards cue while the other was a metal briefcase, both of which were sealed with six-digit combination locks.
“Machines and inventions aren’t the only thing I build down here. There is a class of metalwork that I specialize in: the forging of weapons,” he said as he opened the two cases.
Lying in the briefcase were twenty metal shivs, all eight inches long and as thick as pencils. The tips were as sharp as needles and the slope from end to end was flawlessly straight. There were handle grooves near the base of each shiv, but other than that, there wasn’t a single mark in the metal. They could be used as daggers and thrown like darts. Sitting in a bed of velvet was a meter-long spike, like a pool cue, made of steel, titanium, and several powerful metals, all blended together into a whole new metal compound. It had been made with more skill and precision than the blacksmiths who forged Japanese Katanas. The shaft was sloped at a flawless angle and was perfectly straight from end to end. The tip was sharp enough to draw blood with the slightest touch, but so powerful that it would never break or dull, no matter how it was used on or how much strain was put on it. The whole weapon was more durable than a nuclear flask and would stand the test of time.
Jenny stared into the two cases with both fear and amazement.
“This lance and these darts are weapons I’ve created merely out of hobby and fascination. While they can be used for self-defense, I built them mostly as an art form. I focused them on an icicle-shaped spike instead of a blade, because I think that the unconventional weapon design fits his personality best.”
He picked up one of the darts and threw it at a target board on the far wall, striking the very center with little effort. Even without fins to keep it steady in the air like a regular dart or arrow, the shiv was able to fly as straight as a laser beam and strike the intended target without missing by a single centimeter.
“You know, many people would be concerned with the idea of someone like you making these weapons.”
“I have no reason to use these on other people. The action would serve no purpose and only create meaningless pain and cause negative consequences. I create these to act as merely hand-made trophies and concealed self-defense tools. The spike form represents their difference to traditional bladed weapons, much like my difference to other people. The only ones who have anything to fear from these weapons are those who mean me harm. Plus, it’s not like I’m going to bring them to school with me.”
“These are really incredible, Adrian. How did you make them?” Jenny asked with amazement as she picked up the lance. It was quite heavy, but with it’s weight came unbelievable durability.
“I forge them with automatic hammers and then cut them into shape with lasers. However, the metal I use is far greater than any other known to man.”
“What do you mean?”
“These are all made of an incredibly powerful metal I have developed. I call it Demium.”
“Demium?”
“As in demigods. All metal workers dream of someday creating or working with an alloy that is virtually indestructible, just like in science-fiction movies. In truth, nothing is indestructible, only immune to specific layers and means of destruction. However, Demium is the closest you can get to immunity to all physical damage. If indestructibility is a god-like level for metal, then Demium is the demigod of all metals. Being its creator, I’ve personally tested it to its breaking point, and I can attest to its durability. The tip of this lance, which is as sharp as a needle and thin as a nail, I could use it to carve through several blocks of concrete and none of the sharpness would be lost.”
“But how did you form this metal?”
“By planning out and simulating how the atoms would bond, I was able join together the most powerful elements together into a crystal lattice structure that would be unparalleled in its strength. By figuring out the exact structure of the molecules and the number of atoms needed to create as many of these molecules as possible, I was able to calculate the exact mass required of each individual ingredient. The key to producing Demium is to know that once it is achieved, its melting point skyrockets.
Having discovered this, I melted all the ingredients together and mixed them into one smelting container. After that, it was all a matter of waiting and watching while the atoms and molecules moved around in the molten metal stew and bonded together and split over and over again. As more and more Demium was formed, you would see small clumps of the metal floating around in the molten mixture, completely immune to the heat. Once I had enough pure Demium, I extracted it and hammered out any weaknesses, then finished with a laser-lathe.
Unfortunately, this lance and all of these darts are far from perfect. Not even my eyes can see the minute flaws before its too late to fix them, and the melting method I use does not guarantee 100% pure Demium. It seems that until technology evolves to the point where we can manipulate atoms and molecules themselves, these are the best I can achieve.”
“Why do you choose to create this shape? A simple spike without a hilt, guard, or blade?”
“It mirrors my personality. I find blades to be too flashy. You don’t need three feet of flopping metal with a sharp edge to get the job done; you only need a single sharp point. The simple spike shape signifies pure desire to do what is required, and not waste a single moment or ounce of energy. Handles are for weaklings without strong hands, guards mess up the weapon’s balance and aerodynamics, and blades just create messy slashes.
Weapons reflect the soul of their wielder, and I can’t find a traditional weapon that fits me. I don’t like Katanas because they are too imbued with Asian culture; anyone with a Katana is merely a samurai wannabe. I also don’t like the curve of the blade; it looks wrong and it shows the curve in a person’s train of thought. I don’t like rapiers and sabers because they are not nearly strong enough. Sure they can stab, but they have pitiful blades and they bend and warp under pressure, something that the wielder must not do. I don’t like broadswords, because as the name implies, they are too broad. They are too bold and flashy with the size of their blade and the elegance of their guard. Besides, broadswords are double-edged, and those who prefer double-edged weapons have double-edged minds, something that disrupts goals and mental balance. I don’t like machetes because they are too exotic, cliché, and improper. It’s a tool that is intended for hacking through foliage, it is way too obvious of a weapon—not to mention its existence in movies, and the blade is too short and improperly curved for accurate damage. Axes are too blunt and barbaric, with the energy involved in using it erratic to say the least. I don’t really like any bladed weapons, because along with the metal, the soul of the wielder favors one direction. Blades are inefficient, and their poor direction and messy results are mirrored in the soul of their wielder.
Most of all, I don’t like guns. True, it takes a lot of talent and skill to able to use a gun properly and have good aim, but the action of firing a bullet takes away the real skill. It distances you from your enemy, less of an attempt to protect your psyche than to make you seem less guilty. When you use guns, your strength isn’t measured in will power, physical dexterity, or spirit; your strength is measured in the size of your bullets.
A lance or a dart is like an elegant bullet, and it reflects your unstoppable desires. With a lance, you don’t care about flashiness, the thrill of combat, or your reputation; you only care about your goals and the fastest way to them. You aren’t going to slash and chop your enemies to get past them. You’re going to go straight for the kill because they are obstacles in your path that must be removed for you to reach your goals. A lance doesn’t have any distractions in the form of an edge, just like its wielder shouldn’t.”
But while Adrian spoke, the lie he had told did not sit well with him. In truth, he had used these weapons before, several times. When dealing with his factions growing in the third-world countries, there were occasions when he had to act in the real world, and not from behind a phone or computer. During times like those, violence was always no more than one wrong word away. In the dozens of firefights he had been in, no fist, bullet, or blade had ever struck him, and no enemy had ever survived.
“Ah, Mr. Alexander, come in,” Adrian’s client said as he stepped into his office.
His name was Mr. Lamar, an Indian immigrant and the CEO of one of he greatest engineering companies in New England, however, he was not one of Adrian’s puppet figureheads. Adrian shook his hand and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. There was a large bay window behind Lamar’s desk, two long rows of cabinets along the walls, and a leather couch with a glass coffee table in the back corner. The walls and cabinets were covered in pieces of art, pictures from office parties, and business awards.
“I trust that your newest project is complete? What do you have to show me today?” he asked with his thick Indian accent.
“I’ll let you try to figure it out for yourself. I’ll give you a hint: once it’s plugged in, I only have to push this button here and I could kill you,” Adrian said non-threateningly as he pulled the device out of his coat pocket and set it down on the desk, pointing towards Lamar.
He stirred uncomfortably in his chair at his words. “Is this really…?”
“Yes, it is a handheld laser. It can either be set so low that it is on par with a child’s laser pointer or set so high that it can carve through the hood of a car with ease. If you would like to see it in action, choose something in this office you are ok with losing and I will show you what it can do.”
Trying to maintain his poker face, Lamar pointed to a large ceramic vase in the corner of the room. With his target in mind, Adrian plugged the laser into a floor outlet and raised the level of its output. He pointed it at the vase and held down the firing button. Without anything in the air to reflect the light, the high-powered beam of energy was invisible to the human eye. A burn mark appeared on the surface, and with a quick slash of the laser, the entire vase shattered from the beam thermally cracking the ceramic.
“How much do you want for it?” Lamar asked cautiously.
“Ten million for the blueprints.”
“That is completely absurd!”
“Fine. If you don’t want it, I’ll sell it to someone else. This is revolutionary technology with applications in engineering, surgery, and mere entertainment. You could make billions with this before the end of the year.”
Lamar gave a sigh of frustration. “Very well, the money will be deposited in your bank account by tomorrow. But how can I be sure that you will give me the designs?” he asked, hiding his face behind his tented fingers.
While Adrian’s face maintained its normal cold scowl, his voice gained a smug tone. “Because I need you. You of course know that I have more clients. People will pay a lot of money to own the first of something, but they’ll pay even more when they see that other people have it. I’m counting on the competition between you and other companies to increase the demand. This is a win-win situation: you can compete with other companies with his machinery and I get more money from those companies. Everyone wins and everyone gets rich. You’ll get the blueprints when I get my money.”
“I can’t believe I’m getting extorted by a punk-kid like you,” his second client said.
They were having a business lunch in the most expensive restaurant in town. Unlike the restaurant he took Jenny to, there was a band playing classical music in the background at all times. Adrian would have taken Jenny here, but he simply couldn’t find anything on the menu that was appealing. His second client was younger than the first, just over twice Adrian’s age, but his hairline was already starting to recede. He was taking out his frustration on a glass a shrimp cocktail.
“Get over it. If your engineers deserved even half of the money you paid them, they would be able to build machines like these,” Adrian said coldly as he put the laser back in his pocket and replaced it with a CD.
“All of the blueprints, designs, and instructions are on this disk. Once I get his money, you get the disk. Remember, ten million dollars,” he said as he stood up and walked out of the restaurant.
Adrian deactivated the laser and put down the sheet of paper. He had written his name on it in cursive with a continuous burn mark, but the singe was so light that it hadn’t even cut through the other side.
“Far more delicate work than a scalpel. Imagine the possible uses in surgery this thing would have: cleaner incisions, flawless cauterizations instead of stitches, and the ability to separate flesh from muscle without slicing and dicing,” he said to his third client.
He was a very wealthy businessman that was on the board of directors of every hospital in the state and was the CEO of a pharmaceutical company. His office was smaller than Lamar’s, with wood-paneled walls and vast bookcases of medical textbooks. The window blinds were only letting in a small amount of sunlight.
“Jack, if you can get it now, then you can hire other engineers to replicate it and you won’t have to buy it from the other companies for a lot more.”
“And I can’t convince you to go less than ten million?”
“A single MRI machine costs just a fraction of that.”
“Very well, deliver the blueprints once you confirm you have been paid.”
“Pleasure doing business with you.”
As Adrian left the building, his phone began to ring.
“Hello?”
“This is Leman, sir. I’ve found the man you’re looking for.”
“Good, continue to monitor him, and make sure he knows that disobedience will mean death.”
