Walking through the alleys of the slum was like crossing a jungle of concrete and neon, where chaos was the only law. The uneven steps of the makeshift stairs creaked under my feet, and the smell of burnt oil, smoke, and sour food saturated the air.
I climbed a few metal stairs, jumped over low walls covered in graffiti and barbed wire, and crossed alleys where suspicious glances followed every move I made. At one point, I passed a group of heavily armed drug dealers. One of them, a burly guy with an e-cigarette in his mouth and a tattoo covering his face, raised his chin in my direction.
"What's up, doc," he said, in a casual tone, but with a gleam of respect in his eyes.
"What's up," I replied with a brief nod, maintaining my pace. It wasn't the time for socializing, and they knew that.
After crossing the last few meters, I finally arrived at my destination: a garage that stood out from the other buildings with its brutal and functional appearance. The metal walls were marked by scratches and bullet impacts, but still seemed as solid as a fortress. In the center, above the entrance, stood my faithful sentinel: a machine-gun with level F artificial intelligence.
It wasn't exactly sophisticated, but it was efficient enough to track movements, identify threats, and turn invaders into Swiss cheese. And the bodies scattered around the garage were proof of that. Some were charred, indicating they had tried to pass through the electric barrier covering the floor and walls. The smell of burnt flesh mixed with oil and metal was nauseating to many – but I was already used to it.
I sighed, irritated by the sight of the bodies. "Idiots..." I muttered, before opening my terminal. With a few quick gestures in the air, I typed the necessary commands to deactivate the electric barrier. The faint buzzing that had permeated the environment ceased, and the energy dissipated.
The machine-gun turned in my direction for a brief moment, but soon returned to its resting position. The AI recognized my ID and, as expected, didn't consider me a threat.
As I crossed the threshold, something caught my attention. Right in the center of the garage gate, there was a large irregular hole, as if something – or someone – had exploded or cut a path inside.
"What?" I murmured, my mind immediately starting to calculate the possibilities. I moved forward at a run, my heart racing, but my steps still firm.
"Shit... Did some high-level thief decide to rob me today?" My voice sounded more like a growl than a lament.
As I passed through the damaged gate and entered the garage, I stopped abruptly. The sight that awaited me was enough to keep me silent for a moment as I surveyed the environment.
The garage was an organized chaos, like a mechanical temple where every piece, tool, and system had a clear purpose in my mind, but seemed like pandemonium to anyone who didn't share my genius.
Metal shelves lined the walls, cluttered with parts of flying car engines, deactivated robotic arms, circuit boards, and drone fragments. The floor was covered with scattered wires, springs, screws, and other small items that would make any technician lose their way in an instant.
In the center of the garage, a nuclear coil glowed with pulsating blue energy, safely powering the space. It emitted a low and constant hum, blending with the occasional sound of holographic screens flashing codes and graphs, all indicating active processes.
From the ceiling, drones of various models hung, some in maintenance and others ready for use. Tools like hammers, wrenches, and soldering irons were scattered across makeshift workbenches, while a large table at the back of the garage displayed a detailed hologram of my ongoing project – the prototype of a new android that would be completed with the source code I bought.
However, the whole environment carried a metallic and slightly oily smell, mixed with the scent of burnt flesh from the traps around. And it was there, caught between electrocuted wires and the security tangle I had designed myself, that I found the last person I expected to see: Label, the Rebel Princess.
Some bodies were scattered on the floor, torn apart and unrecognizable by the garage's automatic traps. Armed men who had clearly underestimated the level of security in the place. But Label was alive, her hands and ankles tied, her legs spread in a way that revealed her pink underwear, a detail that made me raise an eyebrow as I fought against disconnected thoughts. Her skirt was torn, and her face visibly nervous, she looked at me as she tried to force a nervous smile.
"Label? What the hell is going on? Why are you here?" I asked, the anger evident in my voice as I approached.
She squirmed in her restraints, trying to straighten her posture. "Hello, Eclivel. It's not what you think..."
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment. My sharp mind quickly began piecing the puzzle together. The link she provided had been infected. Of course. It wasn't just any virus, but something sophisticated, likely the work of another scientist from the Scientific League, sold to Label. The goal was clear: steal information from my personal database. I was sure she also wanted the data from the androids that were almost ready.
I opened my eyes and stared at her, a cynical smile appearing on my lips. "You damn bitch. You dared to try to steal from me? Infect my system with a virus?"
"Eclivel, please..." she began to say, her voice filled with fear.
But I didn't let her finish. "And where's your daddy? He should be here, protecting his precious daughter, right? Or did he leave you to fend for yourself?"
Label visibly shuddered, as if the words were sharp darts. "Eclivel, forgive me. I was arrogant. We can negotiate. If you let me go, I'll return your credits. How about that?"
I crossed my arms, frowning as I continued to assess the situation. The signal jammer in her garage was efficient. If she was still there, it was because she hadn't been able to communicate with anyone outside, not even with her powerful gangster father.
I approached her, a devilish smile slowly forming on my lips. My mind, always logical and focused, was momentarily overtaken by darker, more personal thoughts.
'You know...' I began, my voice low and loaded. 'I've always liked you. I've always thought your body... very tasty. Maybe you should pay me in other ways.'
I swallowed hard as my eyes scanned Label's delicate face. With a controlled movement, I touched her face, feeling her soft skin under my fingers. I removed her glasses, revealing a pair of bright green eyes that stared at me with a mix of fear and anger.
'Beautiful eyes,' I murmured, leaning in slightly. My mind was conflicted. Part of me was still processing the consequences of it all—the virus, the attempted invasion, the dead men—but another part was completely consumed by an obsession I had never admitted before.
The garage was plunged into a tense silence as Label's words echoed. I looked at her, her green eyes staring at me in surprise and perhaps something more. "Wait a moment?" she said, frowning in disbelief. "Did you just say what? That I'm hot?"
I took a deep breath, trying to maintain my composure as I removed my glasses, revealing my intense blue eyes. I ran my fingers through my blonde hair, an almost involuntary gesture, but one that seemed to carry a heavier weight at that moment. "Yes," I said, my voice low but firm. "I've always thought you were a beautiful woman."
Label's eyes fixed on mine, now without any technological barrier between us. It was the first time we were truly seeing each other, face to face, without the glasses that had always hidden something from both of us. For a moment, silence took over again, but it was a charged silence, almost tangible.
I noticed the slight shiver that passed through her, her cheeks lightly flushing as she glanced away for a second, but she quickly returned to look at me with a mischievous smile on her lips. "If you let me go, we could start dating. How about it?"
A smile formed on my face as I moved away from her, crossing the room toward one of the screens on the wall. "Dating?" I repeated, my voice laced with irony as I pressed a few commands on the holographic terminal. A compartment in the wall opened, and from it, small cleaning androids began to emerge, designed to deal with the mess and carnage around.
"Girl..." I continued, watching the robots work with surgical precision on the mutilated bodies of the men who had tried to invade my garage. "Do you know how long I've thought about and dreamed of you?"
She remained silent for a moment, simply watching me. Label knew the power she held over others. Growing up as the daughter of a wealthy gangster, she was a symbol of beauty and status, especially in a chaotic district like this. She wasn't the only beautiful woman around here, but she was the only one who, somehow, always seemed closer to me, orbiting my life in unexpected ways.
She knew my mind was racing, evaluating all possibilities, all scenarios. And she also knew that I wouldn't let her leave easily, not without something being resolved between us.
"My father can give you what you want..." she said, her voice taking on a sweeter, almost seductive tone. "I'm sure you could have everything you wanted if you let me get in touch with him. How about it?"
I chuckled softly, shaking my head. "You really think I'm going to fall for that?" I turned to her, crossing my arms as I stared at her intensely. "Label, you tried to steal from me. You infected my system. And now you're trying to convince me that your father, the same man who probably allowed this invasion, is going to give me what I want?"
She bit her lip, visibly uncomfortable, but still maintaining a confident posture. "Eclivel, you know my father values people like you. He doesn't need another powerful enemy. He prefers allies. And I... I can be the bridge for that."
I stepped closer to her, leaning in slightly so our faces were near. "You know what I think?" I whispered. "I think you're desperate. And when people get desperate, they start making promises they can't keep."
She tried to pull away, but the restraints held her firmly. "Eclivel, I..."
"Shhh." I held up a finger, silencing her. "Now you are mine.... and before you go back to your daddy, I mean... My father-in-law! I will use you as my delicious sperm deposit."
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