Chapter 109: Got You
About an hour later, Lily woke up. Her wrists and angles were strapped to a chair, which appeared to have a large glass back.
‘What are you doing to me?’ asked Lily in a groggy tone.
‘I have invited you to feast with me,’ replied Pardi as he placed a plate of beans and rice on the table in front of Lily.
‘I don’t really eat this sort of food,’ said Lily.
‘We are in an emergency shelter. We are not eating at the Prime Sape,’ said Pardi sarcastically as he walked over to a side table.
Lily angrily stared at Pardi.
‘While you snoozed, I helped dress you up for this meal,’ said Pardi as he picked up a mirror and walked back to Lily. He held up the mirror so that Lily could look at herself.
‘You did a good job,’ said Lily. ‘Still, I would have preferred a pale pink dress. White is not my colour.’
‘I think you look absolutely beautiful,’ said Pardi.
‘If I’m going to eat, you will need to untie my wrists,’ said Lily.
‘Fair enough,’ replied Pardi.
He walked over to Lily and untied her wrists. Pardi walked over to the side table and picked up a plate of beans and rice for himself. He sat down opposite Lily.
‘How do I know this food isn’t drugged or poisoned?’ asked Lily.
Pardi smiled and said, ‘Okay, let’s swap plates then.’
‘No, I won’t eat then,’ said Lily. ‘I know you are up to something horrible.’
‘I can do anything I want to you, and there is nothing you can do about it,’ said Pardi.
‘Go on. Do your worst,’ said Lily angrily.
Pardi shook his head. ‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ said Pardi. ‘That would be foolish.’
‘Underestimating me would be even more foolish,’ said Lily.
‘I think I’ve made that mistake before,’ said Pardi as he rose from his seat and approached Lily.
‘You are the first Sapien I have ever respected,’ said Pardi as he ran his hand through Lily’s hair.
‘I don’t mean to be unpleasant, but I have no respect for you at all,’ said Lily.
‘So no more politics,’ said Pardi. ‘You are just going to be honest with me.’
‘You’re not worth the effort,’ said Lily.
‘I want to wake up and see you every single day for the rest of my life,’ said Pardi.
‘Untie me, and I can arrange that for you,’ said Lily with a grin.
‘I love your humour almost as much as I love your beautiful face and hourglass body,’ replied Pardi.
‘Is this some kind of weird new torture?’ Lily said sarcastically.
‘I would just like to have a pleasant conversation with you while your head heals,’ said Pardi. ‘It seems to be healing very quickly.’
‘The benefits of a healthy lifestyle,’ said Lily.
‘The benefits of 19CE,’ said Pardi.
Pardi got up and walked over to his stereo system. ‘If I can’t entertain you with food or drink, how about some music?’ said Pardi as he turned it on.
‘How about you put me in front of your computers so I can watch your security streams?’ proposed Lily. ‘Then, you go outside and dance with the Sentray.’
‘Would love to, but the cameras are all destroyed,’ replied Pardi.
Pardi began dancing around the room with himself.
Pardi danced for about ten minutes. After that, he walked over to the stereo and changed the music to classical.
‘Seriously, what now?’ asked Lily in a frustrated tone.
‘Now for your moment of glory,’ said Pardi.
‘Finally, just kill me and get it over with,’ said Lily angrily.
‘I’m not going to kill you,’ said Pardi firmly. ‘I’m going to do the exact opposite. I’m going to immortalise you.’
Pardi walked behind Lily. He inserted two poles into the armrests of the seat, one on each side. He grabbed Lily’s left arm and tied it to the pole on her left side. He did the same with the right arm, but to the pole on her right. The right arm was positioned higher than the left.
‘Would you mind pointing your index fingers upwards?’ asked Pardi.
‘You’re a complete nut,’ replied Lily angrily.
‘It’s okay. That’s not essential,’ said Pardi. ‘Now let the fun begin.’
Pardi walked over to a control station just to Lily’s left. He pressed a button. The seat of the chair Lily was sitting on became vertical. This forced her into a standing position.
‘Stop this now,’ demanded Lily.
‘You look angry. This won’t do,’ said Pardi. He walked away.
Lily started to struggle to get free. Pardi returned with a needle. He injected Lily in the face. He then began tickling her. It was not long before she was paralysed.
‘Love the facial expression,’ said Pardi. ‘Your eyes are still a little angry, but it’ll do.’
Behind the glass back was the glass front. Pardi pulled it around to the front. Now Lily was fully enclosed in a glass case.
‘I hope you like it,’ said Pardi.
Lily was unable to respond. Pardi smiled.
Under the seat was a tube. Pardi pressed a button at the control station. Exceptionally cold air was pumped into the glass case.
‘I designed this for myself,’ said Pardi. ‘I intended to freeze myself until there were cures for all the ailments I might have in my later years. That, of course, is no longer necessary. I think it will be perfect for preserving you for, well, forever. Since you took 19CE, the freezing process won’t be enough to kill you. This scalar generator over here ensures you have an infinite power supply.’
‘I have made you immortal,’ declared Pardi as he raised up his arms.
At this point, Lily was completely frozen. Pardi walked over to his stereo. He changed the classical music to heavy metal. He turned the volume up to maximum.
Meanwhile, two Sentray had climbed to where they saw the helicopter enter Pardi’s mountain facility. They had begun bashing on the entrance and exit hatch. Pardi could not hear them over the sound of his music.
After continuous bashing, the two Sentray smashed the hatch in. One Sentray jumped inside. She landed hard on top of the helicopter, smashing in the propeller and crushing the roof.
Pardi heard them this time. He ran over to the stereo to turn it off. He heard the loud roar of the Sentray. She started smashing through the interior of the facility to get to him. The exterior structure was incredibly strong, but the internal walls and ceiling were not. Pardi had no choice but to leave the facility.
Pardi became invisible. He crawled through a small, reinforced front door. The mother of the Sentray he had experimented on was still waiting outside the front of his hideout. The Sentray inside saw Pardi before he became invisible. She called out to the mother on the outside.
Pardi moved very slowly, so as not to be heard. The mother was aware of the exit he came out of and moved close to it. She sniffed the air. She had picked up his scent. Pardi was moving towards a ladder built into the mountain to make his escape. The mother moved closer to him. Pardi put his foot on a rung, but it made a creaking sound. The mother heard it. She hooked her claw on the ladder and ripped off several rungs.
Pardi fell backwards onto the ground. She knew exactly where he was now. She roared at him. Pardi quickly got to his feet to run, but she grabbed him. She shook him hard. Pardi became visible again.
She leaned back and roared loudly. This was a different-sounding roar than before. The other Sentray in the Capital Region repeated the same roar. The Sentray on the outside of the Capital Region also repeated this roar. It was as if they were sending a message to each other.
Pardi just gazed at the enormous Sentray that was holding him. He did not speak or struggle. The mother Sentray, raised Pardi in the air above her head. Pardi closed his eyes. He knew his life was over. He did not feel fear. He felt a strange form of relief. He felt the anger and hatred depart from his body.
The mother Sentray pulled Pardi towards her mouth. She bit him in half. She ate his top half, and then his bottom half.
The Sentray began to leave the Capital Region. The mother Sentray, and the two others with her climbed down the mountain. Lily was left frozen inside the case, and the power supply was undisturbed.
The Sentray on the outside of the region ran alongside the train tracks. They were repeating the cry the mother had made. Within a short time, the Sentray had completely left the Capital Region.
Yassme and Yassmay were now running the pizzeria. They watched the last of the Sentray leave.
Yassmay sniffed the pizza she had just made. ‘I don’t understand. It smells so nice,’ she said, sounding a little disappointed.
Yassme grabbed a slice. ‘Yum, it tastes good too,’ said Yassme. ‘Who said you can’t have sliced bananas on a pizza?’
The twins looked at each other and giggled. ‘More for us then,’ they both said together.
The survivors that were hiding eventually emerged from their hiding places. Many of them were injured, but there was no functioning medical facility to attend to them. This did not bode well for the Linap. Most of them had quite serious health conditions.