Malleus Maleficarum 2.2 – Part 5

​Malleus Maleficarum 2.2 – Part 5
 
 AKA:  Hammer of Witches 2.2 - Part 5
 
 
     “There’s a time to be humble and a time to “bring the thunder”.”  Jim Knight

 
 Emma...
 
“How many rapes do you reckon you’ve watched?  Come on,” she prodded the crowd.  “How many have your sons’ unwittingly been forced to see in stories directed especially at them?  And how many of them have had someone to talk to about it?  About rape, and what it means to be a man these days?”
 
The crowd was silent.  Though they all knew these were not hypothetical questions.  Theses were real questions that demanded real answers, at least if you were serious about becoming a responsible parent these days.
 
“How do we protect our children when Batman and Spiderman feature rape as entertainment for kids?  How do we protect our girls when the only high-paid women in the spotlight are the ones willing to sell their sexuality?  For how much longer are we going to let the focus of the media drive our kids to murder and suicide, just so men like Keanu Reeves can keep selling bullets and guns?”
 
Again, the crowd was silent.  Because most didn’t want to hear they had some part to play in the society they loathed.  Even though they all knew they did.  Every single one of them.  Just as every person alive was responsible for the lack of morals in our society.  A society that had centered itself around free internet porn and cheap GMO foods.
 
Because food and sex are weapons now.  A problem we didn’t understand at first - the way the distribution of power had been arranged around those who controlled both.
 
But the old regime hadn’t seen what Emma and those like her had seen.  Didn’t recognize the power lying on the ground, just waiting for someone with the will to bend over and pick it up.
 
No, because their greatest weakness was their blindness to others.  Not only the downtrodden.  But also those unwilling to play along with the status quo.  Those who refused to give up their rights, no matter how many pretty lies they were told.
 
Helena turned off the live feed that had been broadcasting one of the latest Ides rallies.  An empowerment tool taken from an old foe.
 
“The tests have come back.  It seems that Daniel Lazarus had a Merix bioimplant.  Two, in fact.”
 
“That explains his stamina,” Helena said with a bit of a sneer.  “But why two, do you figure?”
 
“The first one was pre-UN-issue,” a voice said from the console of Helena’s mint green Mercedes.
 
“And the second one was much newer, and seems to have some interesting sexual protocols.  Seems he was a hired sadist.  Meant to strike fear in his victims, as an extra service,” the AI named Janet said, though she was just a voice over a speaker at the moment.
 
“Were you able to trace his history, or get contact information?” Helena inquired, as she took a turn onto East Broadmoor.
 
“We’re working on it.  The circuitry is tricky with this new one, they’re using bioengineered parts now, so retrieval without the correct instruments can lead to the destruction of information.”
 
Helena sighed, and then lit up a cigarette.
 
“Can I ask you something?” the AI asked after a moment of silence.
 
“Sure.”
 
“Are you really going to kill his entire family?” the AI asked, its very proper English accent hiding any clues as to its motive.
 
“No,” Helena answered after a time.  “But I wanted him to die believing I would.  I wanted him thinking he would be the last of his name.”
 
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” the AI said, showing Helena more curtesy than Christian had.  Though… he had made up to Helena in other, more tangible ways, she recalled with a fond blush and a sudden rush of heat to her nether regions.
 
“Men like Daniel Lazarus are why I do what I do.  But no one in his family should suffer because of him.  Certainly not any children.”
 
Helena held her breath for a moment, hoping to hear the AI sigh in relief, or in any other way show some sort of emotion.  Instead, the voice replied, “He also had a large quantity of Nuero-9 in his system.  It’s a new street drug they’re cooking up in garage CRISPRs.”
 
Helena had heard about the drug they were making using modified clamshell mushrooms.  A drug that was especially enticing to gamers and criminal sociopaths as it allowed for intense focus for multiple days at a time.  Of course, it always seemed to provoke some sort of psychotic episode as well.
 
Unfortunately for the world, the manic craze that was often associated with the drug seemed to be its biggest draw.
 
“Their kind have never lived by a code.  Have never known any kind of honor.  All of them are hypocrites.  And still they hunt us…”
 
“Not for much longer,” the AI said over the console, just as Helena pulled into her mountain estate.
 
“In two-week’s time we’ll have all the star alloy we’ll need, and then nothing can prevent us from moving forward with our plans.  We’ll launch the Sleaze Trials and begin launching the ships.”
 
Helena still couldn’t believe she’d been assigned a spot on one of the first ships to leave for the Andromeda system.  Couldn’t believe that in a few short months she’d say goodbye to the earth forever. 
 
“Send a message, tell the dragons there’s a party at my place tonight.”
 
 
 
The End



© Raena Exe 2022-2023

*All characters, places, and events are completely fictional.
*All rights reserved.

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