“He’s not a machine,” Quintz said. “He’s a genetically engineered organism we created to combat the Christ.”
Treycore’s eyes narrowed. “Somehow I assume you think that phrasing was supposed to make me feel better.”
Kid heard the words they spoke, but he couldn’t take them in. Couldn’t understand how any of this could be real, although that was something he’d struggled with since this grand adventure had begun. His thoughts raced through everything that had happened. All the bizarre instances. And to think, all along he had been such a greater part of it than he had ever imagined.
“I don’t care how you made him,” Treycore said. “Don’t talk about him like he’s some sort of expendable weapon.”
“Treycore, that’s not how I feel,” Aerysn said. “I feel a very strong attachment to him. You have to understand, in many ways, I feel like I was one of his fathers.”
“This isn’t possible,” Kid finally managed to get out. “I had my own life. It had nothing to do with any of this craziness.”
“You had to in order to go undiscovered by the Almighty’s emissaries,” Aerysn explained. “By keeping the Antichrists under wraps, we could wait until He played His hand, and then retrieve them. To protect them, we had imbued them with a chemical that amped up a sort of pheromone that would allow them to go undetected, and yet, not only appeal to the Christ, but also draw in other immortals, immortals who’d want to protect or defend them.” He looked to Treycore, and Kid knew why. That bizarre, inexplicable chemistry that neither of them had understood.
Had it all been because of how Kid was designed? No, it had to be more than that. But Aerysn and Quintz had planted a seed of doubt that maybe that was all it had ever been about.
Their attraction toward one another had been so strong, so intense…too intense. Were their feelings a lie? Surely that was the only reason a creature as magnificent as Treycore could have ever cared for him.
“No,” Treycore said. “I don’t believe that’s the reason why I feel the way I feel.”
Quintz pushed the bridge of his glasses up his nose. “You can believe whatever you want to believe, but his pheromones are designed to endear immortals to him more. Not that it’s always present, or that immortals always override their disdain for mortals to treat him well, but the predisposition is present. A sort of attraction.”
“When I was in Jerry’s,” Kinzer piped up, “I felt that when he was in danger. I mean, I would have wanted to help him anyway, but the desire was so strong, I’m not sure if I could have denied it to save my own life.”
“I guess now is the time to tell you that you were put in Jerry’s trafficking operation by our operative,” Quintz added. “Veylo was convinced by an emissary to leave you there. We were hoping we could rescue you and Kid together.”
“We almost died,” Kinzer said.
“He wouldn’t have been the first Antichrist to die,” Quintz said. “It’s a problem we encountered all-too-frequently after the launch of the project. The same pheromone that causes immortals to be attracted to them causes mortals to be…less than kind. Abusive, even. Many of the Antichrists died at the hands of the parents who raised them. It was a terrible oversight on our part—a consequence of the way we blended everything together. Something we couldn’t really have accounted for. You mess around with genetics, and there are so many things that crop up that you couldn’t have anticipated. It’s the nature of creation. There’s a certain sloppiness, regardless of how intentional you might be. Kid was one of the lucky few who have survived this long. We’ve kept tabs on him, tracked him. There were definitely some frightening periods when we believed we’d lost him.”
His remarks about the pheromone and Kid’s design made Kid reflect on the time he spent with his father. How abusive he’d been. The horrible, twisted things he’d done to him.
As he thought about all the peculiar things that had happened to him in his life, something that he’d only encountered with immortals came to mind. “My smell. It seems to be stronger to immortals than other people. That’s the reason, isn’t it?”
“A sort of overcompensation in design to mask the effects of these pheromones,” Quintz said. “We had attempted to make it as similar as possible, but unfortunately it was a little more potent than we had anticipated.”
“So this whole time,” Treycore said, “when you were claiming you needed intel from me, these stupid codes, it was all a lie? You needed us to go along with this little scheme so you could use Kid.”
“We did what we had to do to get you both here,” Aerysn said, his expression unfazed.
Kid could tell Aerysn didn’t feel ashamed or guilty about misleading them. It had been his job to bring them together. Kid understood that, and yet he said, “It’s my fucking life. No one was ever going to ask me what I thought about this? If I wanted to do this?”
“You bunch of bastards,” Kinzer said. He turned his attention to Quintz. “You lied to me the whole time?” Then he snickered. “Of course you did. That’s all our jobs, isn’t it? We’re just a bunch of fucking spies. No one can really trust anyone at this table, can we?”
Kinzer’s gaze shifted to Hayde. Something had happened between them since Kid had last seen them, something that had pitted them against each other, but now wasn’t the time for him to figure out why their panties were in a bunch. Not after the mindfuck he was having to adjust to.
“And there are others…like me?” Kid asked.
“There were,” Aerysn said, “but none of them have survived. You were the last one, which is why we had to rescue you. Why it was essential that we invade the Colosseum of Parasonia. We have been orchestrating this for a very long time, since long before you were born into this world, Kid. Because we knew we had to be one step ahead of the Almighty to keep Him from bringing about the apocalypse.”
“I’m just a pawn.” Kid felt hurt, that all this time his life had been a charade and he was nothing more than part of this war, this twisted, fucked-up battle between the Leader and the Almighty.
“You’re so much more than that,” Treycore said, and even though Kid could feel the intensity of Treycore’s words, after what he’d learned, he wondered if that was what he really believed, or if this whole time, his attachment had really been about whatever genetic game Aerysn and Quintz had played—a game that had fucked with Treycore’s head.
Kid pushed past his own insecurities. He had to look beyond his hurt, especially when there was so much more at stake. “When you say I’m a weapon against the Christ, what does that mean? How?”
He could tell by Aerysn’s sorrowful expression that whatever the answer, it wasn’t good. “We designed you so the Christ would mistake you for a potential mate. Not to bring alive one of these drones it’s unleashing, but to create another like itself. Because of its reproductive capabilities, it acts like an organism much like humans, with a desire to keep its genetic code continuing along. When it does this, when it copulates with you, its sperm will activate a chemical within you, and you will, in many ways, act as a sort of bomb, annihilating the creature.”
“And what’ll happen to Kid?” Treycore asked.
