The men rematerialized into their solid shapes, the blond one laughing. “That all you got, fuzz ball?”
Ladee backed away, eyes wide. “I’m sorry, Dr. Illya,” he said. “I tried.”
“It’s okay, Ladee,” she said, balling her hands into fists as the men returned their attention to her. The blond drew close again and she showed him her fists. “If you want a fight, pick on someone your own size.”
The bald man came up beside them, eying his companion. “Fortunately, a fight won’t be necessary.” He stared into Dawn’s eyes and nodded. “They’re not here. They’re on their way to Vartik.”
Dawn’s mouth dropped open. Had the man just read her mind?
Her suspicions were confirmed when he continued. “Ahh, it looks like the little doctor returns the handsome Vartik’s affections. Isn’t that adorable?”
“Too bad,” the blond one said, staring down at her as he kept her pinned. “I was considering taking her with us.”
“We don’t have time for that, Shadow,” the bald man replied. “But we don’t want her running her mouth in the meantime.” The man closed his striking blue eyes and concentrated.
Dawn felt a change come over her, as if her mind were being reshaped like clay. It didn’t hurt, but it was the most unsettling thing she’d ever experienced.
“You won’t remember our being here,” the man’s voice spoke directly into her mind, “but you will remember the Vartik named Zelup. You’ll remember how much you despise him. He lied to you, played you for a fool. He’s been in the employ of the Hills Conglomerate this whole time. In fact, he’s the one who suggested luring away your boyfriend to steal your technology. He wasn’t satisfied with one measly patent, however, so he came to do the dirty work himself.”
The voice was insidious, rearranging her memories as it spoke. “He seduced you, overpowered his way into your lab, and proceeded to ruin the greatest experiment of your lifetime. He then stole your prototype and took it back to the Hills, where he is even now creating technology that will control the minds of those who fight against him.”
Dawn wanted to scream, but everything the voice said made sense. “You don’t love him. You’d never love a creature that horrible. You will hate him to the end of your days with everything you have in you.”
“I hate him,” Dawn whispered, knowing it was true, feeling righteous anger rising up inside her. “I will always hate him.”
“Good,” the bald man said, stepping away. “And you’ll forget all about the two fine gentlemen who visited you today.”
The blond patted his companion on his back. “Nicely done.” He then jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “But what about that thing?”
They turned and approached Ladee where he crouched, trembling.
“It’s a life form, but not an organic one,” the bald man said.
“And your powers only work on organics, Oblitus?”
The bald man nodded. “Afraid so.”
Shadow shrugged. “I guess that leaves us two options. We either smash it, or we take it with us.”
“No!” Dawn screamed, coming out of her stupor at the mention of possible harm to Ladee.
Oblitus looked back at her. “You will forget the robot named Ladee. He never existed.”
Dawn blinked, confused. “I will forget…”
Ladee shot out from behind the console and attempted to flee, but Shadow was faster. He grabbed the robot and tucked him under his arm. Ladee fought, biting the man on the arm, but Shadow wrapped his other hand around the fox’s snout and held tight.
“It was nice meeting you,” he said, inclining his head at Dawn. “Too bad you won’t remember it.”
“Let’s go,” Oblitus said.
The blond man nodded, and in that moment, the dark cloud arose again. When it dissipated, there was no one there.
Dawn turned back to her workbench. There was so much to do if she was going to get her patent applications in before the Hills submitted theirs. It would be a race against time.
“Damn that Zelup Vartik,” she grumbled. “This is all his fault. I’ll hate him for the rest of my days!”
