Bits and Pieces

Bits and Pieces

By Brennan Barrett

Copyright 2012 Brennan Barrett

ISBN (ePub) 978-0-9918332-2-1

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Discover other titles in The Adjustor Series at Smashwords

The Odd Job

Sharp Things

The Naughty Necromancer

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Epilogue

About the Author

Chapter 1

The staff at the lab was at a loss for an explanation. One moment the procedure for bringing the new clones on-line was going smoothly, and the next moment the room’s normal sounds were punctuated by horrible screams. Now ‘Bring your daughter to work day,’ had been a well-planned success. Thankfully ‘Bring your daughter to work day’ had occurred last week.

A simple possibility that had not been carefully planned for at the facility, was that without the control exerted by Wilson Waterman, all the clones were suddenly reverting to individuals. What made this simple possibility a very significant possibility was that each of those individuals was a dangerous psychopath.

Everyone on staff was aware of the differences between the latest three series of clones. The 500 series were wildly unpredictable and savagely psychotic. In short, a 500 series clone was not the cuddly type. Mr. Waterman was required to be conscious before any sizable number of that series were brought online. The 600 series, though more stable, were not capable of leadership and preferred to follow, much like the common voter. The 600 series could be brought online regardless of the Waterman’s waking state and would wait patiently for guidance.

The 700 series had been created to function as new 'originals' and therefore had a tendency towards originality in character. In short, the 700’s were a smarmy type. Sadly, they were for the most part, highly intellectual loners. It was a small mercy that the 700 series would, however reluctantly, follow the plan of their god Set.

Several of the 700's had been awakened to begin the process of transferring control for the remaining 500 series stock. The plan was for the mental link of Mr. Waterman was to be divided and a portion of it would be distributed among these 700 series units. For some reason the 500 series clones that were being prepared to link to the new 'originals' were reverting and the new 700 series originals had bolted, taking a group of 600 series with them in the twelve passenger van used for initial clone transportation. Not one of the brilliant minds at the lab complex had put a moments thought into what might happen if Wilson Waterman were to expire suddenly, or what might happen if such an event went unnoticed for any length of time.

Precisely one month before the well planned, ‘Bring your son to work day,’ the killing and screaming started in small pockets and spread slowly through the large industrial complex. Clone 716-B looked down at his chest and was surprised to see it intact. Feeling his face, he noted the shattered cheekbone was whole and undamaged. He clearly remembered being killed by a strange woman. It was a perfect death, exquisite in detail. His own still beating heart torn from his chest and handed casually to a man he had wronged in some way. He could not have planned a better ending than to watch that fastidious man crush his heart beneath the heel of a perfectly maintained and obviously handmade shoe. His vision fading to black as he watched the organ from his chest crushed to a pulp. Truly, it was an act of perfection.

Turning around, 716-B saw the chamber that explained his life after death experience. He saw the designation 716-B stenciled as a void into the white band that wrapped around the top of his incubation chamber. He was not in fact Wilson Waterman; he was a clone. A scream drew 716-B's attention to the left of his chamber. One clone was killing another clone with a blissful expression on his face. Another clone was slowly peeling the face from a copy still strapped into its incubation chamber; its screams were horrible but somehow sensual.

Looking to his right at the sound of a long wailing cry, 716-B watched a copy pulling the intestines from a boring brunette in a white lab coat. There was no art to the copy's actions as it killed, none whatsoever. It was obviously one of the 500 series. You could have two of those brainless killing machines paired with a single 700 series, or sometimes a 600 series with demonstrated ability, but on their own they became a hazard to any living thing around them.

716-B had a memory of a recent skirmish with the forces of the usurper at the estate where the pretenders that called themselves gods hid like rats. At the clash, one of the new 800 series had been tested and proven in use for control of a large group of 500s. As luck would have it, the 800 series clone was killed and the 500s immediately went berserk. It was instantly decided that the 500 series should be used up and no further cloning of that series would occur. This decision accounted for the unprecedented number of 500 series clones currently online, and the ringing crescendo of screams throughout the facility. It was, in 716-B’s opinion, a foolish decision.

Every one of the 700 series clones was brought online with the full knowledge of each series and its uses. Clones like 716-B were never brought online and left standing naked unless they were determined by a diagnostic program within the incubation chamber to be an aberration. The clone would then be tested and measured manually, to determine what mental or physical deviations had occurred and whether that clone would be included in the production of the next advanced series, or just terminated. Inclusion meant harvesting, and termination meant, well, termination.

716-B quickly deduced that any plan that included him remaining at the lab would result in his death. It might be time to look for greener pastures, 716-B thought as he snatched the clothing bag off the counter in front of him. Folding the bag in half, the clone dumped it into the large plastic tub that already contained shoes, glasses, a small bull pup design automatic weapon and other accouterments. Tucking the plastic tub up under his arm, 716-B snuck silently away into the evening without as much as a look backward.

Unseen by 716-B or any other clone, a blue dragon circled overhead. By chance alone, it was circling the opposite side of the building where fortune and architecture left the winged creature unable to see a cargo van pulling out of the loading area and merging with late night traffic heading east. Making another pass of the building brought the dragon to the opposite side of the building again. It was just bad timing that the dragon missed the sight of a single naked figure leaving the building and lose itself amongst stacks of empty shipping flats.

Samantha, the spirit dwelling with Declan's car had informed Egg the dragon, of the location of the building he now circled. The other adjustors were tired from a lengthy battle and Samantha knew that Egg as a mechanical being, would not be fatigued and would be well suited for this task. This building was financially linked to a number of buildings connected by subterranean tunnels to the estate the elders inhabited. Those tunnels had been instrumental in an attack launched on the estate that very day and should therefore be scouted.

Someone had to physically go and reconnoiter the building, someone with legs or wings, Samantha had thought with frustration. In the cars opinion, that someone might as well be someone she could easily communicate with.

As he circled overhead Egg could hear a battle going on inside building. It seemed foolish for the enemy to be killing itself but Egg had seen the enemy do this already. All this information was being sent to Samantha as the dragon circled the building, unnoticed as the colors of his underside blended perfectly with the night sky. The flesh creatures were puzzling at the best of times but this activity even more puzzling than usual and Egg knew a puzzling flesh person that might be able to make sense of the chaos he heard coming from inside the complex.

Connecting with Declan, Egg realized that he and Belinde were coupling, yet again. Egg found this activity puzzling since Belinde was succubae and could not reproduce. It wasn't up to Egg how Declan and Belinde spent their time but it left Egg with neither of his regular companions to call upon. There was however, a part time adjustor that Egg could call.

***

The room swam into view as Belinde brought her and Declan to a stop in his bedroom at the foot of his bed. You wait right there, she told the adjustor. Don't move a muscle.

Declan nodded, smiling mischievously, as Belinde flew into the bathroom where he heard the water begin running in the sink. He had to resist the urge to laugh when he heard her gargling. It had been a strange day with an epic battle taking up most of his waking hours. He had made new friends and then watched a few of them die. He was alive though and he planned to enjoy that life.

'I doubt any of my friends have to wait around while their girlfriends wash the taint of monster genitalia out of their mouths,' he thought. He didn't condemn the gorgeous little succubus for her actions. She needed physical penetration of any kind and a small amount of blood to draw the life force from her victims. If she didn't have that, she could always tear their heart from their chest. The event responsible for her present oral hygiene efforts had been a subterranean battle that left her exhausted and battered with barely the strength to stand. In this case, too drained and exhausted to fight any longer, Belinde had been forced to her knees in front of a brute that sported a significant amount of titan DNA. The brute had wanted to dominate his conquered foe and decided to force himself on Belinde orally. It had been a poor choice on the brute's part. His body along with the bodies of his last few remaining comrades lay buried under tons of rubble in a collapsed subterranean tunnel.

A succubus like Belinde was created as sexual bait by very ancient vampires. Taken at fourteen years of age, just at the onset of puberty, her body chemistry had been changed by the supernatural virus that would become part of her very DNA. Her height had been stunted, she gave off an irresistible pheromone and her waist had actually shrunk to appear wasp like. At not much over five feet in height, by her own definition she was all boobs, hips and legs. It was an apt description, one that Declan happily agreed to. If she hadn't been sworn to him, with her very life as the price of failure, Declan wouldn't be waiting patiently for such a powerful being to jump on him.

Declan heard the water shut off in the bathroom and Belinde appeared in the doorway. She had shed the Kevlar armor and stood in her skin-tight tactical garment, which was basically a cat suit that left nothing to the imagination. Thankfully there was even less need for imagination when the bathroom light silhouetted her figure from behind better than Declan's imagination could have. Belinde transformed into the blurring black mist that marked her as an instrument of divine retribution. The streak of black mist stopped for an instant halfway between the bathroom and Declan, became Belinde again for an instant before transforming once again into the mist. Belinde's tactical garment stood, maintaining her shape for just an instant where she had paused before slumping softly to the floor. Belinde reformed completely naked, hitting Declan in the chest as she wrapped her arms and legs around him with enough force and momentum to carry him onto the bed.

Ooff, Declan exhaled vocally as Belinde laughed in his ear.

Why are you still dressed? Belinde's sultry voice whispered in his ear.

Because you told me not to move a muscle and now you're on top of me, Declan purred into her ear, surprising Belinde with a voice more seductive than she would have thought possible in a man that wasn't Vampire. It drove her wild with lust. Transforming into the mist again and carrying Declan with her, the mist swirled in a miniature tornado past the foot of Declan's bed. Bits and pieces of his clothing and armor were flung about the room at high speed and Declan and Belinde reformed on the bed naked.

Wow, Declan exclaimed, now that's handy!

***

Good night, Marion said tenderly as Angus left her at the door to her temporary quarters. Marion was sharing the room with three other maids and they had all crowded the door behind her to catch a glimpse of him. Marion kissed Angus slowly on the lips, holding a hand tenderly under his chin.

Angus didn't care if she was doing this because she liked him or because it caused a chorus of scandalized gasps to happen behind her. It felt like she meant it and it felt awfully good. Best not to overthink these things he thought as he turned and walked away when the kiss ended. Life was good Angus thought humming happily to himself.

Angus and Marion had been in the garden behind the estate; the part that hadn't been torn up by the previous night's fighting. It was much nicer back there with all the bodies gone. He had helped Thor for a short time, tracking down bits and pieces of enemies that had fallen prey to the heavy rounds from his new shotgun. He was grateful to Smith for honoring him with the gift but it made one hell of a mess. I miss my old gun, Angus had thought as he finally found an arm he had been looking for. There would generally be just one piece to clean up after using his old shotgun on an enemy. Well, once in a while you'd have a head somewhere nearby, but that was it.

Thor had teamed up with some minor agricultural god and planned to use all of the Sly bodies left behind as some sort of fertilizer to answer a prayer. Angus had reacted badly at first and Thor had to explain that only the bodies of the enemy were being used. The bodies should be returned to creation in a way that reduces some of this sin, Thor had said.

Once he explained it that way, Angus was all for helping clean up the back yard. He was even invited to sit with a few of the elders and have a snack afterward. Marion had been there too, she'd even come for a walk out in the garden with him afterward. It truly had been the greatest day of his life and it was a shame it would end soon. He would go to sleep and wake up tomorrow morning and it would be business as usual, pushing a broom and being cheerfully yelled at by Smith.

A mental image of Angus riding upon Egg's back as the dragon circled a building in the moonlight entered his mind. That would be great, Angus thought, but sincerely doubted that Declan would allow him to ride the dragon. The image came again and Angus enjoyed it again. The image came back a third time much stronger; strong enough to make Angus' ears ring and his eyeballs itch.

Egg, is that you? Angus asked mentally. He was rewarded with an image of Egg looking at him in the eyes and trilling in an annoyed tone. Ok, you big idiot, Angus complained, stop yelling. I’m coming.

Angus stepped to the point on the dragon's back that the mental image indicated. The ape opened an eye to make sure he wasn't falling to his death and found he was indeed flying. Hot damn, Angus said in his curious mix of old Scottish accent and movie one liners. As the wonder of flight started to ease away, he began to hear screams and gunfire coming from inside the building Egg was circling.

We have to find out what's going on in there, Angus said to Egg, both mentally and physically. The dragon responded with an image of the pale men in black suits shooting Angus full of holes, followed by an image of the people being attacked also shooting him full of holes. So they're both our enemies, huh? Egg trilled a reply that sounded surprisingly like 'that's right' and continued to circle the building. Well, Angus said, We have to do something. Egg responded with a trill that made Angus think he had said, 'Why bother.'

Looking down at the neighboring buildings for anything that might spark an idea, Angus noticed a number of chemical tanks near the back lot of the adjacent building. Have a wing over there, Angus said, pointing at the chemical tanks. Egg trilled an annoyed trill and continued circling.

Sorry, Angus said, realizing his stupidity, the chemical tanks, the ape added, fixing an image of what he had seen in his mind. Egg trilled a confirmation and banked hard right to land and inspect the chemical tanks. I don't know much about chemistry but if we mix some of these together, we might be able to make you into a fire breathing dragon, Angus said excitedly. Then we can just fry the bastards. Egg actually honked in excitement and started testing the containers one at a time with a quick flicker of his tongue.

In the end, the dragon selected five of the containers. Angus didn't have the slightest idea what they were. In fact he actually knew nothing about chemistry other than wet, dry, hot and cold. Even then, he was only guessing that those things were even part of chemistry. Egg however, instinctively knew what he needed and took no note of Angus' mental musings as he absorbed the containers and waddled over to a forklift with Angus still on his back. Leaving most of the machine behind, Egg took only the battery and part of the electrical system. Bunching up his hind legs, the dragon took wing and was once again airborne.

The lift off had practically flattened Angus into Egg's scales, Ooff, easy you dolt, ya almost broke me back. Why dinna ya just step to a spot mid air? The dragon trilled a reply while making a mental note to use an easier method next time. Angus also made a mental note; don’t scold something with teeth bigger than his arms.

Not to step on yer plans, big fella, Angus said/thought to Egg, but why not do that thing you do to the roof and peel a bunch of it away before the clam bake? Egg trilled a puzzled tone at Angus and the ape was forced to use mental pictures to convey his thought. The whole process should only have taken a second but Angus wasn't one for concentration, preferring to fly by the seat of his pants.

Egg trilled an excited tone, obviously loving the idea. On the next pass, the dragon swooped low and peeled away a large section of the roof, absorbing the material into his mass. The activity was relatively quiet, so very few of the occupants noticed anything had happened. The moment the roof opened, Angus was assaulted with the smell of a slaughterhouse. He saw pasties running everywhere inside and the only people there other than the pasties, were near death from torture and mutilation. Egg had to make a second pass to remove another section of roof near his starting point before swinging around for a torching pass.

One of the pasties, having run out of victims in white lab coats was slowly cutting into another pasty that was laughing while being dissected. That is disgusting, Egg, Angus said as bile rose in his throat. Lets torch those bastards. Egg opened his mouth and a torrential liquid spray of flame shot forward and down, setting the forward section of the lab complex ablaze. New, fresh screams erupted within the structure. Had Egg not been diving almost straight down to avoid the flames at the front of the building as he sent an epic torrent of flame into the center and back of the building, he would have seen a number of figures leaving by the loading dock exit. Pulling up sharply to avoid the roof section left both Egg and Angus at an angle where they missed another group of black suited figures running across the rear parking lot.

That's enough, Egg, Angus begged the dragon as the smell of burning flesh threatened to make his stomach spill over. Better put the roof back on then replace those tanks. Egg trilled a disappointed sound but complied grudgingly. Able to put the roof back on in one pass, due to his enlarged state, Egg was at a perfect angle this time, to notice a figure running across the parking lot behind the sprawling lab.

What are you up to? Angus asked as the dragon flew past the area where they should be returning the tanks. Egg sent Angus a mental image of the figure he was chasing and the gorilla immediately pulled the hood of his coveralls up and over his head. He didn't want to take a bullet through the melon and spoil a perfectly good day. The view sharpened which confused Angus greatly, because in his mind, 'if you was looking through fabric, well that just shouldn't happen.'

Egg was forced to bank and swing left to follow the darting figure. During the maneuver, the black suited figure managed to briefly elude his followers. It took a few moments of zigzagging back and forth over the area before the target was reacquired. Both Angus and Egg had been panning left to right, searching for movement when Angus spotted their quarry. It was then that Angus realized all he had to do was concentrate on what he saw as the link with the dragon assured that what he saw, Egg saw as well. Egg trilled, thankful the silly ape had figured something out for himself.

The roll Egg executed to bring his flight path in line with the escaping figure almost dislodged Angus. The gorilla was forced to drop flat on Egg's back and spread his limbs to avoid falling to his death and was now grumbling relentlessly. Because Angus was having a hard time getting back into a sitting position, 'hard' being scared shitless, Egg was forced to deal with the fleeing pasty himself.

A thin stream of flame spit forth from Egg's snout just as he spread his wings and relaxed his wing membranes to gather air and slow his forward momentum. Aiming just ahead of the running figure, Egg was able to lower the stream of flame and shower the figure with a sticky chemical inferno. An instant before the flames devoured the man, Egg saw its face. That face was readily identifiable as belonging to the clones he had killed before, but this one was different. Where the other clones had expressionless faces, this one wore a mask of fiendish rage. It opened fire on Egg with its weapon and continued to fire even as it burned. Even through the mask of rage and pain, the burning figure began to cackle maniacally.

Egg checked the link with Declan and found that his alpha had finished his futile coupling exercise. Feeling it was the right thing to do, Egg sent a series of mental pictures to Declan, including the last one of the clone that differed from the norm. Hopefully the alpha would be able to make sense of this situation, as Adjustor Angus hadn't been much help so far.

***

Oh, Belinde said, as she practiced outdoing Samantha with her sultriest voice, I see you've gotten bigger everywhere. Declan was fit to be tied, his lust practically blinding him as her playing and teasing finally pushed him over the edge. Belinde inhaled sharply as Declan began to enter her, she found herself even more aroused when she felt she might tear. Declan really had gotten bigger everywhere and a little more animalistic in his need. The little succubus was so aroused that she climaxed before she realized what was happening.

Declan showed no signs of stopping but he slowed for a moment and looked into her eyes. While thrusting deeply into her he said, I missed you, in a breathy voice that drove her wild. Her mouth opened to reply but the words were forgotten as Declan kissed her savagely. Belinde felt she was close to climaxing again when Declan rolled over, pinning her beneath him. Lacing his fingers with hers, he pressed her hands into the pillow behind her and began to thrust with brutal, animal efficiency. Belinde's breathing quickened and her vaginal muscles tightened around Declan's engorged penis.

The moment she started taking short quick breaths, he slowed his pace. She wanted to beg him to go faster, another orgasm was close but his slow steady rhythm was already bringing her back to the point of no return. Once again her breath quickened, short gasps were catching her moans as she breathed shallow and fast. At the moment she feared Declan would slow again, her orgasm came. Declan began thrusting with wild abandon while kissing her deeply to muffle the voice of her bucking orgasm.

The feelings went on and on, shudder after shudder wracked her body as Declan showered her neck with kisses. She finally bit him out of fear that her heart would give out. The final orgasm was explosive, so powerful in fact that her voice froze in her throat and she couldn't breathe. She released her bite and held Declan's face to kiss him but he began thrusting again.

In moments Belinde climaxed again, not as powerful this time but