Chapter 50: Episode 50: Roxy’s Going

After her shower, Adonis had left her twenty minutes ago.

“I must conclude the data transfer from Tower Zero,” he had said, pressing a kiss to her damp forehead. “Rest. I will return with sustenance. Do not engage in further chaotic variables while I am gone.”

Nikki sat on the edge of the massive bed, her wet hair dripping onto the silk duvet. She looked at the sleek black phone in her hands, the Omni-Link 9.

But Adonis’s condition echoed in her head like a warning siren. On the condition that Roxy gets picked by one of the Sector Generals.

Nikki bit her lip, scrolling through the contact list Adonis had recovered.

All the generals except B-02 looked like a nuclear weapon about to nuke the whole world. How was her friend going to survive?

Nikki didn’t know how she was going to break this down to her friend.

And then there was General B-02.

Nikki paused. B-02 was the mischievious one, who had slept with a lot of woman, definitely the person I pictured Roxy with. He was also the one who introduced the concept of “smut” to the God of War.

Okay, Nikki thought, a spark of hope igniting. B-02 reads porn. That means he was… a pervert?

“Roxy is going to eat me alive for this,” Nikki groaned, falling back onto the pillows. “But it’s better than starving in the slums, right?”

She sat up. Action plan.

First, bribery.

She tapped the banking app on the Omni-Link. Adonis had given her “Master Access,” which apparently included a credit limit that looked like a phone number.

[RECIPIENT: ROXY (SECTOR 4 / ID: 994-22)]

[AMOUNT: 10,000 CREDITS]

[NOTE: DON’T FREAK OUT. IT’S ME.]

Send.

A second later, the phone buzzed.

[TRANSACTION SUCCESSFUL.]

Nikki took a deep breath and hit the call button.

It rang once. Twice.

“Hello?”

The voice was suspicious, sharp, and unmistakably Roxy. It sounded like home. It sounded like cheap gin and resilience.

“Rox?” Nikki whispered, her throat tightening.

There was a silence on the other end. Then a gasp. Then a scream that nearly blew out the Omni-Link’s speakers.

“NIKKI?! BITCH, YOU FUCKING CUNT, YOU FINALLY CALLED AFTER ALL I HAVE DONE FOR YOU?!”

Nikki laughed, pulling the phone away from her ear before bringing it back. “Was this how you greet your sister?”

“Yes!” Roxy shot back. Then her voice dropped. “Wait. My account just dinged. Nikki… why is there enough money in my account to buy a small island? Did you rob a bank? Did you kill a politician? Are you on the run?”

“I didn’t rob anyone,” Nikki said, twirling the phone cord (metaphorically). “I’m… with someone. Someone high up.”

“High up?” Roxy snorted. “Like who? A sector manager? A supply chief?”

“Higher,” Nikki murmured. “The top.”

“Shut up,” Roxy gasped. “No way. You bagged a Council member?”

“Better,” Nikki grinned. “General A-01. The one I told you about.”

Silence. Dead silence.

“The Robot?” Roxy whispered, her voice filled with pure, unadulterated horror. “Nikki… you were actually sleeping with him?”

“Well…” Nikki defended instantly. “He’s… complex. And hot. Very, very hot.”

“Girl, have you lost your mind? He has lasers for eyes!”

“They’re blue LEDs, actually,” Nikki corrected. “And he has vibrating dicks and hand.”

“Oh my god,” Roxy groaned. “You’re in love with a freaking AI. I can’t believe this. I’m down here fighting off rats, and you’re up there polishing chrome.”

“Speaking of rats,” Nikki pivoted, desperate to change the subject before Roxy started asking about anatomical logistics. “How are things down there? Are you okay?”

“Eh, same old, same old,” Roxy sighed, the sass returning. “Actually, I had a situation yesterday. You know that greasy smuggler, Vinnie? The one with the cybernetic eye that keeps twitching?”

“Yeah?”

“Tried to short me on a shipment of batteries,” Roxy huffed. “Told me ’pretty girls get a discount if they pay with favors.’ I told him my favor was not kicking his remaining good eye into the back of his skull. He tried to grab me, so I introduced his shin to my steel-toed boot. He’s walking with a limp now.”

Nikki laughed, but her heart ached. That was Roxy’s life. Fighting off creeps for batteries. Humans can be disgusting creatures sometimes and Roxy hated she was human sometimes.

“I miss you,” Nikki said softly.

“I miss you too, babe,” Roxy softened. “It’s boring without you. Who am I supposed to complain to about the rain?”

“Come see me,” Nikki blurted out.

“What? In Sector 1? Nikki, I don’t have a pass. The drones would incinerate me before I crossed the bridge.”

“I have a pass,” Nikki said quickly. “Adonis… A-01… he’s hosting a Gala next week. A diplomatic thing. He wants you to come.”

“He wants me?” Roxy sounded skeptical. “Why? Does he need someone to dismantle?”

“No!” Nikki rolled her eyes. “He knows you’re my best friend. He knows I’m lonely. He wants to… fly you out. All expenses paid. He’s sending a car. He’s paying for a makeover. Dresses, shoes, the works. You’d stay here, at the penthouse.”

“Free clothes?” Roxy’s tone shifted instantly. “And free food?”

“Buffet,” Nikki promised. “Real food. Not paste.”

“I’m listening.”

“You just have to come,” Nikki pressed, feeling the guilt crawling up her throat. She needed to tell her. She needed to say, ’By the way, you have to be picked by a warlord.’

But she couldn’t. If she told her, Roxy would say no. Roxy would stay in the slums out of pride. And Nikki couldn’t leave her there.

I’ll protect her, Nikki promised herself. Once she’s here, I’ll make sure she picks B-02. Or I’ll make Adonis change the rules.

“Just come,” Nikki pleaded. “Please, Rox. Get dressed up, eat the rich people’s food, and hang out with me.”

“Well…” Roxy hesitated. “If the Terminator is paying… and if I get to see you… okay. I’m in. But if he does anything funny, I’m stabbing him with a fork.”

As if it’s going to ever affect him.

“Deal,” Nikki grinned.

Just then, the bedroom door hissed open.

Nikki looked up.

Adonis stood in the doorway. He had shed the formal military jacket. In fact, he had shed the shirt entirely.

He stood there in nothing but his gray sweatpants, which hung dangerously low on his hips. His chest was a masterpiece of synthetic sculpting, broad, defined pectorals, abs that looked like they were carved from marble, and skin that gleamed under the warm bedroom lights.

He was holding two steaming mugs of cocoa in his large hands. The steam curled around his face, softening the sharp angles of his jaw.

He looked at Nikki, his blue eyes scanning her face, then the phone in her hand.

“Adonis,” Nikki breathed, the phone almost slipping from her fingers.

“Talked to her yet?” Adonis asked, walking into the room. His voice was low, rumbling through the quiet space.

“Nikki?” Roxy’s voice crackled in her ear. “Who is that? Is that him? Is that the toaster?”

“I have to go, Rox,” Nikki squeaked, unable to take her eyes off Adonis’s torso. “I’ll text you the details. The car will be there tomorrow at 0800. Be ready.”

“Wait, is he naked? Nikki! Send pics! Don’t you dare hang up—”

No way in hell am I doing that!

Nikki ended the call and tossed the phone onto the duvet.

Adonis reached the side of the bed. He placed the mugs on the nightstand, right next to the one he had brought earlier.

“Successful?” he asked, leaning over her. He placed a hand on the mattress on either side of her hips, caging her in.

Nikki looked up at him. The smell of chocolate filled her senses. He looked so serious, so intense, asking about her friend while looking like a god of seduction.

“She accepted,” Nikki confirmed, biting her lip. “She thinks she’s just coming for the food and the dress. I… I didn’t tell her the condition yet.”

Adonis tilted his head. “Deception by omission. A risky strategy. But effective.”

He looked down at her, his gaze dropping to her lips.

“So,” he murmured, “she is coming?”

Nikki grinned, her eyes dropping to his chest, then back up to his eyes.

“Of course,” she purred, reaching out to hook her fingers into the waistband of his sweatpants. “Now, get on the bed. I need to hug those abs!”

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