| |
Roman appeared back in his apartment minutes before the teleporter arrived. He hardly had time to go to the restroom before she showed up.
“Your delivery,” a woman wearing the official clothing of the Centralian government said. She sat on a coffin-like box, her legs crossed over one another.
Cute, he thought as she smiled at him. The teleporter had midnight-blue hair and she wore a bandanna around her neck. Stylish.
The woman was gone before he could say anything else.
“Oh well,” Roman mumbled as he moved over to the wooden coffin. He placed his hand on a strip of metal that had been hammered into the top of the box and his abilities activated, the metal bending and then falling to the floor.
He removed the top of the box and stared at the woman’s face. Her ruffled maid outfit had shifted in the transportation process, and the tops of her breasts were more exposed than they should have been.
Roman suddenly felt uneasy, nervous for what he was about to do.
He lifted a single hand over her body, and with a deep breath in, he activated his power. Roman felt something move through him, a heavy vibration as he gave the sex doll life.
And it was when she gasped, when she blinked her red eyes, that he realized the extent of his ability.
A quick glance to his power dial and he saw that he had really moved the indicators.
This explained the feeling in his chest, the pounding of his heart. He still had power left, clearly, but he would need to be careful, because red is dead, as Ava had said.
“Hello?” the woman asked without getting out of the coffin.
“Hi,” Roman started to say.
A mental message came in from Harper: Getting off work soon, if you’re interested...
Even in the midst of all this, Roman knew not to pass up an opportunity like Harper. But from what he could tell, tonight of all nights would be the wrong night to invite her over. So he decided to get back at Nadine instead:
Let’s meet at my place tomorrow night, and if you have to work, I’ll come and drink there until you get off work. How does that sound? I’m busy tonight.
Her response came seconds later: That’s fine. And I do have work, but I get off early, so come when you can.
“Hello?”
“Hi,” Roman said, looking at the doll.
“How long have I been in a coma?”
This question tore at Roman’s heartstrings—it was the one word he hadn’t expected her to use.
“You weren’t in a coma; I just animated you,” he said, looking down at his hands. Suddenly feeling the guilt wash over him.
“Animated me?”
She started to sit up, her red eyes flaring as she took in Roman’s form.
She was undeniably beautiful, with a hint of mystery due to the mask she wore. There was a softness to her skin that Roman had never seen in a woman before, a unique enchantment, something that almost reminded him of a statue or a magnificent work of art.
No blemishes, only perfection.
Roman felt his heart quiver. He lowered to one knee, no longer able to stand.
“Are you okay?” the doll asked as she stepped over to him.
Roman lay on his back, breathing in deeply as he tried to catch his breath. The doll he’d given life to crouched next to him, resting on her knees now.
She looked down at his face—her own soft, his in pain—and she slowly reached her hand out to touch his cheek.
“Who are you?”
“Roman,” he told her.
“And who am I?”
“Coma.”
The single word came out not in a response to her question, but in response to the part of Roman’s life that continued to haunt him.
The woman smiled. “Coma. That’s an interesting name.”
“Not... a name,” he told her, the lights dimming all around him.
“Are you tired?”
“I can’t tell.”
Coma placed her eyes over Roman’s face. “Please rest. I’ll take care of everything.”
