Chapter 18 Dimitri
DIMITRI
The lab was quiet in the late afternoon, the hum of the air conditioning providing a familiar backdrop to Dimitri's work.
Mattie sat at the workstation they'd set up for her in the corner, carefully labeling sample vials with her neat handwriting.
She'd taken to her role as lab assistant with enthusiasm, asking questions, taking notes, and trying to understand the science behind what they were doing.
Dimitri loved her for that, even though he couldn't explain the complicated biochemical processes to someone with absolutely no background in the field.
Petrov was hunched over his station, muttering to himself in Russian as he adjusted the calibration on one of the analyzers. He'd been in a mood after a batch of new compounds he was working on hadn't synthesized properly, and it was best to leave him alone when he got like this.
At two o'clock, the door to the lab swung open, and Dave walked in right on schedule, looking uncharacteristically dirty. Their usually pristine uniforms were smudged with dust and streaked with oil or grease.
"What happened to you?" Dimitri set down his pen. "You look like you've been crawling through a construction site."
When they sat on the eight plastic chairs lined up against the wall, Number One, Dave's usual spokesman, leaned forward, breaking formation. "We have been assisting with the removal of debris from the mansion's basement."
Dimitri exchanged a glance with Mattie, who had stopped her labeling to watch the exchange. Why would Dave assist in clearing away debris?
They were in charge. They didn't do manual labor.
"Why would you do that?" Dimitri asked. "Surely there is no need for you to get your hands dirty."
Number One's expression remained neutral, but there was something in Dave's eyes, all sixteen of them, that suggested the question had touched on something he would rather not answer.
"Some of the items that are stored in the basement require careful handling," Number One said. "We assisted with the removal of debris that could have destabilized the whole structure and caused more damage. Lord Losham didn't trust the removal crews to handle that area and asked us to assist."
A chill ran down Dimitri's spine.
What if there were dangerous weapons or compounds stored in the basement?
Chemical or biological weapons. That would definitely require careful handling, and not by Dave. It needed to be done by someone who knew what they were doing. Someone like him and Petrov.
"You might need expert help," he said carefully. "I don't know what you are dealing with down there, but if it involves chemical or biological weapons, you need to know how to handle them. Dr. Petrov and I should take a look."
"Count me out," Petrov said. "I don't want to be anywhere near anything like that. I value my life."
All eight pairs of Dave's eyes looked at Dimitri with identical thoughtful expressions. "That's not what we are looking for, but thank you for the offer to help."
Dimitri's curiosity was spiked even more, but he knew better than to push too hard for answers.
Dave's hive mind was unlike anything he'd previously encountered.
It was logical, measured, and therefore easier for him to talk to than the other immortals, who were more suspicious and more predatory.
On the flip side, though, it meant that it was impossible to trick Dave into talking by appealing to his ego or trying to trick him with clever wording.
Still, he couldn't just let it go.
"Are you sure that nothing in the debris is dangerous? I would hate for you to get hurt."
The Eight didn't answer immediately. They shifted slightly, a subtle movement that Dimitri had learned to recognize as Dave weighing options and deciding what to say.
"Thank you for your concern, Dimitri," Number One said.
"The basement contained many valuable items, like the furniture and artwork I mentioned to you before.
Those items weren't properly secured, and many things were damaged in the collapse.
There is a large pile of debris outside the mansion now.
Workers and staff have been sorting through it, looking for anything salvageable. "
That wasn't really an answer, and they both knew it. But Dimitri also knew when to retreat. Pushing Dave too hard would only make him suspicious, and suspicion was the last thing Dimitri needed right now.
Especially with Mattie to protect.
Her safety was paramount. Every decision he made, every word he spoke, was filtered through the lens of how it might affect her.
It was obsessive, which made it exhausting, but it was also exhilarating.
It was what he was meant to do, and it filled him with a sense of purpose more than his scientific work had ever done.
He suspected that it all had to do with his transformation.
Dimitri was beginning to realize that the changes weren't strictly physical, which shouldn't really surprise him.
So much of what determined behavior was hormone-based, and the biological processes that determined hormonal levels must have been affected by the transition.
He felt everything more acutely, was more aggressive, more impulsive, and more protective as well.
It took more effort to keep himself in check and appear as measured and calm as he used to be as a human.
That was why he wasn't asking Dave the question that had been burning in his mind more and more as time went by.
What had happened to Lord Navuh? Where was he?
He had no doubt that Dave knew or even had been responsible for Navuh's disappearance, but asking might get him in trouble, and by association, it might get Mattie in trouble as well, so he swallowed the question and asked a safer one instead.
"What kind of things are people finding in the debris pile? Anything useful?"
"Furniture, mostly," Number One said. "Artwork. Decorative pieces. The items are damaged, but with some work, they can still be functional or even decorative. You might want to take a look."
Dimitri blinked, surprised by the suggestion. He glanced at Mattie, who was watching the exchange with wide eyes, her earlier concerns about stealing clearly warring with curiosity.
"Is the debris pile open to everyone?" Dimitri asked.
Number One nodded. "If it is in the pile, it means that it was deemed beyond salvage. It's free for the taking."
Dimitri glanced at Mattie. "Do you want to check it out?"
She shook her head, her eyes full of fear. "You can go if you want. I prefer to stay here." Where it was safe.
The eight enhanced soldiers watched the exchange with curiosity as if they were observing an exhibit in the zoo.
Even before becoming one unit, these soldiers had no concept of normal relations between men and women.
According to their god's vile teachings, women were to be owned, used for men's pleasure and breeding.
An exchange like the one they were witnessing must be completely foreign to them.
"We could accompany you, if you wish," Number One said. "The competition for quality items can get fierce, but no one would dare do anything with us around." All eight looked at Mattie. "You will be safe with us there."
The offer hung in the air, unexpected and strangely touching. Dave, the collective consciousness of eight enhanced soldiers who were the most powerful beings on the island after Lord Navuh himself, was offering to help Mattie and Dimitri pick out furniture.
It was surreal, especially given what these soldiers had been like when Dimitri had first interacted with them.
But a lot had happened since then, and the improved drug protocol was doing wonders for them.
They were becoming an entirely different entity, and Dimitri realized that he was seeing something he'd never seen in Dave before.
The entity was lonely.
The revelation was earth-shattering. Of course, Dave was lonely.
The eight bodies shared a single mind, which meant they couldn't provide stimulation or companionship to each other.
There was no each other. There was just the one consciousness spread across multiple forms, and everyone else on the island feared them.
Dimitri was probably the only one who treated Dave as a person.
He thought back to the conversations they'd had and the many questions that Dave had answered for him. He hadn't needed to tell him about the transformation, or about what he had found in the mansion's basement. Dave was hungry for interaction, for connection.
Perhaps that was something Dimitri could use to his advantage.
The thought was calculating, manipulative, and he wasn't proud of himself for thinking it, but he couldn't afford to take the higher moral ground when survival was on the line.
Mattie's survival.
He had to get her off this island, and with Tarik hunting her, they were running out of time.
Dave was powerful. More powerful than most people on the island realized. Building a friendship with Dave could be a gamechanger. It wouldn't guarantee safety because nothing could guarantee it in this place, but it might tip the scales in their favor when it mattered most.
"That's very kind of you," Dimitri said. "Mattie and I appreciate your help."
Number One's expression didn't change, but something shifted in the atmosphere. A subtle relaxation of tension rippled across all eight bodies. "We could head out to the pile after we get our shots, and since we are already dirty, we would assist you in scavenging."
"That would be great." Dimitri reached for the first syringe that always went to Number One.
He was done with all eight in minutes.
"Shall we go now?" Number One rolled down the sleeve of his uniform.
"Before all the best pieces are claimed."
Dimitri glanced at Petrov. "Do you want to come with us?"
The guy snorted. "You couldn't pay me enough to sort through rubbish to look for pieces of broken furniture. I'll finish here and then head to the bar. If you want, you can join me there."
They left the lab together—Dimitri, Mattie, and all eight of Dave's bodies.
It was a strange procession, and Dimitri caught more than a few startled looks from passersby.
People gave them a wide berth, crossing to the other side of the road and averting their eyes as the enhanced soldiers strode past.
Fear. That was what Dimitri saw in their faces.
Mattie, on the other hand, was walking so close to Number One that they were nearly rubbing shoulders.
It grated on him a little that she felt safer with the enhanced eight than she felt with him, but he couldn't blame her for that.
They were so much more powerful than he was, in actual physical strength, in their compulsion ability, and in their authority, which came directly from Losham, who was the de facto Lord of the Island in Navuh's absence.
If their friendship became close enough, perhaps Dave could help Mattie and Dimitri escape the island. Perhaps Petrov, too.
Yeah. That was a fantasy. Unrealistic and born out of desperation.
The sun was beginning its descent toward the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink that would have been beautiful if Dimitri could forget, even for a moment, that he was looking at them from a prison island that was filled with dangerous predators.
"Where is the debris pile?" he asked Number One.
"Behind the mansion. We will take the service road."
They crested a small rise, and the mansion came into view.
Even from this distance, Dimitri could see the cracks in the facade and the missing roof tiles.
Scaffolding had been erected around one corner where workers were making repairs.
The building looked wounded, its usual imposing grandeur diminished by the visible scars of the explosion.
And beyond the mansion, in what had once been an immaculate garden, was the pile of debris.
It was larger than Dimitri had expected, a mountain of unidentifiable rubble with some broken pieces of furniture in between what was mostly detritus. Workers were moving around its base like ants, bringing out more rubble and dumping it along the edges.
"Come on," Mattie said, tugging at his sleeve. "Let's see what treasures we can find."
They made their way to the salvage area, Dave's eight bodies fanning out around them like an honor guard. The workers who had been browsing through the furniture quickly cleared the area, leaving Dimitri and Mattie alone with their unlikely companions.
The selection was impressive, even accounting for the heavy damage most of the pieces had sustained.
There were chairs and tables, dressers and wardrobes, lamps and mirrors, and decorative items of all kinds.
The Mediterranean influence was evident in the warm woods, wrought iron accents, and sumptuous fabrics.
"This is beautiful," Mattie breathed, running her hand over a carved wooden headboard that had somehow survived the collapse intact. "Look at the detailing."
For the next hour, they wandered through the pile, with the eight soldiers helping them salvage quality pieces and arranging them in a row so Mattie could decide what she wanted to take.
Most things were too big for their modest room, and Mattie sighed and shook her head every time she had to give up on something because it couldn't fit.
It was bizarre.
They liked her. This collective consciousness, this created weapon of mass destruction, enjoyed the company of his girlfriend.
It suddenly occurred to Dimitri that maybe safety on this island wasn't about being invisible. Maybe it was about building connections, finding allies in unexpected places, and creating bonds that transcended the usual hierarchies of power and fear.
Dave was powerful. Dave was lonely. And Dave, it seemed, wanted to be friends with Mattie and perhaps Dimitri as well.