Defective - A Psychopath's Tale

Chapter 44

Gordon

Randi's indifference towards Bernard bothered me; she needed to understand the full effects of ones actions on others, to feel what others felt in order to help contain herself. It was a tough battle considering how whacked in the noggin she was, but if I could make some breakthrough with her, attain even a little bit of understanding and comprehension, that would make my task a lot easier.

You might call it 'cause and effect' that I wanted her to grasp. I didn't care if she had any remorse for what we did to Bernard himself, rather his family; I hopped seeing their reactions might help her see the downside of what... we do.

I decided to let things settle in Randi's brain; I still had hopes she'd understand. There were other more pertinent issues that needed attention though. Such as the real reason for my current situation and Randi's. Bernard Lattei had just been a side job; one of those things that just happens to appear in your path. Tullis was the objective, and Holland had mentioned getting better eyes and ears in his offices.

Most of the bugs I had placed were in his main office and where people might hang out and talk. The problem was, they were old. Some that were still functional and didn't require being in range of them had simply had their vision blocked or had poor audio, or both. Whatever situation fell on the bugs, even from the ones that worked good, I was still missing out on a vast amount of information. I needed upgrades and better placement. I'd pretty much given up on gaining a better advantage from spying on Tullis, Holland though, he was a miracle worker at times. I had high hopes his scheming would pan out for us.

"So... tell me about this plan of yours to get better eyes and ears in Tullis' office Holland." I inquired.

Holland grinned with devilish intrigue. Even Randi took sudden interest in the discussion now, having seen Holland's expression. I guessed shenanigans perked her interest and her desire to be a part of them. We'd see what roll she could play. I had the feeling though neither she or I would be directly involved.

"I have this friend..." Holland began, Randi interjected.

"Wow! You have a friend? Amazing." She interpolated.

All three of us looked at her, glaringly. She quickly lost her irascible smirking expression for a more subdued face. Zandie was the first to look away from her. Holland continued.

"I have this friend whom has several slaves; real ones that dedicated themselves to his family and business; they run his furniture stores. He has three now, not a super rich boy like most slave owners, a real fellow you know." He began.

"What does that mean? Real ones?" Randi genuinely asked.

Holland paused and looked at her. "They weren't born to slavery by some hotshot family. You might say my friend earned their loyalty, and out of gratitude, they offered him their lifelong service. Not like many of the slaves today that are either born into it or offered it by some corporation or family. It never used to be that way; people would offer themselves to someone for slavery because they wanted to, the way it should be. It used to be earned, by both sides. Now, families breed their children to be slaves, like the Felcrest's, Brachshieder's and others. There's no accomplishment, just a name."

"Oh."

Holland looked back to me, Randi's question answered and went on. "He owes me some favors, yes, but besides that, I think he'd be willing to help, so would his slaves. More so if you could get a slave inside the syndicate to work with us."

I nodded. "Okay, help us how?"

"What would happen, if Tullis found out you had eyes and ears within his building?" Holland posed.