Leonid knew my next move. How can I change the game?
I moved all the pieces from each board and set everything up correctly. Ava and Circuit constantly practiced with them. But tonight, I would need the boards’ help.
When Kieseritzky came up with 3D chess, many were confused. It took German inventor Ferdinand Maack to refine the idea in 1907. His game added two pawns for each player and a special piece called the unicorn.
I picked up the piece. The unicorn was carved from silver and the horn was gold. In the game, the unicorn did triagonal moves, like a bishop, but up and down between boards.
I thought back to what Hiro had said earlier today.
“You should hope so. The problem is that we are not individuals. We are a large group. If we die and the contract remains, then others come. We’re actually the nice ones.”
“How is that?”
“Because we’re easier to see as a threat. Other Xecutioners are not this obvious. Some can be women or children. You would constantly be looking over your shoulder, never knowing who is a friend or enemy.”
I slipped my finger along the unicorn’s horn and considered the Dragon’s words.
“You helped my enemies take something precious from me. Therefore, I will help your enemies take something precious from you.”
When I shut off Japan’s grid, the Xecutioners went into the Dragon’s compound and took women and children out. Freeing them was enough for the Xecutioners to get rid of Ava’s contract. This meant those women and children were important to the Xecutioners as a whole.
They were other Xecutioners. Somehow the Dragon had imprisoned them. Perhaps, holding them helped keep him safe from a contract.
That information was an essential piece to the board. Once I helped the Xecutioners, that made Hiro give me a clue to staying alive. He had also talked a lot about the measure of one’s soul. Loyalty and brotherhood were important to him.
Hiro doesn’t like Leonid. That would be obvious. Leonid is mad that his pedophile ballerina raping grandfather is dead. Odds are Hiro couldn’t care less about the Turgenev family.
I twisted the unicorn between my two fingers.
I need my own unicorn. Something that can protect my king and queen, but also take out my enemies.
Taking the unicorn with me, I rose, left my bedroom, went to Circuit’s room, and knocked on his door. “It’s me.”
“Finally!” Circuit yelled back. Instantly, the door slid open. Circuit stood on the other side completely naked.
I raised one eyebrow. “You didn’t have time to put on some pants?”
“I did, but this way I bring more joy to your evening.”
I glanced down at his crotch. “And an erection at that?”
“You caught me during my special time.”
I frowned. “You’re a redhead. I would have rather not known that.”
“And are you impressed with the size of a certain member?”
“I’m much bigger.” I returned to his face and placed the unicorn in my pocket. “I need you to do something for me. Remember that voice program you created?”
“Why? I have a feeling you’re going to have me do something terrible.”
“Can you get Leonid’s voice to say anything I want?”
“Of course. I found old media clippings from when he’s spoken at charity events.”
“Good. Grab his voice and then do a recording of him saying several sentences. I’ll write them down for you.”
“When do you want this?”
“I needed this an hour ago.”
Circuit frowned. “But this is my special time.”
“Have your special time after this.” I left and headed back to my bedroom.
He called back, “I doubt your dick is bigger.”
“It is.”
“Oh, wait! I have news about Paris.”
I stopped in the hallway and didn’t turn down.
“Our tech, Lainey, discovered a new person hunting for Kazimir’s babies. She has a satellite program where if there is any mention of Kazimir’s name and anything dealing with nuclear weapons in the same conversation, then the feed comes to her. Someone new has been talking about the nukes.”
I already knew the name, but wanted the confirmation. “Who?”
“The Dragon.”
Kenji’s words filled my head.
“You helped my enemies take something precious from me. Therefore, I will help your enemies take something precious from you.”
Pulling the unicorn out of my pocket, I kept my back to Circuit so he wouldn’t see my annoyance. “Who was the Dragon talking to?”
“A woman named Celina. She called him for help. She told him all about taking the nukes and that they were with her niece on a necklace. She also knew that there was a team of men tracking them and killing everyone involved. The Dragon said he would look into it and try to contact the team.”
“Circuit?” I turned to him. “You like astronomy. How many days until the lunar eclipse?”
“The blood moon is tomorrow tonight. Shouldn’t we be talking about Paris?”
“Get the recording done immediately.” I walked off, twisting the unicorn in my hand.