Man Made God 001 Read online

  “As expected of you, Su. Not even fifteen minutes have passed, and you’ve already exceeded my expectations.” Fayte could not see Su on the other end, but she could well imagine the girl’s blush as she praised her. “Was there anything else?”

  “T-there is,” Susan took a shaky breath. “Um… I’ve managed to find several medical documents for Aris. She… she has… Mortems Disease.”

  “So it’s as I suspected,” Fayte murmured. “I can use this…”

  “W-what? Did you say something?”

  “No. I didn’t say anything. Anyway, thank you so much for helping me out, Su. I really appreciate it. Please send me his address. I need to speak with him as soon as possible.”

  “Y-you’re welcome. I’m happy I was able to help you. I’ll send his address now.”

  “Thanks again. I’ll talk to you later.”

  With their conversation over, Fayte ended the call, placed her phone on the table, and leaned back. She stared at the ceiling for a moment. A struggle took place within her heart, but it only lasted for a moment. The moment soon ended. She stood up, pocketed her phone, and made her way out of the coffee shop.

  The elevator softly chimed and the doors slid open. Adam pushed the wheelchair with Aris on it into a brightly lit hallway. Not a soul was present, but that was to be expected since no one else lived here except them. No one else wanted to live here.

  Before he reached their apartment, Adam pulled out his phone, accessed a security app, and unlocked the door. It slid open when he reached it.

  Their apartment was a spacious three-bedroom, two-bathroom space that had been converted into a two-bedroom apartment thanks to some renovations he’d done. The renovations had been expensive but well worth it.

  After the door closed shut with a soft click behind him, Adam slipped out of his shoes, put them on a rack, and moved in front of the wheelchair. He first turned off the life support system. A small cable was attached to Aris’s right arm, helping her body function while outside, which he removed.

  “And up we go,” he said with a soft grunt as he slid one hand under Aris’s thighs and the other around her shoulders. She weighed less than a feather. She was so light that Adam often worried about her blowing away if the wind became too strong. This lightness caused his heart to quiver in fear, because he knew it meant her muscles had atrophied to the point where they barely functioned. Her body barely had any muscles left.

  “Hee-hee. I’m always happiest when I’m in your arms.”

  Despite their circumstances, Aris acted as if she was truly happy about their situation. This girl who seemed so weak and fragile had a will that was stronger than steel.

  “I’m glad since I love having you in my arms,” Adam said back with a smile that hid his pain.

  He carried her into the master bedroom, which was large and featured an equally large bed. The king-sized bed was made from a type of foam that was said to provide the perfect sleep. It was covered in pure white sheets and a light blue blanket. The pillows were similarly white and light blue.

  Adam laid Aris down on the white sheets, removed the blanket, then helped her remove her jacket, pants, and shirt. Now clad in nothing but a white bra and panties, Adam looked down at the young girl and struggled to control himself.

  Despite the fact that her muscles had atrophied so completely she could barely move, Aris did not look at all like a cripple. Her white skin was flawless. While the proportions of her body were about average for a young woman her age, the tender swells of her breasts, barely hidden behind her bra, was enough to entice any man into wishing he could lay his hands on them. Her legs were long and supple. There was no indication that her body had degraded at all.

  There was a reason for that.

  “Are you ready for me to begin?” asked Adam.

  Aris’s already rosy cheeks lit up in a small blush as she nodded. “Yes, please.”

  “Okay. I’m starting.”

  “Mmm.”

  Adam sat on the bed near the end and lifted Aris’s left foot, which he placed on his lap. Aris released a soft sigh as he began massaging her foot, starting from the soles and even massaging each individual toe. Her toes were tiny. They reminded him of small sakura petals. She had the cutest toes ever.

  He soon worked his way up, massaging her calf and thigh, moving from the outside of her thigh to the inside at a slow and steady pace. Then he did the same thing with her other leg. As he worked, Adam bit his lip in concentration as he targeted acupressure points on her body. While Aris could not see it, small tendrils of colorless energy seeped into her skin through his hands, subtly strengthening her body and stimulating the nerves.

  He didn’t stop at her legs. Adam also massaged her hips, her stomach, her arms, and even her breasts and the area around her crotch. Her breasts and crotch were the hardest part for him. It was a struggle to touch those places and not lose himself. The only thing holding him back was the knowledge that if he had sex with her, there was a good chance her body would be unable to handle the strain and kill her.

  “Mmm… Adam…” Aris moaned. “That feels… so good…”

  Adam’s breathing hitched as he began rubbing her breasts. He had already removed her bra and was in the process of slowly infusing his own energy into her body, allowing it to seep into her skin, reinforce her muscles, and enhance her internal organs so they would continue to function. Her light pink nipples were stiff and puffy. He wanted to take them into his mouth, swirl his tongue around them, and lightly tug on them with his teeth.

  His lips became a thin line as he struggled against the roaring fire in his lower abdomen.

  By the time he finished massaging every inch of her body, Adam’s forehead and neck was covered in sweat and Aris was fast asleep. He stared at the girl for a moment, longing and heartache causing his heart to feel like it was being pierced, then leaned down and gently kissed her lips before standing up and walking out of the room.

  “I need to make dinner, but first…”

  Mumbling to himself, Adam wandered into the second bedroom, which looked more like a high-tech medical facility than it did a bedroom. All kinds of equipment resided inside. The biggest object was a machine in the very center that looked like a giant cylinder made of gleaming steel.

  Adam wandered to the back. A cold storage shed spanned the entire back wall. He pressed the button that made the shed doors slide open with a hiss, then frowned when he saw the many empty test tubes resting on the seven shelves inside. After scratching his head for a moment, he released a weary sigh.

  “I thought it was about time to restock.”

  Grabbing the test tubes one by one, Adam went over to the large device in the room’s center and inserted each test tube into a small slot that opened on the side. The slot accepted each tube and took them into the device. Once all six thousand had been inserted, the slot closed and Adam wandered over to a large vat with a tube sticking out of it and traveling into the ceiling.

  He quickly filled the tube with one hundred gallons of water. Then he grabbed a knife and raised his hand over the vat. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated all of his will power on his index finger as he cut it with the knife. The wound tried to heal almost immediately, but he fought against his own biological processes long enough for a single drop of blood to fall into the vat.

  The vat and cylindrical device was referred to as a Diluter. Its purpose was to dilute the contents of powerful chemicals or ingredients used in medicine, then automatically fill the test tubes he had placed inside with said medicine.

  After activating the Diluter, Adam watched as the liquid—just a simple combination of water and blood—mixed together before traveling up the tube and into the Diluter. The liquid’s color was light pink. The blood had already long since been diluted to 100,000 micrograms. Once all of the contents in the vat was gone, the Diluter stopped thrumming with life and the slot on the side opened up. Adam took the tubes one by one and placed them inside of the racks in the col
d storage shed.

  He only kept one out.

  Taking that one test tube, Adam wandered into the kitchen, placed the tube on a single holder rack, and got started on dinner. He made rotisserie chicken and coconut curry soup today. It was easy and healthy, with a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates, fat, and it contained a variety of important vitamins and minerals. It wasn’t long before the scent of his cooking began wafting through the room. Now all he needed to do was wake up Aris for dinner.

  Just as he was about to head into the bedroom, a small beeping sound echoed in his ear. He paused, then reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and looked at the caller ID.

  Astaroth.

  A frown split his face as his eyes grew cold. He put a small bud in his ear, accepted the call, and said, “Astaroth. Is everything okay?”

  “Everything is fine, Master. I just wanted to inform you that a young lady has entered the building and traveled up to your hallway. Seeing how you and the young miss are the only two people in this entire apartment, I can only assume she is here for you.”

  “Mm. I understand. I’m not surprised I was followed here. A young woman was following me and Aris in the city and took a picture of my license plate. Come to think of it, I should consider changing the address my license plate is listed on. Do you know who she is?”

  “No. She just arrived and we haven’t ID’d her yet. I will find out in just a moment. Would you like me to inform you of the results?”

  “No, it’s fine. I don’t think this woman means any harm, and I’m sure she’ll introduce herself anyway. Keep an eye on her just in case, though.”

  “Of course, Master.”

  As the call ended, Adam debated with himself over what he should do. Should he go about setting the table as if he wasn’t going to have a guest, or should he not bother until he shooed the woman away?

  Before he could come to a decision, the sound of his doorbell ringing echoed through the kitchen. He flinched at the noise. That sound might have woken up Aris.

  He changed his debate from what he should do to whether or not he should invest in sound proofing the master bedroom even as he walked to the front door. He paused for a moment, hesitated, then hit the button.

  The door slid open.

  Adam’s heart stilled.

  The woman before him was the same one who’d been following him this afternoon. She wore the same clothes she had when she followed him with one minor difference.

  She was no longer wearing her veil.

  Adam felt like everything in the area except for this woman had become gray, a simple monotone. The woman before him had a face that defied description. Words like beautiful and gorgeous simply couldn’t adequately describe her appearance. She had gentle blue eyes, skin that appeared softer than the finest silk, a small nose, and ruby red lips that begged to be kissed. The long blonde hair surrounding her face traveled to the middle of her back. Her hair color reminded him of honey. He could tell from a glance that this woman was not wearing any makeup, but that only made her impossible to describe beauty all the more astounding.

  If only she wasn’t wearing such ugly clothes.

  His astonishment only lasted for a moment before he settled his heart rate. The shocked expression on his face quickly disappeared as he mastered his emotions.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  The woman looked shocked for a moment. Her eyes went wide and her mouth parted in a pretty O-shape. However, much like him, she seemed to calm down with admirable swiftness. The only thing she couldn’t mask was the interest now shining in her eyes.

  “Hello. I’m very sorry for intruding like this. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Fayte Dairing.”

  “Fayte… Dairing…” As he heard the name, a thought suddenly popped into his head. “You wouldn’t happen to be related to Aaron Dairing, would you?”

  Fayte stiffened, but she tried to hide it behind a strained smile. “Yes, I am. That person is… my father.”

  The way she said “my father” was as if she had swallowed a deadly poison. Was there bad blood between her and her father?

  “Well, Fayte Dairing, is there something I can help you with? I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to finish preparing dinner, so if there is nothing you need of me, I’d like to ask you to leave.”

  His dismissive words were meant to drive the woman off, but she didn’t leave like he’d expected.

  “Please wait! I would like to speak with you. I have a proposition for you that I believe can benefit us both.”

  “I’m not interested in propositions. If there’s nothing else, then please leave.”

  Adam reached out to press the button that would close the door—

  “I can cure your lover’s Mortems Disease!”

  The words stopped his hand cold. His entire arm trembled before, ever so slowly, he retracted it back to his side. Adam studied the woman standing in front of his door with a cold gaze.

  “Do not toy with me,” he said in a voice that made Fayte shudder. “Everyone knows that Mortems Disease is incurable. It attacks the body, breaking it down, destroying it from the inside out. First it attacks the muscles, then the nerves, and then it begins breaking down the organs, until it finally destroys the heart. No one has found a cure yet. If someone did have a cure, it would have been announced a long time ago.”

  The tone in his voice could have caused lesser people to die from a heart attack. It was cold and filled with a sense of danger, like a blade just about to be drawn. Despite this, Fayte did not back down.

  “But what if there is a cure? What if I have that cure? Can you really afford to send me away if there’s even the smallest chance that I can cure your lover?”

  Fayte pressed on, determined, and while Adam wanted to turn her away because of how impossible her words sounded, he could not. His mind, body, heart, and even his soul trembled at her words.

  He had moved with Aris to New York City because it was at the heart of the American Federation and had all the best technology, and it was also the best place for him to earn enough money to pay for all the medical equipment currently in his possession. He had been hoping to find a cure. However, in all the time he’d been living here, he had not once discovered anything that could cure Mortems Disease. The most he could do right now was slow down the degradation of Aris’s body, but that was only a temporary solution. It only delayed the inevitable.

  And now this woman was telling him she had a cure.

  Could he really turn her away?

  “Come in,” Adam said at last, stepping aside.

  “Thank you,” Fayte murmured as she walked inside.

  Adam watched her slip out of her black boots and set them by the shoe rack. She had very small feet, but he thought they suited her. This woman appeared delicate and otherworldly, like a goddess who had descended to the mortal world.

  He glanced outside as the woman wandered further into his apartment, checking to see if anyone had followed her. There was no one present. Well, no one except for the shadow hiding in the corner of the hallway. Once he had confirmed that no one was around to spy on them, he shut the door, made sure it was locked, and turned to the woman called Fayte.

  It was time to see what sort of proposition she had in mind.

  The Proposition He Couldn’t Refuse

  “Whatever you are cooking smells delicious.”

  Fayte took several deep breaths as she smelled Adam’s cooking. By this point, the scent had permeated every part of the kitchen and the connected living room. While the scent was strong, it had a very mild flavor since Aris couldn’t handle bolder flavors and spices.

  She used to love spicy foods…

  “That’s because I’m cooking dinner—was cooking dinner. I’m about finished now,” Adam admitted.

  “I’m sorry. It seems I interrupted you.” Fayte’s smile was truly apologetic, which helped Adam set aside his annoyance at someone he didn’t know barging into his home.


  “It’s fine.” He waved away her apology. “Why don’t you sit on the couch over there? I’m going to grab some drinks. Is water fine?”

  “Thank you. And yes, water is fine.”

  With a nod, Adam wandered into the kitchen, grabbed two glasses from a cabinet, and poured them both water from the tap. Every faucet in his apartment provided filtered water, so there was no worry about them getting sick or ingesting something toxic. This was another addition he’d installed after he and Aris began living here. While he got them water, Adam observed the woman now sitting on his couch.

  She had taken off that ugly beige jacket of hers. Underneath it was a simple long-sleeved shirt, red and plain, but tight enough that it stretched across her well-endowed chest. Her breasts were a lot bigger than he first suspected. They were maybe three times larger than Aris’s modest bosoms.

  This was just something he noticed and not something he focused on for longer than a second; at the moment, Adam was not interested in her appearance but her reasons for seeking him out. After giving her a preliminary observation, he came back into the living room, set one of the glasses in front of her, and then sat just a few feet away on the same couch.

  “Thank you.” Fayte reached out with a slender hand to grab the glass and brought it to her lips. The action was delicate and refined, the kind of action that could only come from a woman of noble descent, as expected from the daughter of a wealthy family like the Dairing Family.

  “You said you could cure Aris’s Mortems Disease,” Adam finally pressed, getting to the reason he had let this woman into his home.

  “I did.” Fayte set the glass down and placed her folded hands in her lap. She sat with her back straight, posture fully erect. Her eyes retained their gentle appearance, but there was a seriousness in them now that caused Adam to also sit straighter. “The method for curing Mortems Disease is something my grandfather hired someone to develop to cure his wife. He invested over one hundred billion dollars to come up with this cure… but his wife died before the method was complete. After that, he dismantled the project and hid it away. He died shortly after from grief and the project was forgotten.”