Synthetic: Dark Beginning Read Free Page A

since the government collapse, the rich had taken over everything, leaving the rest of the population to suffer. “Many of them are just children, Randall.”
    “Then their parents are to blame for their laziness.” Randall turned and talked to the driver through the intercom. “We’re confirming permission to enter Ruby’s property.”
    The limo thumped over a cluster of potholes in the Pacific Coast Highway as it passed an abandoned gas station.  “Why couldn't we take a helicopter?” asked Kora.
    “Your mother, Ruby, hates them.  Wouldn't allow us to land any sort of aircraft out here and she has a powerful force field that would take an army to bust through.”
    “Why on earth would someone want to break into her property?”
    “It's more for those trying to get out,” replied Randall. “She inherited land out here and during the great economic collapse of twenty-five she opened a private prison.”
    A prison. Years ago, Ishmael told her that Randall sent his enemies to a prison in Malibu. Kora hadn't believed him and after that, Ishmael just did his work and never told her anything.
    “Ruby is the warden, among other things.”  Randall laughed nervously.  “She's a bit eccentric.  A real estate mogul, television entertainer, and a pioneer in synthetic science. She's also a huge vampire fan which leads me to one very important request.  I know you're familiar with our no-vampire policy at Mirafield—”
    “Of course, because I'm the one who created it,” interrupted Kora.  Glowing fairies, green-skinned mermaids, centaurs—Kora made them all. Her wealthy and eccentric clients hired her to create every kind of strange artificial being imaginable. Except vampires. That’s where Kora drew the line. Every day another rich weirdo placed an order for a sexy vampire mistress or a brooding hunk, but Kora held firm. Vampires freak her out.
    “I know your distaste for the dark creatures, but Ruby can be very convincing, my dear.”  Randall turned to his assistant who'd spent the car ride attempting to set Kora on fire with her eyes.  “Alex, make me a vodka tonic.  I need something stronger to face that woman.  I'm not sure why the air isn’t reaching back here. I’m suffocating.”
    He fiddled with some knobs that sent a stream of cold air into Kora’s face. When she turned to the window to escape the blast, she saw tall cliffs rise up in the distance like thick, jagged scars against the smooth beach. “I’ve seen this place before,” she said in a daze.
    “It’s called Point Dume,” said Randall, rattling his ice cubes around in his glass before taking a drink. “It’s where movie stars used to build fancy homes during the early part of the century. Ruby moved out here somewhere around the twenties.”
    Through the mist, Kora saw the vague outline of a massive structure perched at the edge of the cliffs facing the ocean. She pushed up off her seat to get a better view, but it disappeared as they raced around a bend and came to a stop before the ruins of a grocery store. The skeletons of burnt-out mansions haunted the hills above the highway as if hoards of angry villagers had stormed through with torches and set everything ablaze.  She noticed a toppled post beside the road that read, Dume Drive.  The driver spotted the sign as well and turned, the limo’s tires crunching over piles of dead palm fronds as it crept toward the ocean.
    The mansions along Dume Drive were in even worse shape than those dotting the hills along the highway.  Many looked as if they’d been torn down and blazed, leaving nothing behind but driveways leading up to piles of ash.  Dead rose gardens spread along both sides of the road and Kora inhaled sharply when the castle emerged through a jumble of eucalyptus trees.  It looked like a massive sea creature that had fallen asleep after an exhausting climb up the cliffs.  Smooth rocks covering the walls gleamed like a thousand iridescent scales stretched