Free The Bloodless by Andrew Gibson Page A

saw this and chuckled, “Drink it all in buddy. We got two more days of this though, so pace yourself.”
    Justice couldn’t pace himself, there was so much to see and only three days to see it all. He did make a mental note of that presentation, which was something he definitely wanted to see. He had only met Abigail Romanov once, but back then she was still Abigail Crist. Unfortunately that meeting was brief and ended with him getting electrocuted into a coma. Not exactly the best first impression. It was no secret, however, that the Romanovs were the best of the best in the world of weapons and weapon design. There would definitely be a lot of information he could glean off a mind like the lady Romanov’s.
    He decided to first just take a couple laps around the entire place and see what was what. The range of weapons that were on display was staggering, much more than he had anticipated. There was everything from very small, concealable guns, to massive, heavy duty, vehicle mounted canons. He saw some explosives, crowd control devices that were non-lethal, and some new electricity based personal defenders. There were a lot of prototypes and the ones Justice wanted to see the most were the new laser gun prototypes.
    This led him to the Villain display, as they were the only ones in the industry who were developing laser based weapons. When he arrived at the booth he didn’t see either of the Romanovs anywhere. Apparently they allowed their subordinates to handle one of the biggest developments in weapons history.
    It had been a long time coming for laser guns. The technology had always been there but there was also a lingering reluctance to develop such a deadly device. However, Man’s incessant need to prove who carries the bigger stick never abates, especially in an age where science ruled. Perhaps it was the science that amplified this desire to build everything bigger and more destructive, or maybe the science just made it possible. Either way, the fact remained that laser weapons were becoming a reality, and those implications cast an ominous shadow over civilization.
    “First prototype, fresh off the line,” a rep said as he approached Justice who was running a hand over the barrel of the weapon. “This is our crowning achievement,” the rep continued. “It’s expected to usher in a whole new era of weapons.”
    “It actually works?” Justice asked, taking his hand off the weapon.
    “You bet your ass it does,” the rep said. “I’m Brody by the way.” They shook hands. He was definitely more a salesman rather than someone who actually worked on it. He was incredibly handsome with a sharp facial structure and blazing green eyes. Justice assumed the rep’s muscles were more for choking a customer into submission of a sale rather than critical thinking.
    “What’s the output on this thing?” he asked.
    “This can put a hole through a three foot thick lead wall up to a half mile away bro,’ Brody answered, his muscles flexing.
    At that point Justice didn’t know If Brody was a real person or an android that was modeled after douchebags of the early 21st century. “Impressive,” he said, “but power output, what are we looking at here?”
    “You interested in buying, man?” Brody asked, a pained look on his face.
    “No,” Justice said, “just interested.”
    “Gotcha. Hang on my man, let me get one of our techs,” Brody said as he sauntered away towards a group of normal looking people. He tapped one on the shoulder and she turned around. It was Romanov’s wife, but she looked very different than he remembered. Brody pointed at Justice and when she looked over at him a look of sheer surprise filled her face. She smiled hugely and walked over towards him.
    “Dr. Justice,” she said as she extended a hand to him. He shook it.
    “Mrs. Romanov,” Justice responded.
    “It’s Crist, I never took my husband’s name,” she corrected him. “But please, call me Abby.” Justice didn’t