CHAPTER 247: NOT A DIVORCE

Katie sat up and turned to look at Jack, then at her father. Then she turned and gave her mother the evilest your-going-get-yours look he had ever seen.

"Don’t look at me like that, you trollop," said her mother. "Running off with that chauffeur. Waste of a perfectly good womb."

Katie turned back to Jack.

"Do it. Even if she ends up being your Isabella instead of Dad’s, you can at least command her to do whatever he says. And when she dies, you can delete her!"

Jack wasn’t sure how he was going to get the woman to accept a soul bond request, but he figured he could start by appealing to her vanity, then move on to harder tactics if that didn’t work.

"Mrs. Blake, your daughter and husband have both accepted a soul bond with me. Your daughter, because she loves me, and your husband, because he wants to live forever, and that is something I can only offer if you are soul bonded to me. Do you also want to live forever?"

"Can you really let me live forever?" asked Jaqueline hopefully.

"As far as I know, your only hope of immortality is through me," he replied confidently.

His statement was technically true, and she would believe him because that was what sapient templates did; they believed what he said, at least when what he said was true.

"And Orin accepted one of these soul bonds?"

"Yes. And so did the twelve men of his best special ops team."

He wasn’t sure but thought that telling her this would help sell the idea. Maybe trigger a bit of FOMO.

"Even Evan?"

"Yes, all twelve."

"Well, then I wouldn’t want to miss out on such a good opportunity. What do I have to do?"

"Nothing, just accept the offer when you receive it."

He sent her the request.

[Soul Bond Accepted: Jaqueline Blake]

There was a long pause, but she eventually accepted. He was relieved that he didn’t need to resort to hard tactics like having Orin choke her and tell her to accept or die.

As soon as the soul bond formation began, he grabbed her soul and Orin’s. But instead of trying to smush them together like he had with Heidy and Cindy, he tried to push onto her soul the idea that she was subordinate to Orin. That she should obey and be devoted to him.

After a few moments, he realized it wasn’t working. Not wanting to let her go without at least him or Orin having full control of her, he switched to dominating her like he had with Isabella and trying to establish full, unrestricted mental access.

Unlike with Isabella, he could feel when the changes he wanted locked in. He also felt like he had more time, so he switched to trying to grant Orin the same access and control.

This time, he felt his soul bond with Jaqueline shift, then fork and a branch connect to Orin. He didn’t want Jaqueline obsessing about Jack, so once he felt her soul connect to Orin’s he tried to reduce her focus on him, and increase it towards Orin.

He felt the soul bond formation process complete before he finished, so he wasn’t certain how much of a shift he’d managed to make.

Jacqueline blinked, then bowed to Jack and said, "How may this one serve you, Sir?"

Hearing her mother’s words, Katie whipped around and stared hard at her mother.

"Is she for real?" she asked Jack.

"Orin?" said Jack.

Orin turned and walked over to his wife. Before he even reached her, she turned and dropped to her knees, bowed her head and said, "I am not worthy."

"Try accessing her mind over your connection," said Jack.

Orin concentrated. His face shifted rapidly from surprise to delight to disgust, and he just stood looking down at his wife for several minutes.

Eventually he looked up at Jack and said, "Well, the only good things I can say about her are that she never cheated on me, and she loved Katie in her own twisted sort of way."

"If you push a command at her over your connection, she should obey, even if it goes against everything she believes or would want. There are probably limits, but I’m not sure what they are with her. You’ll have to test them yourself."

"Limits?"

"She might or might not cut off her own hand if you command it."

Orin’s eyes went wide.

"If you gave her that command here, the damage would be temporary and would disappear when she leaves my soul space. But the memory would remain. I’m not sure what long-term effect that would have on her mind or future compliance."

"I’ll keep that in mind," said Orin grimly.

"You’re not going to..." said Katie to her father.

"No, sweetie. I’m not going to torture your mother. But there will be some changes around the house."

Katie uncrossed her arms, then turned and hugged Jack.

"It’s only now that I truly understand what people meant when they said, ’Ignorance is bliss’."

Orin muttered, "I miss that bliss."

Then he turned to Katie and asked, "Would you be angry with me if I got a few girlfriends?"

"Hell no," she said.

Orin started smiling, then Katie added, "Just make sure Jack vets them first."

Orin’s budding smile froze, and he nodded stiffly. "That’s ... good advice."

Orin turned to Jack and said, "Any advice?"

"Well, since you’re unlikely to get your own Genesis Heart, my advice is, be upfront about what they can expect from you. If you intend to have multiple girlfriends, be sure they know that from the start. It might save you from some drama later."

Orin nodded. "Good advice."

Then, looking down at his wife, he said, "I could probably order her to accept whatever divorce settlement I want, but it would hurt my image within certain communities, so I think I’ll keep her for now."

Jack connected to Jaqueline’s mind and gave her a few commands to make sure she wouldn’t be a problem in the future, then turned to Orin.

"Since you’re part of the family now, I want to talk to you about security for my girls, my new employees, and my buildings."