Chapter 5

In Mike's pick-up, again on the way to the office, AI said, "Lord, it is important that you breed with females who possess the ancient blood, such as Senator Velasquez's daughter, Alexa, and his other daughters. That way the rule of the Lords of Light can be re-established. I didn't mention it last night, Lord, but it would have been better if you had impregnated Kay, who has the ancient blood, rather than your concubine Shannon."

"What're you talking about? I didn't impregnate anyone."

"Lord, whenever you ejaculate your semen into a female's vagina, she will become pregnant. That's why it would have been preferable if you had used Kay's vagina instead of her mouth and anus. But I am sure, Lord, you will have the opportunity to produce many more children with the ancient blood."

"I don't think that's very likely. My understanding is that it takes an average of three or four tries to get a woman pregnant, and that's if she isn't using birth control. And I'm sure Shannon is on the pill, I know most models are, to keep their periods regular."

"Lord, since the changes to your body occurred, your sperm has become so potent and long-lasting that a female will become pregnant by you even if you have intercourse during a time when she is not fertile. Your sperm will remain potent inside her until she is ready to be impregnated. Now Lord, will you please tell me what this 'birth control' is you refer to."

Mike explained to AI about different birth control methods - the pill, implants and similar hormone-based methods, condoms and diaphragms and sponges, spermicides, and anything else he could think of. He got the idea AI didn't approve, though he agreed that probably even Mike's super-sperm would be ineffective against most modern methods.

"Lord, surely some of the children you have already fathered may possess some of the ancient blood, even if their mothers did not."

AI was shocked when Mike told him that as far as he knew he didn't have any children - none from his mercifully short first marriage, none (he knew of) from any of a variety of girls and women he had been with, and of course, none with Kay. The idea that a man could have lived forty-one years without having fathered any children surprised AI. "Surely, Lord, you will be having many children in the future, and especially when all the fragments of the crystal are reunited and you take your rightful place in this world."

Mike stopped conversing with AI for the rest of the trip, thinking about what he had learned, about what AI called the Lords of Light, and the dream he had last night. Who were those men? Could they have been his sons?

And then there was AI's statement that if he had vaginal sex with a girl she would get pregnant as long as she wasn't using birth control. That reminded him of the ancient Greek myths that if a god or demigod had sex with an earthly woman, she would inevitably become pregnant with his child. Could the Lords of Light be the source of that myth?

As he pulled into his office parking lot, Mike decided he didn't have time to worry about those questions now. Upstairs, as soon as he walked in, their receptionist, Veronica, looked up, her big, dark eyes flashing at him, "Mike, you're lookin good," she said giving him a big smile. Picking up her phone, "Terri told me to let her know when you arrive."

As Mike headed for his office, he was waylaid by Terri. "Mike, you were supposed to be here over an hour ago. Greg's with Mr. Cruz in the conference room. You need to get in there now."

He saw her looking at his beard and how he was dressed. They had a pretty casual work environment, but jeans, a plaid shirt and hiking boots was going a little far, even for an informal office. Luckily for her, she didn't say anything about his appearance.

"Okay, let him know I'll be there in a few minutes, soon as I get some coffee." She glared at Mike for a second, then started down the hall.

He filled his coffee mug, glanced at the pile in his in-box, ignored the message light on his phone, and walked down the hall to the conference room. The door was open, Terri standing just inside. In one corner Mr. Cruz and another man were huddled over some of the storyboards for the planned ad campaign. In the opposite corner, Greg Hayes, Gina Colonna, their artist, and two of the models, Steve Grant and Nikki Kraft, were talking quietly. It didn't look like things were going well.

"Mr. Hayes, Mike's here now," Terri said.

"Mike, glad you could make it," Greg said shaking his hand. "How was the vacation?"

Mike told him it was fine, then asked what was going on. "Well, Mr. Cruz and Paul Green, his general manager, don't seem to like our idea for the ad campaign, but we can't get them to let us know what the problem is. I had Gina come in, but they don't seem to be able to tell her what the problem is either."

That was the way things went around here. They wanted him to save their bacon even though it wasn't his project, it was Greg's. Mike had a reputation for being a good listener and communicator. Maybe with the crystal and the ring he'd be able to do even more.

"Will I be able to influence them without touching?" he asked AI, thinking it would be hard to touch them and put them under his control with so many observers.

"Yes, Lord, with your natural ability and the crystal, you will find you will have great influence over them."

He turned to Gina. "Let's see what they're unhappy about."

She smiled at him, her eyes bright. "Well, I hope you can find out, Mike. I sure couldn't get anything out of them."

Mike always liked Gina, was even attracted to her, but never did anything about it. She was Italian, he guessed in her mid to late twenties, tall, with a great figure, long midnight black hair, scrunched up in back now. She was wearing a color-spattered man's shirt as a smock over a blue tee-shirt, jeans and sandals.

"She would be suitable as a concubine," AI said. "As would Nikki."

"Gina maybe, but not Nikki, she's involved with Steve."

"Lord, once Nikki learns your true nature, she will realize he is as merely a callow youth compared to the dominant male she will know you to be."

It wasn't unusual to have models at these kind of meetings. They were eye candy who could help soften up the client. And Nikki could sure do that. He looked at the beautiful blonde, sitting next to her fair-haired boyfriend, seeing her smile at him, then turn to Steve. "No," he continued to AI. "I'll consider Gina. As far as I know, she isn't seeing anyone now. But not Nikki, as much as I'd like to. I don't want to break up any relationships."

Mr. Cruz stood up, shook his hand, and introduced him to his general manager, Paul Green, a tall, thin, African-American. Greg let him take the lead trying to find out why they were dissatisfied with the proposal. 'Cruz Motors' was one of the largest Hyundai dealers in the LA region. The new store they were opening soon would make them even bigger, and the ad campaign would be an important part of their marketing strategy. Chandler and Hayes didn't want to lose this account.

Of course, Mike could have used his powers to make them agree to anything he wanted. It might have taken some time, but he could have maneuvered them away from the others and put them under his control. The problem with that was if the planned campaign was flawed, there was no way he could control everyone in LA. These two knew their business better than anyone, they should be able to help create a successful campaign.

They talked for a while, but all Mike could discover was they were dissatisfied but didn't seem to be able to articulate why. It was nearly noon when Mr. Cruz said, "We're going to lunch now. We'll give you a week to develop another proposal, but if that doesn't meet our needs, we'll have to consider someone else, maybe a larger firm."

"Have lunch here, with us," Mike said, all the time thinking, agree... agree... agree. "We'll order some pizzas, if that's okay. Just give us one more hour to try to find out what we can do to meet your needs."

They agreed. He had Veronica order pizzas and imported beer from their regular place. As they were eating, Mike concentrated on having them focus on how the campaign could be improved. Suddenly, Paul Green said, "Maybe other models, more like our customers, would make a difference."

Nikki and Steve looked up. "Whatta you mean?" Steve asked. "Aren't we like your customers?"

"Our demographic is more minority, less affluent than the image you present," Paul answered. Steve glared at him, then looked away as Nikki said something.

"Yes, I'd like to see more minority customers," Mr. Cruz said.

Mike huddled with Gina while she did some quick work, sketching out changes to the commercial. "Who's free?" he asked Terri.

She left the room, returning in a few minutes. "It looks like Kim's available, and Jesse. We'll know tomorrow."