Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #2 — Nancy A. Collins

Los Angeles, 2032 Elle, an off-the-books Replicant codenamed Black Lotus, was created by Niander Wallace Jr to be his unwitting assassin, the heart of his scheme to seize control of the Wallace Corporation. Following a violent confrontation with Niander Wallace Jr that left him blind and his father, Wallace Sr dead, along with Elle’s sister Replicant, White Lotus, Elle fled on her Spinner bike into the California desert, hoping to find a new life, free from violence, bloodshed and death. She subsequently found safe haven with an environmental commune in a remote desert valley, but when they were attacked by a nearby fracking plant, Elle had no choice but to join the fight. The resulting battle destroyed the plant and saved the community but also alerted Niander to the fact that Black Lotus was still alive. With Elle once again setting off into the desert, Niander determined to get her back at any cost, recruited a ‘capture team’ referred to as The Doll Squad to hunt his wayward Replicant. Comprising of Officer Davis – a Blade Runner who’d survived a pervious confrontation with Elle; Kozlov, the fracking plant’s former head of security; Kate Marlow, an Off-world mercenary whose brother had been killed by Elle; and the Wallace Corp executives Menzes, with his assistant, Tatsuo. Meanwhile, Elle came upon the irradiated and abandoned city of Las Vegas where she was greeted on the steps of a once mighty casino by a woman dressed as Cleopatra…