My processors reminded me that I owed my female and daughters lives to the cyborg in front of me. When Reaper and Viper had gone to bring him back, they had purposely left without me behind. I think they knew what my stubborn circuits hadn’t wanted to admit. If they would have brought me along, I would defended Dax against them. I would have fought to protect him and not only because I needed him to check on Ever and Marley. I guessed my processors were past the point of wanting Dax to be my friend, they already thought he was.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I have a friend,the old version of my processors lamented.Shut up, the new version chided.You know you like it. It’s nice not being alone anymore.I huffed.
I relaxed the tension in my frame, allowing myself to see Dax as someone I wanted in my life instead of another annoying cyborg who caused me to grind my gears. “I would have had your back if I had gone with Reaper and Viper. I would have fought for you.” Those words carried a heavy weight. I had a reputation for being a vicious fighter. You had to be with a face like mine. Others thought they could hurt or humiliate you simply because of the way you looked so I had taught them a lesson with my fists. I had fought to protect myself, to busy defending myself to care about any others. But I would have fought for Dax. I would have fought for him as hard as I would have if I had been fighting for my female and daughter.
Dax was one of the good guys.
And to my shame, most of the cyborgs, including myself, had never bothered to see it.
Dax’s mouth went slack as his arms fell to his sides. “Youwould havefoughtfor me?” His brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Because you are mybrother.” I held out my arm, “and you are myfriend.”
Dax quickly clasped my arm. His arm trembled slightly against the exposed metal of mine. “Brother.” The trembling stopped and he gripped my arm with a sure and steady grip. “Friend,” he confirmed as held on tight, giving my arm a strong shake before letting go.
The look of pure joy on Dax’s face almost knocked me on my ass. It didn’t take much to make the Science Model happy. He had always wanted the things I had once shunned-friends, home, a place to belong. Joy burst along my own circuits. The upgraded side of my programming lighting up with the notion I had helped to make Dax happy. The other side of my programming surprisingly wasn’t thinking about punching the smile off his face.Hmm...interesting. This could work.
“I will see you in my quarters soon, Science Model. Don’t keep me or Ever and Marley waiting-they have missed you.”
“I haven’t been away that long. Even my attempted escape only lasted a day.”
“It was long enough. Others might not say it and I didn’t think the job would go to me, but I’ll say it because it needs saying.” My gold eyes met his, “Weneedyou, Dax. Don’t go away again or I’ll track you down myself-that’s athreatand apromise.”
The foolish cyborg only grinned wider. “Understood, Acer.”
“And as your friend, let me give you some advice-take a shower before you head over. I might not dislike you anymore, but Science Model, you stink.” I turned to walk away but twisted back around. “And that goes for your female, too. You don’t want all of the cyborg rebellion to smell her private business. Human females are rather particular about that kind of thing.”
He nodded earnestly. “You are very correct, Acer, and it seems you didn’t need to be slapped to learn that lesson. It took me three times before I got it.”
I tossed my head back and laughed. Maybe being friends with the Science Model wouldn’t be so bad. At the very least it should be amusing.
Chapter Twenty-Six
*Poe*
Ipractically skippeddown the hallway. Dax had come back into our quarters and informed me that we were taking a “non sexy shower” then going to meet a cyborg, his female, and theirbaby. He had me at baby cyborg. I had gotten ready as fast as possible, showering then quickly tossing clothes on, barely able to contain my excitement.
A baby! A baby cyborg! Omg.Standing outside the family’s quarters I giddily clapped my hands together. “Sorry. I’m a bit excited. I’m trying to tone it down a bit.”
Dax’s eyebrows shot up. “You were just clapping with a look of glee on your face and you claim that was toning itdown?” His lips quirked in amusement.
“You cannot tell me baby cyborg and expect me not to lose a little bit of my mind. I bet she’s the cutest thing.” I let out a happy little sigh. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
The amusement slowly faded from his face. “Not everyone would think she was cute. Some would see Ever as simply a thing they could exploit.”