Acer shook his head wildly, the smile slipping off his face. “No! That’s not possible! Cyborgs don’t panic!”
“Wrong,” My knees threatened to buckle. “I need Poe...only one who can stop it.”
He grabbed my shoulders, giving me a hard shake. “How?”
I couldn’t answer, my processors replaying the sight of Poe seizing on the exam table in brutal clarity, the sound of her screams roaring past my auditory systems on a sick loop I couldn’t hear beyond. Black dots swam in front of my optical lights, my whole frame swaying in Acer’s grasp.
“I’m here! Let me take him. Let go, Acer!” A voice cried out.
No, don’t let go!I begged silently, the words failing to escape my lips. The pressure on my arms disappeared and I lurched forward, but something caught me, stopping my fall. I blinked and a fuzzy outline of pale skin and dark hair danced in front of my eyes.
A hand slid up to cup my cheek. “I got you, handsome. Focus on me. Breath with me-in and out, in and out.”
I knew those commands. Poe had given me the same ones when I had panicked in her car.As soon as my frazzled processors made the connection, they hurried to obey. My heartbeat slowed, my breathing taking on the even rhythm of...hers. “Poe?”
Dark hair flew as she nodded. “It’s me, Dax. I’m here.” Her other hand landed on my free cheek, drawing my face to hers to plant a ghost of a kiss across my lips. “I’m so sorry,” her voice broke as she flung an arm around my neck, dragging me into the warmth of her frame.
My arms worked on their own accord, wrapping themselves around her waist and pressing her even tighter against me. I shook in her arms, unable to control the rising emotions that swelled beneath the green surface of my aching chest. “Poe,” my voice trembled. “You..you..why?” I struggled to form complete sentences as the warning lights stopped flashing, my systems starting to regulate themselves once again.
It was no longer my mechanical systems that were going haywire, but the soul I had sometimes wondered if I even had. Finding Poe had shown me it’s existence, and almost losing her had nearly destroyed it. I couldn’t understand why she would risk herself again. And why she would do it withoutme. I leaned back, putting a bit of space between us to see her face.
Her skin was bunched around her eyes, a pained expression on her face. One of her hands slid from around my neck to run her fingers back and forth over the edges of the bow tie I wore. “You want to know why I did it,” she asked quietly.
I nodded, still not trusting myself to speak.
Her fingers continued to run the length of my bow tie as she took a deep breath. “The first dose didn’t take Dax, not permanently, anyway. The effects were wearing off and the damage I sustained when I had an allergic reaction to your formula was beginning to take effect.” She fingers stilled on my bow tie as she waited for her words to sink in.
My head jerked back slightly. “You were allergic to my formula? That is what caused it to go so wrong?” That is what I hadmissed?Something so simple. Wait, who discovered the truth?Then it hit me. There was only one person besides myself who could have figured it out. My eyes widened in realization. “Dr. Shaw learned the truth, didn’t she?”
Poe gave a weak nod. “Yes. She had figured it out before she examined me the first time after I woke up. At first, I was mad at her for not telling you. You were racked with guilt because you couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. I wanted her to tell you, Dax, but she had discovered a bigger problem, and the only solution was one I knew you would never agree to.”
“You needed a second dose.” I said flatly, trying to ignore the flutter of pain her lies had caused. I watched as her eyes grew wet with unshed tears. Her hand slid down to rest on my chest, the heart she owned beating harder against her palm, desperate for her attention.
“It was the only way, Dax,” she offered quietly.
I grabbed her wrist intending to tug it free from my chest, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I flattened my palm over hers instead. “Was it?” She inhaled sharply, but I continued. I needed to know. “Was a chance at forever more important to you than aguaranteedshorter lifetime withme?” I vibrated with hurt. I hadn’t cared about forever. After Poe’s brush with death, all I had been grateful for was whatever amount of time I would get with her. Another dose could have killed her, and I wouldn’t have even been there to say goodbye.
There had been times in my life I had been angry with my mother. Times I had lashed out in frustration or jealousy.
But never once had Ihatedmy mother until right now. My circuits were at war between the betrayal I felt and love that had existed in my processors for the woman who had created me.
“Dr. Shaw had no right, Poe.” I shot a look to Acer, who was trying to slink towards the door. “Noneof you did! It should have been my choice,” I looked down at female I loved with every bit of my fabricated heart. “It should have beenourchoice.”
The tears that Poe had been trying to hold back broke free, spilling down her cheeks to splash against my lab coat. “I was dying, Dax,” she whispered as more tears fell, soaking the white fabric.
Her four words stopped me in my tracks, shaking me to the core. I sucked air into my manufactured lungs and any anger I had felt vanished with Poe’s heartbreaking admission. “Dyin..dying?” I stuttered, shock racing through my wires.
She nodded, sending more tears tumbling down her cheeks. “When I first woke up, I felt great. I wasn’t lying to you. I truly believed that first dose had taken. I mean, how else could I feel that good after being in a coma for a month?” She gave a sad shrug. “But the day Dr. Shaw came to our room to examine me, she found something on the scanner, something bad. Once you had left for the common room, I demanded she tell me what was wrong. I had accepted that I wouldn’t get forever with you. I wasn’t going to go through another dose just to get more time. Then she told me that the last remnants of your formula were fading and the damage I had suffered had started to take effect.”
She slid free from my arms and took a step away from my frame. Her arms wrapped around herself as she fought a new wave of tears. “I had totaketo the second dose, Dax. Without it, I most likely would have slipped back into a coma and not even the bond would have brought me back this time.” She met my eyes, swiping angrily at the tears. Her arms fell, her hands curling into fists. “I did what I had to do, Dax. I gave us a future. I’m sorry for not telling you, but I’m not sorry about getting the second dose.” She grabbed the white edges of my coat, jerking me forward. “You’re stuck with me, Science Model. If you need to be mad at me for a while, that’s okay. We haveforeverto figure things out.”
Forever?I locked my knees as they threatened to buckle again, the realization I got lifetimes with Poe finally hitting home.I get forever with my female. And she was now a bit like me.The thought made me happy and I couldn’t hold back a smile. I had always hated being the only Science Model, always feeling like the odd cyborg out. Poe might not be a full cyborg, or another of my model type, but she was the only one willing to experience hell a second time to stay with me.
Shechoseme twice.
How lucky could one cyborg be?
Poe was better than another Science Model. With her by my side, I had the one thing I had always wanted-someone to belong to. I ignored Acer’s groan as I shot forward to capture Poe’s lips with mine, taking her mouth in a searing kiss.