“I wish I could, Theo.” I fought the emotions that had exploded inside my chest. The crushing weight of goodbye mixed with a pang of guilt that I couldn’t do what he had asked of me. “You must be brave now, Theo, for me and for the rebellion.” Unwinding his arms from my frame, I stepped back I offered him my arm. His eyes widened in surprise. I clasped his forearm and he clasped mine, giving him the official cyborg greeting reserved for those we loved, honored, and respected. I was telling the world that I considered him my brother, one I would trust to fight by my side.
“And know that I will care for you until my processors cease their functions.” And that was about to happen sooner rather than later, I feared.
“Love you too, Brone,” Theo whispered as he let go and stepped back to join his mother and father.
Fuse and Torque walked over to stand beside me. “We will fight with you, brother,” Fuse declared as Torque nodded in agreement. I would have argued, but we didn’t have the time for it.
I dipped my chin. “Thank you, brothers.” I looked at Reaper. “Go.” I said the word like a command, putting the full weight behind it. Reaper wasn’t the only one who could boss people around.
He gave a sharp nod then took off towards the door, the others following behind him.
Iris walked by and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. “You better live, do you hear me? There is a Beanie Baby with your name on it waiting for you once this is all over.” She looked at Torque and Fuse. “That goes for the two of you as well.”
Torque grinned and Fuse’s mouth dropped open in shock. Fuse was a grumpy bastard. He could be mean and preferred to hide in his quarters. I bet he never thought he would get one of Iris’s coveted Beanie Babies.
The three of us nodded, and she let go of my hand to take Dash’s as they walked away.
Oz was next. “Don’t be fucking heroes. Get in, kick some butt, and get your metallic asses back to us, got it?” She threw a hug around my frame. Then hugged Torque before looking at Fuse.
“Oh, fuck it.” She tossed her arms around the stunned Military Model and hugged him quickly then let go. The poor gray bastard had been rendered speechless.
Oz simply shrugged and grinned. “Yeah. Never thought that would happen, either. But I figured no one else had the balls to hug you so I’d do it. What can I say? I have a soft spot for assholes.” She looked at Viper and winked.
The purple idiot laughed before he tossed her over his shoulder and strode out of the room.
Nara and her three cyborgs were the last to go, and I ordered my circuits not to follow them. When Nara got to the doorway, she hesitated before turning back around and running towards me.
I stood there frozen as she gestured for me to bend down. She placed a quick kiss on my cheek. “Be careful.” Her cheeks were flushed pink as she spun around to rejoin the three cyborgs.
Core, Chaos, and Caliber had matching confused but curious looks on their faces. “Why did you put your mouth on him?”
“He’s going to fight to protect us.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “It’s called a kiss, and it’s for good luck.” With those words, the four of them stepped into the hallway and were gone.
I rubbed my cheek and grinned. “Weapons hot, brothers. Let’s go show those assholes whose house this is.”
Nara
I brushed my thumb across my lips as I followed the rebellion deeper into the tunnels. I had no idea what had possessed me to kiss the Tank class on the cheek. As I had been about to step into the hallway, I had been suddenly gripped with fear for the massive cyborg.
I wasn’t blind. Every time I entered a room with him in it, his eyes would immediately land on me. He couldn’t seem to help himself. Something about me fascinated him, but I had no idea what it could be.
Being locked in a lab for over a year and consumed with my work had left little time to take care of myself. The Global Allegiance had made sure those that had been working on the luxury model cyborg project had no family to miss them or risk spilling secrets to.
I was an only child, and my parents had died some time back. My work had kept me from pursuing romantic relationships, so I had been the perfect candidate. When the offer came, I couldn’t say no. It had been a dream of mine to work with cyborgs. Everything about what Dr. Shaw had created fascinated me. I would have been a fool to say no.
Now I felt like a fool for buying all their lies. I couldn’t regret the creation of Core, Chaos, and Caliber though. I loved them. They were like my children. And I had done everything in my power to take care of them. I had kept them safe. Protected them from the others at the lab.
I had been careful, of course, but in the end it hadn’t mattered.
I had never been an employee. I hadn’t noticed it too much at first. Work had been busy, and consumed up all my time. It was easy not to realize that I wasn’t being allowed to leave the lab anymore, or that the few days I got to spend out in the sunshine had started to dwindle.
Then the two males who had worked with me had started watching me more closely. Monitoring my movements and making vague threats. They used my love for my cyborgs against me.
Step out of line and Core, Chaos, and Caliber would have been the ones to pay the price.
I hadn’t told anyone at the rebellion yet what they had done…
I had never planned to crack the code to create more cyborgs…but I had. Once they knew I could, I had become the Global Allegiance’s prisoner.