Right now, I needed any friend I could get.
And Ion was much better than Reaper.
At least this Military Model doesn’t want to kill me.
Brone
Lennox’s Headquarters
Ipushed open the door to Medical. Dr. Shaw’s head lifted from the makeshift desk she had claimed since our arrival.
“Brone?” she asked softly. “How can I help you?”
I stared into the face of our maker and fought down my shock. Dark circles ringed her eyes, her brown hair was tucked haphazardly into a bun, and an oversized, worn sweater hung off her shoulders.
Never had I seen Dr. Shaw look so small and lost. She had always been a force to be reckoned with, even when Reaper got angry at her or other cyborgs treated her badly.
A lot of them still blamed her for the horrors they had survived. Reaper’s newfound acceptance of her had gone a long way to change things, but some beings would always let anger and bitterness be their default settings.
I strode over, the chair creaking as I dropped my frame down into it. “I feel like I should be asking you that.”
She tugged her sweater tighter around herself. “I’m fine.”Her voice held no conviction.
“Liar.” I twisted in the seat to study her face. Dr. Shaw would forever look like she was no more than around twenty-two. No wrinkles or lines to show the life she lived were mapped on her delicate features. But it was her eyes that revealed the truth.
Dr. Shaw was struggling. Sadness flickered in her green gaze as the weight of the world reflected in her eyes. She let out a sigh. “You have enough to worry about, Brone. I won’t add more to your plate.”
“Then whose? Reaper? Dax?” Reaching out, I took her hand. “I know you don’t want to add anymore to theirs. Both of them are rather full at the moment.” I gave her hand a squeeze. “But mine? I’ve got room.”
The corners of her mouth lifted. “Thank you, Brone.” She let out a deep breath. “My whole life I knew I was different. The way I looked at the world. The concepts that I grasped that others found beyond challenging or couldn’t understand at all.”
Leaning back in the chair, she pulled her legs up and tucked them underneath her. “When I was young, I didn’t understand why everyone else wasn’t like me. I spent a lot of time alone wondering why I could solve equations far past my age, yet I couldn’t make friends. The more attention I received for my intelligence the more my peers seemed to avoid me.”
Her eyes drifted to the scanner on the desk, her fingers reaching out to stroke the smooth surface. “This I understand. Tech. Programs. Calculations. Input and output.” She looked at me. “Machines were easy. Humans not so much. My cyborgs were meant to change that. To bridge the divide between man and machine.”
Tears filled her eyes. “But all of you…you were so much more. Beyond anything I could have ever imagined. They called me a genius. By the world’s standards, I was. But the cyborgs…you, Brone…were far more brilliant and beautiful…so much bigger than anything my brain thought up. You’re magic. And now this Nara has found a way to recreate it, and a part of me hates her for it while the other part of me understands.”
“I looked into her eyes and saw myself. She loves those cyborgs. And she’s just as trapped by them as I was. I never regretted any of you. I regret putting my faith in people who ended up hurting you. And to learn that my own sister was one of them? That she worked with those monsters to make Dex just so she could what? Best me? Be me? She wasn’t well, I understand that. But her betrayal cuts deep. As does the knowledge that despite my best efforts to destroy my research, it wasn’t good enough.”
Reaching up, she cupped my cheeks. “I have lost so many of you. I lost Torque when he should have been free and safe.”
She hung her head. “I am sotired,Brone. Tired of the sins of my past harming the ones I love. Tired of not being able to promise Theo and Ever the world they deserve. Tired of looking at Axios and not being able to fix him so that he no longer hurts.”
Dropping her hands, she wrapped her arms around herself. “What kind of mother am I if I can’t take care of my children?”
“You areours.The only one we will ever have.”Without her, none of us would be here. “And the fate of every single cyborg doesn’t rest squarely on your shoulders.” I put an arm around her shoulder. “And you made us strong enough to help carry the weight.” I tugged her to the side of my frame. “So let us.”
She patted my arm, a familiar gesture she used to show her affection for her cyborgs. I fought a smile. Dr. Shaw and I weren’t all that close. After Reaper had brought me out of stasis, I had chosen to stick to myself. Being the only remaining Tank Class made me feel disconnected from the other models.
And don’t tell him, but Reaper is far from cuddly, although he might already know.
Hell, we beat the shit out of each other when he had been struggling with his feelings for Aria. Fighting was easier than admitting to having feelings. Lowering our guard hadn’t turned out so bad in the end. Reaper got the girl and an incredible son.
And so far, I had gained a set of best friends, the love of two cyborg children, one grumpy leader, and three newly adopted Luxury Models.
But I wantedmore. I wanted what my brothers had. I wanted Nara…even if she didn’t want me. I tried to push what I had experienced aside. I told myself that she had made her choice.
Still, something in the back of my processors screamed that I had missed something. That there was a reason for her rejection, and if I could find it, then maybe I could fix it.