Cyborg Pool Boy: Cyborg Shifters Short Story

by Lucas, Naomi

  Too soon the spired trees and the giant flowers of the grounds blocked out their view of the house.

  He stopped them at a shallow, muddy den, where the back foundation of the pool had eroded away. The only thing remaining of the monster was the impression it had left behind, where its petals had shielded it from any eyes that may happen upon it.

  Moss stepped aside and kneeled. “Look.”

  Lucy moved up beside him, using his arm to balance. Silence filled the space between them.

  9

  Moss breathed in Lucy’s scent, trying to firmly solidify it in his memory. He’d be leaving soon now that the job was done, but he strove for more reasons to linger. Showing her this was merely an excuse. He could have removed and transplanted the flowers without her ever knowing.

  “It had babies?”

  “Sprouts,” he confirmed. “The creature was nesting and protecting its sprouts.”

  “I’ve never heard of a flower doing that…”

  “There’s a first for everything,” he agreed.

  Lucy kneeled beside him. “I’ve seen these flowers before. They’re not meant to be here but I brought one in anyway, and my parents hadn’t cared. It was just a flower at the time. Something small and beautiful, like these. I never meant any harm.”

  “And you caused no harm, not where it matters.” He squeezed her hand. “Where did you find it?”

  Lucy sighed deeply, tiredly under his perusal, and looked back over her shoulder toward the direction of the house. “Outside the gates, in Loxuria’s natural forests.” She smiled slightly at him, meeting his eyes. “I was impish back then. I only obeyed when I wanted too.”

  “We both know that’s a lie.”

  She laughed and sat back. “Very well. At least I don’t shift into a big mass of metal with more arms and legs than I could count.”

  Moss cocked his head. “Eight. You can use your fingers if it helps,” he teased. He scrutinized her face in search of the disbelief or horror from the omission of what he was but found nothing but weary joy. He squeezed her hand again, finding that he never wanted to let it go.

  “Oh, thanks. I’ll remember that. Have you always been like that?”

  “Like what? A hot piece of indestructible tardigrade ass? Yeah. I’m virtually impossible to get rid of. You might not know this but I can withstand the impact of a meteor, freezing temperatures, long periods of dehydration, and the heart attack of a beautiful woman putting herself in danger for me. Beware.”

  “Oh, I see.” Lucy struggled to get her hand free from his but he refused to let it go. “So my worry amounted to nothing?”

  “What can I say? I liked being worried over…”

  Moss met her eyes head-on, leaving the words hanging heavily between them. Metal shifted throughout his body in anticipation, micromovements he had no intention of stopping. The need to claim Lucy grew with every steadily increasing heartbeat. She swallowed and his eyes caught and recorded every movement of her beautiful, pale throat, picturing it swallowing something else entirely. Something of his. Moss’s muscles tightened.

  An eagerness for more frayed his wires.

  Lucy broke his gaze with a shudder and visibly froze under his perusal. “What are we going to do with the flowers?” Her next swallow was far more shallow than her last. Moss let her go.

  “I’ll return them to their natural habitat.”

  “Can I go with you?” she asked, leaning over to pet one of the flowers with her finger. The way he wanted her to touch him.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Several hours later, with two out of the three of Loxuria’s suns having already set, Lucy drove them out of the Larkswest Estate and into the wilds of the planet. Unincorporated territory. She stopped the vehicle several miles outside the estate grounds, down in a ravine where a large, crystalline lake flowed undisturbed. Moss held eight potted flowers in his lap.

  “Okay babies, now I’m really, really sorry for having your mama killed, but I know you can survive without her,” Lucy continuously cooed at the plants, speaking in the direction of his cock. He had no idea how to handle it. “Out here, you can grow big and strong and just as evil, and on your own terms!”

  “Yes you can,” he numbly cooed with her.

  “Yes, you can! You so can! I did it, you can do it too.”

  He cracked a smile. “You like kids?”

  “Kids like me, normally. I used to be an ambassador for Orphans Lost in Space, but then during our 200th anniversary, I booked a cruise for the entire donor organization, and for all the past, present, and hopeful future parents to attend and well, I didn’t realize it was a pleasure cruise. I’m just glad the kids were all far, far away from that fiasco. I like kids.”

  Moss burst out a laugh. “You’ve had an interesting life.”

  She shrugged and wilted dramatically in her seat. “Not as interesting or disastrous as the time I insulted an alien Knight of Xanteaus and refused his marriage proposal, or when I hired a multi-million dollar pool boy to get rid of this giant monster flower in my backyard.”

  “You’ve got me beat. Hold your babies for a second.” Moss gently handed her the flowers and stepped out of the craft.

  “What’re you doing?”

  “Making sure my babies are safe before they get out of the vehicle.” He winked and closed the door, taking in a deep breath to settle his senses. His muscles had been tight as hellspace from the moment he landed on Loxuria and threatened to remain so until he left. Being near Lucy was only making it worse.

  Moss closed his eyes and scouted out the area. After finding the immediate vicinity safe, he returned, only to discover Lucy still talking to the flowers.

  “I’ll come out and visit you every week and make sure you’re growing up to be big beautiful flowers.”

  “No, you will not,” he warned, opening her door. “Over my dead body will you come out here and check on them.”

  “You won’t be here to stop me. And they need love to grow up healthy. Look what happened when I left their mother alone...”

  Moss took the flowers from Lucy and then helped her from the vehicle, leading her to the water’s edge. He set the pots down and began digging a hole with his hands. “And you have no idea what I’m capable of. You will not take one step outside your vast estate without my permission.”

  “How dare you! I’ll have you know—”

  “Know nothing.” He pointed a muddy finger at her. “If you think your house’s AI is tyrannical now, just you wait. I’ll talk to it. Cyborgs have a way with machines.” The way her face flushed made him want to sweep her off her feet and kiss her senseless. He dug harder.

  “Mr. Johann—” she began.

  “Moss. I’ll always be Moss to you. Remember that.”

  “Moss…” The indignation had suddenly left her voice. “Thank you.”

  He nodded tersely, quietly taking his frustrations out on the soil.

  10

  The last of Loxuria’s suns had set by the time they made it back to the house. Moss had become increasingly irritable throughout the day, as if being there, after a job well done, annoyed him.

  Lucy wrang her fingers wishing that he would just leave and put them both out of their misery, or better yet, that he would stay, just for a little bit longer, and talk to her. She’d take what she could.

  She left the powder room for the hundredth time since he’d entered her life and sought him out. It wasn’t long before she found him staring outside the windows inside her lounge. Lucy steeled her nerves and joined him.

  Outside, her house was repairing all the damage that’d been done by the creature. In record time, too.

  “You have some amazing tech here,” he said after a moment.

  She licked her lips. “Some of the best in the universe.”

  “It’s very impressive. All you’re missing now is a war era Cyborg.”

  Lucy peeked up at him, her heart fluttering uneasily. “That may prove diffi
cult. I heard they’re hard to keep.” She smiled. “I’ve been told to start with something easy, like a golden retriever before trying my hand at a German shepherd.”

  Moss laughed and turned toward her, making her heart skip a beat, and sending butterflies throughout her body. His sparkling white irises captivated her. They were as unusual as snowfall in the tropics and they reminded her how incredibly strange he actually was.

  I want him.

  She couldn’t remember a time she’d wanted something so much as Moss. It didn’t even compare to how badly she’d wanted to make her parents proud. It didn’t even matter that he transformed into a chubby metal beast with eight legs. The weirdness of the Cyborg next to her was the most relatable being in the universe to her.

  “Ah yes,” he said, humor in his voice. “That may be true, but I think you can handle it.”

  “Your belief in my abilities will keep you from getting hurt.” Her smile widened. “My brother believed that I would never get him back for the time he reprogrammed my ship’s navigation and sent me sailing in circles for weeks, but that proved to be his downfall. I put everything in his mansion on the market for sale, open to the public at a price so far below its value it’d make you cry, and held the auction while he was at home, asleep. I’ve never seen the look of horror on someone’s face so beautifully than when he came screaming down his marble staircase in nothing but his robes.”

  “That just means I should never, ever cross you. I like that.”

  “No,” Lucy agreed. He reached up to pull at her hair and she flinched nervously. Her belly jumped, but he was already lowering his hand. She watched it move away from her in slow motion.

  “Plea—”

  “I’m heading out shortly.” Moss cut her off.

  She started. “—Tonight?”

  “Once I do my final walkthrough and make sure you’re safe.” He stepped back and her heart fell. The alluring glint in his eyes vanished, replaced with indifference. He was moving away from her and she felt powerless in stopping it from happening. Her upbringing and conditioning screamed relentlessly for her to remain professional, but all she wanted to do was pull him back to her and kiss him.

  “Stay here, Lucy Larkwest.” Moss winked at her from across the room. “I’ll be done shortly.”

  She jerked. “Please don’t leave without saying goodbye,” she rushed out, every word feeling like a blade moving up her throat, but he was already walking away.

  11

  Moss sat down heavily in his captain’s seat, feeling the metal plates in his legs and arms vibrate.

  Every minute of goodbye, each second that led up to his eventual departure felt wrong in his mainframe. Straight black hair with ethereal neon pink undertones kept inserting itself in his head.

  Lucy’s brilliant spark of life made his mouth water, only to dry up with thirst then water all over again. The pros and cons of being able to dessicate oneself.

  She never asked about my other form.

  He’d dreaded the inevitable conversation and the million questions that always followed once people found out what he truly was. A tardigrade shifter. A moss piglet. A water bear. Most people didn’t even know what a tardigrade was...

  But now that the conversation never occurred with Lucy, he was desperate to have it. Why didn’t she ask?

  Every muscle and metal bone in his body were rigid with unmet needs.

  The silence between them as she’d driven him back to his ship had irked his wires. Moss palmed his mouth and groaned.

  He knew she wanted him.

  When his gaze caught on the call-waiting button on his console, a burst of anger urged him toward violence.

  “Mia,” he said upon answering it. He fisted his hands.

  “That was quick. How’d the job go?”

  “Perfectly,” he fumed. Why did she flinch away from me? Lucy wasn’t like several of the other nervous girls he’d encountered since his creation. “I’m heading out now.”

  “Great. I see here the funds have gone through. The boss will be pleased which will go a long way since he’s not happy with you right now.”

  Lucy’s not happy? “Nightheart can go fuck himself.”

  He seeded into his ship’s navigation systems and set coordinates for Earth. Power infused him from every side as the reactor heated up and the lift-off sequence began. The currents heated his insides like a lover, like his ship always did after a mission, but it was never more than a pale shadow of reality. It left so much to be desired.

  Moss slowly opened his hands before crushing them back together again. He tried not to break into Lucy’s house’s security system—to get one more final visual of her before he took off.

  “I’ve never heard you speak that way about him before…” Mia said, interrupting his focus on Lucy.

  “Who?” he barked, knowing Lucy had just returned to her estate and was within her vehicle hanger. Knowing she was finally safe within the walls of her house, surrounded by her army of androids, eased him. She’d be safe with them. He tracked her. He couldn’t help himself.

  She’s safer with me.

  “The Boss.”

  “Mia, change of plans. I’m not coming back.” Moss broke communication, rose from his seat, and slammed his hand through his ship’s systems, letting the electrical zaps make his straining fist glow.

  He couldn’t leave.

  There was still a pool to clean.

  And his ship was broken anyway.

  12

  Lucy pulled on her pajamas and sat down on her bed, the cup of sleepy tea shaking in her hand. It would settle her nerves and nausea but it wouldn’t help much with the pain in her chest. Maybe she had an open, broken cavity too. So many of the odd things Moss said were finally beginning to make sense.

  He’s gone. Just thinking those words made all the regret she felt sink in deeper. She took a shallow sip of her tea before setting it down. He’s just another story now.

  Just another one to keep me company.

  I couldn’t even stay to watch him take off. She’d been too afraid of making a fool of herself, of grabbing his arm and hanging onto it, begging him not to leave.

  Her insides wilted. She was alone again. Even when the time came to confront her new position in life as an owner of Larkswest Industries and receive her share of her parent’s businesses, she’d still be alone afterward.

  At least I have my pool now.

  And my beautiful view. She wanted to smile but it hurt too much. No one knew that beneath her wealthy, bold facade that she was just a normal woman, that she longed for the same things she’d wanted as a child.

  A noise outside her window drew her gaze to the night sky.

  A light went on somewhere down below, and Lucy narrowed her eyes. The cleaning bots didn’t need light to work properly. Why would one be on now?

  She grumbled expletives at her house as she moved to see what it was up to now. “I am going to wipe you back to factory settings in the morning.”

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  The window opened as she neared, making her pause before peering out. Lucy leaned over the edge and gasped.

  “Moss? What are you doing here?”

  Standing two stories below her, he held a hose in one hand and a net in the other. “Finishing my job.”

  Her breath left her lungs as her mind uselessly tried to catch up to what was happening. “But I drove you to your ship. I thought we were done?”

  “We’ll never be done, Lucy.”

  Her mind went blank. “Wait a moment! I’ll be right down,” Lucy called out as she rushed from her room, taking two steps at a time.

  Why is he back?

  “Moss,” she gasped again, scurrying up to him out of breath. “Did something happen? Is the monster flower back?” Her eyes widened as she reached out and touched his chest, but pulled her hand away just as quickly.

  “Are those…” He coughed and raked his hand through his light hair. “Are those porpoise unicorns on
your sleep attire?”

  Lucy stopped and looked down at herself. “They’re narwhals. Is that a problem? I like what I like.”

  “I never expected someone like you to—”

  “Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” she warned. “Why are you back?”

  “Wow, the heiress of Larkswest Industries is defensive of her sleepwear. Does your brother know?”

  “How dare you!” she sputtered but never managed to finish. Two powerfully built arms closed around her and tugged her into an even more heavily built body. A prison of heat and steel took her captive and lifted her bare feet off the ground. Her body tensed abruptly in surprise before going languid. Her hair was pulled away from her face and her head was tugged back.

  Their eyes met.

  “I’m back for you.” His words filled her ears.

  “Really?” she asked, breathless.

  “I have to kiss you.”

  Oh.

  “Then why haven’t you?”

  “I think it might be the one thing in this world that could destroy me.” His eyes dropped to her mouth.

  “I’m brave enough to try if you are,” she encouraged. Please, please kiss me.

  “Lucy Larkswest. I’m a being that can withstand gamma radiation. I can survive in the vacuous quiet of space. My species has lived for hundreds of millions of years and will live for hundreds more. And I don’t mean that part of me that is a machine.”

  Her throat tightened. “What you are…”

  “What I am.”

  She shook her head. His hold on her tightened and pulled her hair. “I don’t care. I’m sure if I could shift too, I’d look exactly the same on the inside. I’d probably have twice as many legs though and still have an aversion for space travel.”

  His eyes moved back up to meet hers again, and she tried to tell him everything she couldn’t vocalize through them. Please. It didn’t matter how strange their lives were, she wanted to skip the retriever and go straight to adopting the shepherd.