“Maybe you can repaint it?” another girl offered from behind the blonde; a shrill laugh followed the suggestion.
The blonde crossed her arms over her chest, the sneer remained plastered on her face. “That would be too much work. I don’t have the patience to wait any longer. Those dumb assholes made me wait two whole months to get it. Can you believe that? What incompetent pricks! No. I want to try it out now. Hopefully, it fucks so well I can forget about that ugly ass color.”
Blue? Was I blue?
How the fuck did that happen? I swung my legs free of the box and jumped out, my eyes frantically scanned my body. Nope, I was still pale as fuck.
What the hell was happening?
I twisted my body to look in the box and saw a sight that stopped my breath.
Dash.
Dash was in the box.
My cyborg was in another fucking box!
Oh, hell no! I reached down to grab his hand, trying to free him, but my fingers grasped only air. I tried again. This time I shoved both hands into the box, willing my fingers to find flesh. Instead my fingers once again only captured air.
Fine.
If I couldn’t get Dash free then I was going to choke a bitch.
That blonde piece of shit had called Dash ugly! And there was no way in hell that hussy was going to fuck him.
Dash was mine!
I launched myself at her, reaching for her neck, my fingers tried to wrap themselves around the blonde bitch’s pale throat.
My hands never connected. I fell forward, my body hitting the ground with a thud.
Sitting on my ass I watched in horror as the blonde reached inside the box and hit a button.
Dash’s eyes lit up.
“How may I service you?” Dash’s voice was cold—devoid of any hint of the cyborg I had known the past few weeks.
The blonde cocked her head and pointed at Dash’s cock. “Well for starters you can get that limp thing dangling between your legs ready. You’re nothing but a cock and if it’s not working what good are you?”
Dash’s eyes flickered, the moment brief and fleeting. I knew my cyborg. Those words had hurt him.
I shot up, this time making a grab for Dash, wishing with all my might that they would connect.
The cold, cruel rush of air met my skin. My heart lurched, a flood of tears gathered in my eyes before overflowing to strike my cheeks.
I slammed my eyes shut. I couldn’t watch. When the sound of skin slapping skin began I clapped my hands over my ears. It wasn’t enough to block out the sound completely.
The blonde hurled insults as she demanded he fuck her harder.
Dash groaned. It wasn’t one of pleasure. It was pain. Subtle. BUT I KNEW. In my heart, I knew.
As fast as it had begun it was over. The smell of sex hung in the air and I choked back sobs, tears sliding down my throat.
Suddenly a new smell filled the room. Blood.
My eyes shot open, refusing to listen when I begged them not to.
The blonde held a knife, the tip positioned over Dash’s right thigh. She dug the tip in and began to carve. His blue thigh was still sticky with spent sex, it mixed with his blood, his skin taking on a glossy, pink hue.
My stomach heaved, threatening to bring up my dinner. I looked down I couldn’t stop myself.
That BITCH was carving her fucking name into Dash, letter by fucking letter. His thigh glistened with fresh blood prompting the blonde to laugh out loud, amused by the pain she inflicted on him.
Even though no one could hear me, I tossed my head back and screamed.
*Dash*
Iris was screaming.
The shrill sound bashed at my processors, freeing me from my nightmare. I shot my arm out trying to gather Iris into my arms but her side of the bed was empty.
That kicked my circuits into high gear. I bolted from the bed, frantically searching the room for my human; my eyes locked on her small frame huddled on the floor.
Iris rocked back and forth, her eyes wide-open but unseeing. A rush of words babbled out between screams.
“DON’T TOUCH HIM!” She screamed. “STOP IT!” Another scream. “PLEASE STOP! I’M BEGGING YOU!” Her hands locked together, praying, pleading with my phantom tormentor to cease.
I dropped to the floor in front of her and grasped her hands in mine. Iris ignored me, looking through me as tears fell like rivers down her cheeks, collecting on her chin like glass beads. They wobbled as her chin trembled with sobs.
I released her hands to grasp her shoulders and shook her as hard as her fragile human body would allow. “IRIS WAKE UP! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!” My heart pounded under my metal frame; my voice bordered on breaking as I tried to pull her free from my memory.
No response. I shook her again. “Come on my tiny human wake up for me. It’s all over. I’m okay. Your blueberry is okay, just wake up and see me,” I didn’t shout, my words coming out as pleas. My heart lurched every second she spent trapped.
Finally, her eyes concentrated on my face, my words were breaking through her terror. Iris’s mouth slammed closed. She halted the heart-wrenching screams and babbling.
She blinked searching my face, “Dash? I saw...oh God, I saw.” Shaking her head, tears went flying, splattering against my skin.
Iris didn’t wait for my response; she simply flung her arms around my neck and buried her face into my shoulder. Her tears were no longer specks dotting my skin, instead, they soaked into it. My whole chest grew damp.
My hands slid under her and lifted her so I could place her in my lap and gather her even closer. Her body burrowed into mine; her arms held on tight. It was almost like she was afraid I would vanish within her hold.
Without warning, Iris pushed away and turned the lamp on, flooding the room in light. Grabbing my thigh, she twisted it slightly so that the light illuminated my blue skin.
My heart thundered in my chest, the breath in my manufactured lungs left my body in a rush. I knew what she was looking for. All she would find were misshaped scars. Blurry edges of blue skin that used to show letters.
No matter how many times my past owner had carved her name into me, I burned it away; the smell of my own burning flesh filled my nostrils as I worked hard to erase those vile letters from my thigh. At first, she tried to stop me by restricting my access to things that caused fire, but being a cyborg, I always found a way. After a while, it became another one of her sick games. The act of cutting painful, but the act of burning away my own flesh was worse, thrilling her to watch me suffer not once but twice.
Iris’s fingers shook against my thigh as she ran her fingertips over the blurred, melted flesh.
“It was here, wasn’t it?” Iris’s voice was nothing more than a whisper, the ghost of sound breezing through the silent room.
My fingers hooked under her chin and tilted her face so I could look at her. “Yes.” That single word tore through the silence like a bullet through glass.
Iris’s eyes misted with fresh tears, and her chin trembled in my grip. “I saw it. I saw the whole thing.” She cupped my cheeks, “I tried to stop it. I tried to free you from that box, all I got were fistfuls of air. I couldn’t...I couldn’t...” her voice trailed off as her eyes filled faster, more tears took hold before spilling down her pale cheeks.
Her heart was breaking over a cyborg. I let her chin go, cupped her cheeks in return, and brushed the damp, sticky tendrils of hair from her forehead. That cute little forehead furrowed with pain, not for herself, but for me.
“It was a long time ago, Iris. How could you have stopped something you didn’t even know was happening?”
Iris shook her head, taking my hands with hers. “It should never have happened at all! How could anyone be so cruel they would do something like that? Hurt you and humiliate you like you didn’t matter! How could anyone have treated you like you were nothing?”
I held her face still, making sure my eyes remained locked on hers. My forehead dipped to rest on hers. “I didn’t
matter until you found me, Iris. Only you, Iris, have seen me as something greater. Your heart is the kindest, most caring I’ve ever known. It breaks for a machine. It breaks for a man that no one saw but you,” my voice went hoarse, my words filled with an unknown emotion. One that caused an aching in my chest.
Iris held my gaze. “I will always see you. I haven’t been able to look away since the day I opened your box.”
I released her face and lifted her body onto my lap. The weight of her in my arms reassured me. “Whatever is happening between us has us sharing not only dreams but now memories. Until you, all my memories have been painful. I don’t want to cause you pain by having you relive my memories. We need to find a way to stop it, whatever this is.”
Iris planted a kiss on my forehead. “I only got the secondhand version. You got the real one. Don’t worry about me. We’ll figure everything out together.”
We both crawled into bed together and I held Iris until she finally drifted off to sleep. I made sure to keep diagnostics running on my processors to avoid any further memory sharing.
Iris needed to sleep.
I needed to protect her from the things inside of my head.
Chapter Twenty
*Dash*
The morning came too soon. Iris crawled out of bed muttering about how fucking early it was and how she needed coffee and lots of it.
Dropping a kiss on her forehead, I pushed her toward the bathroom.
“Get in the shower. It will help. While you are there, I will make you lots of coffee.”
“Thank you, Blueberry.” she mumbled, sleep still embedded in her voice.
Leaving her to shower, I padded into the kitchen to start her coffee. I had the pot going within minutes. There were faster methods to prepare the drink but, like most things, Iris preferred making coffee the old-fashioned way. She didn’t see any reason to throw something away simply because someone had created a newer model. There was something beautiful in the way she held on to the past. Beyond her walls, the world considered me outdated, too—a failed experiment left to rot as time moved on.
“You were right, the shower did help.” Iris’s small hand found my back as she leaned down to sniff the freshly-brewed coffee. “Smells perfect. Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but I have not tried everything there is to try so I can’t answer the question with one-hundred percent accuracy.”
Iris’s laughter echoed through the kitchen. I didn’t understand what was so funny about my statement but I loved the sound of her laugh. Whatever had amused her, I hoped to repeat it.
A knock sounded, and Iris stopped laughing. “It must be time,” Iris sighed.
I nodded.
She blew out a breath. “I’ll grab my bag and meet you at the door.” Iris looked longingly at the coffee. “I didn’t even get a taste. They better have coffee at the Cyborg Rebellion headquarters or some colorful heads may roll.”
The corners of my mouth turned up. “Our heads are rather hard to remove. Might I suggest a hand? It would come off easier, but they don’t roll well I’m afraid.” I raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
“You really think you’re funny now, don’t you?”
“Based on the calculations regarding the number of you have laughed in my presence, I conclude I’m not just funny, I’m hilarious.”
Clutching her stomach, Iris doubled over, descending into a fit of giggles.
I pointed a blue finger at her. “See? I’m hilarious. You’ve proven my point. I am so hilarious you are unable to even stand.”
The giggles died out as Iris wrapped me in a hug. “Don’t ever stop being hilarious, Dash. I wouldn’t know what to do without it.”
*Iris*
The cyborg who drove the truck hit another bump in the road, sending my body swaying. I clutched the box in my hands tighter. For superior beings, their driving sucked. I had argued for ten minutes with the purple cyborg named Viper. I told him the truck could drive itself. He had proclaimed machines were unreliable and that he was driving. I gave up. I was currently regretting that decision.
I rode in the back of the truck for what seemed like a fucking lifetime, but according to Dash, it had only been two hours. I had asked him. Multiple times. More time must have passed by now; I should ask again. “How long has it been now?”
“Two hours and five minutes exactly.” Dash rolled his eyes.
My jaw dropped. “Did you just roll your eyes at me?”
“Cyborgs don’t roll their eyes.” He did it again.
I stomped a foot on the floor of the truck. “Bullshit! You totally just rolled your eyes at me for a second time! Do you think you’re the only one frustrated? We’re both stuck in this god-awful thing for over two hours with the worst driver in history. Does that grape-skinned cyborg have to hit every fucking bump in the road?”
Dash sighed. “Viper is not grape. He is violet. Grape is a flavor. Why do you insist on labeling us as fruit?”
I stomped both feet this time for good measure. I knew I was acting like a toddler, but this girl needed to pee and every bump was making it worse. “Fuck fruit. He could be a pumpkin or a summer squash or an onion for all I care. I wish he was a grape! I’m pretty sure a grape would be a better driver!”
“You know, tiny human, I can hear you?” Viper’s deep voice came from the front of the truck.
Oh shit! Damn their fucking cyborg hearing. “I’m sorry Viper. I didn’t have my coffee this morning and no coffee makes this human very cranky. I might also really need to pee.”
Viper gave a loud sigh. “I will stop as soon as I am able. Please try not to vacate your bladder on the floor.”
Did he really order me to not pee on the floor as if I was a fucking puppy? Oh, hell no! This violet cyborg was going to get slapped. My hands fisted by my sides.
What was I doing? Breathe Iris. Slapping Mr. Grape would not be an excellent idea. Hitting someone bigger and stronger than you—never a smart move even if he was a purple asshole.
I clenched my jaw and counted to three before unlocking it to reply sweetly. “Thank you, Viper. I would appreciate the chance to get out of the truck and...ah...vacate my bladder.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Dash opening his mouth. “Don’t you say anything, Blueberry,” I hissed.
“Blueberry? You do label us as fruit!” there was a hint of amusement in Viper’s voice.
I sighed. “I’m never living any of this down. The fruit. The puppy comparison. All of it. Please just tell me when we stop okay?”
“Very well.” Viper replied.
“Puppy comparison? Please, explain.”
“Drop it Dash. I really don’t feel like explaining. No coffee, remember?”
I clutched the box I was holding a little tighter and tried to not think about waterfalls, rushing springs, and stomping grapes until they turned to wine.
Chapter Twenty-One
*Dash*
The truck came to a stop. The back doors opened and Viper reached in, offering Iris his hand to help her down from the truck bed. Leaping from the truck I landed with a thud on the ground and knocked his hand away.
“She’s mine,” I stated, tossing the purple cyborg a glare.
Iris took my offered hand and dropped from the truck at my side.
Viper crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t want a tiny human. They are trouble and far too much work. I was only trying to be helpful.”
Iris started dancing back and forth next to me. “Ahh, guys this tiny human really needs to pee.”
Viper pointed to a bush. “Go behind there.”
Iris nodded, walking as quickly as she could with me trailing behind her. “Shoo, Blueberry. I don’t need you for this.”
“I’m coming.”
“Ugh. Fine just turn around okay?”
Once we reached the bush, I offered Iris my back, granting her privacy and blocking her from Viper’s line of sight.
Iris took care of busines
s, finishing with a sigh before she stepped from behind the bush.
Viper halted our reentry into the truck. He pulled a bottle of cleansing gel from his backpack and looked at Iris. “Hands, please.”
Iris raised an eyebrow before holding her hands out and allowed Viper to squirt a drop of clear liquid onto each. She rubbed her hands together; the gel foamed to remove any traces of dirt and waste left behind.
Viper glanced down at the front of Iris’s pants. “Do you require some to clean there as well?”
Iris’s cheeks flamed. “Nope. I think I’m good down there.”
Viper dropped the bottle back into his bag. “Suit yourself.” He hopped back into the truck and started the engine.
I helped Iris into the back of the truck and settled her on my lap.
“Mr. Grape is a bit of a clean-freak I think,” Iris kept her voice low.
“Humans are dirty.” Viper retorted.
Iris winked. “Yes, we are.”
“There will be no fornicating in my truck,” Viper commanded from the front seat. “Keep your hands to yourself Service Unit and tiny human female.”
Iris saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Tossing my head back, the sound of my laughter filled the back of the truck.
*Dash*
Sleep had claimed Iris soon after we were underway again. Her head currently rested in my lap as I held her close, trying to make sure the dips in the road didn’t disturb her. She hadn’t slept much because my memory had invaded her dreams.
As Iris slept, I scanned every piece of data I could access. I searched for anything that may explain why we were sharing dreams and now memories. So far, it had only been one of my memories; one of many that I longed to forget but would never be able to with my cyborg processors. I wished it had been one of Iris’s memories instead. I could imagine hers filled with happiness instead of horror.
My search revealed nothing. They had marked most cyborg records classified; the bits of information I could gather didn’t offer anything useful. One name, however, repeatedly showed up in every document I could locate—Dr. Shaw.
Dash Page 9
