by Alyse Anders
Chained to the Cyborg
Alyse Anders
Alyse Anders
Chained to the Cyborg
Copyright 2020 Alyse Anders
ISBN: 978-1-7770382-3-6
All Rights Are Reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this story are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First edition: May 2020
Cover Art by Amanda @ Razzle Dazzle Designs
Contents
The Prison
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
The Prison
The prison had no name. It’s reputation far surpassed what any label could adequately capture, the reality far harsher. The Grus and aliens who found their way through the thick metal doors and down the transportation tube far beneath the planet’s surface rarely survived long enough to see the end of their sentence.
Life in the prison was brutish, cruel and often, cut short.
Then the Sholle came.
The prison and its wards were abandoned as the Grus fought for their lives. The Sholle took everything they could, stripping the planet bare and murdering anyone who got in their way.
It turned out that the prison was safest place on the planet.
The Grus fought, fell, but rose once more. The Fallen were born and the Sholle were driven back.
After the war, the Fallen took responsibility for the prison – their cybernetics giving them a survival advantage over the Grus who’d once patrolled the corridors. The gang fights stopped, the chaos contained, and order descended on the prison.
But that didn’t mean things became easier.
The prison beneath the surface of the planet held the hardest of criminals.
All wanting to be free.
Chapter One
Zee stood in the small room he used to communicate with Grus Prime and stared at the communication screen. As prison warden, he was responsible for providing the station updates on the state of their supplies, reports of any illness or injuries of any of the prisoners, while in return learning of anything relevant that might impact the prison itself. Not that the high council cared what happened on Zarlan itself, let alone the souls locked beneath its surface.
But this time something was different.
Normally, Zee was the one to initiate the communications – albeit a regularly scheduled one – and rarely did the communication last longer than a few minutes. He was supposed to be informing the high council, but often it was a low-level bureaucrat who would take his report and offer nothing in return. He was surprised when this time instead of an underling who he’d never hear from again, Commander Aidric’s face appeared on the screen.
It took his cybernetic matrix effort to keep any hint of emotion from Zee’s face. The last thing he wanted was for the man who’d been responsible for the creation of the cybernetic matrix and hailed as the savior of the Grus, to think he held any emotional power over him.
Even if he did.
“Zee.” Aidric nodded. “It has been too long since we’ve spoken.”
Five years, eight months and forty-seven days. “Has it?” Zee cocked an eyebrow. “I assume there’s a problem if you’re reaching out to me directly.”
“There is.” Aidric hesitated, his gaze slipping over to look at the cybernetic implant that comprised a section of Zee’s skull. “Have you had any issues with your matrix?”
An odd question. Despite Aidric’s hand in the creation of the cyborgs, since the war he rarely was involved with any of them. He lived high up on the space station, hidden away from the men and women who he’d brought back from the dead. In the early days, Zee had wondered if Aidric ever had regrets about what he’d done to those who’d fought and died. He’d even asked Rykal – the leader of the Fallen – what he thought.
My brother sees himself as a fraking savior.
Zee never doubted the validity of the statement.
“My cybernetics are functioning as they should.”
Aidric’s lips twitched into a frown; a movement so small Zee was certain he hadn’t even been aware it had happened. “And your matrix?”
“Also functioning.” A light itching sensation had begun earlier that day, but it had receded in the proceeding hours. “Is there a problem I need to be aware of? A malfunction?”
Aidric leaned back in his chair, his gaze locking on to Zee. “We need to meet.”
This time, Zee was unable to hide his surprise. “I believe we’re meeting now.”
“No, this needs to be in person.”
Perhaps the idea of there being a problem with the cyborg programming or something that has to do with his matrix wasn’t as farfetched as he would have liked. “When?”
“My shuttle is prepping now.” He sat up straighter and for the first time since their conversation had begun, Zee noticed how tired Aidric appeared. “I believe you’ve received a report from Hallam recently. Can I assume you haven’t acted on that information?”
Interesting.
Hallam was the head of medical for the cyborgs on Zarlan, residing in the main facility they used as a hospital. Cyborgs never got sick, but occasional accidents did require attention if their cybernetics were damaged. Hallam was also responsible for the health and wellbeing of the prisoners. Several days ago, a Grus technician had been assigned to the prison as part of a standard training schedule. The Grus would come for one month, learn the systems, get the certification on their record and never set foot here again.
This Grus hadn’t wanted the assignment and made his displeasure known to all. The fool somehow smuggled in stim – a blue powder that acted as a powerful hallucinogen. In small does, stim eased the mind of the user and removed anxieties. For frequent users, it became a powerful addiction and altered their minds. The technician attacked one of the cyborg guards, who’d had no choice but to use force to stop him. The Grus’s injuries led to his death. And as a result, the cyborg who’d hurt him was now to be decommissioned.
That Aidric, a man who was known for following the rules was actively inquiring about the life of a cyborg, was strange.
Zee cocked his head to the side. “I have not.”
“I would appreciate you waiting.” Aidric nodded slowly. “As a favor to me.”
Zee cared not about Aidric owing him anything. No, he would do this in the hopes of righting an injustice against a Fallen who’d been forced into this situation. “As you wish.”
The communication with Aidric was ended, leaving Zee with nothing but time until the commander arrived. He moved to the computer terminal that took up much of the space in the small room and connected his cybernetic matrix to the system. In a nanosecond, his mind was freed and able to move throughout the prison’s systems. Unlike on Grus Prime, there was no AI here to slow him down or prevent him from touching any corner of the mainframe that he wanted. Through the sensors that monitored more than a thousand prisoners and staff who lived and worked here, Zee was able to ensure everything went as it should.
It w
as surprisingly lonely, having the ability to watch others and see their interactions, but not be a part of them. Zee found it necessary to keep himself removed from others, his position as warden requiring him to make decisions about the lives of those under him. He controlled the lives of everyone here, a responsibility he took seriously.
Something so very different from his life before the war.
Zee was aware of Aidric’s shuttle approaching the prison before they signaled their arrival. He kept engaged with the computer, opening doors for the commander as he entered the transportation tube that lead down to the main sector of the prison. He waited until Aidric was outside the office door before disengaging his matrix and turning to face the man who’d once implanted cybernetics into his body.
“Commander.” Zee straightened to his full height and locked his gaze on Aidric. “I must admit I was surprised in your interest in the fate of my guard.”
Aidric was an imposing man. He was shorter than Zee and his body wasn’t as muscular as many of the Fallen, but he was fit for a Grus. No, it was an aura of intelligence and control that emanated from him in waves that put most people – including cyborgs – in their place.
Normally.
It was easier to see the tiny cracks in the protective mask Aidric wore around others. While Zee thought he’d looked tired earlier, now that they were face-to-face, he could tell there was something bothering the man. It was a look Zee saw on countless prisoners within the walls of this prison.
“I did not want to make my request over the communication system for fear it would be intercepted. I’m granting you permission to commute the guard’s decommissioning. He may return to work and his record will be cleared. I will instruct Hallam to note that the Grus technician’s cause of death was complications due to stim addiction.”
Zee stared at Aidric for several long moments, surprised at his disregard for the rules he normally held so dear. After a moment, he reached over to the terminal and sent the command. “He’ll return to duties tomorrow.”
“Excellent.” Aidric sat down in the chair pushed off to the side of the room. It was rarely used as cyborgs didn’t need rest, prisoners weren’t allowed into this section of the prison, and Grus personnel rarely visited. “I have a question for you. An important one that I need you to consider seriously before you respond.”
Warning bells sounded off in his head. He didn’t know why or how, but Zee knew what was about to transpire would change the course of his life. “Go on.”
Aidric braced his hands against the tops of his thighs. “Have you felt an itching in the back of your brain?”
As amazed as Zee had been when Aidric had announced his impending visit, it didn’t compare to what he felt at being asked about something he’d barely acknowledged and had already dismissed. “I did briefly. It no longer appears to be an issue.” It was still there, a tickle more than an itch, but so minor he didn’t feel the need to mention it to the commander.
Aidric nodded, his gaze falling to the floor, but didn’t appear to be any less concerned. “Let’s hope it stays that way. For a while at least.”
“Explain.”
Aidric looked back up at Zee, his gaze narrowed, no doubt annoyed at the sharpness of Zee’s tone. “Did you receive a report regarding a ship that entered the sector?”
“Yes. Alien ship, no weapons, harmless.” The fact Aidric brought it up meant it wasn’t as harmless as they’d first thought. “It contained a weapon after all?”
“No. The only thing on board were twenty-eight females from an alien race. They call themselves humans and they came halfway across the galaxy to our sector.”
The mere mention of the ship and the women set off a wave of unease through Zee. “Where are these women now?”
“Rykal brought the ship down to Zarlan. The last report I’d received indicated they were moving them to Hallam’s medical facility.”
Before Zee was able to respond, the prison’s warning alarm sounded. He turned from Aidric and immediately connected his matrix to the system to see what was happening. It only took a moment to find the source of the disturbance.
Rennick.
“I’ll kill him.” Zee didn’t bother to hide his rage.
“Problem?”
Zee closed his eyes as he dispatched guards to deal with the situation. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
Of all the prisoners held here, Rennick was the only one who Zee had any personal connection with. Before the Sholle’s attack on their world, Zee and Rennick had been best friends. They’d lived in neighboring homes and were closer in age than he’d been with his own siblings. When the Sholle attacked, rather than be forced into duty, they’d both volunteered to fight. Zee hadn’t wanted to be a soldier but knew it had to be done if their world had any hope of surviving.
Rennick had enjoyed things far more than he should have.
Zee continued to monitor the situation and was only vaguely aware of Aidric standing up to join him at the terminal. “Who is it?”
“The prisoners in this facility are my responsibility, not yours, Commander.” Zee watched as the guards said something to Rennick, who currently had his hands pressed against his temples and was pacing in circumference of his cell. “I treat each of them fairly.”
It was difficult for Zee to give Rennick the same consideration as everyone else, given what he’d done to Zee. The memory of his final moments alive, fighting the Sholle were etched in his matrix. Zee and Rennick were part of a patrol ordered to flank an approaching Sholle incursion party. Rennick had been acting oddly for days, and Zee had been helping him through as best he could. The longer the fighting had stretched on, the more erratic Rennick had gotten, and the more concerned for his friend Zee had grown. But during this battle, he’d seemed to be more of his old self – determined, full of banter that had the rest of the patrol in good spirits.
As they moved into position, preparing to advance on the Sholle in coordination with the other patrols, Rennick fell back behind them. When Zee realized that his friend wasn’t there, he turned around in time to see his best friend raise his blaster and fire at Zee’s head.
The next thing he remembered was being on a table, looking up at the face of then scientist Aidric and being told that he’d died and was now resurrected.
He was now a cyborg.
Aidric hadn’t known what had transpired on the battlefield. Rennick had also ended up dead, and his body had been deemed ideal for the implantation of the cybernetic matrix as well. Zee’s murderer had been brought back to life, stronger than ever. Aidric bore the brunt of Zee’s fury upon learning of Rennick’s rebirth. If it hadn’t been for the fact they were losing the war, that the Grus were on the verge of total annihilation, Aidric would have deactivated Rennick right there. But they didn’t have that luxury. They needed enhanced soldiers to win, and no time to pick and choose the best candidates.
Aidric made modifications to Rennick’s matrix, safeguards to ensure what happened on the battlefield didn’t happen a second time. The old Rennick was dead and gone, and the new appeared to focus his rage solely on the Sholle. Not that Zee was willing to let him out of sight for even a moment to test the limits of this new personality. Zee became Rennick’s keeper that day and his warden the moment the war was over.
Zee hadn’t spoken directly to him since the moment he’d locked Rennick in a cell.
“It’s Rennick, isn’t it?” Aidric stood, and it wasn’t difficult to hear the note of resignation in his voice. “I’d hoped he wasn’t one.”
“Wasn’t one what?” Nothing good was going to come from this. Rennick should have been put down the moment the Sholle had been driven from the planet. The fact Zee hadn’t done exactly that in the intervening years was a miracle. “Why have you come here?”
Aidric laced his hands behind his back. “The women. It’s becoming clear that their numbers are no accident. There are twenty-eight of them. There are twenty-eight Fallen who I implanted the initial run of c
ybernetic matrices into. Rykal was the first to become…aware. His mate is on that ship. Her name is Lena.”
“Mate?” Zee’s heart pounded and the itching in the back of his brain flared up again. “That’s not possible.”
“We’ve gone through this four times now. Rykal, Darrick, Eagan and Hallam. Each one reacted slightly differently once they found their mate, but they did respond. They all had that itching, were aware of her from across great distances. The fact that Rennick has itching in his head means that they’ve woken his mate. There’s a connection between them that we seem unable to break.”
“No.” It didn’t matter what Aidric said, there was no way Rennick was going to have any comforts afforded to him. “I don’t care where they’ve come from. No one is getting close to him, going to mate with him, or have feelings for him. He’s a killer who cares for no one.”
Rage that Zee had long thought buried, surged to the surface. His body shook and his vision darkened from the sheer force of it. Rennick was evil and Zee would be damned if he’d ever let the man see the light of day again, let alone expose an innocent to him.
Zee would kill him first.
Aidric looked at him for a long time before nodding. “I’ll contact Hallam. We should rule out the possibility that there isn’t a different problem with him.” He didn’t sound convinced that was going to be the case.
The thought of Rennick having someone who’d traveled across the galaxy to get here sickened him. He was a killer, a man Zee knew didn’t deserve even the slightest bit of warmth or tender feelings. This woman, whoever she might be, would be better off never knowing of his existence.
“Call him if you must but understand this. Rennick is a killer and I won’t put anyone, alien or not, in danger.”
