“Translation—Marcus was stalking Rachel as usual,” Eric supplied.
“Good thing I was or we’d never have known about him, now would we?” Ignoring Eric’s smirk, Marcus fixed his gaze on Peyton. “The guy went on and on about rogue cyborgs and how he thought the government should control them all. Rachel got fed up with his extreme bias against cyborgs and left him sitting at the table. My dumb jealous ass had smartass here investigate him because his conversation didn’t sit well with me.”
“Ha! I knew you were jealous.”
“Shut up, Eric,” Marcus ordered, sending a glare Eric’s way before continuing. “When the Nathan guy popped as a cyborg, I didn’t know what to think. He didn’t talk like one. I’ve been following him around just to see what he does in his normal life. It was all very typical, except for his visit to a sex club over on Johnson and Limestone. I didn’t go in to watch. He was there three hours and came out looking much happier. The rest of his social life centered around visiting a gamer store and taking in the latest horror vid. All pretty typical for a geek…I mean, a smart kid like he seems to be.”
Kyra’s gaze went back and forth between Eric and Marcus. “We can keep an eye on them, but there’s really nothing to report to the world. If they’re volunteering for their conversions, and it seems like they are, then we don’t have any super cyber crimes going on with them. We could argue their conversions themselves are illegal, but I’d hate to bring that up with all the other things we need to pursue.”
“Even if the first guy who had it done now has muscles bigger than King’s?” Eric asked.
Kyra let out a breath and nodded. “Yes. Even then. Who’s the one at Norton?”
“Nathan 180, also known as Nathan Blanton,” Marcus said. “Kyra, what’s going to happen to those guys if the pulses aren’t throttled back like ours are?”
“The same thing that would happen to any man producing too much testosterone. He’d develop aggressive tendencies he’d have trouble keeping in check. In seeking an outlet for those, his heart would eventually explode from even moderate exertion after having been asked to over-perform for years. Getting such a hormonal adjustment done at twenty-five, I’d guess the first guy is just about due to hit some kind of testosterone wall. If a six-month newbie is visiting sex clubs already, the first one probably has a woman chained in his basement…or a guy. Sorry, I’m thinking too hetero.”
Peyton decided they were getting nowhere with their speculation. “Send me a list of the ones you’ve identified, Eric. I’d like to look over it. If someone is making black-market cyborgs, we’re going to want to shut the process down eventually. We can’t change the fates of the first few who got converted. Only the last few have a chance to get it reversed—depending on how badly they were hacked.”
Eric nodded. “Sure. I’ll capture it tomorrow. I need to work on that new project you gave me today anyway.” His comment drew a nod from Peyton. He’d probably start his search on Evelyn’s real name from home later. Nero had helped him set up a top of the line portable that sleekly connected to Norton without being constantly monitored.
Marcus squirmed in his chair. “If it’s alright, I’m going to keep an eye on the cyborg geek guy working at Norton. His interest in Rachel still bothers me.”
Kyra snorted. “Marcus, has Rachel told you much about what Brad did to her?”
Marcus shook his head. “No. I’m not sure I want to hear either. I figure what’s happened to us both is in the past and doesn’t matter.”
“That’s a healthy sentiment, and wise in most cases, so I’ll skip the goriest of the details. However, here’s something you do need to consider. Brad liked being in control of her. If Rachel—whom he renamed Gloria—didn’t call in to him every hour, he wirelessly shocked her as punishment. I’m surprised she’s tolerated your constant surveillance as long as she has. It has to remind her of what she’s escaped from. You were supposed to stop monitoring her months ago.”
Marcus rubbed his head. “I know. I’m not really monitoring her. I’m just protecting her.”
“From what? All of life?” Kyra demanded. “Rachel has already started lying to you just to have some time to herself. How many more ways does she need to rebel before you realize your protection is doing more harm than good?”
“Fine,” Marcus said. “I’ll back off some. I didn’t know about what he did to her.”
Kyra crossed her arms. “You also need to know that Rachel has more pressing problems to deal with than some guy’s unrequited crush on her.”
“I know, Doc. I heard her processor is dying,” Marcus reported, ignoring Eric’s warning glare.
Kyra nodded. “Yes. She’s in a dangerous place right now. We never let cyborgs get into her condition because of the risk of brain damage if the processor shorts out before it’s replaced.”
“Brain damage? Shit. Have you told her that?” Marcus demanded.
Kyra shrugged. “Yes and I tried to tell her again today. She isn’t listening. I’m hoping Seetha has better luck getting her attention tomorrow. But if Rachel’s listening to your advice now, I suggest you try talking to her. Seetha said her last resonance adjustments only held for one day. The device in her throat is fine. It’s the sync with her cybernetics that’s failing. Rachel’s stammering is a sure sign her processor is getting worse.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to her tonight.”
Kyra hung her head. “I’m sorry to add to your worries. I just haven’t been able to bring myself to force Rachel to let me replace it. The last thing I want is to proceed without her permission, but I can’t let anything happen to her. So I understand your dilemma—I really do. Caring about someone who’s got a lot of damage is never an easy thing. But I’ve found it’s always worth it in the end to do what is necessary.”
Marcus swallowed hard and nodded as he stood. There was a tic in his jaw that wouldn’t go away. The last thing he wanted was to make Rachel angry with him again, but he had no choice. “We just finally got together. I can’t let anything happen to her now.”
Kyra nodded and rubbed his arm as he walked by her. She had a soft spot for all of Peyton’s men, but Marcus’s suffering had always tugged hardest on her heart. After Eric and Marcus left, she walked to her husband and folded herself into his arms, trying her best not to cry.
“That exchange with Marcus certainly explains why your day was so shitty,” Peyton said softly, rubbing her back.
Kyra sniffed against his chest and nodded. “Rachel is choosing to believe it’s only about speaking well or not speaking at all. She’s too innocent about cybernetics to understand getting a new processor is about saving her life too. I had to send Brad away from me twice today. Evelyn is not the only one constantly wishing he was dead.”
Peyton nodded and pulled his bloodthirsty wife closer. “How much is the new processor going to change her?”
Kyra closed her eyes. “More than she wants it to. That’s the problem.”
Chapter 8
Rachel slid the napkins beside the plates, and then placed silverware carefully on them. It was the first time she’d invited people to dinner since she moved into the Norton provided apartment. Well, not counting the few times she’d reluctantly fed Marcus. Thinking of him, she walked to her bedroom just in time to see him step out of the bathroom.
In the streaming light from her solar window, she could clearly see the writing on his prosthetic arm. Written in some fancy ancient script, it was still legible as a solitary promise to remain true to himself. Considering what Marcus had done to his body, including the sacrifice of an original arm and both legs, it was the height of irony that he’d chosen to place it where he couldn’t help seeing it every day.
His body had become a familiar landscape in the last week. She had no idea about the origins of his other tats, except for the design across his lower stomach, which partially hid a long jagged scar. That tat was pretty self-explanatory. The haunted look on his face when she’d asked about it last night ha
d stopped her from pressing him too hard. But he’d told her anyway.
Hearing he’d been captured and tortured had temporarily driven desire from her. Kissing her way across the mark until Marcus had sighed out her name in gratitude had thankfully brought lust roaring back to life. She could barely tolerate thinking about her own emotional issues. Sharing Marcus’s pain was almost too much.
Walking over to him, she ran a hand down the front of him to grip the towel twisted at his waist. His gaze lit with a very masculine dare for her to act. The silent exchange made her smile. All the months she had spent talking to him mostly through body language had been unknowingly training them to be very attentive lovers to each other. Not to mention his sheer pleasure in pleasing her was the most wonderful thing she’d ever experienced in her life.
She yanked playfully on the towel. “Tempt…t…ting…but we…don’t…have…t...t…time.”
When she let go, his sudden firm grip on her chin kept her in place. His fierce gaze reminded her that underneath the shine of their new relationship, Marcus was still the same bossy cyborg who’d never stopped monitoring her.
“Rachel…the stammering is getting worse. You need to get your processor upgraded.”
Rachel swallowed with difficulty as she nodded. Her throat was tight. It hurt badly to talk, but she didn’t want to ruin the evening with her problems.
When they came home from work, Marcus had plied her with blissful sex until she had been too sated to refuse to listen to his “replace it” campaign. He’d wasted his efforts lecturing her about for an hour, but she hadn’t bothered wasting her own to communicate it back to him.
Tomorrow she would deal with the decision she knew she had to make. Tonight Edward was coming to dinner. She was looking forward to her new friend getting a real chance to visit with the man she might actually be falling in love with.
“To…m…mor…row. I…prom…m…ise.”
Her head spun when Marcus dipped his confident mouth to hers. His kiss was soft and yet thoroughly insistent. It reflected his contradictory nature, which she’d learned to appreciate for many reasons.
His grip slid away as Marcus walked to retrieve fresh jeans and a shirt from the large duffel he’d stashed in a corner of her half used closet. She was still adjusting to the stylish haircut that suited him. He’d laughed when she’d refused to let him shave off his beard again.
The notifier sounded and announced the visitor she’d been waiting for. When she smiled widely, Marcus rolled his eyes and shooed her toward it with his hand. If people were around them long, they’d probably think they never spoke.
She closed the bedroom door to give Marcus some privacy to finish dressing. Smiling with genuine pleasure to have them both under one roof with her, she hurried to the door to let Edward in.
***
He scanned the lobby and was relieved to see no other people were around. Creator Omega had sent help but they hadn’t arrived on time…as was typical. His orders were to proceed anyway and that’s exactly what he would do. He didn’t really need them to get most things done.
Since the device in his hand was wireless, he sighed because he would have to use it at close range to achieve maximum effect.
“Greetings, sir. Please place the hand containing your ID chip on the scanner.”
He stepped forward and did as requested. When the AI building guard turned his head, he discreetly lifted the device in his other hand and pressed the tiny switch telling it to send. The AI unit continued functioning and started scanning the data rolling across the screen. His rapidly blinking eyes were the only indicator that the shutdown virus was working.
He counted to ten—waiting impatiently.
He hated waiting. He hated being patient.
He was living for the day he no longer had to deal with either. One day people would scramble to serve him whenever he appeared.
“Welcome…Naaa…thannn…1…8…0.”
The guard’s movements slowed until he froze mid-sentence. Nathan snorted and walked around the counter. His fingers flew across the panel, erasing his entry, his positive ID, and all evidence he had ever been on the premises. Then he shut down all the cameras and erased the last two hours of them before he turned them off. When he was done securing his entry cover, his two late-arriving muscle men finally walked through the door.
“About time you two got here. I did all the hard work already. The AI bot is wiped and in the process of a complete reboot, which will take about an hour. We shouldn’t need that long to collect Rachel 235. When the AI unit does his restart, he’ll see everything shut down and take steps to restore it all to normal. By the time his downage is officially checked, it will appear to have been nothing more than a fluke. The virus will have dispersed through his circuits as tiny electrical shorts. It will look like a small power failure.”
“The handheld you seeded Rachel 235 with indicates two males are presently with her. Since she turned down spending time with you, Creator Omega suspected she had attached herself to some of the cyborgs she’s met via her work in the calibration lab. Cross-identification of the voice samples with Norton’s database indicates both males are cyborg. Marcus 582 is the biggest threat as he is one of the originals. Unless he is broadcasting on the correct channel, he is potentially immune to the disruptor. The other can be constrained well enough as we have determined his wireless signal is the default.”
Nathan frowned. “The disruptor could cause permanent damage to Dr. Smith’s prototype processor. He was not able to finish his beta testing before his unfortunate and regretful conversion. Rachel 235 is also at risk if we use the device.”
“Her damage is a risk we must take to procure her. In most failure situations, her processor will access reserve power to prevent cellular degeneration for a short, indeterminate period. Current estimates are brain damage won’t occur for twenty-one minutes.”
Nathan shook his head. “We can’t deliver her to Creator Omega in that limited timeframe. Do you think she will be of any use if her mind is not able to function after she is modified?”
He admired the bodies of the Creator Omega’s two right hands, but not their cognitive abilities. They were now incapable of doing anything but what they were told. It was an unfortunate side effect of the early neural enhancers. Now he knew why Creator Omega had given him the newest prototype. He needed someone with a naturally intelligent brain helping him. Someone whose mind could function under any kind of pressure.
When the muscle guys looked at each other and shrugged, Nathan fought to keep from sighing. He didn’t want them to know how irritated he was getting with them. He certainly didn’t want any loss of temper getting back to his benefactor.
“There is a solution. I will remove Rachel 235 from the premises before you use the disruptor. This means you will have to distract the male cyborgs and keep them occupied until my exit with her. This may include engaging in a physical altercation with them. Do you agree this serves the plans of Creator Omega?”
“Fight? Sweet,” they both said excitedly.
Shocked by their total disregard for the serious consequences of such a decision, Nathan watched them do a hand-slap. Was this really the next generation of cybernetic heroes? Or were these just two failed experiments Creator Omega was trying to salvage use of in the best way possible? Left totally to these two, Rachel 235 would be a brainless vessel before she’d ever get a chance to be modified.
He shook his head. “Come. We’ve wasted ten minutes talking about this. Now we have less time than ever.”
They headed to the airlift. There was an extra spring in his step because he was excited to collect her. Creator Omega had promised him his latest code would be used to customize Rachel 235’s preferences. It would be great to have a steady female willing to indulge him and his needs. He would only have to visit sex clubs in the future if he wanted to indulge in something requiring more than one female. Maybe one day he’d earn another. After all, Creator Omega kept the first
two prototypes for his own private use.
If Dr. Smith hadn’t gotten greedy, the scientist would now have everything a man could want in life. Nathan was more than happy to step into his shoes and his neural implants were helping make that possible. As he was rapidly learning, there was nothing better than being super intelligent. His extraordinary mind was going to allow him to create the kind of life most men never dreamed of being possible.
***
When the apartment notifier sounded, but made no announcement of visitors, Marcus looked at Rachel. “Expecting more guests?”
Her confused look told him more than her headshake.
“Okay, I’ll check it out.”
He rose from the table and started toward the door. Before he got there, it pinged open, aided by a security release. Two muscled guys stepped inside and met him head-on. It took less than ten seconds for his body scan to find their processors. He knew he was facing off with cyborgs, long before the first one spoke.
Marcus 582: Book Three of Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined Page 9
