Her Cyborg

by Nellie C. Lind

  It was as if the air in the house suddenly turned to a wall when she saw Shade tense. The rage in his eyes sent another feeling of ice cold water being splashed all over her. Her heart raced as her palms became warm from perspiration. She had to explain to Shade that nothing had happened, that Nightmare hadn't given her a choice. Shade needed to know the truth. It was obvious that Nightmare said it only to needle Shade.

  She grabbed the bars, her heart pounding. “No, it's ...”

  Shade clenched his knuckles. His own words were forgotten as he struck Nightmare in the face. The Fighter jerked sideways from the blow. He groaned, pain contorting his features. Shade roared and prepared another strike, but Edge, Hunter, and a third unknown cyborg jumped him.

  Phoebe screamed. Fear shook the deepest parts of her soul as she watched the cyborgs force Shade down to the floor. He fought them, struggling against their grip. He managed to hit Edge in the face but got hit back. He groaned. The cyborg groaned. Someone cursed and Shade roared again as other hands made sure he stayed put. His anger was evident. His rage just as powerful.

  “Stop it!” Phoebe yelled and lunged for the cage's exit, but was stopped by hands that grabbed her from behind. She turned around and saw Wind holding her. His gaze was serious and determined.

  “Don't,” he said, pulling her back. “They will hurt you.”

  She tried to get free, but his grip was like solid rock. “Let go of me! I have to help him.”

  Wind didn't obey. Instead, he pulled her even closer to him and away from the exit to the cage where Faye stood as if paralyzed. Her eyes were filled with terror as she watched the scene in front of her.

  Phoebe watched Nightmare straighten himself after the blow to his face. He massaged his cheek. “Sedate him,” he growled.

  Phoebe struggled in Wind's arms. “Don't touch him, you monsters!”

  The cyborgs didn't listen. They didn't care. To them, she was invisible.

  Silver moved closer to the cage's exit with his gaze set on Shade who wrestled with Edge and Hunter on the floor. In his hand, he held a syringe. Where he had gotten it from, Phoebe didn't know. Probably, he had already had it on him, but she didn't care. She wouldn't let him get near Shade with that thing.

  “I swear to God that if you touch him with the syringe, I will poke it in your eye!”

  Silver turned around, placing himself just a few feet away from Faye, but he looked straight at Phoebe with rage in his shining eyes. “That is a brave threat, woman.”

  Phoebe glared at him with a hatred she had never felt in her entire life. She would make them all pay for treating her, Shade, and her friends like this. They would regret it. Somehow, she would make sure of it.

  She opened her mouth to make sure Silver understood that, but before a single word had the chance to leave her mouth, Faye lunged at Silver. Phoebe watched his eyes grow big with surprise as Faye grabbed his face between her hands and pressed her lips against his. He jerked, tried to pull away ... and then he became still.

  Everyone turned their gazes to Silver and Faye.

  The syringe fell to the floor.

  Silence filled the room.

  CHAPTER 25

  It was as if time itself had stopped, as if the air had left the room, turning every face pale. The silence was so deafening it almost hurt, and it seemed to last forever. Every cyborg stood still as if they had become rooted to the floor. Some had their mouths opened as disbelief flashed in their shining eyes. Phoebe didn't feel much different. Emotions suffocated her, making it difficult to breathe as the emotions got stuck in her throat. Her eyes saw what Faye was doing, but she had a hard time believing it. Hadn't Faye heard her say what would happen if she touched one of the cyborgs in an intimate way?

  For a split second, she had seen fear in Silver's eyes. She had seen that he had known what was coming as Faye pressed her lips against his. Everything about him had screamed 'no'. He had struggled, tried to get away, but it had only lasted a few seconds. Now he stood like a statue, arms at his sides, trance-like and not moving. His eyes stared into the blue. Then a flash came from them. It had been a strong flash, almost as if someone had turned on a flashlight in his eyes for a split second. Phoebe wrinkled her forehead. She had no idea what that meant.

  “Fuck!” yelled Heaven who stood near Silver. “His eyes flashed!”

  That got every cyborg moving, only confusing Phoebe more. What was so special about Silver's eyes flashing? Shade still remained on the floor, held down by Edge and Hunter.

  “Get her away from him!” Nightmare roared.

  He was unable to reach Silver. Shade and the cyborgs on the floor were in the way, but other cyborgs stood near Silver. They reacted and lunged for Faye. She still had her lips pressed against Silver's when a dark-haired cyborg grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away. He pushed her back into the cage and closed the door. Silver stood emotionless, his empty gaze looking far into the distance.

  Nightmare stepped around Shade, Hunter, and Edge. “Get him on the gurney,” he told Hunter and Edge.

  Edge reacted with a speed that made Phoebe gasp. Before she got the chance to react, Edge had picked up the syringe that Silver had dropped. He removed the plastic safety from the needle and stuck it into Shade's arm. Her throat tightened even more from the sight, suffocating her scream.

  Nightmare turned Silver toward him. He examined him before he turned to Heaven. “How many times did his eyes flash?”

  “Only once,” Heaven answered.

  Nightmare took a deep breath and exhaled. His facial expression became calm but his eyes hardened when he looked at Faye.

  “Congratulations,” he told her with a toxic voice. “You have just bound a cyborg to yourself.”

  Faye didn't look amused. “At least, I got you to stop beating up on Shade.”

  “Is that why you did it? Have you lost your mind?”

  “It was worth it.”

  Nightmare snorted. “We will see if you still believe that in a few minutes.”

  Phoebe had a hard time focusing on what Nightmare and Faye were talking about. She watched Shade who lay motionless on the floor. His eyes were closed. Her body trembled. Her knees felt weak and tears ran down her cheeks as Hunter and Edge lifted him up and placed him onto the gurney.

  “Take him to the car and tie him down,” Nightmare told two cyborgs she didn't know the names of and pointed at Silver. “Make sure he won't be able to get free.”

  The two cyborgs grabbed Silver by the arms and led him out of the house. He still seemed far away and didn't protest. Instead, he went with them.

  Nightmare approached the gurney where Shade lay. He grabbed the straps and tied them around Shade's wrists and legs. He did everything quickly and with determination.

  “Please, don't do it,” Phoebe begged. “Don't take him away from me.”

  Nightmare ignored her. Instead, he grabbed the cords that were attached to the machine and placed them on Shade's forehead and temples. He then opened Shade's shirt and placed the last two cords on his chest. The machine buzzed quietly, freaking Phoebe out more than ever with all of its blinking lights and computer-like sounds. It beeped from time to time. Sometimes, it was just one beep, another time it was a whole sequence of beeps as if it was repeating some kind of pattern.

  Nightmare looked Shade over. Then he looked at the machine before his gaze turned to Edge who stood by the machine again.

  “Ready?” Nightmare asked.

  The cyborg nodded.

  Nightmare finally turned to Phoebe. “We are making history, Phoebe. You should be proud. Yours and Shade's sacrifice will save the entire race of cyborgs.”

  Phoebe was unable to answer. Her jaw trembled too much, and the tears almost blinded her.

  “You will regret this,” she heard Wind growl.

  “What I will regret is not trying.” Nightmare turned to Edge again. “Turn it on.”

  Edge pressed a button.

  Shade's reaction was instant. Even if he was
unconscious, his body tensed as he threw back his head. He clenched his fists and jerked his eyes open. A scream left his mouth.

  Nightmare watched the screen on the machine intently. Phoebe had no idea what he saw on it because it was turned away from her, but she tried to judge how things went based on Nightmare's facial expression. He appeared determined, serious, and frightening in a scary kind of way. She spotted a flash of desperation, bordering on obsession and madness, a desire so strong with intent that it scared her. She realized now that he had meant what he had said. He had really spent years working on solving this. It wouldn't surprise her if he had spent all of his time on this. That meant around forty years.

  Forty years to solve the riddle of the bond.

  Something told her that this was his first attempt, and chance, to remove it.

  She hoped that he would fail.

  Chapter 26

  Darkness surrounded him. It was peaceful and quiet. He had no idea how much time had passed, but slowly, things became clearer as he became aware of a world in the distance. Something went on around him, but he couldn't grasp what. It was like a thick wall was between him and whatever was on the other side. Voices reached his ears. At first, they made no sense. He couldn't make out a single word. Neither could he remember where he was or what was going on. After a while, he could make out a woman's voice. She was crying. Her voice was upset and desperate. He tried to focus, but it wasn't easy. His mind wanted to slip back into the silence and the calmness, but something told him he shouldn't. Her voice stressed him, but also made him try harder. He needed to wake up. She wasn't talking directly to him, but her voice was calling him. He felt the pull toward her. His heart whispered her name over and over again.

  Phoebe ...

  He wanted to stretch out his arms toward her even as he had no idea where she stood, but he couldn't move them. He could barely feel them. The darkness still held him in a firm grip. He wasn't able to pull himself out of it. All he knew was that he had to. It was difficult to remember why. His mind was foggy and it felt like his ears were under water. All sounds were so far away. So muffled.

  For a long time, he was unable to feel anything, but after what felt like an eternity, he felt someone touch him. It wasn't a nice touch. It was a firm and determined touch. Strong hands that wrapped something around his wrists, and then his feet. He realized he lay on something that felt harder than a bed.

  The first words hit his ears.

  “What I will regret is not trying.” It was Nightmare's dark voice. “Turn it on.”

  Shade had no idea what Nightmare was talking about or who he was talking to, but thanks to his words, Shade's memory triggered. It was a fuzzy memory of them giving him something when he had laid on the floor. He had been struggling with Edge and Hunter when he had felt a sharp pain in his arm. He had seen the syringe as Edge had emptied the liquid into his arm. It had knocked him out and it had made him forget what was going on. That was not supposed to happen to a cyborg. Cyborgs never forgot anything, and yet, he had. That surprised him and made him wonder. What had been in that syringe?

  Shade didn't get the chance to think more about it as an unexpected pain shot right through him. It was sudden, sharp, and it attacked every nerve ending in his brain. He threw back his head, clenched his fists, and tensed every muscle in his body. He jerked his eyes open and stared up at the roof as the intense pain made him scream out.

  “Shade!” he heard Phoebe's desperate call. Her voice was filled with fear. He heard her break down a little bit more each time she called his name.

  “He's awake!” Edge yelled.

  The pain was too strong for Shade to orient himself, but it sounded as if Edge stood right next to him by the gurney. He couldn't remember how he had been placed on it, but it must have happened while he had been unconscious. He noticed a dark figure on the other side of him before the pain almost blinded him. He screamed. In the distance, he heard Phoebe scream with him.

  “What?” he heard Nightmare yell. “How is that even possible? Didn't you give him the serum?”

  “I did,” Edge answered with a stern voice.

  “He should be out for hours,” Nightmare growled. “Change the sequence.”

  He only paid attention to all the movement around him for a short second before the pain became too great. It felt like every part of his brain was under attack by sharp needles. They stung him over and over again, invading every part of him. He felt his cybernetics protest and it didn't take long for them to recognize the pain as an invading signal. It was what Nightmare had been talking about. The thing that would remove his bond to Phoebe. The signal tried to break into his programming, it tried to take over. The fear that came over him when he realized what the signal was trying to do made him roar. It wasn't just trying to remove his bond to Phoebe.

  It was trying to make him forget her, and the serum was helping.

  That was why he hadn't been able to remember much after becoming conscious again. The serum had affected his memory for a short while. If he had stayed unconscious, it would have been a simple matter for the signal to do its job. But now, he was awake and he would fight the signal for dear life.

  “Sequence changed,” Edge said.

  At the same time as Edge said those words, the pain subsided and Shade felt his body relax. He was out of breath, his muscles ached, and he felt bruised all over. His body was covered with perspiration and his heart pounded inside of his chest. He still felt the stinging inside of his brain. Thankfully, it didn't hurt anymore, but it was uncomfortable. He tried to keep it out of his programming by denying the signal access, but it was difficult. The signal was like a virus to his programming. MedAct had given him advance protection shields from things like this, but Nightmare's signal was intelligent and sophisticated. It knew what it was looking for.

  “He is struggling,” Edge said.

  Nightmare leaned over Shade. Their gazes met. “Of course he is. He is trying to shield himself from the signal.” He looked at Edge. “You know what to do.”

  Shade heard buttons being pushed. It was almost impossible to keep his breath steady as he felt a pressure filling his head. The pressure wasn't painful, but it invaded every part of his brain, attacking his programming and cybernetics again and again, trying to convince him to let go. Shade roared in discomfort.

  Nightmare leaned over him again. “The more you fight, the more you are hurting yourself.”

  Shade glared at him as he felt his body tremble. “Never. You are not just trying to break my bond to Phoebe. You are trying to make me forget her.” His voice was shaky.

  Nightmare nodded. “Yes.” There was sadness in his eyes. “That is the only way. To break the bond, I must delete every trace of it. That is the only way for you to survive without it.”

  Shade's muscles tensed again. This time from pure rage. “I won't let you.”

  Nightmare didn't look away from him when he said: “Edge!”

  “I'm on it,” the cyborg answered.

  Shade heard buttons being pushed again, and a second later, the pressure inside his head intensified. Shade groaned as he threw back his head and arched his back. He couldn't see Phoebe, but he heard her cry. She kept calling out to him, but Nightmare and Edge ignored her. The pain in her voice made his heart ache. He was failing her.

  The pressure grew too intense as the signal searched inside of him. It broke down his defenses and wore him out as it kept pushing forward to gain access to his advanced programming. One wrong move and it would succeed. It would change him forever. It would take Phoebe away from him.

  “A little bit more, Edge,” Nightmare said.

  Buttons were pushed a third time. He felt the pressure ease up in most places inside of his head. Instead, it focused on one spot only. That could only mean one thing.

  The signal had found what it was searching for.

  Shade knew that he would not be able to stop the signal from entering his programming. It focused all of its strength into
that one place. Fear filled him when he felt that his defenses started to break down. He tried to push it away, to lock it out using his protection shields, but it didn't work. The signal was too strong.

  He knew what would happen if the signal gained access to that part of his brain. That was where the most important part of his programming was. Everything that was him, everything that Phoebe wanted him to be was there, but as a cyborg, he was also part human which meant he could choose to ignore the programming that she had given him and turn into his own, unique person. He had never seen the need to ignore the programming because he had been happy with how things were. But Nightmare's signal would force him to become someone he wasn't, someone he didn't want to be. It would take away the bond to Phoebe. He would forget her, and by doing so, it would shut down a big part of who he was.

  He knew that he had the choice to shut his programming down. That way, the signal would fail, but he would fail as well. His programming would be gone, and he would never be the same again.

  He had no idea how he could win over this. It didn't matter how hard he tried to keep the signal out, his protective shields were nothing more but a shadow of their former selves anymore. Little by little, the signal had broken them down.

  “Almost there,” Edge said.

  A furious roar was heard from the outside before something slammed into the wall of the house. It made Nightmare and Edge jerk away and Shade saw them turn their heads toward the entrance door.

  “What was that?” Shade heard Faye ask.

  Shade heard something going on outside. There were the sounds of grunts, groans, and things being dragged around on the ground. Seconds later, the entrance door was forced open.

  “Silver has gotten free!” a cyborg yelled, “and we are about to have company. MedAct's cyborg soldiers will be here within five minutes.”

  “Crap!” Nightmare cursed.

  Shade noticed Nightmare walking around near the gurney, but he had a hard time focusing on what was going on further away from him. The signal was minutes away from breaking through. Every word, every move, and every sound felt like it came from far away.