Metal Deep 2: Something Beautiful

by G. X. Knight

  I should really learn to keep my mouth shut. Because dude aimed his weapon at me, and then all of his little metrosexual-leather-minions did the same. He shoved Maeve in my direction and told her to join me. I assume he wanted us together to make for easier execution targets.

  “That’s Drake.” Maeve whispered in my ear. “He’s the leader of the Street Vipers. He’s very old and very powerful Amalgam, as you well know. You don’t want to make him mad.”

  “Too late for that.” My heart was pounding. “I thought he was just their announcer?”

  “You’ve got to have some serious, as you would say, ‘mojo’ to do the siren’s spell they use at their expo traps. Only someone old and experienced could do what he does. You have to admit, it’s a great cover. Nobody expects the announcer to be the ring leader.”

  Drake’s features were hard and angled. There was a wise countenance, albeit a twisted version of it, that rested heavy over his face. His eyes were a dull gray, but it looked as if there was not much they missed. He was hard to read save one excruciating fact: This guy was pissed about what had happened to Cade, and he was planning on taking it out of my hide.

  “Any ideas?” I asked trying to not be over obvious with the question as I lifted my hands.

  “Not really.” She replied.

  “I thought you weren’t a one trick unicorn?” I shot back. She’s Warrior-Woman. She should have something.

  The little army closed in around us. The sun beat down heavily on the back of my neck, and I knew this could very well be the end.

  ENDGAME

  I couldn’t get over how everything had just shut down around us. These guys were holding us hostage like some kind of guerrilla army in the middle of a main roadway, and there was nobody doing a thing about it. This was Texas for crying out loud. Where were the gun-toting NRA-loving cowboys? Where was Chuck Norris? I assumed there had to be some kind of magic in play responsible for the sudden desolation.

  My mind hit about ten random points all at once as I scanned the surroundings once more. We were so close to our car, and yet so far away. I wanted the food Maeve had picked up at the diner. How had the Vipers caught up with us? Why had the newlywed couple freaked out when they saw me? Would that lady ever forgive that dude for abandoning her? That gave me an idea.

  “You still need me.” I told Drake. “I believe you still have a delivery to make.”

  Drake eyes squinted in irritation, “It’s true I am being offered an obscene amount of money to make sure you arrive safely to my client, but I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Drake closed the distance between them, “I have all the money I could ever need.”

  I pointed an angry finger toward Maeve, “But she was the one who really caused your son to be distracted enough to have been caught off guard. I’m just an innocent bystander. If not for her, I’d still be aboard your trucks, and your son’s face would still be intact.”

  Maeve hit me in the shoulder, “Jerk.”

  Drake tilted his head questioning what I was up to, “What are you saying?”

  I inched closer as if trying to explain. I wanted him to see me distance myself from her, “I’ve been sucked into this mess with no clue as to what’s happened to me, or what’s going to happen next. I don’t think that’s fair. She stole me, you had me first. Don’t forget, I signed up to be a Street Viper, and I still want to be one. Help me learn what I’m capable of, and I could be another asset for your organization.”

  Another reason the Vipers had their names. Drake’s voice slithered out as smoothly as a floating serpent. “I don’t think I believe you,” he said.

  I thought about the game Cade and Meg played, and while I hated to do it, turnabout of deception was fair play. I just hoped Maeve would forgive me. I turned, took a step in, and hammered a fist into her cheek so hard it knocked her down to her knees. She looked up at me with an expression of horror as she grasped her face. I gave her my best sorry look, but I don’t think she caught it. She breathed deep seething breaths between each shouted word, “I should have left you with those animals.”

  “You were in it for the money. Don’t think I haven’t been on to you, Wench.” I over exaggerated. I pulled her up by the arm and dragged her toward the truck, “But now, not only are you going to pay, but that pretty little armor of yours is going with me for my trouble. I’m going to need some money to get me started in this new life, and I’d be willing to bet there are plenty of people out there willing to pay handsomely for it.”

  She struggled against my pull, but not as hard as I figured she would considering the fact I just clocked her in that pretty face. That had to mean she was in on my plan. Of course it could also mean I had hit her a little harder than I meant to, and she didn’t have the strength to resist. I prayed for it to be the first option. The memory of Cade’s bloody and smashed face was a testament to my power. I wasn’t even sure what that power was, and I certainly didn’t know how to control it. On the flipside, I probably should have come up with a new plan when considering the danger to Maeve.

  Drake’s men didn’t know whether to shoot us or help me. The look of total confusion on their well-plucked-eyebrowed faces was priceless. They all slowly moved to the side as I pulled Maeve toward the shiny boxed-in trailer their huge truck pulled. I snatched a gun from the last guy. It caught him off guard, and a few raised theirs in defense, but they lowered them when I held it to Maeve’s temple as Drake had. I turned to meet Drake’s darkly amused eyes, “Believe me now?” I asked with my best Street Viper sneer.

  Their leader sat contemplative as he stared at me. “Take her inside.” He said to one of the men next to him. The guard did as instructed and escorted Maeve into the trailer through a door on the side. “Make sure she’s not harmed,” he said before they disappeared, “I’m not ready for the repercussions of that just yet.” Okay? What did that mean?

  She turned to me with a tough to read grin, “Remember, I’m not a one trick unicorn.”

  Drake motioned me to his side. I tossed the machine gun back to the guard I had swiped it from and did as he instructed. This was my chance to do something. He didn’t like me, but I think the curiosity of having me willingly join him was intriguing enough to delay his plans for vengeance. At least for the moment it seemed I had been accepted, and I had to capitalize on it.

  I was bummed that my fists were not going to do me any good, though I suppose at the same time I was a little relieved by this. I was racking up quite the violent track record in a short amount of time, and that bothered me a little. I wasn’t a pacifist, but I wasn’t a bully either. I just hoped Maeve knew that.

  We started to walk away from the group, and I asked Drake to wait one minute. I jogged to the red GTO and took the sack of food Maeve had gotten earlier and pulled out a double cheeseburger to munch on while he talked. This amused Drake. That’s right, good buddy; put your trust in my hands.

  “I’m going to answer your questions.” He said. “You have no idea what’s happened, and that’s not right. Every new Amalgam deserves the chance to be all that they can be.”

  I knew there was something off about me. The stories Dad told me about Amalgams had a single theme. The change was sudden and purposeful. The new initiate was always vastly different, monsterish in a sense. I was still me, just with… upgrades.

  “But I’m different. I’m not a normal Amalgam.”

  “No you’re not.” He admitted. “That’s why we jumped on you so fast. His smile widened. “You’re a missing link.”

  “Link to what?”

  Drake looked around as if someone might be listening, but we were too far away from any of his guys. One must become paranoid after living for a handful of centuries. “I won’t bore you with the details, but the contractor and our sometimes partner, hired us to find you. Though we didn’t know it was you until we found you. We had been looking for someone who possessed genetic material that would not reject artificial Amalgamation.”

  I balked, “Artifi
cial, as in…”

  He finished my sentence for me, “…As in mechanized.” He pulled a small pad from his jacket pocket and typed in a series of commands. My head tingled and I watched in utter disbelief as my arms morphed from their normal appearance of flesh and hair into black, sticky pieces of metal fashioned into a bad steampunk version of limbs. His smile widened bearing teeth too bright to be true, “We programed the nanogems in your blood to cause you to see yourself as normal. It was hoped that it would lessen the shock if you didn’t have to see what was really there, but I think we’re past that now thanks to Miss Valera.”

  Using his ancient mojo, he magically summoned a floating mirror to appear from a vapor cloud that streamed from his arm as it waved in front of me. I stood speechless, too in shock to care about a magical mirror, as I looked at my entire reflection. My face was scarred with the implanted pieces of oil and grime covered black metal. The most significant damage was around my eyes. Each eye burned a hot artificial blue atop silver metal spheres. I checked as much of my body as I could. My arms, hands, and eyes were completely gone to the new metal skin. Over the rest of me there were small spots of the dirty metal dotted across the landscape of ravaged flesh. The other concentrated points were across my chest, down my spine, and in certain parts of my legs, mostly along the calves and thighs. I shuddered at the thought of what would have been left had I been stuck with them longer.

  Drake continued as I searched myself “What my client learns from you is going to turn the tide in this pathetic balance we’re forced to live amidst Pure Bloods, Amalgams, and Slates. You, my friend, are the world’s first Cyborg. You are the key to humanity’s end. They’ve been allowed to live in their thriving ignorance for too long. You will bring in a new age for dominion over those Slate dogs.”

  BETRAYALS

  Maeve’s sidelong glances, her questions about what I saw concerning my appearance, her constant compulsion to keep me out of sight, and the newlywed couple’s reaction toward me all made sense. I had been turned into a monster after all. Though I had just gotten the abridged version of what I was, I couldn’t stand to hear any more about my condition. My appetite had gone, and I kicked the dropped bag of food away.

  I was a programmable Amalgam, a cyborg… a machine. None of Dad’s stories prepared me for this. I was something new. Sure, there had been tales about Artificial Intelligence, people who were entirely machine, but I had never heard of anyone being both man and machine. My gut withered into crinkled parchment. I felt my soul turn to dust and fall through the spreading cracks of my breaking heart. I was an unlovable thing who would have no place even among freaks. I was a man no more.

  My eyes narrowed. With the falsified information that was being fed into a brain I could only assume was part machine now as well, I could feel the blue irises burn brighter as my hatred intensified. “And so you want me to end the world?” I asked.

  “Not for us.” Drake said smugly. “For those weak humans. Yes. Though you are alone now, one day you will be one of many. The species will be mechanized and then used to implement Pure Blood DNA in a new way that does not see the generational degradation that affects most Amalgams today. Warlocks will have full magical range once more. Vampires will be able to go out into the sun. Magic can be done more often without the power of the moon to give boosts to the effects. There are so many possibilities that your ignorance keeps hidden from you. What you have to realize, is that you are changing the world by simply being. The monsters we’ll be able to unleash because of what we learn from your biology… You should be honored.”

  It made sense to me. From what I understood, only a handful of humans had the genetic capacity to become a functioning Amalgam, and even then, it was always hit or miss on which dominate trait of a species would manifest itself. If they had discovered a way to remove that uncertainty and unleash a full DNA barrage onto any host they wanted, it would be a free for all by the Puries to replenish their ranks. No telling what would happen then; more than likely, ancient feuds would resume over land and resources, and as a result the world would burn. However, not before every last man, woman, and child had been turned into monsters like me, at least those not kept in human-farms to be used as food for those who might need them.

  We stood together in silence for some time. For a maniac out to destroy the world, Drake wasn’t such a bad guy. He placed a reaffirming hand on my shoulder. He actually seemed sympathetic toward my distress and genuinely wanted to see me perk up. “You are a child of gods.” He said, “In ways no Amalgam could ever hope to be. You will save the Pure Blood and Amalgam races alike. I know it’s a lot to absorb. I want you to take your time, but we must be going. It’s going to be okay. You have a destiny to fulfill.”

  I’m sure his people had their charm about them, but what they were asking of me was too much. I could not be some delivery boy of destruction for the human race. I would not. “It is time to go,” I agreed. “Before we do, do you think I could study that pad. I was serious about wanting to reach my potential.” I pointed to the device he used to turn off my fake sight. I figured it had everything about me I needed to know.

  Drake laughed, “Sure.” He handed it to me. His voice was solemn and his face wore worry heavily across his cheeks, “In some ways you remind me of Cade.” A smile turned his lips upward, “You share a certain ruthlessness that is to be admired.”

  “I hope I can give you everything you deserve.” I replied in earnest. “You know in some ways you remind me of him as well.”

  He smiled in a way only a proud father would as he put his hands in pockets to join me in my walk back toward the truck that held Maeve. “Oh yeah? How so?”

  “You both have crushed faces.” I said not holding back the hatred I felt bubbling up.

  Realization of what I meant hit him about a second before I did. I hated to use brute violence again, but it was all I had. I just hoped Maeve was right about that Unicorn thing.

  I had pieced together what had happened the night before, and what Maeve said about not being strong enough yet, and there was her not being able to use her armor until nightfall. Drake even eluded to it during his Rule the World speech. Most Amalgam magical abilities were contingent upon moonlight. There was the exception of some small things, and for powerful beings like Drake they weren’t that limited. I felt dense for not having picked up on it sooner.

  Moonlight was paramount in too many stories to not have been significant. However, with me being something different, my metal arms could still pack a world of hurt into a daytime punch because they were after all mechanical. There must have been a magical element about them as well, because I wasn’t nearly as strong or sensitive as I was the night before. Still, I unloaded a series of strikes to Drake’s head hoping for the best. I wasn’t as potent as I could have been, but the blood splatter proved I could still get the job done.

  I ducked for cover behind one of the Street Viper cars as the men started screaming and unloading gunfire into the vehicle I hid behind. I wasn’t sure what the relationship between my new status and bullets would be, but I did not want to find out. Thankfully I didn’t have to.

  The side of the trailer blew out with a shockwave that shook the ground. The blast took out about five guys, and the wave knocked over another three. Maeve had armed herself well during her escape and unleashed hell from dual wielded machine guns onto Drake’s scattering men. She was impressive. She unloaded a torrential bullet storm without so much as having a single red strand of hair fall out of place. I made a run for the GTO, but she called for me to follow her as she jumped into one of the Street Viper’s black rice burners.

  I dove into the vehicle as the engine hummed to life, and before you could say “Escape,” we were out of there.

  She toyed with the controls of a funny looking box to the right of her steering wheel. I only had one question, “When did you plan on telling me?”

  Her face paled a little save her cheeks, which flushed a red to rival the color of he
r ponytail. “I wanted to figure out why you couldn’t see yourself. I suspected there was some kind of program in place, but I knew you wouldn’t believe me unless I could make you see for yourself. I didn’t have the know-how to do that, so I wanted to take you to some friends of mine who I thought could help. I still think they can, and this car can Skip us there in a matter of moments, so hang tight.”

  My foot slid upward in the floorboard to help me brace my head against the seatback, and that’s when I felt my shoe graze the two guns Maeve had used in her escape. She had thrown them down in the passenger floor after jumping into the car.

  I knew what Skipping was. Dad prattled on about that one after a sci-fi movie about wormholes. Skipping was essentially the opening of a wormhole from one point to another and traversing great distances within seconds. Also how we ended up in Colorado from Alabama in no time at all.

  “Are they the ones that paid you to get me?” I was now cautious of anyone who wanted me. I was no longer just some random Amalgam abductee. I was the key to a master plot of world domination. I had to make sure I didn’t fall into the wrong hands.