Men of Steel

by Ryan Loveless

  As he turned, however, he spotted Andy and Chow both still hunched over the monitoring computer, their faces tight as they pulled off as much data as they could. Of course, the data would still be accessible from any of the other labs, but Robert knew that he’d be doing the same had this been his project, desperate to find out what had gone so catastrophically wrong as soon as possible. A wave of nausea flowed through him at the thought of just how wrong this may have gone—for all he knew, Zach and Allison were both dead. It was that terrifying thought that finally set Robert in motion—this wasn’t his mess and he didn’t need to solve the problem. Instead, he could get out of this room and go find out what had happened to Zach and Allison.

  IT TOOK almost an hour for Robert to make it back up to his lab from the emergency evacuation point opposite the Initiative’s building. To his great relief, when he’d made it outside, Robert had discovered that only the lower couple of levels had been evacuated, rather than the entire building, which suggested the explosion couldn’t have been that large. That fact, combined with his knowledge of an augment’s inherent strength and healing capacity, led Robert to believe that Zach and Allison had made it out of the lab with minimal injuries.

  Nevertheless, it was with somewhat shaking hands that Robert logged on to Augment Initiative’s intranet and used his security clearance to access the medical lab files. Stephanie had come back up to the lab with him, but had gone straight to her desk as they’d entered, booted up her computer, and was already typing away at breakneck speed. She no doubt knew that it would take Robert’s security clearance to access the files and was waiting for him to find out what was going on. When the patient list came up, Robert immediately clicked on Zach Butler’s file, releasing a huge sigh of relief to read that he’d already been released following treatment for minor burns and abrasions, and was expected to make a full recovery in a couple of hours. With part of his mind still marveling at the regenerative capacity of the augments, Robert pulled up Allison’s file next. She’d suffered more major injuries than Zach, presumably because she had been actually holding the weapon when it had backfired, but even with her more serious burns, she was expected to be fit for duty again by the end of the day. As he clicked the files closed, pulling up the file he’d been working on before the test, Robert slumped back in his chair with a sigh of relief.

  “So, what’s the news?” Stephanie asked from her desk across the room, pausing for a moment in her typing to pose the question.

  “They’re fine,” Robert replied. “Minor burns for Zach and slightly more serious ones for Allison, but nothing that treatment and time won’t heal.”

  “Not to mention an augmented biology,” Stephanie added with a smile. “Good, I’m glad it wasn’t worse. I wouldn’t want to be Chow at the moment, though.” She turned back to her computer and the sound of her typing once again filled the office.

  Since their research team was officially having their weekly two days off, Robert and Stephanie had the lab to themselves. Neither of them made a habit of coming in on their weekends, but as their current research project was nearing testing stage, it was becoming more common for all four of them to be in their lab at some point during the days off. In fact, Robert thought Eli and Becca would probably have been in today as well if they both hadn’t already made plans for the weekend.

  The team was working on a project that had been on Robert’s wish list since before he’d started work with the Augment Initiative. He’d always been fascinated by the augments’ abilities—the way they had not only preternatural strength and speed, but also an ability to manipulate the smallest parts of their body and their bio-chemistry. Augments could withstand considerable time in conditions that would kill a regular human in minutes, and could adapt to survive in the most extreme habitats on Earth. Robert had always theorized that such capabilities should be tapped into by the tech the scientists provided for the augments. Although it was true that much of the tech designed by the Initiative’s scientists—the transports, the weapons, and even the computers—were specifically tailored to an augment’s enhanced strength and cognitive capacity, none of them actively utilized an augment’s capabilities in quite the way Robert had always envisaged. It was his hope that, with their current project, he and his research team would change all that. But not if he couldn’t get the nano-transmitters to communicate with each other properly, Robert told himself in a stern voice. Taking a leaf out of Stephanie’s book, he turned his attention back to his work.

  IT WAS four hours later when Robert surfaced again, only to realize he was on his own in the lab. A still-steaming cup of coffee perched on the corner of his desk, in one of Stephanie’s brightly polka-dotted mugs, was testament to the fact that she hadn’t been gone too long. Although, from the look of her powered-down workstation, Robert doubted she’d be back in until the following day. Reaching out, he picked up the mug and took a big mouthful, his mind flying back to the accident that morning, and he found himself wondering what excuse he could come up with that would allow him to track Zach down and see for himself that he was okay.

  Robert knew that his interest in Zach was ill-advised, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Looking back on their first meeting six years ago, when Robert was still part of Elizabeth’s team working on shielding technology for the augments, Robert could see now that he had fallen for Zach almost immediately. At the time, Elizabeth was leading a main project that revolved around designing shielding for the augment’s large transport vehicles. However, Robert had been working on an offshoot project, one of his own design, on whether the shield emitters could be used to project temporary shielding onto different objects. He’d wanted to get the input of some augments into his ideas, and so had talked with their research team’s augment liaison and managed to get a few hours with one of the augment teams. In this case, Zach and Allison, who had done a lot of work in disaster areas where Robert thought such mobile shielding would be of benefit.

  It had been the first time that Robert had actually worked in close contact with any of the augments. Even though he’d been working at the Initiative for several years at that point, Robert still hadn’t been able to shake the idea, one shared by most of the general public, that the augments were some kind of demigods, real-life superheroes who flew in to save the day. It hadn’t taken long, however, for Robert to realize that Zach and Allison were no different from anyone he worked with at the Augment Initiative. They might be stronger and faster than everyone else, but they were just as committed to the work and dedicated to helping people.

  The research project itself had been completed within a few months, but it had been enough time for Robert to not only form a close friendship with Allison and Zach, but for the growing attraction he’d felt for Zach upon first sight to grow into something deeper. Even then he’d been under no illusions that anything could ever come of it—Zach was gorgeous, both outside and in, and, in all likelihood, completely straight. However, despite knowing this, Robert had found he couldn’t help how he felt. But, instead of trying to push anything and risk losing Zach completely, Robert had decided to hang on to what he had and tried to keep up their friendship.

  He’d been surprised at first as to how easy it was to remain friends with Zach. Despite their often conflicting work schedules and the fact that Zach and Allison could be called to anywhere on the planet at a moment’s notice, they managed to get together at least a couple of times a month. Since the augments were still treated as minor celebrities by the local press, more often than not Robert had found himself inviting Zach over to his apartment, or going over to Zach’s place, rather than going out. As a result, their friendship was mostly based around a mutual appreciation of movies, video games, and food. It was, the lack of sex aside, possibly the best relationship Robert had ever had. And if sometimes, at the end of the evening when the credits were rolling and the last of the beer had been drunk, Robert wished that he could lean over and press his mouth to Zach’s, he just told himself firml
y that he should feel content with what he had.

  “Hey, Robert,” someone suddenly said. “I didn’t expect you to be in today.”

  The sound of the familiar voice, coming as if summoned by his very thoughts, had Robert starting in surprise. His gaze flew to the doorway, eyes wide, to find Zach leaning against it casually, one shoulder propped up against the doorjamb. He’d obviously showered and changed recently, as his short, dark hair was still damp and slightly mussed. He wore an old, faded pair of jeans and a light-gray T-shirt, the fabric pulling tight across the muscular planes of his chest as he crossed his arms.

  Swallowing convulsively at the sight, Robert forced himself to reply. “I had some things to finish off,” he replied vaguely, waving a hand toward his computer. “But how are you doing? I saw the test today. Are you and Allison all right?”

  Zach pushed himself off the doorway with a sigh and ambled into the lab, reaching out to grab the chair from Stephanie’s desk and spinning it around so he could straddle it in one graceful move. “Yeah, we’re both okay. It was a bit of a clusterfuck, though, wasn’t it?” he replied, grinning over at Robert. “None of your prototype tests have ever ended quite like that.”

  “Yes, well, that’s obviously because I’m a lot more careful with my calculations,” Robert replied with a sniff. “I really don’t know what the hell Chow was thinking—even I could tell something was off with her power levels, and all I did was glance at the monitors.” He cut himself off before he could get into full rant mode, turning his attention back to Zach and letting his eyes run over Zach’s body, checking him visually for signs of injury. “You’re really okay, then? I mean, you were both right in the middle of that explosion and you both looked a little ragged before the test even began.”

  “Well, Allison got hit a little worse than me, but our skin only takes a couple of hours to heal,” Zach replied. He stood up, turning a little to the side and pulling up his shirt to reveal flawless skin over rippling muscle, the sight of it causing a flood of arousal to surge through Robert’s body.

  “See?” Zach said, oblivious to Robert’s predicament. “I was standing side-on when it happened and caught the worst of the explosion here on my side. You can’t even tell it was burned, can you?”

  “Uh… what? No,” Robert replied, somewhat distractedly, his attention still captivated by what he could see of Zach’s chest and abdomen. God, what he wouldn’t give to be able to touch Zach, to be free to run his fingers and mouth over Zach’s smooth skin, to feel and taste all that power for himself.

  “You okay there, buddy?” Zach asked, dropping his shirt again and taking a few steps closer to Robert, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder.

  Robert jumped a little as Zach’s hand made contact. He could feel the heat of Zach’s hand through the thin material of his own shirt and, without his conscious volition, found his body leaning slightly into Zach’s touch. As soon as he realized what he was doing, he jerked backward, pulling himself out of Zach’s reach and turning back to his computer to hide the blush he could feel heating his cheeks.

  “Yes, yes, I’m fine,” he replied, busying himself with his keyboard. “Just, you know, working.”

  “Robert, when are you not working?” Zach asked, laughing almost fondly as he spoke.

  Robert could hear him move back to his chair once again. Staring sightlessly at his screen, Robert followed the movements in his mind’s eye, seeing Zach straddle the chair with ease, those muscular thighs spreading temptingly as he took his seat. Robert squeezed his eyes shut on that image, willing his body not to react and forcing his mind back to more acceptable trains of thought.

  “I work when I need to,” he replied primly, finally feeling in control enough to turn back to Zach, making sure to keep his gaze on Zach’s face. He managed it, but it didn’t really help all that much. Now, instead of being drawn to sculpted muscle and warm skin, Robert found himself wanting to reach out to run his fingers through Zach’s unruly dark hair and press hot, open-mouthed kisses to the seemingly vulnerable skin of Zach’s throat. He quickly turned his gaze back to his computer.

  “So, whatcha working on?” Zach asked, the sound of a chair’s wheels moving on the floor percolating through Robert’s lust-muddled mind mere seconds before he felt Zach move in close beside him. “Something for me?”

  Robert couldn’t help but laugh at the note of childlike anticipation in Zach’s tone. “Well, I guess it is something for you,” he replied. “You and all the other augments, at any rate,” he continued. “That is my job, you know.”

  Ignoring Robert’s sarcasm, Zach merely grinned at him. “Cool,” he said, scooting even closer to Robert so that now their arms were pressed up against each other as Zach tried to get a look at Robert’s screen. “So what is it? Nothing like today’s prototype, I presume.”

  “No, nothing like that,” Robert said firmly. “You know I don’t really like weapon development all that much.”

  “And I don’t like using them,” Zach agreed with a sigh. “But sometimes, needs must,” he continued, his voice becoming somewhat melancholy.

  Robert turned to look at Zach as he sat back in his chair, eyes unfocused as he seemed to be caught up in some memory. “Your last mission?” he asked softly.

  Zach’s gaze snapped up to Robert’s at the question, cool gray eyes meeting brown and, for a moment, they simply stared at each other.

  “Yeah,” Zach replied at length, his eyes never leaving Robert’s. “All we were trying to do was get those people out. You should have seen it, Robert. There were hundreds of them, all in the area where we were expecting the worst of the aftershocks. And we would have done it too,” he continued. “Allison and I and the other UN aid teams. We were all in place—Allison and I working flat out to get as many survivors as we could out of the wreckage while the villages were evacuated.” He paused then, a hand coming back to rub at the back of his neck as he scowled at the memory. “Until, that is,” he spat out, anger obvious, “we were ambushed by a group of rebel militia who thought it would be a good idea to see if they could kill us while we were trying to save their families.”

  “You got them out, though,” Robert said, reaching out himself now to place a hand on Zach’s forearm, his fingers closing carefully around thick muscle clenched hard as iron. “Even with the attack and your own injuries, you saved hundreds of lives.”

  Zach’s eyes slid slowly closed. “Not enough,” he whispered, his voice almost breaking on the words. “We didn’t save them all.”

  Feeling a little out of his depth, Robert could only sit there with Zach, offering what little comfort his touch and his company could give. He’d read through the summary mission report, just as he always did for missions of which Zach and Allison were part. He knew it had been touch-and-go there for a time, knew that if the two augments hadn’t been able to hold their own against the rebels’ attack then no one would have made it out of the earthquake-ruined land alive.

  After several minutes had passed, Zach’s eyes flickered open and he offered Robert a small smile, bringing up his left hand to cover Robert’s for a moment where it still lay on his right forearm. “Thanks, buddy,” he said, his voice still a little rough. “I didn’t realize quite how badly that mission affected me.”

  “No problem,” Robert replied, his own voice a little thick. “And, hey, what my team’s been working on might be able to stop things like that happening in the future.”

  “Oh?” Zach said, his eyes alight with interest.

  “Well, we’re still a little ways off from the prototype testing stage, but our initial results look promising, so that’s why we’re all pulling extra shifts at the moment, trying to get the thing finished,” Robert explained as he pushed back from his desk and headed over to the large lab bench set against the far wall, gesturing for Zach to follow him.

  The final set of simulations had finished running while they’d still been evacuated, and he’d been able to set the last few sets of paramet
ers based on the results. The distribution matrices were still proving a bit difficult, but the code he’d been working on for the nano-transmitters was now complete and, provided the augment using the nano-transmitter enhanced powder had sufficient training and control, Robert thought that it should work. He quickly checked through the last simulation results, confident now that all the transmitters were working as they should, and then picked up the small vial containing the powder, holding it out for Zach to take.

  “What is it?” Zach asked, peering inside the vial with curiosity. “It looks like talcum powder.”

  Robert grinned. “You’re not too far off,” he said. “But it’s calcite, not talc.”

  “What?” Zach asked, gray eyes flicking upward toward Robert.

  “Calcite,” Robert repeated. “It’s a carbonate mineral. What’s in that vial is mostly powdered calcite crystals along with a few thousand nano-transmitters, all in near constant contact with each other.”

  “And?” Zach prompted, almost bouncing with impatience. “Come on, Robert, what does it do?”