RedX checked the information on admissions. Gerry was unconscious in the next bed. His injuries were more severe. He’d been hit by several good shots. RedX felt immediate pride in his female……. His? His systems lit up with the thought of it. Without the slightest hesitation his system accepted her.
“You will stand trial for crimes against the Cyborg Empire.” He told him in response.
The male now looked confused. “Who?”
“Us. You fired and injured a member of the Empire. The price will be high.”
RedX wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but it felt right. He turned to go, there was nothing more to be gained from these men until Gerry woke up. If he woke up. “No one mentioned taking on the Empire!” the male cried out.
RedX stopped at the doorway without turning back. “Shit happens,” he told him walking through. The female was under his protection now. He would not allow her to be injured again and those that had, would pay.
***
Shit the bar was a mess. She walked through the back room and checked out the bar more thoroughly. Lost of damaged bottles, lost booze. Some shelves broken, chairs and tables, plenty knocked over. It was going to take time to clear up. Kurt was still to make an appearance, but she knew he was doing better. She’d checked on her way out of the hospital. It was his turn to spend the night. She smiled at that. His face when they’d told him. Not a happy man. Grabbing the waste bin, she started loading the damages, making several trips to the recycling. A couple of hours later and the bar had been rearranged, tables and chairs put back. Broken ones removed. Floors mopped and counters polished. It was good enough. Knowing Kurt was not at home she took a quick shower and changed then came down to re-stock.
That’s where he found her. Carrying in stock to fill the shelves ready for tonight.
She didn’t hear him come in. He moved so silently unlike anyone she’d ever known. She’d grabbed some bottles turned to load them up, turned back, and there he was. Standing quietly waiting on her.
Instinctively she took a step back before she realised who it was. “You need to make some noise,” she told him bringing up a few more bottles.
“That would give myself away.”
Jamie stopped and stood up. “Does that matter for a medic?”
“It does in battle, noise gets you killed.”
“This isn’t a battle,” she told him instinctively. RedX raised an eyebrow. “Ok, I give you it seems like it at times. I meant not now, now.”
“How we were trained is how we were trained. There is no logic in turning it on and off. It is who we are. What do you know of the Empire?”
Jamie put the bottles up and leant on the bar. “Do you mind if I call you Red? It’s easier.”
Red? He liked the sound of it on her tongue. “Red is fine.”
She nodded. “I don’t know much at all really.”
“How about an exchange of information? I’ll tell you about us, you tell me about you.”
“I don’t really need either,” the female told him warily, turning to put the bottles on the shelf.
“That is not true,” he told her taking a seat opposite her as she turned back.
“How so?”
“There are things you need to know about the Empire for several reasons one of them is because you are going into business with us. Second you need to understand the people if you are going to trade and have a relationship with them.”
She nodded. “Ok, why do you need to know about me?”
“For the same reason. To understand those, we are in business with.”
Jamie went to the replicator and ordered two coda. Placing one before RedX. Was she ready to tell her story? She wasn’t sure but he knew it already in every damaged bone and organ in her body.
“Ok, so hit me with it.”
RedX considered where to start. The beginning was always a good place. “We were created by Earth Corp. Commodities. They employed Designers to use humans to make the ultimate soldier. Used human’s DNA to create us. Some willing, some not. Over decades they continued to try to make us and kept on trying even when things went wrong. Doing new and improved versions. Getting rid of anything that didn’t make the grade. They sliced and diced, wanting bigger, better, faster, stronger and they made sure they got by any means. When that wasn’t enough, they pushed for more. Added animal DNA that had unpredictable results. Many became more animal than human and had to be terminated. Others made it long enough for their genes to be used again and again. Refining the process. When that still wasn’t enough, they looked at healing nano’s and cybernetics and metal alloys, to fill our bodies, computers to go in our brains along with kill switches for emotions, pain, movement, whatever they thought would be useful.
“Fuck,” Jamie murmured, her voice showing how shocked she was. Fuck was right.
“Those that survived to be our originals had unique talents. They were exactly what the Designers wanted. Better, faster, stronger, with optics that gave far superior eyesight and hearing. The ultimate soldier had been born. But they were flawed in many ways too. Functions were not stabilised. Many didn’t make it passed their first year without breakdowns. But they were still sent out on missions and the Designers continued to pay God. More than 100 years of meddling and trying to create something that should never have been. Us.
“They gave us everything we could need to fight. Skills, training, whatever it took, and we were damn good at what we did. Controlled by our computer programming, we followed orders. Went where we were told, did what we were ordered. On Old Earth and later, in the Corporation wars.
He took a drink of his coda. It seemed to wake up Jamie who was looking very shocked, she took a drink of her own. He gave her a moment before carrying on. “We were the machines they created. With logic that rules us and no other function but to follow orders. Until humans found out about what Earth Corp were up to and things changed. That didn’t end so well for Earth Corp. Legal action and dropping share prices made investors leave the company. Without any other option, Earth Corp apologised and told the public they were freeing us.”
“I’m guessing they didn’t.”
He shook his head, “No, not for most of us. We were already out on loan to other companies or in other wars. The one’s still with them were freed, the rest of us had to fight for it and that took a very long time. Many are still out there, lost in time, in places no one knows, and we search for them.
He could scent her concern her worry. “Until we were freed, we had little control over our lives, and nothing of our own. We had accepted that our lives were what we’d been created for, war and fighting. We used what we were good at to make a life for ourselves while we looked for our brothers. Escaping to the universe we found new lives for ourselves. Mercenaries, muscle for hire. Looked to protect those that couldn’t protect themselves. We evolved. And in time, our Admiral found his Kim and sparked something in all of us. Our shared neuro nets allowed us to feel what he was feeling, share what he was experiencing, and a ripple ran throughout the Empire. We have met thousands of females over the decades but only now, are able to process it. It is believed that our DNA and nano’s had evolved to the point of understanding that we needed to jump the evolutionary scale to survive. We needed more and finding that one female compatible with us became a priority. Not an easy task but our need for family is strong. Finding the female that is compatible with us that will allow us to grow and be more than fighting machines, is a strong motivator. It represents a future. Something of our own.
“You didn’t have females before this?” she asked.
“We did in the wars. Had females and males we were ordered to service, to infiltrate for a reason. It is thought because of this, we had no interest in it before the Admiral and Kim. We needed time to come to terms with what happened. Its one of the reason’s we do not touch humans as a rule. The exception to that is our mates.” Jamie choked on her coda. He gave her a minute before carrying on.
“You were abused in the army? That’s ….. sick.”
“It is how it was.”
“And you don’t have sex? Like never?“ she asked.
“We had many decades of being used, so after it, no. As a said, Cyborgs do not touch people unless we have to. Females who are compatible with us are different. And not every female is. Our DNA and nano’s seem to recognise a compatible female and lets us know. Our emotions and pain receptors although turned off, bleed through with emotion. It is illogical and we struggle with it, but it happens and a symptom of this process.”
“Have you found yours?”
“Yes.”
“One lucky lady,” she told him distracted.
“I hope she thinks that.”
The female frowned at him. “She doesn’t know?”
“Not yet.”
Jamie laughed. “O my, I’d like to be a fly on the wall when you tell that one. It’s going to be one heck of a conversation. She’s going to take one look at you and think all her dreams have come true.”
RedX studied her for a moment. “Would you think that?”
Jamie wasn’t sure how the conversation had started to sound so personal. Would she think that? He was staring at her. “You’re….. a stunning man. A good man, I think. There aren’t many of those. You’re knowledgeable and clearly you can protect yourself and anyone else. Any woman should feel honoured.”
It wasn’t a yes. She’d edged the question well. RedX was both impressed and dismayed at the same time. He decided to stay on solid ground. “Your turn.” He registered her surprise when she’d realised what he’d said. She looked less confident now. He waited on her wondering if she was ready to tell her story….
Jamie suddenly thought she’d not thought this through enough. It was ok, although shocking to hear his story and interesting as hell. She certainly had plenty of questions particularly about the female he wanted. A little sadness crept in and she realised she’d hoped a little that he might want her…… Men like that didn’t go for women like her. She was stalling and he was waiting for her to start. Now, that deal didn’t seem so good.
She didn’t know what she was scared of. He knew most of it from her scans. She swallowed, he wasn’t rushing her or letting her off the hook. Fuck. “I err….” She cricked her neck and took a deep breath and started again. “As far as I know, my parents, as I remember them decided to move from the Sectors out into the fringes, nearer the lakes. I’m not sure why, it was before I was born. They were happy, I remember my mother telling me. Striding out on their own. Wanting that pioneer adventure. Once they got to where they wanted to be, there was no mining as they’d expected only fishing and trading. But they stayed and made a life for themselves and I came along. Things were ok for a while, then my father started going with a crowd of men my mother didn’t like. Coming home late, if at all. Money disappeared, he rarely gave her any and she was left with few options. She would cook and sell meals, wash clothes, clean other’s homes. Anything she could do make money to pay the rent and put food on the table.
“Every now and then he could come home. She’d hide me away the minute she saw him. I learnt quickly she was afraid of what he’d do. I would hear it all while I sat quietly in the attic. He’d ask her where she was getting her money, call her a whore and demand it, wreak the house looking for it, beat her until she gave it to him and would rape her and leave. And that was the pattern of our life for several years. Why she endured it I do not know…..
Every instinct in RedX had him wanting to kill the male. Logic told him it was likely her mother was dead and that’s why she’d run but it was clear this was not the end of the story. He waited for her to continue.
“Mum carried on. People knew but did nothing to help. She’d barely be able to walk around or needed medical help, but they didn’t interfere and no security came to deal with it.” Jamie smiled. “She got better at hiding her money and when he turned up, she started handing some over and feeding him, hoping to send him on his way without being beaten or worse. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Problem was, he enjoyed beating her.” She looked wistfully to one side. “She kept saying we would leave but she never did….. When I was around 8 years old, I came home one day from school and found him beating her. I grabbed an empty pan from the stove, she’d been in the middle of preparations for the meals for the next day when he arrived I guess, and I ran at him striking him with every ounce of strength I had across the head. It knocked him off his feet.” She smiled shaking her head in wonder.
“He passed out long enough for me to help my mother outside and to walk away. We could hear him screaming for us, saying we were both dead. My mother clung to me saying it would never happen, that we would leave before that, we just needed a little more money….
She sighed. “I see now that the money he was taking, stopped us from leaving earlier. Maybe he knew that, I don’t know. He certainly blamed my mother for not achieving his goals, never stopped going on about how she had ruined his life. Anyway, the next time he came calling was the worst. He caught me out in the open, probably waiting for me and beat me senseless. Broke several bones. Maybe he trying to kill me I don’t know but he was stopped by our neighbour before he got the chance. My mother came screaming out of our house and fought back at him. He punched her square in the jaw laying her out cold before walking off.
“After that, he came for both of us. Seven more years of that but we started to fight back as I got older. Sometimes it even worked to. Until I was 14. Then he came around with some ‘friends’. My mother was fearless. She fought for all she was worth and held them off long enough for me to get out. They’d come for me you see. Sold to the highest bidder. To my everlasting shame, I left her to fight on her own and hid in the trees near where she stashed her money. I went back hours later, it was quiet. I’d thought they’d killed her, and they nearly had but she was alive. Glad to see me safe and well but she was never the same after that. I think it was then she realised he would always be coming back with others, always be looking for a pay day. That nothing she did was going to change that. The man she’d loved was truly gone and a monster now took his place.
Jamie stood up and refilled their coda. “We made plans then. Quietly contacted people that our neighbour knew in the next village. He kept our secret and encouraged us to leave. Seems the last two times my father had turned up had been enough for him. At last someone else cared. A bit too little to late. Anyway, somehow it seems he found out or maybe it was good timing on his part, I don’t know but back they came. We’d hidden our leaving gear we were travelling light anyway. We should have slept out that night, but mum wanted me to have a good night’s sleep. That didn’t happen. They broke in after midnight. Dragged my mother and me from out beds. The beating started almost immediately. At the point where they were starting to rape us, our neighbour came in with a gun and fired it. My mother screamed for me to run in the chaos and I did to my hiding place…..
“When I went back later, our neighbour was dead, so was one of our attackers and … mum. Someone had stabbed her. I had the neighbour and mum buried, then left. Picked up everything mum had saved for us and moved on as we’d planned. He chased me for a while. But I kept changing my name and moving in different directions. Years passed and eventually I found my way here.”
Now he really wanted to kill someone. He felt he had rocks in his chest. “You made it. Your mother would be proud,” he told her and meant it.
The female shrugged. “I’d rather she was alive.”
“Just so. Does Kurt know this?”
The female shook her head. “No. Only you, there’s more but you get the idea.”
“We can track them,” he told her.
“Track who?”
“Everyone who’s harmed you. Find them and make them pay. We’re trackers it’s what we do.”
Jamie drank her coda, needing the lift it gave her. “Thought you were a medic?”
“We are many things.”
>
She put her cup down. “Why are you really here? I’m not buying the medic routine, there’s more going on than you’re saying, and you clearly have skills beyond that.”
She was sharp and smart. He liked that quality in her too and his systems automatically went into infiltration mode. He had to keep her off balance. She was right, he had a mission outside of being a medic. A mission she or anyone else couldn’t know about. It could break this first encounter into partnership with the Empire. So many things went on in a world. If they only went on what they were told or what their systems showed them, the truth of it, if there was another one, would never be found out until it was too late. The Empire didn’t make mistakes. It took precautions and he was one of them. RedX knew he was on dangerous ground here. Being ordered to seduce a human had no part in the Empire and was no longer sanctioned. Seducing a female that he wanted was a huge risk. Logic told him opening up to this female had compromised his work. It left him with few alternatives. He needed to divert her attention away.
“I came here for you.” He told her and knew it to be true.
Chapter Five
“What?” she squeaked in surprise. Had she heard right?
He walked around the bar between them and came towards her. “I came for you.” He repeated. The data flowing across his optic told him again it was the truth. His systems flared with confusing data. He’d come to this bar in search of her. To see that she was well. Until she’d confronted him on exactly why he was here himself, he’d not considered this could happen. Questions flowed through his brain. Had he been so blinded? Allowed his cover to be blown? Had he wanted her to see him for what he was? A warrior? Had such an emotion pushed him into being careless? He needed answers and was surprised by the logic. If he was acting faulty he would have to review all his data.
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