Altered Design (Mechanical Advantage Book 2)

by Viola Grace

  He was staring at her. “What?”

  “I was on a Splice vessel when they were seeing how good a match we were. I lost sixteen friends in two days. We had been on a work excursion in the capitol. We were there to look at human history and ended up becoming a footnote.”

  “There weren’t any survivors of the first incursion.”

  She shrugged. “There were four of us. We got off without a scratch while others were harvested for parts. It wasn’t a particularly fun time.”

  “How did you get free?”

  “We waited and prepared to die. The air seeped out, and it got cold.” She stared down at her water glass as she remembered. “We were all in separate cages when they came for us. The Splice came to us, some wearing the skin and limbs of humans of every shade. They opened our cages and hauled us out, pushing us in front of them as we stumbled through the halls. Their language still grates in my thoughts.”

  “They spoke to you?” He leaned forward eagerly.

  “They spoke to each other. We didn’t know what was going on.”

  “How did you escape?”

  She blinked slowly. “We didn’t. They took us to the dissection room where others were still screaming, and they hooked us up to individual headgear. The switch was flipped, everything went bright, and I woke up on an orbital station six months later. I still don’t know how I made it out or how the others did.”

  “You said there were four survivors?”

  “Yes, as far as I know, there are now two. Two of the others killed themselves within two days of their regaining consciousness.”

  Lexo was horrified. “Killed themselves? What did they do to you?”

  She shrugged. “We still don’t know. There has been a change to my brain chemistry, but my cognition works the same as it always has.”

  “What about the other survivor?”

  Alphy shrugged. “She was moved to another facility before I woke up.”

  Lexo leaned back. “Wow. That makes my tales of daring look a little tame.”

  She shrugged. “I survived and then I survived again. It beat the alternative.”

  Silence settled in between them.

  “What do you remember about the explosion? Stephanie won’t say much about it.”

  Alphy closed her eyes. “It was a birthday party for Lucky. We—the ladies from the administrative end of things—loved having an excuse to get together. Anyone who did five minutes of research would know that when a birthday rolled around, they would have an opportunity.”

  She smiled slightly. “Lucky had just opened a silk negligee and was blushing furiously when the next box was set next to her. Stitch must have seen something in the tag because she called a warning. The next thing anyone knew, we were blasted into the walls, and Cracker was calling for help.”

  “So, none of you have normal names?”

  She snorted. “We were at a military base. We used the nicknames for immediate emotional connection. It worked with co-workers and patients alike.”

  He settled back again, a bit more at ease with this topic. “What was my sister like at the base?”

  Alphy grinned. “Stitch could look at a patient and create a treatment plan in minutes. She not only advocated for what was best for the patient, but also what would make him a more effective cyborg. Implanting weapons was an activity of last resort, but she always had the full roster of equipment and skills set into the nanites before they were set about their tasks. She is a great assessment officer, so I make sure she has what she needs.”

  “That last bit was in present tense.”

  Alphy chuckled. “Manipulating the raw material shipments for the fabricators is still under my purview. Monitoring data is what this station was built for, so I do my work through the automated systems. It took some practice, but now, I can move supplies anywhere I need them to be.”

  “Is that what you were doing in that chair?”

  She blinked and smirked. “Sure. Sounds plausible.”

  He cocked his head. “Well, now that I know where to eat, what else is there to do on this station?”

  “Name it, and we have it. You can learn to knit or engage in hand-to-hand combat with solid light simulations that your nanites react to, and everything in between.”

  “Well, show me where the facilities are, and I will get started figuring out what I want to do.”

  Alphy nodded and got to her feet, taking her tray to the recycler. Lexo followed her and mimicked her precisely. When the dishes were dealt with, she led the way to the crew quarters, and she asked, “How far down to you want to be?”

  “Across from you is fine. I don’t want to infringe on your freedoms, but if we are the only two living beings on this monstrous ship, I want to stay close.”

  “This is weird. I have been alone here a long time.”

  “That is over now. You had better get ready for a lot more company.”

  Alphy blinked. “What?”

  “You are in possession of a long-range spacecraft with natural gravity. Stephanie has plans that involve us travelling to collect the other cyborgs who are stuck on their bases and bringing them here.” Lexo chuckled. “It is quite the project, and it is going to involve a lot of flying.”

  “Speaking of flying, aren’t you supposed to be doing that?”

  “I am. I set the linkage between me and the station engines. I can control the trajectory in my sleep if I have to.” He smiled and rubbed his jaw.

  She stared for a moment, and he stopped to look at her.

  “What?”

  “I haven’t seen facial hair in quite a while.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “Sorry. No stations pack razors anymore, and my primer nanites were first gen, so the shaving protocol hadn’t been added.”

  “Don’t apologize. It is just going to take some getting used to.” She laughed and resumed walking, “Would you believe my legs are in a similar state?”

  He chuckled and drew up next to her. “No, but thanks for the commonality.”

  She grinned. “Good. So, you have a cranial adaptation, is there anything else?”

  “I thought you read my file.”

  “I did, but it is always nice to tell your own story.”

  He sighed. “Cranial, spinal, bone replacements in both arms, a hip, and one leg.”

  She whistled softly. “Ouch. Sound like crash injuries.”

  “You are very good. Yes, I had to use my ship as a ram on a few occasions, and there were few restraints to hold me back.”

  “Did you ever confront the Splice face-to-whatever?”

  “On a few occasions. I only went out when we had another pilot on hand; otherwise, I kept the engines ready to run.”

  That didn’t match with what she had read. “You were weaponized.”

  “I was. Solo missions in small shuttles. I went in, disabled the Splice ship and destroyed anything on the way. They weren’t my favourite moments, but this is war. There shouldn’t be any moments that you treasure.”

  He cocked his head. “There might be a few. Life has to spark, or there isn’t any reason to fight. Now, what adaptations do you have?”

  She sighed. It was only fair. “A fair amount of my skull and brain is artificial, as is my spine. I was blasted into the wall, and my head took the bulk of the impact. They got the nanites in while I was on the gurney, and the data transfer took place before too many cells could die. It was similar to a bad hangover by the time I woke up.”

  “Do you know why it took so long for Stephanie to wake up?”

  She sighed. “I have a few theories but nothing concrete. They kept her in stasis until they needed her. That’s all I can guess.”

  “What would they need her for?”

  “What indeed? Why would you need an expert on assessing what folks needed to be alive and functioning normally and naturally right as we were exposed to a new species?”

  “They couldn’t have kno
wn.”

  She muttered, “Someone did.” A moment later, she perked up, “Right, these are my quarters.”

  He laughed. “You are in the captain’s quarters?”

  “Why not?”

  “Very well. I will take the second-in-command’s quarters across the way.”

  “Did you want to settle in tonight, or did you want to continue the tour?”

  Lexo sighed, “I would like to continue the tour. The schematics are one thing, but seeing it first hand is far more useful.”

  “Right. Well, clothing is accessible through the fabrication station in your quarters or at the gym.”

  “Great. What about medical checks? I am still not used to the alterations that Stephanie made in my implants. They feel like they aren’t there anymore.”

  “Well, we have a firing zone where you can work with what is left in your system. Oh, did you see any of the aliens?”

  “Yes. I saw several of them in various stages of repair.”

  She moved closer to him and whispered, “Do they really have wings?”

  He gave her a stern look. “How do you know that?”

  Alphy made a face. “The parts requested for fabrication. There are very few implants possible that would need that kind of a bladed strut for support, as well as the socket joint that would be strong enough to support a few hundred pounds.”

  He whistled. “Interesting assessment. You really do know the inventories like the back of your hand.”

  Alphy shrugged. “It is what I do. It is what I have always done. It’s what I am good at.”

  She paused. “The door is primed for you. You just need to stand in front of it so it can scan you.”

  Her door glowed a soft blue, and his was a vivid purple.

  He smiled, stepped to the door and allowed the scan. The door opened for him, and he stepped inside. He let out that low whistle again. “This is more room than I had back on Earth.”

  She smiled and leaned on the wall. “Yeah, it would be a shame to waste all the extra space and keep to the crew quarters.”

  He finished looking around and joined her again. “So, where to next?”

  “Exercise or entertainment?”

  “Exercise. I have been asleep for a few years, so I need to work the kinks out of the system.”

  “Okay. Come with me. I am pretty sure that we can manage any kink you can come up with.” She smiled and then blushed when he raised a brow. “You know what I mean.”

  He grinned. “I do, but I like the way yours sounded.”

  Her blush lasted the entire twenty-minute walk to the recreation area.

  Chapter Five

  The fabrication scanner was set up for her, so she quickly got her exercise gear made, and then, she stepped aside while it generated.

  “Have you used one of these before?”

  He nodded. “At the Alpha Base.”

  “Just relax and don’t tense up. As long as your feet are lined up right, the exercise suit won’t interfere with your junk.”

  He snorted and locked his heels against the stops designed for that purpose.

  The scanner hummed and took in all of his contours, top to bottom.

  While he was being scanned, she collected her suit and wandered around the corner to the changing area. Her baggy uniform was discarded, and she pulled on the form-fitting, sleeveless exercise suit.

  She was dressed and pulling her hair up into a restraint clip when he came around the corner.

  Lexo paused. “You... look like you are in good shape.”

  She glanced down and had to crane her neck to see her feet. “I try to be. A healthy body goes a long way to keeping you able to act in whatever means necessary.”

  “You definitely look healthy.”

  She grimaced. “Right. I will see you on the workout floor.”

  Her enthusiasm for her new companion paled at his obvious shock. Her curves were a throwback to a previous era when women were designed to attract at a glance, rather than through the online brokers that matched folks based on goals and genetics.

  Her uniform usually camouflaged her body. It was baggy and turned her into the same block as the delicate women of ethereal construction that were so popular on contemporary Earth. If the Splice hadn’t snagged her, she would still have been destined to be alone. Her body type was dying out strictly because it was unfashionable in the global market.

  She set up a boxing station and started to work on the heavy bag, remembering that it was what had made the Adaptation Base feel like home. Most of the women there had the same exaggerated curves that she did.

  “You have a good form.”

  Alphy screamed and whirled to face him. Her mind recognized him and told her to stand down. She leaned forward and put her palms on her thighs. “Damn. I forgot you were here.”

  He blinked in surprise. “Sorry. You really have been here for quite a while on your own.”

  “Yeah. For six months, I pretended that this station was haunted, just so I could talk out loud.” She pressed her hand to her chest to calm the thundering beat.

  She inhaled and straightened. “Right. Where did you want to start?”

  She stared at him, surprised by the smooth silver skin that marched along his arms as well as the extent of the silver skin down his right side. From what she had learned, most modern cyborgs enjoyed turning their nanites into tattoos using a subroutine that Lucky had crafted.

  “I think I would enjoy a bit of wrestling if you can show me how to set up the unit.” The silvery skin of his arms flexed.

  “No problem. This way, please.” She smiled politely and led the way to the projection unit.

  Alphy showed him how to calibrate the unit, and he was far too close to her while she did. The heat coming from him was amazing, and she fought the urge to lean back against him. He was her pilot, nothing more.

  Once he was sure of the controls, she left him to get to work and returned to her pummelling the heavy bag.

  She could blank her mind when she was working out, and even the Triad couldn’t break in.

  When her arms were humming from the exertion and she was coated in a sheen of sweat, she paused and held onto the bag while looking toward the wrestling mat.

  Lexo was facing off with the solid-light hologram. His skin was glowing with sweat, and he had obviously taken a few trips to the mat.

  The program was using the most recent of Lucky’s programs, and it looked like she had done one helluva job.

  Lexo rushed forward and collided with his projected opponent. The nanites in his system forced his muscles to treat the projection as a real being. The calibration that set the machine also set Lexo.

  The bulge of muscles was impressive, and Alphy watched as the real and the projected man grappled and fought for the upper hand.

  As she watched, he was lifted, turned, and slammed to the ground. The scoreboard totalled the current tally at three wins to the projection and one to Lexo.

  Lexo fought for air and slowly levered himself to his feet, returning to the start position and waiting.

  Alphy wanted to step in, but she waited until the next bout of attack and retreat ended with Lexo on the ground again, pushed out of the ring.

  “I think that you need a bit of training before you set it to expert again.” She walked over and crouched next to him.

  Lexo grimaced. “That is one hell of a simulation.”

  Alphy grinned. “Yeah, it is one of her best. I don’t get beyond amateur in most of her simulations, but the wrestling program has me at beginner and still kicks my ass.”

  He groaned and sat up. “You know the designer?”

  “Sure. She worked with me and Stitch. Lucky is the best at writing code that works with nanites. The machines here compensate for your adaptations and give you human reflexes and strength, or it reacts like you do. It gets stronger to make up the difference.”

  He gave her a long look. “
You don’t know how it works, do you?”

  She shrugged. “Not one hundred percent positive. Since I can’t ask Lucky any questions, I have to guess by the application of the programs.”

  “What is the reason that you can’t communicate?”

  Alphy chuckled. “Ah, this is the repository station. I can’t send anything out for fear that the Splice will trace it back and learn all of humanity’s secrets.”

  Lexo leaned his arms on his knees. He held up his silver hand and flexed it. “Are we still human?”

  “I think so. I still want my world to survive, even if they changed the locks.”

  He grinned. “Sound thinking. Yeah, I want the rest of my family to live long and happy lives, even if I can’t be there.”

  He got to his feet and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

  “What other delights are there to experiment with?” He raised his brows.

  She led him to the control panel and showed him the options. Now that he had been calibrated, he just needed to do a palm scan at the station he wanted, and the machine would configure itself for him.

  Alphy went for a cardio workout and started a light sprint that turned into a run. With her adaptations had come increased reflexes and the urge to keep fit. It wasn’t something she had dealt with before, so she chalked it up to the changes after the explosion and did as her body requested.

  She would probably have an answer as to why her repaired body had an agenda of its own, but she needed to be able to speak to someone for that, and the guys weren’t forthcoming as to what precisely had happened to her body when she was injured. She had a good idea, but she couldn’t be positive until someone told her the truth. No one seemed interested in that information.

  Exhausted, she headed to her quarters while Lexo continued to work out. The change in satellite feeds that she could sense was a good sign. They were passing through monitored space, and that usually meant that humans had been somewhere close.

  In a matter of days, she would be with her own people again. Stitch was going to be hugged to within an inch of her life.

  Chapter Six

  She was trapped. She couldn’t move her body. Her mind was awake, but none of her other senses worked. She was screaming, but she couldn’t make a sound.