Cronus

by K. A. Finn

  'And what's that?'

  'That he has nothing to worry about. He knows you've got their best interests at heart.'

  He opens his mouth to argue, but she reaches up and places her fingers over his lips. 'Best not to argue with logic, dear boy. Just go with it.' She nods towards Gryffin. 'I think your former captain would like a word.'

  Desyl wipes a hand over his face and looks back at Evie. 'What am I supposed to say to him? This is Terra's job.'

  'Yes, well one problem at a time, dear. I have a horrible feeling it may be easier to sort out the Foundation than those two. As for right now, he's your friend. Just be there for him. Get him through this so he can end the blasted project once and for all.'

  Desyl takes a deep breath, wipes his mouth on his sleeve again, then walks over to Gryffin. He's focusing on the empty space where his right leg should be. Desyl gives him a minute to get used to his new body. If his face is anything to go by, Gryffin isn't taking it too well. After a long silence, the captain pulls his attention from the bandaged stump to Desyl.

  'How are you, sir?'

  'I'm fine.'

  His voice is weak and hoarse from all the screaming as they pulled him apart. They're no better than Terra's sadistic father. 'I was here for the whole thing, sir. There's no way in hell you're fine.'

  'I feel fucking terrible. That better?'

  Desyl shrugs. 'Hell if I know. How's the pain level?'

  'It's there. How are the others?'

  'The same. Listen, I'm sorry—'

  'Stop.'

  'But Gryffin—'

  He pushes onto his elbow and stares at him with a bloodshot eye. 'I said stop. Thank you for helping me. Now I don't have to kick you out the airlock.'

  'That makes me feel so much better.'

  Gryffin smiles and closes his eye. 'When will Bray and the Dixon man finish the programming?'

  'In a few hours. We want to give you as long as possible to recover before we activate the new components and link all of you together. Your... your new prosthetic arm and leg are being adjusted to fit you. You're larger and heavier than they were designed for. Like your arm, the connectors have been embedded in the... in what's left of your leg. Thanks to—'

  Desyl clears his throat again. Talking so bluntly about Gryffin's loss of his leg and fitting of a mechanical one is difficult, especially with Gryffin staring at him. 'Thanks to the store of components on Cronus, your chest implant has been upgraded to accept the leg. We'll be able to fit that at the same time.'

  'Have everything ready in two hours.'

  'Sir, you all need more time.'

  'We don't have more time. I'll give them two hours.'

  'You're a real pain in the butt, sir. Fine. I'll tell them two hours. Try to get some rest before then. You're going to need to be as strong as possible.'

  'Where's Terra?'

  'Rua took her to Lir. She thought it would be best to get her as far from the bay as possible. You know, in case she heard anything. Do you want me to get her?'

  'No. Where's the bandanna from my arm?'

  Desyl looks around and finally finds it sticking out of one of the bins. He holds it up to Gryffin. 'You want me to give it back?'

  'Tie it around my arm where it was.'

  Desyl shrugs and does as he's told. 'Get some rest, sir.'

  'I need to talk to Sayber.'

  'You need to rest, sir.'

  'Get Sayber in here now. I need to talk to him. Alone.'

  Desyl nods to a Nomad standing guard and the man leaves to make the call. 'Is there something wrong. I mean, something else wrong?'

  'Nothing to do with you, Desyl. Your priority is Ares.' He pushes himself up the bed, wincing in pain as he settles back in the bed. 'I need you to stay focused on the ship.'

  Desyl nods, but Gryffin grips his arm, squeezing it firmly. His clear blue eye bores into him with an intensity that leaves him cold. 'Whatever happens to me, the Nomad will need you, Creed, and Chayse to keep them together. You're key to their survival. Understood?'

  Desyl licks his dry lips. 'Yes, sir.'

  Gryffin drops his arm and flops back on the bed as Sayber saunters in. 'You called?'

  'Give us a minute, Desyl.'

  He nods at Sayber as he passes, making sure the door to the room is firmly closed behind him. Whatever the hell that was, it's done nothing to put him at ease. If anything, Gryffin's words and the secret meeting with Sayber leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

  He stifles a yawn and rubs his aching eyes. He's probably over-thinking everything. Gryffin's been through hell and they still don't know if he'll be a fit leader after all the modifications. Of course the Captain wants to make sure Desyl is up to the challenge.

  That still doesn't explain the meeting with Sayber though. There's not a lot he can do about it. The only thing he can do is make sure the Nomad are ready to fight alongside the modified Gryffin.

  37

  DIXON SPACE STATION

  Gryffin stares over at the far wall as too many hands touch him. Those two hours had gone by too fast. He ignores the pull of wires and connectors on his skin as monitors are fitted and implants checked. He's exhausted and can barely think straight thanks to the pain. If someone came in and offered to knock him out he'd let them, even if it meant a whack to the head.

  He looks at what's left of his body. Now his entire leg is gone it's probably an even split between his cybernetics and original body. Maybe the odds have tipped in favour of the metal. Whatever the ratio he'd rather not know. As long as everything works as it should it's worth it.

  As much as he's dreading the whole procedure, he wants his arm and leg attached. He's done being helpless on a bed in a Foundation ship. Not being able to defend himself is nearly more unsettling than what's about to happen. If Sayber decided to try taking his head off again, there's fuck all he could do to stop him.

  'Eh hello!'

  Felix weaves his hand in Gryffin's face. 'Are you listening or am I talking to myself?'

  'What?'

  'As I was saying, to myself clearly, you'll be linked to Boone, Trace, and Dante. You should, if this works of course, be able to relay orders to them.'

  Evie pulls a very rough schematic onto the screen on the far wall. 'If the neural link works we should be able to relay orders to you without being in comms reach, then you should be able to issue them to the others in the group. If we get this right, there's also a chance you'll be able to override the leadership protocol in the cyborgs on Earth, but that's the absolute best case scenario. At the moment, taking them out of commission is the priority.'

  Bray examines the data on the screen and nods to himself. 'It should work, but there's a lot of factors we haven't taken into consideration, starting with the one big glaringly obvious one. Who's going to be relaying orders to you? It's going to have to be someone trustworthy. It's a damn big ask.'

  Gryffin silently stares at Desyl. Evie rests her head in her hands and mirrors Gryffin's expression. Desyl suddenly gets what they're thinking and vigorously shakes his head. 'No. Not a chance in hell.'

  'Can I get a minute with Desyl?' Gryffin waits until everyone is out of earshot before he speaks again. 'You're the only one who can do it.'

  'A few days ago you were threatening to kick me off the ship. You can't just drop this on me and expect me to agree.'

  Gryffin pushes up the bed and makes the mistake of looking down at where his leg used to be. He couldn't care less about the rest of the implants, but he wants his prosthetic leg fitted. 'I was angry at what you did. Still am, but I don't trust anyone else with this. It needs to be a Nomad in control of me. It needs to be you.'

  'This is a big ask, sir.'

  'It's just Gryffin now. If anything I should be calling you 'sir'.'

  Desyl curses and rubs his eyes. 'This is all wrong. It shouldn't be like this.'

  'Yeah, well it is. I want it to be you, Desyl, but I'm not going to order you.'

  Desyl sits on the edge of the bed opposite G
ryffin and crosses his arms. Gryffin leaves Ares' new captain to his thoughts. Fuck knows he's landed him with enough to think about.

  Desyl was far from happy about being given command of Ares without adding this to the mix. But it's that very reluctance that proves to Gryffin he made the right decision. He knows there are Nomad on board Ares who would have jumped at the chance to command her, unlike Desyl.

  Desyl underestimated himself. Always has. He doesn't realise how much of a natural Nomad he is. Rayde would have called him a weak leader. Desyl wasn't feared. He wasn't cruel. He's so similar to Creed in that way. Creed wasn't feared, but he was respected.

  Rayde tried hard to prove to Gryffin that in order to succeed you had to be feared. But that's not how it works. Respect was a far better motivator than fear. Gryffin hopes that after making some of the changes he did, he'd earned the respect of his crew over the years.

  Desyl looks up at him and shakes his head. 'Fuck.'

  'That a yes or no?'

  'It's a fuck. How exactly do you see this working? Me controlling you I mean.'

  'I'll be a member of the crew like everyone else. You give me orders just like everyone else.'

  'It's not that simple, sir. Gryffin. Fuck.'

  'It is.'

  'But you're my friend.'

  'What?'

  'You heard me.' Desyl pushes off the bed and paces the room. 'Having to help stick those things on you. In you. That was bad enough. I can't give you an order you won't be able to disobey.'

  'It's no different to what I did as captain. Don't make this different.'

  'It's so different! How can you not see that?' Desyl curses and wipes a hand over his face. 'The kill switch.'

  'What about it?'

  'You got them to fit a program that'll kill you all if you get out of control. Do you want me to control that too?'

  'Yes.'

  'Oh great. How the fuck did I get myself into this? You were threatening to kill me a few days ago and now you want me to be able to kill you with one simple command. I can't, Gryffin. No way.'

  Gryffin closes his eye and drops his head back against the pillow. He knew Desyl wouldn't be thrilled about this idea but he wasn't expecting any of this. 'I can remember the face of every single Ultaran I killed when Rayde and the Foundation had control of me.'

  Desyl stops pacing and looks over at him. 'I'm begging you, Desyl. I need you to make sure that doesn't happen again. I don't want to be used to kill people I know. Not again. Please, Desyl.'

  Desyl crosses his arms and looks down at his boots for a good five minutes without saying a word.

  'Okay. I'll do it.'

  'Thank you, sir.'

  Desyl groans and shakes his head. 'Yeah, that's just all wrong. My first order as your Captain is to forbid you from calling me sir. I'm Desyl and you're Gryffin. No sir or captain or anything else. Just our names.'

  Gryffin smirks. 'Understood.'

  Desyl calls the others back in. 'So, it looks like I'll be controlling Gryffin.'

  Felix nods. 'Of course you will. Not sure what took you so long to agree. Anyway, we probably should get this show on the road.' Felix moves away from the bank of screens and stands beside Gryffin's bed. 'Okay, we'll get Gryffin's implants up and running first then bring the others online.'

  Gryffin resists the urge to tell him to get a move on. He'd welcome the pain receptor blocker right now. The pain is only getting worse and he's not sure how much longer he can control it.

  Bray picks up a cable and stands over his brother. 'We'll hook you up and load the programming. While we're doing that, we'll attach your new leg and arm then get the rest of the implants up and running.'

  He pauses and twists the cable between his fingers. 'The program block we fitted to you a few months ago can’t be removed so we had to add a device to counteract our block. There was no way of linking you with the others without it. Because of that, we don't know how much control you'll have once we load this. Hopefully you'll be able to keep it in hand, but there's a chance you'll be pushed behind the programming.'

  'Understood. Hook me up.'

  Gryffin turns away from Bray to focus on the ceiling. Ignoring the twisting in his gut, he tries to think about anything but what's going to happen. Being modified was the right decision. He has no doubts about that.

  The part that's scaring him is whether, once the program is loaded, he'll be able to think for himself. He accepts Desyl will be able to give him orders and he'll more than likely be forced to follow them, but he also hopes he'll have a little independent thought.

  The other big fear is whether they'll be able to undo the work again. Deep down he knows there's a chance this will be the start of the end for him. A one-way trip that finishes with the loss of his humanity. But if it means stopping the Foundation, it's a sacrifice he'll gladly make.

  He winces as the connector is pushed into his ocular implant. Hands gently pull the bandage off the remains of his leg and probe the new connectors. Gryffin makes the mistake of glancing down. He's actually pleasantly surprised.

  Unlike when his arm was removed, the wound is clean. The new connectors have been fitted neatly to his flesh with care. It still sickens him that he had to sacrifice this part of himself, but the Dixon's and their team have treated him with a level of respect he isn't used to.

  Evie smiles as she looks up at him. 'Well, Captain— Sorry, Gryffin. Your leg has healed beautifully. The connectors are in place and we're ready to fit your prosthetic, if you're ready.'

  He nods and Felix appears behind her with his new leg. The dull metal is sleek and clean looking. Even though they had to modify it to fit his body, it looks like it was specially made for him.

  'Now, as you can see we tried to keep it the same shape as your old leg. Once you have your uniform and boots on, no one will be able to tell the difference. If you can lie back for me, I'll lift your leg up.'

  He does as he's told and holds his breath as her hands slip under the neat stump to raise it off the bed. Fully expecting the usual searing pain that accompanied fitting his arm, he is pleasantly surprised when all he feels is a strange pull on his limb before she places it back on the bed. 'Looks good. How does that feel?'

  Gryffin lifts his head and stares at his new leg. If he hadn't seen it there he wouldn't have believe it was attached.

  'You look confused. Is something wrong?'

  'It didn't hurt.'

  Evie smiles at him. 'That's good to know.'

  'But my arm always hurt?'

  Her smiles fades. 'Usually, those in the medical profession try to reduce your pain as much as possible. I believe the last person who worked on you to this extent had a very different objective.'

  His arm is fitted with the same absence of pain. In the past, he'd always avoided taking his arm off, no matter how sore the connectors became. Leaving it on and suffering through the discomfort had been a better option than taking the arm off and refitting it again. If this first fitting is anything to go by, he'll be able to give his body a break from the prosthetics more often.

  Desyl's face looms over him. 'Last chance.'

  Gryffin attempts a weak smile, but it has little effect on him. 'Do it.'

  Desyl nods and steps back giving Bray space at the head of the bed. Gryffin focuses on the ceiling again as his brother starts activating the implants and loading the program. The pain hits him like a thousand knifes piercing his flesh over and over. His breath catches in his throat, the scream caught, desperate to be released.

  He arches off the bed as the pain escalates to a whole new level for him. The flesh around the new components burns as his body fights against the invasion. He thought he was prepared for the procedure, thought having them fitted would be the worst part, but he was seriously mistaken.

  He doesn't know if it's the new pain receptors kicking in or the new programming, but he welcomes whatever it is that sends him to blissful darkness.

  ARES

  'Are you going to talk to him?' />
  Terra keeps stuffing clothes in the bag lying on Gryffin's bed. Or Desyl's bed now. Whoever owns the room isn't her concern. Leaving the ship as fast as she can is. 'What exactly would you like me to talk to him about?'

  'Terra.'

  She throws a pile of clothes on the bed and turns her attention to anywhere but his face. For someone who's meant to be a heartless mercenary, Desyl can manipulate anyone with one look. 'Don't you dare 'Terra' me. I'm out of things to say to him.'

  'Damn it, Terra. I care about you. Please don't be like this.'

  'Yeah, well tough. I needed my friend a few days ago and you made your feelings perfectly clear.'

  'Terra—'

  'No, Desyl! What is it with you Nomad? You lay down the law in black and white. Leave no room for discussion or allowing someone else to get their point across. Then, when you change your mind, you think a simple 'I'm sorry' or 'please' will undo everything. It doesn't work that way.'

  'I know I hurt your feelings.' He sighs and rests his hands on his hips. 'I was between a rock and a... well, a Gryffin. One word from him and I'd be off the crew. I'd lose my job, my home, and my family. He didn't want you to know about his leg because he cares about—'

  'Don't go there! If that's how he shows he cares, we've got a serious problem.' She closes the bag and grabs a box so she can pack her art supplies. 'He told me he loves me.'

  'Are you serious?'

  'Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for him to say that to me? Two years, Desyl. Two years hoping he felt the same about me. Hoping that one day he'd wake up and realise that he loves me.

  ‘When he said it to me, I just stared at him. I couldn't believe he'd actually said the words. But then he goes and does this? He should have told me it was something he was considering.'

  He scratches the back of his head and looks away from her. 'Yeah. I get that. I've told you how things work for him.'

  'I am painfully aware how things work for him. Believe me. He cut off his leg, Desyl. Without mentioning it to me. His leg!'

  'I get that, but you know why he did it. It was beyond saving.'