Her Cyborg (15 page)

The pain that surged through Shade as he heard Phoebe's words made him believe his heart would give in. Nightmare wanted to part them. He wanted to take Phoebe away from him, to turn him into one of the Fighters. As the pain subsided, anger followed, but he refused to give Nightmare the pleasure of seeing his reaction. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the cyborg watching them intently.

He wrapped his arms tighter around Phoebe. No one would take her away from him. Anyone who tried would pay with their life, and Nightmare was one cyborg the world would not miss. That much he was sure of. The cyborg had just proved that he was nothing more than a menace. This was all about the Fighters and no one else. Shade hadn't given much thought as to why the Fighters wanted him. His mind had been set on Phoebe, but it was obvious now why they wanted him. He just didn't understand why they thought that he could help them with that.

“Your bound one speaks the truth,” Nightmare said.

The cyborg, who Nightmare had called Hunter, stood on guard by the cage along with Heaven. Their faces looked as if they were carved out of stone and their gazes rested fixedly upon everyone inside the cage. Heaven still held the gun in his hand but he didn't point it at anyone any longer. Silver joined them, but his expression was different. He was grinning. He seemed filled with anticipation, just waiting for something to happen.

Shade noticed that some cyborgs stood on guard by the windows and the door. The other cyborg who had come outside together with Heaven and Nightmare stopped by the machine that stood near the gurney. He pressed with one finger on the screen. The machine was turned on and the cyborg started operating it.

“You better start talking,” Shade growled at Nightmare.

Nightmare's lips twitched. “Sure, we have some time to kill while Edge prepares everything.” He walked around the room for a while with his hand against his chin. “How shall I put it?” He turned toward the cage and looked Shade in the eyes. “You have all been screwed.”

“What do you mean?” Shade's gaze narrowed.

Nightmare turned to Phoebe. “How much did you learn about the history of cyborgs while you went to MedAct's school?”

“Just the basics,” Phoebe answered.

Nightmare raised his hand, persuading her to go on. “Tell me.”

Shade saw Phoebe tense. He could clearly see that the last thing she wanted was to talk to Nightmare.

“It wasn't really anything new. Most people know the story. Cyborgs were created by Doctor Carolyn Williams and her team about fifty years ago. They were also the ones behind MedAct. In the beginning, MedAct was only a medical company, creating drugs and cures for the people, but somehow, they stumbled onto technology and cybernetics, developing all kinds of technologies that the people had demanded. It was everything from machines that took care of household matters to advanced computers. MedAct also worked with the human body on a cellular level, I recall reading. They created human parts that could be exchanged or grown directly inside the body.”

“Go on,” Nightmare said when Phoebe became silent.

She sighed. “Fine. Don't ask me how, but somehow they came up with the idea for cyborgs, but the cyborgs only lived for a short time before they died. No one knew why until Doctor Carolyn Williams decided to bind one to her. She discovered there was a malfunction in their programming. It made them unsteady and created emotional havocs inside the cyborgs which eventually killed them. But by binding a cyborg to herself, she realized she could keep them steady and alive. That was how the bond came to be.”

“Yes, that is the official story,” Nightmare said, “but most of it is bullshit.” He turned to Wind and Shade. “That is the information you had about MedAct when you woke up, didn't you? They gave you everything they wanted you to believe and you didn't question it one bit.”

“You are mad,” Wind hissed between his teeth. “Why should we trust anything you say?”

Anger flashed in Nightmare's dark eyes. “Because I was the cyborg Carolyn bound to herself!”

Silence filled the room that seemed to last for several minutes. Shade stood stunned and just stared at him. He hadn't expected him to say that.

Nightmare finally took a deep breath, as to calm himself. “I was fine ... and very much alive ... long before she bound me to her. There never was any need for a bond for us to live.”

Shade felt the doubt grow inside of him. Trusting Nightmare was the last thing he would ever do, but he needed to hear what the cyborg had to say. “So why did she bind you to her?”

“There were four of us at that time. From the moment we opened our eyes the doctors and scientists treated us like brainless machines. They didn't care that we had feelings, that apart from our cybernetics, we were humans,” Nightmare said. “After a few years, we became tired of being lab rats and revolted. It didn't go well. It became chaotic and the others lost their lives. I got hurt, but I survived. Carolyn wasn't happy with our actions and decided to try her latest experiment on me. The bond. She bound me to her to make sure a revolt would never happen again. And it worked. She forced me to fall in love with the woman I hated the most in the entire world. Do you have any idea what it's like to feel love and hate at the same time for the person you are bound to? Or what it's like to have intercourse with that person?” Nightmare's eyes sparked with anger. “My body desired her, but my mind despised her. Things like that can drive you crazy, and I lived like that for several years.”

Shade realized that a small part of him felt sorry for the cyborg. He had a hard time believing him, but it was obvious that he had been through a lot. The question was; what if what Nightmare said was true? There was no doubt in Shade's mind that Nightmare believed in everything he said.

“How did Carolyn Williams die?” Shade asked.

Nightmare snorted. “I didn't kill her if that is what you are asking, but believe me, I wanted to. I just couldn't do it because of the bond. And I am aware of the rumors that my bound one was murdered, but they are all false. No, Carolyn had an easy way out. She was killed by a drunk driver and that was the end.” He shrugged. “Just like that, I was free. It hurt like hell and it almost killed me, but I was free, and I managed to escape.”

“Why did you hate her?” Faye asked.

“Weren't you listening to what I just said? Because she didn't care a shit about me. I was nothing more but an experiment to her, and once she found a way to control us, she made sure to use it in every newborn cyborg after that. I watched it happen in front of my eyes. Newborn cyborgs who didn't know better. They were in love with their bound ones from the moment they opened their eyes, and they never questioned it because they were happy.” He shook his head. “If only they had known how their love had come to be. Fear has always been a means for control among humans, but Carolyn discovered love was a stronger force. She convinced every scientist and doctor that cyborgs can't live without the bond, that the other three had died because they weren't bound, and I guess the rest is history.”

Faye snorted. “I guess you blame everyone at MedAct for what was done to you.”

He gave her a glare that said “be careful”. “MedAct is the enemy and they must go down. The doctor who created you,” he looked at Shade and Wind, “Jade Silva, she has taken over Carolyn's work. She will be the first to die as soon as I get my hands on her.”

Shade's anger grew further. “You will not touch Jade.” He didn't like her all that much but she had helped him in many ways. It became more and more obvious to him that Nightmare lived in a fantasy world. Jade was not the enemy. “Carolyn Williams died forty years ago. Jade wasn't even born then. You have no idea what Jade has done with Carolyn's work.”

“I know more than you think. Jade makes sure the bond is there, doesn't she? That is enough for me to want her dead. Jade should know that cyborgs can exist without the bond. It was all written down in Carolyn's papers.”

Shade shook his head in disbelief. “You really are crazy.”

Nightmare's expression remained stern. “Believe what you want. Soon, you will see things from a different perspective.” He turned his head toward the cyborg who stood by the machine. He was still pressing buttons, probably putting in some kind of programming. “How is it going, Edge?”

Edge didn't look up. “A few more minutes.”

Nightmare nodded and strolled around in the living room, waiting.

“Why me?” Shade asked.

Nightmare's gaze shot to Shade. “Because you are a newborn. I've had my eyes on MedAct for years. It's not difficult for me to get access to their projects and find what I'm looking for. I'm the oldest cyborg out there after all, aren't I?” He grinned.

“That was how you knew about me,” Shade growled.

“Yes, and that is why I sent Silver there. He allowed himself to get caught by MedAct and play their little game of finding a new bound one for him. It didn't really go as planned, but instead, it went a lot better. You came straight to him for a little chit chat. It gave him the chance to scan you, to see if you were the right one for this experiment.”

“And that you were,” Silver grinned. “I knew they would eventually want to transfer me to a place that they say other unbound cyborgs live, and I knew that would be my way out. It was perfectly timed with your sign-out from MedAct thanks to us. Getting into their system is way too easy.”

“What is that place that they wanted to ship you to?” Faye asked.

Silver shrugged and came closer to the cage where she stood. “I have no idea, sweetheart. No cyborg is given information about that place. We don't even know what it's called, but MedAct gladly keeps telling us we will be shipped somewhere if we don't agree to bind ourselves to a new person. We haven't been able to find any information about that place either. Strange, don't you think?” He winked and his gaze traveled hungrily down the length of her body. “But you made me almost consider binding myself. You are hot and feisty enough to make me want to tame you.”

Faye grinned at Silver. She grabbed the bars as she glared into his eyes with a determination that made Shade wonder what she was up to.

“Oh, really?” she said and looked him over the way he had looked her over, then she snorted as if she wasn't pleased with what she saw. “I guess you are good enough for a one night rumble and nothing more. A guy like you will never be able to keep up with me.”

His grin disappeared and he came even closer to the cage. Irritation flashed in his eyes. “Want to find out?”

Phoebe grabbed Faye and pulled her away from the bars with a wary look in her eyes. “Whatever you do, don't touch him in an intimate way.”

Faye shot her a surprised look. “Why not?”

“An unbound cyborg cannot touch a woman that don't have a bound one. If Silver touches you intimately, the bonding process will initiate. Even a little kiss is enough to initiate it, so quit your teasing and stay away from him.”

Faye stared at Phoebe aghast. Shade felt shocked himself. That was new information to him, and Wind seemed just as surprised.

“Who told you that?” Wind asked Phoebe.

Phoebe turned her head and looked at the leader of the Fighters. “He did.”

Faye stood mute for what felt like several minutes, but eventually she pulled herself together. She seemed to have lost all of her desire to argue with Silver. He gave her a grin that said it was all true.

“Still interested?” Silver asked Faye.

She straightened her back. “The last thing I want is a buffoon like you bound to me.” She nodded toward Nightmare. “I would rather do him than you.”

The rage that Shade saw in Silver's face was unexpected and ... strange. Shade heard the cyborg growl before he lunged at the cage, trying to grab Faye, but before he managed to reach her, he and Wind had pulled her behind them. It was clear to Shade that something wasn't right with the cyborg's mind. He was playing with Faye, but in a way, he also seemed serious. Maybe it was a desperate need for attention. After all, none of the Fighters seemed sane in their minds. Nightmare was a complete madman if he believed in the fairy tale he had told them, and Silver played a dangerous game. He wanted to remain free, but if he touched a woman, he would bind himself to her. Why he played around with Faye was beyond Shade. It was like playing with fire.

Heaven hadn't moved a muscle. He just watched them with his emotionless eyes, waiting for an order. It was almost as if he would remain in that same spot for an eternity if Nightmare didn't tell him to do something else. Edge, who stood by the machine, seemed to be a little ... well, edgy. His head jerked from one side to the other from time to time, as if he had muscle spasms. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other several times per minute, almost as if he had too much energy within him and didn't know what to do with himself. The other cyborgs in the living room didn't look much better.

Neither Shade nor Wind said anything to Silver. They just glared at him, warning him that if he tried anything, he would lose a finger or more.

Nightmare looked bored. “Give it a rest, Silver. You don't want the little female to trigger the wrong sides of you.” He turned to Edge. “Time?”

“Two minutes.”

“Good.” He came closer to the cage, pushing Silver away in the process. “Here is the thing.” He looked at Shade. “You can either co-operate with us or we will tie you down. It will not be pretty if we have to do that, and I don't think you want your dear Phoebe to see us hurting you.”