It burned and was tender. Max wriggled, contorted
,
and writhed while making noises as if she were torturing him intentionally. He finally stopped squirming after she shot him a serious glance. He
relaxed,
bit his lip
,
and endured
,
motionless, still letting out a deep growl on occasion as she scrubbed sensitive areas.
“
Okay, training is over for today. Luther, thanks for the help,
”
she stated with a smile.
“
No problem, mistress. Whenever I can be of service to you. Thanks for bringing me back from the grave,
”
he said stoically as he took his position on the far side of the room.
She spoke the words and Luther deactivated and went back into his slumber. There he would wait until tomorrow. She finished tending to Max
’
s wounds by spraying his cuts with medifoam. Within hours, the tissue would be healed and he would look good as new.
“
Now, you need to finish that eye. I am pretty sure after that blow
,
this one is really useless for you.
”
“
No… Now
,
I eat. I am frickin
’
starving, woman! I forgot to calculate how many calories these arms would burn in a combat scenario. It made the rest of me fatigue. I am going to need to put on some extra weight and watch my diet…or…
”
He trailed off as he began scheming a new form of boost, one that was
ultra-high
in calories to keep his mechanical arms running.
“
All right, want to go out for food or scavenge here? It is still early.
”
“
Let
’
s stay in today. Last couple of times we have gone anywhere, it got a little too interesting. I do want to finish my eye tonight and perhaps fabricate it.
”
After raiding the kitchen for every scrap of real food Crimson had, he went about eating four times the amount of meal bars any regular human would eat. They tasted awful, but Max felt the hunger deep and needed the calories as well as the nutrition. Finally, when he was satisfied, he went back to the lab and put the finishing touches on his blueprint for his mechanical eye.
The eye, though being very complex, would be simpler than the arms. Its draw of energy and sustenance would be very little. Though amongst some of the features he added aside from targeting were night vision, zoom, heat tracing, and ultra violet filtering on nearly every spectrum. All of which he could switch between with a mere thought.
This time, he
lay
down on the belt, but had the moving mechanism shut off. He positioned himself where he wanted and relaxed. He
shot up
with another anesthetic boost, this time one that would last the entire duration of the operation.
“
I
’
m ready, throw the switch please,
”
he said to Crimson, ever grateful that she was here to help him and provide moral support.
“
Anything for the cause,
”
she replied casually, though Max felt she was showing more than a professional interest in him.
The arms activated and went to work, extracting his old eye and replacing it. Connecting every nerve no matter how small, every ligament, every piece of connecting tissue with elegance and flawlessness. Crimson sat by and watched, somewhat nervous despite the fact
s
he trusted Max knew what he was doing.
After the operation was over, Max went to bed. He
’
d had quite the day and could barely keep his eyes open. The sparring and the operation drained him physically and mentally and he needed some qui
et
time. Crimson continued to input commands into the data pad she had been working on earlier.
Right now, Brian was planting devices she had him retrieve from a train station locker in each of the Pilvikones that he had access to. He would do so as a faithful minion then when he was finished, would go about his daily life with no recollection of doing so. What a great device that little microchip was she had planted in his brain.
He was the last domino in her plot against them. All of the other Pilvikone reactors had already been hacked in a similar manner. Brian was one of her many minions, not the first
,
and certainly wouldn
’
t be the last either. But for now, that stage of her plan was complete.
She would brief Max on his assignment tomorrow. He was done monkeying around for his own designs. It was time for him to craft what she needed. Crimson wasn
’
t used to having leisure time like this. It was only ten at night. Typically
,
at this point, she would still be stalking a target for a job, or preparing for the revolution. She now had nothing to do. It felt strange, awkward…but she took advantage of it and went to sleep.
* * * *
“
There appears to be no movement tonight; commence the two hour watch shifts,
”
Zax commanded telepathically.
“
Tell me again why we don
’
t just storm her place?
”
asked one of the soldiers.
“
Because I told you that woman has a
DNA
barrier that we don
’
t know where to begin with disabling it. She programs it with a little computer on her wrist to scan and allow people to pass through into her home. Anyone she doesn
’
t scan when they pass through the barrier…melt, I guess is the correct term for it. It isn
’
t a pretty sight, trust me.
”
“
Maybe we should work on disabling it.
”
“
Shut up, be patient. We wait until they come to the street, no matter how long it takes.
”
The rest of the evening remained quiet. Nobody questioned Zax and the watchmen did as they were assigned.
* * * *
Zarfa didn
’
t sleep at all the first night. He
kept thinking
about things over and over in his head. How he needed to warn Crimson, what he needed to tell the members of Legion Nine. What he needed to decide. There was going to be blood spilled on all sides in the end, who should he join? And whose blood would be spilled first?
The following day was a long and boring trip. He got up and paced around the train about mid-day, almost tripping on the musical equipment that the strange, shrouded man was toting around with him. He didn
’
t care for this character. He gave Zarfa the distinct impression he was being watched, but he didn
’
t want to confront the man without some sort of obvious issue.
Zarfa had finally fallen asleep in a crinkled up position later into the afternoon. He woke
right
as the train was pulling into Ilyeion. As the train slowed, he stood
,
slung his backpack over his shoulder
,
and began stretching. His legs felt tense from sitting in a cramped seat.
The train pulled to a final stop and he took his position at the door. He was first in line, eager to get off. The time was about nine p.m. Ilyeion standard; it would be about six back in Alexarien. The doors slid open and Zarfa glanced around for the closest Public Interface Terminal. He spotted one across the station.
This is it. After this, I will be an enemy of Synaptix for sure. But I
’
ve got to tell her. I may not like Polyhelix and the Faraza…
b
ut I sure as hell can
’
t stand the thought of mental slavery.
He made his way to the terminal and connected. Quickly, he found the com-link number for Crimson Felicia Rose. He logged it into his memory and disconnected from the Interface. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around to meet the person
’
s face.
“
Zarfa, it isn
’
t safe here!
”
Surge said excitedly, pointing to the Illithids swarming down the stairs of the train station toward them.
“
I knew I didn
’
t like the look of you! You spying on me or what?
”
“
Yes, but I have orders not to kill you and to help you if I can. I have never seen this before, but those squid people coming at us have got to be the work of Polyhelix. Get ready to defend yourself. I will do what I can to help!
”
Surge flipped on his audio equipment and threw his guitar over his shoulder.
What the hell is this ass thinking?
‘
Oh I
’
m so cool
I
’
m going to play guitar at a time like this.
’
“
Zarfa, this might sting a little since you
’
ve only had one treatment. Get behind me!
”
Surge sounded scared as he commanded Zarfa. The Ilithids and their handlers were approaching quickly.
Zarfa got behind him and dialed in a call to Crimson. It was ringing.
Two…three...four
…
Crap, Crimson, connect already. I need to tell you a secret!
Finally, he heard on the other end,
“
Hello?
”
“
Crimson, it
’
s Zarfa! I am in Ilyeion! Synaptix is going to try to assassinate you. I can
’
t explain more. If I live through this, I
’
ll contact you again!
”
Zarfa disconnected and took a fighting stance. The odds were not good. Sixty against four, and thirty of these enemies were some sort of
squid like
monster that he had never encountered.
It
’
s times like this I question myself for insisting on fighting with my bare hands. I wish I had a gun.
* * * *
Crimson had awoken early, as she usually did. It was six in the morning. She stretched for fifteen minutes, as she typically did. When your life involved fighting, it was good to stay limber. She went down the hallway to Max
’
s room and opened the door.
He was lying on his bed, sleeping like a baby. She couldn
’
t help but admire the peace and tranquility on his face. She decided he probably needed his rest so she went into the kitchen area. She started to look around for something to prepare. She thought it would be nice to surprise him with a real breakfast.
As she rummaged, she recalled how he had completely raided her food supplies the night before and that there was nothing left in the way of real food. All she had now were the synthesized meal packs and bars. None of those could provide a nice smell to rouse Max out of bed politely.
She entered back in to Max
’
s room. She was going to try being nice and thoughtful to him this morning, but it just wasn
’
t working out. She sat on the bed, placed her hand on one of his shoulders, and began shaking him gently.
“
Max…Max… Wake up, Max,
”
she said as softly as she could.
Max roared and grumbled, rolling on to his side facing away from her. She shook him gently some more as he growled from his throat and pulled the blanket over his head.
“
Why are you always waking me, bloody woman
?
”
he exclaimed from under the covers.
“
Because there is work to do, lazy,
”
she stated, not at all angered by his grumpy morning outburst.
“
Right, right, I got it. No rest for the worker bee, gah! I hate you in the morning, you know that?
”
“
You hate everything in the morning.
”
Max grunted and grumbled as he poked his head out from under the covers. His blonde hair was disheveled and his one hazel-colored eye looked tired and worn. His new silver eye gleamed in the sunlight coming in through his window.
Max had done a great job crafting it. The eye looked
almost
like a real one; the only difference was that his iris was silver and glistened in metallic majesty. He squinted his eyes and stretched his arms out wide.
“
True, you
’
re just going to have to get used to me not being a morning person.
”