A series of lasers shot out above them he could feel the heat of them on his back. They arced over their bodies, and the barbs in their skin popped out as the weeds shriveled and died. Within moments they had been extricated.
Without the poison being pushed into their bodies, they were able to disentangle themselves, but not before a metal clamp came from above and pulled them from the ocean floor. Netto didn't struggle, appreciating the fact that he had been saved. Zeph, on the other hand, fought the clamp and pulled its claws apart until he freed himself.
The pod lifted to the water’s surface, guided by nothing but the heavy darkness of the night. And when he reached the surface and Zeph popped up next to him, he transformed back into his human self. The mist was as thick as the ocean.
He had seen the mist the previous night when he stood on the shore with Rylie, but it was different out here in the ocean, far different. It was so thick it clung to everything, and although he could breathe again, it was still like breathing in water.
His nanocells cleaned out the rest of the venom. He and his partner looked as if they had gone through a shredder, but now that their cybertech was not preoccupied, they began to heal.
The pod opened up to reveal Janet with eyes widened with worry, blonde hair crimped and curled around her face, still half-wet from earlier.
“What the hell were you guys thinking!? If I hadn't come after you, if I hadn't looked for you, if I hadn't cared at all,” she pointed at Zeph, “you would've died stuck in those weeds. Only idiots would fight in the wilds of an alien planet without knowing the geography or the creatures within it. This proves that you’re little better than children, man-children. Cyborgs my ass.”
Zeph smiled, his lips twisted up devilishly, seductively, and Netto could sense the need coming off of his partner. He wanted Janet. It was obvious as the two of them stared at each other, and as Janet tensed in anger under Zeph’s gaze. Zeph’s hand reached up and curled around her calf. Netto knew the best way to keep his partner from exploding with violence again was to leave them alone.
“You are so beautiful when you're angry. I could kiss you until you felt better, dear, but you should know Netto and I had everything under control. We would've been out within an hour,” Zeph lied, his lips still twisted up in a grin.
“Thank you,” Netto interjected before her next outburst.
The Croc’s hand moved up her leg as he drew closer to the pod.
Netto took that as his cue to leave and dipped below the water to swim toward the watership. He had no desire to hear their conversation and didn't want to know how easy it was for Zeph to seduce the woman he desired. Any woman. It was something that he couldn’t do, but that didn't matter now. What mattered was for him to get to Rylie and answer her call.
There was something wrong with the water of this planet. He didn't know why and that made him uneasy. It was different now than when he first visited, back when it was as wild as any alien body of water, but now felt sick, diseased, and he suspected it might be the same reason that the Kepler lots yielded no crops.
It was up to the two Cyborgs to figure out the cause.
He reached the watership within moments. Although he could not see it, he could feel it; the fog clung to everything. All of his senses felt weaker. He rounded the side and found the opening and pulled himself through it. Rylie stood before him, frightened relief in her eyes.
It took everything within him to not pull her into his arms and claim her for himself. It took all his control. Even the gashes and wounds on his body were not enough of a distraction from her. His nostrils flared with her scent; the scent of the ocean, sunblock, and the sun.
"What happened to you? You vanished below the water and didn't come back up. I was so worried!" she rushed toward him and placed her hands on his chest lightly enough to not disturb his wounds. Netto sucked in a breath and clenched his fists, restraining himself from touching her back. "Janet went after you, did you see her?" Her eyes filled with horror as she inspected the wounds closely. He knew she could see the plating underneath, and he knew his silence only further put her on edge. "Oh my god. How are you still standing?" She tugged his hand and forced him to sit. "What happened? It looked like you encountered a sea beast?"
"I neutralized Zeph," he said.
"He did this to you?" Rylie gasped. He loved hearing her voice; it soothed him. She located the aerosol can from earlier and began to spray the healing serum over his wounds. She was generous with it, and before he knew it, he no longer dripped water. He now dripped healing serum.
Netto took the can from her and sprayed the wounds she couldn't reach. He still wore his swim trunks but they were torn to shreds, so he grabbed a nearby towel and placed it over his lap. He didn't want to frighten her any more than he already had. The last thing she needed was to see his manhood.
***
“DID YOU KILL HIM?”
“No,” Netto answered.
Rylie quickly bandaged him up as he sprayed himself down several times over. He healed at a fast rate, faster than she would have ever thought possible. But as his wounds closed, she noticed that the ruined metal plating underneath remained the same.
"What about your skeletal structure? Won't it hurt if it's not fixed as well?"
"No."
"Netto," she hissed.
"It will need to be fixed up in a cybernetics lab," he said. "It doesn't hurt me."
Rylie watched as he closed his eyes and let the serum do its job. He remained unmoving, quiet, his breath even and predictable. She got up and found the rag he used on her hand earlier and wet it with distilled water. When she returned, the lesser wounds had closed up, leaving nothing but pinkened skin throughout his blue.
"I...didn't want to go to bed without knowing if you," she licked her lips, suddenly nervous, "and Zeph—" he tensed, "—were going to be okay."
