“No, Mistress Janet, I’ll place it on the table.” Bin-one swiveled past her, lifting the tray above her head, and entered the room before she could stop it. The scent of hot coffee trailed the android and her stomach rumbled again.
“I didn’t authorize you to come in,” she said, numbly watching the android place a dish before Lily and producing a bib for her.
“I don’t need your authorization if I have the Masters. Please eat.” It sat out several cups and filled one with coffee and the other with water. She may have had the will to fight off the offering but the aroma of ground beans took over her mind and Lily was already making a mess.
Janet turned and poked her head out the doorway to check the hallway. Her gaze landed on Zeph leaning against the wall on the other end. He grinned, settling more comfortably against the wall. She slammed the door closed and shakily moved to sit next to her sister. His serpentine features remained in her head.
She reached for the coffee.
“Do you have a heart, Mr. Robot?” Lily asked, pulling Janet’s attention back to her. She watched, annoyed, as the android cut the meat into small pieces for her sister.
“I do not, Mistress Lily.”
“Does that mean you’re not alive?”
Janet took a tiny sip, finding her fuel exactly the way she liked it. Sugar and all.
Bin-one placed the cutlery down slowly before answering her sister. “I am an extension of the humans who created me, so in a way, I’m alive,” it said. The screen on its face produced a creepy smile.
“But you have no heart? Da says all living things have one.”
A big pink heart replaced the unnerving smile on the android’s face. “This one is mine.” The image of the heart grew bigger and smaller to emphasize each word.
Lily flounced excitedly, sending rice flying all over the table. “Heartface, heartface. You’ve got a heartface!”
“Only for you, Mistress Lily.”
Janet took another sip. She glared at the android, hoping Zeph would sense her fury, knowing he could probably spy on them through the tech.
She needed a plan and it couldn’t be just any plan, it had to be a rational one. It had to be crafty. Unpredictable.
Something I’m capable of.
Obviously, she could seduce him, make him fall in love with her, and needle her way deep under his skin until he’d give her everything she wanted. It was easy. He’d stolen her for a reason, which meant she was already halfway there. Janet looked briefly at her sister.
There was chemistry between her and Zeph, more than she would ever admit out loud, but the trust had been shattered. If Lily weren’t in the picture, Janet would already be playing her games. Manipulation came naturally to some women, but to her, it’d taken years of practice. There’d been a time when she had been even more aloof and awkward than Rylie. When she’d been second best at everything.
She pursed her lips, her gaze drawing back to the Bin.I could get on the network and call for help.She disregarded the idea immediately. Zeph would never be stupid enough to allow that to happen. He was a Cyborg after all, and they lived digitally. If she had the chance off-ship, she’d take it, but it wasn’t reliable enough to be a plan.
I could kill him or immobilize him…Her heart grew heavy. How would one such as herself go about doing that to a being that could kill her with a single tooth or a nail? Not that she didn’t think she had the ability to do it, but that she didn’t think she could. She’d need network access to figure out how and she already knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Goddamn you, Zeph.
She glowered.
“From now on, your name is Mr. Heartface!” Lily said as she chewed, smearing gravy over her chin.
Janet downed the rest of her coffee and, shaking her head with a puff of laughter, reached for a nearby napkin.
5
Zeph loaded the battery into his gun, a charged StarNaught firearm with target finding capabilities. Hector snorted at the weapon while sheathing his knife and silencer.
“That won’t cut it,” Hector said, nodding toward Zeph’s gun. “You can do more damage in your shifted form than you could ever do with that gun.”
Zeph slammed the battery in with his palm and inhaled the toxic, smoky air. There was a fire burning somewhere aboard the ship. The lights overhead flashed an ominous red warning. Both Cyborgs ignored it.
“That may be true, but it can kill quicker at a distance.” Zeph turned his hand over and his biosuit pulled back to reveal the flesh of his wrist. A hologram appeared in the space above it.
