Another few seconds went by in silence.
“Zeph, what is it? Is it Lily?”
“There’s another Cyborg,” he finally said.
“Raphael?”
“He’s not…no, someone else I haven’t encountered before.”
“We should go then, regroup, come up with a new plan.” She didn’t want to encounter another ‘Borg, no matter how much she was beginning to care for the ones she’d already met. They frightened her. She couldn’t keep up with them, let alone with the ones she already knew. The extent of their power was beyond her comprehension.
A knock on her window jolted her from her seat. The glass of her window parted open as a gorgeous, ethereal man leaned over. Zeph’s fingers curled around her knee.
“Welcome toDimes, a haven for the cool and crazy. Master Raphael awaits you inside.”
“Tell him we’re coming,” Zeph snapped.
“Very well.” The man sauntered away, his pale body all but naked except for a couple of well-placed leather straps and a pair of giant wings on his back. Her eyes widened involuntarily.
“I’m glad Lily is far away from this,” she whispered, losing sight of the man as the crowd swallowed him.
Zeph squeezed her leg. “Come on, let’s get this shit-stain over with.”
Janet nodded weakly and exited the vehicle without his help.
* * *
Robots and beautiful doll-like servers surrounded them as they entered the club, and music he would never willingly listen to pounded every wire and fiber of his cybernetic shell. Zeph cleared his visual tech every fifteen seconds to keep the in-your-face glamour at bay. Still, though, unwanted ads and bright colors filled his head. Bringing Janet here had never been on his agenda but he couldn’t help but admire how perfectly she blended in with the razzle-dazzle ambiance. She continued to amaze him at every turn. It made him want to pull her into his arms and claim her in front of the crowd.
But he didn’t like sharing. At least not with any being currently alive in the known universe.
Dimes’ attendees crowded either side of Janet and him, offering them a multitude of services. One jacked android male model handed Janet a bubbly drink, and Zeph snatched it from her fingers, thrusting it into the next server they came upon.
“Don’t drink the alcohol,” he warned, annoyed that she’d take anything from anyone but him. “They spike the entry beverages with psychedelics and other shit.”
Janet looked back at the drink wistfully but then began swaying to the beat of the music.
He placed his hand on her lower back and sniffed out Raphael’s dogs. He caught sight of the club owner on a gated-off platform in the back corner. The man waved ecstatically at them, his white hair standing on end as if he'd just fucked an electrical socket.
“Looks like they’re waiting for us,” Janet said beside him, a little too far from the protection of his body for comfort. A man bumped into her as he moved past, and Zeph glared at him until he was lost from view.
“He’s already high,” Zeph said, baring his teeth at anyone who neared.Fuck off.“Hopefully he’s in a good mood.”
“And the other Cyborg?”
“Minding his own business for now.” Another shifter Cyborg was above them somewhere, on another floor, but hadn’t moved from his spot since their arrival. Zeph allocated a portion of his awareness in the Borg’s direction but it was minimal. His digital self could only be in so many places at once. He didn’t like having one of his own kind so near, not with the EPED and who knows what else trying to hunt him down.
He spread his fingers on Janet’s back as they made their way toward Raphael, maneuvering through the constantly shifting crowd. Anyone who neared Janet got a threatening look. There were far more human and Trentian men in attendance than he liked, and although he sensed numerous human females, most of the females were androids to fill the space and give the illusion of an equal population. It surprised him there were actually a handful of real women among them.
Raphael stood from where he sat and moved to greet them. “You must be the infamous Janet!” He took her hand as they ascended the stairs. It took too much control for him to not just murder the man on the spot. Raphael beamed as he and Janet shook. Zeph felt his teeth sharpen as their contact briefly lingered. “People are talking about your beauty all over the cosmos. You know, you could strike it rich with that fame and your looks.”
“I was never one to want fame, but I’ve been told I could bring a man to his knees with one well-placed word,” she glanced down at Raphael’s crotch, “or touch.” She brushed her fingers over her exposed collarbone. “My family just sees me as a siren that enjoys leading men to their demise.” Janet smiled and pulled away from him to take a seat across from their host.
Zeph ground his teeth.
“Wonderful, just brilliant. Welcome to my kingdom and the seat of my realm.” The heavy pounding of the music seemed to emphasize every word Raphael said. “Anything you want, my belle of the ball, and it’s yours!” Several of their host's henchmen stepped forward to flank him at his indication, each wearing a pair of giant black angel wings. “These are God’s messengers, at your lovely service.”
Janet’s smile widened, and Zeph angrily watched the tension leave her.
