And then she heard his voice.
“You’ve pissed off the wrong Cyborg, Miles. I’m coming, and there’s no place in the universe you can hide.”
Her soul slammed into her stomach. She imagined a lot of people and voices on the other end, but not this one… This voice was raw and gruff, and even if a threat hadn’t been issued, she would’ve still heard one in his voice.
She glanced at Cypher’s image on the screen. The giant hulk of a man.
The voice sounded likehim.
Deep and haunting, powerful enough to thrum her nerves. She didn’t like it at all.
Her throat tightened, but then she took in a shaky breath, mustering courage.
“Your threats don’t scare me, creeper. I don’t know who or what you are. I don’t care if you’re one of those anti-cyborg activists, and even if you were, I surely don’t give a damn. And you better listen carefully because I’m only gonna say this once!” Anger replaced her nervousness. “Get help. Because if you come for me, I’ll make sure everyone in the damn stratosphere knows who and what you really are. A deranged freak, seeking his one minute of fame by harassing a girl who’s only trying to make a difference in the universe.”
She ended the call with more fury than she thought she had in her, got off her bed, shoved her big chair in front of her door loud enough to piss off her neighbors, and found her metal bat. When she was set, she glared at her barricaded door.
Sitting down with a huff in her Terraform chair, she slapped the bat in her hand.
Come for me, freak. I'll be waiting.
4
Cypher stood, processing, staring at the systems powering on in his ship’s bridge. He tried fruitlessly to open communication with Miles again. But unlike Cypher before all this, Miles had basic personal information on the network.
Gender hadn’t been something Cypher had paid attention to, assuming Miles was a male.
But Miles wasn’t a man. Miles was a woman.
“You okay, man?” Jayce mused from behind him.
Jayce was a long-term resident of Ghost like him. But where Cypher worked for those in charge, Jayce spent his days being unofficial security for Ghost’s shipping port. The silver-haired, silver and golden-skinned, piercings-obsessed Cyborg knew everyone who came and went on a personal level. A watchdog who exhaled fire. An anime character who drank and smoked—a lot.
Jayce wasn’t Shifter class like Cypher was. Still, he and Jayce went way back. In a way, the two of them held parts of the same job, just different sides of the same coin.
V. Miles is female. No, Vee Miles.He scanned her files a little more thoroughly. Cypher’s lips twisted into a frown. It didn’t matter. Female or not, she was going to pay dearly.
A twenty-three-year-old female. So damn young.
He delved back into her files for an image of her. The only one he had was of a male and female laughing and embracing. He had assumed Miles was the male.
The female in the image… Half her face was obscured, hiding her features. But she had bright red hair, though it was pulled back into a tight ponytail. And she was tiny next to the young man.
“Yo!” Jayce snapped his fingers in front of Cypher’s face. “You know I hate it when you ignore me.”
“Deal with it.”
Jayce lit up a cig. Honeyed tobacco and something akin to artificial mint pervaded Cypher’s nostrils.
“So how long will you be gone?” Jayce asked.
“I don’t know. Why are you here?”
“To see you off, perhaps slip my fingers through the years of dust on your consoles. Maybe I’m curious why you’re leaving us so suddenly. I’m sure you have some great stuff squirreled away in your den. I can’t wait to paw through it.”
Cypher grunted, watching Jayce do exactly as he said—slide his fingers over his bridge’s systems. They needed cleaning. “Breco sent you,” he accused. His direct contact to the council wasn’t thrilled with this new development.
“Perhaps that’s why I’m here.” Jayce shrugged. “If you leave, he’s threatening me that I'll have to fill in for you.” He sighed and took a puff. “I don’t want to.” Jayce ended on a whine. “I hate everything you do. That’s why I like you so much, you make my life easier.”
