That he really did exist. That… no...
Her wristcon buzzed, and Vee jumped. Her eyes flew to her wrist. Another call.
Cypher.
They wouldn’t… Would they?Could Cypher be real? What was the point of telling her otherwise? Vee chewed on her lower lip. What if he was real and that’s the reason it was impossible to block him, because whoever heard of someone blocking a Cyborg?
She raised her shaky finger. The buzzing continued.She swiped her bracelet and answered.
“You picked up,” a deep voice said.Hisdeep voice.
The image of the hulking, ancient-looking warrior, with long, dark hair, thick stubble over his sharp jaw, and light brown eyes punctured her thoughts. A being who transformed into a giant metal bear. A man-made creation that could smite her entire existence.
Oh. My. God.Her chest constricted.
“Vee Miles?” the voice asked, prompting her to speak. Was that a hint of worry?
She cleared her throat. “Are you… are you really Cypher?”Please laugh, please say no. Say anything that a stupid troll would say and a Cyborg never would.
There was a short pause before he answered. “Yes.”
Vee wrenched her eyes shut before she had a meltdown. “Can you prove it?”
Something akin to a growl reached her ears. “Of all the classified information you’ve shared about me to the universe, what haven’t you shared yet?”
“Your model number,” she whispered.
Someone opened the large doors and walked into the EPED foyer. Vee snapped her eyes open. She shifted out of the way to let them pass.
“865, group five, shifter class. What’s that noise?”
Her heart fell. “It’s nothing. Just a few protestors.”
The number was the same in her documents.Fucking hell.
She was a pawn. Vee glanced behind her to the elevators, but then decided it wasn’t worth it. The damage had been done. It was a caveat, after all, and a powerful Cyborg had lied to her. The last thing she wanted was to have two godly beings pissed off at her. One could wipe out her existence, but two?
“Protestors?” Cypher asked.
I need to make it right.
First, she needed to get out of here. She couldn’t deal with the real Cypher now, not when she was on a timer.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, returning her attention to him. “I’ll call you back. Tonight. Please, please believe me. I can explain.”
“Fucking hell, wai—”
Vee ended the call and ran out of the doors. She dodged the protesters outside even though some of them tried to stop her. When she was at the spaceway, she checked the time. It was after three in the afternoon, and peering up at the projections around her, there was nothing but advertisements on them.
She laughed mutely as she wiped her damp hands on her pants. Going to the Terraform Zero Championship was her dream, and seeing herself everywhere had been part of it—a big screw you to all the men who dominated the game.
She kept her image off her media site, certain she would get a lot of flak for being a female.
It was part of the reason she was so shocked the EPED chose to sponsor her.
Now she was beginning to figure out why.Is it because they think they could easily control me?The desperation of her situation and gender status screamedyes.
There were far fewer women than there were men. Everywhere. The equality her sex enjoyed before the Galactic War vanished when humans released a virus into the Trentian alien homeworld that essentially neutered their species. Now the aliens sought human women to continue their race.
