He hadn’t yet told Vee he was leaving. That he wanted her to come with him.
Cypher watched as she ate her food. There was exhaustion etched upon her face, but her skin still bore a vivid radiance.So beautiful.It pained him. It pained him to know he was certain if she didn’t choose to come with him willingly, he might force her to join him anyway—steal her away, or worse, blackmail or bribe her.
His jaw tightened at the thought.
Nothing for the entire event had gone amiss. He almost didn’t believe it was possible. Not even Diatrix spared him and Vee a glance as they walked by her earlier. Their simulation remained the same as well.
And the Trentian Commander, Lotrin, Cypher’s real test, hated Cypher as much as he did last time, but the aspect that he was a Cyborg hadn’t come up again. Though his conversation with Diatrix did. Over and over again in his mind. Cypher was certain that night with her would haunt him for as long as he lived.
Diatrix had a reason for her hatred, and he…he did not.
All he had was old codes in his systems, put there by the very men Diatrix hated, that determined his behavior and reactions.
For his life, Cypher had lived under someone else’s shadow. Some stranger or military organization had manipulated him since he was created. And he’d let them. While other Cyborgs had adjusted and adapted since the war, he’d hidden away on Ghost City, remaining the same.
Hibernating.
I’m not a good man.He sat back.
But I can be.
A buzz sounded in his head. Nightheart was trying to link with him. Cypher sighed.
Vee looked up at him and smiled as she chewed.
I want to be better for her.If not for himself, then for her.Vee deserves a hero.Not some messed up mecha bear without a system’s update in several generations. A bear that was barely clinging to humanity deep inside.
“Nightheart’s trying to get a hold of me,” he told her.
Her smile wavered. “Oh?”
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” He stood and left the room, sensing her questioning eyes on his back. When the door to the lounge shut behind him, he linked his IP.
Nightheart’s voice filled his head. “I’m heading up to where you are,” he said.
“Why?”
“I have news to discuss with you and with Vee.”
Cypher frowned. “What news?” Had something gone wrong after all? Every time he seeded into the stadium’s security, he saw nothing amiss. Not even the anti-Cyborg protestors outside were a cause of concern.
“You asked me to take care of NeoElite and Terraform Zero. I did. Now it’s time to end all this crap and move onto what matters—your job.”
Cypher ran a hand over his face. “I haven’t told her.”
“Told her what?”
“That I’m leaving today.”
There was silence on the line for a moment.
“You’ve been fucking her for over a month. You should’ve told her the fucks are coming to an end. If it’s more than that, I’m certain she knows by now you’re leaving.”
“I want her to join me,” Cypher scowled.
“And what qualifications does she have to help run an interstellar top-secret ship?”
“She’s brilliant. Did you even watch the championship?”
