James introduced him as Todd Marsh. He was a young man in his late twenties, tall and somewhat underweight for his wiry build. Todd was hoping to find his sister who had disappeared a few weeks before. He would accompany Brekar’s team who would be covering the area where she was last seen. Todd also wanted to help bring more people like himself to the safety of the Enclave where they could hope for a normal life.
The new cyborgs were fully briefed on their duties and the mission with instructions to protect their human liaisons with their lives. About the only way to kill a cyborg with a bullet was a shot through the eye. Their skulls were virtually bulletproof, and their skeletons were made of the same metal alloy as their skulls. Their nanites would repair any soft tissue injury before it could kill them.
James had briefed Todd and showed him how to use the sidearm he’d been given, so Brekar had issued Todd one of his own. Vyken gave the order, and they all went to their respective transports to head into old Chicago to search for people who needed rescue. They had previously divided the city into sectors to cover on foot, and each transporter went to a different area.
Vyken could have sent Danya out with Matix and his team and remained at the enclave to help Kydel activate more cyborgs. But, Vyken wouldn’t put his female in a potentially dangerous situation unless he was there to protect her.
He knew logically that Matix and his team were fully capable of protecting her. However, he was feeling emotions he never felt before now that they had claimed each other. The attachment he felt for her was intensely possessive. He just couldn’t make himself let her go without him. Was this love?
If so, Vyken thought it was the most frightening thing he had ever faced. The thought of her being damaged or killed terrified him like nothing before in his long life. It was not an option to refrain from claiming her. Their genetics made resistance impossible. Vyken’s attachment to her began the moment they met.
Vyken found some comfort in that he was injecting his nanocybots into her every time they mated. They would also help protect her if she were damaged, possibly even prevent death. Only, he didn’t want to test that theory. He had seen many humans including females killed and injured through his years in combat. Vyken couldn’t bear the thought of his female wounded with her blood flowing from her body.
Finally, he had to halt those thought processes, or he wouldn’t be able to function. His fears would paralyze him so he couldn’t do his job. Then he felt Danya’s hand on his arm from the seat beside him.
“Don’t worry, Vyken. I’ve lived in this city all my life, and I am better protected now than I have ever been,” she said softly.
Vyken drew in a long breath and let it out slowly as he mentally filed away his fears in his processors at the back of the queue. Looping them over and over was counterproductive.
