Giving Phantom a last pet, she knelt next to Roland, pointing at the area she wanted him to dig. He immediately set to work, his mechanical claws making quick progress as the soil piled up around him and his tail moved in an eager, hypnotic rhythm.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let him dig like this?”
“It’s what he’s designed to do. Look at him,” she said, unable to resist smiling at Roland. “He loves it.”
“What if something happens to him?”
“There are sensors and safety protocols built into his programming, plus he has a built-in tracker that would allow me to locate him if necessary.”
“That’s not what I meant. If there is something beneath the surface, Roland could attract its attention.”
The fact that he was even willing to admit the possibility pleased her; his objections to Roland digging did not.
“Whether there is or isn’t, we need more information,” she said firmly. “Roland is a lot tougher than you seem to think.”
He studied her face again, then gave a curt nod.
“I suppose you’re right. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”
Roland had already disappeared beneath the surface but she was glad Z-542 wasn’t going to be too difficult about it.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Now we monitor his progress.” She raised the portable scanner that displayed the information from Roland’s sensors. “I’m afraid that most scientific work consists of watching and waiting.”
He gave her a half smile and came to join her as she perched on the rover’s wide running board.
“There is a lot of that in the military as well.”
She knew that all of the cyborgs were former soldiers but he’d never spoken about his past.
“What did you do in the military?”
His shoulders stiffened, and for a moment she didn’t think he would answer.
“I led a reconnaissance team,” he finally said slowly.
“Was it exciting?”
“Sometimes.” He grimaced. “Most of the time it was either boring or dangerous.”
“Did you… enjoy it?”
“No. I simply did what was necessary—or what I thought was necessary at the time.”
“Why did you become a cyborg?” she blurted out. His face hardened and she immediately regretted asking the question. Most of the soldiers who underwent the transformation process had been severely injured. “You don’t have to tell me if it’s painful to talk about,” she added quickly.
He looked at her, his expression unreadable and his eyes gleaming silver.
“I became a cyborg because I was tired of killing people.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Z-542 braced himself for her reaction. Most humans recoiled when confronted with the reality of what being in the military meant. The horror, the pity, the fear—he’d seen it all. But Cass just looked at him with those clear green eyes, her expression softening.
“That’s… not what I expected,” she said quietly.
He shifted uncomfortably. “What did you expect?”
