"That's one hell of a method," I muttered, attempting to ignore the way my body still thrummed from his touch, how my lips tingled with leftover data."Does this mean we found what we were looking for?"
He nodded, his hand finding mine again.Deliberately this time.No accidental brush but a conscious choice."Asset P's signal is isolated.The path is clear."
Pixel drifted down between us, its small lens gleaming as it projected a gentle heart that hovered in the air.The other drones had returned to their compartments in Silvyr's body, but Pixel remained, as if unwilling to break the connection between us.
"You're not broken," I said softly, stroking his cheek with my free hand, feeling the smooth, warm surface respond to my touch."You're rebuilt."
His eyes closed briefly, leaning into my palm."Because of you."
The simplicity of his statement hit me harder than any passionate declaration.Three words that contained centuries of loneliness, of survival, of waiting for something, someone, to make existence meaningful again.
Outside, through the hub's shattered windows, the scrapyard's endless night glimmered with new power.Systems long dormant flickered to life, responding to the pulse we'd created together.Not just the computers, but the entire infrastructure.
Silvyr noticed it too, his gaze following mine to the view outside."The scrapyard is responding to our synchronization.It recognizes us as..."He hesitated.
"As what?"I prompted, somehow knowing the answer would change everything.
His eyes returned to mine, silver depths reflecting my own image back at me."As a viable command unit.A partnership it can serve."
Partnership.The word settled between us, heavy with promise and possibility.Not just for finding Asset P or exposing the IDA's crimes.Something more lasting.More profound.
"Well," I said, squeezing his hand, feeling the gentle pressure of his fingers in return, "let's not keep it waiting."
The silence that followed felt different from any we'd shared before, not tense or awkward, but alive with potential.For the first time since we'd crashed into this forgotten corner of space, I felt something dangerously close to hope.
CHAPTER6
SILVYR
Reality snapped into crystal focus, like someone had finally adjusted a lens I didn't know was blurry.My diagnostics scrolled through my peripheral vision: [PARTIAL RESTABILIZATION.83% FUNCTIONALITY.POWER LEVELS RISING].
Somehow, I'd started a bond with Tanya.We hadn't done it the same way as Vylit or Kazmyr who'd had to claim their mates with their bodies.Three times.They'd had to physically mate with their humans three times for the bond to slide into place.Except, Tanya and I had synchronized through the junkyard.Maybe it was different since I was a hybrid entity.Thinking about it, it was only part of the bond.So maybe I needed two more to fully bond with Tanya?I must figure it out and inform her.
But the data point that sent electricity surging through my circuits wasn't about me at all.It was the faint, familiar pulse nudging against the edges of my consciousness.My ship.The Reality.After the mishap of the earlier transport with Tanya, I'd only felt disconnected from it.Complete silence.The vessel's consciousness flickered against mine like a half-remembered heartbeat, weak but unmistakably there.I was no longer alone in my own head.
The connection thrummed, delicate yet insistent.My core temperature spiked with something diagnostic subroutines struggled to categorize: joy, relief, homecoming.
Tanya still knelt beside me, her breathing ragged, sweat glistening on her forehead.My sensory receptors cataloged everything about her with new precision, the slight tremor in her hand, the elevated cortisol in her sweat, and the microscopic dilation of her pupils as she watched code patterns ripple beneath my skin.
"You're flirting with your mechanic again," she muttered, the corner of her mouth lifting in that half-smile that always triggered unexpected subroutines.
I reached for her cheek, my silver fingers hovering just above her skin.The desire to touch her, properly touch her, not just for system stability but for the pure tactile pleasure of it… surged through me with an intensity that should have fried my emotional dampeners.
She had rewritten parts of me, both literally and metaphorically.My attraction to her wasn't merely algorithmic compatibility… it was evolution.Adaptation.Choice.
Her cheeks darkened, the flush of blood beneath skin both fascinating and alarming in its fragility.Humans were so ephemeral, so easily damaged.Yet they persisted with a stubborn resilience that defied probability.
I rose slowly, still flickering with residual energy from our sync.My joints recalibrated with each movement, smoother than before but still uncertain.The message from my ship grew stronger with every passing second: [COME HOME.COME HOME.COME HOME.]
"We need to leave before the scavengers regroup," I extended my hand to her, relishing how natural the gesture felt now."And before my systems destabilize again."
The unspoken truth hung between us.Our sync had granted me temporary stability, but it wasn't permanent.Without regular connection, without her, my systems would eventually degrade beyond salvation.And I wasn't convinced that would do anything but slow down the deterioration process.I was dying and had been for centuries.The difference now was that I suddenly, desperately wanted to live.
Tanya's eyes held mine, searching for something.Whatever she found there must have satisfied her, because she slipped her fingers into mine without hesitation.
"You sure you can teleport us both?Last time you tried, we ended up falling through trash."
"That was before," I replied, confidence threading through my voice.I hadn't planned on getting to her taking so much power.I hadn't had time to recharge, which had been part of the issue.Feeling Tanya had been the rest.The human was a distraction… a beautiful, delectable distraction."Now I have a destination anchor again.The Reality is calling."
