Menace sneers at me. “No fucking shit. We’re stuck in this shithole on an outer rim planet because we’re all superheroes.”
I call Tumble over to us while pushing past Menace. Tumble glances between us. “Yes, Fin?”
“Horvina is shaking. Any chance you can carry her?”
“Sure.” Tumble picks her up with ease. A smile decorates his youthful face. “Hello, Horvina. My name is Tumble. I like rolling down hills and picking flowers in the meadows. Have you ever seen a butterfly?”
Tumble is probably the gentlest Titan of all the ones I’ve met. He carries her behind the main group. Guns and blades hang from his fit body. How he’s maintained such an innocent spirit despite what he’s been through recently has me wishing I could learn his secret.
Menace glowers at Tumble, who ignores him, and then turns to Shifter. “Don’t touch the females.”
When Menace sees me looking at him, he growls. “What?”
I still can’t figure him out. He’s so angry compared to the other Titans, the polar opposite of units like Tumble. “What has you in such pissy knots all the time?”
“What’s with the impudence onyourface?” Menace sneers back.
“It’s just my face. That’s what years of torture, brewing resentment, and vengeance do to a human. You can program yourself to be pleasant.”
“And you can’t?” he challenges.
“It’s never as clear as an on-off switch with us,” I reply as I continue patrolling with Shifter, who is not far away. “Everything is simultaneous for humans. I can try to smile but the underlying pain will always show to some degree. You can literally block it. The difference is you choose not to switch off.”
“I’m not in pain,” Menace retorts.
“You’re lying to yourself if you think that.”
“You don’t know shit.” Menace stalks back into the shadows.
“Fucking asshole,” I huff, steady my rifle in my hands, and continue the agonizing journey to the next camp spot. Nothing about this underground migration has been easy, least of all Menace’s presence.
Part of me wants to get through to him and help him heal because I know how it can hurt to be buried under memories, guilt, pain, and hopelessness. Another part of me just wants him to get it over with, whatever’s on his mind, so he can move on and stop being such an emotional drag. But I know it’s my own tug-of-war inside that’s caused my lack of empathy. So I try my best not to jerk on his chains too much.
Shifter weaves along the wall like a black metal river. After miles of awkward silence, I can’t endure the idea that Shifter’s actions might simply be misunderstood. Poppy’s ignoring him, but I know I’ve felt the same way as Shifter.
“You hang out in the women’s caves and watch them all the time. Why?” I ask him, wondering if there’s a good reason or if I should, in fact, kick his ass for peeping.
Shifter ripples himself upright into a Titan shape again. He hangs his head, the angled planes of his face constantly readjusting. “Because I can’t touch them, but I want to be sure they’re okay. And I still want to touch them, believe they’re real, not just a corruption of my programming that has made me see what I dream about.”
“You dream of lots of women?” I tease.
“No. I just want one who will smile at me. I want to know love like the other Brothers. But I am like Drillbit. I am dangerous to their flesh. I can carry them in an emergency. But I will never get to hold one like a mate. I will be alone forever, so I simply watch and help wherever I can.”
“You speak of them like I’m not one,” I mutter.
Shifter inhales sharply. “I didn’t mean to imply such.”
“It’s okay. I’m just curious why.”
“You are human and female.” Shifter stops in an open passageway to the left, body folding in waves of metal as he turns to look down it. “But sometimes, you do come across as Titan.”
“Titan?” I laugh in disbelief.
“You fight like us, know about ship tech and weapons, and can carry a large portion of gear. You’re also not emotional like the other women.”
“Probably because I’m dead inside,” I mutter.
He squints at me. “You think Titans are dead inside?”
