Chapter 14: Esthi
Lenarro grunts when I peel open the damaged power cell in his side. He’s been beaten to hell. And as much as I hate that I’m helping the enemy, I’m really trying to get some answers for myself. Seeing how he’s put together, how similar it is to what Myria had on her, makes me think she’s not in a shell but part of the cybernetics like him.
A Wrecktank.
Stars, Solcrue made Myria into their version of a Wrecktank!
“How did it start?” I ask him. “Your augments.”
Lenarro looks up at the ceiling lights. “Burned my hands saving my friend Joey. At least, hewasmy friend, once.”
His voice is filled with regret.
“Not the same?” I ask.
Lenarro snorts and looks away.
I repair the power cell and the muscle pistons that have been crushed around it. “Let me guess. Hand augments caused renal failure. Then the synthetic kidneys caused spleen failure, then liver failure, then toxic conditions for your brain, so they had to add an extra filtration unit near your spine for your cerebrospinal fluid? Then back augments to protect and strengthen your spine and the hardware there.”
“It just keeps going.” Lenarro shakes his head. “For now. Don’t know how long I have.”
“Five years, maybe.”
He rasps a breath in hopelessness.
“Wrecktank history. It’s why they moved onto BloodCyphers and the first Relics. Put every Wrecktank in hibernation until they could fix the Augment Contagion Effect. Truth is, a simplebloodtoner with the right meds would’ve solved the whole mess.”
I bump his fractured lateral femur support when I sit back to grab a different tool. Lenarro sucks air in through his teeth and grabs my leg.
Armor is in the room in a flash. He grabs Lenarro by the throat. “Let her go.”
Lenarro releases his hand as his face reddens.
“It’s my fault, Armor. I bumped an injury.”
Armor asses me, then lets Lenarro go, huffs, and storms out.
The door swishes shut.
“Fucking hell.” Lenarro gasps for air while I disconnect the control panels and cords in his thigh.
The CSP ship has a lot less stock than I thought I’d find. But after a glance at the Cyborg Security Patrol sign on the wall with Security scratched out and Submission written in marker underneath, I’m reminded of why they weren’t as interested in saving Titan parts for Titans.
I repair his thigh and a bullet wound in his back.
“I know why you’re really helping me.” Lenarro strains at his cuffs as I pry out a bit of burnt wiring. “I saw your sister. I know you’re using me to learn about her. But I accept that.”
“You know Myria?”
“Saw her in the lab on Vessna last round. They move her a lot. Heard she has her own ship now.”
I replace the panel in his back and pack up my bag. “Do you know what she was before this?”
Lenarro sucks on his split lip. “They always took Creators. I just got lucky, I guess.”
“Doubt that.” I scour his body, mapping the parts that I can, and scan his body with my tablet so I have notes for if I ever find my sister again.
He struggles like he wants to sit up. “Can you rotate me so we can have a legitimate conversation? I hate talking to the ceiling. I feel like a crazy person.”
