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My first successful cyborg.
The model I mapped after my own brain.
My beautiful boy.
When I lost Dax’s brother, I almost couldn’t bear to try again. His brother didn’t make it past the first development stage. He hadn’t opened his eyes or made any indication he had been aware. His processors had simply failed then he was gone. I had never been able to let go of who he might have been if he had survived. No matter what others might have believed in my mind he had been his own unique soul even before he had opened his eyes.
When I decided that I would give it one more try, I barely ate or slept, consumed with figuring out my mistake and fixing it. To make sure I got Dax right. I refused to leave him alone even for a second. Afraid that if I looked away for one moment, he might slip away like his brother. I had read to him from my favorite science texts, telling him repeatedly how much I longed for him to wake up so I could meet him.
The day Dax came online was one of the best days of my whole life. He was so much more than I had ever hoped or expected. He surpassed my programming, my brain map simply the guide he took to create his own personality, crafting his own unique soul.
He had helped to design every other model type after him. The next time I sat by the vat watching as the first of a new model type developed, Dax had sat right next to me excitedly awaiting the arrival of his new brother or sister.
Reaper, Viper, Dash, Acer, Rust, Hester-he had been there to greet them all when they had woken. None of them remembered Dax had been present when they came online, except for Acer. I knew it hurt Dax that they no longer remembered him. Only Acer had been allowed to recall Dax being there when he was removed from the vat. The rest had been evaluated, wiped clean of any memory of Dax then sent off to different sections within the Global Allegiance. Dax only had them in his life for a few hours, but that never stopped him from forming attachments. He always got so excited when he found them again only to be disappointed they didn’t care about him the way he cared for them. I had offered to inform the others of his presence at their awakenings, but Dax had refused and I respected his choice.
For me Dax had been the only one I had been allowed to keep so I had spoiled him. I made sure he understood how much I loved him. Made sure he knew that even though I hadn’t created him the normal human way, I still considered him to be my son.
A knock interrupted my trip down memory lane. Most of those trips didn’t leave my happy. I was filled with so much regret, so much guilt for the pain I had caused my cyborgs. It was only my memories of Dax that were mostly filled with joy. Someone cleared their throat and I looked up to see who was hovering inside my doorway.
“Axios.” Fondness filled my voice. “What do you need, my dear?” Axios wasn’t one of my original cyborgs. Maybe at one time I might have known who the models were that made up Axios’s frame but no longer. He was a mix of models, a colorful collection of frames pieced together to make one whole complete frame.
Looking at him, some would see an abomination. I saw a sweet and loving cyborg who hadn’t gotten a say in his creation. A deranged doctor had taken pieces from other cyborgs and put him together. He was made up of six different cyborgs and it caused him to experience problems with his programming. I had been trying to fix the most pressing issues left by his hasty and barbaric construction. So far, I had been able to increase his CPU capacity which allowed him extra stamina and processing speed. He still suffered pain at the fusion sites and no matter what I did, he would never function completely at the same speed or strength of a normal cyborg, but Axios never complained. Despite all his hardships, he was happy and kind to everyone.
Axios flashed a shy smile. ”I thought you might like some company. I know you are feeling anxious over Dax being gone and what will happen when Reaper and Viper find him. If it helps, I do believe everything will be okay.”
“I would love some company.” I gestured to the seat in front of my desk. “Have a seat.”
Axios dropped his frame into the chair, letting out a slight wince.
“Is the pain bad today?”
He placed his hands in his lap. “No more than usual. I’m fine, stop worrying about me. You are worried enough as it is.” His blue eyes met mine. “I don’t know how the other cyborgs fail to see how you much you care for us.” He shook his head. “The love you have for us is written all over your face. Dax sees it though, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.” I rubbed my eyes wondering when I became so tired. My body would never look a day past twenty-two, but my heart and soul was so much older. “I know he feels responsible for taking care of me, for ensuring my happiness, but that’s not the way it should be. I should have been ensuring he was happy. I knew he was lonely, but I never knew how much.” I sighed. “Deep down, I knew he needed more than me but selfishly, I didn’t want tosharehim. I had to share the rest of you with the world and look what happened. They tookmy babiesandtortured them.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” a voice said from the doorway. A voice I knew by heart. A voice that for the past twenty-four hours I had been scared I would never hear again.
“Dax,” his name came out broken as I jumped from my chair and raced to the doorway, tossing my arms around him, hugging him tight.
“Mom...you’re crushing me,” he wheezed.
I relaxed my hold. “Sorry,” I whispered. “I just didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to hug you again.”
He tugged his frame from my grasp, covering my hands with his. “I’m sorry. It was never my intention to worry you or cause you pain. I was so lonely. I saw the other cyborgs with their females and I was jealous. I wanted what they had. Then it felt like fate had answered my prayers when I found a female hiding in the woods. Poe sawme, Mom.” His whole face exploded with joy. “She took me on an adventure!”
So my Dax had found his female. The look on his face told me he had already started to care about her. If she wanted it, Dax’s heart was already hers. I could only pray she deserved it.
I reached up, patting his cheek. “I wish you had told me how lonely you were. I know by not telling me you believed you were protecting me. No more, Dax. I am your mother. It’s my job to protect you and make sure you are happy. It was selfish to keep you all to myself. You weren’t created to be trapped forever by my side. You were created to fly, my beautiful boy. Don’t ever let anyone stop you, not even me.” I captured his face with my hands. “I love you, Dax. No matter where you go or what you do, you will always have a home with me and a very special place inside my heart.”
“I am pretty sure I want your mom to adopt me, Dax.” A head with a mess of brown hair popped out from behind Dax’s frame, a wide smile on her face. “You can even pretend I’m a cyborg. I’ve always wanted to be one. They areso much coolerthan humans.”
Dax stepped to the side, allowing the female to scoot in next to his frame. His face broke out into a matching smile. “Mom, meet Poe. I am wooing her so she will be my female.” Pride filled his voice.
It seemed impossible, but the girl’s smile got wider. “He doesn’t have try all that hard, he basically had me at ‘I’m Dax’.” Her happy gaze scanned the room and she finally noticed someone else was in the room. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of Axios. “Holy blazes!” She gripped Dax’s arm, bouncing up and down. “Dax introduce me!”
“Poe meet Axios. He’s a newer edition to the cyborg rebellion.”
The girl lit up like a Christmas tree, her excitement over Axios oozing out to flood the room. “I am new here too. Can I just say that you are incredible? So many colors that you think it wouldn’t work,” she let go of Dax, moving towards Axios like she couldn’t help herself, “but you are stunning!”
