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It kept me controlled and compliant when activated, unable to fight, my body and mind no longer under my own command. But after was the worst. They left me in my own filth, forced to remember everything I had done or begged for, a never-ending loop of nightmares and tortures I had to re-live repeatedly.
The door opened and I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing they wouldn’t be able to be closed for long. They liked making me watch. One day I would get free. One day I would kill them all for what they had done. It was the last thought I had before there was a click and an all too familiar buzz began in my head.
“Are you ready to play, 578 453?”
I nodded, unable to stop it.
“Good. Open your eyes,” she commanded, and my eyes popped open, obeying. Cold hands gripped the sides of my skull before she trailed her thumb over my cheek. A tiny shiver of revulsion echoed in my frame, slithering past the attachment controlling me. Her dark eyes narrowed, flashing me an evil grin. “I think you are really going to enjoy what I have planned for our session today.”
Silver flashed before a sharp pain exploded in my thigh. Fluid dripped down my leg and I watched as it pooled on the floor under my feet. Something warm and wet slid along my thigh, right next to the cut she had made, her tongue tracing along the deep incision, the scent of her arousal invading my nostrils.
She stood up, stepping around my frame to stand behind me. A vicious yank had my head wrenching backward as her putrid breath ghosted across my face. A hand slipped between my thighs. “By the time I’m done, you’ll be begging me for it.”
Releasing her grip on my head, her hand slid lower, palming my ass. “Tell me. I want to hear it.”
My processors jolted, immediately knowing what she wanted to hear. “I can be better,” I whispered, my voice hoarse from all the screams they had ripped from my throat.
“Louder, 578 453.”
“I can be better,” I tried again, my voice rising.
“Again. The others can’t hear you.” My eyes locked on to the comm she wore around her neck. The rest of my tormenters were listening in. They always did. Even if they didn’t inflict the torture themselves, they still wanted a front row seat to my pain.
“I can be better!” I screamed, setting fire to my over worked lungs, burning a path over every inch of the already stressed circuits in my throat.
“Good. It’s important for you to understand why you are being punished. You failed us, 578 453. You should have hacked your intended target like you had been instructed. That is your failure. These lessons with us will teach you not to question our orders.” Her hand stroked my arm, a cruel imitation of care and concern.
I hate her. I hate them all. No matter what they did to me, they could never make me forget that.
“Viper?” A soft voice echoed through the fog of my memory, tugging me back to the present. “You okay?”
I nodded, blinking to clear away the ghosts of the past and refocusing my attention on the female in my arms.
Watery blue eyes bored a hole into mine. “I meant what I said, you know. I can be better. Do better.”
I shook my head. “No. This whole time you have been trying. It was I who ignored all your efforts to hold on to my anger.”
Oz blinked. “Anger keeps you safe. Letting someone in? Admitting you’ve been hurt? That shit can destroy you. You had every right, you know?”
My brow furrowed. “What right?”
“To hate me.” She said it so matter of fact, like she believed she truly deserved it.
Hijacking my processors had been wrong, but she doesn’t know any of my demons. If she had wanted, she could have flung open every door in my head, granting her access to the deepest and darkest parts of my processing. Every circuit and wire laid bare, every one of my codes dissected and turned against me.
She hadn’t. I knew because I had run a full processor scan once I regained control. She had only accessed what she had needed to get in and find Poe. Even looking back, the threats didn’t hold malice or hate. Instead, her features had held hints of guilt and shame.
Oz was a badass, but she was a badass with a heart. She wasn’t needlessly cruel, and she had been trying to make amends ever since.
My grip on her tightened, an unfamiliar feeling taking root in my chest. “Let me help you, please.” Lifting her head, she peered up at me, and I prayed whatever she saw on my face would reassure her that I was being sincere.
She gave a small nod. The feeling in my chest intensified, but I ignored it. Taking care of Oz became my priority. With the state of things, I could tell she hadn’t been taking care of herself.
Carrying her out into the hall, I headed to the bathroom. As soon as we entered, Oz’s eyebrows lifted. I narrowed my gaze at the tiny bundle of female in my arms. “Even without my cyborg senses I would know that you are definitely in need of a shower.”
Her lipsalmostcurled up into a tiny smile. “Are you implying that I smell again, Technology Model?”
“Most definitely.”
