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I had wanted her with every beat of my manufactured heart. And the way to earn hers was to show her that her three cyborgs mattered to me as well.
Core turned his golden gaze to me, studying me, his eyes narrowing before he looked back at Nara. “He is a friend?”
Nara’s eyes pleaded with mine, and I found myself nodding my head in agreement. “Yes, and I would be happy to accompany you, Core. Like Nara said, friends take care of each other.”
Caliber and Chaos pressed their frames against either side of Core. “Go with the Tank Class, brother. Miss Nara would never send you away if she believed you wouldn’t be okay,” Chaos said gently, squeezing Core’s hand.
Core took a deep breath then nodded. He turned his frame towards me, ready to follow my lead.
Nara offered a grateful smile. “See both of you soon.”
As I walked away, my crushed hand throbbing, the dent in my head aching, I couldn’t hide a grin.She said she would see both of us soon.It wasn’t much. She could have only said it to help ease Core’s anxiety over being without her and his brothers.
Still, with every step, I hoped that maybe, just maybe, she meant it for me, too.
Nara
Iallowed no trace of the unease I felt watching Core and Brone walk away to show on my face. I had to keep it together for Chaos and Caliber. Besides, other than a few rounds of tests back at the hidden lab, this was the first time they would be separated.
It would be beneficial for them in the end. I knew this. But my heart ached as I stared at Core slowly disappearing from my view. If I was struggling, then Caliber and Chaos must be ordering their processors not to chase after him.
Somewhere during the crazy events that had happened today, I had begun to trust Brone. It probably started with that kiss to his cheek. From there it had snowballed, and his willingness to take Core had put a crack in the wall I had built around my heart.
It was merely a sliver, much too small for a Tank Class to pass through, but it was there, nonetheless. If he kept treating my cyborgs with kindness and friendship, I had no doubt it would continue to grow.
Plus, I think I had been totally flirting with him on the transport. Or he had been flirting with me. Either way, I found it wasn’t terrible. When he wasn’t staring at me from across the room with a scowl on his face, he was rather charming.
I pressed my lips together to hold in my smile. Shaking my head, I focused all my attention back to Chaos and Caliber. They needed me.
I scanned the crowd, searching for a distraction that might make it easier for them to not fixate on Core not being with them.
My eyes snagged on the sight of Theo standing nervously next to the small child who had rushed out to greet Lennox and her team. The little girl’s face was tilted upward, her big brown eyes watching Theo with a look of pure wonder on her face.
I guessed she had never seen a cyborg child before. It had come as a shock to me as well. Theo and Ever defied logic. I had no idea how they had been brought into existence, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t happy they were here.
It didn’t take a genius to see how loved they were. I had only been at the rebellion for a day before Theo had knocked on my door, bouncing up and down with excitement at meeting me and the cyborgs. He had been a tornado of happiness and accepted all of us without question.
Caliber, Core, and Chaos had not known what to make of him, but all three had huge smiles on their faces after Theo and Aria’s visit. That alone had endeared the small Military Model to me.
And Ever? My three cyborgs were completely fascinated by her. With one shake of her toy duck, they had been entranced, asking me all kinds of questions about why she came out so tiny when they had come out full size.
Marley had laughed, telling them she would tell them about it when they were older.
I tapped Caliber on the arm. “Why don’t we go join the others?”
They both nodded, following me until we reached what remained of the rebellion after those that were injured had been sent to Medical.
We stood clustered in the middle of a large common room with a huge fireplace in the center. Couches and chairs were scattered all around, filling up the space and providing the room with lots of cozy places to curl up and relax.
None of the rebellion had sat down. Instead, they all remained standing, unsure of what to do next. I wished I could offer them something, but I was as clueless as they were.
Lennox gestured to the couches and chairs. “Please sit. You are guests here. As soon as I know the condition of any of those that were injured, I will tell you. For now, all of you have been through a horrible ordeal. Try and rest. I know it’s hard. You are in a strange place with strange people that you are not sure you can trust yet. But I assure you, myself and the people who call this place home aren’t going to hurt you.”
Acer narrowed his gaze at Lennox. “Where are the others who live here?” He stood with his arm around Marley, Ever held tightly against her chest. The tiny yellow cyborg had a dirt smear across her cheek, and Quakers (which I had learned was the toy duck’s name) looked like it needed a bath, but otherwise the little girl was fine.
The sight of her unharmed eased a bit of pressure inside my chest. Both Theo and Ever had come out of the attack mostly unscathed-at least physically. Emotionally? I wasn’t so sure.
Ever might seem like an 18-month-old, but she had a cyborg’s processors. She was far more advanced than her frame suggested. The same went for Theo.
