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The thought of her bolstered him as he crept along the bulkhead’s sides, unlocking drains.The sound of water rushing through them filled his ears and kept trying to pull him back under until his hands found the metal ladder hugging the wall.A measure of relief filled him as he gripped the supports and hauled himself up.
Brandon was standing on the bulkhead platform when he emerged from the water.He involuntarily gasped for air as he did so, then splayed himself on the platform under the sun.
An old memory of a starfish on a pink sand beach flashed into his mind, undoubtedly one of the original Rhys’s.He’d never been on a beach in his existence.
“RH103,” Brandon said, crouching down.“Are you all right?”
Rhys nodded, eyes closed against the sun’s glare.“Apologies,” he said.He coughed again, metallic-tasting water dribbling from his mouth.“I did not know until now that I don’t care for deep water.”
Brandon gave a very human shrug.It was remarkable how quickly he had adapted to living with organics, compared to the rest of them.“Hopefully, we’ll only have to do this once.The water’s draining as it should, and the bulkheads should be empty within the next couple of hours.”He stood up and held out his hand.
Rhys stared at it, then at Brandon’s face.
“I’m offering to help you up,” Brandon said.
“Why?”
“You’ve never been laid out on a bulkhead after thinking you’re about to drown.It seemed the kind thing to do.”
Rhys let Brandon help him to his feet.He swayed a little and coughed, sputtering water.“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”Brandon’s eyes searched Rhys’s face, as if he was looking for further confirmation that he was truly all right.“Maybe you should sit down for a while, get your bearings back.”
“My functions are optimal now that I’m out of the water.I’ll dry off and get back to work.”Already, Rhys could feel his body’s reactions returning to normal.His panic and the resulting spike in adrenaline receded.
He wanted to have good news for Hannah at the end of the day.Since he’d met her, all he wanted to see was a measure of relief on her face, a smile directed at him.
He could tell Brandon didn’t believe him, but the other cyborg didn’t argue.“If you say so, RH103.”
Rhys shook his head.“Just call me Rhys.”
Brandon’s eyebrow raised in surprise.
“Everyone who has taken on a normal human name has been correct in doing so,” Rhys explained.“We’re living among organics now.”
“You do realize that we’re mostly organic, don’t you?”
But it wasn’t the same.It wasn’t just about their physical bodies and enhancements.Rhys was at a loss when it came to the corresponding emotions and expressions.He wasn’t picking them up as easily as everyone else seemed to be.“Yes,” he replied evenly.
“Is that your original’s name?”
Rhys nodded.
“Have you considered taking something else?You aren’t him and don’t have to be.”
Rhys shook his head.“Rhys is as good a name as any.I’ve inherited his fondness for eggs and fear of deep water.I don’t see why I should change it.”Finding another name would take too much time, besides.
“Solid reasoning.”Brandon looked at the bulkhead, its water level rapidly receding.“Go dry off and I’ll meet you inside.”
By the timethe twin suns set, Rhys and the other cyborgs had a plan and timeline for resurrecting the power station.Some of the hydraulic components needed to be replaced after rusting through, but that would be easily accomplished using their ship’s hard goods replicator.
When he thought about Hannah on his walk home, his heart did the same inexplicable flip-flopping as it had earlier.He wanted to hear about her day, tell her about the progress being made on the power station.To see her smile in relief, see those lines of tension and exhaustion smooth away from her face.He wondered what she looked like when she was happy.
I wonder what I would look like if I was happy?He’d never experienced that before.Contentment, certainly.He wasn’t sure he could experience happiness the way organics or some of his other cyborgs did.
He found her in the backyard, watching a pot of something boiling over the firepit.She sat on the grass, arms loosely wrapped around her bent knees.A smile bloomed on her face when she saw him, and with it, a sense of relief trickled through him.He joined her, grateful to finally be sitting down.“How was your day?”he asked by way of greeting.
“Pretty good.We’re getting ready to plant your fancy enhanced wheat seeds,” she replied.“SP29 thinks we could have a crop ready to harvest in less than a month.”She turned shining eyes to him.“I can’t tell you how excited I am to eat bread again.I had no idea you could grow wheat so quickly.”
