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He nodded.“I need to know my origins.I don’t know if the others would agree with me, nor do I know how to start searching, but I think I’d like to find out the reasons for myself.”
“I get that.”She picked up a coupler that she’d clumsily soldered together.“Maybe knowing that would help with the flashbacks.”
It might give some context to them.Rhys held out his hand for the coupler, and she obediently placed it in his palm.“Did you repair this?”he asked, changing the subject.A piece of it was melted in place.
“As best as I could.It involved a lot of fire, and I had to sacrifice a spoon from my ancestors’ old world set to melt the metal.”She sighed.
“I’m sorry you lost your cutlery.”
“It was worth it.”She smiled at him, a ray of sunshine in the darkened room.“So, how bad is it?”
“We have pieces aboard the ship that we can use to bring communications back online.I’ll have to speak to the others about the state of the landing pad itself.”
SP29 strode into the room.“I heard that.The pad’s in rough shape.It has to be completely rebuilt, and the materials will have to come from off-world.There’s nothing on New Eden that can be used.Hannah, do you know where the original colonists sourced their building materials?”
“As far as I know, they brought everything they needed with them from the old world.”
“Makes sense.It will be faster to make a supply run to a waystation for supplies.”SP29 cast a critical eye over the comms room.“Would you be put out if we just razed everything and rebuilt it from the ground up?”
“Not if it will be the fastest and easiest way to get everything online.”Giddiness flowed through Hannah as she said the words.It was finally happening.New Eden was being rebuilt, better and stronger than before.“How long do you think the construction would take?”
SP29 shrugged.“Including the supply run and the demolition of the original site?A month, maybe.”
“Oh, my God!”Rhys had said as much, but to have it confirmed so casually felt like a miracle.Like the power station coming back online, Hannah could hardly believe how quickly things happened now.She wondered if she would ever get used to it.She blinked away tears of relief, but not before Rhys noticed them.
“Hannah, are you all right?”
She took a watery breath.“Yes.Don’t mind me.”
“I’d like to get an inventory going for our first supply run,” SP29 continued.“I think the current priorities are supplies for a hospital and a comms tower.”
The mention of a hospital gave Hannah pause, and she felt like an idiot for not considering that sooner.“We don’t have a doctor.”
“Two of our cyborgs are medics,” Rhys said.“They’re living in communal quarters on the west side of the settlement.”
“There may be off-worlders who want to relocate here,” SP29 pointed out.
Once again, Hannah felt foolish for not having considered that.“Would people really want to move to New Eden?”she asked incredulously.
“Of course.This is a quiet community, surrounded by nature.There are plenty of people who would like to join this type of settlement, including medical personnel.”
“Wow.”She couldn’t imagine wanting to leave anywhere in civilized space for a backwater planet like New Eden.She hoped she wasn’t the one in charge by the time they’d opened immigration to off-worlders.Maybe Rodelle would be up to the task when that came about.Or one of the cyborgs.“Rhys, do you think...”The words died in her throat when she faced him.His pallor had changed, like he was about to be sick.His eyes were glassy.“Are you having a flashback?”
He swayed on his feet.She and SP29 rushed to him before he could collapse to the floor.“Fuck!”she yelped.He was dead weight against her, nearly causing her to lose her footing.SP29 nudged her out of the way, then helped Rhys to the floor.“This happened last night too,” she said, voice catching.
They knelt beside him.Rhys’s eyes stared into nothing, then closed.The motion reminded Hannah of a baby doll she’d played with as a child, with its creepy blinking eyes.“Rhys!”she shouted.“Wake up!”To SP29, she said, “It wasn’t like this before!”
Rhys’s breathing slowed.With it, Hannah thought her heart also might be stopping.After a horrifying moment, his chest started to rise and fall again, albeit far too slowly.
SP29 paled.“He’s gone into shutdown.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s like a coma.”The other cyborg’s voice was strained.Hannah’s heart thudded against her ribs as she waited for him to continue.“This is what happens when a cyborg’s lifespan is ending.It’s time for him to be cloned again.”
Hannah finally tore her gaze from Rhys’s expressionless face.She thought she might be sick.“No.”
“I don’t know why this happened now, but...”
