Peyton 313 (21 page)

Peyton laughed loudly and put a hand over his stomach to feel his muscles contract. He had little recollection of having spontaneously laughed much in his life—like ever. The most he had was a vague memory of doing it with his fiancée in some kind of beach setting. Those memories were at least a decade old. He sighed when he realized Kyra was looking at him with a kind of hopeful fear. “What’s up, Doc? Did my laughter scare you?”

Kyra painfully shook her head. “No. A sense of humor is the most mysterious of all cognitive behaviors, but it’s also a very basic one that can’t really be controlled. Congratulations, Captain Elliott. I do believe you’re mostly human again at last.”

Peyton didn’t let himself care about his audience as he rose and bent over the bed to kiss Kyra’s startled mouth. He gripped her chin after to make sure she listened to him.

“I’ll never be able to say this enough, but thank you for coming back to save me. Most people would have run like hell. Only a good guy stays in the fight. Remember that.”

His voice turned gruff as he straightened. He didn’t want to leave her, but they couldn’t really talk about much that mattered in front of Ella.

“Guess I’ll go see what I can do about getting you a data dump.”

***

“I’m just curious about how involved you are with him physically because Ella said she saw him kiss you in a no-nonsense man-woman way,” Nero said bluntly.

Kyra shook her head, but didn’t bother looking away from her screen. She queued up the next file and made sure it began where the last one ended.

“What Peyton is feeling for me is just a whole lot of gratitude. From his perspective, he’s my patient and I saved his life. It’s a clear case of the Florence Nightingale effect. I’m quite sure his infatuation with me will pass in time.”

Since Kyra wasn’t meeting his eyes, Nero stared at her back. “Where did the cyborg sleep last night? It wasn’t in his assigned room, Kyra. I know because I looked for him there when I arrived.”

“Stop baiting me with information you already have. You know damn well he was with me. Peyton feels responsible for my injuries, and frankly his remorse is a good sign, Nero. Besides, the medical room is cold. He takes up a lot of room in the bed, but sharing his body heat is better than an extra blanket,” Kyra said. She stopped her task and swung a glance at Nero, taking in his frown. “Relax—will you? Nothing sexual is going on between us. And what is your problem anyway? You’re the one who rescued both of us.”

Nero sighed and nodded. “At the time it happened, I had no choice. Captain Elliott seemed truly fixed and we needed to confirm it, didn’t we? I have to look at him as our first completely restored cyborg, but that doesn’t mean I have to like him trying to have an intimate relationship with you. His presence here is merely a matter of science.”

“Will you simmer down? I was convinced of that fact long before you went all paternal protector on me. Look—I’m twenty years older than you and not nearly as susceptible to a hot ass. Yes—I like the man in general. No—I’m not indulging in carnal relations with him. Give me some credit for being able to deflect his obsession with me until it passes on its own.”

Kyra turned her face back to the monitor. Behind her, she heard Nero sighing.

“Forgive me, Kyra. There’s no scientific reason for you not to indulge with Captain Elliott if that’s what you feel the need to do. The man is still very much a cyborg, but we all believe the restoration was completely successful. Brad said Peyton’s EEG scans are clear of all rogue processor interference now. His mind seems to be his own as far as we can tell.”

Kyra stopped reading to nod. “Good. I’ve been very careful with Peyton so far. He’s trusts the bond between us and I have to honor that, regardless of what else does or does not happen. That’s great news about the EEG scans. I’m about two-thirds through reviewing the data Peyton recorded. Outside of the discussion he and I had about my personal life with Jackson, there’s not much else in the recording that bothers me.”

“How can you say that? He recorded all your access codes to the lab,” Nero exclaimed, listing the issue that bothered him the most.

Kyra shrugged. “True. But the UCN has devices to bypass almost any security anyway. I still don’t know what happened to the device Peyton used to escape his cage. He said he doesn’t remember either. Did you see it when you and Brad found the planted device under my desk?”

Nero shook his head. “No. Brad found the UCN bug almost as soon as we entered. Our time involved dealing with that.”

Kyra nodded. “So when are you going to tell me how you managed to create this secret scientist lair?” She swiveled in her chair to again face the man who kept surprising her lately.

Nero rose to pace. “I know you better than that, Kyra. You joke to cover your anger that I kept this from you. But if I hadn’t created it, you’d have no place to hide right now. Think about it—your apprehension would make anyone rich enough to never have to work again. You’re going to have to hide from the UCN and their hired goons for the rest of your natural life unless something drastically changes. They could easily send more military cyborgs after you. This site will not be very helpful against them if that happens.”

Kyra got up and walked to stand close enough to look up into Nero’s worried gaze. “My goals haven’t changed just because I was successful in restoring Peyton. Yes, I can free other cyborgs as well
if
we can figure out how to get to them. But if Plan A doesn’t work out, my Plan B is still to take down Norton Industries. I’m not going to lie to you no matter how hard it is for you to keep hearing me say it. I cannot afford to lose your respect, but I’m more determined now than ever.”

Nero reached out and jerked Kyra into his arms for a hug. “Peyton is right about how hard-headed you are. Can you not see any other way?”

Kyra sighed as she returned his hug. “Easy, Nero. You’re bringing back the headaches squeezing me so tight. And don’t make me cry. You know I hate that.”

“A woman’s mind should not be so totally analytical. Crying is an effective way to release emotional pain. Instead of weeping alone, you need to learn to do it in someone’s arms, Kyra.”

Kyra laughed as she pulled away. “It’s way too late for me to change the kind of woman I turned out to be. I’m mostly stoic—if you don’t count my sarcasm as emotion. The crying I do over the cyborgs is prompted by extreme guilt and shame. It’s just the physical expression of my repentance—nothing more.”

Nero huffed, but didn’t argue. He knew it would do no good. Instead he told her the only news that would distract her from contemplating her own death. “Peyton has an idea about how to collect the other cyborgs. If successful, it will require us to have several holding cages to constrain them. We’ve already moved the one from your personal lab to here. Several others are under construction.”

“What’s his idea?” Kyra asked.

Nero shook his head as he walked back to his station. “Ask Captain Elliott to explain it. It should make great pillow talk between the two of you tonight.”

Kyra grinned at Nero’s sarcasm as she went back to sit in front of the desk com. “You’re confusing me. Do you want me to play bedroom nice with Peyton or not?”

Nero flapped his arms and let them hit his sides. “I don’t know what to think or want. I’ve never been around a cyborg who acts like he does. It’s like he’s only human when the subject of discussion is you. The rest of the time, he’s in full cyborg mode. He’s making more military strategies than I’m comfortable with him doing. And yes—it makes me nervous that someone like him likes
you
so much. He’s not your type.”

“Hmm. . .” Kyra said, pondering Peyton’s military strategizing. “Maybe the resumption of his military thinking means Peyton has established more control over his cybernetics. That’s good progress I think. One of his last normal memories is of his conversion. After that, he has only total recall of the war. It was like he just came home from fighting the day I replaced his primary processor.”

“Hmm. . .” Nero mocked, “maybe we don’t know whether it’s the man or the machine who is in charge of his actions right now though. Despite his restoration, Captain Elliott is still dangerous. You seem to keep forgetting that the whole world fearing the capabilities of cyborgs is a large part of why there are no more wars. Peyton’s prosthetics are not just replacement arms and legs. They’re robotic weapons, Kyra.”

“I have not forgotten that, Nero. But robots with AI processors are nothing but machines. They have no conscience and no morals outside their programming. Peyton is not a machine. He’s a redefined human with technologically advanced prosthetics, which he got for the benefit of the world. I have full confidence that he will use them for good now just like he did originally. We can’t be the only two humans alive capable of thinking that way.”

After making her declaration, Kyra found herself defending Peyton to a white-coated back. Nero had returned his attention to his own work, refusing to debate the subject further. Shaking her head, Kyra gave up and returned to her work as well, but what Nero said had her mind pondering much more than just Peyton’s collected data.

It wasn’t unusual for cyborgs to be routinely redefined by having their chips and processors wiped clean or replaced with newly coded ones. But Peyton’s processor wasn’t like any other. His wasn’t orchestrating every tiny decision of his entire life anymore. Though she hadn’t shared the details with Nero yet, Peyton’s processor was yet another prototype, not the one he knew she had been working on. She had completely removed all programming that required pain as a behavior modifier, even the safety protocols. With the secondary processor now gone, Peyton was further liberated.

Free from the ability of other cyber scientists to ever harm him again, Peyton was literally the first cyborg with full access to all of his humanity. A living testament to being both man and machine, Peyton’s cyborg existence was now a whole new twist on redefinition.

Only time would reveal what he would choose to do with his unique life. But wasn’t that the case with all non-cyborgs as well? Wasn’t she still redefining her own?

Kyra picked up headphones to listen privately to the parts of the recordings with conversations between her and Peyton. She rolled her eyes when she caught herself sniffling through some of them. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she told Peyton she was the most optimistic person alive on the planet. That statement was especially true when it came to him.

Chapter 14

“If I’m tired, it’s because I worked all day. I have a small headache, but other than that I’m fine. There’s no reason for you to watch over me while I sleep.”

Kyra looked at the sparseness of Peyton’s sleeping area. There was nothing in it but a chair, a desk, and a bed, which was at least larger than most of the others. Nero had been thoughtful enough to provide Peyton with something big enough accommodate his size. She supposed it was better than the two of them sharing her single bed in the medical area.

Earlier in the day she had secretly visited his room and others. While all rooms were dormitory in appearance, most of the surprising number of people using them had found ways to make them their own. Whether it was some personal item tossed on a bedside table, or an article of clothing flung across the bed itself, their sleeping areas were already reflecting their identities. Peyton’s bed looked like no one had ever slept in it.

“I guess you will never get your personal things now, though I doubt Norton was really planning to ship them to you anyway,” Kyra said sadly.

“I have reached similar conclusions. Fortunately, my personal needs are small. I’m sorry to report your house was raided shortly after Nero retrieved us, and is now being watched closely. I wanted to retrieve your personal items, but it’s become unsafe to do so by myself. Perhaps at some point in the future we can collect them.”

Kyra shrugged. “The only items worth anything to me came from Nero. So long as he’s doing okay, I can live without the material things I’ve collected. I’m not very sentimental about possessions.”

“You seem fond of some. What about your water boiling device?” Peyton asked.

Kyra snorted, amused at his recollection. “My teakettle? Yes, I’ll miss that I guess, but only because it’s my favorite ritual. Making tea is my substitute for smoking. After the world ban on e-cigs as well as real ones, I had to give up that vice and look for another way to calm my nerves. Tea making was the best thing I tried and relatively healthy. It was a win-win solution. The teakettle made the ritual last a little longer and be a little more fun.”

Peyton tried to imagine Kyra smoking e-cigs. He couldn’t bring a visual forward. She just didn’t look the type. “I don’t see you smoking, but I do see you wearing those red high heels in the master bedroom closet. Will you miss those?”

Kyra laughed. “No. And I can’t believe you looked at my old shoes.”

“I merely noted the pattern difference in what was in that shared closet versus what I saw you wearing daily. I admit to finding the variation intriguing and wondered why you owned those shoes,” Peyton reported.

She walked to the edge of the bed and sat. “That study is not worth the expenditure of your brain power, Peyton. Let’s pull your Cyber Husband chip tomorrow. You’re still too focused on me. I can fix that instantly for you.”

Peyton grinned and shook his head. “No thanks, Doc. I wish to keep my remaining chips, including the Cyber Husband one.”

Kyra laughed for real. “Why? You don’t have to do anything for me or any other woman. Getting back your free will is the whole point of the restoration. You don’t have to learn anything more about what I need. You can just be focused on your own needs now.”

“Nero is right. You redirect conversations when you don’t want to answer questions.”

“No I don’t. What question?” Kyra demanded.

“I am choosing of my own volition to learn more about you. Now in what circumstances did you wear those red high heels?” Peyton demanded back.

Kyra dropped her chin to stare at the floor. “If you must know, I wore them for the same reason all women wear those torture devices. They made me look tall and thin and my husband liked seeing me in them. Sometimes I enjoyed the illusion of being taller, but Jackson’s approval didn’t bring me much pleasure in the long run. Can we please talk about something more interesting than my old shoes?”