***

SEVERAL MONTHS LATER.

Gunner helped her onto the medical bed. His hands were warm, constricting, yet soft in the way he handled her. Elodie would’ve been afraid if it weren’t for him. Or for the others that meandered in the background, preparing the drugs that would soon be within her system.

Drugs. Not just any replicator-synthesized, standard commercial drugs, but cybernetic drugs, ones laced with DNA altering capabilities. The kind that existed for some groups, like Cyborgs, but were otherwise unknown to the rest of the universe.

Her hands ran down the length of her thighs, rubbing the thick flannel cloth with her palms, over and over. Gunner caught her hands and kissed her knuckles, then turned them over and kissed her wrists, willing her to look up into his eyes. No words needed to be spoken. The look they shared said it all.

A woman stepped forward, fixated on the supplies she held in her hands. Dr. Rose Cagley, a Cyborg doctor—a female Cyborg in all its oddity—set the items down on the pallet next to Elodie and began to prep them.

“Are you nervous?” Cagley asked.

“No. Should I be?”

Cagley chuckled. “No. Not at all. But I think he is.” The doctor motioned to Gunner.

Elodie laughed back. “I think so too.”

“I’m right here,” Gunner brooded. “How long will this take?”

“Not long,” Cagley answered, unconcerned. The woman seemed to be one of the only people unconcerned with Gunner’s presence. Since the minute they arrived in Ghost City earlier that cycle, it had been a trial. At first, Gunner’s ship was escorted by two others into the giant docking arena, and when they stepped out of the hatch, armor-clad Cyborgs met them.

They didn’t greet them, but rather they loomed like scary sentinels off in the corners and down the walkways, watching with hands poised over their weapons. Elodie had seen them, even the ones that didn’t want to be seen. After a lifetime of hiding from the eyes of others, she always knew when someone was looking at her now.

The only reason they hadn’t been stopped would’ve been for Rose, who had met them outside Gunner’s ship. And a man named Matt, who, according to Gunner, had bought a small fortune of brew from him.

Walking from the ship and through Ghost City was an experience unlike any other. Elodie had expected a city. Or at least a busy star port, but what met her was a steely cavernous ship, not unlike the Peace Keeper battlemass, but much smaller and way more streamlined. The walls glittered in silver and white, galvanized and sleek. It was quiet and menacing in its top-of-the-line interior. The shadows in the corners were still grey though, and many ships docked throughout were personalized to such a level that they seemed out of place with the overall interior. But the quietness was what really got her, and the men.

So many battle-born men. Her eyes couldn’t take it all in, not in the brief period of her passing through, mainly because the men kept demanding her attention. They stared at her as if she was a captive, or a slave, and the realization came to her slowly.

They think I’m not here willingly. Not with him. They watched Gunner with even more scrutiny than they watched her. For the first time, she reached between them and clasped his hand. To her surprise, he accepted the gesture, threading his fingers through hers.

After that, she didn’t care what the other Cyborgs thought.

“Good,” Gunner said, shifting her thoughts back to the present.

Cagley cleared her throat. “The procedure doesn’t take long but the recovery can. It’s different for every person.”

“Do I need to remain here during recovery?” Elodie interjected quickly before Gunner could.

“I would recommend it but as long as—”

“We’ll be leaving as soon as she’s clear to go,” Gunner said.

Cagley nodded and smiled. “Probably for the best. The others don’t feel comfortable with you here, given your...” the doctor cleared her throat, “...reputation. But I won’t release her,” she turned to Gunner, “until I know she’ll be okay.”

Elodie wiped her palms on her pants again, feeling them dampen with sweat. She didn’t want to remain here longer than she had to either and it wasn’t because of the Cyborgs, or the animosity they had toward Gunner. Her trepidation wasn’t because she’d only encountered one woman on the whole ship—which would’ve alarmed her months ago—but because she didn’t like how open everything was.

It had been one thing, working on a giant mining rig in the past, because back then, ninety percent of her time was spent stuck in tight and enclosed spaces, but now that she had the ability to wander or go most anywhere, Elodie realized she preferred the confinement; she preferred being able to keep track of everyone around her.

A loner. She didn’t like the prospect of dealing with other people more than she had to. Gunner’s ship was her home now, and it was the only place she wanted to be.

“All right, Elodie, I’m going to need you to take off your shirt. Gunner, I’m going to need you to take a seat in the corner. Alternative, you can sit in the waiting room outside.”

Gunner didn’t move. Cagley appeared unfazed. Elodie shot him a look and pointed to the chair. “Sit in the corner.”

He smirked and moved to the corner. Elodie watched as he leaned back, put his hands behind his head, pushing his legs out, and relaxed—all devilish smiles. I know that look. I’ll be sitting in my own corner later. The idea made her belly tie up in knots and her pussy tighten. His smile grew.

Blushing, and being a tease, she lifted off her shirt slower than was necessary. Cagley snickered as she placed a glass box next to the supplies on the pallet. It was filled with long tubes filled with clear liquid. The box iced over and clouded as it defrosted from wherever it came from.

“Before we start, I’m going to give you an injection of pain-dampening nanobots. If you feel any pain, let me know. This is optional, but those who turn it down usually only ever do so the first time.”

“Okay.”

She prepared a needle and swabbed Elodie’s arm. A moment later a calming euphoria flooded her.

“While that kicks in, just hang tight, I’m going to lock the room and sanitize the space. Elodie, have you ever been in a cybernetics lab before?” Cagley asked as she punched in a series of numbers and an antiseptic smelling gas filled the space. It was gone the next moment and was replaced by a beam of light that traced the floors and walls.

“No. Only the one on his ship.” She looked at Gunner, who was still grinning like a demon.

“Ah. Then, don’t be perturbed by the scrubs. Some people are afraid of the lights. They think they’re radioactive but they’re harmless.”

When it was over, Cagley returned to her side and opened up the box. “These are virgin nanocells, ready to bond and reconfigure to your genome. They’ll significantly slow your aging and will increase your ability to heal. Having them won’t make you a Cyborg but will extend your natural lifespan, prevent nearly all illnesses from incubating, and will heal you of any illnesses you may already have.”

Cagley pointedly looked at Elodie’s hands and arms, which had years of burns and scars from the job. “They won’t be able to revert any physical wounds or scaring that may have already occurred.”

“Will they...change me?” Elodie asked.

“No. They’ll regulate your hormones but otherwise, no, they can’t cure any mental or emotional illnesses. They can only help.”

“How does it work?” Elodie ran a finger across the chilled glass box, her tip coming away wet.

“Besides forcing new cell growth, and without getting into days of explanation, the nanocells will, for the most part, mitigate your dependence on oxygen as fuel. The moment a human is born, oxygen begins to kill you. We need it to live but to live it very slowly gifts us with death. The nanocells will stop the death part.”

Elodie took a deep breath. “And breathing?”

“You’ll still need to breathe,” Cagley laughed. “Maybe not as much but I’ve never seen a person stop breathing after the procedure. That part of you is ingrained to the very fiber of your being. Even Cyborgs breathe, more than is necessary. It’s one of those strange phenomena that just signify...life.”

“That’s comforting.” Elodie took another steady, deep breath, just because she was now so focused on it. “You’ve done this before?”

“Many times. I’m not sure if you’ve met Katalina, but she went through it two months ago, and Norah, who recovered no more than three weeks ago.”

Elodie knew of Norah but not of Katalina. Norah was Stryker’s partner, and Stryker happened to be one of the only Cyborgs Gunner was friendly with. “And it’s always turned out fine?”

“Absolutely. You’re not the first human to fall in love with a Cyborg. This procedure has been around as long as they have. They are still only part machine, regardless of what they try to tell you.”

Gunner humphed.

“Fall in love?” Elodie giggled, feeling light-headed and giddy, glancing back at Gunner who looked like he’d just swallowed something slimy and wriggly. The guns on his cheeks warped and ballooned. “That man over there doesn’t like using such frilly words.”

Cagley looked back and forth at Gunner and her. “No, I suppose not. He can’t let all those other dangerous Cyborgs out there know he isn’t as badass as he appears. What would he do then?” she teased.

I like her.

“I’m sitting right here,” Gunner retorted petulantly.

“And you’re doing a good job of it,” Elodie burst out, laughing. Damn, he’s going to corner time me later. She liked corner time, how could she not? Gunner knew she liked it too, but she would never tell him out loud.

“Are you ready?” Cagley asked, pulling out a tube with her gloved hands.

Her smile wavered. “Yes.”

“This will feel strange.” She opened the tube and poured it into a long thin container.

“How so?”

“It’ll feel like you’re being tickled with a feather, everywhere at once. If you don’t know how that feels, imagine a...bug that is crawling just underneath your skin. Regardless, it will tickle and you’ll want to scratch. Lie back and give me your hands.”

Elodie watched silently as Cagley restrained her wrists to the pallet.

“How long will it last?”

“Until the transformation is done.”

***

HOURS HAD GONE BY AND she was still squirming like a maggot on the pallet. There wasn’t any pain but the need to scratch and tear at her skin had almost been a madness in itself. Cagley offered to put her to sleep, but Elodie refused. She was thankful for the restraints and the numbing effect that still tightly gripped her body, and although a billion different reactions were happening inside of her, she still retained a fairly clear head. Gunner had told her this would be over fast. She would have to talk to him about his idea of what ‘over fast’ meant.

Gunner sat beside her now that the nanocells had attached to her and didn’t have the ability to attach to him. Even if they did, his body would absorb them or kill them off. At least that’s what Cagley told her after the reaction had been going on for some time.

“How are you feeling?”

Elodie unlocked her jaw and winced. “Frustrated.”

“Oh?”

“I really, really want to scratch or maybe dive into a pool of water. Maybe take a three-day shower or stand out in the freezing cold until I’m an icicle with no feeling left. Is there a cold planet nearby?”

Gunner chuckled. “You’re over sensitized. I’ll take care of that later.”

Elodie pursed her lips. “Take care of it now!”

“I don’t think so, Ely. Rose may be the only Cyborg on this ship that’ll vouch for me. If she came back in here to find me fucking you while you’re restrained, she’d drag me out before your orgasm ended.”

Her eyes widened. “Would an orgasm help?”

More laughter. “It probably couldn’t hurt. What kind of question is that?”

“The kind that distracts me.” She sighed and wiggled. Gunner loomed over her and crowded her space, pressing a soft, knowing kiss over her pouted lips. That small touch alone, that small relief, was enough to make her moan. He rose up.

“Another,” she demanded.

“Later.”

Elodie sagged with a grumble. Later.

A ping sounded by the door. “Come in,” Elodie yelled.

Cagley entered the space with a tablet in her hand. Gunner shifted slightly to let her near. She was the only being who Gunner willingly let near her. They hadn’t encountered many people as they repaired his ship, but he still felt the need to shield her. The fact that he trusted Cagley, in some small way, had Elodie trusting her too.

The doctor checked over her vitals quietly, unusually tense from their previous encounter. Her soft features now held an edge to them that hadn’t been there before. A minuscule crease between her brows and an even slighter crease to her lip.

“Am I okay?” Elodie asked after a minute.

“Very much so.”

Relief.

“Are we able to leave now?” Gunner stepped forward.

“Not...quite.” Cagley prepared another needle and injected a fresh dose of that numbing serum into her arm. Elodie sighed and settled back.

“What do you mean not quite?” Gunner asked.

“You’re being requested to join Cypher and several of the others above.”

Elodie looked between Cagley and Gunner.

“Why?” he asked angrily. “He could just meet me here or ping me on the network. Isn’t Cypher usually hibernating?”

Cagley shrugged her shoulders and pulled up a stool to sit down next to her. “I don’t know, but I’ll stay with Elodie until you get back.”

Gunner didn’t move and Elodie wished she could reach out and take his wrist. He stared at the door with a distantly. She felt bad for the door. When he looked at her that way, his attention was overwhelming, but he adored her. Gunner had no care for the door.

“Go,” Ely urged.

He glanced her way. “I’ll be back soon.” He looked at Cagley. “Make sure she’s ready to leave when I get back.” Then he was out the poor door and gone.

Elodie turned her focus to the doctor sitting beside her. “Is everything all right?”

“I don’t know.” She canted her head. “But there’s always something happening. I stopped caring about the small things long ago. If it doesn’t affect my ability to operate my lab or impact my supply chain I let the others decide what the appropriate response is.”

The doctor untied her long brown hair, and for a moment, a silken cascade of dark chocolate locks fell around the woman’s shoulders before it was re-tamed. It was alluring, almost unnervingly so, but inviting and warm. Her aura was maternal. The kind that could be clearly seen from a distance and understood without ever knowing the person at all. Elodie had never seen a more beautiful woman in her life. The female Cyborg’s beauty was so different from the imposing men of her species that she found it strange.

A vixen. I would’ve expected female Cyborgs to be provocative. Not motherly. Cagley looked no older than Elodie herself, yet she was drawn to her like a child to her mother.

“Why are you different?” Elodie blurted out, kicking herself as she said it.

“Different?”

“From the other Cyborgs. You were all made around the same time? The men,” she nudged her head, “look like battle machines.” Elodie briefly bit her tongue. “I don’t mean to offend you, but you make me want to hug you, and the others... They make me want to avert my gaze and walk in the opposite direction.”

Cagley burst out into laughter, and it went on for some time. Elodie blushed.

“I am different, but then again, every Cyborg is. I look the way I look to be inviting, and I’m glad I still am.” She released another soft laugh. “I was designed after the head cybernetic doctor’s wife. She had died years prior during the war. He was an old man by the time I awoke in my vat but he was standing over me, shielding me with a towel away from prying eyes. His wife was kind, he told me, and so he hoped I would be too.”

“And then he sent you off to war? That doesn’t make sense.” Elodie twitched her fingers wishing she could itch more than her palms.

“No, but I wasn’t meant for the front lines. I was pre-programmed with dozens of years of cybernetic research and human medical care. The cybernetics doctors couldn’t go to the battles, so they needed someone to go in their place, and so they made me. It was my job, along with several others created in my division, to take care of the Cyborgs damaged in battle.”

“I guess that makes sense. You’re very beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Cagley smiled.

“Aren’t you afraid of being surrounded by,” Elodie swallowed, “men?”

“The Cyborgs? No. They’re honorable for the most part. They wouldn’t come near me unless I invited them to and vice versa. I wasn’t designed to be helpless either. My strength is not at their level, but I’m still far ahead of a human and no Cyborg would jeopardize their relationship with me, as I’m the only one on station capable of rebuilding them. Why?”

“I was afraid to be around men.” Elodie tilted her head to look back at the door, hoping Gunner would return. When he didn’t, she continued, “Not so much anymore.”

“I’m glad. Even more so that the jackal has made you feel that way. They mate for life, did you know that?”

Elodie looked back at Cagley, eyes wide. “They do?”

Cagley nodded, her eyes twinkling with mirth. “They do. I guess you own Gunner now. Be careful where you point him.”

***

GUNNER ENTERED GHOST City’s top deck solarium, bypassing the entrance to the control room, and headed for the conference room. Without knocking he stormed in and slammed his hands on the glass-alloy table. It didn’t splinter, but it did shake.

Cypher sat heavily in a chair at the front while Breco stood off to the side.

“What’s this about?”

“Nightheart has contacted us, and since he is your boss, and he asked for you personally, we figured you should be here,” Breco mused, flicking something off his sleeve. The Cyborg looked as uncaring as Gunner was irate. It was only the three of them in the large room, but the space felt small.

Gunner clawed his fingers over the glass before straightening. “And to answer my question?” He didn’t even want to be on Ghost City, let alone in a room with several of his brethren. If it weren’t for Elodie, he would be a trillion miles away, waiting and working on ship repairs with her, spending his cycles the way he wanted to. With her.

But her health was more important, and this ‘upgrade’ was long overdue, as far as he was concerned. They also needed to resupply. So their little vacation had a minor detour, finding them stationed at Ghost.

Cypher mumbled, half-growling with his eyes closed. “There’s a problem.”

Gunner turned his attention to him. The man was in a constant state of ‘hibernation’ although that wasn’t really what was happening with him. Cypher just always appeared to be asleep, but that was mostly because he was regularly tied into the Network, monitoring all of the information that flew across Ghost City. Many underestimated the Cybernetic bear, but anyone who pulled him out of his cyber vigil risked serious consequences.

A hologram appeared and Nightheart’s figured filled one of the chairs next to the central table. Bastard looks grim. Gunner felt some small pleasure in knowing his boss was...brooding. Nightheart’s eyes searched the room before he started speaking.

“Gunner.” His eyes landed on him.

“What is it now?” Fuck greetings. The man had a tracker on his ship. The only reason Gunner continued working for the EPED was because it gave him access to most of their after-action and exploratory reports. And spite. Spite had a lot to do with it.

“I have your next mission.”

“And you couldn’t give it to me through Mia, on my ship, where you’re not wasting everyone’s time directly?”

“It concerns everyone present.”

Breco stepped forward. “How so? We’re separate entities. The EPED isn’t supposed to know of our existence.  Just because a couple of Cyborgs worked as your monster hunters doesn’t mean you can lay claim on all of us. Nothing concerns us. We are sovereign.”

“This does concern you and it will result in repercussions that will echo across all of humanity if not dealt with immediately,” Nightheart said. “Zeph has gone rogue.” He leveled another look at Gunner. “Like you did back in the day. The EPED is after him, and the government is itching to get involved. We can’t let that happen.”

Gunner sighed, pulled out a chair, and sat down. “And what do you want me to do? Apprehend him? Retrieve him? Wipe his existence from the universe?”

Gunner could literally feel Breco and Cypher bristle at his words. The room was growing smaller still by the second. A Cyborg threatening to kill another Cyborg...wasn’t standard practice.

“Preferably one of the first two but kill him if you must.”

What a cold-hearted, deliciously unhappy bastard. Gunner smirked. He hated his boss, but who didn’t? But fuck did he really enjoy him sometimes.

“You’re talking about destroying a Cyborg! One of us!” Breco slammed his fist on the table this time. “And you’re bringing us into this? We won’t help you.”

Nightheart turned his cold, dead eyes to Breco. “I’m not asking for your help. I’m telling you to stay out of it. If Zeph asks for sanctuary, deny it.”

“Why the fuck would we do that?” Breco sneered. “What’s the point of having a haven if it’s not to get away from fuckers like you?”

“Because you won’t like what happens if you do.”

“Is that a threat?” Cypher spoke up for the first time, eyes half-open now.

“Absolutely.” Nightheart shrugged.

Gunner interjected before Breco roared some more, overall amused. “What did Zeph do?” He twiddled his thumbs. “Wasn’t he supposed to be with that shark guy? What’s his name? The one you’re trying to recruit to take over Stryker’s position?”

“He abducted a woman.”

“Against her will?” Cypher asked.

“And a child. Against their will,” Nightheart answered.

Gunner sat back and closed his eyes. Fuck.