***

Later that night, Netto held Rylie against him in bed. She curled up under his arm and burrowed into his side. It was too hot with his body heat so they had left the window wide open.

Netto couldn't sleep, nor did he want to. There was too much on his mind. He was afraid to sleep in case he was already dreaming. He didn’t want to wake up and find himself back in Ghost, alone, working as a mercenary or hired help to his brethren.

After he sent his answer to the EPED and told him that he would remain on Kepler, they had counter-offered with a local guardianship. He had brought it up to Rylie and although her excitement for the position eased him, he wasn't sure if he would take it.

To be a part of the panel of officials who oversaw the Kepler world would give him the power that he needed to protect what was his. He gently squeezed Rylie's arm.

It would also give them the power to ensure the future for the homesteads and a better future for the colony.

Now that Fert Tech had been demolished and its officials waited on transport to earth, it would be on his shoulders to mitigate the coming food crisis. The stores were large—which was a relief—but it would not last a Kepler year, and a Kepler year was longer than an Earthian year. Even if it was merely by a few short weeks.

Netto was lost in his thoughts about the future, enveloped in Rylie's personal sanctuary and looking out of place in her room, when he felt Zeph's ship power on.

Netto frowned and reconnected with the vessel, all of his previous musings quickly forgotten.

Has there been a change of plans? He waited for an answer that did not come. Netto sat up in bed and gently dislodged himself from Rylie, careful not to wake her. He walked toward the window, his feet not making a sound.

The backlights of the ship zipped on and the sound of the thrusters filled the air. He heard Rylie groan behind him as sleep left her.

His partner was leaving and he wasn't scheduled to leave until the next evening. Netto wasn't worried about it; he knew Zeph had been on edge since the very first day of this mission. The cyborg probably deemed himself okay to depart and Netto wouldn't hold against him. They had said their goodbyes in any way that a Cyborg would. With a nod and an inventory of the remaining materials.

“What's happening?” Rylie came up beside him.

“Zeph’s leaving.” He only wondered if his partner had brought on the Fert Tech employees after dinner. He was due to deliver them, as he was the only transport currently scheduled to go back to earth.

“I'm not entirely unhappy about that,” Rylie laughed softly next to him. “He didn't seem too thrilled that Janet no longer wanted him.”

Netto's eyes flickered away from the slowly ascending ship and back toward Rylie. “They had a fight?”

“I don't know,” she shrugged. “It’s what Janet does and always has. I could've told him from day one but it seemed he was the same way.” Netto mused it over but it didn't stop the shift of his metal within his chest. There was a sense of unease building within him, something wasn't right and yet everything did feel perfect in his world.

Almost perfect. He put his arm around Rylie and tugged her into his side as the ocean breeze blew through the window. They watched in silence as the ship ascended into the air, the noise loud enough to at least wake up the light sleepers before it was gone and vanished into a speck in the sky. A fake star before even that was gone too.

It was no longer his job to look after Zeph. Netto no longer worked for the EPED. And the mission was done.

“Then that settles it.” Rylie wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed him. “Guess you're stuck here, with me. I hope you don't regret it,” she laughed against his side, the sound muffled but he felt it to his core.

“Never,” he said.

“Never?”

He grinned down at her, showing his full rows of teeth, but it was dark and she wasn't looking up at him.

“Only...” He waited for her to stiffen and strengthen her hold on him before he finished. “We’ll need a bigger bed and our own private space.”

Rylie murmured in agreeance.

He picked her up and brought her back to the bed that they had shared. It smelled like her. It made him want to cocoon and stay in it with Rylie forever, never leaving the comfort of the room behind. He wanted to lose himself in her and he didn't want to think about what tomorrow would bring. His quiet connection to Zeph's ship fizzled and died in his head.

There was a long night ahead of them and he smiled as he found his own sleep in her arms.

***

THE NEXT MORNING CAME too soon and he knew it not for the hazy light that was seeping through the open window, but for the telltale fog that had moved up from the shore and pressed into the house. But it wasn't that what woke him. It was the rush of feet downstairs.

Netto kissed the top of Rylie's head and smiled down at her seeing their limbs entangled. She woke with a grumble, peeling herself away from his embrace. He watched silently as sleep fled her eyes and she was alert within moments. And before he could even say good morning, she had already begun to dress for the day. Luckily, he hadn’t missed the view. Netto could see in the dark, after all.

He sat up on the bed and rested his elbows on his knees as his feet hit the ground. Getting a new bed was a priority as he was sure this one wouldn't last much longer with his weight on top of it.

“Busy?”

“I always get up at the crack of dawn it's the best time of day to go out onto the ocean.”

“And is that what you’re doing today?” he asked, amused.

Rylie stopped what she was doing canted her head. “No,” she said slowly as if a realization had come back to her. “But I will work on the repairs of the watership.” She smiled and when she moved closer, he dragged her into his arms.

“I'll join you.” He kissed the hard groove between her breasts as she leaned into his embrace.

“Have you thought about the job offer?”

“Some, I'm not sure yet.”

Rylie guffawed. “Unsure? Can a Cyborg be unsure?” she teased and pulled away.

“We are still human even if our teeth and skin say otherwise.” There was a hard knock on the door and Rylie opened it to reveal her mother. Sheryl glanced at him, momentarily struck by the fact that Netto was actually in Rylie's room and he smiled back at her. He supposed it was a shock on several different levels but the woman righted herself a moment later in turned to her daughter.

“Have you seen your sister?”

“No? Not since last night. Why?”

“Lily wasn’t in her room this morning.”

“She's probably down at the docks, I'm sure she woke up before the rest of us like she usually does and went down to the shore.” Sheryl sighed but nodded. “I called for her out there to get an answer. Janet’s still asleep and so is your dad. I hate to think that she wandered off looking for a Cyborg to torment.”

Sheryl looked at him again.

“I'll help you look for her.” Netto rose from the bed and followed the women downstairs.

Netto focused and tried to find the signature of a little girl as the others called out to her. They searched the interior of the house and the platforms in the back while he searched the bluff and the beach. He had a feeling as his feet sunk into the sand that Lily wasn’t in here.

He stood there staring out at the receding mist, unsure on how to proceed. He could hear the yells behind him becoming more and more frantic.

Netto turned himself off and focused on his surroundings. There were no fresh footprints on the beach, at least not the size of a little girl’s. It was reassuring that she had not wandered into the ocean. The only people who came up in the periphery of his radar were those that he had already accounted for.

His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. There was no scent of blood or of a child’s fear.

What he did hear was Sheryl scream as Lily remained missing. He went back up the bluff and headed straight for her. What had begun as a quiet morning and his life beginning fresh with Rylie was quickly becoming a nightmare.

“She's not here,” he urged and put a hand on Sheryl’s shoulder. He could smell the sweat and the hysterical tears on the edge of her eyelashes. Rylie came up running from the side.

“I can't find her!”

“Lily! Lily!” Rylie screamed again, turning in a circle.

“She's not here,” Netto repeated. “She hasn't been here for a few hours. There's no trail of her. At least nothing recent.”

Both women looked at him with the same horrified expression. He shook his head.

“What do you mean she's not here? I put her to bed last night. She had to be here!”

“How can this happen? Oh god...” He met Rylie's eyes as her face went slack with disbelief. “Oh no.” Her heart raced and it sounded like a drum in his ears. She turned on her heel and ran for the house.

“Oh god, what? What Rylie?” Sheryl yelled after her, her voice shrill. Quinten strode out of the house just as Rylie opened the door and ran into him. Netto moved forward and righted him as Rylie vanished inside. He followed her into the house.

Netto balled his fists and waited for the inevitable. He already knew what she was going to find and yet he hoped this was all a cruel joke. He closed his eyes and steeled his nerves, already knowing what he had to do.

He failed his mission. He sent a red alert to the EPED. The smell of lavender was no longer thick in the air.

“Janet's gone! Both of them are gone!”

Zeph was gone as well.

He had gone rogue.

***

JANET CURLED UP UNDER the blanket, bringing her knees to her chest, and hoping she would fall back under before she truly woke up.

One hundred fish, ninety-nine fish, ninety-eight fish... She shivered after the third fish and gave up. It was unusually cold in her room, especially for the time of year. Kepler had mild temperatures where she lived but that didn't stop the occasional cool breeze coming from the ocean.

Janet grumbled and sighed into her blanket. It was either stay and be cold and uncomfortable or get up and change the thermostat.

Several minutes went by as she hoped sleep would find her again and that she wouldn’t have to make a decision but when it didn't she braced herself to rush to the console.

Janet got up and walked right into a wall.

“Ech!” she yelped as she bent over and flailed her arm about in confusion. “What the?”

Her palms slapped against the thing she had run into. It didn't feel like the stucco and wood of her family's home but of cold plastic and metal.

She twisted around and blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. “Who's there?” She didn't know why she asked it but she didn't know where she was. This isn't my room.

She dropped down into an aggressive stance and grappled about, trying to find her bearings.

“Hello?” She gulped and murmured under her breath, unsure whether or not she wanted to scream or to remain silent.

Janet wasn't worried, yet. This wouldn't be the first time she woke up in an unknown place and in an unknown bed. But as she thought of the events of the night before, her confusion subtly digressed into concern.

She had been with her family the night before, eating dinner. There was no way she could be in another man's room. This wasn't a one night stand.

Janet straightened her spine and the chill of the goosebumps that prickled her skin heated up until she was flush with fear. The lights flickered on. At first, she didn't realize it, thinking her eyes had finally dilated but they hadn't; instead, the light pulsed on so slowly that it was like a gauzy curtain revealing her surroundings.

She looked around and found herself in a cold, unfeeling cabin. It had the markings of advanced technology. The walls were clean and smooth and curved at the corners, and the bedding and fabrics were light grey. It was bigger than her own room and was divided into two parts.

She quietly stepped further into the space to look up the three stairs that led into the second half, and beyond was a lounge and bar with a myriad of screens and consoles. All powered off. Not one thing gave off light in the room.

There were empty glass enclosures embedded into the walls and shelves that lined the walls, just as empty.

Janet hugged herself, her body tense from shock. Upset from confusion. She licked the dryness from her lips and sniffled.

“Hello?” she called out again, her voice a little higher this time. Her anger had begun to take place as her initial confusion when away. “What the hell?” She turned around and grabbed the blanket off the bed putting it around her shoulders. “What the hell!” Janet yelled louder. She rushed throughout the room and looked for a weapon but found none.

“I'm going to kill you whoever you are. I am going to kill you,” she screamed. The sound of it rang through the room and echoed like hollow pipes in the empty space.

“I'm the last person you should've taken. The last,” she threatened. Her anger became rage and she was ready to commit murder. “The last!” Janet screamed again at the top of her lungs.

When there was no answer, she proceeded to go about the room breaking whatever she could. There was nothing inside the cabin but the furniture; even the drawers were empty. But that didn't stop her from tearing at the upholstery, the bedding, and slamming her blanket-covered wrists against the glass consoles.

The crack of glass was music to her ears.

She tried to lift the table in the center of the lounge but it remained bolted to the floor and she continued to scream, “I'm not going to be easy! I'm going to kill you. I'm going to fucking kill you all.” But all of her threats fell on deaf ears.

She found the lavatory and turned on all the faucets and watched the water overflow onto the floor, only to get sucked up into vents along the corners.

Her frustration grew while her angry energy waned.

Janet was satisfied in the small amount of destruction she was able to create. It made her feel slightly more in control of whatever situation that she currently was in. At least I'm not cold anymore. After a short break, she’d muster enough energy for a second go at it.

She backed up into a corner and closed her eyes when a sound filtered through the room.

“Are you done?” The voice was angry and it made her feel a little bit better.

But she knew that voice. She knew it well.

“I'm going to kill you, Zeph,” Janet shrieked, readying for a fight.