Chapter Twenty

Hiking behind Wrath was a step up in Rachel’s conditions. He was a little grumpy, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He wasn’t like Weapon, who made it clear that he wanted her dead. She couldn’t count on him being like the Robert she had known before, but he was her closest tie to safety for the moment, and she thought she could get through the night attached to his waist.

The ground here was level, and even though she tripped over a thick-branched brush that tried to block her path, most of it had already been knocked down by the body of the massive cyborg in front of her. She wasn’t going to complain as long as she was alive.

Rachel had considered trying to start a conversation with Wrath. It felt awkward walking through the darkness together without saying anything. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of much to say. She had already tried everything she could imagine to help the cyborg understand, but nothing had worked. The essence of Robert didn’t seem to be in Wrath’s mind anymore. He was only a machine that was determined to get to the next waypoint.

When Wrath stopped unexpectedly, Rachel nearly crashed into his back. She dug her toes into the sand and managed to prevent herself from falling. “What’s wrong?” she whispered. He didn’t answer her.

The cyborg stood like a statue and presented a darker shadow against the night sky. He held his arms stiffly at his sides. Rachel slowly noticed that the soldier was gently swaying back and forth. She cried out as Wrath fell to his knees and collapsed onto the dirt.

The other members of Green Squad clustered around them. Their boots kicked up dust as they pulled Rachel away from Wrath. “What did you do to him?” Weapon snarled angrily. “We’re going to find out, and we’re going to fix him. Don’t bother trying to keep any secrets.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Rachel moaned. “We were walking together, he stopped for a minute, then collapsed.”

The scarred cyborg crouched over Wrath, checking his vital signs and initiating a basic scan of the other cyborg’s operating system. Wrath seemed aware of his surroundings. He grabbed his head weakly as his body began to convulse. Rachel held her breath and wondered if he was going to die in front of her eyes. She didn’t want him to expire without remembering his past life, and she was sure Green Squad would kill her without Wrath’s protection.

Rachel bravely reached out a hand to touch Weapon on his arm. “Do you think you can fix him?”

Weapon ignored her question as he rocked back on his heels. “We’ve all had problems like this before. It will subside soon enough.”

His answer wasn’t good enough for Rachel. There had to be something she could do to help Wrath even if she wasn’t trained to repair him. Anxiously, she shoved her way back through the crowd around the cyborg leader and held her bound hands out toward Weapon. “Cut me loose.”

He eyed her warily, uncertain of her intent, but eventually pulled a knife from his belt. Rachel flinched as the cyborg pulled on the rope around her wrists and sliced it apart, the metal cutting through the restraints like butter.

Rachel reached out to Wrath. She cradled the back of his head with one hand, pulling him gently into her lap. She ran her other hand across his face, letting her fingers caress his features. He might not be the same man she had known, but she still cared for him. Rachel couldn’t let him die alone. The cyborg relaxed under her touch, and she continued to stroke his face.

Clayton’s voice called out of the darkness. “I know how to fix him. The problem is with his biochip.”

Rachel turned around. She could barely make out the shape of Clayton in the night. He was standing up and had one hand on his stomach. Clayton was still in pain from Wrath’s beating. “What’s the matter with the biochip?”

“It’s shorting out after being in the desert for months with no maintenance. The cyborgs were made to be self-sufficient in extreme conditions over a short period. They weren’t designed to operate for a year without servicing.”

“How do you know?” Weapon asked. His question reflecting Rachel’s thoughts. “You said you’ve only been part of Cyborg Sector for a few months. By your admission, you’re no scientist.”

Clayton acknowledged the truth of Weapon’s statement with a nod of his head. “I know. But I spent plenty of time watching the scientists do their jobs during my time with them. I’ve seen biochip degradation before.” He swallowed nervously. The other cyborgs were beginning to listen to him. “When the biochip starts to break down, the neural pathways rerouted during conversion become blocked. One of the side effects of the cyborg conversion process is that neurons quickly regenerate. It doesn’t take long for a cyborg’s brain to compensate for the dead connections.”

“Let’s pretend I don’t know anything about neuroscience. I understand the individual words you’re saying, but I can’t connect them together in my mind. What does that mean?” Weapon was clearly interested in the answer.

“To put it into plain English, it means Wrath is reconnecting with memories Cyborg Sector suppressed.” Clayton’s arrogant demeanor began to reappear. As Rachel’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness, she could make out the haughty countenance of his face. “It can be a messy process...” He trailed off, shaking his head and looking away.

“Don’t start getting shy now, Clayton,” Rachel muttered. The last thing she needed was the only human male around to start injecting drama into her life as if he were a woman. “It’s time for full disclosure.”

“I only saw it happen to one cyborg. The scientists were trying to get him ready for rehabilitation but were having trouble getting him under control. Something had eroded his biochip so much that they were having difficulty getting all of the connections repaired. A different person worked on him every day. They tried various surgeries and therapies, but the subject eventually killed himself.”

Rachel and Green Squad stared at him with open mouths. The idea of a cyborg committing suicide seemed impossible.

“This happened right after my contract started with Cyborg Sector,” Clayton continued. “They said they learned a lot from the experience. I don’t know of any similar cases. Most of the cyborgs made a smooth transition to rehabilitation.”

The reporter was becoming impatient, and she sensed the same apprehension from the members of Green Squad around her. She would have put her hands on her hips and angrily stomped her foot if she hadn’t been holding Wrath’s head. “Thanks for the background. What do we need to do? If there’s a cure for his condition, spit it out.”

Clayton threw his hands in the air helplessly. “There isn’t anything we can do. Are you carrying an operating room in your pocket? We don’t have the right tools or possess the knowledge. Your pet cyborg there is screwed unless you get him into a lab staffed with professionals.”

Rachel felt defeated and sagged forward, pressing her forehead against Wrath’s chest. If Wrath had anything to say about it, he would never return to Cyborg Sector. He had said earlier that he would rather die than turn himself in. It was starting to look like he might get his wish.

The other cyborgs stood silently around her. Rachel noticed that none of them were proposing a course of action. She sensed they were waiting for her to speak. Something had changed in the way they viewed her. Perhaps it was how she cared for Wrath as he suffered, or perhaps it was something else. Either way, they weren’t looking at her solely as a prisoner.

“I guess I’ll have to convince him to change his mind,” she whispered to herself. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes as she pulled herself up from the cyborg’s chest. She tipped her head back to see the stars. They looked like sparkling jewels against the dark sky. They were the same stars she and Robert used to watch a lifetime ago when they lay together in the bed of his truck. On those nights, when she lost herself in the evening sky, she felt like she could have been on another planet.

The cyborgs didn’t argue with her, and she took their silence as a sign that she should continue. Rachel turned her gaze to the soldier in her arms. “I don’t know if you can hear me or not. You’re having problems with your biochip. They probably started long ago. The issues are worse than you realize. Only Cyborg Sector can help you now. I know you don’t want to go back to them, but you have to. Your life depends on it.”

Even though the cyborg lying on the ground didn’t stir, it seemed like his pain had subsided. He wasn’t moaning or holding his head. Wrath lay limp and relaxed in Rachel’s arms with his eyes shut. She didn’t know if this was a positive development or not, but she was grateful that she no longer had to watch him writhe on the ground.

Rachel didn’t know what to do. She looked up at the soldiers surrounding her. She had spent plenty of time being terrified by them, but now they didn’t scare her at all. The expressions on their faces showed sadness and concern, not anger. They were created to kill humans; they wanted their leader to survive. “What should I do?” she asked, eager for anyone to offer guidance. “I don’t know if he can hear me.”

“He can,” Watcher replied slowly. “This has happened to me before. I wasn’t affected to this extent, but I remember that I could hear everything around me. I could even sense the breathing of other cyborgs. The sounds made me want to regain consciousness.”

Rachel nodded appreciatively. If the observation specialist was correct, she had a chance. “Did it hurt?” she asked quietly.

His nod was almost imperceptible in the darkness, and his eyes glittered as they darted among the other cyborgs. “It was more painful than being shot.”

Although she had hoped for a different answer, Rachel wasn’t surprised. No cyborg would react like Wrath did without a good reason.

She decided to speak to him again. “Please, Wrath.” The strange name made her tongue feel thick, but she pushed on. “You’ve got to wake up so we can help you. You have to get back to civilization, but I can’t carry you. Come back to us. Come back to me so we can fix you together.”

Wrath’s left hand lay sprawled in the sand. Rachel gently picked it up and held it against her chest, marveling at the thickness and strength of his fingers. His skin felt rough from the lack of lotion in the desert, but there was still warmth inside his body. Wrath was a cyborg who should not be brought down by something as minor as a biochip. Rachel could never again have the Robert Williams she knew before, but she had to do everything she could to save this version of him.

Rachel’s muscles became tense as a heavy hand descended upon her shoulder. She was prepared for one of the Green Squad members to drag her away from Wrath. Someone might say she was nothing more than a human and that she had no right to fuss over a cyborg.

But the hand stayed on her. The weight felt heavier when another joined it. A third hand clamped down on her, and more. Finally, she understood. The cyborgs stood behind her and wanted her to be successful. Even though Green Squad had fought for their independence, they knew the time for running was over.