Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,17
Riella. “Isn’t that less precise?”
“Humanity is all about the differences,” she said with a grin.
“How does it know what I want it to do? Do you have wires to connect it to my nervous system? A chip that you’re going to implant?”
“No chip.” She shook her head. “There are probes on the end that will insert themselves into your flesh and connect to your nervous system. How well they work depends on you.”
“Not the most reassuring recommendation.” He set the leg aside and grabbed the arm. “And you said there were no batteries in them.”
“Charging or power are not required, although I would advise if you get them wet or spend too much time in a damp climate that you grease them like you would skin.”
“Lube my joints. Got it.” He replaced the arm and then looked at her. “You implied I’d be leaving once I got them.”
“I would assume so given you have a home elsewhere.”
“Does this mean you’ve got some wheels I can borrow?”
“Kind of.” She didn’t look at Alfred, who surely glared. He knew they only had one vehicle at the moment. She’d yet to have the argument with him that if they were leaving with the only mode of transportation then it seemed only fair they take Titan part way and drop him closer to his home.
“Guess I should stop procrastinating and try those metal things on for size.”
Alfred gathered the arm and leg. She glanced away as Titan made his way onto the bed. His pride wouldn’t want her offering to help. And it would never occur to Alfred.
“Remove the shirt,” Alfred ordered, placing the leg on the table to wait its turn.
“I just got the shirt on,” Titan grumbled. “Least you could do if you’re going to leave me half naked is turn up the heat. This place is like an ice box.”
“Do you always complain this much?” Riella asked, turning to watch as Alfred brought the arm over the harness.
It slid in, and the straps with their special clips held it in place. She edged closer and lay her hands on the metal. It warmed against her fingers.
“How does it feel?” she asked.
“Like you tied a metal arm to me.” The sarcasm rolled off his tongue.
She stepped away and watched as Alfred tugged down the leg on his pants enough to expose the shorn thigh. The bionic leg fitted nicely against the skin. She ran her fingers over the seam, the metal she touched only slightly warmer than his skin.
His body trembled, and the new leg jiggled.
“Sit up,” Alfred ordered.
“Would it kill you to say please?” Titan grumbled, shifting to a sitting position that used his organic arm only. The bionic one hung by his side.
She moved closer and once again ran her fingers over it, checking it sat snugly and wouldn’t come loose.
“Now what?”
“The painful part,” Alfred remarked.
“I’m sorry, but this will hurt,” she announced, closing her hands around the seam between flesh and metal before activating the limbs.
Unfortunately, she had to also keep him awake. The nerve pathways formed better with an active mind than an unconscious one. Most people screamed when she gave them small modifications.
Not Titan. He gritted his jaw and glared.
Tougher than any man she’d met. After releasing him, the bionics started to mesh. She ran her hands over the new limbs, feeling them heat with the joining, able to see in her mind’s eye all the articulations that made it function.
He endured all the pain as the metal connected to his flesh. When it was all said and done, the only sign of his exertion appeared as a hint of sweat at his brow.
She pointed to his new arm. “Can you lift it?”
He looked at the limb. “No.”
A frown creased her brow. “Not even a bit?”
“What did you expect? A human brain can’t talk to metal. And I don’t have the Deviant gene.” He glared at her as if daring her to admit otherwise.
“Even if you don’t, the bionics in that arm are special.” She ran her fingers along it, teasing the tooled surface.
“Special doesn’t make it magical.”
“Magic isn’t real. This is real,” she said, her fingers stopping on his.
“Real in the sense it exists, but it’s not alive. Metal can’t be flesh.”
“Flesh or metal. Does it really matter what you wear?” She squeezed his hand. A metal finger spasmed and stilled. A good if weak sign.
She stroked down his body, grabbed the foot of his new leg, and rotated it on the ankle. “See if you