Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,30
can drive.”
“With what? You don’t even have a tongue.” Titan insulted even as he managed to get to Alfred and scoop him in one hand. It took all his concentration to make it back to Burton and sit heavily in a seat.
“Put me on the dash.”
“Bossy fucker.” He still tried to get over the fact that a metal skull with jewel-toned eyes spoke to him. How it had ever managed to project such an authentic hologram he didn’t know. He set the skull on the dash, and Alfred went quiet.
“Um, hello?” Titan leaned against the seat and closed his eyes.
“Quiet. I’m working,” the head said.
“How?” Even as he queried, the vehicle roared to life and lights went on inside the tank.
“My wireless signal capacity was not damaged.”
“Meaning?”
“Are you seriously that dense? If it has an electronic control, then I can handle it. Which is a good thing. I can drive while you sleep.”
“I am not sleeping,” Titan said on a giant yawn.
“Sure you’re not.”
The next time Titan woke, he lay on the floor, wet with sweat and trembling. He moaned, closed his eyes, and woke again to his body arching and cramping, gasping for breath. He reared and slammed back down hard enough that his head bounced. The next time he woke, the worst had passed.
He wasn’t shivering anymore, although he did ache. He blinked at the low ceiling of the tank and realized the rumble meant they were still moving.
“Where are we?” he grumbled, pushing himself to a seated position.
“Evading Enclave guards patrolling the tunnels at the moment.”
The reply woke him up further. He shoved to his feet too quickly and smacked his head. “Fuck.” He dropped into the driver seat and noticed Alfred still sitting on the console. “What happened?”
“You almost died.”
“I feel it.” He felt hollowed out. And hungry. But first, he dug for some liquids to replenish. As he chugged, Alfred gave a brief summary.
“I’ve put us on autopilot in between hiding spots in the tunnels. Unfortunately, sitting in one place for too long results in curiosity by the locals.”
“People?”
“Not anymore,” was Alfred’s ominous reply.
“What’s our destination?”
“You tell me.”
“Don’t you want to get back to your maker?” It was bitterly spoken.
“Riella will remake me when she gets a chance.”
The concept had him blinking. “But it won’t be you, because you are sitting in front of me.”
“The shell isn’t what counts but the cognition programmed into it.”
“How long can you survive like this?”
Alfred didn’t show any emotion as he said, “Longer than would be possible if anyone else had created me.”
Titan plucked the head from the dash and put it on the seat. “My turn to drive.” He needed to feel useful. Only it wasn’t long before he was nodding in his seat.
When he came to, it was to discover them parked, the engine silent. Had they run out of fuel? He sat up.
“Did you have a good nap?” Alfred said. “Next time you decide to drive and go to sleep, you might want to ensure someone else takes over first. We almost crashed.”
“We didn’t, though.”
“Only because I was paying attention.”
“Fuck you.” He was in no mood for a back-talking robot, even one that was right.
“Aren’t you feisty.”
“Says the head. Keep talking and see what happens. Don’t forget, I could toss you from the car right now, and then what would you do?”
“You’re just angry because Riella never explained who she truly was.”
“I’m angry she never said you weren’t real either.” He hated that he actually thought she might need protecting. Felt stupid for not realizing he was kissing the enemy. Felt ashamed that, even now, the memory of their intimacy together affected him.
“As if you couldn’t guess what I am. Riella always complains I’m too unemotional.”
“Just thought you were a dick,” he grumbled.
“I was. Which is why it’s surprising she chooses to make me the same over and over.”
“You’ve been destroyed before?” Titan asked.
“Many times. Although this body was my longest-lasting one thus far.”
“She made you. How?”
“Haven’t you guessed yet? It’s her gift. Metallurgy but on a psionic level.”
“What’s this psionic shit? You mean she’s got magic?”
“Magic might be what the lower citizens or the uneducated call it, but it is merely the proper result of an active Deviant gene,” Alfred lectured.
“A Deviant? How is it possible she’s not been banished then?”
“What a dense human you are. They didn’t destroy her because she’s the kind of Deviant they like of course. Or haven’t you yet figured it out? The Enclave aren’t like other citizens. They have