Containing Malice (Rebel Cyborgs #1) - Cynthia Sax Page 0,24

She wandered around the space. There weren’t many private items within it. She’d lost all of those when the Humanoid Alliance captured her. Images of now-dead friends and deceased family members were stored only in her brain. They would cease to exist when she died.

She wouldn’t be forgotten. Cyborgs remembered everything. She would live in Malice’s processors. Her final moments and his willingness to see the truth would decide whether she was portrayed as a purely evil being or a female who had tried her best in a horrible situation.

Illona took one final look around her and exited her chambers.

Part of her had expected chaos and pandemonium over the deactivation of the transmission blocker. She thought there would be guards rushing along the hallways with their reprimand sticks drawn. Perhaps two or three of the males would be waiting outside her door.

The hallways were quiet, devoid of most life. Had the transmission blocker been disabled? Had they succeeded in that mission? Or was there no commotion because they’d failed to do anything, failed to help the cyborgs?

Needing to uncover the answers to those questions, she hurried in the direction of Malice’s chamber, anxious to see him, hoping she could detect the truth in the warrior’s blue eyes.

She spotted Medic Febris as soon as she entered the Resurrected’s stretch of hallway.

The knots in the pit of Illona’s stomach loosened slightly. Her friend was still alive.

Medic Febris leaned against one of the resurrection project’s portals, with her forehead pressed against the clear wall. Her form shuddered as her test subjects flung themselves against the barrier again and again. Blood dripped down her face. Her lips moved.

What was her friend doing?

Illona lowered her head and frowned at the tiled floor, feigning concentration on an imaginary problem. As she walked, she drifted toward the other medic.

“Goodbye.” Medic Febris’ voice became audible. “Goodbye.” Her tone was cheery. “I wish I could take you with me.” Her words were slurred. “But I can’t do that. Goodbye.”

Stars. Illona sucked back the emotion rising within her and angled her body toward her friend’s.

Their shoulders smacked together.

“Sorry.” She grasped the female in a fervent hug, acting as though she was steadying her.

“Illona.” Medic Febris grinned her much-adored grin at her. Her friend’s gaze was unfocused. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m going outside for a moment.”

“Don’t do that.” Illona whispered that plea into the female’s right ear, holding her tight. She couldn’t leave the lab. That would trigger the implant in her chin, cause it to explode. “Please don’t do that.”

“I have to do this, silly.” Her friend’s laugh held a hint of hysteria in it. “I thought they would detonate it, but they didn’t, and I can’t endure this any longer.” Despair, sadness, fear shadowed her face for one fleeting heartbeat. “And I don’t have to do that.” The darkness dispersed, her smile returning. “It is a great planet rotation for a walk.”

It was a great planet rotation to die.

Illona understood how her friend felt. Fuck, how she understood. The waiting for the end was another form of torture, one any rational being would try to escape.

And there was only one way for her, for Medic Febris, to accomplish that feat.

“Then take a walk.” She forced herself to let go of her friend.

“Yes, I’ll take a walk.” Medic Febris nodded a little too vigorously. “I need to get some fresh air.” Her expression was back to its former brilliance. “Do you want to come with me?”

Did she want to die with her friend?

It was tempting. She wouldn’t be alone at the end. They could walk into the unknown together.

But she had more to do, a remote access chip to relay to a cyborg, an injection to make. “I can’t come with you right now.” Illona pushed that reply past a lump of emotion in her throat. “My work here isn’t yet done.”

“Then hurry up, silly, and finish your work.” Medic Febris squeezed her hands. “I’ll be waiting for you outside.”

Illona should walk away. The monitoring equipment attached to the ceilings were active. The Humanoid Alliance was watching them.

But she couldn’t move. “You’re a great medic, Febris.” She wanted to tell her that one last time.

“I tried my best.” Her friend’s smile was blindingly bright. “That’s all we can do.”

She strolled toward the exterior door.

“Join me soon.” Medic Febris waved one of her hands, not looking back at her.

Her gait was loose. She hummed a happy tune, one Illona couldn’t place.

Illona watched her. She knew what her friend planned to