to remove them…or they might not. They might be concerned with other issues.”
Like uncovering whether or not Medic Febris had been working alone.
When they determined her friend hadn’t been acting on her own, that she had been partnered with her, they would shift their focus to capturing and killing her. Removing Valor’s limbs might be a lower priority for them.
And she wanted to make him whole before she died. He would be one more being helped, healed. The act would have made Medic Anahit, her mentor, proud. It would offset some of the damage Illona’s temporarily alignment with the Humanoid Alliance had caused.
Her lifespan would have meant something.
She picked up Valor’s right arm. “I should scan this first, ensure—”
“Three humans are heading toward the chamber.” Valor looked toward the door. “They’re coming for you. You have to prepare for that confrontation, not reattach my limbs.”
There was nothing she could do to prepare for that confrontation. She couldn’t hide. The sleeping support wouldn’t shield her form from view.
The chamber had been designed so beings couldn’t conceal their presence.
And she couldn’t fight three foes. “They could be coming for you.”
Reattaching Valor’s limbs might give him a chance against them. She skipped the scans, the examination, other safety precautions, and pushed the arm into the socket. It snapped together. Energy coursed along his circuits, lighting the limb.
“I feel my arm.” His tone held marvel. He curled his fingers and splayed them. “Medic Illona, you should—”
“I should attach your other arm.” She rushed to the other side of the E Model. “You’re right about that.” She picked up that limb. It was as heavy as the first one. “If you have to make a choice, choose yourself. Be free. Take Malice with you. Escape this place and—”
The door opened.
“Put down the arm, Medic.” Picton’s voice grated along her spine.
She shoved the arm into its socket. It clicked. She turned around.
The guard stood in front of the door. Nelson, one of his cronies, was positioned to his left. That male had his gun drawn, was aiming it at the cyborg.
Bonin must have been the third human. He would be waiting in the hallway, ready to re-open the door when their horrid mission was completed.
They must be seeking to decommission Valor.
“Don’t damage it.” She spread out her arms, seeking to protect the cyborg. “I need the machine to be fully functional for my next experiment.”
“Stun the machine.” Picton issued that order.
Nelson pressed the trigger.
Her form was too slight to block the bolt of energy. It passed her.
Valor jerked and then went completely still.
He wouldn’t, couldn’t, help her safeguard him. Illona slipped her hands in her pockets. She was on her own, would fight to the death to keep the E Model, Malice’s friend, alive.
“Your experiments are over, cunt.” Picton sneered at her. “We’re not damaging the machine. Yet.” He drew his reprimand stick, his torture tool of choice. “We’re damaging you.”
Valor had been correct. She was the being in danger.
Her fingers curled around the laser scalpel. “That’s not very wise of you, Picton.” She sniffed, feigned a coolness she didn’t feel. “The Humanoid Alliance—”
“The Humanoid Alliance gave us that order, you uppity idiot.” The guard smirked. “They said to kill you, but they didn’t say how quickly.” He shifted his hold on the reprimand stick. There were specks of dried blood on the metal. “I’m going to make you hurt.”
This was it—the end of her. Illona lifted her chin. She would soon be dead.
There was movement at the edge of her vision. Valor was dragging himself along the sleeping support by his completely mechanical fingertips.
Stunning only impacted a cyborg’s organics, and his arms and legs were no longer covered with flesh and skin. If he lowered his torso until those sockets touched his legs, he could reattach them.
She edged away from the cyborg, seeking to distract the guards from his activities. “And what will they tell you to do after that, Picton—decommission the machines?”
The male blinked. His mouth opened and closed, opened and closed.
Fuck. They did plan to kill Malice and Valor.
She hadn’t felt any fear for herself, for her own fate. Death had been progressing toward her at a head-spinning rate since she’d deactivated the transmission blocker. She’d accepted the end, had embraced it.
But the prospect of her cyborg dying filled her with terror. She had to save him, save his friend.
“Once you kill me and decommission the machines, you’ll only have the Resurrected to guard.” She wielded her mind, her ability to talk, to