Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“Hey, big guy,” she said, taking a step towards him. She kept her hands up and open, letting him know she didn’t have any weapons. The box with the two Linking Stars was in the pocket of her lab coat.
The Rogue Unit took a step towards her. He narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow in a mixture of aggression and confusion. Clearly he was sizing her up—trying to see if she might be a threat.
“I’m not here to hurt you” she said, making her voice soft but firm. “I need you to calm down, okay? Everything is all right—I’m here now. I’ll take care of you.”
His brow furrowed even more and his throat worked as he spoke.
His voice was low and rumbling and the guttural language that came from his lips was some dialect too old for even the lab’s translation software to handle.
Corinne shook her head.
“We don’t understand each other right now. But that’s okay—I can fix that. See?”
Slowly, she withdrew the box from her pocket and opened it for him to see. Inside, the two Linking Stars blinked softly. Lifting one, Corinne placed it on her right temple. There was a slight pricking sensation as the arms of the star sank in and she felt them elongate into tendrils that would reach all the way to her brain. It wasn’t extremely painful but she still wasn’t sure how he would tolerate it. He might go berserk again and try to kill her. Still, she had to try—Linking was the only way to communicate with him.
“Come here.” She beckoned for him—making what she wanted clear with her gestures, even though he couldn’t understand her words.
His eyes narrowed and he took a step towards her.
“That’s right, big guy. Come on—I won’t hurt you. I just want to talk to you.” Corinne beckoned to him again and pointed to the spot in front of her.
The Rogue Unit finally seemed to make a decision. He came over to her, his boots clanking against the lab’s metal floor. Corinne looked up at him as he approached her. Gods, he was an absolute monster! He must be seven feet tall, she estimated and his shoulders were at least twice as broad as her own. His body was heavily muscled everywhere—there wasn’t a spare inch of fat anywhere on his huge frame.
Both his arms and his hands were cybernetic and she could see some wiring in the chords and back of his neck, leading up into the base of his skull. His bare chest and abs were fully human—or fully Kindred, she supposed. His muscular upper body was a sight to behold.
Below the belt, he had more cybernetics but he was also wearing some kind of uniform trousers, so it was difficult to tell what was artificial and what was organic. There was a long bulge in his crotch that made her think the old Cybertronic inventors had believed that it was important to keep the male part of their subject intact.
That was another difference between this unit and the modern ones. The Cyborgs the Company built were never allowed to keep either their sexual equipment or their sex drive. It would have made them much too chaotic to deal with. Comparing the two would be an interesting study for later…if there was a later for her.
Her heart was still pounding, but she did her best not to show her agitation.
“Come here—come down here,” she said firmly, motioning for him. He towered over her—there was no way she could reach him to put the second Linking star on his temple unless he came to her.
The Rogue K-Unit examined her for a long moment as though gauging whether he could trust her or not. Corinne didn’t blame him. Just because she was female, didn’t automatically mean she was trustworthy.
“Hey, come here, big guy.” She made her voice soft and coaxing. “Come here and let me put this on your temple. Then we can talk.” She tapped the star on her own temple and pointed at him.
At last, he nodded, as though understanding her. Corinne expected him to lean down to her. Instead, he surprised her by dropping to one knee. He was so much taller that they were still almost eye-to-eye, even with her standing and him kneeling. He was still giving her that skeptical look, though, as if he was saying, Look, lady—I’ll give you a chance but you’d better not fuck it up.
Which was exactly what she was trying not to do.
“All right—good.”
Corinne nodded encouragingly and lifted the Linking star so he could see it more closely. The outer rays were made of pure, conductive gold and the inner jewel was still dark. It wouldn’t light up until it was attached to him.
“Now, I’m going to put this on you? All right?” she said to the Cyborg.