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)
“No!” Corinne gasped as the big K-Unit crumpled to the ground. She rushed to him but K-lx was out. Gathering his head into her lap she glared angrily at Silas. “Do you know what you’ve done? You might have just fried all his circuits beyond repair! You probably wiped his memories too!”
She couldn’t believe this—using an EMP weapon on a Cybernetic Unit was strictly against Company policy. The likelihood of permanent damage to expensive equipment was much too high to risk it.
But Silas only sneered at her.
“It’s a good thing if I wiped his memories—he was getting entirely too attached to you. You know, what a Cyborg of this size and strength needs is a Handler who understands him. One who can control him completely and competently.”
Corinne stared at him in surprise.
“You think you can be his new Handler if you can get rid of his memories of me? Forget it, Silas—a K-Unit can’t function without a female Handler.”
“We’ll just see about that.” And reaching down, he grabbed the Linking Star from her temple and ripped it off.
Corinne gasped and put a hand to the side of her head. It felt like someone had just cut off one of her limbs. The shock of severing the Link was so painful she couldn’t think. She could only feel the loss of where the big Cyborg had been in her mind for so long.
As she was still reeling, trying to deal with the mental shock of the abrupt severing, Silas ripped off K-lx’s Linking Star as well and then the guards—with the help of an anti-gravity hammock—hauled the big Cyborg away.
Corinne tried to protest, but she was still in shock. De-Linking was supposed to be a gradual process which took place over several days under controlled settings—if it took place at all. The feeling of overwhelming loss she was experiencing made her feel like K-lx had died.
And maybe he did, she thought bleakly. If the electromagnetic pulse had wiped her completely out of his memory, it would be the same as a kind of death because he wouldn’t know her anymore.
While she was still trying to process the cruelty of the abrupt loss, Silas hauled her to her feet and shoved a blaster—a regular one this time—into her ribs.
“Come on, Virelle—we’re going back to the station,” he snarled. “And then I’ll decide what to do with you.”
30
CORINNE
The ride back to the station and the next two weeks were miserable. Corinne was locked in her room, unable to see K-lx or to find out if he was all right. Her interface had been taken away so there was no way to call for help or to plead her case to the Company. She was just stuck there in her room with the door locked. If it hadn’t been for her replicator, which was able to make very simple food and drinks, she would have starved to death.
Not that she felt like eating—she was too distraught. She paced back and forth endlessly, feeling like someone she loved had died suddenly. The horrible sensation of grief never left her and in fact, as the days went on, it grew.
I did love him, she admitted to herself, at last. And he loved me. I let myself be blinded by the fact that he’s part metal—I thought we could never really be together. But I was wrong. If only I could have another chance I’d tell him how I feel.
Her mind went in circles, dissecting what had happened. If only they could have gotten away! Maybe if they had left the lab an hour earlier they could have gotten into the hopper and made a run for it…
But it was too late for regrets now. The worst had happened and she was stuck waiting to hear if there was any news at all. No one came to her locked door to tell her anything. Even Jose seemed to have forgotten her.
Silas had taken the drive with the lab information and had presumably presented it to the Company as his own, but she barely cared about that. She was too upset…grieving the loss of the male she hadn’t known she loved until it was too late.
Then at last, one night after she’d been pacing restlessly for hours, the door to her room slid open and Silas stepped inside…followed by K-lx.
“K-lx! Are you all right?” She rushed up to him eagerly, bypassing Silas.
“You can save your breath—he’s useless.” Silas sounded disgruntled. “His memories have been wiped and he doesn’t do anything but stand there, no matter what you tell him.”
“You’re lying—he’s still in there somewhere. He must be!” Corinne snapped.
But one look at the big Cyborg’s emotionless face revealed that Silas was telling the truth and all her worst fears were true. The big K-Unit looked at her with no recognition at all, just a blank look in his pale blue eyes. She wished she was still Linked with him so she could tell what he was feeling. But from the blank stare he was giving her, that was absolutely nothing.