Honored (Book 2 of the In Search of Honor series)

Dan didn’t go very far down the hall before coming to a halt, and the wall in front of him opened to reveal a mover. Of course we were taking one of these contraptions. I rolled in and pulled the straps from the wall to strap myself in.

Dan hovered near me, as if waiting for me to ask for assistance. “Don’t worry, I’m able to strap myself in.”

He nodded and pulled down the seat next to me. He efficiently strapped himself in as if he’d done this many times, and I found myself wondering how many times had he ridden on a mover?

Before I could voice my thoughts, the mover whisked us off to its destination, and I thought of riding it with Lok. Lok used voice commands with the mover, but Dan seemed to be able to control it without saying anything. “How are you controlling the mover? Lok had to use voice commands.”

Dan looked at me, blinked a couple times, and then spoke, “Lok likes to use methods that remind him of being human. He locks himself out of the cyborg system unless he has to access it, and he mostly only has antiquated enhancements he developed himself. Stubborn old man. He was the one who originally invented the cyborg tech and then had the surgeon implant it in himself.”

“Do you ever cut yourself off from the cyborg system?” I asked, not sure of what exactly I was even asking about.

He stared at me blankly, “No. Why would I?”

“What exactly is this system?” I didn’t really care about the answer, but I felt like our conversation was pushing off my fears.

“It’s what cyborgs are connected to. It allows us to download any information we need at a moment’s notice, talk to or message any cyborg without having to speak out loud or send a message, and interface with any technology in the Wall without having to use troublesome vocal commands.” He sounded like he was reading off a script for his answer.

It sounded - the word escaped my mind. Was it creepy? Maybe. Invasive might be a better word. As if the other cyborgs were encroaching on his mind. But it did seem to make things easier for him. He almost always had the answers for everything, and when he didn’t it seemed to only be because I couldn’t understand the original answer.

The mover came to a stop, straining me against the harness holding me against the wall and my chair.

We both unbuckled, and Dan led the way out of the mover and to the other side of the hall. He stopped, looking back at me, “This is the domain of Meliana, current programmer of cyborgs.” He looked down at the ground, “If you don’t want to go through with this, you don’t have to. This is entirely your prerogative.”

I smiled at him, reached forward and took his hand, “I’m just a little nervous, but I’ll be fine. Let’s go in.”

He looked up, blinked, and nodded. “Ok.”

The door slid open into a sterile medical room much like what I’d woken up in in the past.

“You’re here!” A pale woman with short white hair cute at chin length and the telling red eyes of the Wall people was smiling at me.

“Yes,” I shrugged.

“I’ve been working on your code since Dan told my assistant that you’d chosen to join the cyborg ranks.” She waved her hand toward a red eyed pixie cut white haired woman standing statue still next to a desk with a strange lit up rectangle on it.

Was this other woman a cyberperson or a normal wall person? From her demeanor, I would assume cyborg, but I’d also seen guards stand stock still like that. It didn’t feel right to ask though, so I simply nodded. “I have a request for my code.”

The woman’s eyes lit up, “Dan didn’t mention that.”

Next to me Dan shifted. He probably wouldn’t like my request. “I want the same protection requirement, except I want to be focused on protecting him.”

“What!? No!” Dan exclaimed next to me. “It would cause an infinite loop!”

Meliana’s smile grew, “Oh how much fun!”

“But -” Dan tried to interject.

Meliana dismissed him with a wave, “No but’s. You just don’t like it because of your code. If she’s protecting you, you can’t protect her. You are right that with the current code it would cause a loop, but that’s easy to fix. I’ll just implement a counter and if you hit three in the loop, the current person wins. It means you will always know who will win going into such a loop, but it will also be fun because the first person to speak up will always lose that way!”

All of this talk went way over my head. I understood that code controlled parts of behavior, but whatever they were discussing seemed like a foregin language.

Dan’s hand gripped my shoulder. “Why not just make the counter hit one then? With three you will be forcing use to go through unnecessary steps to hit the same conclusion.”

“But where is the fun in that? A little looping will seem like a natural argument between a couple to casual observers, and that is what people will assume you are with you demands to protect each other. My one and only cyborg couple in existence. Who would have thought that old emotions codified as logic would make you seem so much more human than your counterparts?” She laughed.

I understood one thing now, this woman did not believe cyborgs were people anymore.

“But that’s perfect,” she continued. “I’m so curious to see how your code will adapt and change.”

She skipped over to the rectangle the assistant was standing next to. “Dan, lay your future cyborg partner down on the bed. We should go ahead and get started with surgery if we want to be on schedule.

Without a word, Dan lifted me up out of the chair and carried me toward the bed. His eyes stared blankly ahead as if he was not looking at his surroundings.

I remembered Dan telling me words he said as his last moments as a human. “Can I have a moment with Dan, my last moments as a human?” I asked as Dan laid me on the bed in the middle of the room.

“Sure,” she dismissed my request like it didn’t matter. “Have your moment while we prepare.”

I looked up at Dan who was staring blankly into the distance next to me, “Dan, can you lock yourself out of the cyborg system until they start whatever they are doing?”

He blinked and then looked down at me, and his hand grabbed mine, “Please don’t go through with having the same protection code. I made it my task to protect you.”

“And now I will protect you in return. What’s done is done. Will you tell me your last line as a human again?”

“Liv, I’m sorry. I wana see this to the end with ya, but I’m hooked up to all these things, and this is the only way. I’m sort of with ya, I think. I don’t quite understand what they’re telling me, but I wana do everything I can to protect ya and help ya. I begged them to make sure that if I wasn’t myself, I would still be there for ya in whatever way I can. I love ya Liv. I love ya.” The desperation came through his voice as he said it exactly the same way he originally said it.

His old words made me feel calmer. I twined my fingers through his. “Can you always remember what I am about to say as well?”

He nodded; his body leaning over me, close to me.

“I love you Dan.” I reached up and gently touched his face. “No matter what happens and who we become, I am certain we will be there for each other.”

His face got close to mine, and he kissed me, his lips soft against my own for just a second.

I stared up in his eyes, eyes devoid of the little lights I normally saw and all I could see were his brown eyes looking into my own eyes.

“I thought cyborgs don’t feel emotion,” I whispered.

“We don’t. This was the last part of the original message from myself, but previously I was unwilling to confuse you with my old desire. It seemed appropriate now.”

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. He pulled me close, and I felt content that he was here with me now.

A hand pulled one of my arms away and I felt a pinch in my hand. I looked over, and I could see a man letting go of a tube thing dangling from my hand. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

Dan let go of me, but kept his hold on my non-tethered hand. “I’ll be here till you fall asleep,” he told me while running his hand through my hair.

A mask was put over my face, and he leaned in, his lips tickled my ear, and whispered, “I love you too, and I’ll be here when you wake.”