Page 49 of Linked to the Rogue Cyborg

“You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to stay right here with your little pet Cyborg until he does his duty.”

“Does his duty? What do you mean?” Corinne demanded.

“I mean until he kills you, of course.” Silas held up one hand. In it was a gleaming metallic red chip, about the size and shape of a food cube. “See this?” he asked. “Can you guess what it is? I’ll give you a hint—C-17 was wearing one when he went Rogue and attacked Isla.”

Corinne suddenly felt cold all over.

“Oh my God. Is that…that can’t be…”

“It’s a Kill Chip,” he snarled, giving her an angry grin. “Once I attach it, your pet Cyborg is going to go fucking crazy. And you’re going to be right here—easy prey.”

“You…you can’t do this!” Corinne’s voice shook though she tried to keep it steady. Kill Chips were supposed to be illegal. They drove the Cybernetic Unit they were attached into a crazy, destructive frenzy. As evil as Silas was, she never would have believed he would stoop so low.

“Why not? I did it to Isla’s Cyborg. And once he killed her, I was able to take your job.” Silas gave her an evil grin. “Once I put this on K-lx, I’ll leave you two together for the night. When I come to check on you tomorrow morning to ‘tell you about your promotion and your bonus,’ what do you think I’ll find?”

“You—”

“I’ll tell you what I’ll find,” he snarled, giving her that hateful grin again that had no humor in it. “I’ll find a no-good lazy whore who tried to steal my position twice in pieces. And of course, then your beloved Cyrborg will have to be scrapped. He’s much too dangerous to go on existing and since he’s useless now, we might as well take him apart and see what we can learn from him.”

“No! You bastard!” Corinne threw herself at him, but he was already out the door and she heard it locking behind him. “Let me out! Come back here and let me out!” she shouted, banging on the door, but no one came. Instead, she heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind her.

A feeling of dread filled her. Turning, she saw K-lx had come to life and was now tracking her motion with narrowed eyes. The red cube-shaped kill chip had come to life also. It was stuck to one of his broad metal shoulders, near the top of his arm, and blinking slowly. The light inside it pulsed like an evil heartbeat and the glow from it made the big Cyborg’s eyes look as though they were filled with flames.

Slowly, Corinne backed away from him. Her heart was pounding and her body had broken out in a cold sweat. Oh she was in trouble now—so much trouble. If she wasn’t careful she was going to die.

And she had no idea of how to save herself.

“Oh please,” she begged under her breath as she slowly backed further away. “Oh please, stop him—don’t let it end like this! It will kill him if he ever comes back and realizes what he did to me. Please—don’t let this happen!”

The words flowing from her mouth felt like a desperate prayer, though she had no idea who she was praying to and no hope of her prayers being answered.

K-lx was coming faster now, tracking her every movement. He had his hands outstretched to grab for her and Corinne knew if he got those deadly metal fingers wrapped around her throat, he would squeeze until he crushed her trachea and choked the life out of her.

Can’t let him catch me—but where can I go?

She thought about locking herself in the bathroom, but what good would that do? He could break down the door in no time and then she would be cornered in the tiny room with no exit. But how long could she keep circling her larger living area until he caught her?

“Please!” she breathed again. “Please—someone help me!”

To her surprise, someone answered.

“You are not alone, daughter,” a warm, feminine voice said in her ear.

“Huh?” Corinne looked wildly around as she dodged the big Cyborg, but there was no one there—just a comforting presence as though someone invisible was standing beside her.

“The warrior is not himself but he has not forgotten you entirely,” the voice went on. “I will begin the process of retrieving his memories, but it will be up to you to help him regain them fully.”

“I don’t understand—who are you?” Corinne looked around again as she skipped away from K-lx’s reaching hand. Was she going crazy? Was her fear so extreme she was losing her mind?

“Fear not—your sanity is intact. I am the Mother of All Life and the Kindred are my children. This male was meant for you but it is up to you to take him,” the invisible person who must be the Kindred Goddess K-lx sometimes talked about informed her.

Then the voice stopped talking as mysteriously as it had started, leaving Corinne to wonder what in the hell was going on.

31

K-LX

The enemy—there was an enemy in the room with him. The blinking red light was telling him so. K-lx reached for the evil one, but she kept eluding him. Frustration brought a growl to his lips. She had to die! He must kill the evil one!

---