Page 37 of A Monster's Light
She looked at me quizzically, taking a sip of her tea before putting it carefully into the easily accessible holder next to the bed. “What’s wrong?”
I hesitated, not wanting to rush her.
“Wait. Lemme think.” Her face lit up. “I have to accept the nest, don’t I? Like, announce it.” She cleared her throat. “This nest is wonderful. You thought of everything. There’s fresh mountain water. It’s got climate control. There are no giant shoe-eating bugs. And most important of all, you’re here. It’s perfect. I’m more than happy to spend every rut here with you as your mate from now until forever, for the rest of my life.”
Joy filled my chest, and I pulled her to me, burying my face into her hair.
“You have made me the happiest warrior alive.”
I held her then, not wanting to let her go, ever. I wanted this special moment to last forever. But soon, the rutting heat returned, and our cuddling turned into me pounding into her until her screams echoed through our nest. The myriad of pillows and furs made for many position options, meaning we could go on for longer without me having to worry about her comfort. My nest was so much better than any old cave.
“Can you tell me the story again?” she asked as we lay in our furs.
I was confused for a moment before she clarified. “The one with the shadow puppets. I fell asleep last time, and I couldn’t understand it.”
Oh, so that was what she meant. “It was one my brother told me often when we were young.”
“You have a brother? Is he here?”
“No. Had. He is gone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I am too. Ragnnar would’ve wanted to meet you. He would’ve been happy for me.”
I started the story from the very beginning, using a single lighting diode of the altered construction lights. I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t know the ending to the story because I’d fallen asleep every time before it ended. I wondered if there ever was an ending. I suspected that Ragnnar had made it all up, adding a little more each time until I was asleep. Maybe that was what I’d have to do now for her and our future offspring.
But I was worried for nothing because before I could even get to the same point in the story as I’d left off last time, Dana was already snoring softly in my arms.
I pressed a tender kiss to her head. Here, together in our nest, it felt as if nothing could ever be wrong in the universe again.
Chapter 21: Dana
“Thank you, Igor. If you remember anything else, just give me a shout.” I stuck my hand out, and Igor took it, giving it a firm but somewhat awkward shake. “And I’m glad your headaches are feeling better.”
“Me too,” he said. “Thank you for teaching me about Faraday pouches. I’m gonna make a new hat.” He patted the tin foil helmet on his head. “Improved! With copper foil!”
I’d never thought I’d get the chance to have a conversation with an altered Exotech super soldier and most definitely not a full, sit-down interview.
Igor became a ward of the colony when his unknown mother gave him up as a baby. The colony had sold him off to Exotech when he remained unadopted by the time he hit puberty. They turned him into a cyborg super soldier. The process was inhumane and grueling, but it was the only life he’d ever known.
Up until very recently, he hadn’t had any memories of his younger years. The drugs they’d given him had shortened his memory, only letting him remember enough to do his job as Dr. Kingsley’s personal guard, something he had been since he couldremember. But little snippets were coming back now that he was free from Exotech influence.
And while he wanted to make sure that his story would never be lost again, he’d been wary of me at first, which was totally understandable. It was amazing he could even live a normal life after what he’d been through, but the settlers here seemed to really care about him, treating him like one of their own. It must help to have such a strong support system.
He agreed to the interview after I showed him my homemade Faraday pouch and explained the research I’d done on how to block unwanted signals. He worried that Exotech would hack into his brain again and make him do things he didn’t want, like murdering all his new friends.
His fear wasn’t unwarranted. While the engineers here had managed to remove and replace most of the receivers in his head and body, they were unable to remove one, which was deemed too dangerous to touch since it was so close to his brain stem. If I were him, I’d be worried about being controlled too.
As a result, Igor often wore an unwieldy tinfoil hat around his head whenever he wasn’t using his extra hardware to control and communicate with Fido and Kong, the two robohounds they’d converted to protect the community.
After my run-in with the biomechs with Gnnar, I’d been a little skeptical about being anywhere near them, but Fido and Kong didn’t quite act like the ones that had attacked me. For one, they listened to commands, like sit and roll over, and they had little mannerisms that made them more lifelike. Things like scratching their haunches, tilting their head to the side, or lolling their tongues out in the cutest most derpy way ever.
They were food-motivated too. And while I’d known the robohounds still needed sustenance, both the biological as wellas the electronic kind, it was something else altogether to see one of these creatures beg for a treat. And yes, I was calling them creatures because, in my head, they were more beast than machine.
Unlike with Igor, these robohounds have had every single transmitter linked to Exotech removed. Annabel, the head engineer, assured me that they were safe.
After our talk about passive signal technology—Igor suffered from headaches, and overusing a counter signal made them worse—he asked if I would help him write his biography, and I agreed. It would take a long time, since he was still remembering little tidbits here and there, but that was fine. I was here for the long haul.
