Page 16 of Darken
“Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. I knew everything Darken felt when we were making love. We can’t figure out exactly what’s going on.”
“When did it start?” asked Iris.
“I think it was the third time we made love.”
“Well, I don’t sense any telepathic vibes from you. My guess is the nanites he planted in you are communicating those heightened emotions to you and back to him.”
“That’s what we guessed. I’m kind of relieved, really. Layna told me you went through a rough time when your ability revealed itself.”
“I did. That’s why Jolt and I moved to a secluded place in the mountains. It took me a year of intense practice and meditation before I got control,” she explained. “But Jolt’s partner Bodee and his wife Tania live on the next mountain over, and we keep each other company.”
“Tania’s a legend,” Danya said with a chuckle. “She shot at Jolt and Iris the first time they stopped at her homestead.”
Iris laughed first. “It was just a warning shot. She lived there alone and didn’t know who we were or why we were there. After we explained, she went to Farringay with us and discovered Bodee was her genetic mate. Now, we’re both pregnant.”
“Oh, Iris, I’m so happy for you!” Danya exclaimed. “We’ve been really blessed that these cyborgs came back to help us. They’ve changed all our lives for the better.”
“I didn’t think so at the time, but now I know Axel is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I think we all feel that way about our men. Good men were hard to come by before they got here,” said Danya. “They’ve done a lot in the last few years.”
“Dagger Jack and his wife Chloe are traveling around Enclave territories collecting DNA scans of women who want a cyborg mate,” said Layna. “Axel said Vyken approved three more teams to travel through different territories so they can find more mates for the thousands of cyborgs here now.”
“I heard some of their scientists are trying to decipher the code that limits them to one genetic mate,” Iris added. “Technically, there should be at least a few females who could breed and make offspring with any given cyborg.”
“Right,” said Danya. “But they were genetically engineered to recognize only one.”
“Even if they could trace it back, they might not be able to reverse it,” said Gina.
“True,” said Danya. “But finding the DNA matching criteria is a big step forward. And while Dagger’s teams are making the rounds, they are handing out coms, getting more people on the communication network.”
“In the years we’ve been together, Axel is the best. I can hardly believe how hard I tried to reject him. The first time he kissed me, my whole body went on alert. All I wanted was to get naked with him.” Layna let out a modest laugh, and they all started laughing together.
They had all been in the same situation. Cyborgs gave off pheromones that would only affect their genetic mate. Those pheromones made them irresistible to their females. Truthfully, none of them were unattractive. Cyborgs caught female gazes where ever they worked.
“I’m really glad the guys gave us this chance to get together with their meeting,” said Gina. “Darken and I originally just planned to come north to pack up my personal stuff and clear out my house so someone else could have it.”
“I understand you are going with Darken on his rounds,” said Iris. “I went with Jolt when he first started and met a lot of nice people. But then things got a bit dangerous, and he took Bodee instead and left me with Tania. She taught me a lot about homesteading and making useful things from scraps of whatever we could find. I even know how to knit.”
“Don’t you need yarn for that?” Danya asked.
“Yes, and we found a source. We visited some people in the backcountry who raise alpacas and spin yarn from their hair. We trade with them for yarn.”
“They’ve gotten a few small factories back online that make fabric or make clothing,” said Danya. Facilities outside of the major cities had remained intact. It was a matter of getting them powered and training people to run them.”
“How will they be paid?” Layna asked.
“They’re going back to the digital credit system for employees. That’s how the Enclave is paying the cyborgs. Then they are making metal alloy chips for physical, legal tender,” Danya said.
“That makes sense,” Layna said. “They’ve spent all these years with no AI tech, and it could be a few years before it’s widely available again.”
“But things are going well,” said Danya. “People are getting educated and learning skills to earn their own way. Others are learning to homestead, and we are finding homes that have been abandoned to rehab or building new ones for people on open land.”
“Okay, enough shop talk,” said Layna. “I want to know about you and Darken. How long did it take for you to fall for him?”
“I think about five minutes after he came to get me out of Devlin’s compound,” Gina said, blushing. “Then that bastard sent a fighter plane after us that blew us out of the sky in the desert. I don’t know how he kept us from getting killed. But it did mess us up some.”
Gina went on to tell them almost everything that happened but left the intimate details to their imagination. “But you should have seen those wolves. Darken talked to them then they followed us like he was their leader. Then his processors came back online, and we left them there in the desert. I felt sorry to leave them, though I’m sure they are fine.”
