Page 16 of Defiance
“It must have been distressing,” he said, motioning to the table. “Please. Sit.”
“Thank you,” I said, finding my voice. I hopped up on the ledge like I was sitting on a medical exam table. My blood pressure spiked on cue.
“The arms master would like for me to conduct routine maintenance with your verbal consent.”
“Of course. Yes.”
Jharim nodded. “Then allow me to erect a privacy perimeter.” He set a black puck on the table and it hummed, vibrating the table until a dome of light shook out of its seams and surrounded us in a three meter radius that rotated lazily.
“Apologies,” he said in a smooth tone, “but I’ll need to turn off your system again. You might experience temporary sensory loss.”
I stretched my back and took in a steadying breath, palms flat on the table to keep me from swaying. “I’m ready.”
Jharim’s thick chest whirred, then jolted with a deep, visiblethunk.Just like last time, I felt like something had slammed into my skull, but at least I was prepared. Though my ears rang and my eyeballs felt heavy, I didn’t lose equilibrium like a drunkard.
“We can speak freely now, Ms Halloway. Since you’re here, I assume you’ve agreed to assist Agent Gaul.”
Agent Gaul…
Jharim held out his palm, gesturing to my hand. I extended it towards him and he leaned one hip against the table, running his matte fingers over my holotab’s bionic graft. His demeanor had changed. He was more animated. Even hisshoulders rolled forward into a posture that was relaxed and natural.
“Right. You’re sure we can talk about it?”
One of Jharim’s lenses rotated up to meet my bewildered stare while his head was still bowed over my hand. “Yes. My bodily systems are a closed network, we are in a blue-level privacy perimeter, and your bionics are off.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Finally. What is with all the secrecy? Is the colony in that much danger?”
He found whatever he was looking for, pressing down on one of my metacarpals until my fingers curled. “It has always been in extreme danger, Ms Halloway. Why else would you be in an undisclosed location on a remote, scarcely populated moon with the galaxy’s deadliest operatives as a security detail?”
I pursed my lips. I’d never quite let myself think that hard about our living situation. “Well feck me.”
Jharim trained all his lenses on my face, pausing. The cello music stopped, but he made no move to choose a new track, letting the silence press in on us. “Not my task, unfortunately.”
Embarrassment boiled through my cheeks. Biognostics could…? They wanted…? I stammered, completely caught off guard by the flirtatiously dark tone. “I didn’t mean it literally.”
Something like a low, scorching chuckle worked its way through Jharim’s chest casing. “I will survey your linguitor and transitor now.” He brushed back my humid curls, pressing his thumbs into the underside of my jaw and the meat of my neck. He pushed on the side of my trachea and kept one finger in place there. The other traced a line along my cheek beneath the eye, settling on my tear duct. His touch carried a light, fuzzy static with it, making things beneath my skin heat up like a precision laser.
“What exactly are you looking for?”
“Delicate wiring. I must perform the actual diagnostics so that your systems log the data.” He held up his finger tip for me to look at. “I have a power meter here that will tell me if any established bionic synapses have started to decay. In rare cases, integration may also result in an antihistamine response.”
I raised my brows. “People can be allergic to their own bionics?”
Jharim whirred in confirmation. “A bionic is a foreign agent, so yes. Humans are especially sensitive to foreign bodies, as I understand it.” He dropped his hands from my face and neck, and took a step back. “Your bionics are in perfect health, as expected. I will reinstall your holotab’s operating system and fabricate the logs to show a software conflict between the SnapStor app and your local printing queue.”
“Thank you,” I said, hopping off the stool. Jharim didn’t step back any further, setting a tinted glass cylinder on the table between us. A black ferrofluid somersaulted inside like the contents of a lava lamp.
“I’m afraid I have one more task, Ms Halloway.”
I looked up the chrome plates of his collarbones and throat to the unnerving calculations behind his eyes. Jharim’s otherness was still cold and calculating that close up.
“You can call me Charlie,” I insisted woodenly.
Suddenly, Jharim’s stare shifted and the vial disappeared into his forearm. He pushed away from the table just as the side door to the tarmac opened and closed. Female voices murmured, one of them a child, as they turned the corner into the lounge.
A Chinese woman cradling an electric cello in her arms stopped short when she saw us. A girl with shadow black features bumped into her leg. She placed a protective hand on the girl’s head as little red eyes peeked out from behind her shorts.
“Miss Liu,” Jharim greeted her with his signature head bow. “And Aelia. Good evening.”
