Chapter 20 Fracture #2
“Anyone else?” Roxi asks. Her rasp is gone, but her voice is still softer than before.
He reaches up to her neck and runs a finger over the bruises. Lenarro’s nose wrinkles. “I’m sorry, Roxi.”
“I’m alive. I’ll heal with time. Now, is there anyone else?”
“Not that I’m aware.”
There’s something I still don’t understand. “Why did they take you, Lenarro? I get taking Myria and Roxi because they were active leaders in the resistance, a CyberTech and a Creator. But you...”
Lenarro eases Roxi back and gets up from his bed. “We should really get going, or we’re going to miss the meeting of all the CSP heads and SIP, the Solcrue integration program.”
“It should be SAP,” Roxi grumbles, raking her loose hair back into her ponytail with her fingers. “Solcrue Assimilation Program.”
Lenarro adjusts his tactical harness back into place and clips the straps over his chest and thighs. “Go get dressed, Roxi.”
She rests a hand on his shoulder, gives him a look of pity, then walks out.
“You do not want to discuss why Sin wanted you,” I observe.
He sighs like I’m being petulant. “No. Joey’s father never liked me.
He sold me out because I refused one of his deals.
I played it off like I wasn’t interested because I’m lazy, and I wouldn’t be a promising candidate.
I really didn’t want to get in that deep...
Joey’s level of corrupt. So I just stayed on his crew instead of being given my own. ”
“What deal did he want to make?” I ask.
Lenarro pushes his sleeves up, exposing extensive augmentations. “I have...unusual skill...with ships.”
“What do you mean?”
He lifts his fingers. “Even before I had these, I...felt them, like...living extensions of my body.”
“But you’re human.”
“Was. I think.” Lenarro paces away from me and busies himself, digging through the weapons cabinets, grabbing guns and extra ammo.
“A lot of us were orphans, so who the fuck knows, really? I can make up stories and let Leah think I augmented myself. What matters is what I choose to do with the skills I have. I stayed undercover for as long as I could. When I started having to do damage control because Joey was out of hand, my clock started ticking down.”
He racks a gun and holsters it. “KillStar is working on General Erdox’s main fleet, tracking them and finding a way in. Can’t seem to kill him. Must have a cloning machine.”
Lenarro walks toward the ramp but stops before me. “Esthi was right about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I have ACE. I’ve got less than five years left.” He rubs his mouth and shakes his head. “Don’t tell Roxi, please. Sin didn’t care to fix it until it was beyond repair. I would have to become a Titan to survive past that, and I don’t want to.” He looks down at the floor. “Not that I could, anyway.
Lenarro is dying from Augment Contagion Effect. He walks to the ramp, and as he does, I notice Roxi listening in from the room across the hallway.
Roxi takes a moment before she joins me in the hallway to load up her belt and stuff the CSP tablet in her armor.
“I wish you’d stay on the ship.”
“I won’t.” She tightens the straps on her tactical harness, winces, grunts, and keeps loading. “Medic Ribos might be able to help him, but we really need a NanoTech. I haven’t encountered any on BlazeStar or Aegis.”
“I haven’t either. Esthi is our closest, and she’s been super busy just trying to keep us all alive.” I clip a rifle to my back, then draw a handgun and motion her to the ramp. Once we’re outside, and the ship is closed up and invisible again, I let Lenarro lead and put Roxi between us.
As we enter the trees, heading toward the complex I saw from the sky, Roxi pauses and grabs her side.
“Are you sure you can do this?”
My voice stops Lenarro. He looks back with concern.
Roxi looks up at me. “Sometimes, I wish I would just fall apart so I could stop fighting. I’m so fucking tired.”
“I promise, shattering is not as much fun as most think. Especially when you’re held together by a purpose that commands you back together. Many times, I have prayed to just scatter and lose my sense of self instead of the network of signals pinging in chaos.”
She looks up at me. “That’s how I feel all of the time.”
Lenarro walks back to us. “If you can’t fight, Fracture is right. You’ll need to stay.”
“I can fight.”
He slumps. “Then fix it, Roxi.”
“What are you saying?” I ask. “You can heal yourself?”
“I...” Roxi hangs her head in shame.
Lenarro turns his back on us to patrol. “Sin isn’t here. She isn’t going to see it and torture you until you break again.”
I tilt her chin up so her eyes meet mine. “Are you really holding back because of fear?”
Roxi shakes her head like she’s fighting something. “It’s not easy to live again and again when others suffer. I do not want to forget the impact of wounds. Just because I can heal myself doesn’t mean I should.”
“She tortures herself,” Lenarro mutters. “Like it’s some integrity of humility maintainer. But they all do that shit. It’s a fucking vulnerability is what it is. ”
“I have to agree with Lenarro,” I admit.
Roxi’s plump lips part in disappointment.
“Don’t do that.” I ease her upright and crane down to sweep my lips over hers. “I can’t stand seeing you in pain. If you can fix it, please do. If you refuse, I will carry you back to the ship and lock you in the bedroom and make you rest.”
“I would just break out.”
“I know. So I would have to stay. So don’t hand Solcrue a win because of your humility.”
She nods. She understands but doesn’t like it. Roxi’s eyes light up with blue code as she leans against me. “I can’t heal myself completely, just enough.”
“Catch her,” Lenarro says.
I hold her against me as her body gives out. “Is this normal?”
“Yes. It requires all of her energy.”
“This makes her vulnerable,” I reply.
“Another reason she hates doing it. Just give it a few seconds.”
I hold her tightly, feel her breathe inside my arms, and study her closed eyes, the way the blue light filters through her eyelids. “Why can’t you do this?”
“I’m not a Creator. In their bio repair lab, she got a special implant that stores extra nanos and proteins and shit for moments like these. But when she activates it, her nervous system redirects all available energy to the implant.”
As I keep her against me, I realize just how much she needs a protector and possibly why there were five Titans with her at all times. Fresh purpose grows in me, more than just the desire to protect a Creator or to shelter the one who isn’t afraid to touch me because of what I am.
I want to stay with Roxi, hold her together as much as she has done for me.
Her eyes crack open. Roxi steadies herself and looks around. “Fracture.”
Her slight surprise concerns me.
“Reboot phase,” Lenarro mutters. “Just wait.”
Roxi pats her weapons, grabs one, racks it, and nods. “Okay, let’s go.”