Page 25 of Human Reform (Cyborg Planet Alpha #3)
TWENTY-FIVE
ALORA
Commander Helix’s praise washed over me like absolution. Standing in the central processing hub with her gray eyes fixed on mine, I felt the crushing weight of nine years of guilt ease. My sins—turning thinking beings into mindless weapons—were being balanced by redemption.
“I want to thank you for bringing me here,” I said, my voice catching. “For the opportunity to make this right.”
Commander Helix inclined her head, her blonde hair gleaming under the hub’s lights. “Sometimes the universe conspires to put us exactly where we need to be, Dr. Bridges.” With that enigmatic statement, she turned on her heel and left the central processing hub.
I stared after her, my fingers unconsciously finding Tim’s bracelet again. Was that what had happened? Had some cosmic force orchestrated my kidnapping to bring me here—to this moment of redemption?
Daxon’s warm hand found the small of my back, his touch sending familiar electricity through me. “Ready?”
His ice-blue eyes, once so unreadable, now held warmth that made my chest tighten. How quickly this man had become my anchor in this strange new world.
“Let’s go,” I agreed, leaning into him slightly as we headed toward my private office.
The security center buzzed with renewed activity after our marathon processing session. Tegan glanced up from his workstation as we passed, his expression unreadable. For some reason, a chill ran down my spine. I shrugged it off—probably just lingering exhaustion making me paranoid.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said as Daxon closed my office door behind us. “I want to create something more than just a patch.”
He leaned against my desk, his imposing height making the space feel smaller in the most delicious way. “What did you have in mind?”
I paced the small confines of my office, ideas already crystallizing.
“A comprehensive countermeasure protocol that could scale colony-wide. Something we could distribute to other cyborg settlements, too.” I turned to face him, suddenly needing him to understand.
“I need to make sure no one can ever do this again—not to Planet Alpha, not to any cyborgs anywhere.”
Daxon’s face softened, his usual stoicism melting into something that made my heart flutter. “That’s…beautiful, Alora. That you’d want to help all the cyborgs that were wrongfully enslaved.”
“It’s the final piece,” I admitted, meeting his gaze. “Fixing what got broken, everywhere, and making sure it stays fixed for good.”
He pushed off from the desk, closing the distance between us in two long strides. His hand cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing across my skin. “You’re remarkable. Do you know that?”
I flushed under his praise, still not entirely used to this openness between us. “I just know how to fix code.”
“You know how to fix much more than that.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead. “I should catch up on my actual work. There’s probably a mountain of alerts waiting at my workstation after our thirty-six-hour absence.”
“You go ahead.” I nodded. “I’ll start mapping out this new protocol.”
“Find me when you’re done?”
“I will. I promise.”
After he left, I settled at my private workstation, my fingers moving across the keys as I began crafting the framework for the countermeasure protocol.
I needed to integrate my patch with more comprehensive protections—something that would scan for and neutralize malicious code insertions before they could take root.
As I worked through the colony’s security framework to see how my protocol would integrate, something odd caught my eye. A thread of code I didn’t recognize from before—fresh, by the timestamp. It had been embedded just this morning.
I followed the thread deeper, my blood running cold as I realized what I was looking at. This wasn’t just malicious code. It was another kill switch. One that, when activated, would systematically break down every security defense the colony had, leaving them completely exposed to external threats.
“Son of a bitch,” I whispered, my fingers freezing above the keyboard.
The saboteur wasn’t just here. They were active right now. Someone working for CyberEvolution was embedded in the security center, just as we had suspected days ago. Had they been here since the beginning? A spy planted among the original colonists two and a half years ago?
My first instinct was to alert Daxon, but I hesitated, my fingers hovering over my wrist communicator. If this new malicious thread was as sophisticated as it looked, any network communication might trigger it prematurely. I needed to neutralize it first.
This wasn’t just about redemption anymore. It was about protecting these people from the very organization I’d once served.
“Not on my watch,” I muttered, diving into the code like a surgeon removing a tumor.
I carefully isolated the infected thread, creating a quarantine bubble around it while I analyzed its structure.
It wasn’t just any kill switch. It was elegant and vicious in its simplicity.
If triggered, it would cascade through every security system in the colony, leaving them defenseless against whatever CyberEvolution had planned next.
My fingers raced efficiently across the keyboard, disassembling the toxic code piece by piece. When the last fragment dissolved from the system, I leaned back and exhaled deeply.
“Got you, you bastard,” I whispered, a smile crossing my face. Relief flooded through me. I’d caught it before it could execute. Now I needed to tell Daxon.
I stood up, straightening my white T-shirt and running a hand over my braid to make sure it was still neat. The rush of adrenaline from coding was familiar, but the fierce protectiveness I felt for this colony was brand new. These were my people now.
Just as I reached for the door, it swung open. Tegan filled the frame, his tall muscular form blocking the exit completely.
“Working hard, Dr. Bridges?” His smile never reached his eyes.
“Just finishing up,” I said, trying to sound casual. “I need to find Daxon.”
Tegan stepped inside, closing the door behind him. With deliberate movements, he grabbed the spare chair and wedged it firmly under the door handle.
“What are you doing?” I backed away, suddenly very aware of how small my office was.
“I know what you just found.” His voice had dropped any pretense of friendliness. “And what you deleted.”
Before I could react, he lunged forward, grabbing my wrist and wrenching the communicator off with a painful twist.
“Hey!” I pulled back, but he was too strong.
“You know, you’re quite the troublemaker, Bridges.” He tossed my communicator onto the desk behind him. “Nine years I’ve been working on this project. Two and a half years embedded in this pathetic colony. And you waltz in and dismantle it all in a week.”
My blood ran cold. “You? You corrupted my original code?”
“For a brilliant programmer, you’re remarkably slow.” He laughed, a cold sound that made my skin crawl. “CE pays very well for loyalty. And they’ve been planning this endgame since before the war even ended.”
I edged slightly toward the door, calculating distances. “Why? These cyborgs just want to live in peace.”
“Peace?” He spat the word. “They’re property. And CE doesn’t like when their property gets ideas about freedom.” His eyes glittered with malice. “Do you know how much I’m getting paid for this job? When I’m done here, I’ll be living in a mansion on Earth while this colony burns.”
“You’re insane,” I growled, inching closer to the door. “You being a cyborg yourself should know that they are people. They think, they feel, and they love.”
“Most of them are just replaceable machines with a god complex. But me, I have it all figured out. Get paid handsomely to work for the enemy and be set for life,” he gloated, blocking my path again.
“And you—you could have been comfortable too if you’d stayed with CE.
Instead, you grew a conscience. How’s that working out for you? ”
I lunged for the door suddenly, trying to dislodge the chair. Tegan was faster. His large hand caught my throat, slamming me back against the wall.
“You stupid bitch,” he hissed, his face inches from mine. “You could have just refused to help them or escaped when you had the chance. But no… You had to go and play the heroine and save the colony. Now you’re going to die here, and so will your boyfriend and everyone else.”
I kicked at his shins, clawing at his arm. “Daxon will?—”
“Daxon won’t do anything because he’ll never find you.” Tegan’s other hand came up, a syringe glinting in the office lights.
I thrashed wildly, managing to land a solid kick to his knee. He grunted but didn’t loosen his grip. The needle plunged into my neck, a burst of cold fire spreading instantly.
“No,” I gasped, my lungs already feeling heavy.
“Don’t worry,” Tegan whispered as my vision blurred.
“I’ll tell everyone I helped you get back to Earth.
That you said you just wanted to go back home now that you fixed the glitches.
Back to your isolated life away from everyone and everything.
Poor heartbroken Daxon will be too distraught to chase after you. ”
The world tilted sideways as my legs gave out. The last thing I felt was Tegan hoisting me over his shoulder, carrying me through a rear exit I hadn’t even known existed.
Consciousness came and went as he trekked through the jungle. Glimpses of thick foliage, the distant roars of unfamiliar creatures, and the humid air becoming cooler and damper.
When I finally came fully awake, I was propped against a massive boulder in a cavern, my wrists and ankles bound with some kind of metallic restraints.
Tegan loomed over me, backlit by the faint glow from a natural skylight far above.
“Welcome to your new home,” he said, gesturing around the vast chamber. “Well, for the day or two you have left, anyway.”
“They’ll find me,” I croaked, my throat painfully dry.
He laughed, the sound echoing off the stone walls. “Communications and scanners are blocked here. That was by design—a safe refuge in case of attack.” He crouched down, patting my cheek condescendingly. “Ironic, isn’t it? No one will hear you scream for help.”
As he stood to leave, he gave me one last smile. “Maybe you’ll starve. Maybe something will find you first. Either way, so long, Dr. Bridges. Thanks for all your hard work.”
His laughter lingered in the cavern long after his footsteps had faded away.