Page 14

K-LX

“That thing is not welcome at this table!” The angry human male from the night before pointed a trembling finger at K -lx as he settled himself at the end of the long table beside his Mistress .

The rest of the seats at the table were also filled with humans who stared uneasily at him. Some of them looked almost ready to run.

K-lx supposed he couldn’t blame them. He had ruined many pieces of equipment and killed two of their personnel the night before. They had a right not to trust him now.

Luckily, Corinne stuck up for him.

“Enough, Silas ,” she snapped at the other scientist, who had a narrow face, thin shoulders, and eyes that were set too close together. “ K -lx is fine.”

“He’s not fine! He went Rogue last night!” the human male protested.

“He did not go Rogue ,” Corinne said firmly. “ He was disturbed because you brought him out of Stasis too quickly—he had a Neural Interface Overload which brought on a panicked flight or fight response. Now that I’ve Linked with him, he’s completely regulated— I’d stake my reputation on it.”

“Your reputation is already in shreds, Virelle ,” the human male sneered. “ After you allowed poor Isla to Link with a Rogue Unit? —”

“We both know that C -17 was perfectly fine when Isla Linked with him,” Corinne interrupted him. “ Neither she nor I had anything to do with him going Rogue . Just because you leveraged her death into a new position for yourself, doesn’t mean you’re suddenly the expert on Rogue Cyborgs .”

“I know a Rogue when I see one!” the male snarled.

“ And that Unit went Rogue last night no matter what you say! You haven’t had time to mind-wipe him or reprogram him and yet you bring him here, into the middle of a crowded dining canteen and expect us all to eat with him as though he didn’t kill two of our team last night! ”

K-lx had to admit, the other male’s words made him sound like a crazed killer who might snap at any moment and kill again. But what bothered him the most wasn’t how the human male was making him look—it was the slight to his Mistress’s reputation.

Part of him—a large part—wanted to stand up and threaten the human male. To tell him he’d better keep Corinne’s name out of his filthy mouth and leave her alone from now on…or he was going to be fucking sorry. If he lived long enough to be sorry, that was.

However, he recognized that acting in a threatening manner was only going to reinforce the view these humans now had of him.

He needed to act rationally and reassure them that he wasn’t there to harm them.

Just the way they were whispering among themselves and casting sidelong, fearful glances at him was enough to let him know how frightened they were of him already.

“Excuse me,” he said, speaking up above the murmuring of the others at the table and everyone abruptly fell silent.

“Yes, K -lx? You have something you want to say?” Corinne looked up at him calmly.

K -lx couldn’t help admiring her courage.

She had faced him down when he was at his worst the night before and now she was backing him calmly despite the negative opinions of her peers. Truly , she was an extraordinary woman.

“I want to apologize for what happened last night,” K -lx said clearly.

There were wide eyes and surprised looks all around the table. Even the people at the other tables around them were watching and it seemed like the whole canteen was holding its breath.

“I was awoken suddenly from Stasis and the rush of neural input was too much for my circuits to process. I realize that I caused death and destruction and I want to express my sincere remorse for that,” he continued.

“ And I want to promise that it will not happen again. I am Linked to Dr . Virelle now.” He nodded at Corinne , who was still watching him calmly.

“ She has regulated my emotions. It would be impossible for me to hurt anyone. In fact, if I could be allowed, I’d like to help clean up some of the mess I made in your lab last night,” he finished.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then the whole table—and in fact, the whole canteen—erupted in speech.

“How did you teach him to talk like that?” one of the scientists across the table from them demanded. “ I’ve never heard a Cyborg articulate or advocate for itself so clearly!”

“Forget about that—he seems to feel genuine remorse!” another scientist exclaimed. “ No other Cybernetic Unit is capable of such deep emotions!”

“K-lx is unique,” Corinne said firmly, answering both men at once.

“ I believe he’s one of the earliest Cyborgs ever made—possibly even the very first. He’s capable of things no other Unit I’ve ever worked with and his cognition is on par with any one of ours.

His immense size is because his biological component is Kindred —not human.

But the most important thing is that I firmly believe he can be trusted not to go Rouge . ”

“Your word is good enough for me,” a scientist with thinning hair and thick oculars said to her. He looked up at K -lx. “ You’re welcome to help clean up the lab, if you really want to. We have some pieces of equipment that are too heavy to lift and put back into place.”

K-lx felt guilt and let it show on his face.

“I’m so sorry about that, Doctor …”

“Doctor Herrera , but you can call me Jose .” The human extended a hand across the table and K -lx shook it carefully.

“Thank you for your trust, Jose . I’ll be happy to help,” he informed the scientist. “ I’m just sorry there’s nothing I can do for the technicians I killed last night,” he added. “ Especially since the other human male is suggesting I went Rogue when I killed them.”

“You were on Overload ,” Jose informed him.

“ That’s not the same as going Rogue . We know what caused your episode.

When a Cyborg truly goes Rogue , there’s almost never any indication of why it happens.

Sometimes its faulty circuitry but more often it happens when past trauma comes to the surface. ”

K-lx nodded and listened but part of him was always attuned to the Link between himself and Corinne . He could feel her pride in the way he had handled the situation and it warmed him like the Sun .

Just then, however, the human male she’d called “ Silas ” spoke up again.

“I don’t care how articulate that thing is, I don’t trust it!” he announced, glaring at K -lx. “ And I don’t believe you have it under control, either, Virelle !”

Corinne opened her mouth to answer, but K -lx was already in motion. He rose from his seat beside her—which caused a murmur of uncertainty and fear to rush through the canteen. But K -lx ignored the rest of the humans—he was fixated wholly on his Mistress .

As Corinne turned to face him, he dropped to his knees before her.

“Mistress,” he rumbled. “ Dr . Virelle — I am Linked to you and attuned to you— I will obey your orders.”

Corinne’s eyes widened slightly, but she answered in a calm voice.

“Very good, K -lx. I am ordering you not to hurt any of the personnel here aboard the station.”

“Understood.” K -lx nodded seriously. “ But I also want it understood that you are under my protection,” he went on, shooting a glance at the angry human scientist called “ Silas .” “ I will not allow anyone here to hurt or humiliate you. As my Mistress and my Handler , I will keep you safe and defend you in any and every situation.” He looked into her eyes.

“ You are mine to protect, Corinne —just as I am yours to command.”

Her eyes widened and for a long moment, it seemed the whole canteen was holding its breath again. Then one of the human women sitting at a nearby table sighed and put a hand to her heart.

“Oh my, Dr . Virelle —do you have any other Cyborgs like that one?”

“Yeah— I’ll take one too!” another woman called.

There was a ripple of laughter and the tension seemed to be broken.

The human male named Silas was still glaring at them, but K -lx ignored him.

Corinne was his Sun —the center of his universe.

Now that he was fully attuned to her, he would never leave her or, through his actions or deeds, expose her to harm or ridicule.

“That was lovely, K -lx,” she murmured. “ But come have a seat again.” She patted the chair beside her.

K-lx rose obediently and sat where she’d indicated.

He was fairly certain that his public display of devotion had convinced the other humans that he wasn’t harmful as long as Corinne was around, so this had been a successful social interaction.

They had a busy day ahead of them today and he was going to do his best to make up for the mayhem and destruction of the night before.

He just wished his throat wasn’t so dry. He took another sip of the simulated orange juice and tried to forget about it…and to stop imagining himself sucking his Mistress’s ripe nipples while she moaned for him and ran her hands through his hair…