Page 53

EON

I ’d slept hard that night—harder than I had in ages. When I woke up, I had DITA make a call.

Now I was standing outside Cy’s apartment building, uninvited…again. But I had to make this move before I lost my nerve. I shot Dev a message.

Dev: Ready on my side. Why couldn’t I come again?

Me: Guy’s an agoraphobe. Doesn’t like new people.

Dev: Did you tell him everyone likes me?

Me: You would’ve flirted too much.

Dev: Ooooo so he’s cute. I see. Keeping him all for yourself?

I ignored that and walked into the building. I made it to Cy’s apartment and walked in without knocking. He looked up from where he was sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast.

“You still haven’t updated your security, I see.”

“Don’t see the point. You go wherever you want.” He stood, bowl of miso in hand, and walked toward me. “What do you want this time?” His eyes flicked to the case in my hand.

“I was hoping you’d play doctor with me.”

His face lit up, and I almost felt bad about misleading him. Almost.

“You know, I’m a skilled nurse—very hands-on. I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of, doll.” He was reaching out for me when I snapped the case open, and he froze. “What the fuck is that?”

“It’s a device to diagnose the problem with your implants.”

He shut down immediately. “Nothing wrong with my implants.” He was staring at the diagnostic like it was a bomb.

“Liar. It’s still glitching,” I said. He didn’t argue. His eyes stayed locked on the case.

“Those fuckers at POM couldn’t do anything about it. You think you can?”

“Not me. But Dev can. He’s worked on my chip for years. He knows what he’s doing—probably has more experience with EM Flux chips than POM’s entire department.”

“Chips. That’s not the same as this.” He gestured to his entire body.

“I know that. But if anyone can help, it’s Dev. I’m getting us all on a call in one minute.”

He was more hesitant than I’d ever seen him. His Flux pulsed erratically. Was he…nervous? I thought he was just being a macho bastard about the implants, but there was more to it. I was watching him too closely, and he noticed.

“Why didn’t you just bring the doc here?”

I shook my head. “I’ve got my facial blur active on the call. Told Dev you’re an agoraphobic shut-in, very into privacy.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why you lyin’?”

His street accent was thicker, and I realized he really was nervous .

He was trying not to show it, but something about this had him on edge.

My gaze lingered on the scar on his face, down the center of his chest. I thought again about a young Cy, deep in Magenta, at the worst kind of Modder I could imagine.

I took a long pause. “Don’t you have some complex about being a ghost or some shit like that? Plus, Dev’s a good guy. I didn’t want you to freak out and fry him.”

He didn’t even bother to deny it. “He’ll have to see my face. See the implants.”

“You okay with that?”

“Yeah. I’ll trust you.”

Trust me . What a dangerous proposition.

“Shirt off.”

I saw him lock away his fear as his grin turned predatory. “If you wanted me naked, doll, you just had to ask. No need to run this long con.”

“Shut up, pendejo. I need skin contact for the probes.” I guided him over to the couch and called Dev.

“Hey, can you see him?” I asked.

Cy grinned as he pulled off his shirt, and I definitely did not let my eyes linger on the defined V of muscle that traced below his waistband, knowing exactly where that led. I could feel myself heating up, and that was not a good place to be.

“Oh, I see him, E. Hot damn, where can I find me a hermit like that?” Dev asked.

“I’m putting you on speaker now, Dev,” I said, with emphasis.

“Right, well, okay—you need to hook the probes up over all the client’s implants,” Dev said, doctor bedside manner back in place. I let that ground me. I could do this.

“Just be gentle with me. It’s my first time.” Cy’s grin widened—I didn’t think that was possible.

I pulled the sticky backing off the electrode and slapped it down onto his chest with a satisfying smack .

“Ow, so rough, doll.”

“You can take it,” I retorted. His eyes sparked at that, and I hated how the treacherous creature between my legs throbbed. “Roll over.” I could hear Dev holding back a laugh. He sent me a text so only I could see:

Dev: Should I just give you two a moment?

“Attaching the electrodes, Doctor.” I pressed them over each of his implants—first on his back, then his chest. I pushed him to lie back down again and he did, hands behind his head, grinning. He knew exactly what that pose did, how it flexed his arms and chest.

I flicked on the diagnostic device, and it whirred to life, a series of complex graphs blooming across the screen. At that, Cy’s smile vanished.

“Okay, I’m getting the readings. Have him walk through the Mercer Protocol.”

“Fuck me.” Cy let out a groan and sat up.

“Um, everything okay over there?” Dev asked.

“Yes,” I said, glaring at Cy. He shrugged innocently and started tapping his fingers together. He went through the steps smoothly until he had to send a spark between his outstretched hands. I relayed this to Dev as Cy’s mood darkened.

“Displays volatile unilateral instability. That’s consistent with the glitches you observed. Have him do it again and I’ll confirm.”

Cy groaned but did it again. His shoulder glitched again.

“The data is erratic near the acromioclavicular joint. That’s where the problem is. E, I need you to palpate the area to trigger a response.”

I put my hand over the probe on his chest and pressed down. Cy’s breathing sped up, his chest heaving under my palm.

“Not exactly painless, doll.”

I ignored him and pressed again. He hissed, the muscles under my hand tightening. I watched the screen with Dev. Nothing at first—no change—until…

“Fuck!” Cy buckled under my hand, and the readings went haywire. His Flux spiked, sparks crackling across his skin.

“Hey! Calm down!”

“Trying, doll, but—” He seized again. The probe was throwing out readings I didn’t understand, but I knew they weren’t good.

“Dev?”

“E, you’ve got to get him down here immediately. He needs surgery—”

“No fucking surgery!” Cy snarled, and then a bolt of power arced from his body to the wall screens, blowing them out in a cascade of sparks and static.

“Dev, I’ll call you back.” I didn’t give him a chance to argue.

Cy’s Flux was erratic now. Sparks jumped from him to me, stinging, but I could take it. I searched for the rhythm of his power, like I had in the Den. I pressed my hand over the probe again and, for a moment, the signal cleared. I let out a long breath.

I tried again, and the signal stabilized, before spiking even harder. Cy was groaning now.

“Cy, stop. We’ll get Dev, I can’t—” But he wasn’t stopping. His whole body twitched violently, his eyes rolling back. A bolt of lightning exploded from him and shattered the window.

“Cy! STOP!” But it was useless. He couldn’t hear me.

The screen flashed red, and his heart flatlined.

Fuck, fuck! What had I done?

I put both hands on his chest, and his Flux leapt to me.

“Don’t you die on me now, corpo!”

There. Resonance .

I felt it now, the thrum beneath his skin—wild and erratic, but familiar. A storm searching for something to ground it. Searching for me.

His body jolted again, another violent crackle of energy arcing between us—but this time, instead of flinching away, I leaned in.

The power surged toward me, coiling around my fingers, my wrists, threading into my pulse like a second heartbeat.

It should’ve hurt. Should’ve destroyed me. But the energy between us didn’t care.

I pressed harder against his chest, feeling the static shiver across my skin. I shocked him.

The line stayed flat.

I shocked him again, with everything I could summon.

There—a blip. But it faded.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Cy!”

I shocked him and held it, searching for that resonance only we shared. It wasn’t just that I was syncing with him—he was syncing with me. His current tangled with mine, adjusting, aligning, like he recognized me even in the chaos. He wasn’t fighting me anymore.

For a moment, everything slowed. His power pulsed through me, an extension of my own, like two waves crashing and merging into something greater.

It was terrifying. It was intoxicating. It was what I’d been dreaming about for months.

His heart started again, and this time, it kept beating.

He groaned, and I felt his Flux curl around the pain that permeated his whole body.

I reached for his implant and ignored the diagnostic readout. Instead, I let my Flux— our Flux—guide me. I had more power than I did at the Den. So much more. I rode the current through Cy’s body like I did in cyberspace. I let it guide me, let the circuits of his implants speak.

Cy’s pain was their pain, where silicon and copper had etched away, patinaed to a point of almost no conduction from a shoddy install thirteen years ago.

My Flux understood, I understood. It was like the chip I’d help Dev fix, but less refined.

I rewrote the circuits and fused the broken connections.

I found rhythm, found the pulse of his blood as it flowed through the implant until the pain melted away.

The sparks dimmed, the arcs of lightning snapping back into his skin, settling. His body relaxed beneath my hands, his breath returning in shallow gasps. I felt his heartbeat slow to match mine, the storm inside him finally calmed.

I exhaled, forehead resting against his. “You’re okay,” I murmured, voice barely audible over the ringing silence.

His lashes fluttered, eyes flickering open just enough to meet mine.

His hand wrapped around mine over his chest. We were both panting like we’d run ten miles, sweat dripping down our foreheads.

He held my gaze, then squeezed my fingers in his.

His breath mingled with mine, and memories I’d pushed away surfaced—memories of him looking at me just like that.

“You’re okay,” I repeated, my voice hoarser than I wanted.

“Yeah. Feeling like a billion creds.” His fingers squeezed mine tighter. “You saved me.”

“I couldn’t let you die.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, doll. Of all people, I would understand.”

“Do you think I’m lying?”

We were connected in a way I’d never felt before, and he knew it was the truth.

I couldn’t let him go because there was something between us.

Something that spoke to the parts of us that were the same.

Not just the Flux—but our shared pain, our shared subjugation to people who saw us as tools for their use.

His breath mingled with mine. We were so close, and his eyes were so beautiful, filled with electricity and stars.

A notification popped up on my Vysor, and I jerked my hands away.

“Hiromi says he got the translation done.”

Cy’s face fell. “Well, I guess you’ve got a date then, doll.”

“Right, I’ll send you the details.” I practically ran out of his apartment. As I closed the door, I heard him mumble, “Fuck. I liked that window.”