She activated the bot and fought past her feelings as the machine rose from the floor, all its lights turning green as its various limbs flared out from its core, which now hovered several feet off the ground.
It took her a few minutes to learn how to interact with Bessy, but once she understood the basics, she was able to push herself in ways she’d never been able to before. This wasn’t a living being. It wasn’t a threat she needed to put down, nor could it feel pain.
She kicked, and hit, and spun, dodging and whirling blows that challenged even her reflexes. It landed enough hits to make her wary, though the damage was minimal. Bruises and scratches her medi-bots could heal in an hour or less. The pain helped her focus, and she reveled in the freedom of pure, straightforward combat.
She held her own for the full round and was still on her feet when Bessy signaled the end of the session with a rapid series of chirps and beeps. The bot’s lights all switched to blue, though several indicators strobed amber instead.
“Holy fraxx, she broke Bessy,” Trinity muttered.
“And they thought they could contain you with a few locked doors and an armed guard?” Dante asked.
“I’ve never seen anyone move like that. Not even in the matches at the Nova Club.”
There were more voices, all familiar, and she looked around to find that the rest of the team had arrived at some point during her workout. She hadn’t noticed them, which was noteworthy. She’d never let herself get distracted like that before.
Then she glanced over at Eric and realized she hadn’t been distracted. She’d trusted him to watch her back while she fought. That thought struck her harder than any blow the bot had landed. She trusted him.
When the hell had that happened? No, scratch that. Why? A few shared meals on the ship and some secret conversations didn’t mean she could trust him. He couldn’t even explain how he had managed to link up to her internal cybernetic channel. All he’d said was it had something to do with reverse hacking Vardarian tech.
Until that conversation, she hadn’t even known the Vardarian race existed. She’d read up on them that night. The one thing that being cooped up had given her was plenty of time to catch up on current events. Eric had helped with that, too. He’d been there for her, a constant, steady presence she’d come to enjoy and even rely on. Dammit, I let him past my guard and didn’t even notice.
“You kicked Bessy’s robotic ass. If you ever want to do that professionally, I suspect you’d have no problem getting hired as a cage fighter,” Eric said. “Though I’m not sure who they’d find to fight against you.”
“That’s a profession?” She hadn’t considered anything as long term as finding employment. Her only goal was to stay alive and on her feet long enough to take down the man who’d filled her life with misery.
“Cage fighting? Yeah, it’s a profession. A high-paying one, in fact. But you don’t need to worry about work right now.” Dax Rossi joined the conversation. “You’re a guest of Nova Force. You don’t have to think about making a living yet.”
“Guest?” She held up her tracker. “I’m not sure that’s the right word. I appreciate what you did to gain me this much freedom, but I’m aware that apart from the people in this room, no one else trusts me, or my motives.”
“They’ll learn to. These are difficult times, but you just made it very clear that if you’d intended to attack headquarters or harm anyone here, you’d have done it already.” Dax looked at the bot, then back to her. “Glad you’re on our side, Nyx.”
She nodded. She wasn’t sure she was on their side, exactly, but they weren’t enemies, either.
Eric stayed nearby, waiting until the others had moved on, some working out themselves, others standing around talking. They were a close-knit team who were clearly fond of each other.
“How much freedom are they giving you, exactly?”
“I’m allowed anywhere inside the barracks and common areas. If I want to roam the station, I can, but only with an escort. And it’s been mentioned I might want to avoid the Nova Club.”
“Yeah, that might be best for now. That’s where Echo lived and worked. She had friends there, and what she did…” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Zale was their friend, too. Seeing you will bring all that back for them.”
“Like it does for you? You were Echo’s lover, after all.” And she had some of Echo’s memories. Maybe that was why she trusted him. But those experiences belonged to someone else. It was all so damned confusing. When she’d been alone in her cell, it had been easy to keep the memories separate. She had no life experiences of her own. Now, things were muddier. Did she like pizza because she had the memories of other versions of herself liking it, or was that her own choice? Or did they all like pizza because they shared the same neural pathway design?
“I was her lover, yes. But you’re not her.” The surety in his tone surprised her.
“She was my clone. We’re identical.”
“Physically, maybe, though you don’t have the same mannerisms. You move differently, too. And you are nothing like her in personality. She was sunshine, you’re more like starlight.”
She decided to be blunt. “And yet you’re flirting with me.”
He flashed her a wicked little grin. “Yes, I am. You’re not Echo, but you’re still very much my type.”
“Blonde? Athletic?”
He reached for her. His fingertips brushing her cheek before withdrawing again. “Dangerous.”
“Right. How could I forget?”
He leaned in a little, dropping his voice to a playful whisper that danced across her senses. “I have no idea. I haven’t forgotten a single thing about you since the day we met.”
She tried to tell herself it was only flattery, but that didn’t stop her heart from racing while her stomach dropped like she’d stepped into zero-g. She should end this flirtation. She didn’t need the entanglement, or the distraction. But she liked the way he made her feel. The sense of security. Desirability. It wasn’t real, but she could pretend it was, just for a little while. “So, what happens now?”
“Dinner.”
That gave her a moment’s pause. “What?”
“What happens next is that I take you out to dinner. I think it’s time you saw something of Astek station, don’t you?”
“I’d like that. Wait, is that allowed? I mean, us - together?”
“Good question.” He turned to his commander. “Sir. Given that Nyx is now our guest, is there any reason I couldn’t take her out for dinner tonight and show her a bit of the station?”
Aria crowed in triumph. “Ha! Told you so.”
Dax stayed silent for several seconds before answering. “I don’t see any reason why not. But...”
“Of course there’s a but,” Eric muttered under his breath.
“But it might be smarter if you weren’t the only one in attendance.” Dax reached out and took Trinity’s hand. “As it happens, Trin and I have no plans for dinner. We can call it a double date.”
She was a cyborg assassin, completely immune to emotional reactions like panic, but she had a moment of something damned close to it. She froze, and part of her noted that Eric had done the same.