innocent but it burned a path as fast and as hot as wildfire to his robotic heart. He pushed the odd feeling away and disengaged himself.
They were back on their way towards the shipwreck just as dawn transformed to day.
The morning passed by in a companionable silence. The tension that lingered between them from the previous day gone for now. The sun had ascended above, raising the temperature to an uncomfortable itch. It wasn’t long before Allie shook the cloak off. He took it from her without a word and bundled it into his pack.
The crags slowly turned into the base of the mountain, the jagged rocks now more of a dip into large rocky valleys. The trek became more of an upward crawl, climbing out of pits.
At several points, he had to take out his rope and help her over the worst of the ledges. He didn’t need help himself, scaling the escarpment without a thought but always wary of his companion’s fragility.
She had no armor, no protection but he could tell that she was used to the inhospitable environment. She never flinched when landing hard on her feet or gaining another unintended scratch. It was over the course of the morning that he noticed that she sported tiny, faded scars over her delicate skin, not unlike his own.
She’s not afraid of pain. It was probably a common occurrence in her life.
Good thing he had everything he would need to heal her wounds.
They remained along the base of the mountain, following it as a guide. Jack knew that they were closing in on their destination; the dead structure becoming a prominent fixture in his mind as he surveyed their location. It was larger than he had originally thought but his most recent readings had been consistently muddied. It seemed that the closer they got to it the harder it was for him to focus on it.
He didn’t like it but he could attribute it to an unknown technology or mechanical structure– maybe radiation. Whatever it was he logged his readings away on his personal hard drive to upload it later to the central hub for research. Other Cyborgs may know why he was having such difficulties with it.
At the pace he and Allie had been traveling, they wouldn’t arrive at their destination until after dark. He could have been there already and gone if it was just himself but that would have put a kink into his other, more personal mission. He turned his eyes to look at her.
She wasn’t much of a talker but still… she hadn’t spoken in hours– and she must be getting hungry. Just as he was going to suggest taking a break, she reached into her threadbare pouch at her waist and pulled out roots to chew on, eating them while she walked.
He waited and willed her to suggest taking a break but she just kept walking.
Jack let her take the lead as he stewed. She barely speaks and isn’t making any inclination to stop and rest. How was he going to gain her trust if he couldn’t even talk to her? Being friendly and conversational were qualities that he did not have.
If she could just pretend– for five minutes– that she needed him desperately, to save her from this place, to supply her protection, or even just wanted to talk to him, he could progress his side mission. But no, she kept walking forward in grim silence as if every step led her to an unwanted, inevitable end.
Her thoughts were elsewhere and he didn’t like it.
***
The day had started off nice. Allie woke up warm and relaxed in Jack’s arms. She still couldn’t believe what had transpired between them the night before and she only hoped that they would have the chance to touch each other like that again.
But the morning had faded and so had her good mood. The once comfortable silence now felt like a void, making her ears want to pop under the pressure.
She knew why she felt this way– she always did the closer she got to her past. But she had hoped that having a warrior, like the Cyborg next to her, would embolden her resolve enough to face what was ahead with courage. It’s
They were back on their way towards the shipwreck just as dawn transformed to day.
The morning passed by in a companionable silence. The tension that lingered between them from the previous day gone for now. The sun had ascended above, raising the temperature to an uncomfortable itch. It wasn’t long before Allie shook the cloak off. He took it from her without a word and bundled it into his pack.
The crags slowly turned into the base of the mountain, the jagged rocks now more of a dip into large rocky valleys. The trek became more of an upward crawl, climbing out of pits.
At several points, he had to take out his rope and help her over the worst of the ledges. He didn’t need help himself, scaling the escarpment without a thought but always wary of his companion’s fragility.
She had no armor, no protection but he could tell that she was used to the inhospitable environment. She never flinched when landing hard on her feet or gaining another unintended scratch. It was over the course of the morning that he noticed that she sported tiny, faded scars over her delicate skin, not unlike his own.
She’s not afraid of pain. It was probably a common occurrence in her life.
Good thing he had everything he would need to heal her wounds.
They remained along the base of the mountain, following it as a guide. Jack knew that they were closing in on their destination; the dead structure becoming a prominent fixture in his mind as he surveyed their location. It was larger than he had originally thought but his most recent readings had been consistently muddied. It seemed that the closer they got to it the harder it was for him to focus on it.
He didn’t like it but he could attribute it to an unknown technology or mechanical structure– maybe radiation. Whatever it was he logged his readings away on his personal hard drive to upload it later to the central hub for research. Other Cyborgs may know why he was having such difficulties with it.
At the pace he and Allie had been traveling, they wouldn’t arrive at their destination until after dark. He could have been there already and gone if it was just himself but that would have put a kink into his other, more personal mission. He turned his eyes to look at her.
She wasn’t much of a talker but still… she hadn’t spoken in hours– and she must be getting hungry. Just as he was going to suggest taking a break, she reached into her threadbare pouch at her waist and pulled out roots to chew on, eating them while she walked.
He waited and willed her to suggest taking a break but she just kept walking.
Jack let her take the lead as he stewed. She barely speaks and isn’t making any inclination to stop and rest. How was he going to gain her trust if he couldn’t even talk to her? Being friendly and conversational were qualities that he did not have.
If she could just pretend– for five minutes– that she needed him desperately, to save her from this place, to supply her protection, or even just wanted to talk to him, he could progress his side mission. But no, she kept walking forward in grim silence as if every step led her to an unwanted, inevitable end.
Her thoughts were elsewhere and he didn’t like it.
***
The day had started off nice. Allie woke up warm and relaxed in Jack’s arms. She still couldn’t believe what had transpired between them the night before and she only hoped that they would have the chance to touch each other like that again.
But the morning had faded and so had her good mood. The once comfortable silence now felt like a void, making her ears want to pop under the pressure.
She knew why she felt this way– she always did the closer she got to her past. But she had hoped that having a warrior, like the Cyborg next to her, would embolden her resolve enough to face what was ahead with courage. It’s
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