She nodded but tears still trailed down her cheeks. “How long was I out?”

  “Three days,” she said.

  “And you’re not in the hole?”

  Her face paled. “We’re not out of trouble yet,” she said. “Saba…”

  “Is he…” My stomach twisted, bile rising up my throat. I swallowed it.

  “He’s been asking for you.” She smiled. “He’s in the room next to you here.”

  “In here?”

  “Yes, they flew you both into Rise after your surgery. I made sure they let me come with you.”

  “How?”

  “Because I flew the damn helo.” She grinned, and I could only grin back. “But”—she dropped her head—”you did all the work, Rusty. They won’t let you take credit for this, either of us.”

  I nodded. “I didn’t think they would. Bad PR.”

  “Terrible PR. The whole thing. OOF wanted to terminate both of us again.”

  “But?”

  “But we did something no one else ever would have.”

  “Because they were too chickenshit.”

  She laughed then. “You are bonkers.”

  “You were staring at it, the helo. There was no way that wasn’t going through your mind, right?”

  “I was thinking one of the commanding officers could have taken it,” she admitted. “I never thought I could, or would—”

  “Till I said it.” I lowered my head. “Fuck, I put us both at risk. I shouldn’t have.”

  “We did it,” she said. “We did it. No one else could have taken those drones. You were their commander, not Silao.”

  “That is true,” I said.

  “I’ll flip the bed,” she said and moved. Moments later, I was suspended at least the right way up, though nothing supported my back.

  Malaki sat on the edge of it, her hand on my arm. The barest of touch, but it felt good, made me feel better.

  I glanced down, saw my naked form through the sheet. “How am I looking?”

  “Like death,” she answered honestly. “But you’ve been through worse. This upgrade was something they had to do, for you, for us, for them. It wasn’t anywhere near as hard on you as the first TAP. This just involved the branches and strengthening.”

  “What did they put back in?” I risked asking her, not wanting to know.

  “The only thing they could at your stage of failure,” she said. “That’s what they told me.”

  My heart sank. That could just mean…normal spinal replacement, no tech.

  She saw my worry. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t have clearance. They covered the cost of the surgery, the care, and the new tech.”

  “All of it?”

  “I fucking made sure they did.”

  I squeezed her hand. Suddenly, she felt so tiny. “Thanks, Mal,” I said, and I yawned.

  “You should rest,” she said and slipped off the bed.

  “No,” I said. “Please stay.”

  “Don’t want to be alone?”

  I shook my head. “I need my friend,” I admitted.

  She moved to my side, slipped back on the bed. Put her arm around me, and I rested my head on her chest. Listening to her heartbeat beneath me.

  “Love you,” she said.

  Those two words…they meant everything to me. I was more than comfortable with her. I let my eyes drift once more and felt her kiss my head. “Love you too, Mal.”

  “I miss you, Niko,” I whispered to the room. “I miss you a lot.”

  Then the tears came, and I cried till I could cry no more and Malaki held me while I did. Eventually I stopped, curiosity broke through me, and I had to look at my tech.

  TAP - V2/10

  Tier: Three - Nodes 14-20

  M-Corp’s Venus Series - is a great choice for all of your needs!

  Unlike Spinal Reinforcement Mods, the Spinal TAP is of the highest-level M-Corp can provide in spinal science. You will not get any model better than the V series. Ever.

  This mod doesn’t always require a full spinal replacement, but it could. Going from L5 to C1, it is a scientific marvel, allowing precise control signals to be sent and received between organic and inorganic constructs.

  To use this model, you must learn to separate your mind. Training starts, of course, into six, then eight, then up to the maximum of ten drones before you will need to upgrade into a tier four.

  WARNING:

  Implantation is delicate and complex, requiring a team of highly skilled and accredited M-Corp surgeons and medical professionals to properly install the implant.

  A full consultation with a TAP Specialist is advised to discuss suitability for this procedure. It is not for the faint of heart. A very strong will and strong stomach for pain is a must.

  (M-Corp holds no responsibility if this surgery goes wrong even if a legitimate consultation is on record, and it is performed by an M-Corp accredited surgeon)

  Warranty: Twelve months - No refunds if full failure or death

  Durability: 100/100

  Slot Cost: ?? - Credit Cost: ??

  Fuck. I was back at max capacity with some weird bonus, thank the gods. I needed to get some other upgrades as soon as I could to rebalance myself and not strain anything again. Likely that wasn’t going to happen soon. Ugh.

  Identification: Ruslan Korolyov

  Call Sign: Ice71

  Species: Human

  Bonus: Plus 1 to MP for constant resistance to stress.

  Mod Capacity: 17 *with mods* 54

  Mod Capacity in Use: 54

  Stat

  Current Points

  Description

  Mods

  Quality

  Dexterity

  11 = *14*

  Governs agility and movement.

  M177: Right Arm Mod: 3

  Cost: 2

  (+DEX 3)

  Professional

  X24: Right Hand Mod: 3

  Cost: 6

  (+ to hand DEX 6)

  Professional

  Mental Power

  8 to 9 = *18*

  Governs swiftness and fortitude of the mind.

  Brain Mod: 3

  Cost: 4

  (+MP 3)

  Professional

  A1-T17: ??

  Actual Intelligence: Apex

  Cost: 4

  (+PER 3)

  Unknown

  Perception

  12 = *15*

  Governs senses and connection to surroundings.

  Brain Mod: 3

  Cost: 4

  (+MP 3)

  Professional

  X16A: R Eye Mod: 3

  Cost: 6

  (+MP 3)

  Professional

  Strength

  8

  Governs physical strength and damage dealt.

  Left Arm Mod: 0

  Cost: 0

  V2: TAP: 3

  Cost: 4

  (+TOU 3)

  Professional

  Toughness

  9 = *36*

  Governs the body and internal fortitude.

  Organelles: 6

  *Spleen, Kidneys, Stomach*

  *Heart, Liver, Lungs*

  Cost: 24

  (+TOU 24)

  3x Professional

  3x

  Artisan

  93

  I never felt Malaki leave me, but she did at some point.

  The message she left was nice and simple. “Will be back soon as I can. Got a debrief from OOF.”

  When I opened my eyes this time, the room was in daylight, and nurses here and there flitted around.

  Then I noted someone standing in my doorway. Mage Saba.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice croaky. “Good to see you awake.”

  “Hey,” I replied. “Good to see you again.”

  He came in, and I got a look at his skin. Well, what skin? His flesh was covered in a thick sheen of nanites. I’d no idea.

  “Looks ugly,” he said, waving a hand up his torso.

  He wasn’t kidding; it wasn’t skin. I could see his muscles underneath his veins. Everything he was, was on show.

  “You’re not kidding,” I said. Even his ears had gone. There were just holes in the side of his head. “What? How? I don’t…”

  “That mutant seared my skin off. The only thing keeping me alive was my mana. When you hit it, it was going to straight out devour me.”

  “The pain?”

  “I’m that doped up now. I don’t feel a thing.”

  “Phew,” I said.

  “Yours?”

  I glanced at my monitors. “Same.”

  He moved to the end of my bed and sat. His weight moved my spine out of alignment, and I flinched. “Sorry,” he said and was about to get up again.

  “No, stay, please.”

  He sat back down and reached for the bottle of Clemont’s at the end of the bed. He handed it to me. “You have damaged yourself?”

  I shrugged, opened the bottle and took a swig. The relief, even if I was used to it now, was substantial. “I was damaged before.”

  “Really?”

  I nodded and put the top back on, sitting it at the side of me. “Stupid kid, right?”

  “No,” he said. “One of the bravest young men I’ve ever met.”

  “Same, you”—emotion threatened me again—”you were phenomenal.” Silence stretched before us. “How long?”

  “For me to heal, going to be the best part of a year.” He ran a hand figuratively over his form. “This is heavy stuff, and as much as I’d love a friend to help me heal, their mana’s just as special as mine was.”

  “Was.” I recalled all the little bits of information I’d gotten off the others. They saved for years, and years to do one noble thing, to make a difference, then they saved mana again. “I’m sorry.”

  I didn’t know what else to say to him. He’d blown years of saving energy to kill that mutated monster.

  “Don’t be. The beast is dead. We saved the farms. You and I saved thousands, if not millions of lives.”

  I lowered my head, feeling the intensity of the situation. “I’m glad.”

  “I’ll be moved in the morning. They want me up at the Living Earth’s best hospital for a while. I just wanted to give you something before I did leave.”

  I choked out. “Give me something?”

  “They won’t give it to you, but we earned these many years ago, and these belonged to my best friend.” He reached behind himself, opened his hand. There was a tiny set of wings.

  “What?”

  “They are made from a special crystal,” he said. “They signify a job done without question, without fear, without hope of ever coming out alive.”

  “But you did?”

  “I did,” he said. “He didn’t.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because you are like he was.” When he moved to give them to me, I opened my hand, and he dropped them in. “He would want someone to have them. That meant as much to me as he did.”

  “I…” I looked up at him. His eyes misted. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” he replied and dipped his head. “It was an honor, DP Korolyov. I’d be honored to serve with you at any time.”

  “As I you,” I said. “Seriously, if you need a DP.”

  “And if you need another fire mage.”

  He held his hand out, and I shook it. It wasn’t sticky, but it felt cold. Nurse Eina stuck her head in, frowned at us both. “Neither of you should be moving. Back to bed, Mage Saba, before I get in trouble.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  There was a knock on my HUD. I accepted the comms. I mean it any time. This is my personal ID—not many have it. Call me anytime.

  I will, I replied.

  Then he was gone.

  I looked at the little crystal wings in my hand, smiled, and settled back down for more rest.

  The next few weeks were going to be tough enough. Without the healing I needed once again.

  I sighed.

  Yes, very tough.

  ***

  I don’t think anything was going to be as hard as walking to OOF’s commanding officers’ chosen command room. No matter how much I’d just cost, in nanites, in tech upgrades, in everything, I still needed time. Time I didn’t have. Time they didn’t have. I had to walk and I would.

  The nurses helped me dress, and Malaki had come down for me, and waited. When I saw her she scanned over my frame, her frown far too obvious. “You look better.”

  She was lying. Totally lying. “Don’t feel that much better, not yet.”

  “You ready for this?”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea,” I said. “When did he ask to see us?”

  “Soon as he knew you were awake.”

  “Oh,” I replied and walked forward, slow and steady. I wasn’t rushing to the rollicking we were heading for.

  “I tried to keep all of them off the both of us as much as possible.”

  “No one could stop this,” I said.

  “No.” She let out a sigh and took my arm in hers. Her support was very much needed. “I think we’ve done as much as we can though, let’s just hope…hope.”

  “Hope for?”

  She didn’t answer me. We were at the door in what seemed like seconds, not minutes.

  Malaki straightened herself out, stepped away from me, and knocked three times.

  “Come,” the CO shouted.

  She didn’t glance at me. She just walked straight through, and I followed.

  Ocean Oil Fields Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy O’Conner stood looking out of the sheet glass window in front of him, his back to us. There was another figure with him. It had to be General Canlas. I took a double take. It was.

  “Please, sit,” O’Conner said.

  Malaki didn’t want to, but I did. I was exhausted, and the sweat ran down my back, tingling around my new nodes.

  When he turned, though, and eyeballed her, she sat down next to me. O’Conner eyed me carefully. “Still not feeling so great?”

  “No, sir,” I replied.

  “Thank you for coming,” General Canlas said. His stoic face never gave anything away, nothing at all. Though we’d had his full attention back when Niko died, this was different. He had to keep his rank and his presence going.

  O’Conner moved in front of the both of us and perched on the end of the desk.

  We then both waited for him to speak, and he just watched us while he seemed to weigh up exactly what he wanted to say, what he needed to.

  Turning, he brought forward a 3D image for us to look at. “This is the data from the black box on your helo,” he said. “The only feeds that weren’t secured away, by—” He looked at Malaki’s father, but said nothing else.

  I looked it over. There was nothing really out of the ordinary showing. “Sir?” I questioned.

  “No one else is getting to see this report. I’ve been the only eyes on it since First Airman Canlas reported in. Airman Korolyov, do you have anything to tell me?”

  “What?” Malaki asked. “Why?”

  “Look closer, First Airman, then tell me what you see.”

  Malaki stretched forward, touched the screen, and the image moved with her finger. “Rus?” she asked. “No wonder you fried your nodes.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said, and I didn’t. The words streaming past meant nothing to me in code. There was still so much I couldn’t read, even with my upgraded systems and bought knowledge packs. They’d been studying this, all of this, most of their lives.

  Malaki brought up an image then. “Your system wasn’t connected properly.”

  I stared at the seating arrangement to the helo. Not connected properly? That wasn’t possible. I couldn’t tap into it without the connections working. They were everything.

  O’Conner zoomed in closer. “The moment she was reported stolen, I knew there were no true connections, because this was my old bird.”

  Malaki’s eyes widened. “You flew the 718?”

  His smile this time lit the room. “For many years, yes.”

  It would explain how he knew that there was no connection to the system, but it didn’t explain how I’d done what I did. Not at all.

  “I don’t understand,” I said again. “I really don’t.”

  “That makes two of us,” he said. “I don’t know if I should be amazed, proud, or extremely worried.”

  “What about…” Malaki went to ask.

  “We’ve got other higher-ups on our backside,” he said freely. “They’re hounding us for details on who was in the 718.”

  “You’ve not told them?”

  “Only seven people know you were both in there,” he replied. “The three of us, Mage Saba, Stinky, and his RSM.”

  “That’s only six,” Malaki said.

  “Well, and your father,” he said to her and flapped his hand at her father.

  “What are you going to do with us?” I asked.

  “At the moment, I need you to really think about what you did. You stole an aircraft, you put your own lives at risk with no thought at all. You also put Mage Saba and every single person out there at risk too.”

  I thought about his words. “Sir, if that monster had gotten to that…”

  “It wouldn’t have,” her father replied.

  “You can’t know that,” Malaki said.

  I cringed at her words. He might be her father, but he was still way over the top of us.

  “Yes.” O’Conner flicked the screen again. “We might have been a little slower, but we had a contingency plan. It wouldn’t have gotten to that area of the city or the power plants, not at all.”

  The screen lit up, and there was indeed another plan laid out for us to see. It involved two SARs from Rain Station, five clicks to our west. They had time to pick up two squads of trained warriors while the others went to pick up Mage Saba. I felt my whole world spinning around me. Sick wasn’t in it.

  “However,” O’Conner carried on. “We might have lost most of those men while Mage Saba got there.”

  I couldn’t help but ask again. “What are you going to do with us?”