"So they're gone, then." Rina sighs, using a wrench to tighten the bolt of a small device. "They weren't the brightest, but they worked hard."
"Yes, they did. It seems Garbad escaped, however. So there is some good that came out of this encounter." I chisel into the stone wall of our hideout, a growing feeling pouring into my artificial body as I make three straight marks. "In two years, we've yet to lose anyone." Unfeeling fingers clutch at my core as the chisel slips from the wall, glancing off and gouging a piece out I'd not meant to carve. A rage builds, and the chisel drives deep into the wall, buried up to the handle. In my head, I can feel the last breaths, the final moments of Tennyson, Hjalfnir, and Cal. They insisted on becoming enhanced. They insisted on it, and now they're dead. I shouldn't be angry at anyone but myself. I'm the one who severed the connection to their implants. I killed them.
As if sensing the conflict, Rina pats my shaking arms. I have no heart, yet the pain that fills me is like losing part of my soul. "Why did you break your bond with them?" She asks, as though I'd be able to give her a valid reason.
I shake my head. "They were captured. That's the rule they established. 'If we get caught, don't let it lead back to everyone else. Don't let them get anything out of us.' That's what they always said. But if that's what they wanted, why do I feel like this?"
"Because you care." Rina removes a bolt from my elbow, disconnecting my forearm from the rest of my body. "And because you know you're guilty in their deaths. But that pain, it's what defines us as people. We've all felt it before. It lets us know we're still alive inside."
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"I don't understand how you can go through this." I stand from my chair, pacing back and forth. "How do you handle this pain?"
"Different methods. Some take to drinking, some find solace in the arms of others. Some learn to either ignore it, or revel in it. I tinker and build." Rina attaches another forearm to me, tightening the bolt.
"I dread to think of someone who could enjoy such things." My new arm feels heavier, and as I look down at it, the shine of steel brings a sigh to my lips. "Are you sure you want to keep doing this, Rina? The world is going to change. It may not be a place you could love when we're done."
"I'd given up on life by the time Cal found me. I'd given up on the world by the time we found you. Your vision filled us with a sense of purpose, of renewal. It was invigorating to know such possibilities existed for people like us." She pats the metal arm with a smile. "We will persevere. And one day, when we're all gone from this world, we'll meet again on the other side. All of us."
Her warmth is infuriatingly invigorating. I pat her tiny head and try to smile, but my lips falter. The feeling isn't there. I don't have the strength that she does. "Carry on" a voice in my head echoes. I form the shape of a smile and look over my new arm.
"Based on the amount of materials we have, we should be nearly ready. Let our contact know to bring what he has left." I flex my wrist. A long blade extends from under the top plate of my new arm and my head bobs approvingly.
"So we're moving ahead?" Rina asks, excitement in her eyes.
"Yes. We will not let our comrades' deaths be in vain." The blade slides back between the plates as my steel fist clenches. "You're going to need bigger tools. Prepare everyone for Phase Two."