Ron had slipped back into his vision. He was standing on the trellis again, watching his wife get eaten alive by some kind of killer plant. He pulled out a pocketknife and cut the vines that held his feet in place. As soon as he broke free of the vines, he could feel their tendrils, all over his body.

They are trying to control me.

Ron jumped—and landed next to his wife. He couldn’t believe she was here.

Where am I?

“Hey, Roz,” Ron said.

Her lips were moving, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying. Her next words were more controlled, deliberate.

“Danger. Stay away!”

The vines started wrapping around her neck until she couldn’t say anything else. The vines continued until the vegetation encased the rest of the body.

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“Come back to us—Ron, you awake?” Ash said.

Ron opened his eyes. He was lying down, strapped to a table, hooked up to machines. The incessant beeping of the machines was driving him mad. Everything seemed amplified. He could hear whispered conversations between two staffers on the other side of the room.

“Can you hear me?” Ash said.

Ron said something unintelligible.

“What’s going on here?” Jeremiah demanded.

“Ron’s dose of Nitro 1500 is causing an unexpected reaction, and I’m trying to keep him alive,” Ash said.

“Sounds like you gave him too much,” Jeremiah said.

“I told you that administering the smallest of doses was dangerous,” Ash said.

“How much time before April expires?”

Ash tapped her visor.

“Lev, get me the stats on the L3 diagnostic.”

“The cyborg known as Delta has significant damage to its cerebral cortex (cybernetic brain), but is holding at 85.3 percent, neutral empathy receptors require repair, holding at 55.4 percent, logic processor at 88.8 percent,” Leviathan replied.

“Her brain decay has slowed, but we need Ron in a lucid state. We can’t hurry this. If we damage him, we are in trouble,” Ash said.

Jeremiah nodded. “I will be in the control center,” he said. “Keep me informed.”

Once Jeremiah was clear of the room, Ash administered a controlling agent into Ron’s body.

“You will rest for a short while longer,” Ash told him, “and then we will get to work. It will be just like the old days, except . . . I’m the master this time.” With that, she took her leave.