Cyborg by Kaitlyn O'Connor Page A

tied a knot adequate to hold you.”
    “But then I’m not a cyborg.”
    He said nothing for several moments. “No, you’re not.”
    Amaryllis reigned in her temper with an effort.
    When she said nothing more, he returned his attention to her wrists. “You have done more damage than I had thought possible. You skin is … delicate. Will this repair itself without aid of medicines?”
    “In time.”
    “How much time?”
    “How would I know that?”
    He looked both surprised by her comment and irritated. “You do not have nanos?”“For infection and internal, life threatening injuries, yes.”

    To her relief, he released her hands at last, settling them on her thighs. “I did not intend to cause you injury, but to protect you from….”
    When he didn’t finish, Amaryllis asked, “Your fellow cyborgs?”
    “Yourself. To keep you from taking foolhardy chances.”
    Amaryllis gave him a look. “If you have such a low opinion of humans, why are you … doing this?”
    He studied her a long moment and finally shrugged, rising from the bunk. “I must return to my duties before I am missed. I will bring food for you when I return.”
    When he’d gone, Amaryllis moved to the door of the facilities. After listening to make certain no one was about, she went in, took care of her needs and rushed back to the cabin. She would’ve liked to soothe her hurts with cool water, but she didn’t dare linger too long in the facilities.
    She’d had worse and endured.
    The burning subsided in her wrists after a while. Exhausted from the pain of her injuries and the shocks she’d endured one after another since their craft had crashed, too wary even to consider leaving the cabin and, despite everything, bored beyond belief, Amaryllis finally curled up on the cot and allowed sleep to overtake her. She woke when the sound of the key lock being punched alerted her to imminent company.
    As much as she hated to admit it, relief flooded her when she saw that it was Dante. As promised, he brought food for her--enough for several days from the bounty of it. There was no place to sit except the floor or the bunk. She chose the bunk, folding her legs and bracing her back against the bulkhead. Dante settled beside her at the other end of the bunk, watching her.
    “Have you eaten?”
    “Yes. This is for you.”
    She was starving, but discomfited by his attention. “Where are we going?” she asked finally, more to distract him than because she expected him to answer.
    He hesitated. “We discovered a world well beyond the human colonies.”
    “In unexplored space?” she asked, surprised.
    “Not now.”
    Amaryllis frowned thoughtfully. “The Company was certain the cyborg stronghold was near the outer rim.”
    “They were wrong. Does that surprise you?”
    “Not particularly. They’re wrong more often than not. That’s what comes from having a superiority complex.”
    Amusement entered his eyes. “You think we are guilty of the same.”
    It wasn’t a question. Amaryllis shrugged.
    “We were created with all the advantages of human beings and none of the disadvantages.”

    “You think so?”
    That effectively silenced him for several moments. “I am as human as you are.
    Why do you consider me a machine and yourself … human?”
    He couldn’t have said anything more certain to cut her to the quick than that.
    Amaryllis lost her appetite. Ignoring the question, she very carefully covered the food and looked around for someplace to put it.
    “You are finished?”
    “Yeah.”
    Dante frowned. “You have hardly eaten any. No wonder you are so tiny.”
    Amaryllis glared at him.
    Something flickered in his eyes. After a moment, he took the food from her wordlessly, rose from the bunk and placed the containers in his locker.
    She was staring at the floor when he returned to the bunk. She studiously ignored him as he stood over her, eyeing her curiously.
    Finally, he settled on the bunk beside her. “You are offended.”
    “You