Page 52 of The Program

It was like time stopped, my heart along with it. ‘What do you meanyou can’t find him?’

He wasn’t here when I got back to the cave. The girls and I have been out searching this whole time but there’s no sign of him.’

My breath hitched, not wanting to believe what I was hearing. ‘Dave Junior’s…gone?’

Then, as if I’d summoned him with the sheer force of my despair, the little sneak jumped right in front of the screen and blocked my view of Libby.

From my side.

‘Oh, you naughty boy!’ I exclaimed, tugging him into an embrace that was probably too tight, but in that moment I was just so glad he was safe.

‘He’s on the ship?’ screeched Libby, but I heard a few of the women cheering behind her. I wanted to believe it was because they learned he was safe, but I was sure it had more to do with their eagerness to be rid of him. He had a habit of overprotective tendencies. It wasn’t just me he shielded. He also liked to hoard food, including everyone else’s.

‘What do you think you’re doing here, Dave Junior? You’re supposed to be safely tucked away with Libby back home!’ I chastised, but he was having far too much fun slobbering all over my face, neck and chest to pay attention to my berating. Before I knew it, I was completely soaked through and desperate for an actual shower.

Libby cleared her throat to get my attention, and I struggled to move Junior’s oversized head out of the way so I could see.

‘On that note, I think I’m going to leave you two to it. I’m glad you’re safe and the ship’s still holding up. Please stay that way.’

I scoffed, mockingly offended. ‘You doubt me, bitch?’

Her grin was wide, the first one to truly reach her eyes since Bal was taken. ‘Never.’

I softened immediately. ‘Love you, L.’

‘Love you too, you goob.’

And then the line disconnected and I was back to staring at a blank screen.

A wet nose nuzzled at my face again, bringing me back to the brand-new dilemma I’d acquired. ‘What am I going to do with you, huh?’ I asked him, scratching at a sweet spot in between his two left ears.

His only response was to curl up against me and release his version of a contented purr, his heavy weight a comforting presence. For something that had just put himself in immense danger, he seemed pretty damn pleased with himself.

There wasn’t anything I could do about it now. I’d just have to find a way to keep him safe by hiding him on board while I completed my rescue mission. Until then, I was going to take solace in no longer being so alone.

But despite my new source of entertainment, I still needed to use my time on the ship wisely.

Now that I had a significant amount of free time on my hands for the duration of the journey, I was going to have to fill it with some experiments of my own. My competence with my newest abilities was juvenile at best, but I was also going to have to play around to see if there were any other changes I needed to be aware of. There was never any knowing what effects the new implants would have on what currently existed inside me, or vice versa.

But in order to do that, I needed to replenish my energy stores.

I headed to the kitchen and snagged myself a Nutri-Bar, then after a moment’s deliberation snapped up another one for Junior. ‘I hope you don’t mind tasteless and chewy, because that’s what you just signed up for, buddy.’

I peeled off the wrapper and set it on a plate, where I then placed it at Dave Junior’s feet. I patted him on the top of his heavy purple head, scratching him in the centre of his four ears. ‘Eat up.’

He took a tentative sniff then reared back to look at me with big, red, accusing eyes.

I snickered at him. ‘You would’ve had all the meat you could ask for if you’d stayed behind like you were supposed to,’ I reminded him.

Then the cheeky little shit rolled his eyes at me, sneered at the food, took one lick, then pushed it away with a single extended claw. He was clearly spending more time with Libby than I’d realised if he was picking up on her attitude. I’d have to have words with her about that.

I took a large bite out of my own Nutri-Bar, chewing slowly and groaning as if it was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten in my life. It was a whole production since these things were like eating congealed dust, but with food so inconsistent within the confines of The Program’s rules I had stopped being picky at an extremely early age.

If Dave Junior was going to follow meeverywhereI went, then he’d need to learn that same lesson, too.

When he pushed his plate away again in the same disgusted manner, I chose to leave him with it while I practiced controlling my newfound abilities.

The first test I conducted was my ability to bring forth the metallic skin shield at will. As it turned out, that was as simple as flexing a muscle. When I focused on it, it covered my entire body within a few ticks. I was even able to cover specific parts of my body while leaving the rest of me bare.

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