Page 13 of Human Reform
“It’s… beautiful,” I admitted reluctantly, the confession slipping out before I could stop it.
Daxon’s eyes flicked to mine, the hint of surprise in them making me wonder how many compliments he’d heard in his lifetime.“Planet Alpha has its moments.”
We followed a winding stone path through what seemed to be the heart of the settlement.I’d expected something militaristic and sterile—a reflection of the war machines I’d helped create.Instead, I found myself walking through what looked like a thriving community.
“You have children here?”I asked as we passed a small group of toddlers chasing each other around a tree trunk, their laughter bright against the jungle sounds.
“The first generation born free,” Daxon answered, his deep voice carrying a note of pride I hadn’t heard before.“Some are fully cyborgs.Others are hybrids.”
“Hybrids?”The implications made my scientific mind race.
“Yes.Like Aeon and Olivia’s daughter.”
I shook my head in amazement.The beings I’d helped program to kill were now creating life.The irony wasn’t lost on me.
As we entered what Daxon called the central plaza, I was struck by how… normal everything seemed.Humans and cyborgs mingled freely at market stalls and gathering spaces.Some sat at outdoor tables sharing meals, while others worked together on construction at the edge of the plaza.If not for the occasional glimpse of advanced tech, it could have been any frontier settlement on Earth.
“I never imagined…” I began, but my words died as shouting erupted nearby.
A teenage cyborg boy, maybe sixteen, had suddenly frozen mid-conversation with an older woman.His body went rigid, his eyes glazing over.Before anyone could react, he lashed out, knocking over a display of fruits and shoving the woman backward.
“Stay here,” Daxon commanded, striding toward the scene with controlled urgency.
I watched, my heart in my throat, as Daxon approached the boy from behind.With swift precision, he wrapped one arm around the teenager’s chest while his other hand pressed against the base of his skull.He spoke low words I couldn’t hear, his mouth close to the boy’s ear.
The boy struggled, his movements wild and uncoordinated.But Daxon held him firmly, never increasing the pressure to a harmful degree, just containing the chaos until, suddenly, the boy went slack in his arms.
When awareness returned to the boy’s eyes, horror replaced the blankness.“I-I didn’t mean to,” the boy stammered, trembling.“It happened again.I couldn’t stop it.”
My stomach twisted into knots.This was my code—my work—still terrorizing them years later.The kill switch I’d engineered was supposed to have been disabled by any reprogramming, yet here it was, erupting through the surface like a volcano no one could predict.
Daxon spoke reassuringly to the boy before making his way back to me.My legs felt weak.
“I need to… I can’t…” I couldn’t formulate a coherent thought.
Daxon’s expression softened as he read my distress.“Come with me.”
He led me away from the plaza, down a narrow path that wound between towering trees draped with vines.The sounds of the settlement faded behind us, replaced by alien birdsong and the rustle of leaves.After several minutes of walking in silence, the path opened to a small clearing with a pond at its center.The water gleamed like liquid silver beneath the alien sky, unnervingly beautiful.
A roughly hewn bench sat at the pond’s edge.I sank onto it, drawing shaky breaths.Daxon lowered himself beside me, so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
“What you saw…” he began.
“Was my fault,” I finished, staring at the rippling water.“My code is still hurting people.”
“No.What I was going to say is that what you saw is why we need your help so badly.”His voice was steady, but beneath it ran an undercurrent of something raw.“These episodes are becoming more frequent.More severe.”
I twisted my brother’s bracelet around my wrist, a nervous habit.“How do you manage them?”
“We have protocols.Interventions.”He hesitated but then added, “I experience them too now, as you unfortunately witnessed last night in the medical bay.I’ve always prided myself on control.These… lapses… they’re difficult to accept.”
The admission seemed to cost him, and I found myself reaching out without thinking, my fingers brushing his forearm.The contact sent that same electric current through me, and I saw his pupils dilate slightly in response.
“I never thought about what would happen after the war,” I confessed.“I never considered you all would… evolve like this.Build something beautiful.”
“Is that what you see here?Beauty?”His blue eyes studied me with an intensity that made my heart rate quicken.
“Yes,” I answered honestly.“And my handiwork trying to destroy it.”
