Page 20 of Human Reform
“What’s wrong?”Alora asked, her fingers brushing my forearm.
“I just realized you can’t work here at my workstation,” I said, my voice tight with unexpected disappointment.I’d been looking forward to having her beside me, watching her brilliant mind work while stealing glances at her.“It’s not secure enough.”
“You’re thinking the saboteur might be watching,” she whispered, immediately understanding.
I nodded.“We need to get you completely isolated with that system.Somewhere private.”
Her eyes searched mine, and I felt that strange electric current between us again.“You’re worried about me.”
It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway.“Yes.”The admission felt like surrendering a piece of armor I’d worn for years.
“Well then, let’s talk to whoever can make this happen,” she said, standing up abruptly.
I stood up, too, and quickly led her through the security center toward Rune’s office at the back.The morning light streamed through the reinforced windows, casting Alora in a golden glow that made my chest tighten in an odd way I couldn’t explain.
I rapped my knuckles against Rune’s door twice.
“Enter,” came his steady voice.
Rune sat behind his desk reviewing training schedules, his auburn hair catching the light.He looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of Alora.
“Rune, we have a situation,” I said, closing the door behind us.
I quickly explained what Alora had discovered—the modified code, the deliberate sabotage, and the need for complete isolation to work on a solution.With each word, Rune’s expression grew more severe.
“You want to give her…” He gestured to Alora.“A stranger who wrote our enslavement code and has been here all of one day, complete access to our systems?”His tone was incredulous.
“I understand your concern,” Alora said before I could answer, her voice steady.“But whoever modified my original code wants you all to suffer.I don’t.I left CyberEvolution because I couldn’t live with what I’d helped do to your people.”
Rune’s piercing gaze shifted from her to me.“And you trust her?”
“I do.”The certainty in my voice surprised me.I’d never vouched for anyone this way before.
Rune rubbed his jaw.“The colony’s safety is at stake either way.”
“If I can’t fix these glitches, more of your people will suffer violent episodes like the teenage boy in the plaza yesterday,” Alora added.“My original wartime code was modified at some point.Probably sometime during the aftermath of the war when all the cyborgs were being reprogrammed with the new free-thinking code.”She paused to steady herself.“The malicious section of code is designed to reassert control of the wartime programming gradually in every cyborg who had that original architecture implemented in their neural framework.It will get worse as time goes on.”
Rune stood, his impressive height nearly matching mine.“I’ll speak with Commander Helix and Aeon.We’ll set up what you need.”He looked directly at Alora.“But understand this—if anything happens to our people because of your access…”
“I’ll personally ensure she answers for it,” I interrupted, my protective instinct flaring unexpectedly.
Alora shot me a look I couldn’t quite decipher—surprise mixed with something else.
“I’ll get her space prepared today,” Rune said with a curt nod.“Wait at your workstation with her while I speak with command.”
As we walked back to my workstation, Alora leaned close.“That was intense.”
“Rune has good reason to be cautious.We all do.”I guided her around a busy section of the security center, my hand finding the small of her back automatically.“The war isn’t a distant memory for most of us.”
“I know,” she said softly.“I’m sorry.”
I stopped, turning to face her in the middle of the busy room.“Don’t apologize for what you’re about to try and fix.”
Her eyes widened at my words, and something shifted between us—a recognition that we’d moved past blame and into partnership.The security center faded away around us as we stood locked in each other’s gaze, and I understood what it meant to choose someone above duty, above protocol, above everything.
“I am going to fix this.I promised you,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
“No.We are going to fix this,” I corrected, my hand moving to lightly brush against hers.“Together.”
