Page 54 of Swept By The Alien Pirate Prince

Cyburn and Nix exchanged a wary glance with each other, as if to non-verbally say to each other, ‘Wait, are these flying robots trying tohelpus? Are wereallygoing to pull this off?’

Things were looking up, but my body was still as rigid as a plank. Paranoia still had a choke hold on me, but at least a panic attack wasn’t festering inside my head.

Once the ground robots began to disperse, the hovering robots wasted no time in closing in on us, to the point where I was worried that they were going to sabotage us or kill us right there on the spot.

Cyburn must have had the same concerns because he stepped closer to me, cupping my hand in his, linking our fingers together. His presence over me was protective and possessive. His posture remained stoic and strong.

“What do you want from us?” he asked. “We’ve already expressed our intentions for being on this planet and we’ve acted with respect and compliance thus far. We should be proving ourselves as a non-threat to you and your species.”

The robot and Cyburn began what I could only describe as a staring contest of sorts, sizing each other up, trying to determine which of the two was bluffing, or posed the biggest threat to the other.

“You’re lying about both your intentions and your identity,” the humanoid robot said with a gruff voice and with lips pinched together.

My heart dropped into my stomach. My nerves shredded. This was it. This was the end. We were going to die here, standing at this enemy-guarded’ gate.

Cyburn didn’t flinch. He offered nothing more than a poker face. I admired his ability to remain so calm under such enormous pressure. He didn’t show fear in front of the probing robots, and I thought this might be throwing them for a loop.

No one made any action either way. I didn’t dare flinch or move a single muscle out of place. I could hardly even dare myself to blink.

“How can you prove that?” Cyburn asked.

“Because I know who you are,” the robot declared.

Cyburn took a solid step forward. “You know nothing about me.”

“I know that you are an Alesian native. Even though you try to hide it through your face coverings and warrior gear, I know.”

“You sound sure of yourself.” Cyburn’s lips curled into a snide smirk.

“I know what I know, and I only know truths, not lies.”

“Good for you. Do you want me to gift you with a reward or something?” Cyburn asked, his voice gaining testiness.

My heart pounded. I was losing hope, watching this exchange unfold with increasing anxiety.

“We are not going to harm you,” the robot advised after an excruciating, extended silence.

Cyburn’s brows knitted with doubt. His eyes roamed the robots with scrutinizing distrust.

“How can we be sure of that?”

“How canwebe sure thatyoudon’t have malicious intent againstus?” the robot countered, its voice echoing again with more of an incriminating, acute ring than before.

Cyburn frowned and exchanged a cautious glance with Nix.

“I suppose that’s true. We can’t trust you anymore than you can trust us.”

“What should we do about that?” the robot asked.

“Grant us access into the capital and allow us to prove it to you,” Cyburn requested.

I knew it was a lie, but I was hoping that somehow, by some miracle against the odds, the robots would yield even if they didn’t necessarily believe us wholeheartedly.

“Unfortunately, that won’t be a viable option at this time.” The robot spoke with grave finality that left little room for debate.

However, Cyburn protested anyway, testing his limits, feeling the robots out to determine how far he could push over the line.

“Again, we have complied with all the rules put in place. We have allowed the inspections. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be allowed to pass,” Cyburn advised, his voice flaring. His temper was bubbling.

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