Eagle X, Mission 20: Quantum Bonds(Editing)

Part 8: Taylor-06

Liam stood in the hall smoking a cigar, the cherry wood and tobacco smoke a trademark of the Uncle P brand he loved so much.  Taylor-06 tried her best not to look at him.  They hadn't spoken since they caught the shuttle and made the gridjump from Capricorn to it's substation.  Gary the attendant was so eager to make amends for inconveniencing a customer he neglected to wonder why his device suddenly failed.  Thanks to him they were able to avoid the 8 hour wait for the next jump.  Liam had tried to make conversation, but Taylor-06 didn't reciprocate.  After a while he stopped trying.  That was five hours ago.

Kent had been unable to make the trip but he sent an assistant to meet them equipped with boarding passes for the next transport to Staten I-718.  To Taylor-06's distress the pair were given private quarters.  The steward, a series 4 named Judy-52, made sure they didn't need refreshments and promised them privacy as per their boarding pass requests.  The last thing Taylor-06 wanted was to be alone with Liam Marcus.

Taylor-06 touched the spot on her neck, the one he kissed and made her systems go haywire.  She shivered at the memory.  She'd never experienced anything so acutely.  Her Neo-Mecha Empire creators created the series 3s anatomically comparable to human beings with genitalia and the wiring to work them.  Much of her tertiary functionality had been deactivated during the war.  The human tribunals which determined which constructs lived and which were decommissioned never bothered to reactivate them when she was spared the purge.

Taylor-06 brushed a tentative hand along her neck.  It wasn't hard to deduce that her neck was some form of erogenous zone.  What was hard was knowing what to do with that knowledge after spending 4/5ths of her existence oblivious to it.  Again she shivered.  What had the Neo-Mecha intend when they created the series 3s to so perfectly emulate humans?

"Hey, can we talk?"

Taylor-06 opened her eyes, and Liam was sitting across from her.  Her attention went to his full lips, and her breath caught in her throat.  Embarrassed, she cut off her breathing mechanisms.

"Sure, Lee," she said a bit brusque, "What's on your mind?"

She could tell he was taken aback by her tone.

"I noticed something back on Capricorn," he began.

Her mind raced with possible excuses, and believable fabrications.  The truth was far too embarrassing to share.

"I noticed you've favored your right arm since we left homebase."

This caught Taylor-06 off guard.

"Oh, it's nothing.  The joint is a little stiff."

"Strangely, I think I can tell when you're lying to me."

"Trust me, Lee.  I'm fine."

"That's the thing.  I want to trust you.  We're friends, I hope, but this is beyond friendship.  We're on mission, and I need to know I can rely on you at a moment's notice."  His gaze grew intense.  "Can I truly trust you?"

She processed his words, calculating and weighing.  For the first time in her existence she was able to choose her own allegiance.  She was beholden to no one, not The Neo-Mecha, not the Asian Seas Transport company.  She could tell him to jump out the airlock, and keep her privacy.  The realization was liberating, but with it was the fear of making the wrong decision, and the consequences which would accompany it.

"You can," she answered.  Eagle X had become her family, and she wanted their confidence.

"Good."  His expression softened.  "Show me your arm."

Taylor-06 had prepared for his demand, but his words still filled her circuits with dread.  She slowly unzipped her right sleeve, attempting to analyze the subtle shifts of his face.  He frowned, and she saw annoyance and frustration.  He leaned forward and took her arm in his hands.