Chapter 15 Craze

Pleasuring Navi was the highlight of my operation. I did not anticipate that it would excite me so much to see her eyes roll back or feel her luscious pussy tighten around my tongue, but I want more.

I am glad I caved to my desire to make her feel good. Even if I cannot have her the way I want, I can still serve her.

We pack up quietly in the middle of the night at Macabre's request. I try to carry Navi to the hoverdrone, but she wiggles her feet to the ground.

"I don't want special treatment when the other women don't get it."

I relent because I respect her reason, but I hate letting go of her.

We load onto our transports. Tangle and Macabre pilot them. I dig through a bag of gear I'd stashed in Den Thirteen and pull out a stash of ammo. As I refill my magazines, Navi's hands run over my back.

NaviCraze: You are as scarred as I am.

CrazeNavi: Survived a lot of battles.

When I grab my shirt, I feel her lips on my shoulder and her warm breath cascade down my arm. My ultro spools up, brightening the light of my digibadge.

Tangle glances at me as I throw my shirt on.

CrazeTangle: What? Spit it out?

TangleCraze: Nothing.

NaviCraze: Thanks for last night. I just don't want the other women feeling left out.

Her blue eyes are beautiful even if Sevrin made them or stole them from a Titan. My guess is the latter. Either way, I don't care. They're hers now. And they convey everything she holds inside: insecurity, admiration, bashful disbelief—ecstasy.

I pinch her chin and rest my forehead to hers.

CrazeNavi: I want to try that again soon, but only with you. I'm sorry, but I do not want them. Titans Bond with one human. There are no exceptions. Besides, I think Tangle has the tingles for Aeri.

She snorts a laugh. Tingles?

Yeah.

Tangle slows the hoverdrone. "We're here."

Axe and RamBash have found a quick escape from the tunnels which will lead us into the shelter of the mountains. Ahead of us, Axe slices and slashes the wall then steps aside as RamBash slams his body into it, crumbling the rock and extending the tunnel.

We climb off of the hoverdrone and gather near the nose of the Tacticat. Macabre disconnects one of the Tacticat guns and helps Aeri strap it over her shoulders.

"You good?" he asks her.

She hums in agreement. "Metal bones. I'm good."

Macabre takes the other for himself and straps himself into his harness. He hands Elianna a belt with medical supplies and grenades because she can run fast with the motor in her chest. Shavih has a camping pack like the one on Macabre's back, beneath the gun. Tangle takes another camping pack.

The vibrations in the ground make me shift my feet and hope the Solcrue aren't waiting for us when we punch through.

Beside me, Tangle glances abashedly at Aeri, then stumbles on a rock and knocks her over. He promptly helps her up and immediately takes a knee. "I am so sorry."

She gives him an odd look of surprise and endearment. "It's okay. The ground is uneven, and we're both carrying a lot of weight."

But Tangle shivers and grunts like he's in pain.

"Tangle?" Aeri crouches beside him, worry in her eyes.

TangleLocal: Confirm Aeri is okay. I can't move.

She shifts out of my way as I walk to my brother. She is fine, Tangle. What level are you at?

Two.

"What's happening to him?" Navi asks.

RamBash sighs and explains while I support my brother through his thirty-seconds of misery. "Level Two punishment for hurting a human. We have it. Craze is broken."

"I have experienced it in the lab. It is miserable," I clarify, hating that my brothers suffer and die when I cannot and do not. Sometimes, I think they are a bit bitter toward me about it.

I remove the pack from Tangle's shoulders and sling it over mine.

"How do we stop it?" Eliana asks clipping the belt around her waist.

"This seems like a problem if it happens when we find Solcrue." Navi squats beside Tangle and I, resting a hand to his back. "Hang in there, Tangle. All I know are shockbaton zaps, but that's terrible enough. Thirty-seconds makes you a badass."

He wheezes out a short laugh, though his wide eyes expose his agony.

Macabre grunts in frustration. "Generals had the power because we were Bonded to them. There aren't any left. But any human who Bonds with us can then free us of all restrictive programming. We would be able to choose our behavior completely, no punishments like this."

"And how does one Bond with a Titan?" Navi asks as Tangle slumps, catches his breath and finally gets back to his feet.

Macabre looks to me. "They must elect a Titan to serve them. When Bonded, the human must release the Titan from all punishment programming and deem them free to make their own decisions. They will, however, remain bonded to some degree. Only command-level humans can make mass Bonds. The others must be requested by the Titan and accepted by the human."

Navi opens her mouth like she's going to say something but notices the wristband sticking out of my pocket. You still have that?

I pull it out and hand it to her. "I was hoping to use it to help a brother."

She looks it over, turns it on, and scrolls through the data. "What does he need?"

While the others finish preparations for our journey, I slide the container with Ranger's body off of the Tacticat and open the lid.

"Holy shit," Jeela walks over and joins us. "I know him."

"When did you meet?" I ask.

"Saw him during battle. I served on a battledagger as a teen. He saw me but didn't shoot me. He turned away." Jeela glances at Navi and lowers her voice. "Ranger was a lot shinier back then."

"He crashed here with us," I say, moving aside the cords and nanofilter tubing so I can pull him out of the box. "I couldn't free him from his cell before we landed. I've rebuilt every part of him and have kept him on these recirculators and power. I assume he's in hibernation, but resetting him and trying to jumpstart him hasn't worked."

"Are you bringing him?" Tangle asks.

"I'm not leaving a brother behind again. You know that. And if we find a ship, I want him to board with us."

Navi scours the programs and casually leans back against the wall like the pulses from RamBash aren't distracting. Her eyes light up. "I'm going to merge to find the program I think will help."

"Is that safe?" I ask.

"Is anything?"

When she looks up at me, a fear chills my insides. I want to show her how much I need her. I take her face in my hands and kiss her.

Her eyes close.

"Be careful," I say to her lips. "Don't get lost in there."

She blinks. "I lived in his programs for years. But it will be interesting to see what's hiding behind his higher security clearance."

Macabre clears his throat. "While she does that, everyone else needs to buckle up. We're almost through."

I clip on my chest harness beneath the camping pack and pick up Ranger's body.

Navi joins me as our group moves up the tunnel. "Think his network is running? I'm not seeing him in the Local list."

"I don't know." I clip Ranger to my chest and hike after Tangle and Aeri. Shavih and Jeela talk behind us, while Eliana hustles up to speak with Macabre and learn how to use what she carries.

"Here." Navi clips Rochir's wristband to Ranger's forearm. "There's a reboot program Rochir used to use on me to try and start over. All it did was restart my splay. But it might work. I just had to set it up for our network. I hope there's enough battery left to complete the process ."

I run a finger over her cheek in admiration. "Thanks for doing what you can, whether or not it works. It means a lot that you're trying to help my Brother."

Macabre eases into the opening, handguns drawn. He peers out for a moment then looks back to us. "There's an outbuilding a two-day hike from here. No fires. No talking. We stick together and hustle. We'll group up at night to stay warm.

"Craze, close it."

I wave the others ahead of me, draw a gun, and fire at the cave walls. It's not preferred to leave equipment behind, but it would only draw attention to us here. With other soldiers crawling the surface, heat sensors won't differentiate us.

"Titans, switch off." Macabre points to Navi. "You too."

"Yes, sir." Navi blinks, and the light in her eyes fades.

"You have that wrong, Navi," I say quietly. "Titans serve humans."

"Humble. That's why I think you'll do great when you're free." She ducks her head as she follows Eliana through the narrow opening. "And I think we are equal."

"I could not have reprogrammed the wristband. I can access it and control what's there," I admit. "But you have creativity and engineering capabilities beyond what we're designed for."

"You can endure what we can't," she counters as we get our first glimpse of the brisk mountains. "We all have our skills ."

Navi sticks her tongue out between her teeth and winks at me.

Macabre glares back at us.

"Oops, we've pissed of Mama Bear," I whisper. "We better be good girls and boys."

"Naughty ones, later?" Navi grins.

I bury my lips against her ear. "Definitely. Gorgeous ."

She blushes, and it makes me wonder what the rest of her would look like out here under the sun, raw from the synthskin-to-flesh attention I want to give her.

I draw her close and keep her between me and the mountain. Navi gives her friends a hand signal I don't understand, but they seem to understand. She takes a pack of camping gear from Shavih, throws it over her back, and marches on.

I hope we survive this because I've found a new purpose. I don't know if Navi will agree to the proposition churning in my mind, but I hope she does.