Chapter 17 Navi

The hoverdrone is on autopilot, controlled by someone else, somewhere else. There's no one onboard but me. The claws zapped me as we descended, then tightened around me when I started to slip through. I'm starting to think the drones were specifically designed to capture Titans that escaped the original decommissioning plant.

The wind is abrasive but warms as we race toward the tower. My ribs ache from rubbing on the hard metal claws. Every rise and fall of the drone over the rippling landscape is agonizing.

I hope Craze is safe.

I hope he doesn't forget me.

The hoverdrone floats into the compound, passing security checks and locked doors of buildings without a guard in sight. Then it deposits me in a large white room with a wall of windows facing the landing pad.

"There she is."

The voice curls dread around my heart and chills my spine.

Sevrin greets me with cybernetic hands lifted like I'm a deity brought back to life. His malicious smile is what gives away he true intent.

The hoverdrone thunders off and through another set of doors.

Sevrin picks me up by the neck and looks up at me as he squeezes. I clutch his wrist and try to hold myself up as my spine stretches under the weight of my body.

He's got a new headband around the base of his skull. "You're just in time. I'm preparing to download my entire Battledagger research database into my local splaymech. You really should watch this. I've learned so much from you."

My thoughts blur and my body feels oddly fuzzy and cold.

"I blended those occular designs I jammed in your head with a splay and a bit of my own helmet cybernetics so I can access anything anywhere I go."

Stars I hate it when he brags. But I fight the urge to roll my eyes because the veins in my face are swelling fast.

"I will be invincible," he boasts. "Unstoppable. Oh, but you—"

Sevrin clicks his tongue and waggles his head like he can't decide between two wonderous options. "You have to be punished first for the mess you made."

"I didn't blow up Ravenger III," I wheeze.

"Oh, I know." Sevrin drags me through the white lobby and into a nearby glass-walled lab. He shoves me into a seat, straps me in, and motions to someone in the hallway.

Rochir hobbles into the room on a crutch. "You've been the most infuriating subject I've ever worked with." He draws a gun and points it at me, but Sevrin swats it away.

"We need her parts," Sevrin snorts. He turns to me. "Your communications implant, the one your parents installed, really was the key. As soon as I learned how it worked, I had to create one to try out for myself."

My father's headset comes to mind.

"You didn't die when everyone else has," Sevrin remarks, walking around my chair and swiveling the computer screen to him. It reads: battledagger program loading—

"Why do you think that is?" Sevrin asks with snotty curiosity.

Rochir grumbles and leans against the wall.

I stare at him, keeping as much emotion tucked away as possible. "To survive is to defy you."

He stares at me for a moment, then cackles. "All this time, you thought you were defying us? You were helping us. And then you brought us one of the rarest Titans, one we have desperately searched for! You really were worth the pain in the ass that you have been."

A video pops up of Craze running through Solcrue outside. Explosions light up the sky in the background.

They're here!

Even if I die, my friends are here. The rebellion is still going.

"He thinks he can bash his way through anything and always heal until he saves the day. Pathetic. He's a machine, and we need the solution and the parts in his core."

I switch on and hunt for the local network. The connection illuminates my eyes with schematics.

NaviCraze: Get out of here, it's a trap!

Sevrin laughs. "Oh, he can't hear you. We've had plenty of time to engineer this room so that Titans can't talk to one another."

I panic, realizing I'm just bait for the only one who has protected me with his life.

Solcrue squads lineup in mass numbers with an array of weapons, all advancing on Craze's position.

"Gravpunch guns are quite handy." Sevrin opens the video feed and turns up the volume until I can hear the gunfire outside and Craze swearing at them all. "I still want to know why you survived, Navi."

I strain against my wrist cuffs. "I don't know! Just let him go!"

"Tell me, and I will." Sevrin glances at me as blue explosions rip across the tarmac.

Craze is knocked down.

Get up, Craze!

He calls out my name as he takes hit after hit. The windows of the room light up with the explosions outside though I can't hear anything but the muffled whomp of the warping blasts through the glass.

They're shredding him.

My pulse quickens, thumping in my ears. He's dying out there. I fight my restraints and try to come up with some way to save him from where I am.

"Do you have nanoserum in your veins, Navi?" Sevrin calmly asks.

"I don't fucking know! You're the one who's cut into me a hundred times or more. You tell me!" I scream at him.

Soldiers pile on top of Craze.

I strain against my shackles until I can't pull any harder. A growl of fury escapes me. I have lost all of the control I trained into myself for four years, control that I thought had saved me, but now I'm not sure. I just don't want Craze to die.

"That's a coilgun," Sevrin says with a shrug. "I have long awaited the day I would darken his eyes and get his parts. There aren't many left that I need to complete the perfect SuperTitan."

Desperate to not lose him, I blurt, "His ultromotor is connected to his nanoserum creator."

Rochir squints at me. "No it's not."

They turn back to watch the feed.

"Don't do this. You need him alive!"

"Nope. I just need the parts. I can always figure out how things work when they're offline."

"Why do you care, anyway?" Rochir asks.

He looks beat to hell. I can't believe he survived the ships detonation. I guess the green Solcrue shields are stronger than I thought.

Sevrin is the one who figures it out. "You like that hunk of metal?"

Before I can respond, he turns back and casually leans against the counter. "I'm going to like this even more now. We can cut out your splay in a moment and download the data after."

Sevrin collects a needle from a drawer, grabs my arm, and takes a sample of my blood. He deposits the tube in a scanner while we watch Craze throw soldiers off of him and fight to get back on his feet.

He calls my name again. He came here for me, came to rescue me again. My frantic heart beats harder and slower as rage replaces desperation.

"No nanos. Just human," Sevrin shakes his head.

I sense the wrist strap has loosened on my right side and wonder if I can use it to my advantage. Sevrin's become sloppy. He's so interested in Titan hunting that he hasn't strapped me in as hard as he usually does.

"Is it so hard to believe that humans might be stronger than you think?" I ask.

"Solcrue left humans behind for a reason," Rochir remarks. "You were weak, didn't want to explore, and didn't have the guts for life in space."

The computer beside Sevrin flashes, stating its ready status, but he seems unaware. I quietly wriggle my hand free, switch the connectors, and plug my chair into the main system.

As I snap the download cable into my skull, Sevrin looks back. His eyes widen.

I smash the download button despite wanting to savor his look of horror.

Pain screams in my head. I arch as information downloads into my splay.

Download Processing: 23% Complete.

Auto-protect Program: Engaged.

A green shield lifts around me. Through my blurring vision, I see Sevrin bump into the wall that's formed around me. He swears violently, but I can't hear it over the thundering data pouring in my splay.

The soldiers outside need to stand down.

Battledagger: Disruptor pulse - Ready.

The download started with ship defenses.

The windows that load and scroll through my eyes are so fast I can't count them all.

Navi Command: Fire.

A warping blast tears out across the landing pad. Soldiers fly off of Craze as if blown by hurricane forces. The windows of the building blow out while Sevrin roars with anger. The blast makes it to our room and shreds Rochir as he tucks and rolls onto the floor. My shield protects me even from the wind.

I work to free myself from the chair as the download completes. My head feels heavy and my body weak from the overload.

I watch the completion rate rise to 98% and check outside. Yellow Solcrue squad fire rips through green and the blues of grav punch guns.

The moment the download is finished, I access the Battledagger guns and aim for our room. The guns swing toward me. I rip myself out of my restraints with heavy hands, and stagger out of the lab.

Navi Command: Fire!

The Battledagger guns annihilate the lab. If Sevrin lives through that I'll be surprised.

I stumble toward the exit, a pulsing headache making me dizzy. When I see the conflict raging across the tarmac, I slump to my knees. I can't process the back and forth fighting with the hot humming cotton that it feels like has filled my head. Searching for an escape path through the storm of munitions looks impossible. Distant explosions steal the attention of some Solcrue soldiers. But I'm soon discovered by squads of Solcrue that turn in my direction.

I don't have the energy to run or the ability to sort the battledagger options fast enough to stop the squad.

The last thing I see before they drag me onto a Tacticat is that Craze is gone. He's no longer lying where they punched him down.

I hope I didn't make a mistake using the big guns. The Solcrue that were on top of him lie in scattered and motionless heaps across the landing zone. I think I may have killed Craze. I don't see him anywhere. The only place he could be is buried under bodies of our enemy.

A guard holds me by the collar as I collapse to cry on the platform. I don't care where they take me. Shavih and Macabre will keep the others safe.

If Craze is gone, my spark of hope for a life with meaning is, too.