Chapter 5

CHAPTER

FIVE

C herie

I cursed under my breath as alarms blared throughout the conversion chamber. Egni's body convulsed on the table, his newly grafted cybernetic arm sparking ominously. This was bad. Really bad.

"What's happening?" Egni growled through gritted teeth, his piercing green eyes locked onto mine.

"Your body's rejecting the neural interface for the arm," I said, my fingers flying over the holographic controls. "I don't understand. All the preliminary tests showed compatibility."

I fought to keep my voice steady, but inside, I was panicking. This was my first solo conversion, and it was going sideways fast. If I couldn't stabilize Egni, I'd be lucky if they only fired me. More likely, I'd be on the first transport back to Earth. My dreams of pushing the boundaries of cyborg technology shattered.

Egni's hand shot out, gripping my wrist with surprising gentleness. "Breathe, Cherie," he said, his deep voice cutting through the chaos. "You've faced worse than this."

I met his gaze, startled by the intensity I found there. Despite the pain he must have been in, there was an unwavering confidence in those alien eyes. He believed in me, even if I wasn't sure I believed in myself.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "You're right. We can do this."

I turned back to the readouts, forcing myself to look at the problem with fresh eyes. The rejection wasn't total. There were still neural pathways forming between Egni's organic tissue and the cybernetic implant. If I could just strengthen those connections...

"Egni, I need you to focus," I said, an idea forming. "Remember how you described your mental control over pain? I need you to do that now, but instead of blocking the signals, I need you to embrace them. Can you do that?"

He nodded, his jaw clenched. "I am no stranger to pain, Cherie. Tell me what to do."

I swallowed hard, suddenly very aware of how close we were. In the dim red glow of the emergency lights, I could see the sheen of sweat on his olive skin, the play of muscles beneath his scarred chest. Focus, Cherie. Now is not the time for your hormones to go haywire.

"I'm going to stimulate the neural pathways in your arm," I explained, adjusting the controls. "I need you to visualize those pathways, imagine them growing stronger, connecting your mind to the cybernetics."

Egni closed his eyes, his breathing deep and controlled. I activated the neural stimulator, watching the readouts anxiously. For a moment, nothing changed. Then, slowly, impossibly, the rejection indicators stabilized.

"It's working," I breathed, hardly daring to believe it. "Egni, whatever you're doing, keep it up!"

His brow furrowed in concentration, and I could almost feel the force of his will radiating through the room. The alarms quieted, one by one, as the cybernetic arm integrated more fully with his nervous system.

I laughed in sheer relief, the tension of the past few minutes finally breaking. "You did it! We did it!"

Egni's eyes opened, a rare smile tugging at his lips. "We make a formidable team, it seems."

The warmth in his voice sent a shiver down my spine. Without thinking, I reached out, placing my hand on his newly integrated arm. The metal was warm beneath my touch, humming with life.

"How does it feel?" I asked softly.

Egni's other hand came up to cover mine, his touch sending sparks through my entire body. "Strange," he admitted. "But not unpleasant. It feels... right."

Our eyes met, and suddenly the air between us felt charged with electricity. I was acutely aware of how close we were, of the heat radiating from his body. For a moment, I forgot about protocols and professionalism. I forgot about the vast gulf of culture and experience that separated us. All I could think about was how much I wanted to close that final distance between us.

Egni's gaze dropped to my lips, and I felt my heart rate spike. Was he feeling this too? This impossible, dangerous attraction?

Before I could do something incredibly stupid like kiss a patient in the middle of a critical procedure, my comm unit chirped urgently. I jumped back, my cheeks burning as I fumbled to answer it.

"This is Cherie," I said, wincing at how breathless I sounded.

"Engineer Cherie, this is Security Chief Vex," a gruff voice responded. "We have a situation. There's been a breach in the lower levels of the facility. I need you to initiate emergency lockdown procedures for the conversion chamber immediately."

My blood ran cold. "A breach? What kind of breach?"

"That's classified," Vex snapped. "Just secure your area and stay put until further notice. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," I said, but he had already cut the connection.

I turned back to Egni, my mind racing. "Did you hear that?"

He nodded, his expression grim. "It seems your facility is not as secure as you believed."

"This has to be connected to the sabotage you overheard," I said, pacing the chamber. "But who would want to disrupt the cyborg program? And why?"

Egni's eyes narrowed, that warrior's intensity returning to his gaze. "Perhaps it's time we found out."

I hesitated, torn between my duty to follow orders and my burning curiosity to uncover the truth. "We're supposed to stay here. It could be dangerous out there."

Egni flexed his new cybernetic arm, a predatory smile spreading across his face. "Danger is my natural habitat, Cherie. And something tells me you're not one to sit idly by when there are mysteries to be solved."

He was right, damn him. My heart pounded with a mix of fear and excitement as I made my decision. "Okay," I said, moving to unlock his restraints. "But we do this smartly. No heroics, no unnecessary risks. Deal?"

Egni's hand found mine as he sat up, sending another jolt of electricity through me. "Deal," he said, his voice low and intense. "Now, let's go hunt some saboteurs."

As we slipped out of the conversion chamber and into the darkened corridors of the facility, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was crossing a line. Not just in disobeying orders, but in letting myself get so close to Egni. This was more than professional curiosity or even attraction. I cared about him, to trust him in a way I'd trusted no one before.

And that, I realized as we crept through the shadows, might just be the most dangerous thing of all.