CHAPTER 31

  "Guess who just got back today

  Them wild-eyed boys that had been away

  Haven't changed, had much to say

  But man, I still think them cats are crazy

  They were askin' if you were around

  How you was, where you could be found..."

  -Thin lizzy

  ...

  Robbie threw the dog bowl across the cell, his fingers bloody.

  "GODDAMMIT!"

  He wanted to just lay here, to give up. He wouldn't though.

  26 wouldn't quit.

  His father would never give up.

  He gritted his teeth and growled.

  You're a Maitland you fucking pussy, act like it! He let his anger be his fuel, the tank was full.

  He wiped the blood dripping down his cheek.

  This cocksucker was going to pay for taking his eye.

  He should have taken them both because when I get ahold of him...

  He walked over to the dog bowl and picked it up.

  Just fucking do it.

  He had to get this device off his chest, it didnt just shut down the suit, it also deactivated the med bots in his blood. He started working on the edge of the bowl again. He had already ripped two fingernails off, everything hurt.

  Remember your training.

  Pain is an illusion.

  Pain is temporary.

  He kept working the edge of the bowl, using his teeth occasionally.

  Finally he pushed with his thumbs, the edge of the bowl popped out.

  Yes!

  Now to flatten that side. He put it on the ground and stomped, but the rubber soles of his Doc Martens weren't rigid enough. He looked around, there was nothing else here.

  Except the other bowl.

  It could work.

  He picked it up and dumped the dried out oatmeal the man had given him. He used the bottom edge of the bowl. Rocking it back and forth. The unfurled edge of the other bowl, slowly flattening.

  Perfect.

  He dropped the oatmeal bowl and picked up the water bowl, he jammed the flat edge down between his chest and the device. The hooks on the fucking thing had gone through his shirt and into his chest. This was gonna hurt.

  He pryed.

  The pain was intense.

  He was going to have to tear the skin.

  Use the anger.

  He took a couple deep breaths.

  3

  2

  1

  He pulled hard, the top two hooks ripped out of his skin.

  He screamed and cursed. He was almost there.

  He threw the bowl aside and grabbed the device.

  He was not ready for this.

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  Dont think, just do.

  He took a couple quick breaths as he hyped himself internally.

  He gripped the device and pulled hard.

  The other two hooks tore out of his flesh.

  He screamed again.

  It was out. Blood poured down his chest.

  Fuck.

  Remember your training. He could hear 26's voice in his head.

  Assess the damage.

  Dress the wound.

  He took off his shirt, a long sleeve button up he wore under the suit. He placed the torso part of the shirt over the wounds in his chest and tied the sleeves behind his back.

  "Zero? You there man?"

  Silence.

  The tech was disabled. It would need to reboot. He waited a few minutes.

  "Zero?"

  "I am here Robert. I am directing nanobots to your wounds. Please remain still."

  He could feel them working, the rapid healing hurt almost as much as when the damage was done. It was like thousands of needles being jabbed into the already tender skin.

  He punched himself in the leg a few times to take his focus off the agony.

  "I am unable to fully repair the damage to your eye."

  "Thats okay. My chest is starting to feel better. Thanks."

  "Of course Robert."

  "We have to find a way out of here."

  "Is there a lock on the door?"

  "Yeah."

  "Show me please."

  Robbie put his finger to the lock and some of Zero’s nanotech oozed into it. There was a click and the door swung open. The nanotech crawled back out and rejoined the armor.

  "We should go home and get you cleaned up Robert."

  "Not yet."

  He untied his shirt and looked at his chest, the skin was still bright pink but healing quickly. He shook his shirt out and put it on.

  "What are your intentions."

  "I wanna know why he did this. Who he's working for. The sedatives hadn't fully taken effect when he stabbed my eye. I heard him say "an eye for an eye". I need to know why."

  "This is an unwise course of action."

  "Maybe...but I have to know. Are you going to help me or not?"

  "Of course I will help you."

  "Good. Are all your systems back online?"

  "Yes."

  "Then stealth me, then we wait."

  His armor formed around him, dark blue with light blue eyes like his father's. It shimmered and Zero bent the light around him and he disappeared. He walked out of the cell. He was in what looked like an old horse stable. The smell of hay and horse shit lingered. The cell had been constructed in one of the stalls. The place was in extreme disrepair, except for the cell. This guy had been planning this for some time.

  He'd barely had time to make enemies...the asshole had grabbed him after his second solo bounty hunt.

  Who was this guy?

  He hunkered down in the corner of the stall across from the cell.

  He'd find out soon enough.

  "What do you think he'll do?"

  "I do not know. His behavior indicates desperation. He has not killed you. I believe he needs you alive."

  "So my plan is not optimal?"

  "Not if you intend to find out why hes kidnapped you."

  "Ok...lets play the game then. Lose the armor...can you recreate the device that was on my chest?"

  "Yes."

  "Do it."

  Robbie went back over to the cell, picked up the real device and buried it in some rotten hay in the stall across from the cell. He re-entered the cell.

  "Lock the door back too."

  He put his finger up to the lock and a small piece of Zero slithered into the lock. It clicked and the nanomaterial rejoined Robbie.

  He went and sat in the corner. He picked up the bowl with the flat edge and slammed it on the concrete floor until the edge curled back under. Then he slid it across the cell away from himself. He leaned his head back against the concrete wall.

  This was a better plan. Let the man think he was in control.

  "When I give the word, bind his hands."

  "What is the word?"

  Robbie laughed.

  "Its an expression...you know what? Lets have a codeword. Hmmm...how about when I say "pineapple"."

  "Understood."

  His eye was oozing down his cheek again. He wiped it away and looked at his hand. A watery fluid was leaking from the eye, it was mixed with blood from his cheek. The asshole had stabbed his eye and dragged the blade down his skin. He was going to have a nasty scar.

  "Any chance you can close the wound to the eye?"

  "I can but I am not able to repair your vision."

  "I know. Just get it to stop oozing. I can get a cybernetic replacement from Skeevers time or something."

  "This may be uncomfortable."

  "It's already uncomfortable, it feels like a hot poker was stuck in my eye...just do it."

  He could feel the needle feeling he'd felt in his chest, now behind his eye. The feeling was not pleasant.

  This was the life.

  This is what it meant to be a hero like his father. He looked down at his hands with his good eye, they were shaking.

  He had to get a hold of himself.

  He crossed his legs and started doing the breathing exercises 26 had taught him.

  Pain is an illusion.

  He could do this.

  He had to prove to 26 and his mom that he was capable.

  He had to prove to himself that he was his fathers son.

  He wished he could see his father. When his mom finally allowed him to have a power source, he was determined to find him. He had to. His father would do the same for him.

  Several hours later, Robbie was asleep, the scraping of the key in the lock woke him up.

  "Stand up!"

  The man stood before him, holding a gun and a pair of handcuffs. Robbie got to his feet.

  "Put these on."

  He threw the cuffs at him. Robbie caught them and snapped them loosely onto his wrists.

  "Oh no you don't..."

  The man squeezed the cuffs until they were tight enough they were pinching the skin on Robbies wrists. He remained silent.

  The man pushed him out of the cell.

  "Walk! If you try to run I'll shoot you in the leg."

  Robbie hunched his body over a bit as he shambled along. Better to make the man think he was weak and incapable of fighting back.

  The man led them to a small blue car, he opened the passenger side door and shoved Robbie in. He leaned over Robbie and buckled him in, his breath smelled of sour milk. He slammed the door shut and circled the car, getting in the driver's seat. He reached down, found two wires and twisted them together, the car started. He leaned back, staring out the window as if he was thinking, then turned to Robbie.

  "I'm not going to kill you. I don't want to do this at all, you need to understand...your father has forced my hand."

  He turned back and put his hands on the steering wheel. His face scrunched up and Robbie watched as the man seemed to struggle with multiple emotions at once. He pounded his hands on the steering wheel and laughed. It sounded strained, as if it wanted to be more of a sob than a laugh.

  "Let's do this."

  He buckled his seat belt and hit the gas, the car jerking forward.

  Robbie started recognizing the neighborhood as they got closer to the mans destination. When he pulled into the parking lot he knew where he was at. This was 26's apartment.

  The man got out and circled the car, he unbuckled Robbie and yanked him out. He pushed him against the car and pulled a device from his pocket. Robbie was about to use the code word when he realized the device was a TTD. He could see the display screen. Better to wait and see where he went, he had mentioned his father. The man typed in the date he wanted, then grabbed Robbie by the shoulder and hit the button.

  They reappeared in the same place, the car was gone. The man pushed Robbie towards the corner of the building, 26's apartment was right there.

  It was time.

  "Pineapple."

  "What?"

  Robbie turned and the device on his chest melted and jumped to the mans hands, encasing them with the gun. Zero unlocked the cuffs and Robbie snapped them to the mans exposed wrists, the nanomaterial slithering off and rejoining the armor now forming around Robbie. Robbie snatched the gun and stuck it to his leg, where it sunk into the armor.

  Now he had to figure out what to do with the man. He searched the parking lot, that old beater 26 used was here. He pushed the man towards it. He held his finger to the lock and Zero popped the trunk for him.

  "Get in."

  He gave the man a shove, he kind of fell into the empty trunk. Robbie knew about the emergency trunk release, he found it, a blade slid out of the armor, and he cut it. He slammed the trunk shut.

  One problem dealt with.

  He crouched as he approached the corner.

  "Identify threats."

  His visor clicked through a few different screens as Zero searched for signals and thermal signatures.

  "I detect four signals, based on strength and location I believe two versions of your father are in the apartment, 26 is up high, possibly on a nearby roof, and Skeever is here somewhere, his signal is masked, but I'm still detecting it. There is also a third heartbeat in the apartment."

  "Connect me to 26."

  "Connection established."

  "Hey."

  "Robbie?!"

  "Some asshole kidnapped me and brought me here...hes in your trunk, handcuffed."

  "Good work. It was Psyches boyfriend. Your fathers in there dealing with him now."

  "My dads back?"

  "Yeah. We found him."

  There was a crash, Robbie peeked around the corner. His father had been thrown through the door and was laying in a pile on the ground groaning.

  "Zero, is that the past or present version of my dad?"

  "Past."

  Robbie stood, his father was still in the apartment.

  "Robbie! No! Stand down! Do not..."

  26’s voice screaming in his ear.

  "Cut the connection to 26."

  His comms went silent. He stepped through the shattered door. He had to see his father. He knew 26 was gonna be pissed, he didn't care.

  A man in ratty dirt stained pants and a torn t-shirt stood in the center of the room, his long black greasy hair in his eyes, his hands raised. His father, wearing grey armor with strange insignia on the shoulders was walking slowly towards the man, fighting the telekinesis. The man in black, Psyche, was sweating and straining to hold back his father.

  "Dad?"

  His dad looked back, a look of panic on his face.

  "No! You shouldnt..."

  Then Psyche grabbed him and it felt like invisible hands were crushing his body. He heard a rib snap, then another and he screamed. His father lunged forward and grabbed Psyche by the neck. He had fucked up, he should have listened to 26, now it was going to cost him his life. His father lifted Psyche off the ground. He was screaming,

  "LET HIM GO!"

  That was the last thing Robbie saw before he passed out.