Mechanical Gods (lgbtq+)

Chapter Forty: Aftermath

     Reese paused. He took a swig of his drink, emptying it.

     Tyler stayed quiet.

     And only nine survived.

     Tyler could only imagine the damage the Android would inflict if he were let loose out on the real world. Those fifty-seven could turn to fifty-seven hundred, maybe, thousands. It might feel long, but Iago and his brute's rampage only lasted for thirty-five minutes.

     It felt like an eternity.

     Reese continued, "We have to keep Aiden and the other scripts safe."

     "And it's what SynTech and the government want," Tyler added. "What they lost. They're the scripts Dr. Quinn stole. If Shaw gets here and figures out we're harboring them, what do you think he's going to do?"

     "Probably kill us," said Reese without flinching.

     Tyler blanched. "Well, I don't want to end up in a body bag."

     "Knowing SynTech, they'll probably just dunk you in an acid tank and make you disappear."

     Tyler went paler than before. "Please stop talking. It's hard enough swallowing that I am probably going to die hours after what happened last night. I'm having a dreadful day all over again."

     "If you want, I can call a helicopter in an hour—"

     "No. I am not leaving Aiden here," Tyler said, determined.

     Reese sighed heavily. "Fine. Do as you must, but know that I might not be able to protect you when Shaw comes snooping around. He doesn't know who you are and what you are doing here. I came to the decision that you'll probably have to be out of sight when he's here unless he wanted to ask you questions. Questions that you may not be able to answer."

     Tyler nodded, said, "I understand. He won't see me."

     "Of course, he'll be coming to rub it all on my face." Reese's frown deepened worriedly. "That man had it his mission to watch me fail. I am a competition, after all."

     "We can't give it back to them."

     Reese looked up to him from his scotch. "Yeah. I'm afraid what they're going to do if they did. But I am already planning what to do against those circumstances."

     Tyler lowered his head, trying not to imagine a world run by Aidens—or Androids built like him—in the police force and the military. The destructiveness they could inflict upon the world if they were let loose. The types of war the governments around the world played on each other with the super soldier Androids as pawns. It would be like no war seen in human history. And that was a deadly pill Tyler feared to experience.

     Tyler studied his injured leg and felt the spot where his wound used to be, running his fingers on the edge of the scar. Beyond that, he stared at his ankle where the Android gripped it tightly. When Echo found him and Aiden at the arena, she quickly placed him in the lab, spraying him with a Surgical Gel to heal him.

     The Surgical Gel had nanocytes the size of sand, burrowing on the exposed tissue of his wound and stitched them together from within, increasing the healing process in less than a day. It was as if Tyler was good as new.

     It took almost half a day for the wound to close and heal. After that, all that was left was a jagged scar. Due to some of the blood he lost, Echo used their spare blood bank from the lab—Type A—for Tyler.

     "Should we go down there? What's taking so long?" Tyler huffed.

     "Patience, Mr. North. Let them do their work."