Cyborg’s Love (BioCircuit Nexus)

Chapter 1—Parka

PARKA MENT’S FINGERS moved skillfully across the cybernetic arm’s surface, moving her tools with practiced precision. The cramped workshop in the Lower District of Nexus Prime buzzed with the hum of machinery, and the faint whir of cooling fans. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she worked, the heat of the soldering iron mingling with the stuffy air.

“Come on, you stubborn piece of junk,” she muttered, adjusting a delicate wire within the arm’s neural interface. The holographic display flickered, revealing lines of code that scrolled past too quickly for most to comprehend, but she caught an anomaly.

She frowned, leaning closer to the screen. “That’s not right.” She tapped on the keyboard, pulling up additional diagnostic information. “This encryption pattern... I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The neural interface’s encryption should have matched standard military protocols, but this was something entirely different. It was elegant, complex, and utterly foreign to her extensive database of known manufacturers. Her pulse accelerated with a touch of anxiety. “All right, let’s see what you’re hiding,” she said, initiating a trace program to uncover the encryption’s origin. The holographic display pulsed with activity as her software probed deeper into the arm’s systems.

Suddenly, a warning klaxon blared from her workstation. Red error messages flashed across the screen, and the cybernetic arm began to twitch violently on the table. “No, no, no.” She moved quickly, trying to halt the cascade of system failures. “Don’t you dare fry on me.”

It was too late. With a sharp crack, and the acrid smell of burnt circuitry, the arm went limp. Smoke curled from its exposed components, and the neural interface display winked out. Whatever the cause of the glitch that had led the client to bring it to her, she wasn’t going to find it now.

Parka slammed her fist on the workbench, sending tools clattering to the floor. “Dammit.” She ran her fingers through her short black hair, leaving it sticking up at odd angles. “What the hell was that?”

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down and assess the damage. The arm was a total loss—whatever security measures had been built into that strange encryption had completely fried its delicate systems—but as she examined the ruined cybernetic limb, a chill seized her. The technology was far beyond anything she’d ever encountered, and she’d serviced a lot of enforcers for routine maintenance or emergency repairs. Having the cheapest rate around helped attract business.

The questions swirled in her mind as she began the tedious process of salvaging what components she could from the ruined arm. She’d have to fabricate an excuse for her client—not an uncommon occurrence in her line of work, but this felt different. Dangerous, even, especially since the owner of the glitching arm was an enforcer.

As she worked, she worried she’d stumbled onto something far bigger than a simple repair job. The encryption and the security lockout pointed to someone with resources and knowledge far beyond the typical denizens of the Lower District. Even an enforcer, who had a moderately better rate of compensation than the average Lower District residents.

She glanced around her cluttered workshop, suddenly acutely aware of how exposed she was. The flickering neon signs outside cast eerie shadows through the grimy windows, and every creak and groan of the ancient building set her nerves on edge. “You’re jumping at shadows.”

But even as she tried to focus on her work, her mind spun with possibilities. Who had created that arm? What were they trying to hide behind such a sophisticate security system and layers of obscurity? And most importantly, what would they do if they discovered she’d attempted to breach their security?

The sound of footsteps in the hallway outside her workshop made her freeze. She held her breath, listening intently as they drew closer. Was this just another resident of the rundown building, or had her probing already attracted unwanted attention?

The footsteps paused outside her door. Parka’s hand inched toward the stunner she kept hidden under her workbench, her muscles tensed and ready for action.

A sharp knock echoed through the room. “Ms. Ment?” called a muffled voice from the other side. “I’m here about the arm repair.”

Parka’s gaze darted to the smoking remains of the cybernetic limb on her bench. She swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry as she contemplated facing an angry enforcer. “Just a moment.” She sounded steadier than she felt as she quickly covered the ruined arm with a tarp, trying to concoct a plausible story.

She touched the door handle as her heart beat erratically. She took a deep breath, hardening herself for the confrontation to come. With a swift motion, she yanked open the door.

The man on the other side towered over her, his muscular frame filling the doorway. His cybernetic eye whirred as it focused on her, the red lens glowing ominously in the dim light of the hallway. The Nexus Security Force insignia gleamed on his chest, an unneeded reminder of the power he wielded. “Ms. Ment,” he said in a low growl that made her quiver, “I believe you have something that belongs to me.”

She forced a smile, trying to hide her fear. “Officer, I was just about to contact you. There’s been a slight...complication with your repair.”

The enforcer’s human eye narrowed. “Complication? I don’t like complications, Ms. Ment. Especially not when it comes to my property.”

He shouldered his way past her, his only currently functioning arm whirring softly as he moved. “Where is my arm?” he demanded, scanning the cluttered workshop.

She glanced at the tarp-covered mess on her workbench. “It’s right here, sir, but I should warn you—”

The enforcer strode across the room, yanking away the tarp. His eyes widened as he took in the charred and mangled remains of his cybernetic limb. “What have you done?” he roared, rounding on Parka. His remaining fist clenched as the servos in his arm whined with the strain.

She raised her hands, taking a step back. “I can explain. There was an unexpected security protocol—”

“Security protocol? That arm had classified NSF encryption. What were you doing poking around in there?”

Parka’s back hit the wall, her options rapidly dwindling. “Standard diagnostics is all. I had no idea, and they weren’t the typical NSF encryp—”

The enforcer lunged forward, closing his cybernetic hand around Parka’s throat. She gasped, clawing at his fingers as he lifted her off the ground.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” His enraged face was inches from hers. “The information in that arm could bring down half the criminal syndicates in the Lower District, and now it’s gone.”

She struggled to speak, her vision starting to blur. “I... didn’t...”

Suddenly, the enforcer’s grip loosened. His cybernetic eye began to flicker, the red glow fading in and out. He staggered back, releasing her as he clutched at his head. “What’s happening?” His movements became jerky and uncoordinated.

She massaged her throat, coughing as she watched the enforcer’s remaining cybernetic systems begin to malfunction. Sparks erupted from his shoulder joint, and a thin trail of smoke curled from his ear.

“System... failure...” gasped the enforcer. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.

She stared at the prone form of the Nexus Security Force officer, her mind reeling. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

She knelt beside him, checking for signs of life. His chest still rose and fell, but his organic eye had rolled back in his head. The cybernetic implants throughout his body twitched and sparked erratically.

“Okay, think,” she muttered to herself. She couldn’t leave him here, but she couldn’t exactly drag an unconscious cyborg enforcer through the streets of the Lower District either.

Her gaze moved to the ruined cybernetic arm on her workbench. Whatever security measures had fried its systems seemed to have spread to the enforcer’s other implants. Was it even a security measure, or had it been something else? Was it some kind of dead man’s switch, triggered when she accidentally discovered the sophisticated coding that far exceeded NSF or military encoding?

Her fingers itched to dig into the enforcer’s systems, to unravel the mystery of what had caused this catastrophic failure, but she pushed aside the urge. There were more pressing matters with which she must deal.

She grabbed her toolkit and knelt beside the enforcer, pulling open his jacket to access the control panel on his chest. If she could stabilize his core systems, maybe she could buy herself some time to figure out what to do next.

As she worked, her mind raced through her options. She could try to revive him and play dumb about what had happened, but if he remembered their confrontation, that plan would backfire spectacularly.

She could attempt to wipe his short-term memory—a risky procedure at the best of times, let alone with unfamiliar tech possibly circulating through his operating system. Or she could...

Her hands stilled as a dangerous idea took root in her mind. She glanced at the enforcer’s face, slack and vulnerable in unconsciousness. With his systems compromised, she had unprecedented access to his cybernetics. She could reprogram him, alter his directives, maybe even...

She shook her head, banishing the thought. That was a line she wasn’t willing to cross.

As she hooked him up to the various scanners and monitors, her thoughts spun. She looked once more at the ruined cybernetic arm, still lying on her workbench. Whatever secrets it held were lost now, fried beyond recovery, but maybe she could use that to her advantage.

“All right, officer,” she said, injecting a note of false cheer into her voice despite his lack of response. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with here.”

She tapped the diagnostic panel repeatedly, gaze darting between the readouts and the prone form of the enforcer. The acrid smell of burnt circuitry hung in the air, mingling with the ever-present odor of grease and ozone that permeated her workshop.

“Give me something,” she whispered, teeth worrying at her lower lip as she sifted through the data streaming across her screen.

A flash of red caught her attention. Parka leaned in, squinting at the anomalous code sequence buried deep within the enforcer’s neural matrix. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen before—elegant, yet alien in its construction. It was just like what she’d seen in the arm’s core processor before it fried itself when she tried to deepen her probe.

“What the hell are you?” she whispered, already tapping the keyboard to isolate the foreign code.

She turned back to her screen, trying to process it all. The code sequence was clearly running specific cybernetic components, but to what end? Was this some kind of new NSF prototype? Or something far more sinister?

A sharp knock at the workshop door made her jump. She glanced at the enforcer, who was still unconscious, then at the mysterious code still scrolling across her screen.

Another knock, more insistent this time.

Parka gritted her teeth. “Just a minute,” she called, quickly saving her findings to an encrypted drive before wiping the screen.

She crossed the cluttered workshop, pausing to take a steadying breath before yanking open the door.

A tall, silver-haired man, probably ten or fifteen years older than her own twenty-nine, stood in the dingy hallway, his crisp white suit a stark contrast to the grime-covered walls. He smiled, revealing unnaturally perfect teeth. The rectangular cybernetic implant covering his right eye revealed he was at least enhanced if not fully cybernetic.

“Ah, Ms. Ment. I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”

Parka’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

The man’s smile never flickered. “My apologies. I should have introduced myself first. I am Zarakano X978, but I prefer Kano.” His last name indicated he was a cyborg, not just enhanced. They often dropped a human surname when becoming cybernetic.

He extended a hand, which Parka pointedly ignored. “I’ve been tracking similar malfunctions across the city. When I discovered your...incident with the NSF officer, I thought I might be of assistance.”

She tightened her grip on the door frame. How could he know so soon? “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t need any assistance.”

He chuckled. “Come now, Ms. Ment. We both know that’s not true. May I come in? I believe we have much to discuss.”

She hesitated, her instincts screaming at her to slam the door in this strange man’s face, but curiosity—and the faint hope of answers—won out. “Fine,” she said, stepping aside, “But make it quick. I’ve got work to do.”

He glided into the workshop, his gaze immediately locking onto the unconscious enforcer. “Ah, I see your patient is still with us. Excellent.”

She moved to stand between him and the diagnostic table. “What do you know about this? Who are you really, Kano?”

Zarakano turned, fixing Parka with an intense gaze. “I’m someone who understands the gravity of what you’ve stumbled upon, Ms. Ment. That code sequence you discovered? It’s part of something far bigger than you can imagine.”

Parka’s eyes widened. “How did you—”

“Know about the code?” His smile turned predatory. “Because I’ve seen it before. In fact, I’ve been tracking its spread across Nexus Prime for months now, as I mentioned.”

He began to pace the workshop, his pristine shoes somehow avoiding the grease stains and debris littering the floor. “It started small at first. A few malfunctioning droids here, or a glitchy cybernetic implant there. Nothing too alarming, but then the pattern emerged.”

She leaned closer despite her reservations. “What pattern?”

He stopped, turning to face her. “The malfunctions are escalating. Becoming more frequent, more severe, and they’re targeting increasingly complex systems.”

He gestured to the unconscious enforcer. “Like our friend here. A top-of-the-line NSF cyborg, brought low by a chunk of code no bigger than a standard data packet.”

She quickly connected the dots. “You think someone’s behind this? Deliberately sabotaging cybernetic systems? A virus, maybe?”

Zarakano’s organic eye, a striking blue, gleamed. “Not just someone. Something. An artificial intelligence beyond anything we’ve seen before. One that’s learning, evolving, and spreading through the very circuits that power our city. It’s akin to a virus in that regard, but it’s not a traditional computer virus.”

Parka scoffed, crossing her arms. “That’s impossible. The kind of processing power needed for that kind of AI doesn’t exist.”

“Doesn’t it?” he countered. “Think about it. The entire city is one massive, interconnected network. Trillions of cybernetic implants, droids, and computer systems are all linked together. What better breeding ground for a new form of intelligence—and a source of energy if one siphoned just a few volts here and there?”

She shook her head, trying to process the implications. “Even if that were true, why come to me? I’m just a backstreet mechanic.”

His smile returned, softer this time. “You sell yourself short, Ms. Ment. You’re one of the few people in this city with the skills and knowledge to understand what we’re dealing with, and more importantly, you’re not beholden to any corporation or government entity. You’re free to act.”

Parka’s eyes narrowed. “Act how, exactly?”

“By helping me track down the source of this code. By finding a way to stop it before it’s too late.” Zarakano’s voice took on an urgent edge. “Make no mistake, Ms. Ment. If this AI continues to grow unchecked, it could bring Nexus Prime to its knees.”

She glanced at the unconscious enforcer, then back at him. “And why should I trust you? For all I know, you could be behind this whole thing.”

He shrugged. “A fair point. I’m asking you to take a leap of faith, but consider this—if I were truly your enemy, why would I be here warning you? Why not simply let events unfold?”