The gun pointed at Suzy made her quake in fear. She put her hands up and stuttered in her cracking voice, "It's me...Kev. What are you doing?"
Kevin's glaring red eyes were fixed on her, his mind still muddled with disturbing visions. All he saw before him was the elevator in the school cafeteria and the killer android standing in front, holding a bloody tungsten blade in her hand.
"Kev, I heard your screams just now. Why do you have that gun pointed at me?"
The sound of Suzy's voice eventually reached Kevin's ears and he slowly started coming back to his senses. His bionic eyes dimmed down and he slowly retracted the gun back into his arm. Though his head still hurt like hell, he was able to put his thoughts back together and separate reality from his crazed hallucination.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Kevin apologized, pulling back his arm and looking down at his feet. "I was thinking about something and you startled me out of nowhere."
"I knocked on your door 3 times," Suzy replied, staring at him in confusion. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice rife with concern.
Kevin felt a bit disoriented, but apart from that everything was better now. His splitting headache was gradually subsiding and he felt as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He remembered nothing about his previous screaming match with the voice inside his head.
Pulling out a gun on his best friend was the last thing that he'd expected. What he'd done was beyond crazy. He started doubting his own sanity, questioning if it was safe for him to stay with them. He was still getting the hang of his systems and he thought perhaps that was the reason why he had acted so impulsively.
"I'm good. Just having a hard time getting used to this new body. Don't worry, I would never hurt you," Kevin answered at last.
Hearing Kevin mention his 'new body' came as a shock for Suzy. Just a few minutes ago he was thoroughly convinced that he was a human, but now it seemed he had snapped out of that delirious state.
To confirm her guess, she asked, "Do you know what you are?"
"I'm a cyborg. I know that already. You don't have to keep rubbing it in my face," Kevin answered, a bit annoyed by her question.
Right now, he had no memory of the things that he'd done after waking up from his short nap. The last thing he remembered was being carried to his room by Suzy and the intern.
Suzy walked up to Kevin and gently took his hand in hers. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm here for you, Kev. If you ever need to talk to someone, just let me know. I won't leave you all alone, I promise." Pausing for a while, she waited for a reply which never came. And then, she added softly, "It's okay to feel a bit overwhelmed. After all, you've been through a lot."
She noticed that he looked completely clueless about what she was saying. Looking directly into his eyes, she asked, "Don't you remember what you did back at the armament lab?"
"I was here all this time. I only woke up a few seconds ago. And then you barged in."
Suzy's expression changed in an instant as she became gravely concerned about Kevin. Her words would never be enough to remind him of his previous actions, so she clicked on her Zen watch and brought up a holographic display. Luckily, the armament lab had concealed cameras that had recorded everything.
She was about to start playing the recording when there was a light rapping on the door.
"Open up, handsome. Don't be shy," a seductive female voice called out from outside. "Come on, you don't wanna stay cooped up inside that room forever. Let me show you around, hon."
Suzy knew who it was and quickly closed the holo-display of her watch.
"Coming!" she shouted, heading for the door.
A cheerful face greeted her on the other side. Standing outside was a gorgeous blonde-haired beauty. She was dressed in a beautiful red gown with a plunging neckline which gave the viewer quite a good peek at her fair cleavage. Her push-up bra accentuated her ample breasts, making her look like an absolute bombshell.
Despite being in her mid-thirties, she didn't look a day over 25. Her long eyelashes accentuated her hazel brown eyes and her luscious pink lips were curved into a playful smile. She wore minimal makeup, but still managed to look more beautiful than girls half her age.
Kevin was left staring at her awestruck as she was looking at his accommodations. This was only the second time since waking up inside that chamber, that Kevin felt grateful for not having the body of an awkward teenager.
"Oh, Suzy, I should've guessed. You couldn't keep your hands off him could you?" The woman blinked. "You surely don't wish to keep him all for yourself, do you?"
"We're just friends," Suzy stuttered, hiding her blush. She then turned to Kevin and introduced the stranger. "This is Cassandra. She is in charge of R&D."
"I think I can introduce myself." Cassandra smiled seductively at Kevin, biting her lower lip. "I've been dying to meet you ever since I heard you were awake. But I just couldn't come here empty-handed."
She quietly entered the room and produced a steely gray, cylindrical device with a clicker on top. It looked almost like one of those old pens people used 100 years ago.
"This is an Omni-storage device. I think this will come in quite handy when you decide to explore the surface," she said, handing the item to Kevin. "I'll explain more later."
Suzy didn't have anything against Cassandra. Despite being a habitual flirt, she knew where to draw the line. However, Suzy did mind her sudden, unannounced entry.
Getting Kevin's software re-evaluated was an urgent concern. She still thought the change in Kevin's perception had been caused by a synchronization error or some glitch. Though he looked completely normal now, there was no telling when things would take a turn for the worst.
Suzy wanted to get Kevin's interface checked out right away, but Cassandra had already dug her claws into him and Suzy knew she wasn't gonna let go of her new arm candy so easily.
In the end, Suzy decided to leave them to it. "All the best, Kev. I think I should give you two some privacy," she said, walking out of the room.
"Hey, Suzy! You can...stay. I mean, we need to talk," Kevin stuttered nervously.
"Oh, Kevin, you don't need to be so shy." Cassandra smiled, squeezing his cheeks. "You really look like a cute cupcake, hon. Don't worry though, I won't eat you...not yet."
"I...uh. Dr. Cassandra—"
"Whoa! No need to be so formal. You can call me Cassy."
"Dr. Cassy...I mean Cassy, I'm actually a cyborg."
"And you think I don't know that?" she smirked. "I think being a cyborg makes you a whole lot more interesting."
Before Kevin could make another objection, she linked her arm with his, making him shudder in excitement. This was the first time he had been so close to such a beauty. Even though he didn't have most of his human body parts, his brain was already trying to make a wondrous mess of things.
"Come, Kev. I wanna show you around the district. It's gonna be like a little date." Without even waiting for his reply, Cassandra pulled Kevin out of his room and headed for the narrow metal bridge in the distance, connecting this part of the common living quarters to the other subway platform.