The Lightbreakers of Orpheus [9]

A Sci-fi flash fiction

Previously [1]. [2]. [3]. [4]. [5]. [6]. [7]. [8]

[9]

“You lied!” Derek grunted in Doc Benton’s face. The latter merely scoffed and sat back in the rusty old office chair. Everything in this abandoned hospital building reeked of disinfectors and mold, a strange combination which perfectly summed up the quality of Doc’s work.

“Correction. I never said I took everything out,” Doc said calmly, “I’m not proud to admit it but those Rebel technologies are far superior to my resources here. I took out as much biomechanics as I could without damaging the guy’s brain.”

Derek didn’t look impressed, so Doc Benton went on,

“Besides, if it weren’t for my little misconduct, your guy would’ve been dead by now. Obviously, the other Lightbreaker recognized him as one of his own because of the biomechanics still left in his head. They don’t mess around. Lightbreakers spare only other Lightbreakers.” Doc squinted his eyes thinking for a couple of minutes. Derek got up to leave.

“The war will swallow us up, Derek. Nothing will remain, so we might as well take every chance we got to survive. Your Lightbreaker… Now I see why you were so stubborn to keep him alive. He might come in handy when the right time comes.”

“What are you talking about?” Derek gave Doc a look of deep disgust.

“Just sayin’ it’s a good idea to have your guy in the enemy’s camp. You could fix the biomechanics, I might install them back,” Doc Benton said innocently.

“You are insane.” Derek went to the door without looking back.

“Think about it!” Doc yelled at the slamming door.

***

Mark made quick progress. Already he was able to sit, and his body slowly adjusted to normal food. Doc Benton took the bandages off his eyes. Deep scars around his eyes and on his forehead marked the missing biomechanics. His hair had begun to grow back. Anouk stared at his deep blue eyes, blind to her attention.

“Wow, you’re good looking,” she blurted out red as a tomato.

“Good-looking?” Mark repeated slowly. His hearing improved daily.

“Okay, I’ll leave you two lovelies alone now. Do behave!” Doc Benton gave Anouk a wink and walked out of the room. Anouk rolled her eyes.

“Behave?” Mark had a habit of repeating words he didn’t quite get.

“Don’t listen to him.”

“Why?”

Anouk didn’t get to reply, another explosion near the settlement shook the house. She was sitting on the side of Mark’s bed; she lost her balance from the impact and fell onto him.

“You smell nice,” he said as her blond hair tickled Mark’s face.

“Shut up or I’ll make you eat porridge again!” Anouk blushed. When he sat bewildered and silent, Anouk cried out, “No, don’t shut up! I was just kidding!”

“I don’t like porridge.” He said with utmost sincerity. Anouk couldn’t help but smile at the childish honesty radiating from his face.

“But you still smell nice,” he added stubbornly.

Without knowing any better, Anouk gave him a tiny kiss. She was uncertain if he comprehended what was the warm and soft sensation on his cheek, but Mark smiled.

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