When Good Toys Go Bad by Debbie Cairo Read Free Book Online

enough of a smile to reassure me.
    My hand shook when I lifted the laser.
    “A small cut here will do the trick.” He pointed to a spot under his left pec. “There should be a contact to open the panel you’re trying to reach.”
    With the laser end of the instrument, I made a small incision. No blood flowed out, but Kai did make a sound I’d never heard before, something between a moan and a growl.
    “Are you okay?”
    “So that’s what pain is—interesting.”
    I read his expression. He was still calm and stoic. The reassuring smile still plastered to his face telling me the pain wasn’t too horrible. With a cringe, I stuck my finger in the gap to search around for the contact. His inside wasn’t the same consistency as the outside. Whatever gave his flesh warmth must have been in his skin, because the layers beneath were cool. There was an odd texture to the tissue under his skin, like a dry jelly. I pushed farther into the viscous and found something hard, cool and metal. I turned the device around and pushed the button on the top to set the polarity, according to the specifications on the handheld.
    The moment the screwdriver touched the contact, his entire left breast lifted with a faint ripping sound, almost like the Velcro we played with at the history museum.
    I pulled the screwdriver out and let it fall to the floor. “I’m so sorry. Does that feel as nasty as it looks?”
    “Don’t worry, Darra. It’s bit peculiar, but nothing unpleasant.” He reached down and grabbed the screwdriver from the floor, handing the small instrument to me. “You need to finish what you started.”
    “Okay, but you’ll tell me if I hurt you.”
    “Probably not—it needs to be done. They’re still following us.”
    I looked back to see the lights of the second tram.
    “And they’re gaining on us,” Brynn added.
    I inhaled a lungful of courage and, with as much cold determination as I could muster, used the laser to cut a swath of breast tissue. The incision revealed a pea-sized titanium sphere with a blinking green light. “Got it,” I cried out in triumph.
    Again I forced my finger through the gelatinous material which served as Kai’s muscle. I touched the transponder at the end of my finger. “Are you sure this doesn’t hurt?” I asked, projecting my own discomfort as I forced a second finger through his breast tissue.
    “No. I have no sensation.”
    “Just get it out already!” Brynn shouted. “They’re right on top of us, and there’s no point in me losing them if that thing is still in the tram.”
    “Fine.” With a decisive shove, I broke through the membrane. With the other finger, I grasped the transponder. There was a horrible sucking sound as I pulled my hand out of his chest.
    “Are you happy now?” I held the transponder out with disgust.
    Brynn grabbed the small sphere from my hand. She opened the roof air screen and threw the small orb out into the night.
    The tram jerked, and both Kai and I were shoved against the wall. Brynn sported an almost gleeful smile on her face as we took off toward the city center. We were traveling at speeds I didn’t think were possible for this model tram. She was a brilliant engineer.
    “You made some modifications, didn’t you?”
    Her face lit up. “I increased the torque by adjusting the maradime modulator. Then I made a small change to the…”
    “Never mind. I won’t understand anyway. I’m glad your parents paid for those extra brains.” I looked behind us. “And we’re already out of sight of the—I’m not sure, were they Consortium or police?”
    “You still think there’s a difference?” Brynn answered wryly.
    I glanced over at Kai, who had remained silent during this whole conversation. “Oh shit, I’m sorry,” I sputtered when I realized how I had left him.
    “For what?” he asked, as if it were a common occurrence to be stuffed into a two-person tram with me on his lap, his shirt off and part of his flesh detached and