Shadow Army: A Shadows Rising Novella

11. Attack

Nox

My new leg lacked the responsiveness of my right, but I had always been a quick learner. By the time I had finished building a fire in the outdoor fire pit, I was getting around just fine.

That had been the reason I had been selected. Highly adaptable, they said. Advanced survivor's instinct. I had been young, poor, and stupid enough to think that was a good thing. Out of thousands of applicants, I was one of a handful they picked. I had taken that money in a heartbeat, never thinking that they meant I would find a way to survive no matter what they did to me, even if it meant learning to live inside a body that wasn't mine.

Not that my original body had been much to look at, but there were times I missed it.

Times such as when Beckett handed me a plate of grilled tiktik and brown sugar squash. Karrodian had made sure I kept my sense of smell. I could detect all sorts of thing I wouldn't have before. The fear rolling off the older boy, for instance. The nest of mice in the hayloft. The herd of domesticated Colonial buffalo roaming the hills two miles away. I just couldn't taste anything.

I wasn't quite sure I could eat meat, either, so I sat there on the stone that served as a chair, staring at the slab of meat sitting in the middle of the tin plate, the scent of it making me remember what it was like to be hungry.

"Something the matter?"

I looked up to find Cress studying me from the other side of the fire. "I can't remember eating meat before."

"Well, as far as I can tell, you can run on anything. Wood. Oil. Meat. Hay." Cress shrugged. "It won't matter. Your metabolic system will just extract what it needs and incinerate the rest."

Jamesh – who apparently preferred to be called Jimmy – let out a snort. "So... what, he poops ashes?"

Cress rolled her eyes, but then started smirking. "Yeah, kinda. Carbon, mostly. Pellets. Bout yay big..." She held up her fingers like she was pinching a pea.

Beckett started giggling. He was trying not to, since he was sitting next to me, but it wasn't working. He sucked in a big breath on a high-pitched squeal that ended on a hoot of laughter, and that set off the other two.

I glanced around at the three of them, all cackling and gasping over the words 'pellet' and 'poop.'

They were obviously used to laughing together.

Something about that moment was familiar. It pulled at me. I had that once, too. I knew that because I missed it, just like I missed being able to taste because I had been able to taste things.

After a second, Beckett leaned over and gave my ribs a good-natured nudge with his elbow, wanting me to join in.

I looked down at him and raised an eyebrow. "So you think my poop is funny, huh?" I couldn't resist. Still looking at him, I reached out, stole the slice of corncake off his plate, and took a deliberate bite out of it.

His eyes went round. "Hey! Give that back!"

"Hm-mm. S'my carbon pellet now," I mumbled, holding him off with my free hand and taking another bite.

Jimmy laughed even harder at that, but Cress had gone quiet and was staring at the two of us.

Because machines wouldn't joke around with kids.

Instantly, I turned and started eating the food on my own plate, but the damage had already been done. She was seriously doubting the 'cutting edge intuitive Mech' story.

I kept to myself after that, even though Beckett begged me to tell him a story.

It was too dangerous. I couldn't afford to get attached. The kid had clearly adopted me, talking to me like I was as human as anyone. Jimmy wasn't so easy a target, but even he had stopped referring to me as an 'It' by the time the stars came out. Cress didn't say much, but she didn't have to. I understood that silence. She was tough as nails, with a fighting spirit to match, and I already respected her for it. She had bent her pride to ask me for help, but there was no way I could keep that promise. I was going to have to break my word to this little family, which would be hard enough to do without wishing I could stay.