Descension

CHAPTER 26

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Dannika hears a distant whisper.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Again. She follows its command.

Breathe in. Breathe out,

The voice registers in her mind: Nikolai.

Dannika gasps as she leaps up into a sitting position, nearly hyperventilating, "Papa!"

She sits alone in an operating room, cold machinery surrounding her, though the light is a warm, welcoming orange. The memories of the night flood to her next in a blurry, rushing migraine: Laying on the cold ground, bleeding out, Joaquin cradling her in his arms, wailing. Him carrying her, running all the way to the Western Ternary, screaming into his comm. Then, on the table, the lights, the pain, Ben's face above her, then finally, darkness. Her lips curl back as her eyes fill with tears, and a sob escapes her throat. She gasps softly as she tries to calm her emotions and raises a hand to wipe her tears, though flinches at the sight. Instead of pale flesh, she finds deep navy plating, grooves that illuminate cyan pulses tracing over where her veins would be, and the sound of clicking, whirring servos. She turns her hands over and finds the same. Starting from the tips of her fingers, up her forearms, biceps, and shoulders, even along the sides of her chest, is inlaid with navy blue titanium.

"...What?..." She barely chokes out, her voice less than a whisper.

She reaches her hand around to the back of her neck, tracing her new fingers along her spine. She trails up to the nape and into her hair, gently pressing her scalp until she could feel it: the external components of a neural chip. She closes her eyes, and as her vision falls dormant, her sixth sense awakens. She can feel the pulse of every machine around her. Medical devices, EKGs, x-ray machines, and autoclaves are the strongest. Then, the electricity of the building; lights, temperature control, and outlets. Finally, people: she feels the electric beats of four hearts behind her, three of them having cybernetics. One of which she immediately recognizes: Joaquin.

Dannika's eyes snap open in excitement. Her lids flood with tears of joy as she leaps up from the table and bolts in his direction. She slams the button for the door he stands behind, a grin overwhelming the muscles of her face as she feels him like never before. Even outside of her cybernetic vision, she can sense his entire being. The door flies open, and Dannika sprints forward, colliding directly into Joaquin's body.

"Dani!" Joaquin completely envelops her within his arms.

The touch sends sparks all over her skin, a sensation more intense than anything she'd ever felt before in her life. She sighs uncontrollably as she twines herself with him, the plating of his body against hers more intimate than against organic skin.

She pulls away just enough to gaze up into his eyes, "Joaquin..." She whispers, reaching her hand up to cup his cheek.

He keeps his loving eyes trained on hers as he turns his face into her palm. He seems to relish the feeling just as much as her. I love you, she thinks. As if he heard her, he smiles. Rather than the sound of words, the feeling of them just barely graces her consciousness. She knows the sensation is from him, and she knows he had said "I love you" back. Her brows knit together as tears fill her eyes once more, and she lifts herself up onto the tips of her toes while pulling down on Joaquin's neck to bring him into a kiss.

"Alright, alright!" A charming voice with a heavy Caribbean accent calls, the hands of the source pulling the couple apart, "Let's not get any more fluids in this part of my shop. I already did you one favor, Joaquin."