Kyra was immensely relieved when the power dimmed further in his cybernetic eyes. Unconsciousness had finally descended and rescued them both from the unnatural torture she had inflicted.
Chapter Three
As she donned her lab coat, Kyra closed her eyes and sent a plea out to the universe. "Please... please... please... let it work this time."
There was no choice but to move forward. Peyton 313's primary processor was now destroyed. If she didn't replace it within a couple of days, his cybernetic heart would eventually run out of back-up power and stop beating.
Kyra swallowed nervously as she stared at the eerily still man. His eyelids hadn't closed completely. Golden cybernetic orbs instead of human eyes glowed softly in reserve power warning from under them. At the time enhancements had seemed a viable strategy. A decade later it made her ill to think about all the perfectly functional human body parts that had been replaced on modified soldiers.
Lost in her remorse, Kyra walked numbly to her console, touching screen commands without really seeing them. "Record voice notes and visual of all work being done to restore cybernetic unit Peyton 313." When she saw the camera activate and shine its roving eye at the man in the operating chair, she walked numbly back to her task.
She lifted a hand to brush the Marine Captain's perfect hair back from his nearly unlined forehead. Peyton Elliot was definitely more handsome in person than his online records had portrayed him to be. Nothing in his profile had done justice to describing broad shoulders covered with sculpted muscles. His waist was lean but flared into strong hips bracketing a pelvis that naturally drew a woman's eye to see what might be happening there. With the sexual training chip he had received as part of his Cyber Husband indoctrination, it was easy to understand why Peyton 313 had been optioned so many times.
But neither his proclaimed sexual talent nor his outstanding looks had been part of her purchase requirements when she had looked up his profile. For her, the most intriguing mystery about Peyton 313 would remain unanswered during his rebooted silence. Just how bad had the man's human-based traits been that so many women had ended up returning him? His Cyber Husband record was full of vague criticism from his previous wives. Hyped-up propaganda had been written in his profile to excuse his shortcomings, but it was similar to that of UCN chancellors whose long-running political careers relied on them being well perceived.
"External review of the cybernetic unit's responses indicates the reboot was successful in shutting down all on-board cybernetic controllers. His lack of body movement indicates that typical human unconsciousness occurred because of the extreme pain felt during destruction of the processor. Based on my discussion with Captain Elliott during his shutdown, he believed he had somehow been creating his own neural connections to his cybernetics. While long thought to be impossible, his rather startling question about how I had evoked the creator code-typically an unknown to the cybernetic mind-was enough to convince me that he was indeed being successful in regaining control."
Kyra pushed her curiosity about Peyton's comments aside as she finished recording her initial discoveries. All she could do now was hope she hadn't been wrong in choosing to release the Marine captain from his cybernetic chains. Under full control of his cybernetics, the man would have lived two hundred years or more. But now? Kyra had no idea what the captain's longevity would be. Not only was she changing his processor programming, she could very well be shortening his life span if he wasn't able to keep his cybernetic enhancements in good condition. Her newly programmed processor would allow for natural neural pathways to be established, or maybe re-established in Peyton's case if he was right about doing some internal rewiring on his own already.
The recording camera's blue light panned around her as she worked. Long used to not discussing the restoration process with anyone, it was challenging now to remember to talk to the camera.
"Based on my past two failures at restoration, there are no predictable outcomes with any attempt. A full reversal is obviously not possible with any cyborg because it would have to include the removal of the cybernetic enhancements which require the processor to maintain. With Captain Elliott, my plan is merely to restore his cybernetics to a basic state that will allow his human mind to function alongside his enhancements. Whether this will ultimately prove to be a positive possibility for restoring other soldiers remains a theoretical supposition. Captain Elliott's survival and adaption are critical to any scientific discovery and proof."
Kyra paused talking to consider what she was saying. There were a great many things that could go wrong with what she was doing. If she lingered on even one potential failure too long, she knew she might lose her nerve to finish what she had started.