Stolen Gifts

[Nox]

He waited. It was a sterile room but it wasn't locked. They tried to entertain him but there was nothing on the screens that would hold his attention. Nox hated TV, and sitting still. He paced most of the time when he fed Lily or rocked in the chair. He hated sitting still. His knee bounced until the door opened and the Ascendancy came in. The fear less, he was his normal regal self as he sat down and demanded an explanation.

It always amazed him that the Ascendancy demanded when all he had to do was ask. Nox had never given him any reason to think he'd keep things from him. He was loyal if not deferential enough. Never disrespectful. But he never made an issue of it. The man was the leader of the known world, he expected things, demanded things. Though Nox had said he would tell him everything when he told him of the problem.

There was a wry smile as he started. He didn't feel the humor, and his voice didn't reflect it either, but it was the dry humor he was fond of. "I don't suppose you want my life story, so you know I was bitten by a genetically engineered creature. Best I can guess is it was Chupacabra and rougarou from the research data that we've analyzed." Nox pulled out another data stick and handed it to Nik. "Project CxR was in development for a super soldier but the only they they made was the horde that you helped me wipe out of the tunnels. One bit me, we severed the arm. You gave me a new one. The new one got busted. Sage Parker had connections with his parents cybernetics company and he got me a new one with a few new modifications. In order to help with the healing process and my general tendency to get hurt, he set some of the nanobots he injected into my system to a generalized healing procedure, to prepare my arm at the nerve level to connect to the interface to wires of the new cybernetic arm. Over a short period of time I started to notice the power going on the fritz. Unable to reach it, slipping through my fingers until it was just gone. No longer in the empty places, no longer a light. The world is dead, lacking color without it. Life only worth living because I made myself a promise long before this. And I've got a lot of people counting on me. We believe that the nanobots removed the mass that was the horde, and with it clipped whatever connection to the power I had."