For all the revolting things someone might say about Leach, he was Outsider to the end; he would have none of the easy life Inside kowtowing to Makr. He had been willing to give it a try for a human face, but when he saw the horrible result he had vowed revenge on all Cyber. He hated them even more than he hated Carlos.
It was ironic that it had been Carlos who discovered the ancient and abandoned Bio cloning labs—a machine shop for humans—so he could help Kieran now with her part replacement, as well as other Outsiders who were wounded and had lost limbs. However, those cloning labs could only accomplish so much. None of the Outsiders knew how to transplant a face complete with bone and muscle structure, and that was the only thing that could have helped Leach. In Leach’s twisted logic, Carlos’ connection to the cloning labs gave him all the more reason to hate his superior.
All the walking to get Kieran back to the Nest had resurrected a burning sensation on his hip where the Bio surgeon had taken some of the bone to patch his jaw. His people kept telling him that his pain wasn’t real, that he shouldn’t be feeling pain, but they were wrong. Like Kieran, the pain in his head went deep. The intensity of this day’s Cyber encounter and the laser ax accident had caused a flood of feelings and reflection of times past for both of them.
The skin covering Leach’s metal eye socket was tender; exposed nerves, they’d said. He couldn’t deaden the nerves without losing what little muscle control he had left in his face. That bitch knew what she was doing when she gave him a stinging reminder. I’ll get even some day!
With her! With Mama’s boy, too!
Only reason you get to lead, Carlos, is that your mother is the Mother-General. The fact she is your mother is reason enough to hate you. But you did this to me. You made me hate. You should have trusted me, supported me, but you didn’t.
I’m a soldier—a good soldier—probably better than you. I wouldn’t spend all my time on the factory cyberts and their guards. I’d go to the heart of the matter—to Makr Himself—and blow His Ass to space! One look at you and I could tell you didn’t trust me. You should have, Carlos. So I wasn’t “pretty” like you. Our enemy did this to me. All because of you!
You said to wait. “Don’t disintegrate the cyberts just yet,” you said. “We can use them to our advantage.”
How many more will you sacrifice for parts and information? You waited too long. You let them burn me with their lasers. While we waited for you to decide, those same cyberts blew up a building with hundreds of residents. Hundreds, at least, Carlos. Bad enough that the blast nearly took my head off, but to kill hundreds?
“Collateral damage you said. Sorry ’bout that.”
“Sorry ’bout that! Sorry ’bout that” when I called you on it! And you had the nerve to try to have me banished from the Nest for insubordination! But I had friends and Mother-General couldn’t banish her own son..oh, no! She let you off with a warning and demoted you to Captain for the “incident.” It wasn’t an incident. It was collateral damage. For hundreds dead, you get to stay on as an officer.
Me? You tried to discard me like the garbage, but your mother wouldn’t allow it. Is it guilt of having a living reminder of your pathetic leadership, or, are you just disgusted with the sight of some half-human, half-cybernetic creature like me back on your team?
“Bad for morale,” you said, when Mother-General assigned me back to your squad. I can’t believe you thought I was bad for morale after all the damage you personally had caused. “Not a nice thing to say, but it was the reality,” you said.
Well, I know about reality, too. You’ve got me, you bastard, and I’ve got seniority. I’ve got support in the Nest. Not friends exactly, but favors owed. I was out here fightin’ for the Cause while you were still sucking your mama’s teat.
Like it or not, I’ll follow you to your grave. I’ll not “follow” you in the Shadows anymore, but I’ll be there; I’ll even hang on every word like you can do no wrong. You’ll just think I’m on your side, that I’m your loyal subordinate. But the moment will come, and I’ll see you to your darkest hour.
That last thought makes him smile. Lost in his reverie, he almost forgot the servile task Carlos had handed him now.
Kieran, being pulled along almost gently now, was baffled as to how to take him. At times, Harlan Leach seemed so brave and determined, ready to destroy all cyberts. He was a proud warrior, a true patriot. But at times like now he was distant. What goes on in that head of yours? She asked herself and the answer echoed in her mind. You don’t really want to know.
Carlos, why did you send me back with this creature?
Shaw's Reality 