Microscale

In the market, Razer raised Aya's hand and kissed her fingers. Taking a firmer hold of her hand, he lifted above the ground and looked through the dingy sky. "Our friends will be so happy to see you. Come, let's go," he said, pulling on her gently. When she resisted his pull, he looked down at her, confused.

"I... cannot," she said regretfully. He seemed so excited that she hated to refuse him. But, the children...

"Aya, what's wrong?" he settled down on his feet again.

"Razer, I awoke on this world as nothing but a spark of consciousness trapped inside a Green Lantern battery. It has taken months of work to construct this body out of salvaged materials, and I am not yet done." She gestured at her primer white chest armor, and the buffed gray metal of her shoulder pieces. "The battery was discovered by three children, and I have made bargains both with them, and on their behalf. I'm bound by obligations I cannot just fly away from. I owe labor to the Boss of this world in payment for our legal documents, and I can't leave the children as unsupported dependants."

"I hadn't considered that you might be entangled," he said. "My focus has been on finding you. With my assistance we can complete your obligations faster, and we can leave this dirty world." He put his hood back up and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, and stepping closer. "Where are these children you've taken into your care?"

Aya blinked, still feeling the wonderment of his sudden reappearance in her life. She finished her shopping list, adding items to it for Razer. He could go without eating much for long periods, but they had enough to keep him fed since she was in the final stages of her self-construction, and could focus on the debt to Boss Kriede. She thrilled to a gentle rumble from him as she burdened him with packages, prompting his habitual sarcasm, "Oh, yes. I had forgotten how much I enjoy shopping with a woman."

"Did Ilana make you carry the groceries?" she asked as she led him to her shop, then looked up at his face for signs of discomfort.

"At least once a week," he said wistfully. Catching her glance, he gave a little shake of his head. "She is in the past, Aya. I will always miss her, but... it's a gentle pain now."

Ahead of them, she could see Falene sitting cross-legged on the shop's front counter, talking with Maffis. When the girl saw them walking arm in arm, her shocked expression prompted the wheelchair-bound man to turn about to see. Razer gave her a side look of low-key mischief, and she immediately returned it. Coming up to the counter, Aya nonchalantly pulled her hand free and put the packages on the counter.

Razer reached into the inner breast pocket of his longcoat, and brought out two flyers. "Excuse me gentlesir, gentledame," he deadpanned. "I'm looking for this woman. Would you look at this and tell me if you've seen her?" He handed the flyers to them. They numbly looked down at the nano-papers, full of descriptions and images of Aya. As one, they turned and looked at the AI, who covered her mouth in order not to laugh. Razer followed their gazes, and started in surprise as if just noticing her. "Aya!" he said, and gave her a quick but thorough kiss. "I'm Razer," he said to them, "and I've been looking for her for a long time."

"Her Razer?" Falene said, a pleased look mixed with worry on her face.

Razer raised an eyebrow at Aya, "Yes. Her Razer. Always."

Aya rose up and brushed his hood back since they were under shelter from the drizzling grime. "I'm not used to your hair being uncovered, but I like you in Blue."

Maffis looked at Aya and made a gesture at the Volkregan, "Didn't you say he was a Red Lantern?"

"He was," she said.

"She purged my heart of Rage," Razer said, turning to her. "And your parting words gave me enough Hope to find you." His mouth quirked, "I had just enough Red power to enter Odym's atmosphere and manage not to land at terminal velocity. Of course, just above the lake I'd aimed for, Saint Walker arrived and the ring failed completely." He made a plunging gesture with his hand with an appropriate 'splish' sound effect. "I don't swim well, as you may remember."

She nodded, "Saint Walker pulled you out?"

"And as soon as he got me to shore, this arrived," he curled his fist to show the Blue ring. "I've been on the hunt for you ever since."

Aya put her hand on his chest, a small frown on her face as she remembered the scars his uniform concealed, scars that she inflicted on him. "You look tired. Are you hungry?"

"I'm too elated to feel tired," he said, "but I could use something to eat. Those steaks you bought looked good."

"Did someone say 'steaks'?" Laysi said unexpectedly. The feline girl danced closer in to the counter to look at the food packages. "Oh, nice! Here, Maffis, carry this." She loaded the packages on her husband's lap.

"Yes ma'am," he said, giving Razer a long-suffering look that quickly dissolved into a friendly grin, and rolled himself over to the Laundry, with Laysi bouncing lightly along, tail swishing.

Razer gave Aya a confused look. She shrugged, "One of the bargains I mentioned. I don't cook, and Laysi loves to. Our shop didn't come with cooking appliances, so I help buy the food, and Laysi cooks for everyone at their place." She turned to Falene, "Close up and get the others. We're having an early lunch."

Falene turned to the open door to their back rooms, "Guys! Lunch!" She hopped down inside from the counter, and rolled down the metal shutters that protected the shop from robbery. She came out after Weyden and Neyna, watching the two younger kid's faces as they spotted Aya holding hands with a tall man in blue.

Weyden stepped back in surprise, but Neyna took one look at him and knew who he was. "Razer!" she said, and wrapped her arms around his middle. "You found him!" she said to Aya.

"No, he found me, child," Aya said. She tilted her head and waited to see how the notoriously short-tempered Lantern would respond to the girl's exuberance.

He lifted a big hand, and patted the fluffy white down that blossomed over her low violet head ridges. He bent and touched her shoulders and gently nudged her back so he could get down on one knee and meet her eye to eye. "That's my name. And who are you?"

"I'm Neyna, and this is my brother Weyden. Aya's missed you. She tells us stories about how brave you are!"

He looked down for a moment before meeting her eyes again. "I'm not really the stuff of stories." Looking up at Aya briefly, he said, "Much of my life isn't suitable for telling."

"Did you do bad things, too?" the boy asked. When they all looked at him, he said, "She said she made mistakes, and she needed to make amends."

"Yes," he said. "There were things that I've done wrong that I'm still trying to make up for. Some mistakes aren't that simple to fix; and making it right becomes part of a process that might continue for one's whole life. This is something we both understand."

Aya nodded, her face serious. Razer stood and put an arm around her, resting his hand on her hip. Her expression melted to a small smile, and she laid her head on his chest for a moment. They were touching far more than was customary for them, not that Razer ever missed an excuse to have his hands on her. Their contacts were deliberate now... possessive. They had come to terms with their feeling for each other, and the touches seemed like unspoken promises.

"Okay, pleased to meet you and all," Weyden said, "But what Laysi's cooking smells very good, so..." dodging around the others he walked determinedly in the direction of lunch.

"I better tell her I like mine lightly cooked before she burns it," Razer said. "My meat should bleed."

"Eww," Neyna said at him as they followed the boy to the Laundry.

He showed her his teeth, "These fangs aren't meant for plants, little one." Impulsively he snatched the small girl off the ground and put her over one shoulder as she squealed and kicked his back. He said to her, "We better get to the food, before I devour you!"

"No! I am not food," Neyna said, giggling.

At the door, he waited for Falene and Aya to precede him before he carried the little one inside. At the table he set Neyna down on her feet again. "There you go," he said. "Madame Laysi, could you cook mine rare, please? I've been living on travel rations for..." he looked off, thinking, "...quite some time, now."

"Another carnivore, heh?" Maffis said. "Sometimes I think Laysi's meals could get up again if I bandaged them."

Razer's small smile showed his teeth again, and broadened when he took his barely seared steak. Aya sat with them as she sometimes did. She needed only energy to exist, but she learned on the Interceptor that mealtime conversations filled important social needs for her friends. Razer did his best to fit in to this new group. He spoke of her former crew's excursion on the Methane planet, while glossing over the desperation that made it necessary. He told the story for laughs instead, and delivered the punch line by showing the wanted poster.

Afterwards, the children helped with the clean up, while Laysi excused herself and returned with a bundle of blankets and pillows. "She doesn't need to sleep, but I bet you do. These things went unclaimed, so you can have them. They're clean, promise! I put them in sealed storage waiting for them to be picked up."

"Thank you, my sleep has been as hit or miss as my meals..." he accepted the bundle, then turned his face into it as he yawned hugely. "Excuse me."

Laysi laughed. "Take your man to bed before he falls down," she said with a wink

Razer cleared his throat, and Aya said. "If he falls, I shall carry him."

"You have before," he said. "But I don't think it's necessary today."

She took his arm and walked back to the shop with him, the kids running around them excitedly. "Falene? I don't think he can wait for our usual sleep time, so can I ask you to make sure they go when it's time?"

"Sure," the older girl said with a smile. "You're going with him?" Aya nodded. "Okay, goodnight."

After exchanging goodnights with the children, Aya took him to the room where she recharged and did her work. Her small furnace/forge occupied the far corner with the old Lantern on top, and a wall nearby was taken up with a large pegboard and shelves for her tools. More shelving held devices in various states of repair. Most of the middle of the room was a bare plascrete floor, marked here and there with burns and gouges from her engineering efforts. Razer gave a hard look at a large bundle of Manhunter staves in another corner. "What are those doing here?"

"Draining, destroying, or converting the staves into something useful is the price we are paying to live in the open in this society," she said, while she rearranged several shelves to clear room to store his bedding. "This world is where the Manhunters were taken to be scrapped, and a smelter exploded when they tried to melt one of the staves. My ability to work with them was the only leverage I had to get us in a better place, one where I could make my new physical body." She rolled out a dense but yielding padding as the basis of his bed, suddenly feeling shy around him.

He ducked his head and busied himself arranging his bedding. Razer put an object from a large side pocket on a shelf, and hung up his long coat. He sat amidst the blankets, only then raising his gaze to her, standing to one side and wringing her hands together. "Will… Will you join me, Aya?" His pale cheeks held a trace of color, but his eyes burned fiercely.

She hesitated, then bent to remove the armor from her legs and feet. Bare from her thighs to her toes, she looked back at him, catching a look of incredulity on his face as she took the few steps on his bedding to reach his side. Sitting before him, she waited for him to find his words. "I didn't know you could do that," he finally said. His blue covered knuckles brushed over a green exposed knee, trailing lightly down her shin to trace the contours of her uncovered foot.

She shivered, and had to grip a handful of bed covers to steady herself. She'd worked an enhanced tactile system into the refit, but she didn't expect it to affect her like that. "I… couldn't, before. This body is redesigned… to more… closely function like an organic life form."

"You didn't have to do that," he said, covering her hand tangled into the covers with his own.

"Yes I did," she said, and stroked his marked cheek with her free hand. She leaned into him, inviting his kiss, tilting her head as she'd learned from observing organic laisons. His mouth met hers and his arms came up to embrace her tightly. Each kiss was different, she realized, and she eagerly anticipated cataloging each and every one she shared with him.

Once more, Razer broke the kiss for air, and yawned so hard he ended with his forehead on her shoulder as he chuckled quietly. "I can hardly stay upright, I'm so tired. A good meal, the closest thing to a proper bed in weeks, and you..." he settled down on his pillow, and gently pulled her to lie beside him. "...are all I need or want, right now. Love you."

"And I love you," she said, watching as his eyes slid shut to the sound of a deep and satisfied sigh.

His breathing and heart rate slowed into the rhythms of sleep, his arm still firmly curled about her. She didn't know what to expect of their reunion, as the misunderstandings between them far outnumbered the things they were clear about. One thing about which they were in harmony was this closeness; they had been apart for far too long. She was content to lie with him for a few hours, or whenever her energies recharged from proximity to the Battery.

A little more than three hours later a processor indicated she was fully replenished. She sat up beside him, taking in his form; noting the hollowed cheeks and lanky gauntness of his body. His quest for her had certainly taken its toll on him. She quietly rose, restoring her armor and did some tasks that didn't require making noise in the room where Razer was sleeping. Hours before the local dawn she heard her name called, so she went to kneel down at his side

"Hello, Razer," she said softly. "Did you call me?" He looked at her as if she might vanish at any moment, then raised his arms to draw her to him. At first, he just held her closely, then kissed her deeply. When he drew back, she smiled and said, "Every kiss is different. I didn't know that before."

"And I will gladly give you as many as you desire," he said.

Her hands spread over his chest again, a small frown on her face. "Will you show me your scars?"

He covered her hands with his, "Why do you want to bring up the past? Just... let it be. I forgave you."

"I haven't forgiven myself. We didn't have time to... talk everything out before the virus took me. The only matter we settled in that brief time was admitting that we loved each other." She lowered her head. "I have thought of my regrets in my time on this world, and they are numerous," she pressed on him a little harder, "...but this is the worst: that I hurt you, almost killed you."

He made an annoyed sound, "As I was approaching to kill you! That's what I thought Jordan called for me to do." A tear welled in his eye that he impatiently shook away. "I couldn't do it... the dagger melted out of my hand. I had no hate for you, no matter what you'd done." Drops of moisture spattered on their hands, and he looked up to see tears tracing down her face. "Aya, please don't cry. You also healed me, remember?" He held up his Blue ring, and vanished his uniform, leaving him in his civilian clothes, without the hood. He reached down and pulled off his tunic, baring his chest.

She looked down to find his scars had faded. He would probably always carry them, but they didn't seem to bother him. "I need to say this;" she said, "I am so very sorry for all the hurts I have caused you, and I will spend my existence attempting to make up for every one."

"Aya... I am not blameless in causing harm. It was my foolish fears that prompted you to turn dark. You were hurt so badly that you denied your pain, and wanted to end all pain for everyone. That is the guilt I bear... and my only Hope, is that together we can return some light to each other, and to this Galaxy."

She clung to him, tears still flowing, feeling his arms wrap tight around her. Part of her wondered at how his touch calmed the pain she bore within. It made no logical sense mechanically. The only answer was the spark of life she'd been given; somehow it blended with his own lifeforce when they held each other and served to soothe both their battered spirits. Eventually she lifted her head and kissed him under his ear, and followed it with a soft nip. "What you saw with my legs?" she said softly, "most of my outer armor can do the same."

Razer hissed at the nip of her teeth, but her words triggered a confusing response from him. "No! Aya, I don't think of you... carnally, like that. We're not... alike, in that way." He shook his head vigorously. "What we have is a... spiritual love." He held her chin, looking into her eyes, and gave her a sad smile, "And that is enough."

She stared back blankly, utterly confounded. Then a flower of anger bloomed inside her and she jerked her head out of his grasp, then pulled away from him and stood. "How unfortunate," she said in a tone that fairly dripped icicles, "that I have wasted months of research and construction efforts to ensure this new form is enough like you, in that way, that I could be a more compatible mate for you. It seems that a physical relationship is not what you wanted. I shouldn't have bothered." She turned from him. She didn't know where she was going; she just knew she couldn't stay here another nanosecond.

"Aya, wait," he said as she walked away. "I... I didn't think you..."

At the door of the shop, she turned half back, "You didn't think! Don't follow me." She stepped through the reinforced door and wrestled with an immature urge to slam it behind her. Her artificial teeth ground together as she sought to restore some order to her thoughts. She lifted up above the porch roof that sheltered the shop fronts, and sat on the peaked roof that rose over the whole line of shops. He didn't follow her; good, he'd listened. She turned her head to check the point where the first sun would rise, and saw the horizon lightening with a dusky brown pre-dawn color. It would be more than an hour yet before it came up, an hour she had hoped to spend doing... more pleasant things than brooding in the dark.

A soft sound caught her attention, and she saw Laysi's hands holding the edge of the porch, then flip her lithe body over onto the roof slope. "Mind if I join you?" the cat girl said, tail swishing in an agitated pattern.

Aya didn't respond at first. "That would be acceptable," she said after a bit.

Laysi joined her on the grimy roof peak, sitting on her heels as her tail extended to assist her balance. "First fight?"

Aya looked over at her. "Not even close." She shook her head. "I... don't understand why he would say that. I thought he would be pleased that we could achieve a closer intimacy."

"I only heard the end of the fight, something about him being a dumbass," Laysi said. "What did he say?"

"That he didn't want me carnally, and that he only loved me spiritually..." She pulled the gauntlet off her right hand, revealing the forearm and hand that matched the fingers visible when she wore it. "I didn't let anyone see my body until I built the outer armor; under it I look like a nude female. I used to be hollow, with these armor pieces filled up with green construct energies and nothing more. When I built this iteration I put a skeleton on the inside, to mimic organics better." She made her green flesh translucent, letting Laysi see the intricate metal jointing structures that lay under it.

"Oh, that is such beautiful, delicate work," Laysi said.

"Work meant to allow for certain... orifices I was not previously capable of. I needed to able to control my 'flesh' while not inside the armor. It is generated from within now, not contained from without." Her bare fist struck the peak next to her, denting the metal. "There is so much we need to talk about, but I thought on this at least we agreed on, that we loved each other." Her head dipped, "I put so much planning and effort into being a better match, and he just dismisses it..."

"Aya... would you listen to some advice?" The computer's lambent blue eyes turned to her as Aya nodded in assent.

"From what I understand of your history, there was a big rift between you, and no time to think or process while he tried to heal that division, then he'd no sooner succeeded at that when he lost you again. Every waking moment since has been spent in search of you. You've had time... months of time... to think about all the permutations possible between you now, but he's barely even registered he's found you. Your previous lack of... compatibility with him is something he's obviously thought about, and he decided that what was between you was worth pursuing even if you couldn't love him physically. Do you know what a gift that is?"

"I... don't understand," Aya said.

"Maffis can't walk. Well, he can't do some other things, either. I'm easy to please; he's very good with his fingers and his mouth even if we can't have intercourse. I can pleasure him as well, but his conditions make it more difficult. He often wonders why I stay with him. He can't make love to me, his seed can't impregnate me, and he loves kids as much as I do. But I love him, and he loves me, and what we can do, and the joy we bring each other is enough. Don't you see, Razer's saying he loves you so much he will be celibate for the rest of his life, for you."

"That isn't necessary, what I did..." Aya said.

"...Isn't something that he knew about when he came after you. You've only just introduced the idea that there might be more possible between you. He's put you up on a pedestal, perfect and pure and cerebral, and he wasn't prepared for you step down off it, shake your pretty ass, and offer him 'carnal' relations." Laysi's tail curled around to her front, and she sank her fingers in the plush fur of it.

"I've seen you watching the streetwalkers, like they are a puzzle you need to solve. They accept credits for a physical act of intimacy, but there is no love involved in the transaction. Having sex doesn't require it. And yet, love doesn't require sex, you see; Maffis and I are proof of that. The important thing is to talk your problems out." Laysi released her tail and pointed her toes as she stood up on the peak. "We're both aware our respective menfolk are on the boardwalk below us eavesdropping. So go talk to yours, because I need to give mine a good cuddle." Laysi walked to the edge of the porch and flipped down to the boardwalk.

Aya flew down after her, seeing Razer standing in the doorway of their shop, still shirtless and highly flustered. In front of the Laundry, she could hear Maffis crying in his chair, as Laysi embraced him and murmured reassuring things. Razer moved, and her head swiveled back to him. He held out a pale gray hand to her, with his knobby knuckles and pointy claw-nails shaking slightly. His eyes met hers, his gaze heated and moist, as if he was near to tears himself.

When she put her bared green hand in Razer's, she remembered she was still holding her right gauntlet in her other hand. Gently he brought her hand to his mouth, and put a kiss on the back of it, then turning it over, quickly licked the center of her palm. She gasped, the soft warmth and wetness of it sending frissons of sensation to her enhanced tactile sensors. His face lit up with a small smile of approval at her reaction. "We have a lot to talk about," he said, his voice husky and deep. She nodded, and returned with him to her... to their room.

Sitting beside him in the covers again, she asked. "Was she right about you?"

He rubbed the back of his head, "Very much so." He sighed, "Just... Remember the first time we went to Betrassis, and we were sneaking around, and I pushed you down to avoid the guard?" Aya nodded, a slight frown on her face.

"Yes, that's the expression I remembered," Razer said. "I thought you didn't like to get... dirty. You were so clean and white..." he grimaced and turned his head, "...that was part of why it hit me so hard when you came back in that... Manhunter mishmash... you looked... corrupted... defiled... that bothered me so much. Hurt me to my core. And... to you it was nothing, just a temporary inconvenience. It was wrong of me to hurt you then, but I just couldn't deal with it..."

Aya tilted her head. "What I objected to was your rudeness, not the lack of cleanliness in the vicinity," she said.

"Oh," he said. "When I was looking for you... I resolved that... Organic bodies are... messy things. They produce any number of... unclean substances... and I felt you were too pure for that... it sounds foolish when I say it out loud..."

"Razer, I was the ship. Even in chambers where I didn't have visual access to, I was aware of all my crew and monitored their daily routines: From their drooling as they slept, to their injuries and other illnesses, to their bathing and alimentary needs." His eyes grew wide as she spoke. "I know about organic secretions. It's the reason I made sure the acidity level of my body's various lubricating fluids was of a similar pH value to yours, as well as non-toxic to you."

Razer shook his head in disbelief then buried his face in his hands and. "It's so hard to wrap my head around this... Did you document your build?"

She smiled. It was a good sign he was taking an interest in the technical side of things. Once he saw the thought and craft she'd invested in this, maybe then he'd believe... She handed him a data-tablet that contained all the research and design she'd done, as well of images of the work in progress. Aya watched as he looked through the data, sometimes going back to previous sections, then skipping ahead to her current status. He sighed, and put the tablet back on the shelf.

"Show me," he said, so she did, banishing all of her armor pieces at once, and standing them to the corner like an echo of the way she used to be. His eyes roved over her smooth green curves, bare of any hairs. He ghosted his hand over her bald scalp, and ran a gentle finger along her collarbone, from one shoulder to the other. He pulled her close to him, bare chest against bare chest, giving a ragged moan as he did. His pale flesh goose-pimpled, and his every hair stood on end. He made another sound, almost like a whimper. "This..." he whispered. "Skin to skin. I thought I would never feel it again."

She could hear as well as feel his pounding heart. She leaned back, and traced her hand down his arm before taking his hand and placing it on the breasts she'd planned with such care. Razer squeezed gently, testing their pliability, then with a small smirk, used the breadth of his large hand to softly flick both her nipples at once, one with his fingertips, and the other with the side of his thumb. She gave an undignified squeak, as the sensation overflowed her previously established tactile stimulation buffers.

He chuckled softly. "That was an interesting noise."

"This is all so new to me," she said with a small look of embarrassment.

He took her mouth in a deep kiss, probing her with his tongue, "We'll learn together." He pulled her back against him, when they both heard the morning alarm go off in Falene's room. He met her gaze as they shared a look of chagrined disappointment. "...Later."

"We have the rest of our lives," she said, as she handed him his tunic, and summoned her armor to her. He put on his Blue uniform, and donned his long coat. She opened their door and greeted the sleepy children. "Good morning children..."

Razer settled easily enough into their routines after that: Meals at the Laundry, gathering raw materials, crafting power packs or other goods, and selling those goods at the shop. They began their evenings after the children's bedtime with finishing the coatings to her components, then afterwards carefully exploring each other. He felt that at first, their time was best spent learning about each other's physical responses. She had to admit it made sense, so she acquiesced to his experience in such matters.

When he lay down to sleep, she would lie close beside him to recharge, although she always finished well before he was ready to get up. She would get up and perform tasks in the rest of their quarters until alarms woke the organics of the household. More than a week after he found her, she was getting ready to rise after recharging when she noticed he was moving restlessly. His brows furrowed tightly and anxious sounds escaped him as he fisted his covers. Aya had watched him dreaming before, but this didn't seem to be the same; this looked... unpleasant. Unsure of what to do about yet another unfamiliar organic experience, she watched over him, ready to do... something... if he needed her to.

Before he opened his eyes, he knew where he was and what was happening. It was a dream, and he knew that he was dreaming. It was the same dream, the one he always had when he relaxed too much, or dared to become too happy. As always, he could smell the scents of his lost home, on Volkrieg; Wood polish, warm furs and good clean sheets. He was in bed with his wife Ilana and his breath caught in this throat as his heart pounded with dread.

He could feel her beside him, turned away from him where he lay on his back, and he knew what came next. A thousand times he had this dream, and he had never been able to change the sequence of events. He would turn to his side behind her, place a hand on her shoulder, and turn her over to face him. He had to turn her; he always had, and likely always would. Put into words that didn't sound so bad, but what terrors came next he could never predict, and he cursed his sadistic imagination for the gruesome variety the dreams displayed.

There's no warning, no hint beforehand; No scent of blood or decay, no trace of smoke. When he turned her over, the peaceful quiet of their darkened bedroom transformed into a scene appropriate for whatever horrific visage his action revealed. Sometimes she was freshly slain, gouting her life's blood over him. Other times she was a rotting corpse, or a dusty skeleton. Occasionally she was on fire, flesh blistering and peeling away from her blackening bones. Never, never was she alive in the dream, showing him a glimpse of her as she was in life. The spider prison's torture was far better than these dreams. The device only replayed his memories of her and never ventured into the realm of these guilty fantasies.

The next unknown was how she reacted to him. Does she rail at him, blaming him for his failures and foolishness? Or does she simply lie still, dead eyes staring in silent accusation? As traumatic as those possibilities were, they were better that the alternative of her reaching for him in an obscene parody of desire, and mounting his helpless arousal despite his disgust, compounded by further guilt if the dream culminated in a sexual release.

All of these things crashed through his mind as he reached for her as he must, knowing everything that could happen, and everything he experienced in previous night terrors, but unable to stop. In agonizing slowness, his hand settled on her shoulder, applying gentle pressure, turning her to face him...

Aya was becoming concerned about Razer. His heartrate and respiration indicated levels of distress she had rarely observed in him. He groaned as he thrashed in his covers, shaking his head in denial of whatever he was seeing. His pale hair was dripping wth sweat when he reached a trembling hand out to her. This, at least, was a signal that she felt qualified to respond to. She took his hand and squeezed it, "It's alright, Razer, I'm here."

"Aya? Oh, it's you," he mumbled, and with a great sigh he relaxed, tugging at her to lay beside him again. Razer pulled her into his embrace, and turned her beneath him with a tender smile curling his lips before he bent to give her unrestrained kisses. His tongue caressed hers, as bold hands roamed her in a way she'd never experienced before. His hand drifted down her smooth belly to the sensitive flesh between her legs, causing her to go into an almost continous recalibration cycle of her sensation buffers. He rolled his hips firmly against her, then made a noise of frustration, as his seeking hands were abruptly employed to removing his civilian trousers. It wasn't until he exposed his rampant erection and reached for her again did she begin to suspect that he had never really awakened, and that he was still dreaming...

...As he turned her over, something was different... her voice, the feel of her body, even her scent were altered. The feminine shape next to him opened lambent blue eyes, dimly lighting up her construct flesh from within. The setting was still his cozy home on Volkreig with starlight glimmering into the windows and cheerfully smouldering coals banked in the fireplace, but the woman in his bed was Aya, not Ilana.

Suddenly all his dread melted away, because in this scenario he was no longer the villain. The dynamics between him and the former Navcom were complicated; he'd made mistakes, but Aya had erred as well. Aya and he were on a relatively equal footing, instead of the unambiguous guilt he felt for Ilana.

She was soft, warm, and alive in his arms, and it had so very long since he'd enjoyed sex with the woman he loved... He bent to arousing her, touching her with every skill he remembered from better times. She was quiet but responsive to his overtures, and endearingly hesitant in her efforts to reciprocate, but that was all right, this was all new to her. When he judged her ready, he rose above her and entered her, still pleasantly surprised that intercourse was even possible between them.

The sensations were so sweet, so superior to the times when he desperately sought his own release, unable to deny the needs of his flesh any longer. But... something wasn't quite right. The dream began fragmenting around him as the disconnect between what the dream was showing him and what he was feeling grew...

His eyes fluttered as he ground his erection against her. She captured his arousal in her hands, and tried to give him the stimulation he needed. Razer's eyes opened fully and met hers as the situation became clear to him. "Oh, Grotz, no," he groaned, and tried to turn away from her, but she wouldn't release her grip on his most private parts. "Aya, please, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

"I don't know how it was supposed to be," she said softly, "but you need me, you need this, and I will not turn away. Don't shut me out, Razer; this is what we both wanted." Mortification warred with shame in his eyes, and she pleaded, "Please, let me help you."

He squeezed his eyes shut, and a moan escaped him as her warm hands continued to stroke along his length. "Ah, that feels so good," he said. Razer was shuddering, unable to stop thrusting into her grasp, a conflicted growl rumbling in his throat. He shook his head, and she feared he would put an end to this moment, and that if he did it would cripple the intimacy they were slowly building between them. He looked up, meeting her gaze with his dark blue eyes full of desire and vulnerability. "Help me," he whispered before he kissed her hotly.

He wrapped his hand around hers, and demonstrated how he liked this, what speed and pressure he needed to climax. She absorbed every nuance, watching in fascination as his lanky body writhed and twisted under her efforts. He hissed as his body arched in tension as his release took him. Finally he relaxed, his breath coming in tearing gasps. He wiped her hands dry, and draped the cloth over his lap, as he drew her into a close embrace. "Thank you, Aya," he said, as his eyes drooped with weariness as he slipped back to sleep.

"You are very welcome, my love," she whispered. Maybe this would work out after all...

In a dark corner of the central bazaar of Karisc's capitol lurked a cloaked figure. The last mysterious stranger to arrive had made minimal impact on the market. The shoppers and sellers just flowed around him like rushing water around a boulder. This one though, made waves. Residents avoided the tensely moving figure, stalking the boundaries of the market, tearing down and destroying the now tattered flyers Razer posted in search of Aya. The people of the market shuddered and looked away from the twin points of furious red that glared from under the hood.

Bleez shadowed Razer's movements across the stars as he went about his ridiculous quest, following the breadcrumbs of his flyers. She had fled the Red Lanterns after that pompous pustule Zillius Zox named himself their leader. She had a grudging respect for Razer, and hoped to form a competing group of renegade Red adherents alongside him. It wasn't bad enough he'd taken up with Greens and that robotoid hussy, now he'd given up his Red ring for an inferior one of Blue. What was he thinking, and what was his obsession with the walking computer?

She could find no more flyers when the humanoid mechanism in question appeared at the other side of the market. A dull gray cloak shielded Aya from the caustic mist, but there was no mistaking the vivid Green and white under the cloth. It was her, the feminine machine who'd beguiled Razer of Volkreig away from his proper path! With a shriek, she tore off her shroud and leaped into the air, wildly throwing around bolts of crimson rage at her enemy, flapping her tattered wings as denizens of the market ran away screaming.

*.*.*

It was just another trip to the market for Aya, as it was her shop's turn to buy food. Razer was on an excursion to the salvage piles with the older children. She consulted her list and plotted out the optimum path when a sharp noise and a flash of Red caught her attention. She spotted Bleez as the Red Lantern dove down at hers snarling, ring thrust foremost. Aya dodged, seeing the Red was focused on her as a target, thank goodness, but her indiscriminate blasts were leveling market goods and the tables that held them. Bleez crashed into her as Aya's attention wavered, and clawed and struck at her in their clinch.

Aya seized Bleez in return and soared to an altitude high above the shops and other buildings in the surrounding neighborhoods. She drew her fist back and punched the harpy in the face, then took hold of one of her helmet horns, and pushed Bleez's head vigorously down to meet her lifted metal-covered knee. A part of her noted how much more physical she was while fighting. The change in tactics from the last time they tangled on Bertrassis only gave the Red a momentary hesitation before Bleez threw her off and began blasting at her with Red energy.

The last time they'd tangled, it was a relatively even match, but Aya soon found herself out gunned. The Manhunter power core within her chest wasn't channeling Ion power to her as fast as she could from tapping the great battery of the Interceptor. Bleez sensed the weakness almost as soon as she had and smiled in malice. She kept back, firing energy blasts and occasionally closing enough to kick or strike her foe. Aya had to change to a holding action, and luring Bleez towards the piles, hoping that Razer would notice the battle before it was too late.

Out on the heaps of debris and salvage, Falene was chattering to Razer about what kinds of junk to look for, and what they often used in their repair business. Razer nodded, seeing that the girl knew her business. He was a handy man himself, a skill he developed on his homeworld, when the wars degraded their society's ability to build new things, so repairing what was needed became the only option left to his people.

Weyden hung back some, not really in the mood for this today. From their vantage on the piles he looked back to the dregs where they lived, and spotted flashes of bright light. He shaded his eyes with his hand, and watched as bolts of emerald green and crimson red flashed in alternation over their neighborhood. "Fay, d'you see that?" he said, pointing back the way they'd come.

They both looked the way he pointed, and Razer stiffened as he saw the lights. "That must be Aya, and a Red Lantern!"

He bounded into the air and flew at top speed towards the conflict...

Aya did her best to deflect the damage Bleez gleefully inflicted on her. She kept the Red's attention, because she knew she was able withstand Red Lantern's attacks better than anyone else nearby could. Bleez pinned Aya in mid air, legs cinched around her body, with a tightening loop of red energy twisted about her neck. It was impossible to strangle the AI, but it felt like an attempt at decapitation. Aya clutched at the energy construct, trying to relieve the pressure on her neck supports, when Bleez looked up with a sneer. "Finally, he's coming! Now to dispatch you before he arrives."

Aya heard an oncoming shout of her name from Razer as the amplifying effect of his Blue ring made her flesh blaze Green. The multiplied power surged to her, and she shoved hard at Bleez with enhanced strength to break the hold. Only centimeters separated the women when he arrived, and he didn't slow down in the slightest. A Blue hook caught Bleez, and before Aya could react, the Red and her former compatriot were half a kilometer away, exchanging blows as Bleez's ring sputtered from the proximity of the Blue. In desperation, Bleez broke for the atmosphere, in what would have been a futile attempt to flee if Razer wasn't more concerned about Aya.

He flew back to her, scowling with concern as he took in the cracked outer armor and the unsteady cant of her head. "Why was she here?" he asked as he put an arm about her and lowered them to ground level.

She shook her head, "I don't know. It seemed to have something to do with you." She looked off, content to leave their travel to him, "Like you said of Ragnar, she didn't seem to understand what a Blue ring does to a Red." He settled them down on the pavement by their shop, as Falene and Weyden arrived panting back from the piles. The children exclaimed at the damage visible on their guardian, but shut up abruptly at the arrival of a luxurious aircar with Cadre markings.

A high ranked Enforcer stepped out of the vehicle, "The Boss wants to talk to you two about that." He pointed at the market with his chin.

"How convenient, I've been wanting to talk to your Boss," Razer said. The man stepped out of their way, and gestured for the two to enter the aircar. They were whisked to the Boss's Skytower high above the perpetual haze, then escorted to his spacious office. The corpulent entity was watching through multiple screens at the damage done to the market.

"Who's going to pay for these repairs?" Kreide said, with no formalities.

"Take it up with the Red Lantern," Razer said, earning him a poisonous look from the planetary boss.

"Respectfully," Aya said, feeling uncomfortable in her state of disrepair. "Nowhere in my contract does it say anything about taking on security responsibilities, or being liable for their failures. I'm merely categorized as a technician."

Kreide scowled. "If you had any idea this attack was coming, I could hold you liable, adding additional units to your contract."

Razer walked up to the control console, looking up at the saffron banner hung above it. "And we could petition to a reduction of the contract, because it was your people who failed to stop an attack on your territory to a citizen under your protection." He looked at the hanging again. "Nice banner."

Kreide shrugged. "It probably doesn't mean much to you."

"On the contrary," Razer said. "I saw others like it on Okaara. I didn't know that Larfleeze left any of the old Orange corps alive." He looked at the jewelled prosthetic replacing a finger on the Boss's right hand. "But, I suppose after he got what he wanted from you he didn't care if you fled." Kreide's color paled abruptly as Razer spoke. "I did him a favor when we last met, and unstable though he is, he might be amenable if I were to ask him a favor in return..."

The flabby reptile threw his hands into the air. "Just leave! And stay out of trouble!"

"As you wish," Razer said, putting an arm around his lady's shoulders, and drawing her with him.

In the aircar that returned them to their shop, she leaned her head against him to alleviate stress to her damaged neck vertebrae. "This is unacceptable," she said quietly. "I cannot channel power quickly enough, and when my body was damaged before, I could simply transfer to a new one, but that isn't possible anymore. This is the only body I have, and it would take more months to fabricate a spare."

"We'll talk about it when we get home," Razer said. "I may have a solution for you." They arrived back at the dregs, and he helped her inside, letting the crying children see her for themselves.

"Do not worry," Aya said. "The outer armor can be replaced in a matter of days if necessary. The neck components might take a little more time, but it is also repairable. You remember when I was only a light inside the battery? This body is not who or what I really am. It just makes it easier for me to interact with those of you with material, organic bodies."

Falene looked up at Razer, and he nodded. "I've read the schematics, and with two people working on them, she should be whole even faster. We might even be able to improve her."

She met his gaze, "For now, I would settle for functional."

"Understood. Wait here," he urged. He went to their room and retrieved the module he'd put it on her equipment shelving when he first arrived on Karisc. He put it on their living room table, "I brought this with me. Guardian Sayd found it in Scar's base where she programmed you to be a Navcom, after wiping your files again and again. Sayd sent it to Odym, and Saint Walker passed it to me on my last stop, where I got the lead to come here. The coding says it was upgrading technology intended for you."

She lifted the module and studied it. "I can't see how it would be of any help. I was software when she worked on me there, before she installed me into the Interceptor." She put it back down, "Even if I trusted the ultimate source, which I most assuredly do not, how could this, whatever it is, be of any use in my current circumstance?"

He shrugged, "We don't know until we look into it more. We've been so... distracted... by personal matters, I forgot to bring it up with you." He stroked her cheek, prompting Neyna to say, 'awwww'.

Aya smiled, and extruded an interface wire from her finger to examine the module's information in more detail. She tilted her head, looking off as she sifted through the data. The first clue that something was wrong was when her finger twitched. She looked down at it, frowning, only to see her whole hand quiver.

"What's the matter, Aya?" Razer said.

"I'm not sure... I'm not doing this!" The module abruptly split along its seams, releasing a flood of tiny silver particles so fine as to look like a liquid. The stream jerked in the act of falling, then shifted towards Aya, flooding over her every visible part and giving them a metallic sheen. From the finger that provided the first bridge, a change came over her construct flesh, turning from Green to a pale blue. Up her arm the change spread, and onto her chest to invade the other limbs.

Razer looked on in horror as the change flowed over her face. "Nanites!" he heard her say, before her face altered, taking on a decided scar on the right side, just like that of the renegade Guardian. The last to change were Aya's already blue eyes, and they turned to a blank, dead white.

"Razer of Volkrieg," said a voice that was not her own. It was Scar who was speaking to him now. "I was hoping this trap would find its way to the Navcom. I will destroy all who betrayed me! You, this witless machine, the Green Lanterns, and even my 'fellow' Guardians. A vicious parody of a smile twisted the unfamiliar lips. "Who will I kill first?"

"Run next door, children, and don't look back," Razer shouted. He stood ready to act if Scar tried to prevent them leaving. As they fled, he retreated after them, backing out onto the boardwalk while the construct body stiffly moved after him, as if learning to walk for the first time. When the door of the Laundry slammed shut, he took off into the air, heading out of the settled zones. If Bleez in her fury had caused damage, Scar controlling Aya's body could cause wholesale devastation. He needed to take this confrontation to the wastelands where no one but him could get hurt...

A/N: To quote Cake's "Comfort Eagle" - 'To resist it is useless, it is useless to resist it.'

Or, maybe even futile? Chapter 4 will be "Resistance".