Surprisingly, I woke up the next morning without being prompted or by having an alarm go off. I opened my eyes and looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling, then remembered where I was. I glanced at my exposed chest, and saw Alyssa snuggled up to it. She had a bit of drool coming out of her mouth, so I knew she was having a productive and deep sleep.

By the looks of it, she had kissed several parts of my chest, which included parts on the real side. I knew this because she hadn't quite removed all of her makeup the night before, and traces of it were left in strategic spots on both halves of my chest. I couldn't fault her for it, because if she had been laying on her back and had given me permission to cuddle up and touch her chest, I would have kissed hers as well. Probably a lot more than I would have normally, given the current situation.

Since I didn't want to wake her, I went over the research files in my head again and highlighted the things I wanted to check for myself, once I got a hold of a portable maintenance kit. I was tempted to have one delivered, then I remembered that Nurse Deloris would be over later to give me a sponge bath. I used my free hand to reach down to the floor and opened Rusty's back panel, and typed in a quick message and asked her to bring the kit with her. I set it for a delayed delivery, because I didn't want to take the chance that it would wake the nurse up so early in the morning.

I gently stroked Alyssa's back, and she wiggled her body in closer to me somehow. I could feel her press herself against me, and the warmth of her body would have made me sweat if I hadn't already adjusted my own internal temperature to compensate for it. I laid there in her warm embrace for what seemed like hours, and then I heard a soft beep from Rusty. I reached down to him again and flipped up his back panel.

Nurse Deloris had received my message and was on her way over to meet with me. I did a rough estimation in my head for how long it would take for her to get here, so far away from my own place, and looked at the woman cuddled up to me.

We didn't have much time left.

“Alyssa.” I whispered to her.

“Hm.” Alyssa shook her head a little without lifting it up, and she mumbled something unintelligible.

“It's time to get up.” I said softly.

“No, love.” Alyssa said and kissed my chest. I felt the touch of her lips; but, it was like I was still wearing my unitard over the spot. “Just... a few more... minutes.”

Love? I thought, a bit surprised. No one ever called me by a pet name before. I stopped trying to wake her after that and just laid there, and I felt her relax as she took a deep breath. I didn't keep track of the time as it passed, and before I knew it, there was a knock on the apartment door.

Alyssa's eyes opened immediately and she sat up right away. The bit of drool from her mouth had stretched out and was still connected to my chest, and she stared at it as it hung between us, like it was a monster that had snuck up on her in the dark.

“J-Jack...”

There was another knock on her door and Alyssa hopped out of bed and went over to open it without another word.

“Good morning!” Nurse Deloris said as she brought in a large duffel bag that had the proper supplies inside to deal with me. Just like when she had come to my place the first time, she had brought everything she would need because she didn't know what would be available for her to use.

“Morning.” Alyssa said without any inflection in her voice at all.

“Good morning.” I said normally. “I hope you're charging me for these supplies.”

“Darn right I am.” Nurse Deloris said and laughed. “I couldn't afford these things if my life depended on it!”

I smiled and didn't remind her that she was only working for 2 hours a day and still received a full day of points, and it wouldn't take her long to be able to afford them without having to worry about how much they cost.

Once again, she went around the apartment and stashed things everywhere, then put the bulk in the bathroom. She brought over the portable maintenance kit to the bed and lifted up the empty duffel bag. I pointed to the same closet I had stored my things in, and she tossed it in there.

“Are you ready for a bath?” Nurse Deloris asked happily.

“I think somebody had fun last night.” I said, and she laughed.

“I'm not one to kiss and tell, but... good god.” Nurse Deloris said and went into the bathroom for a minute to fill the basin with water. “That man is a machine!”

I snorted a laugh. “Well, he does have the muscle enhancement and augment package.”

“Does he ever!” Nurse Deloris said and came out with the basin, soap, sponge, cloth, and several large towels. “He knows how to use them, too.”

“Oh, I know.” I said and stood up as I slid off my unitard. “Stephane has regaled me on several occasions about his extensive stamina.”

Alyssa turned away so she wouldn't see me naked, and Nurse Deloris easily noticed, because it was a small apartment and there wasn't really any way for the movement to be disguised.

“I guess that means out of the three of us, only I had fun last night.” Nurse Deloris said and put a couple of towels down on the bed.

“I wouldn't say that.” I said and laid down, and I saw Alyssa's body stiffen as she waited for me to explain. “I had a beautiful woman cuddle with me all night, and all I had to do was buy her dinner and enjoy her company.”

Alyssa sighed loudly in relief, because I hadn't implied that we had had sex. Since she was supposed to be watching and guarding me, it had saved her reputation in her eyes.

“That's too bad.” Nurse Deloris said, and Alyssa's body stiffened up again. “Rebound sex is really exciting.”

“Rebound sex?” I asked and chuckled. “When have you ever had rebound sex?”

Nurse Deloris laughed. “I pretend to have a relationship break up, obviously.”

“Oho!” I said. “Is that why Stephane and you hit it off so well? He thought he was saving you from an ex-boyfriend?”

Nurse Deloris nodded and started to wash the normal flesh side of my body. “You're not going to tell him, are you?”

I shook my head. “No, there's no point.” I said. “Plus, I won't ruin the magic you two have sparked in each other.”

“Thank you.” Nurse Deloris said. “Now I won't have to break your arm to keep you quiet.”

I laughed, and she stopped washing me.

“What's so funny?” Nurse Deloris asked.

“I didn't doubt for a second that you would do that.” I said, and that made her laugh, too.

Nurse Deloris finished washing my normal side and then cleaned my synthetic side. “I'll be back tonight for your scheduled maintenance check.” She said, as she applied some lubricating fluid to the cybernetic parts, then she handed me a fresh unitard.

“Thanks.” I said and stood up to get dressed.

“Actually, I should thank you.” Nurse Deloris said and gathered everything up.

“For what?” I asked.

“For not getting excited.” Nurse Deloris said and glanced down at my crotch. “Most times I have to try and avoid touching people there, just so they won't get the wrong idea.”

“I'm not going to ask how often that happens.” I said, and she chuckled.

“You really don't want to know.” Nurse Deloris said.

“Then on behalf of my flaccid state, you're welcome.” I said magnanimously, and that made her laugh again.

“I'll see you tonight.” Nurse Deloris said and left the apartment.

“She's pretty liberal.” Alyssa said when the apartment door closed.

“Most women are.” I said and stretched the normal half of my body. “I'm just glad she's comfortable enough around me to accept jokes like that, without thinking I'm trying to hit on her.”

“Were you trying to hit on her?” Alyssa asked softly, almost as if she didn't want me to answer.

“Not at all.” I said. “I don't poach other people's bed partners.”

“What... what if she was single?”

“She is single.” I said.

Alyssa looked at me with wide eyes. “But...”

“They're only dating right now.” I explained. “I could make a pass at her if I wanted to, but you heard her. She's tired of patients thinking there's more to their relationship than a nurse taking care of them.”

“You both act like you're old friends.” Alyssa said. “How... how do you do that?”

“We build on common ground.” I said and walked over to her, because she had stayed across the apartment from me and hadn't come back after answering the door. “We were both in the military, we've both experienced people in our lives being hurt, and being hurt ourselves.” I said and held up my synthetic hand and wiggled the fingers.

Alyssa looked at my hand, and then looked at my face. “Can you do that with me?”

“Do what?” I asked.

“Pretend that we're friends.” Alyssa said, and her face flushed a little red.

“I don't have to pretend.” I said and used the hand I held up to gently touch her face. “We are friends.”

“But... we... we only...”

“We might not have known each other for very long, but we've been through a lot together.” I said, and then smiled. “Some of which we can't talk about.”

Alyssa smiled and took my hand that touched her face. “That's a shame, isn't it?”

“I can't talk about it.” I said, and she chuckled.

“What am I going to do with you?” Alyssa asked.

“Give me a hand with my calibration.” I said. “It still feels like I'm touching you with a glove on.”

“Can we do that here?” Alyssa asked. “Shouldn't you be in a maintenance bay or something?”

“If I had one that I trusted, sure.” I said and gave her hand a squeeze. “For now I'll use what's available.”

“M-me?” Alyssa asked with wide eyes.

I smiled at her expression, because it had both fear and longing in it. “I'll push the double entendre aside and only ask for the use of your hands. It's only for about an hour or so to help work on my problems.” I said and tapped the back of my head with a normal fingertip. “If that's okay?”

Alyssa nodded, and I led her over to the bed.

“I think we should fold it back up into a couch and a table.” I said.

Alyssa pushed the button, and the top of the bed folded back into a couch while the table slid up to it's normal height. I put the portable maintenance kit on the table and sat down, then opened it up and attached the leads to the ports behind my ear.

“I'll get your portable display.” Alyssa said and went to the closet, then came back with the display and my backpack.

“Oh! Breakfast.” I said and started the full diagnostics program, then opened my backpack and took out 2 of the dozen brown algenate discs that were inside. I handed Alyssa one and pat the couch. She sat down and we opened the packages, then ate breakfast together while we waited for the diagnostic to run.

“These are so good.” Alyssa said and licked some of the crumbs from her lips before she took another bite. “I could eat them all day and not get tired of them.”

I nodded. “That's what I was going for.” I said. “I don't know how you all suffered through eating the original ones.”

“We had to.” Alyssa chuckled. “It was either that or take the nutrition mod with the external intravenous feeding tube so we wouldn't have to taste it.”

I stopped eating my disc and looked at her. “That's why there's so many cyborgs with the support backpacks?”

Alyssa nodded. “Once they took that modification, it removed their need for mouths.” She said. “There was no need to chew or taste food anymore, or even a need to swallow anything.”

“Good god, that...” I shook my head. “How many have filed complaints since these new brown algenate discs came out?”

“None.” Alyssa said. “They haven't tasted them, and actually can't in most cases.” She said. “You can't complain about something that you haven't experienced yourself.”

“I feel so bad for them.” I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes again.

“Why?”

“Because they are missing out on a basic human function.” I said. “I can't imagine going the rest of my life without tasting things, either good or bad.”

Alyssa thought about that for a minute. “Thanks to the way the algenate discs used to taste, it isn't much of a loss for some people.”

“Not me.” I said. “Not only would you lose out on food, you would also lose out on sharing things with...” I let my words trail off.

“What was that?” Alyssa asked.

“Can you imagine not having the sensations of kissing someone you care about?” I asked her, and her mouth made that little 'o' of surprise. “I see these people do the full face mod, and I shiver inside because they'll never kiss another pair of lips, or suckle a breast, or pleasure their partners with their mouths.” I explained and shook my head. “No, I'd much rather lose an ear or a hand before I'd chose to lose my mouth.”

“You did.” Alyssa said and pointed to my synthetic hand. “A hand and both ears, actually.”

“What was it that Astra said? Half an inch closer to the center of my chest and I would have been dead?” I asked. “Or if I haven't tilted my head back.” I made a 'pew' sound and pointed to my forehead.

“You were lucky that you weren't killed.” Alyssa said, and her voice dropped to a low whisper. “I'm really glad you weren't.”

The maintenance kit beeped at me, and I checked the readouts.

“Yeah, this isn't going to let me modify much.” I said and plugged my portable display into one of the available ports. “I can tweak a few things with software, but I'll need your help with the physical bridging of specific circuits.”

“I'll do what I can.” Alyssa said.

“Thanks.” I said and transferred the files I had marked in the personal storage in my head over to the portable display. I used the research project's referenced formulas in combination with my own to give a rough approximation for the neural delay on my own cybernetic parts and their interaction with the normal parts of my body.

With these magical numbers at my disposal, I could initialize a much better response rate for everything, including my own processing power. Alyssa had sat quietly beside me and watched me work. She waited patiently for me to ask for her assistance, and when it was necessary, I did.

“I can't believe you're making me do this.” Alyssa said as she used the special tool to pop open the small metal plate on the back of my skull.

“You're just testing the electrical voltage.” I told her and handed her the proper tool for taking the measurements. “It's a bit invasive; but, the portable maintenance kit can't give me the best reading over that part without a direct feed.”

“But...”

“I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.” I said. “It should only take a minute.”

“It's not that.” Alyssa said. “I'm not qualified to be doing this.”

I chuckled. “All you have to do is hold the probe against the outer casing.”

“Can't you do it?” Alyssa asked.

“If I had eyes in the back of my head and maybe a mirror.” I chuckled. “Of course, if I had a scanner drone I would have had a result by now.”

“Then why don't I requisition...”

“Please, just do it.” I said, and transferred the new interface protocol back into my cerebral implant. “I'm going to re-initialize my main processor and the operating system, so when you hear the beep from the kit, stick the probe in.” I said. “I need that initial reading, and then I can adjust the amplitude of the signals with my portable display.”

“How can you do that?” Alyssa asked. “Something like this shouldn't work!” She said. “How can you modify a read-only setting on your mental hardware?”

“By changing the reference in the files to reflect a modified data file.” I said. “What I'm doing here is quick and dirty; but, it should give me a better reaction time than the unmodified data file does.” I used my HUD to select the proper shutdown and restart protocols, then I looked right at Alyssa. “Get ready.”

Alyssa nodded, so I closed my eyes and selected the restart option.