Chapter Nine: Frankenstein's
"Finally," Her breath was almost orgasmic. "Marcus finally has given us something good to play with." Marla McGivers' fingers danced over the blistering metal. The long ranged weapon had a good neck to it almost looking like a pistol used in ancient western films, however this weapon had energy to it. There were no bullets locked inside.
"Dangerous too." Harrison was close enough for Marla to hear him, but far enough for her eyes not to detect him.
"Forty parts." The weapon was a mangled piecing together of failed weapons of the time. Harrison stepped closer when she spoke, almost with urgency.
"Forty two." The correction caused her to rip her gaze from the weapon to Harrison. He looked smug in his remark, but he looked more displeased with her assumption rather than his correction.
"No." She was sure of it. Forty parts. Forty different weapons in one. She began to take the pistol looking phaser apart counting out loud.
The red haired woman began to name the parts of each pulling the weapon apart completely. She indicated models, years, and reasoning for each piece spreading the pieces out equally on the work station. She didn't dare care where Harrison's eyes were. They could have been locked on her heaving chest for all she cared. She was going to prove him wrong.
"There." Satisfaction rang in her tone. There were forty pieces spread on the table. The weapon was in ruins. "Forty parts." She finally gave in. Marla watched his eyes shifting to check the pieces. He leaned pass her grabbing the core that was laid out. He snapped a piece off with ease.
"An extra power core from an early model." He wiggled the thing before placing it down. "Forty one." His fingers twitched to find the small bronze trigger connected to the bottom half of the gun. He snapped it off, again without trying. "Trigger. From a revolver. Better reaction. Forty two, Dr. McGivers."
Marla stiffened when Harrison placed the trigger carefully beside the other parts. She didn't want to conclude that Harrison was right, but in her mind she would acknowledge his identifying skills. His eyes grew a bit kinder in that moment as if to assure her she was worth something. His face however remained cold.
"A valiant effort, Lieutenant." He concluded. "However you are just like the textbooks. Not nearly as imaginative." Her teeth were forced together in frustration at the failed identification. The weapon had been something she hadn't harbored much attention for, however it was still in her alleged area of expertise.
"How can you recall numbers?" She didn't mean to sound bitter. "It was toward the end of . . ." She had almost said reign, but stopped herself. Marla couldn't let anyone onto how much she truly knew about John Harrison. Even if her knowledge was gaining more and more everyday. "Your time on Earth."
Harrison noted the hesitation. Marla swallowed hard hoping he would be smart and not address it. Of course he was smart. He simply ignored her knowledge focusing on her lack of knowledge.
"I was burdened to know of all the workings amongst augments during that time." He gently laid his hands on the tiny pieces letting them cling to his heated palm before allowing them to fall once more with chiming clangs. "Especially something this fascinating." He smiled at the dismantled piece. "With this many parts. A very dangerous creature."
Marla smiled at the word creature recalling stories of monsters and beasts created from many parts. That creature had not been created for destruction yet he lumbered through his homeland as one. He had been meant to be something of divine beauty, to defy logic, and become something more. He was meant to symbolize immortality.
"Frankenstein." It was a mutter on her lips. Not a remark to symbolize the creature, but how his creator had signed his death warrant when he let the thing rise from his table. Augments were created in the same vain. To see if it was possible. To create perfection in life. They had failed and like the story their creations sought to defy their masters' intents.
"His creation." Harrison mused.
"They still get it wrong." Marla let her soft brown eyes look to him. "Frankenstein's creation had no name. He was simply the Creature. A monster made of pieces of humanity by his master."
"Is Shelley's work still considered a master piece?" Harrison let his eyes become a bit more showy in his emotions toward the subject. Marla cocked a smile at his weakness, literature. She didn't think an augment could open himself up some much with a simple reference.
"Yes and no." She concluded. She cleared her throat in that moment as she began to reassemble the phaser. "Most people these days think of it more as a myth rather than literature. It has become the Prometheus of our day." She knew the words disappointed Harrison. She didn't need to look at him. The words disappointed her as well.
"Modern Prometheus indeed." He nearly snorted the words. Marla was amused to hear this side to Harrison. Judgmental toward today's humans."He never had a name. Merely a function his creator saw fit to dub him, that society placed upon him, creature, monster. He was a being of individuality and intelligence. He had a mind and body. He was not an animal."
The sudden passion in his voice was clear. Marla let her fingers hesitate on the second core, the one Harrison had identified, letting the words sink in. She looked at the weapon. It was the same. It never had a name or place in society. Once the use for it was over, it was discarded. Never given a true identity or place in history. It could not struggle to be deemed worthy.
"He tried." Marla snapped the pieces into place reaching for them as she spoke. "He tried to be seen as more, but instinct is too powerful an emotion to overcome. In nature we are violent, in order to protect ourselves from harm."
"Beware," He nearly squeezed the word from his baritone voice. He snatched a piece from the table. The very piece she needed. It forced Marla to turn toward Harrison. His eyes were gleaming with fire. He looked up from under his brow. "For I am fearless –"
"And therefore," She snatched the piece from his grasp. "Powerful." She smiled as he stared at her, his hand still open and extended. "Despite society's poor view on Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his creation, I still worship the classics even when they are no longer seen in high regard. Even considered childish." She heard him snort at her last word.
"Gods are childish." He dubbed. He let his hand fall to his side."Those who create and abandon have no right to be considered in high regard." She wondered if he was thinking of himself when he said those words. All augments had been pieced together of the finest genetics, the finest parts of humanity. Then they were left discarded when they did not react properly, like good little soldiers.
"Parents still abandon their children, Harrison." She continued to piece the thing back together letting clicking noises echo in the room. "It will never change." Marla was certain of the selfish nature residing within every human life. Centuries could go on and some parents would still hold their children as objects rather than individuals.
"But they are pieced together." He let his fingers brush against hers as they reached for the same object. She looked to him with clouded eyes, large and round with almost confusion as to what his meaning was. "We are all pieces of our masters. Constructed to be the best we can be from what we have and what we learn."
Harrison let her take the dull piece in her hands. Her eyes left his as soon as she had it. She thought momentarily of her life. Her mother had pieced the morals in her, but her father had clouded those with his own twisted look at the world. He had infused her with a delight for weapons. Her mother had showed her how good it was to help others. Her father had done the same, but he had made her think violence helped.
"We decide for ourselves." It was almost a whisper in her breath coated by a sharp snap. "What pieces we want to show the world. They are not always the brightest, but they are who we truly are." She stroked the weapon feeling him step closer. His heat was constricting her breathing. She could smell his musk. Marla may have shivered when he touched her wrist with two fingers stroking her softly.
"The monster," He whispered pleasantly. "Or the creature?" His lips leaned into her ear. She wanted to close her eyes, but instead she held her weapon steadfast. Marla didn't want to give in so quickly, even though for months now she had wanted to imagine Harrison taking her harshly against all the fire power. She would not allow her subconscious do that. "Does the monster leave its master, to continue its work?" He stroked his fingers against her painfully visible veins. "Or does the creature stay, to indulge in pleasures?"
She understood now. The whispers were a warning. Harrison always had strange ways of telling her things, but she knew what they meant. He was questioning her again. The augment knew she wanted to continue her experiences working beside him. However she needed to go. She needed out of this work room to find the crew of the SS Botany Bay. Marla let her hand pull away from Harrison's touch thinking softly where she might put it. She decided to look to his eyes weapon in hand aiming at his heart as she slowly pushed him away.
"Can't it do both? Be both? Monster and creature." She cocked a smile out standing firm on her principle.
He smiled letting his eyes examine her stance as if reading her every position. Hands, feet, and torso. His eyes lingered against her most feminine parts. She wondered if he desired her flesh as much as her mind. Harrison's head dipped in a nod very slightly.
"Yes." His breath exhaled hotly. "It was Frankenstein's creation. Created simply for desire." The last word lingered against his tongue as if it was of grand importance. "It went about doing both." Marla was a bit unsure if she had seen him lose his train of thought as he watched her. He couldn't be getting lost in her features? Her body? It would be a great disappointment to the historian if this augment could be undone by feminine wiles.
"Life," She lowered the weapon slightly letting her eyes fall from Harrison. She still needed to work. She couldn't have him to distract her now. Not today at least. "Although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me," She blindly thought of what could happen next for Marcus to truthfully be fed up with her and place her far from Harrison's agile hands. "And I will defend it." Marla heard the low chuckle in his voice as the smallest piece clicked together. She examined it carefully. "We're only pieces, Commander. But we are still whole. Still human." She again quoted the novel surprising herself. "The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature." Her desires to be her escape.
Harrison made his way to her as if her were to swallow her up. He took the weapon from her hand carefully. Her eyes were watching him, but his were examining the phaser, turning it over and over again in his grasp. His eyes weren't fixed on her yet.
"Soon." It barely sounded like a word when he gave the sound a deep hoarse feeling. She reached for the phaser. Marla stifled a gasp as he grabbed her hand pulling her to his body harshly. His brow was low and fixated on her expression of widened surprise. Slowly he touched her hair letting his hand hook her waist gently with his other hand. He leaned forward letting his baritone voice tingle. "Nature cannot surpass law much longer."
Harrison let her go nearly pushing her to the ground, but was gentle enough to remember her weakness. Marla looked to him softly as he nodded. She knew what he meant. What he needed from her. There needed to be a gap between them. However when the time came she would have to become his monster and creature.
She would have to give into the purest of instincts for her release.
In order to find his crew on the outside.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short. The next one will have some very interesting developments for John and Marla ;)
Also Frankenstein doesn't belong to me. Mary Shelley has that one.
