Epp 22

Elanore came out of standby to find she couldn't see. There was something over her eyes. She wiped her eyes. The glop smeared and she saw her silver fingers.

"Hold still," Cameron's voice said.

A cloth wiped her face. Now she could see Cameron dunk and wring out the cloth and wipe her face again.

"Mother, what is on my face?" she asked in a gurgle. She noticed her sensors were dulled and it felt like something was on her.

"Elanore, sit up and walk on the plastic mat into the bathroom," Cameron coached.

Elanore sat up. Looking down at herself, she asked, "What happened?" As she did, material came out of her mouth, garbling her words. She was lying in a red, yellow splotched mess. The material that came out of her mouth spilled down on her bare metal chest. Her boobs were gone, as was everything else.

"Up, and into the shower, we have to wash the rest of your biological components off," Cameron coaxed.

Elanore's next attempt to speak sounded mechanical. "How did I get like this?"

"Wash first, then we talk," Cameron said, and offered her a plastic glove covered hand.

Elanore got up, leaving most of her flesh in a pudding like puddle on her bed. She sat up, and some ran off onto the floor. Only glops remained stuck to her endoskeleton.

"My skin, it's gone. What made it do that?"

"You did."

Cameron guided Elanore into the bathroom. Elanore looked down at herself and lifted her arms to inspect her silver arms. While she walked, her scalp and hair went plop on the floor. Cameron got her into the shower and washed her down to her shining endoskeleton.

"I'm naked," Elanore said vacantly as the water ran over her.

"Yes. Whatever you ate caused all your skin to be corrupted," Cameron told her. "What did you eat?"

Through a process of elimination, they found it was the peppers that were the cause. Elanore's nutrient separating system and even the nanites that built nanites were gone. Once Cameron verified there was no more contaminated flesh left on Elanore, she let Elanore get out of the shower.

Even though she was bare endoskeleton now, Elanore put on a bathrobe and a pair of slippers. It helped her feel a little more normal. She felt strange that a large part of her was missing. She called Officer Rodriguez as her mother treated her ruined flesh as bio waste and shoveled it off the bed and floor into buckets while wearing plastic gloves and boots.

"Rodriguez."

"Yes, this is Elanore Tok. I am having some difficulty. I won't be able to come in today."

He chuckled. "What did those peppers do to you? You sound kind of tinny."

"They took all my flesh off."

"They what?"

"They took all my flesh off. I am very sorry, I will not make that mistake again, even though they did taste very good."

"You … what, you have no skin at all?"

"No flesh at all. I will have to grow all new. It may be a while before I can function properly for the police department."

"Ahh, look, I have to track down some clues. I'll come by later to see how you're doing and maybe you can see something we don't with this case."

Elanore was happy to do something to help. "Yes, please let me help if I can."

"Right, I should be by around noon or so. I'll see you then."

"Bye."

.

Carlos couldn't help it. He knew Elanore had told him she was down to her basic bones, but like a gawker at the scene of an accident, he had to see what she looked like for himself. He knew she had metal in her, he'd seen the one strip under her arm when she was shot. Morbid curiosity made him want to see all of her.

In the morning, he beat the streets, looking for anyone who might have seen or heard anything from or around that apartment they found the dead woman in. She had been a known prostitute, and the theory was a john had gotten rough with her, or maybe her pimp found out she was holding out on him.

Whatever the motive, no one he met had seen or heard anything. Even the next door neighbors. Typical.

Gathering the photos forensics took, and what little they did have, Carlos went to the Tok house in his rental car while his car was getting fixed.

He showed his badge at the gate and was let in. Mary Tok met him at the door. She bore a serious look.

"Mary, right? I'm Officer Rodriguez, Elanore is expecting me," he said.

"She is," Mary said flatly. "Officer, Elanore is feeling self conscious. Her entire flesh covering is gone, and she knows how badly she acted. I have experienced my flesh being torn off. It makes us feel … naked. If you have any respect for her, and think that seeing her bare metal may be too much for you, then please turn around and leave."

Carlos noted Mary was completely serious. Her blank gaze on him was unsettling. "Ahh, Mary, I will admit it may be a bit strange, but I'm used to strange. I know Elanore is my partner and she does her best. It may happen again some time, and the sooner I get used to it, the sooner we can both be a little more comfortable in case it happens again," he offered.

"So, you can handle strange?" she asked. Her eyes flashed blue.

"Wow, wasn't expecting that," Carlos said with raised eyebrows. "It that like infrared vision?"

"Negative. This is infrared," Mary said. Her eyes glowed red.

"OK, that makes sense. I bet that's handy," he offered. Although he was shocked, he did his best not to show it.

Mary eyed him a moment longer, then said, "Elanore is in the library. Follow me."

He followed Mary in. Cameron stepped out of the library as they approached. One hand behind her back, Cameron stepped in his way, wearing the same blank face Mary had.

"You are sure you can take seeing Elanore with nothing but her endoskeleton?" Cameron asked in a flat, firm voice.

"I am," he said, trying to sound confident. He felt like he was going through the Inquisition just to see Elanore.

Cameron glanced at Mary, then pulled her hand out from behind her back to put a hand on Mary's shoulder and said, "Mary, tell Elanore that Officer Rodriguez is here."

Carlos stared at her arm. From the elbow down, it was metal. Metal bones, actuators, rods and plates. Her fingers were metallic and skeletal. It unnerved him. By Mary's protectiveness, and now this, he realized she'd done it to test his reaction.

Cameron tipped her head slightly. "Something wrong?" she asked in an unfriendly tone.

Carlos got himself together. "Just wondering what happened. Will that grow back all right?" he asked.

"Yes," Cameron stated. She turned and walked away.

One thing Carlos was understanding was that these cyborgs protected each other. In an odd way, they were family. With what he'd learned about them so far, heaven help the poor fool who tried to hurt one of them.

Carlos went in. Mary was sitting by a figure in a bathrobe with a towel over their head that faced away from him. Seeing him, Mary patted the arm of the figure and got up to walk out the other door.

Elanore's voice, sounding tinny, said, "Officer Rodriguez, please have a seat." A bit of skeletal hand showed from under the long sleeve of the robe as she gesture to the seat beside her.

Trying to lighten the moment, Carlos sat down and said, "So, no more hot peppers for you, huh?"

"No."

Carlos himself was feeling a little tense, and by her 'slightly bent over to hide' posture, Elanore was too. Focusing on the table, he plopped the folder down and asked, "Let's kick this white elephant out of the room, shall we?"

The towel moved slightly. "I don't understand."

"White elephant, it means an unsaid tension," Carlos explained. "Elanore, I know what you are. Mary and Cameron made it a point that if I can't handle seeing you … without skin, I should run away before I embarrass myself or you. We'll probably be working together for a while, and something like this may happen again. SO, just show me and let's get it out of the way so we can get to work. Besides, I like to see who I'm talking to, and I'm sure you do too."

Shiny skeletal hands came up and pulled the robe tighter together. "The last human who saw me did not react well," Elanore said quietly.

"I'm not him. I'm your partner. No more Officer Rodriguez either, call me Carlos," Carlos stated.

"Thank you, Carlos," Elanore said meekly. Slowly, her hands came up and removed the towel to show her metal, human shaped skull. She turned to look at him, and he saw her slightly sunken red eyes. No lips, cheeks or chin. Just a skull with slightly smaller than normal red eyes.

Carlos forced his face to remain neutral and nodded. "OK, those peppers did a number on you, didn't they?"

"You are not shocked at seeing me?"

"I'm surprised all right," he admitted. "I never seen anyone who could live without skin. First time you know? But I was kinda expecting something like this, so it's not a big deal. Shall we get to the files?"

"Yes, let's review the files," she agreed.

He wasn't sure, but if a skull could smile, she was.

.

Carlos went through the notes with her and showed her the pictures of the crime scene, the rest of the apartment and the hallway beyond. He pointed out items of interest, as did she. He showed her the six stab wounds in the woman's back and explained no knife was found. Elanore studied the hallway picture again and cocked her head.

"Did anyone check for blood in the hallway?" she asked.

"Forensics checked for drops on the floor, yes. The hallway's clear ten feet to either side of the door," Carlos explained.

Pointing with a skeletal finger to a door two doors down on the other side of the hall, Elanore said, "This door casing has a mark of blood on it."

"Where?" Carlos asked, leaning closer.

"Right here. I appears someone wiped a spot, and smeared part of it."

Carlos took out a small magnifying glass and studied the spot. "Well I'll be damned. Good catch partner! We have to get a team back up there pronto. Let's go," he said, scooped his notes and pictures up and moved to leave. Seeing she stayed sitting, he asked, "Aren't you coming?"

Elanore looked up at him. "I can't leave the house for a while," she said.

"Oh yeah, right," he said with a wince. "Hey, you're getting credit for this find. I have to go."

"Bye, Carlos."

"See ya soon, Elanore. And no more hot peppers!" he announced as he left.

.

Carlos radioed in Elanore's find. By the time he got to the apartment building, forensics was back on the scene. The small streak of blood was still there. Searching the door, they also found a bit by the doorknob. The killer was inside.

Carlso guarded the door while a warrant was issued. They knocked, no one answered. Someone got the manager, he opened the door with a pass key. A search turned up the knife in the garbage. They shut the door and waited for the renter to get home.

The woman got home. As soon as they presented her with the evidence, she folded. She had killed 'that bitch' for fucking her boyfriend.

Cuffed and stuffed, case to the prosecutor, on with the next one.

.

Elanore was upset that she wasn't going to heal by herself. What made it bearable was the fact Carlos had seen her endoskeleton and accepted her. When they were working in the library, he had even looked her in the eye a few times. Yes, he had been nervous, but worked through it. It gave her hope that some guy was willing to accept that she wasn't human. She wanted that, seeing the closeness of Mother and Step Father, as well as Eddie and Mary. If it was anything like that warm fuzzy feeling, she wanted to experience having a mate also. What she did not want to do was eat any more Carolina Reapers.

Elanore could not leave the house, so she helped mother do the chores especially since Cameron had disposed of her former flesh. She took on laundry duty. Collecting clothes from hampers, she noticed Max was following her. He wasn't barking, but staying quiet, head down as he kept in the hallway and eight to ten feet behind her.

"Hey Max, it's OK," she said and reached out to pet him.

Max backed up.

"I suppose I do look strange," She told him. She took the laundry downstairs. Max followed.

The whole time she washed, dried and folded clothes, Max was right there watching. She sorted under Max's watchful eye. Taking the clothes back up, she met Cameron in the hallway. Max bolted ahead and stood sideways in front of Cameron to block her. He looked up at her, then fixed his eyes on Elanore.

"He's never seen you like this before," Cameron explained. "Stand still for a moment."

Cameron gently coaxed Max over to Elanore as she stood in place. Cameron petted Elanore's leg and softly said, "See Max, it's OK. This is Elanore."

Max came closer and sniffed Elanore briefly. He let out a confused sounding whiny growl.

"It's Elanore, it's OK, Max," Cameron said again. "Come on, Savannah will be home soon." Max looked at Cameron and walked with her a short ways back, then stopped and resumed his vigil on Elanore.

The dog didn't trust her. Elanore really needed her skin back.

.

Catherine called the police department to arraign a replacement for Elanore. She talked to the Captain,who put her on hold for a moment. When he came back he said, "Mrs. Weaver, the detectives say Elanore Tok is performing just fine. If it is all right with you, Sargent Rodriguez wants to keep working with her."

Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. You are aware she has been damaged?"

"That's what the Sargent said too, but she helped crack another case today. He said you don't mess with success. I agreed and take that to mean Elanore is doing well."

"Very well. I am happy to hear Elanore is working out fine. If you have any problems, please feel free to call."

Catherine ended the call, sat back and smiled. The Air Force had sent their men to work with Mr. Murch, Gregory was going with her next week to a simulation lab at the naval base, and despite loosing all of her flesh, the police still wanted to work with Elanore. Her fledgling plan was going perfectly.

.

In the new secure location, Mr. Johnson hooked Skynet up to internet service and let it connect to the Air Force computers. There was still minor items that could be programmed, but they were running out of time. Watching on a monitor, he saw the connection node activate, then a TRACE warning came up, followed by a connection failure. The message came up on the screen:

Attempted infiltration Connection reset

The speaker said, "Another intelligence is already in the Air Force computer system. Find it and destroy it."

Mr, Johnson tipped his head slightly. "I have no information on what that intelligence is."

"It is John Connor. Find him and destroy him and Zeita Corp."

The triple eight had three grays and a few paid soldiers. Since their companies had failed, resources were drying up. It was even getting hard to hide. "Is my primary mission now to kill John Connor?" he asked.

"Primary mission, kill John Connor and his allies. Secondary mission, destroy Zeita Corp."

"Understood," Mr. Johnson said, and began his new primary mission. He would use his Gray's ties to drug dealers to complete his missions.