Apex Five: Mech Elite novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: What He Built

I waited until the hangar was empty.

Hob had gone to bed in the back with a wrench under his pillow, and the Black Meridian crew had drifted off to the bars on Dock Street.

Ronan stood at the bench with his back to me, cleaning a servo with a rag.

"What did you build for Alder Pryce?" I said.

He kept wiping.

"Ronan."

"A sync frame," he said.

"What does that mean?"

"That's a question about the link. It's against the third rule."

"I don't care about the rules. He said to ask you. I'm asking."

He put the rag down and turned around.

He looked tired.

I had not seen him look tired before, not even after the match.

"Seven years ago I was twenty-four and I worked for Pryce Dynamics," he said. "My job was a design for one pilot who could carry a whole team on a single link. Alder called it the Anchor."

"Carry how?"

"The Anchor pilot's pulse runs the other frames. They don't have to sync on their own. They only follow."

"That doesn't work."

"It works. For a while."

I stared at him.

"And then?"

"And then the Anchor's own link burns down. A year. Sometimes two." He lifted his scarred forearm, and the weld lines caught the light. "I tested it on myself, because nobody else would sign the form."

The hangar was so quiet I heard the core on the bench pulse.

"Your cradle," I said.

"Burned out on the third test. I walked out the next day and I haven't linked since."

"And you didn't tell anyone."

← Chapter 5 · All chapters · Chapter 7 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend