Cyber Overwinter [Part 4]

A sudden breeze from the deep night fluttered by the two, causing them to slightly adjust their sitting position. “I uh, never thanked you… For saving me that day.” Izel mentioned, once the breeze passed.

“Don’t mention it. I’m still amazed that you were able to overpower that programming, a little scared to be honest, but amazed nonetheless.” Nevaeh expressed.

“So, I don’t remember what happened… That day, and I’ve been wondering, how many people did I kill?” Izel asked with shame.

“No!”

“‘No’ what?”

“You did kill anyone, it was that culo Caballero!” Nevaeh cursed and stood up with passion, to then walk near the center of the roof. “Come here.” She demands of Izel.

“You remember what Yollohtli said, right?” Nevaeh asked.

“Um, yeah, about the nanobots?” Izel answered.

“Yeah, you are the one that’s in control of them now, so that means they are yours.” Nevaeh pointed at Izel.

“But Yollohtli also said that it's dangerous.” Izel rebuttals.

“So, this genius in front of me is never going to do anything with this new and powerful tech?” Nevaeh promptly reasoned with sass.

“Well, well… It's not like I haven’t thought of the idea.” Izel shyly mentioned.

“Then just try to make something small… Because that’s part of you now and you decide what you want to do with it.” Nevaeh encouraged.

“I don’t know…” Izel mentioned, with clear apprehension.

“I understand, but… You are helping me realize that the mind is a powerful thing, and as long as you focus on that power within the mind, you can do anything.” Nevaeh gently held Izel’s hand, looking into his eyes.

Izel nodded slightly, slowly growing with confidence. Izel then lifted his hand upward to try and create something, anything at the palm of his hand. With his other hand he then clenched onto his wrist to channel his concentration, as he did his hand began to slightly morph in a geometric way. The center of his palm started to create a small formless mass of hexagonal crimson, but once he saw that his efforts were working, the harder he focused. As he did, the more vivid the creation became.

“Amazing Izel… Is it a flower?” Nevaeh said softly, marveling at the small creation Izel had made from his Nanobots.

“Yeah, a Poinsettia… My dad always said that they are my mother’s favorite.” Izel replied, joyfully thinking of his mother.

“How does it feel?” Nevaeh wondered.

“Uhh, it kinda tingles. Like my arm is falling asleep, hah.” Izel explained with a slight giggle.

As the two happily look at what Izel created, feeling pride in themselves and each other. A sharp ring took the moment away, forcing them to focus on the sudden sound.

“Uh, that’s my phone…” Izel remarked, as the gentle moment between the two faded.

“It’s Carmen.” Izel looked at Nevaeh with a confused concern. “Hey…” He soon answered.

“Is Chima with you?” Carmen quickly asked.

“Um, no, once we finished our errands, he left me with Nevaeh.” Izel explained, for Nevaeh to get close to his phone.

“Is something wrong, Carmen? I’ve been with Izel most of the evening.” Nevaeh announced.

“I don’t know yet, he hasn’t come home and he’s not answering any of my calls or messages. No one else has seen him since this morning.” Carmen fastly explained as her panic began to grow.

“We’re on the Southwest side of the city, we’ll see if we can find anything, okay? I’m sure he’s fine.” Nevaeh tried to calm Carmen’s nerves.

“Okay, please be safe and let me know if you see or hear anything.” Carmen asked, as she hung up.

“Damn, I knew there was something off with him. I should have pried harder as soon as I started to notice the shift in his personality.” Izel pronounced with frustration.

“It is not your fault, Izel. What’s important now is that we have to find him.” Nevaeh placed her hand on Izel's shoulder. “Now, did he give any possible hints of where he might be?” She then asked.

“I tried to get something out of him but he just got nostalgic on me… Umm…” Izel answered, scratching his head. “Oh, when we were at the market earlier, we went to this one place that had a ton of weapons and weird knickknacks. And Chima got something that definitely felt suspicious.” Izel recalled. “Oh! And he kept bringing up his past in the service, talking about the wise monkeys.” He then mentioned.

“Okay, okay, that’s a start.” Nevaeh paused Izel’s racing mind. “If I had to guess, he might be doing something that involves his past. I just don’t know what.” She reasoned.

“I think it has something to do with those bodies we saw on that mission form last week, maybe it was somehow connected with something from the service?”

“Yeah, let’s see if we can find anything around us and let's check out that shop you two were at to figure out what he bought.” Nevaeh planned. With the two hastily running to the edges to descend the building. However, once they made their first steps down, Nevaeh paused.

“Oh, and Izel, try to get that back into your body.” Nevaeh pointed at Izel’s hand.

“Ah, yeah, yeah, right!” Izel quickly remarked in agreement as he hadn't returned the nanobot flower back into his body.