Read Breakout for Free Online Page B

down, he should be strong enough to defeat it though it might get painful and dicey for the next few hours.
    Hope I don’t black out and miss the bot.
    While he waited, Jael prowled through the wreckage and came up with a processor panel that might come in handy. After he had cashed out his last turn as a merc, he’d worked salvage for a while, so he had some experience in spotting overlooked junk. It helped that the other convicts had been looking for gear that could be weaponized or eaten, but ships required a lot more complex systems, and the idea that they could build one out of scrap seemed impossible.
    But the alternative’s waiting for Silence to pick us off.
    The poison spiked him into a fever, so his perception skewed. Objects seemed too big and too close, and everything seemed painfully bright and loud. Shivering, he huddled against the rusted wall and rode out the pain of his joints knotting up. Whatever this was would probably kill anyone else. He blinked, and the station was gone.
    The white walls of the lab formed around him and scientists in gray jackets moved about, making notes and consulting with one another. “Should we raise the voltage?”
    He couldn’t move, immobilized by the wires in his spine.
They
could stimulate his nerves and force a reaction while he hung helpless, but there was no way to fight, no way to free himself. JL489 had no choice but to endure.
    Dr. Jurgin Landau moved closer to determine their next move. “Yes, do it. And time this, he’s healing faster than the others. We need to document and discern why we’re getting different results from the same batch.”
    The lab tech got a metal implement, electrified on one end. She hefted it casually, as if she wasn’t about to maim.
I’m alive. I’m not a thing. I’m
not
.
He made a sound of protest deep in his throat, an animal noise, but he couldn’t move his lips or tongue to form the words.
Why are you doing this to me? Wh—
His vision flashed red, and pain screamed up his arm where they burned him. Electricity ate through his skin and into the meat below; he couldn’t writhe or thrash, apart from the involuntary twitches.
    â€œLook at that,” the tech marveled.
    â€œAlready regenerating. If this was manifesting in one of our more tractable batches, I’d be so elated right now. But I’m pretty sure this group is flawed.”
    â€œMaybe. Shall we see how much tissue it can replace?”
    Landau nodded. “Start with the eyes.”
    Jael came back from fever town with a scream choked in his throat. With trembling fingertips, he touched his face.
Cooler. I’m not dying today, it seems.
He felt weak and shaky, but the worst had passed. There was no way to be sure how long he’d been out; a few minutes after he came to, he heard two things at once: the sound of another group of Silence’s men and the low-grade whir of an RC unit coming to charge up. It would take a while for the bot to power up, so it made sense not to move. He wished he could see what they were doing, but there was no vantage, and climbing into the ducts might draw attention.
    I need some downtime before I fight again. Must be getting old.
Wry amusement colored that thought since the Corp had tried to market their Bred creations as unstoppable, tireless killing machines with the added advantage of being biological, so they never broke down. Because the results were so unpredictable, however, they never did manage to sell the idea of mass production of Bred soldiers. Briefly, he wondered if there were any survivors out of the twenty that survived the escape run, if they’d ended up better off.
    Somehow.
    It seemed like forever that the dead heads lingered, probably performing their weird rituals. But eventually, they vacated the area, freeing him to shimmy up and out of the room. Pausing, Jael skimmed the scene below. The bodies were gone; Silence must have plans for those