The countdown to Strive For Forever’s release day has started! Woot!
I will be sharing the first chapter while we wait.
Today, I’m sharing the very first scene.
***
Chapter One
The universe was a violent place. There was death and destruction everywhere.
But there were also pockets of stillness, of serenity, of beauty—if a being looked for them.
Rare moments of tranquility could be found in the curve of the one remaining leaf hanging from a soon-to-be fallen tree, in the glorious hues of the last sunset some of Strive’s cyborg brethren would ever view, in a drop of blood on a bedraggled blue flower growing in a Humanoid Alliance training ring.
Those exquisite instances aided Strive in managing his malfunctioning emotional system. They helped him find the calm he required to endure the ugliness.
They had kept him alive during his enslavement by his cruel manufacturer, had fueled his willingness to escape, and, now that he was free, they inspired his works of art.
His fingers twitched. The urge to create, at the moment, was strong.
Praecipua Minor, the wild, lush planet his friend Grin, and Grin’s female, had claimed for her kind—the Praecipuans, almost overwhelmed him with visual delights.
The tour of the not-yet-completed settlement was led by Grin. Strive’s friend waved his hands at camouflaged rooftops and missile-proof walls. He chattered about the materials used and the unique design features. And he beamed while he was doing all that.
The male was proud of his fabrications.
And Grin’s female was proud of her male. Her face glowed.
Strive was happy for his friend. He valued Grin’s skills.
But the nature flourishing all around them impressed him more than the structures being constructed.
The settlement was surrounded by tall, heavily branched, broad-leafed trees. More vegetation grew at the bases of the trunks. A river flowed near the space. The water’s surface reflected the filtered sunlight. The liquid sparkled and burbled.
A large winged creature squawked as it flew over their heads, and Strive’s gaze shifted upward.
The creature’s feathers were an assortment of bright colors – red, yellow, blue, green, and white. Its tail was magnificent and regal and impractically long.
“You’ve installed perimeter alarms.” All Strive’s friend Raw was interested in was battle-and-defense tactics.
Raw’s female’s fingers were linked with her warrior’s.
“We tried to conceal those alarms.” Grin’s female frowned.
The tiny devices were hidden between the ridges on the trees’ bark.
“He’s a cyborg.” Raw’s female rolled her eyes. “He has superior cyborg vision.” Her tone was teasing. “I didn’t see it with my inferior human vision.”
“He’s also stationary.” Grin gripped one of his female’s hands. “And he was looking for them.”
“I’m always looking for them.” Raw lifted his chin. “I’m one of the best warriors in the universe.”
“Arrogance gets warriors killed.” Strive turned his back on the couples.
His friends were lucky bags of bolts. There was one, sometimes two beings a cyborg was genetically compatible with, and they had both found their matches.
He had…no one.
And he might never have anyone. Some cyborgs would never locate their beings.
The sorrow and envy Strive was experiencing wreaked havoc on his mechanicals. His auditory system, always the first to falter, flickered. The sounds around him muted and then returned to full volume.
His visual system, if he didn’t manage his emotions, would be the next part of him impacted. His world would turn dark and silent.
Reaching that state had almost gotten him killed in the past. It would occur during the Humanoid Alliance training bouts. He hated fighting. His loathing of battle would make his emotional system malfunction. That would down his auditories and his visuals.
Strive would be standing in the ring, unable to see or hear, facing an opponent who sought to end his lifespan. If it hadn’t been for Raw’s assistance, he would’ve died in that first solar cycle.
He was determined not to progress to that point now.
Seeking to manage his turbulent emotions, he crouched by a corner post of a structure and focused on the vegetation sprouting through the cracks in the simulated stone.
The plant was unfurling its first set of fragile, bluish-green leaves. That image would be perfect for a cyborg and his genetic match with their newly manufactured offspring. He could fabricate a panel decorated with various vegetation and creature offspring. The material would be a warm hue, a gold-colored metal. He’d outline the images with perfectly-placed projectiles.
“We’ve lost him again.” Grin’s voice lilted with amusement.
***
Read the next scene (available July 3rd) here:
http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=10877
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Strive For Forever
This cyborg seeks to vanquish an ancient entity and save his curvy human female.
Euryale made a terrible mistake. She opened a container she shouldn’t have touched and released one of the oldest lifeforms in existence. That all-powerful entity is now utilizing her as its host body and is slowly draining her energy.
Soon, she’ll die.
Euryale has accepted this fate and is determined to use her remaining moments in the universe to save as many lives as she can.
Her plans do NOT include a smoldering-hot, poetry-wielding cyborg willing to decimate entire planets to save her.
While under the control of the Humanoid Alliance, Strive, a K Model cyborg, disobeyed direct orders and refused to kill on their behalf. If he hadn’t escaped their cruel clutches, his defiance would have led to his death.
The male knowingly risked that fate to save the lifespans of complete strangers.
There is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Euryale. The curvy human female is his genetic match, the one being he is destined to defend.
And she is in danger.
Strive would break every vow, cross every boundary, risk absolutely everything to keep her from harm.
Including battle a deity no one has ever defeated.
***
Strive For Forever is Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features an inspired cyborg, a joke-cracking scientist, and an all-powerful deity with plans of his own.
Pre-order Today:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strive-for-forever/id6445480449
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strive-for-forever-cynthia-sax/1142963331
