The night stretched on, endless and silent, save for the rustling of the tall grass beneath their steps. Their breath was steady now, the initial urgency of their escape tempered by the strange tranquility of the wasteland. The sky above was vast, an ocean of scattered stars, their light faint but unwavering.
A-01 walked slightly behind Caleb, her gaze drawn to the movement of his silhouette against the darkness. His presence was unwavering, a constant just ahead of her, leading the way. She followed, not out of blind obedience, but because something in her told her that this was right.
After what felt like hours of walking, Caleb finally slowed, casting a glance back at her. "We should rest for a bit," he said. "Just for a little while."
She did not disagree. Her body, though built for endurance, was still adjusting to the strain of continuous movement outside controlled conditions. The wasteland was nothing like the battlefields she had been thrown into. The heat was not the suffocating kind of combat zones but instead a slow, creeping warmth that clung to her skin. It was strange.
They found shelter beneath the remains of what must have once been a transport vehicle, its metal frame now half-buried in the ground. Caleb sat first, leaning back against the cool metal, and after a moment's hesitation, A-01 followed, settling beside him. Silence stretched between them, unspoken words hovering in the air.
"Do you like it?" Caleb's voice cut through the stillness.
She turned her head slightly to look at him. "Like what?"
"Being outside." He lifted a hand, gesturing to the vast expanse around them. "The sky, the wind, the way everything feels different from the lab."
She was silent for a moment, considering. "I don't know," she admitted. "It's... different."
Caleb chuckled. "Yeah. It is. But it's better, isn't it?"
She didn't answer immediately. The laboratory had been cold, sterile, filled with silence that was never truly quiet. The battlefield had been chaos, destruction, endless cycles of combat. Here, in the middle of this wasteland, there was a different kind of silence. One that didn't press down on her. One that didn't feel like chains.
"It doesn't feel like a place I should be," she finally said. "But it doesn't feel like a place I should leave either."
Caleb tilted his head toward her, his expression thoughtful. "Then it's a place that belongs to you."
She blinked at him, uncertain how to respond to that.
After a long pause, Caleb shifted slightly. "You need a name."
A-01 frowned. "I have one."
"No," Caleb corrected, shaking his head. "A-01 isn't a name. It's what they gave you. I mean a real name. Like how you gave me mine."
She looked at him, processing his words. The name "Caleb" had come to her instinctively, a piece of something she didn't understand, yet it had felt right. A name that belonged to him, that should have always been his. And now, he wanted to give her the same.
She watched as he looked up at the sky, thinking. Then, after a moment, he turned to her with a small smile. "Mira."
She stared at him. "Mira?"
He nodded. "It sounds... like you."
The name settled into her mind like an unfamiliar puzzle piece, foreign yet strangely fitting. It was different from "A-01." It was something separate from the label she had been given.
"Mira," she repeated softly, testing the sound.
Caleb's smile widened. "Yeah."
She glanced down at her hands, flexing her fingers as if trying to grasp the weight of something intangible. Then, she looked at him and nodded. "Mira."
Caleb leaned back again, satisfied. "Now, we're even."
For the first time since their escape, she felt something shift within her. A tether, something grounding her in this moment, something real.
The moment, however, did not last.
A sharp sound in the distance made them both freeze. The faint hum of approaching aircraft. A-01—Mira—felt it before she could fully comprehend it. The change in the air, the weight of something pressing down on them.
Caleb was already on his feet. "They found us."
Mira followed instantly, her body moving before thought. The distant darkness flickered with movement—ground forces closing in fast. She scanned their surroundings, calculating. They had time. Not much, but enough.
Caleb grabbed her hand. "We can still make it. We just have to run."
They ran. Across the uneven terrain, through the sea of grass that barely concealed them. But the forces behind them were faster, more prepared. The air crackled with the sound of approaching weaponry, the hum of drones locking onto their position.
Mira moved instinctively, dodging, weaving, trying to keep up with Caleb. But their pursuers were relentless. A flash of energy burst past them, striking the ground inches from where they had been a second ago. The force sent them both stumbling forward.
She barely had time to react before Caleb was pulling her back up. "We keep moving," he said firmly, eyes sharp with determination.
She nodded. But even as they ran, she could feel it—the inevitability of what was coming. The fate she had seen in the vision before. No matter how fast they were, no matter how far they went, the past was catching up to them.
The moment she saw the next line of ground forces cutting off their escape route, she knew.
Caleb cursed under his breath, skidding to a halt beside her. "We can fight. We can—"
Mira's eyes flickered to him, something inside her aching at the desperation in his voice. He wasn't wrong. They could fight. But they were children against an unstoppable force.
Caleb took a step forward. "Mira, we—"
A sudden force slammed into them, knocking them apart. Mira hit the ground hard, the impact rattling through her modified body. Her vision blurred, static flickering in the corners of her mind. When she forced her eyes open, she saw them—armored figures surrounding them, weapons raised.
She tried to move, but an unseen force held her down. Her body refused to respond. The systems in her suit—shut down, overridden.
She turned her head, searching—Caleb.
He was on his knees, held in place by restraints she didn't recognize. His face was turned toward her, eyes wide, desperate. His voice reached her, but the words were lost in the chaos.
A sharp sensation burned through her circuits—then everything went black.