I laid down on the bed on my back, my eyes staring up at the ceiling. Sapphire laid beside me and stared at me with her deep blue eyes. I wasn’t sure what was going on behind that blue abyss. She was looking at me so intently that it started to make me wonder if I had anything on my face or perhaps I was bleeding out quite profusely and couldn’t tell due to adrenaline. 

“Something on your mind?” I asked, turning my head to face her. “You seem quite interested in my cheek.”

She started a bit and gave me a slow blink. 

“Oh. Sorry,” she said softly. “I was just looking. I haven’t been this close to your face before.”

I raised a brow. I’m fairly certain there were other times. A particular scene of her leaning over my shoulder to look as I tinkered with something particularly dangerous came to my mind. 

“Is that so?” I said. “And has your curiosity been sated?”

“Sated?”

“Are you happy with what you’ve seen?”

“Yes,” she said with a smile. “I think you’re pretty.”

I let out a small laugh. “Thank you. Now go to bed.”

“Okay.”

I closed my eyes and began to count my breaths, taking them slowly as I calmed my mind. I could still feel Sapphire’s gaze glued on to me, and try as I might to ignore it, it ended up cracking an eye open to stare back.

“What?” I asked. 

“Fae.”

“Yes?” I replied.

“Your name is pretty too,” she said.

“That, I hear not that infrequently. Your name is quite nice as well.”

“Oh, thank you,” Sapphire whispered with a cute little blush. “Um, I was wondering. Do you have a second name?”

“Second name?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I saw that people had two names when we were at that place. The Archive?”

“Ah, you mean last name. I do. Most people do.”

“I don’t.”

“I’m sure you do,” I said. “You just can’t remember it right now. Once we figure out all of this, you’ll find out. Don’t worry about it too much. Besides, a last name isn’t really anything important. It just tells people what family you’re from. Nowadays, that doesn’t matter. Of course, unless you’re from a few select families, but I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“What’s your last name?” 

“Mine?” I pursed my lips, thinking. “It’s also nothing important. Whatever meaning it held has long disappeared. Just like how you are Sapphire, I’m only Fae.”

“You have one though, right?”

“I do. Anyway, get some sleep,” I said, a little exasperated. 

“Okay,” she replied.

I shut my eyes once more and a few minutes later, I opened them once more. Sapphire was still looking at me, wide awake. This time, though, when I looked into her eyes, there wasn’t curiosity within them but rather a hint of worry and fear. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked. 

“What’s going to happen when they come here?” she said, her voice small. “The police. What are they going to do?”

“Nothing, if all goes right,” I replied. “Just do as I say and everything will be fine.”

“But what about you?”

“Me? I’ll be alright. I’ll probably distract them for a few moments to give you some time to get further away before meeting up with you again.  It won’t be a problem.”

“Okay,” Sapphire said, finally closing her eyes. That question seemed to be the one she truly wanted to ask. 

“Have a good rest,” I said in return, settling myself in for the night. 

It was quiet at last with Sapphire’s worries quelled and her curiosity sated for the meantime. I shut my eyes one more time, relaxing as I settled in for the night to get whatever sleep remained. But before sleep could claim me, I heard Sapphire whisper one last thing. 

“Please don’t leave me.”

It came out so faint that it probably wasn’t meant to be heard. My eyelids squeezed together tighter as I sighed. Somehow, I still underestimate how childlike Sapphire was. No matter what you say, that fear will always reside under the surface, eating away. I’ve seen it in the eyes of so many children out here in the OD. Most people lie to them, feeding them a false reality in the hopes of alleviating their stress. I could never do that. Living in ignorance in a place like this only opened them up to more pain. But that doesn’t mean leaving them alone.

So I made a promise to myself. A stupid, shortsighted, boneheaded promise that I would never hesitate to make again. 

I promise. I’ll never abandon you.

---

 

A sharp beep pierced the thin veil of sleep around me and I shot up out of bed. The sensors around my apartment had picked up something. I tapped the screen, the camera feed coming to life and showing me the approaching party of officers dressed in light blue. 

As I turned to the bed to wake Sapphire up, I found her alert and staring at me with wide eyes. I gave her a small smile to calm her.

“It’s time,” I said. “We have a minute or two. Get ready.”

She nodded, slid off the bed, and went to the desk to unlock the tunnel. While she did that, I kept an eye on the cameras on the off chance that the police had gotten smarter and sent a second unit to surround the building. 

“You have your knife?” I asked, my eyes flickering towards Sapphire as she slid under the bed. 

She looked up at me and nodded again. Reaching to her waist, she pulled out the little knife to show me. 

“Good.”

I grabbed the duffle bag beside the bed and slid over to her. It was a tad heavy, but should be easy for her to manage. I didn’t want it weighing me down when it came time for me to run. 

“Take this with you. I have things that are really important to me in there, okay?” I said. “Promise not to lose them?”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“Thank you,” I whispered with a small smile. “Now go. I’ll meet with you soon.”

Sapphire hesitated, unspoken words written in her eyes. A banging at the door quieted them before they had any chance of coming out. I gave her a sharp look and pointed at the door of the tunnel lying beside her. She seemed to get the message and slipped away into the darkness without a word. I put the cover back, making sure that it locked before getting up and taking a deep breath. 

Another set of bangs at the door rang out accompanied with a few shouts that were muffled by the metal. I glanced over at the monitors and focused on the camera directly facing the entrance. A group of five officers were waiting outside, weapons drawn as they always do. There were fewer people than I had expected. They didn’t even bring a guardbot.

I put on a mask, not bothering with a whole disguise. They had my ID and so outside of prosthetics, they would be able to track me by just looking for features. Hiding as much as they could see was the best option.

More banging. More shouts. I put the monitor away and approached the door, not yet opening it though. I peeped into the spyhole installed in the door and watched the officers as they cleared the door. If protocol hadn’t changed, that meant they were getting ready to smash into the place. 

I waited, keeping an eye on their every move. One of the officers was placing something on the door, the breacher most likely. I could hear the metal spikes digging themselves into the door. A standard breacher had a one minute fuse. Plenty of time for everyone to get out of the way, short enough to still be practical. 

I counted the time in my head, nodding with every second. As the fuse began to run short, I put my hand handle of the door, and three seconds before the fuse blew, I threw the door open. Behind it, I saw the eyes of the officers as they widened in bewilderment. Then, soon after, the door was blasted off its hinges and stuck itself into the door frame, the metal bending and warping. 

Satisfied, I turned around and escaped through an exit in the back I had made some time ago. It didn’t get much usage over the years, but I put it there for situations just like these. When I popped out the back, I could hear orders being barked by the officers. Most likely, they were spreading out to search for me. Normally, I would take this opportunity to slip away silently into the night and disappear without a trace, but I had a few commitments to fulfil. 

Wrapping back around, I saw two officers approaching me. Perfect. They spotted me around the same time and lifted their weapons while ordering me to surrender. Standard issued energy handgun. Not deadly. Most of the time. 

I charged them quite loudly with my feet stomping on the ground with all the grace of a malfunctioning cleaning bot. They began shooting at me, their energy blasts hitting my right arm as I blocked. The blast diffused upon impact. If a person has the money, it’s always worth it to buy some energy shields. 

A couple of shots hit me directly, passing through my clothes and sending shockwaves that traveled up my body. A regular person could survive a shot or two before collapsing to the ground. I could take a few more than that and a few more shots was all I needed. 

I closed the gap between me and the two officers and proceeded to uppercut one in the gut while grabbing the other officer’s gun. With a quick twist, I yanked the gun from the officer’s hand and squeezed the trigger to deliver a quick blast to the chest and another for good measure. Then I pivoted and smashed the butt of the gun into the head of the officer I punched. 

That was good enough. I left the two and began running away. From behind, I could hear one of the officer’s shouting into his communicator. Soon after that, a group of heavy footsteps came to begin chasing me. 

I led them through the streets and alleyways, making enough noise to give them a clue of my direction. They followed like how a cat chases a laser. I couldn’t keep this up forever though; backup would most likely be on the way. 

Running through a mental map of the district, I made a few turns until I reached an abandoned warehouse. It used to be the storage site for some company ten years ago but got shut down due to safety violations. Shocking, but again, that was ten years ago. Standards have, let’s say, gone down from then. Significantly. Now, after a few years of being appropriated by addicts before getting abandoned once more when a fire killed a good number of them, the place is dark and empty save for a few shattered windows too high up for anyone to reach.

I went right in, swinging the door just a bit too hard so that it swung back and forth on its rusted hinges. Machinery was littered about inside with metal scraps littering the floor waiting to stab the foot of unobservant intruders. I tiptoed about and hid behind some of the machinery, peering out at the door. In my right hand, I gripped the energy handgun I liberated from the officer and switched the settings with a flick of my thumb. 

The entrance of the warehouse opened with a creak and a group of officers crept their way in, weapons drawn. Seven officers now which meant there were likely more outside. Not ideal, but I expected that. 

Flashlights turned on and the officers began sweeping the warehouse. They fanned out, their lights going left to right as their boots crunched against broken glass and metal. Two of them would reach my position in twenty seconds given the rate they’re moving. I controlled my breath, slowing it and my heart to focus. I would only get one shot at this.

Switching the gun to my left, I crouched, my body winding up, ready to pounce. Then, when one of the officers stepped within a foot of me, I lashed out. My metal hand snaked forward to ram my fingers into their throat, cutting off any potential sound. Then I grabbed their head and clamped down on their throat with my arm, before delivering a quick burst of energy to the head with the handgun. The officer slumped over immediately, out cold. I grabbed their weapon before it hit the ground. 

Pivoting towards the other officers nearby, I took aim. The sound of a body falling over caught the attention of two of them. As they turned, I shined the light in their faces and squeezed out two shots, one from each gun. One of the shots hit an officer in the hand while the other nailed them in the chest. They dropped their weapon as I turned to the other officer and fired at them before they could finish aiming.

With the setting of the guns turned up to max, one solid shot would be enough to stun any of the officers it hits. Normally, it would be enough to cause quite a bit of harm, but their body armor should prevent that. Now, four were left within the warehouse.

I ducked down and grabbed one of the limp bodies off the ground. Holding it up like a shield, I aimed my gun behind me and fired three shots in rapid succession. Two landed squarely on the officer’s hand and chest. The third grazed the side of their head. I let out a small tsk. Didn’t know I had rusted that much. 

Another shot and this time it landed true. I moved my attention to the other side of the warehouse now that my side was clear. The three officers left were waving their weapons, shouting now. They seemed unwilling to accidentally shoot their comrade and were electing to try and get around me. Good for them.

Three shots and three hits later, I had them disarmed. It was a simple matter of spinning around and shooting at the officer that would be behind me. Three more shots and now the warehouse was cleared. I’m not certain how long the entire sequence took, but given how more officers weren’t rushing in just yet, it couldn’t have taken more than a minute. 

With that thought, I began searching for the quickest way out. There was only one door to the entire warehouse and that was being watched by who knows how many officers. However, windows were a thing and being roughly four meters off the ground wasn’t that much of a deterrent. 

I backed up a bit before sprinting towards one of the walls. Machinery was piled up and pushed to the side, giving me precarious leverage to lift myself. Those weren’t there by chance. Even drug addicts weren’t dumb enough to not have a second way out of a deathtrap like this. With two leaps, I grabbed hold of the broken window, my metal hand breaking any glass that was in the way, and pulled myself through. I took care not to tear my clothes or scratch myself. They’ll eventually dig up all my information, but I would rather that be later rather than sooner. 

I could hear the officers moving now: their shouts as they called to their unresponsive comrades and their boots as they stomped into the warehouse. It would be unwise for me to hang around for much longer, so I let go of the window and dropped down the four meters to the ground before taking off. For now, the officers were out of the picture. I still had to worry about surveillance, but that was an easier matter. 

I reached a second entry point to the tunnel underneath my apartment a few odd minutes later after going through a maze of twists and turns. The weapons I had commandeered from two of the officers were still with me, albeit destroyed so that their tracking function would be disabled. I still kept them though since my prints were on them. Disposing of them would be a simple enough task once I was safe. 

Pushing a trash can aside, I lifted a section of the ground and slipped inside. Once I closed the entrance, the cramped tunnel was completely dark. No lights from any source meant even my eyes would be blind. It didn’t matter. There was only one direction. 

The tunnel connected to the one that started at my apartment. The main tunnel had minimal light, barely enough for someone with particularly keen eyes to make out the outline of the walls. Sapphire was long gone which was good. A part of me worried that she would be naive enough to stay and wait for me. 

At the end of the tunnel was a room. I could see it from quite a distance since it was the only place that was adequately lit up. Inside it, I could spy a figure shuffling about. As I got closer, I saw those blue eyes and smiled a bit, my pace picking up as I began running.

“Good job,” I said to Sapphire as I entered the room. “We’re safe for now. I see you have my bag.”

“What are we doing now?” she asked, handing the duffle bag to me. 

“I’m going to introduce you to an acquaintance that can help us figure out where you’re from,” I said. “There isn’t much else we can do about the police, so might as well continue where we left off.”

“Where’s your friend?”

“Nearby. This isn’t the end path. Just the tunnel. Come on.”

I gestured for her to follow and placed my hand on the wall. After a second, a camouflage door opened up and I pushed a hesitant Sapphire through. This tunnel was much like the one before, only better lit. It wasn’t a long one though, as we reached our destination within a few minutes of walking. A ladder greeted us.

I climbed up and pushed the trapdoor above open. Before I could open it all the way, someone on the other side pulled it open. I looked up, squinting as light flooded in from the room above. A man looked down, his gray hair a bit unkempt. He smiled with pearly white teeth. 

“Why hello there, Fae,” he said warmly. 

“Hello, Damien,” I replied. “Mind if I come up? I have a friend with me.”

“I don’t mind at all. As long as you’re going to explain why you’re here at this ungodly hour.”

“Of course,” I laughed. 

After getting out, I helped pull Sapphire up and placed my duffle on the ground. Damien shut the trapdoor and went to his work desk to sit. The room was immaculate as usual, with its white walls and floors polished to a shine and not a speck of dust to be seen. Machinery was neatly placed in certain areas in various groups. He leaned back in his large swivel chair and crossed his legs as he looked at me.

“What’s your name, if I may ask,” he said, directing his attention to Sapphire who seemed a bit captivated by the blinding surroundings. 

She looked at me, asking for permission. I nodded.

“I’m Sapphire,” she said in a quiet voice. 

Damien looked at her expectedly for a few uncomfortable seconds before realizing that no last name was going to follow.

“A beautiful name,” he smiled. “I am Dr. Damien Kendrick. Not the medical kind, of course, but rather a PhD in mechanical engineering. And as a person of the sciences, I feel it is my duty to get to the bottom of everything. So, Fae.”

“Yeah?” I said.

“What happened?”