She stopped struggling.
The red glow in her eyes dimmed, turning to a confused violet.
"Caelum?"
It was her voice. Small. Scared.
"Yeah," I cried, tears mixing with the blood on my face. "I'm here."
"It hurts," she whispered. "The wires... inside my head. It hurts."
"I know," I soothed her. "I'm going to take them out."
Suddenly, the facility shuddered. A siren began to wail.
[CRITICAL ERROR. CPU DISCONNECTED. SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED.]
"We have to go!" Vesper shouted, running over. "The reactor is going critical! We have three minutes!"
I tried to stand up, but my legs gave out. The blood loss was too much. The world was spinning.
"Caelum!" Lyra grabbed me. She looked at the spear in my shoulder. Her eyes widened with horror. "You... you're dying."
"Not yet," I grinned weakly. "Vesper, get her out of here."
"No!" Lyra screamed. She grabbed my metal arm. "I'm not leaving you again! I remember... I remember you died! In the fire! I saw you die!"
She was having a panic attack, memories of Life #1 flooding back.
"I didn't die," I lied. "I just took the long way around."
Vesper grabbed my other side.
"Shut up and walk, soldier," Vesper commanded, her voice fierce. "Nobody dies today. That was your rule, right?"
The three of us—a cripple, a scientist, and a broken weapon—hobbled toward the exit.
The facility was crumbling. Debris fell from the ceiling.
"Run!" I yelled.
We burst out of the blast doors just as the entrance tunnel collapsed behind us. A massive cloud of dust exploded outward, knocking us flat into the ash.
We lay there for a moment, coughing.
I looked up. The sky was still gray. The radioactive wind was still blowing. But Lyra was there, lying next to me, holding my hand.
She was real.
"We did it," I whispered.
Then, the shadows fell over us.
Searchlights. Dozens of them. Cutting through the fog.
"FREEZE! HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"
Federation Dropships. Six of them. They were hovering directly above us.
Soldiers in heavy power armor rappelled down, surrounding us. Their guns were aimed at our heads.
"Medical team!" a voice shouted. "Secure the target!"
Men in white bio-suits rushed forward. They didn't come for me. They went for Lyra.
"No!" I tried to reach for her, but a boot slammed into my chest.
"Stay down, traitor!"