run, little girl.
run.
it was time to go.
she grabbed the heavy coat she'd bought days before. it was getting cold outside.
she did not know this place.
she buttoned the top half of the coat and looked frantically around the room. something had changed. something had switched tracks inside of her, a circuit had been completed. information was getting through.
can't stop the signal.
she grabbed at things that she would need, shoved them into deep and warm pockets. a pen. papers she had scrawled sundry codes and keys upon. money. anything that looked useful that she knew she could carry.
she had to go.
quick steps to the door. she drummed her fingers across numbers on the pad above the doorknob. the bolt shot back.
she paused and looked to her right, into the bathroom. her reflection stared back at her.
so broken. to pieces.
panic overtook her again and she flung the door open. it swung wide and contacted the wall, resulting in an unfortunately loud thud. she took off down the hallway.
the call button for the elevator depressed as she neared it. she waited for it, leaned against the cool metal of the door.
she heard a door down the hall unlock.
"hurry up," she whispered to the door, stroking it. "please hurry. please."
door opened. a pause.
"god damn--" ping. the door opened mid-swear and she fell inside, crying out in surprise. she scrambled to her feet and jammed the button for the ground floor. the door slid shut, and she began to move.
she sank to the floor again and huddled in a corner, waiting.
she couldn't take it any more. she hated where she was. she hated the way she was being treated. she wanted it gone. wanted him gone.
wanted him dead.
"can't go back," she whispered to herself. the numbers clicked down. "can't go back to that. won't. can't be with him, can't kill him. just run. just...run."
the panel settled onto the number one and she jumped to her feet, almost tripping on her coat. she took a deep breath.
the door opened.
she ran.
through the lobby, out the doors, onto the sidewalk. she ran away from the hotel as fast as she could. she fixed her eyes on the sky ahead. the buildings and platforms and scaffolds and structures of the spaceport loomed there. they meant freedom.
she looked over her shoulder. back the way she'd come. she fancied she saw him walking out of the doors.
eyes forward. run faster. get away.
she passed all manner of buildings and all sorts of people. several people found themselves shoved to the side by the girl in the black coat that tried to slice through crowds.
past the businesses whose doors filtered people in and out of the consumer's paradise; past the restaurants that proudly displayed signs in Old Mandarin, where the scents of Chinese cuisine wafted through the air; and past the apartment buildings that rose high into the air, packed together like a ghetto, their bare, cracked cement exterior glaring out at the shimmering world around them. she ran.
a million different thoughts were tossed about on the roiling sea of her mind.
where to go? is he following? will it work? what if? what then? what about?
she was scared.
she did not for how long she ran, or how she managed it. all she knew was that she made it. she came to a stop at the gates of the port. her breath came in heaving gulps, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath.
the guard posted at the gate eyed her. he said nothing. next to him stood a robot designed for brute force and little else.
she tried to regain her composure, to calm her breathing and her heart, to soothe the terror at the thought of not escaping, before she approached the guard.
she looked nervously at the robot. there had been no attempt to make it look humanoid in any manner - it was a hulking machine, as primal and as fearsome as a prehistoric animal. its parts largely exposed, although several areas were covered with plating to protect them from the elements. weapons of various kinds were attached to it. sparks popped off of various places whenever it moved, shifting around. circular eyes of a dark, dull blue followed her.
even in her rush and her fear, she was able to find it beautiful.
"can i help you?" finally the guard spoke.
she dug into her coat pocket and pulled out a paper she had taken the night prior from Zero. she passed it over. the sentry looked it over, taking in the information recorded there.
"your name?" he asked.
"Alexandra Stark."
he looked at the paper again, confused, but shrugged and waved her through.
"lockers are on the right."
she thanked him and stepped through the gate as it opened, and approached the lockers that contained bags for the logs and records of all ships that docked there, as well as flight plans and launch information.
she pulled another piece of paper out and searched for the right one. she keyed it open and took the bag.
she looked for signs to point her in the right direction. when she found the right one, she dashed off again.
the wind was bitter, and she shivered inside of her coat as she ran.
she wound through the port, taking elevators here, sprinting up flights of stairs there. she spotted the dock number, and on it, the craft that had brought her here.
now, it was going to take her away.
she slowed her pace and stopped for a moment, hugging the bag close to herself and staring out over the side of the catwalk, at all the buildings beneath her. she admired it.
in the distance, she could see the hotel. she wondered if he had realized she was gone yet.
her shoes clinked against the metal of the catwalk as she approached the entrance to the craft. she let it scan her finger, and the door slid open.
inside, it was warm. it made her smile, and she unbuttoned her coat before walking to the bridge.
up the short steps, and across the room, she threw her coat to the floor and dropped the bag. she settled into the pilot's chair.
she flipped a few switches and adjusted some sliders. she would take her time beginning the launch sequence - she was safe, now.
she shifted slightly in the seat and listened to the engine begin to power up. a faint hum at first, before the sound deepened and reverberated through the whole of the ship.
it was music to her ears.
she peered at things on one of the screens, proceeded through a mental checklist. more switches moved into different positions. she unlocked the controls from the position they had been set in, and leaned back, relaxing.
a pair of arms draped themselves over her shoulders from behind, crossing on her chest.
her blood ran cold.
he whispered in her ear, "So nice to see you."