"Clara, it's like this."

Xerses gave me space to stand and grab my gun, but he stood, too. When I staggered back, he moved forward, just as the light returned overhead. His restraints were gone, with no sign of struggle...

Who let him out?

"Updates happen all the time. Your laptop gets one, connects, and that little bar starts to move. Slow and steady at first, until its finished, right?"

I turned left down another hall, still walking backwards, while Xerses moved forward. I told myself, no sudden movements. Xerses wasn't himself—hell, I couldn't tell if Verba was there, either. But I couldn't take the chance; I had no idea what he'd do to me in this state of mind.

"Are you listening to me?" He took three quick steps forward and I nearly tumbled. My nails dug into the lines of the wall for support.

"I am," I told him, trying to hide the quiver in my voice, "get to the point."

He leaned back and smirked as he observed me. His blue, abnormal eyes danced up and down as I stared at him, still shifting backwards down the hall. The bulbs flickered on as we walked beneath them, and my heart beat at the same rhythm of their flashing lights.

"Point is, nothing changes on your laptop until the download is complete. It's got to reboot, restart, and then everything installs. If it shuts down, or gets interrupted somehow, nothing happens. It's back at zero. You—" he pointed at me, "—you were in that process. Those Peace scientists were installing data in that busted receptor of yours, and—poof—Bessel ripped you out of it. Interrupted all of it."

My heart sunk as I thought back to my gun. I couldn't wield it. Shooting it hurt my arms, burned my hands. All that Roger taught me, instructed me to do, was gone? I remembered it, but my body—that muscle memory I should have carried back into reality—didn't have it? I groaned as I shifted back faster.

"You're back at zero, Clara. Just regular, normal, boring Clara. Am I right?"

Boring. How many times had I told him I thought I was boring when we were growing up? He taught me computers so I'd feel interesting; he hung out with me so I wouldn't feel alone. And yet, this was the moment he decided to use it and tease me with it. My weakness.

Just like a wolf to a prey.

Despite what I'd thought about myself then, I was a different person now. Someone who wouldn't give up or back down; who wouldn't stop trying. That's why I gripped my gun and pointed at him again, both eyes open.

"Really, Clara?" Xerses laughed. "This again?"

In my ear, Roger ordered me to shoot, but I couldn't just shoot him. Regardless of his state of mind he was still my friend, the only family I had. If I shot him and he died, I'd never forgive myself.

"Xerses... please," I begged, staring into his eyes.

"Please?" He chuckled and shook his head. "Now you want to talk. What about earlier? You couldn't talk to me then..."

He'd been listening in the room when I tried to tell him about Roger and me; Verba let him hear me. And yet, I hadn't the courage to really say what I needed to say. There wasn't any courage then, nor now. I was scared, guilty, and tears welled up in my eyes.

"Disarm him!" Roger ordered, but his voice broke out with static. "Shoot him in the leg!"

I couldn't... I couldn't shoot him anywhere. Because I'd miss. I increased the gap between us instead. "X... what do you want?" I whimpered. "What are you doing down here?"

"Funny you ask," he said, rubbing his chin, "like you, I'm doing as I'm told. You know, saving lives and all that."

Again, I stepped out into the part of the halls that met in a cross. To my left, I heard Roger and Matthews shouting at each other; at the right, Erica barked at other people. Yet, I stood in the center of the three, their voices so far off. How long was it until someone reached me?

Xerses clapped one hand over his heart. "In the beginning, I thought about freeing you, you know, from him." He pointed up at the ceiling. "But it looks like that's a lost cause, so I thought, well, who was the one person with me the entire time?"

My brows pressed together. "X..."

Xerses leaned in close, grinning wide. "Verba, that's who. And guess what she told me?"

Down the hall, I heard shoes skid as they raced to get to me. But I couldn't look, because I knew they weren't that close yet. "That... that I was sorry."

"Oh, fuck no!" He rolled his eyes. "She told me the truth. You know, how you were able to free Roger and give him an actual body, so I should be able to do the same thing. Right?"

"We're working on that," I told him as I turned my back towards the voices and headed backwards in their direction. "Can't you all just wait a little more?"

"You all." Xerses took in a long, deep breath. "Do you hear yourself? Do you know how long they've waited? Sitting here—" he pointed at the computers that chirped along the walls, "—brains frozen, bodies fucking buried years ago. They're all waiting for that promise, Clara."

"We're doing that!" I shouted. "The machine works! Roger has a body! Erica can fix it and make one for everyone! Just tell Verba—"

"No." Xerses stopped his steps, tightening his fists at his side. "We can. We can do it today, now; they can live through us."

I shook my head. "What the hell, X? If that happens, we die. Don't you get that?"

He pressed his lips up to his nose, sniffed, almost as though he considered what I said, but shook his head after. "No, I don't," he said. "Because you can't see that I've died already."

I blinked away tears.

"See, I spent a long time trying to make you all right, but the second some prince charming, ex-soldier comes waltzing in, I'm back in the friend zone. Hurts a bit, babe—or, wait, can I still call you that?"

"Stop," I whispered, shaking my head, "this is more than just us..."

"There is no us." He hissed the word. "There's no you, no me, but them! They need us!"

I hiccupped on my cry as I heard Roger's voice closer than before. Turning my head, I stared down the hall and saw the tips of his shoes, then his hands. He stumbled forward and Matthews quickly followed.

"You don't know anything about sacrifice."

Xerses' hand latched around my arm as he pulled me against his chest. I dropped my gun at our feet, and it fired, missing us both.

"I spent a lot of time talking to Verba while I slept. When I tell you, Zara has every right to be this way, I mean it. Imagine just being a number in a file, saved in a computer, and not a thought in anyone's mind. She freed them. She thought about them."

I grunted and tugged at his grip, but he wouldn't let go. "No, she only thought of them when she became one of them."

The smile on Xerses' face made me sick. He pulled me up against him, his mouth too close to mine. "Sometimes, that's all it takes. And like I said, you don't know that. You've been yourself this whole time. You don't know their pain."

My heart stopped as feet skidded behind us. Xerses didn't look up. His eyes were glued to mine, and mine to his.

A part of me felt like what he said was right. I wouldn't understand being a Code if I'd never been one. I hadn't slept or gone offline—I was awake, all alone, with Roger.

"Clara!" Roger slowed his run when he reached the middle of the hall. His gun was pointed straight in front of him. Behind him, Matthews' did the same. As the two slowly approached, Xerses tightened his grip. Far too hard.

"Roger." I winced through the pain.

I could barely see Roger's face over his gun. "Clara! Move!"

But... I couldn't.

"Look at him." Xerses pulled me even closer, his mouth brushing the soft spot of my ear. Instead of hot breath, his was cold. "He's been with you for so long, he's forgotten, too. I guess you just have an effect on people, huh? Should I say this is all your fault?"

No—no, it wasn't my fault. Roger told me he'd known from the beginning what the Codes wanted. They wanted lives, freedom; they wanted their promise to be kept and true. Nowhere in their pleas had they asked for a war. They'd already fought one, why would they want another? That night of the installation, he'd heard them loud and clear, and he didn't ignore them just because he picked me first; he needed me, too.

"X!" Roger's voice made Xerses lift just his eyes. "What are you doing down here, man? Why aren't you up in your room?"

"Done being held back. A captive. You know what that's like, right?" Xerses top lip twisted up before he grinned.

I caught the look on both of their faces as they drew closer. Matthews was more concerned, confused, and Roger was angry, betrayed. He'd done everything for Xerses; he saved him, kept him alive. And yet, here he was... on the wrong side of this war.

"Sorry, X, I wasn't a prisoner. Don't know what Zara made you all believe but—"

"No." Xerses stood straight up and spun me around, so my back was against his chest. His forearm pinned my neck. I gasped for air. But he didn't care. "Zara didn't tell me, she showed me. Do you know what it's like being in a white room that doesn't end? No bottom or top? Its Hell."

That room... that room was Roger's room for so long.

Roger sucked his teeth. "Actually, I do," he said, his fingers slowly fanning over the gun's trigger, "but it wasn't Hell. For me, it was home."

"Home?" Xerses pulled his arm back, tightening his hold on my neck. I whimpered and closed my eyes, digging my nails in his skin. "Isn't your home back in Atlanta?" he asked. "Isn't that where you grew up?"

I heard Roger tense, the sound echoing in my ear. "Atlanta's gone, X."

"We can bring it back!"

"No!"

I opened my eyes in time as Roger shouted and shifted forward. Matthews' hadn't moved from his spot.

"You can't bring back cities, X. Now, tell me, why are you here? If it's to blow up the mainframe like she ordered, I get it, but please, let her go."

Xerses laughed as I struggled to suck in a breath. "Oh, I've got your permission?"

"No." Roger lifted his gun, the barrel aimed right at Xerses head. My brain screamed 'Don't!' but who was I kidding? Xerses was lost, warped by Zara's anger, just like everyone else.

"Then, what is it? Hm? Afraid I'll kill your girlfriend?"

A single tear fell from my eye as I wheezed in a slow breath. Dots filled the corners of my vision. How long did I have before his grip would put me to sleep? Seconds... less than that? I hiccupped and shifted my feet. "X," I breathed.

"Let her go, X!" Matthew warned.

"Nah." Xerses shook his head, squeezed his arm tight enough to shock me, but let me go. My hands flew out in front of me as I dropped to my knees. My lungs begged for the massive breath I took in.

"See, Roger, you're forgetting something..." From his pocket, Xerses pulled out a device, like a remote. It was small, rectangular; there were four buttons along its side. On its front, right in the center, was a tiny bulb. And it flashed red. "You may have swooped in, made her laugh and shit, but I—" he slapped that controller against his chest, "—I was there first. So, I can't kill her. Love her too much."

"Stop!" Roger rushed forward just as Xerses pressed each of the buttons simultaneously. Each time the button disappeared into the remote, a loud bang followed. It wasn't until he pressed the last one that I knew what it was.

Because the bang hit my ears and fear covered his face.

"No!" Smoke burst from the side wall beside me. The floor rumbled beneath my hands. I felt Roger reach for me, grab me and pull me back, but as he did, the ceiling gave way. Slabs of concrete fell from the cracks brought on by the explosion, and when we fell to the floor, I tried to open my eyes.

I saw nothing but black.