GREEN [complete]

CHAPTER 39: Mars

Jones sprawled on the floor, neon green oozing from her gaping mouth. The glow beneath her skin faded as he watched, the warmth of her body seeping into their surroundings. Sekam's pulse drummed against his cheek; steady. She felt at peace, for the first time since he'd met her—that deep pain that he'd mistaken for anger had settled and each breath she took came easier than the last.

Dylan clambered through the space where the glass used to be, landing on their hands and knees with a sharp yelp. Mars turned away from Jones, pushing down the serrated guilt that tore up his insides. Sekam would have killed her, he knew, but she didn't. He did.

"You're okay." Dylan's eyes were still read and puffy with tears, but they wore the biggest smile he'd seen on them. Careless to the glass on the floor, they sprinted across the room to throw their arm around him. "You're okay."

Mars wasn't so sure. Something stirred inside of him, something that didn't belong to him. It rushed through his veins and reached its icy fingers into the base of his skull. But he couldn't tell them that, and he couldn't remind them of his broken code or the multiple bullet wounds, so, for the first time in as long as he could remember, he lied. "I'm okay."

"Find what you need now," Sekam told them, "we're not coming back here."

Dylan led the way, and Sekam and Mars followed. Even on four legs, she towered over Dylan. She walked with easy confidence, her bright yellow eyes surveying their surroundings. The security personnel—mongrels and humans of like—that saw her turned right back around, fleeing as fast as their legs could carry them.

Dylan carried a tablet under one arm and a backpack slung over one shoulder. They'd wiped or stolen all the files they had on Mars, from his base level genetic makeup to the link to the tracker in his neck, and when they left the facility together, he felt free. Not artificial freedom, not freedom that he would have to fight for, but true freedom.

The people they passed on their way through the city had much the same reaction as the keepers and mongrels within ORCTech: they put as much distance between them and Sekam as fast as they possibly could.

Moving wasn't easy for him, but with every second that passed, he felt more alive. He wanted to believe what he'd told Dylan; that he was okay. And, for the time, he let himself. The pain faded into a dull thrum in the back of his mind, and the icy feeling in his skull warmed until it felt more like fire than ice. Its heat spread through him, giving him new energy. New life. It didn't feel like the green, but it didn't feel like code either. It was something completely different.

They were nearing the edge of the city when the wall came down. It started slow, like thunder rolling in. The sound resonated throughout the city, making the very sky tremble. Then, a crack shot up into the sky, and white light spilled through. Another pulse of thunder, and another crack. The sky fell. Chunks of metal and glass broke away from the containment wall, the images of the fall sky turning black as they spun through the air.

Sekam looked up, the scent of excitement spilling off her.

Chunks of concrete blasted away from the primary point of impact. The dome came crashing down around them, and cold mountain air swept through the city. A body broke through the cloud. The moose god climbed atop the pile of rubble, shaking his horns free of the metal and concrete. Bek perched on his back, clinging tight as he strode toward them.

As Mars looked into the sky, into the endless bright grey, the clouds broke.