I start walking in that direction. Buildings E, F, and G are connected to each other, so for the first few sections, all we have to do is help each other go up a couple of stories. Once we get to building H, he stops.

“Are you absolutely sure we have to?” I ignore him. I enjoy being high up. The ability to be untraceable and out of reach of guards is almost soothing. I never understood why. Everyone else hates heights. I guess I should just consider myself lucky. I don't want to remember whatever it is that makes me want to be as far as possible from guards.

Sailor hates heights, just like everyone else. He can handle being on balance beams in training, and he’s exceptional at virtually everything. However, he can't use many of his skills outside of the training center. We’re meant to be in any place at any time, and one of the places we have to be while on the job is outside in high areas.

“Yes. I'm absolutely sure that we have to.” I search around for something that could help us to cross. Neither of us would be able to make the jump from G to H. Looking down, I spot a few beams. Usually, a glass roof slides out if there’s rain, but right now there are only long poles to balance on and cross. Without saying anything, I lower myself so I’m hanging from the edge.

Along with the beams and buildings, there are metal decorations. If they weren't decorated, they'd look like big concrete blocks. The facility could use some color too, but I won't complain. I'm just lucky to have somewhere to live. To the outside world, it might seem like it’s a nice place to stay. It’s mediocre at best, though.

I drop onto one of them and start making my way down them to reach the beams. Looking up, I see Sailor staring down at me. I wave him down, and he reluctantly starts to scale down with me. When he reaches the place I’m at, I touch his shoulder.

“It’s just like training. Don’t look down.”

“Can you at least tell me how high this is?”

“No. If you're scared, you're more likely to fall. Just be confident in yourself." I have to ignore his fear and press on. The metal creaks below me, but I keep my eyes straight ahead. Behind me, I can hear him following slowly. I’m twice as fast as he is. It’s because I don’t ever hesitate. If you're moving fast and end up tripping, there's less space between you and whatever will be able to catch you.

When I reach the end, I make a gesture for him to look at me instead of his feet. He takes a deep breath and keeps moving. Sailor moves a little faster with each step. Just as he gets to the end, I notice something out of the corner of my eye. Guards patrolling the area. I grab his hand and pull him against the wall. They look in our direction but continue on when they don't see anything.

Once they're gone, he helps me get up to the next roof. From the look of it, the rest of the buildings seem to be close enough together for jumping across. As long as Sailor can focus, we'll be fine. When we get to where we need to be, I look around for a way to go. I notice a wall to our right that juts out of the building in a curve. The only way I can think of to get down is to run along it.

“I know what we have to do.” He narrows his eyes at me. If we're careful, it could work.

"No. I'd rather jump off and die."

It is his only choice unless he wants me to go straight back home. I'm not sure if that's even an option at this point. Without a warning, I back up and run to hit it diagonally. No one tells you that when you run across a wall, you feel like you’re falling. It doesn't matter who you are. It's terrifying, but everything in this world is. Your only choice is whether or not you let fear get in your way.

When I get to the bottom, it’s difficult for me to slow down, and almost run into the windows. It takes a minute for me to shake off the feeling of dizziness, but once I do, I notice Sailor reach the ground.

“I hate you.” He mutters.

“Shut up. You’re fine.” He walks away from me and into the grass where there are shadows to keep us concealed from any cameras. Our clothing can only protect us so much when it comes to the cameras. There’s no way to scan the tattoos on our wrists because they are covered up, and they can't see our faces well. However, we do have to avoid looking anywhere but down. Eye scanners are everywhere. No alarms have sounded though so we can tell that we have yet to be spotted.

When we get to the gate, I can hear the buzzing sound from the electricity produced by the fence. I never knew that they changed it. I walk along the edge of the property often, but recently they've kept us away. There was a girl who escaped a few months ago. She was caught in a matter of minutes. Killing her in front of everyone wasn't enough for the government, I guess. They must have put more security than this.

"How are we getting past this?"

“Mr. Tech Savvy gave me something because he wanted you to have a good time.” I know how Ty is. It might be true, but Sailor probably guilt tripped him. Giving us anything to turn off the gate would be a death sentence if it leads back to him.

Sailor pulls a rectangular object that has a screen on it. I think it's what they call a phone. I get closer and look at what he does with it. He types in a few numbers and a black screen with bright green letters pops up. I watch as rows of letters and numbers appear suddenly.

“How are you doing that?”

“I’m not. He gave me this and connected another one to it. He’s in his dorm typing all of this. I don't really get how it's connected to the gate, but I'm just gonna take his word for it.”

“If Ty is so good at this, why isn’t he coming?”

“C'mon. We’re not dumb enough to travel with more people than necessary. He’d rather be in his room doing this kind of stuff. Evita is like that too.” Evita and Ty. A long time ago, before I lost my memories, I was with them. We were lost in this city. Evita was just a baby back then, but Ty and I weren’t. We were watching her. I don’t know how, but I was living on the streets with them. I had to have come to Ayhiri with everyone else, but somehow I didn't end up in the facility at first. If there's at least one thing I know for sure, it's that they saved me.

I went into cardiac arrest one day, and Ty was forced to get help. We didn’t want to be in this facility. It meant freedom would be stripped from us. That’s what happens to orphans. The government finds out your parents are gone, and they take you away and train you to be a soldier. It's cruel. Even when you don't live here anymore, there's a tight leash on you.

In the hospital they had to remove a tumor from my brain. A result from that surgery was memory loss and a scar in the shape of a question mark on the side of my head. Ty wouldn’t be able to tell me who we were before we were taken. His memories disappeared too. They refused to tell us why his were gone, though. I remember seeing him with the same scar. He lost almost more than I did. He couldn't function without the help of others. He was there months after I left. Eventually everything came back to him... except his memories. I don't really want my memories back, but I know he wants his.

I never found something that made me as happy as technology makes them. It's because I don't strive to be anything. Life itself is meaningless. I only focus on the present and not my future. There's nothing there but a blind soldier who follows the orders of the government. Perhaps my feelings are because the surgery did more than save my life. They said that my mental health could go down the drain. I could believe it. The only thing I found that I feel I genuinely enjoy is running. I hate doing it on command, but when I'm given the freedom in training to do as a please, I'm happy.

When the buzzing stops, Sailor grabs my arm and pulls me to the fence. Under his breath, he starts counting down from ten. He uses his hands to help me reach the top. Just as he gets over the railing, the gates come back to life with a spark.

“That was—”

“Close.” I mutter. He laughs under his breath.

“We have to get moving before they come to look at the fence. Ty only said they'd turn off for 'ten' and didn't really clarify what that meant. So, alarms will go off any second now.” Right on cue, the alarm system goes off. There are a series of long high and low-pitched sirens. Sailor and I glance at each other and take off down a dirt path nearby.

Some guards come out with flashlights, and we quickly dash into the woods and hide inside some bushes right behind a large pine tree. Both of us are holding our breath while we wait for them to leave. I make sure to keep my hair tucked back because of how bright it is. We’re camouflaged perfectly in our dark uniforms otherwise. Even when a flashlight shines on our bush, we keep our heads down and remain ignored.

“I think it was nothing, sir!” A voice calls out. “It could have been an animal hitting the gate and taking out a section for a few seconds!”

“Did our cameras catch anything?” There’s another voice close to us. It’s still loud, but the man doesn’t need to yell. There’s footsteps crushing all the leaves that have fallen.

“No, they were taken out by someone. We were about to check the cameras over there when the alarm went off.” I take a peek at the three faceless men speaking to each other. I see the one who seems to be the captain purse his lips.

“I want the footage to be reviewed by everyone in the control room. I also want a roll call for all staff and trainees.” He pushes past one of them and heads back toward the facility. “I can’t believe you idiots didn’t notice cameras were out until now.” One scrambles to follow, but the last man doesn’t move from his spot. I watch in fear as he slowly turns his focus to our bush.