The two girls ran down a hallway. They didn’t move as quickly as None had hoped. This robot body of hers wasn’t as tall nor as geared for combat as the virtual body she used in combat training. Wanda moved quickly, but she wobbled with poor balance as she ran, having never had the room to actually sprint before this very minute. Together, they ran through a maze of offices with no particular destination.

Wanda stumbled once but recovered quickly. They heard voices somewhere behind them. Several voices and the thuds of combat boots on the floor. The girls ran harder.

They came to the end of their run in a corner office with huge windows that looked out onto a glittering city at night. They couldn’t see the street so far below them. None punched the window and then pressed her palm against it. “I cannot break this glass. We’re trapped.”

The voices grew closer, and beams of light danced in the hall.

Wanda dove for the office desk. She grabbed a plastic rectangle on the desk surface, knocking aside papers and other gadgets in the process. She held a remote control with only one button. She pressed it. One of the windows began sliding open. “Human nature,” Wanda said, “People hate not being able to open their windows.”

None nodded. She said, “Unsafe, stupid, and wasteful. Yeah, I get it.”

A squad of corporate soldiers filed into the room. Their faces were hidden behind helmets. They carried submachine guns with flashlights attached. The lights were entirely redundant, being that the helmets allowed the soldiers to see perfectly in the low light, but the lights were also intended to frighten. They were working.

Wanda grunted and threw the remote control. The soldiers did not even flinch. Wanda was unsure if they were humans under those helmets, piloted drones, A.I.-minded robots, or something else.

None grabbed Wanda by her waist and carried her to the open window. “Human nature,” said None. She leaped out the building. The two young women hugged each other as they fell through night, fell through their fears.