The rain grew louder and stronger with each second we stood still, a brief silence while we exchanged eyes. I was dumbfounded, even taken aback hearing his words. He was sure of it— to accompany me despite my apparent weakness, what benefit does he get?

He wasn’t expecting anything out of me, was he? He better not make this my debt… not when I just got off my past one. 

I chuckle while the continuous downpour leaves us soaked, I shake my head, he was stubborn, and that much was true. 

“You’re… right.” I grit my teeth, tongue-tied to admit I wasn’t in my best form… “But why?”  

He brushes my question off with a sensible shrug, crossing his arms, and focuses his look on me. “Doesn’t matter but we must cooperate, that’s all I ask.” he sighs. 

I raised my gaze further— this had to be a trick— if something was too good to be true, it usually is… but his sincerity turned my head upside down. 

I furrow my brows while narrowing my eyes; squinting at the bright light of his helm while hesitating.   

“Until when? I can’t repay you anything— not money, or anything yet you’re doing this?” I asked again, but my question was directed moreso at myself than him this time. 

He turns with a tall stance, looking at the sky while he thinks, seemingly in search of an answer, had he not considered something as simple as that?

A sudden strong gust of wind blew through us, sending a couple of my skin hairs up, as he remained silently thinking.  

“Ah…” He mutters, rubbing the ridge of his helm while staring cautiously into the sky, looking for something, if that makes sense.  

He dismisses this by clearing his throat before returning to me. He towers barely over my head, though his stature was the broader between us two. 

“Until we find a settlement, and don’t consider this a favor, because, after that, you’re on your own, capiche?” He explains, landing a quite favorable offer on my hands, he did seem starry-eyed about finding settlements in this desolate land, but if his delusion is fit for my benefit then so be it. 

I feigned reluctance by handling my head with my eyes closed and shaking every so often to make it seem like I was deep in thought. “Touché, it’s a deal, you multi-linguist.”  

I open them to see Firewall staring into the emptiness of the pitch-grey sky which continued to berate us with rain. “Hello?” I ask.  

He snaps back to me, shaking his head off “We don’t have much time, I’ll gather my supplies and we’ll move out.” He retorts as the winds begin to howl, to shake me off balance. 

It was too much for me to ignore and stared to see what was behind that helm, with narrow eyes I tried and failed to pierce through the fog of the rainy morning.  

Then… 

BOOM 

Like a bullet, a rocket breaks through the barrier of fog, blasting off a portion of the rooftop staircase, violently shaking us, I stumble onto his shoulder, bewildered by the blast while a red-like smoke emerges in front of us. 

“Fuck, they’re here, Let’s move it!” He yells before yanking me by the arm, I flutter my eyes, taken aback by his sheer alarm. 

“Who’s here?” I stammered while we jogged to the exit “Not the time!” He utters while another rocket whizzes past us 

He leads the way by steering us away from the emanating red lights and our ghostly adversary. However, we’d hit a dead end after reaching the edge.  

“Damn it! We’re not winning this—” He utters while shaking my insides with his death grip. “What’s your name?” He extorts, causing me to chuckle while another missile strike shakes the building, almost knocking me off the building. 

Now that he asked, we haven’t exchanged names properly, have we? Not that something was stopping us. However, those thoughts soon fizzled as the urgent situation called for dire attention.  

“Malware, yours?” I reply, “Firewall.” he says. 

He tilted his head down, sighing deeply before completely clamping on my shoulders while we stood dangerously on the edge. 

“Okay Malware, brace yourself!” He utters, slowly lifting his head to meet my eyes, blinding me briefly with the light of his helm. I cover his emanating rays with a hand ahead of my face, as I grow oblivious to my surroundings “Wait— What!?” I yelled while my foot felt lighter than usual.

BOOM 

Another contact with the indoors sent the rest of the rooftop stairs to collapse, leaving us without a proper getaway. I instinctively froze up, as I encountered another near-death scenario, though this time he’d snap me back on the ground. 

His words fell on deaf ears as the wind picked up once more. However, it started to flow in all directions, coming from my foot first until it turned to pull my hair downwards. The rain seemingly slowed to a crawl too— moving as fast as we were— though, strangely, his clutch only tightened as time wore on— as brief as it may— as his arms wrapped around my abdomen, pulling us closer into this strange hug.   

“Wait, you’re being too touchy—” I mutter incompletely, mouth remaining agape, eyes fluttering—  I blink once, then again to make sure. 

Was I being deceived? The buildings were upside down— not just that, were they ascending or rapidly reaching their base? Being unable to sharpen my skin hair like razors as I tilt my head “up” to get my proper answer… 

My eyes started to twitch at the times I blinked, as we bullet toward the asphalt road without any way to soften the fall.        

“Wait… wait wait wait wait!” I yelled, though without the power to voice myself. But, this time it didn't end the same way, Firewall deliberately embraced me so that he could maneuver himself between me and the road and activated his protocol before we struck the surface.
“FIREWALL PROTOCOL: (TIER 1) LIGHT SCREENING” 

SLAM— CRASH

Having the better landing between us, I managed to get up first, while he fared the brunt of the fall.

“Ah,” I groaned, with a burdened palm on my face, with eyes little more than spinning. It just seems like I couldn't escape falling off places since that night… 

How could we even survive such falls in the first place? It just didn't make sense that I'm in the place I should be, not when people had seemingly gained supernatural strength like this. 

Firewall slowly rises from his impact— remaining intact, without damage even— stumbling his legs forward while using his sword as a cane. 

“Ngh—” He mutters, dragging along his unresponsive arm and his helm starts flickering. 

“Firewall? Firewall?!” I stressed as he planted face first on the asphalt, knocked unconscious as his weapon lost the red edge. shivering me further 

With fluttered eyes and shaky hands, I limped my way to him, with each step weighing more than the last.

“You’re not dead, not right now!” I say while I frantically shake his back, unsurprisingly without response, almost sleeping soundly. He— he’s not dead, right? 

He just couldn't handle the consequences and now sought to have me pay for it! Or at least that’s what I hoped for. 

“Goddammit! Just get up already!” I while biting down on my arm. He lets out a pitiful groan in response, like a kid on the first day of school. 

Although I sighed hearing him respond it didn't make his recklessness any less accountable. 

SMASH 

Sounds the falling concrete chunks hitting against the road as the building is forcibly demolished from above. It landed a few meters away, but more was on the way. He didn't seem to budge

“Fucking hell— Fine! I'll deal with this later.” I whine while I held him by the leg, 

What particularly irked me was how crude and reckless his actions had been. Had I been informed about falling, I would've used my strings to cushion the fall. Against all logic, he simply walked us off. Simply said, a hundred different ways would've worked better than whatever he did… 

SLAM

An entire portion of the building collapses beside us while the rainy skies light up with violent red streaks of puffing smoke from the torrential explosions vibrating down to my feet. Scanning my surroundings, I found a somewhat fair shelter for this situation. 

It is a place to keep us safe from the imminent rubble and hide us from whoever— whatever it is causing this destruction. 

“Ngh— you’re lighter than I thought you’d be…” I mutter, eyeing the strangely weightless sword despite being a literal anchor on his back while pulling him by the leg with both hands. He wasn’t responding though— completely dozed out— and It’ll probably be like that for a little while… much to my displeasure. 

The rain continues to pour along with the shards of demolished concrete, steel, and glass. We reach the shelter, a mini cafe parallel to the skyscraper from which we fell. 

I duck to pass over the tilted roll-up door. The place was unsurprisingly in disrepair also, with turned chairs and tables, shattered display cabinets, and wilted flowers from broken flower pots. 

I stumble on the tiles— worn but not tired— overcame with relief to find some respite, he was on wasted on the floor turned to the side so that he could rest with the sword on his back.   

The danger still lurks, but If even he cowered from that, I doubt the capabilities of the thing after us.

BOOM

Light flickers from the opened gap as the sound of gunfire— cannon fire— echoes, the ground shakes, coming from the footsteps of something massive outside. 

“Hold on, could it be?” I whisper, prompting myself against the floor, peeking below the roll-up as I see the dreaded leg of a sentinel step into view. 

Those things roamed the streets? Well… I gulped before gazing back to Firewall soundly asleep, how could he even go toe-to-toe against those? The sentinel horns with its engine, its attention caught by something above.   

BOOM 

A red explosion sends it reeling from view, blinding me while a gust of wind rushes into the gap, as the mech stumbles onto the road, and the outside flashes of crimson as a constant flurry of rockets disintegrates the foe to dust. 

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM— 

I roll myself away from the gap and up against the wall, cupping my mouth, my heart races. I no longer doubt this adversary, whoever it was, if it was even human to start…

It wasn’t long before the onslaught of rockets stopped and the ambiance of rain returned in force. I dread what remained of that sentinel, 

A faint hiss of a thruster quieted down, landing on the surface, I couldn’t bring myself to see, afraid that I’d compromise our vulnerable position.     

“Why flee the inevitable?!” A distorted voice yells into the rain muffled, and indistinguishable, beckoning us to reveal ourselves. “Salvation awaits, beyond this illusion cast upon us!” They cheer, through some kind of voice-filter. 

My eyes perk up while listening, their words spoused of crazed delusion but they mean… they believe that too? I held myself up against the front wall, honing my senses to the one outside, even though the rain made it difficult.

“This is not the proper place for us, any of us! There is a way out of here, I’ll show you!“

“You lost me,” I mutter to myself, it was simple— if it’s too good to be true, it usually is— similarly to that deal I’ve made with a certain someone…

“Ngh…” Speak of the devil, Firewall wakes with a noisy groan, urging me to move to silence him. However, that required me to pass the entrance light, which could compromise us. I painstakingly stayed where I was and hoped he didn’t complicate things further, and clicked my tongue to lure his attention towards me.  

He’d shook his head before getting up and dusting himself off, “Malware?” He calls, turning his eyes to me, glaring daggers at him with a finger over my mouth. He managed to get the memo and cautiously  “Ah… sorry— ” he mouthed without a voice.   

Bzzt bzzt— 

Just as I signaled to him that we should go through the backdoor something started to sound noise behind the countertop. We were both wide-eyed on the antique radio on the counter, frozen in place— powerless to stop it— as the light dawned proudly in front of it.      

We exchanged looks, unsure of our next move, it didn’t seem like our position had been compromised yet… but I also didn’t want to find it out the hard way— with rockets being hurled behind us— and wanted to move now.
The radio fazes from static into someone’s voice, to a ruffled man’s voice; the picture of a soldier came to mind…
“Hello Hello?!” urged the voice behind, echoing throughout the room, “Anybody? Anyone?”   

I look to Firewall again, seemingly preoccupied —keen-eyed— on the roll-up gap. If the static hadn’t given our position, then could his voice? 

The rain ambiance returned and neither the radio nor our foe spoke up. Like we’d returned to where we were, except Firewall was awake this time. I Froze in place — cornered— whether to move or not was killing me. I could move now, but what if that move gets us compromised? 

I stared back at Firewall with reluctant pitiful eyes. His expression was neutral as always, locked away behind his helm, though his attention wasn’t on me since getting back on his footing, he never looked away from that roll-up…

Though, I didn’t have to wonder for long why he’d been so keen-eyed on it… 

Tap… tap…

My eyes flutter, now as I find myself locked towards the gap of the roll-up also, the tapping being the resounding footsteps plopping on rainy puddles, as there wasn’t any other way  

But right after, the silhouette drew closer and closer before the roll-up gate, it was unmistakable that they were the one after us. 

“We’ve been spotted! Move it!” Firewall yelled to me before running and leaping over the countertop    

His sudden order snapped me back into control, to free myself from my petrification as I let go of all my reluctance. I didn’t waste time and immediately followed, taking the safer route of going around the countertop as opposed to what he did, but not before taking the radio with me, unknowingly pulling the cord plug. 

I glimpsed the person behind the gap in this brief moment, but it didn’t humanize them whatsoever, being only a silhouette of white cloth splashed with red. Shortly after this, the gap emits an oozing crimson light as they start to noise the calibrating motions of their rocket launcher pointed directly at us…       

Firewall managed for us a temporary exit, using himself to brute-force his way through the counter backdoor.    

“%*&(@&*% PROTOCOL: (TIER 1) DISASSEMBLY!”  

After sprinting through a long narrow corridor, we emerge out of an open alleyway. As strong as ever, the rain buffeted the dilapidated way forward with a torrential rush of water, but that didn’t matter, not now.  

We continued to run, and only that, without thoughts nor reservations… chasing…  

My heart races, beating on like it’d break at any moment, as unending adrenaline courses through every vein in my body. It hurt, an ache in my chest, it stings. But despite that, it was somehow, a pain I found tolerable, a painful pleasure. If such a contradiction existed…   

I couldn’t think nor find a logical explanation for this, because pain and pleasure… they’re supposed to be apart, but the meager sensation was unreal… 

Could it be, that my feelings are lying to me too?