Run.

ACH-1’s feet slammed against the cold metal floor as he sprinted down the narrow hallway. Red emergency lights flashed violently across the steel walls, covering the hallway in flashes of red.

“ATTENTION ALL UNITS. ACH-1 HAS ESCAPED CONFINEMENT. APPREHEND IMMEDIATELY.”

He didn't dare to look back. Looking back meant slowing down and slowing down meant being captured. His lungs burned with every breath. Sweat dripped down his forehead and into his eyes, forcing him to blink rapidly.

Each step sent pain tearing through his body, his muscles screaming in protest from the previous experiments. The pain wasn’t just physical. His skin ached, bruises covered across his body, and his chest glowed from the Traits inside him.

His Traits. They weren't right. It felt like they were tearing him apart from the inside. But he couldn't stop.

Not now.

If they caught him now, he might not be able to survive.

Footsteps echoed behind him. Fast. Too fast. They were getting closer.

ACH-1 turned sharply around a corner, his shoulder nearly slamming into the wall as his body struggled to keep up with his mind.

More footsteps and voices followed.

“They went down this corridor!” one shouted. 

"Stop him immediately!" another yelled.

ACH-1’s heart slammed violently in his chest.

No.

No no no no.

His eyes darted around wildly.

There's gotta be something...

A hand shot out. It grabbed his arm and yanked him into a nearby room. A second hand clamped over his mouth. ACH-1 reacted instantly. He squirmed in the person's clutches, trying to free himself.

Then he saw their face and froze.

“…Two?”

ACH-2 grinned. “You didn’t think I’d let you leave without me, did you?”

ACH-1’s chest tightened. “I’m sorry, Two… I can’t handle this anymore.”

“Neither can I.”

“They’re everywhere,” ACH-1 whispered, his voice tight with panic.

ACH-2 nodded, his eyes glancing toward the hallway. “They probably sent more guards once they realized I escaped too.”

ACH-1’s stomach dropped. “They’ll torture us if they catch us.”

ACH-2 gave him a cheeky smile. “Not if we leave first.”

ACH-1 blinked. “Leave? How?”

ACH-2 pointed down the corridor. “There’s a maintenance tunnel two floors down.”

ACH-1 nodded and the two moved toward the door. He placed his hand on the door handle.

It didn’t open.

“Damn it, it’s locked!”

Panic rushed through his mind again.

ACH-2, however, only smirked. “Not for long.” He pulled out a keycard.

“How the hell did you get that?” ACH-1 stared at him.

“A magician never reveals his secrets. You know that.”

ACH-1 slightly smiled. But the smile faded the moment they opened the door.

What was being held in the room was something they had seen before. Corpses of the failed experiments rested in tanks. The last time ACH-1 had seen any of them alive, they were being dragged away.

Screaming.

Only the ACH subjects that were considered “successful” got to live.

“Let’s go,” ACH-1 said.

They rushed through the room opening the door at the exit. The hallway stretched long in front of them, lined with reinforced glass. Their reflections flashed across each pane as the emergency lights pulsed overhead. Beyond the glass were dark rooms illuminated only by flickering red light. 

Rooms where experiments had ended. Rooms where they had grown up. ACH-1 caught glimpses of overturned beds, broken restraints, and dried stains on the floor before forcing himself to look away.

He couldn’t afford to think about that now. Then figures appeared at the end of the corridor. Guards blocking the exit with their weapons raised.

ACH-1’s breath caught. “We have to find a different path!”

Without thinking, he drove his fist into a nearby wall, putting what little power he had left in the punch.

CRACK!

The structure started to crack, then shattered. Chunks of concrete and dust exploded outward as the wall gave way. Blood dropped from ACH-1’s fist. He couldn't even think of the pain.

They burst into a stairwell, metal steps ringing beneath their feet as they sprinted downward. Moving as fast as they possibly could. 

Almost there.

The exit door came into view. There was a glimmer of hope…

Suddenly, a figure stepped from the shadows behind. ACH-1’s stomach dropped. A Corrupted Traitor. Dark energy rolled from his body like smoke, twisting through the air around him. The temperature seemed to drop the moment he appeared.

The Corrupted Traitor raised his hand. Corrupted energy erupted outward. A wall started to form.

SHOVE!

ACH-1 was pushed forward. The wall formed between the two.

“TWO, NO!”

ACH-2 placed his hand against the barrier. 

“It might be over for me… but it isn’t for you!”

ACH-1’s fists struck the wall. Again and again but the wall didn't move. He wasn’t strong enough.

“JUST GO, ONE!”

“YOU’RE GOING TO SAVE ME!”

ACH-1’s voice started to crack. 

“I can’t lose you too!”

Tears rushed down his face. 

“YOU’RE ALL THAT I HAVE!"

ACH-2’s expression hardened.

“I WON’T DIE!”  “I KNOW YOU’LL SAVE ME!”

ACH-1 froze.

The words hit him harder than anything else. He turned. And he ran.

Replaying ACH-2’s words over and over again. The sirens continued to scream behind him. The red emergency lights faded further and further away.

He didn’t look back. He couldn’t.

ACH-1 didn’t know where he was going. Didn’t know what was waiting for him outside. Didn’t know if he would even survive. He only knew one thing.

If he stopped running now...

ACH-2's sacrifice would have been for nothing.