We try to run. We take off, hand in hand, away from the wreckage of the two flyers. Across the green field. But the Harrisons glide up to us on their hoverboards and they hold us down. 

Arden calls the police as we struggle in vain to get free. 

And after that we are loaded into the back of a police glider. We are given collars that will knock us unconscious if we try to escape. But thankfully, besides that we are unshackled. It's a bit of dignity that I did not deserve to get. 

"I'm sorry," I tell Ari, slumped against him on the hard wooden seat, "I was stupid."

"No you weren't." Ari holds me with one arm and strokes my hair with his other hand. "You were overly emotional. And I was overly emotional too. We should've both been paying more attention. This is both of our faults."

"And now I've gotten us killed." 

"I'd rather die with you than live without you. In fact, I think I'd rather die with you anyways. I hate my life."

"I hate my life too. But what about our families and friends and all the people who will miss us?" 

"They will know that we're finally free. That we're finally in the Green Place where all things are equal and love rules all."

"That communist drivel won't get you anywhere," the cop tell us in his front, cushioned seat. "There is no Green Place after death. Only nothing."

"Shh, don't listen to him," Ari whisphers to me, so quietly that it's just barely audible.

"I won't," I whisper back. 

"I've always wanted to die in a rebellious action. And now we will. Rebelling for love is the best rebellion of them all."

"But I'm scared." 

"I'm scared too. I don't think anyone's ever not been afraid of dying." 

"I'm so scared that I can't bear it." 

"I've got you." He holds me against him tighter. And I find a small measure of comfort in his arms. 

We keep whispering softly to each other, baring our fears, our regrets, trying to give each other comfort. And it works. Just a little bit it works. 

Yet anxiety still builds and builds within me as I watch the scenery drift by behind Ari. I try to only look at Ari. But it's hard to miss, with my ever-alert eyes, as we near the prison complex. The rows and rows of stone cubes that each make up a cell. My alertness came too late. If only I had been alert when Ari and I kissed. If only I was smarter then. 

"At least I don't have to see my master ever again," I tell Ari. 

"At least I don't have to see mine either. Or his good for nothing family." 

"Yeah." 

"Do you think we'll end up a story of warning or a story of hope?" 

"I think maybe both." 

"Get out you little pieces of trash." The police officer grabs us by our collars and yanks us out of the glider. We stumble onto the ground. Dread sits heavy in my gut as I am dragged to the small stone building in line with many other buildings that look exactly like it. 

"You rebellious defectives won't be finding a way out of here any time soon." The police officer's words are harsh and full of hatred. They make me shiver. I can't believe I've doomed Ari to this. 

We get put through an extremely invasive full-body check and are stripped of our clothes and put into rough gray prison clothes. I find myself unable to breathe. It all seems to be far too real. 

I spent so much of my life trying to avoid just this. Trying to avoid being a throwaway and trying to live. But it seems as though in the end my heart was the thing that betrayed me. And all my smiling and grovelling was for nothing. 

The police officer opens the door of the prison. It slides up and we are shoved inside. The door slams closed and then it's it. We're locked inside. Everything is real. 

There is no light inside the prison save for a small hole on the roof, about the size of my hand. It lets a sliver of light in and from it we can barely see.

Ari just stands there, face solemn, as I run to the door and try to open it. It's no use, as the door extends up above the stone ceiling and down below the stone floor, and is lined on each side by rough stone. Still I run my fingers down the edges of the door, trying and failing to pry it open. I scream and try to push the door open with all my strength. I know I'm wasting calories. But still. Still. I don't think I could bear just giving up. 

After what feels like hours I am forced to give up. 

I walk up to Ari and he wraps his arms around me, saying nothing. I scream. And it's a horrible, hollow, wretched sound. Ari just hugs me tighter. 

"Calm down," he says in a quiet voice. But I can hear the fear laced through it. 

"How can I calm down? We're going to die!" 

"I understand. I understand it's hard. But if we go into death with dignity then it will be a win against them." 

"But they won't even fucking know!" 

"But we will know. We'll know. And we'll carry that knowledge with us." 

"So what?" 

"So when we get to the Green Place we'll be able to tell everyone that we stood up tall." 

"You believe too much in the Green Place." I hope I don't hurt him but it's true. 

"No I don't. I believe in the Green Place because it's true and because I know in my soul that it's true." 

I slump against him and he catches me, lowering us down into the rough, uneven ground. The ground is uneven and rough. The walls are uneven and rough. Everything is uneven and rough. To make it more uncomfortable for us I guess.

"How do you know?" I ask him. "How do you know it's true? My voice rings exhausted and hollow against the walls of the prison. 

"Because I can feel it. Can't you feel it too?" 

I think about that for a while. 

"I can. But how do I know it's not just hope I feel?" 

"Because hope is real. Hope is strong. Love is real. Love is strong. The feeling inside your heart, that makes you long for freedom, that feeling is real and it's strong. Don't you feel it?" 

In the darkness I lean against Ari. I feel his heartbeat in rhythm with my own. I feel the golden string that connects both of our hearts. I feel how even in this prison he has strength. Even with the weeks stretching in front of us without food or water, he has strength. And I feel that I love him.

I feel that I love my mom and dad. I feel them worrying about me. It fills me with so much horror and guilt. To think that they have to witness the death of their only son. To think that they have to worry about me, and grieve me, and pretend that nothing is wrong. 

But I feel the connections between us. The love. I feel the way that they were there for me as much as they possibly could be whenever they possibly could be over all these years. How they were my family, despite us sharing no biological link. 

I think of Aleni. The secret moments shared between us. How each of those secret moments are and always will be precious to my heart. I think of the way I will miss her, the way that she will miss me. And under all the guilt and regret I see the unmistakable love that is shared between us. 

I think of Haynen. How she shared whatever stories she knew with us whenever she could. How she was always trying to make the burden less heavy. How I always wanted her to know that I appreciated her and everything she did. 

I think of Hari. How he was so calm on the outside yet such a storm on the inside. I think about how he always helped us see hope in even the most desperate of situations. And of how we tried to help him see hope in return. 

I realize that I won't be seeing any of my people again. And that fact punches through me like a stone ripping through my insides. It hurts more than I knew anything could hurt. But even in the hurt I see love. 

I think about all the synths the world over. How we are all connected. Connected by our shared suffering and our shared aching for freedom. Connected by our shared dreams and hope. Connected by our shared histories and futures. But most of all connected by our love. Love that transcends all boundaries and borders and unites us so strongly. So infinitely. 

And it hurts. To be in love. To be in love with so many. To be in love so much. But it also strengthens. 

Love is strong. And even in the face of death, in Ari's arms, I can see that. And I can see how Ari believes in it. I can see how love can be powerful. How it can be more powerful than death. How it can be more powerful than impossibility. How it can be more powerful than power. 

But still. I cannot convince myself that it can be more powerful than the owners. I cannot convince myself that it can save us. The owners have held all the power for far too long. 

I tell Ari this. And he tells me, ever so gently, that I'm wrong. I tell him that I don't want to argue. Not here. Not now. And he tells me that we don't have to. 

"I'll miss my family. And my friends." Ari's voice cuts through the black silence. 

"Me too. They must be so devastated." 

"You're right, they must. It's not fair." 

"It's not fair at all." 

"I fucking hate the owners."

"I fucking hate myself." 

"Don't you dare." 

"I will." 

"Don't." 

"I just wish I could be there to comfort them. But I can't." 

"That's not fair." 

"It really isn't." 

"But maybe it is comforting for them to know that we're finally free from all of our burdens and our griefs." 

I think about that. I know that everyone's always seen at least some amount of hope in death. But I know that that doesn't banish the grief.

"Let's hope they can get through it." 

"Yes. Let's hope. All good things come from hope." 

"They do. It's so strange. The human ability to find hope in the most desperate of situations." 

"It is. So strange and so beautiful." 

"Human souls are truly amazing." 

"They are. They're capable of so much and yet they need so much." 

"When I'm with you I think that I only exist to love and be loved."

"And you are loved. We are loved. By the whole universe." 

"It doesn't feel that way right now." 

"I know." 

We stay like that for a while. Entangled in each other. Speaking of things far bigger than ourselves and inextricably within ourselves at the same time. Speaking of the emotions we both know that the other is having. Speaking of all the people who we left behind. 

There are far too many people who we left behind. 

Eventually hunger begins cutting through us and leaving us aching. Thirst begins burning within us and leaves us dry. And I know that this is just an omen of things to come. Of the hurt that will come. 

And that makes me cling to Ari even more. 

And we continue looking at our pain and trying to distract ourselves until we are unable to keep awake and even the rough floor is not a deterrent to our sleep. 

I sleep entangled in Ari. Entangled in my Ari. Something I have never been able to do before. And in a strange way it is sweet. Unbelievably sweet. 

When we awake we awake to soreness and hunger. But we awake to each other. We awake to warmth. We awake to thirst. We awake to fear. We awake closely nestled within each other. And I hope that my loved ones know that I'm not alone. I hope that they know that I have Ari's strength to get me through this. 

The second day is much harder than the first. We make the most of our limited time together by being entangled in each other. And we worry. Even though there is not really a point in worrying. There is nothing we can do to change our fate. 

"We were so fucking careful. So careful. Right until the end." I lean against Ari's shoulder. 

"It should've paid off. We were so good at hiding. One moment of weakness shouldn't've brought it all down." 

"We were good at hiding." 

"We shouldn't've had to be good at hiding. We should've been allowed to love freely in the open. 

"They don't want us to have anything." 

"But I have you. I have you right now. And they can't do anything about it." 

All at once blinding light floods the cell as the door opens. Ari and I look at each other for a moment before making a run for it. I feel a sharp piercing in my neck. And then everything goes black.