Cinder

2 - Downpour

With a feeling not unlike being sprayed with cold water, she rejoined the land of the living.

Where was she? She couldn't move, she was frozen. All that she saw were fields of lush grass and open plains. How did she-?

"Kay?"

She recognized that voice, her only security in the uncertainty. Cautiously, she relaxed. "Tobias?"

He sounded relieved beyond all reason, on the verge of tears. As she watched, the view began to rotate and move, though not through her own doing. "I can't believe ... it worked, you were right!"

She quickly scanned through her memories, and received a large shock when she finally was able to recollect exactly what had transpired.

The array, her death ... and her plan to survive.

Then the void-scape ... and Tobias coming to bring her back.

As far as she could tell, the copy of herself she'd made had indeed acted as a tether for her soul; she'd just needed to be pulled pack from the lost realm that the Tempest had scattered her into.

"KT?"

That was another voice she recognized ... Gates. The perspective changed once more, and she found herself looking at the Captain's face. "How is this- how is that even possible?"

Tobias just laughed. "Seems we're both partial to self-sacrifice; it's just that she's smart enough to figure out a loophole!"

Exploring the regions of her current location, she realized that she was currently inside Tobias' helmet, merging with the UI and HUD systems within it.

"It would seem that I'm closer to you now than I ever was before," she joked, just happy to be back.

"We'll have to find a new data core to transfer you into," Tobias said thoughtfully, "Then, we can plant that in a chassis and you won't have to spend all your time in a cramped helmet."

She giggled, most unlike herself. Maybe she was embracing this new idea of being more human than she'd thought she was. "I don't know, I could get used to hanging around with you all day."

The three of them enjoyed a moment together, friends reunited after seemingly impossible odds.

She still didn't know how anything between her and Tobias was going to work out; but she had faith in his promise to her.

No matter what came between them, they'd find a way.

...

She never thought it would end like this.

The leaves of the trees rustled softly, the only ambience in the otherwise silent forest besides the background noise of the assault far off in the distance. The wind provided a cool breeze and a slight howl that only cemented the haunting reality of the situation before her.

Ten meters away, he weakly rose from the ground onto his feet. He glanced over at the ember-lit crater where she'd nearly blown him apart with a well-placed missile.

"That was a warning. Stay down."

He knew enough to be aware of the thinly veiled threat behind her words; she would not give him a second chance.