There was light at the end of the tunnel, and I prayed it wasn't the metaphorical kind.

The timer on my watch read twenty seconds when Zekiye and I pulled ourselves out of the hole in the ground, coughing violently and panting. 

"We need to close it," Zekiye brought out, crawling to the door and pulling on it. 

I shook my head. "No use trying. That thing weights a ton. We need Zed to get it closed."

"Zed?" Zekiye repeated after me, bewildered. 

"That's me." Zed elegantly climbed out of the hole at the ten second mark, placed his hands against the door and braced to push it closed. 

"A hand, please," he told me and Zekiye, and together we let the door fall closed with a loud, clanking thud. 

"Go, go, go!" Zed pushed me and Zekiye and made us run from the door. We barely made it a few feet away from the door, but it was far enough. We were back on the walking path right as the drone patrol came hovering our way. 

One of the drones briefly stopped to scan us, but then moved on, deciding we were not doing anything illegal. Being utterly out of breath apparently wasn't reason for alarm. 

Then I looked behind me, and found a definite reason for alarm; Zed hadn't followed us.

"Fuck!" 

I ran back to the entrance of the vault and found it was gone. Covered with sand just like Zed and I had found it. The security drones hovered away into the distance, and Zed stepped out of the nearby bushes. 

"Sorry I didn't follow you. I didn't want them to find us all together. Just in case," Zed explained, nodding at the retreating shapes of the drones. 

I breathed out through my mouth. "No matter. We made it. They didn't spot us." 

"I sure did spot you, however." 

I turned towards Zekiye, who had followed me back to the entrance and stared at Zed with crossed arms. 

"Zekiye, what are you even doing here?" I asked. 

Zekiye tore her dark eyes off of Zed and looked at me. "I was looking for you at campus. Then, your signal suddenly dropped off the map smack in the middle of the wastelands, and I was curious where you were going."

Zekiye nodded at Zed. "A replica of model Z-3293. Really, Camilo? I knew your sudden interest in robot insides wasn't for no reason. I don't know how you pulled it off, but building your own humanoid robot is illegal. And I'm not even mentioning entering Lenora's vault unauthorised." 

"Actually..." Zed opened and closed his mouth. He looked at me. "No, you know what? You're probably better at explaining this than I am." 

Great. I definitely wasn't better at explaining this than Zed was. He was supposed to be the android with the diplomatic skills, next to kick-ass fighting algorithms. 

I groaned, already feeling a headache coming up. "First of all: this is not a replica, Zekiye. I didn't build him. Z-3293, or Zed, is the real deal. Came out of a deep slumber after the war."

Zekiye just stood there, blinking at me. Trying to figure out whether I was lying, processing. She seemed to reach the conclusion I wasn't lying. The line between her brows disappeared and made place for pure and utter astonishment. 

"You can't tell anyone," I warned her. "They won't believe you anyway. And if they did believe you, you were in the tunnel, too."

Zekiye's frown was back full force. "Drop the threats," she said. "I'm not here to rat you out. But I do want a word with you." Her eyes shot to Zed. "Alone." 

Zed saluted. "Got it. I'll be up ahead."  

As said, Zed walked away from us. Casually, with his hands in his pockets like he wasn't worried at all. I wasn't so sure. I didn't know what Zekiye was really thinking. She wouldn't betray me, she wasn't against androids. But bottom line she had always seen android as things. Dangerous things. A sentiment she made clear the moment Zed was out of sight. 

"What in the world do you think you're doing, Camilo?" She scolded me. 

I shrugged. "Zed had a broken connector and needed it replaced. Knowledge on androids and how to fix them isn't widely available anymore." 

"That's not what I mean. I meant the part where you own an android from the war. A Spectre model of all things! Have you lost your mind?" 

"I don't own Zed," I quickly corrected Zekiye. "I'm only helping him." 

"Oh, no, you own me alright." Zed was suddenly behind us, and when I turned, winked at me. He focused on Zekiye next. 

"Sorry for eavesdropping anyway," he said. "But I just want to make something clear here. I'm only interested in being free and living life without having to be on the run. All I've done is to wipe out my tracks and disappear forever. That's my only plan. No catches." 

Zekiye's lips were pressed together, her eyes narrowed. I don't think she believed him. Not entirely.  

"You're not going to turn us in, are you?" I asked again, now less sure what Zekiye was going to do. 

"No," was Zekiye's curt answer. "But I am going to tell you you're stupid if you think this will end any other way than in complete disaster. You'll go to jail if they find Z-3293 in your possession, and I want nothing to do with that."

"Zekiye--" I started but she cut me off.

"No. I don't want to hear it. I'm going to walk away now, and when I reach the campus I no longer know anything about this Spectre model. I don't want to hear about him or see him ever again. Got it?"

I breathed out through my mouth. This could've been worse, but it definitely could've been better. 

"Got it." 

With one last stern, disapproving look cast over her shoulder, Zekiye walked away. 

"She's right, you know." I felt Zed's gaze on the side of my face. "Perhaps it would be better if I don't stay with you for much longer and... disappear." 

It was hard to argue. Part of me didn't want Zed to go already, but I knew it was definitely safer if he went on his way sooner rather than later. For both of us. We'd split ways eventually. I'd known that from the start. 

"At least stay until after I help you install the new connector," I said. "I need to print and put it together and that's going to take at least one evening. Maybe longer because I need to find a shady place where they won't track what I'm printing... And..." 

There was one even more important matter. 

"What about the disk? Ava's memories? Are you still planning on freeing her too?" I hesitated. "And are you okay? There were so many bodies down there, I--"  

"It's okay. I have seen far worse." Zed looked down. "But I'll admit I've been lonely," he said after a short pause. "I didn't know what to do when I woke up alone with no objective and no other androids connected to me."

I faced Zed. "And you want to connect Ava to you? Is that it?"

"No," Zed replied. "I only wished to free her, not start a new hive mind like in the war. I want to talk to her and I can make it happen now, if I create a vessel." He looked deeply into my eyes. "Will you help me one last time?"