“Who, me?” I say, trying to smile, despite the adrenaline and relief that’s still coursing through me. “I always come back.”

Akimi laughs without much humor and hugs me.

“Did you get it?” Igby asks, and then shakes his head. “I mean, hey, thank the Gods and all that, but did you get the fucking processor?”

“We’re not sure,” Sam replies. “Let’s get back to the library and we’ll show you what we’ve got.”

“Hey, how’s Kina?” I ask Igby.

“She was awake for a bit, and asking for you, but she was really groggy and went back to sleep. God knows how much sedative Dr. O gave her.”

“She was awake?” I ask.

“Yeah, but not making much sense.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. We reach the library, and Akimi, Pander, and Sam head through to the main room. I linger behind in the bathroom-cum–field hospital and watch the door as it swings slowly shut on its spring-loaded hinge. I walk to Kina’s bedside.

“It’s real, Kina,” I whisper. “It’s all real. We really did make it out of the Block.” For some reason I can feel tears stinging my eyes, and for the first time I realize how scared I’ve been. “God, it seems like it’s so much worse now. Going out there, fighting against them, risking my life, it’s all so much worse now that I have something to lose, someone to leave behind. Kina, I like you, I really like you. We have to end this, we have to beat the machines, and we have to survive.”

Kina stirs, her eyes open, and she recognizes me.

“Luka,” she says, and smiles.

“Hey,” I reply.

“You’re not going to ask me where the Loop inmates are hiding, are you?” Her voice is hoarse, and—although it’s a joke—I catch fear in her eyes.

“No,” I reply, “we’re safe; we’re out of the Block.”

“What the hell did that person inject me with?” she asks as she tries to sit up, but the effort is too much for her.

“Listen, that doctor is … she’s eccentric, and she may have been a bit overzealous with the sedative.”

Kina nods. “We were ready to die, weren’t we?” she says, lying back down and closing her eyes.

“Yes,” I reply, recalling the moment she had held the gun to my head and pulled the trigger.

“If they ever come for us again, Luka, if they ever try to take us again, promise me you will kill me.”

I take a deep breath to try to get on top of the tears that threaten to come. “I won’t let it happen,” I say.

Kina smiles, and I can see that she is drifting back toward sleep. “I know you’ll try,” she says, “and I’ll try not to let it happen either … but if it does?”