“You’ll never understand me.” I whisper hoarsely.

Everything I have is crumbling, every ounce of hope I have breaking.

He says nothing, just sits down on the cold, hard bench next to me. I can tell he’s looking at my cuts and bruises, souvenirs from just a couple of months running from Them. And, because of that, I was deep inside Their prison.

My throat feels dry and scratchy. I begin to wonder if he had heard me, but I don’t dare repeat my words.

He looks up, the sun reflecting brilliantly across his lapis lazuli eyes. “ 7, were you created to give up?” he asks me.

“I think I was born too human, Lukah.”

A flash of black nylon obscures my 20/20 vision as he pushes me over and slams his fist in my mouth. “Don’t say things like that,” he hisses urgently. “They might hear you.”

I glance away from him as I sit back up, recovering from the temporary shock that comes with being pushed over unexpectedly by your friend (it’s happened more than once). “Lukah, you’ve always been too faithful,” I whisper, more to myself than to him. “You trusted Them too much.”

I had forgotten that we all have perfect hearing. “Maybe you should trust Them more,” he growls. “After all, they care about us enough to create, raise, and care for us.”

I can’t meet his eyes. These past few months.... I had learned more about Them than Lukah could ever believe. And now no one would ever know about Them again. Their horrible secrets would finally be safe.

“Lukah....” I start, but never finish. How could I explain to him? A memory flashes through my mind- dark figures leading me out of my brother’s Ceremony. “Come with us,” they had said. And I did. I was curious; I wanted to know what else there was to life.

I shudder away the dark memories, filled with bullets and bloodshed. What mattered right now was the present. I didn’t have time to feel morose about my past.

“Lukah.” I sit up and start again, my posture in a perfect angle.

He holds up his hand. “This isn’t about Them anyways, 7. This is about you and me.”

He isn’t listening to me. My breathing becomes more rapid; he has to listen to me.

I jump on top of him and easily push him down, despite the bullet wounds in my limbs. “Lukah. Please. You have to listen to me. They’ll take me away soon, and-”

A loud BOOM startled me. I glance behind me and wince; I have an open scar across my shoulder blade. The cold light fills the room with an eerie glow, and I glimpse a few figures. I stiffen. They had come for me.

“Hey! She’s gonna kill the Officer!” I hear a shout from behind me and the familiar noise of footsteps. I didn’t have much time. I anxiously search my brain for something that could help him...

“Follow the red line,” bursts out of my mouth.

“What?” Lukah says, confused.

I put my hand on his shoulder and said, “You’ll know when the time is right.” I wince; when did I start to sound like some sort of cryptic human?

Iron hands shake me from Lukah. A sigh bursts from my mouth. No use fighting now. I am as relaxed as a human doll as they drag me towards the corridor, forged of lead and titanium. I used to love these halls. I was born in them, grew up happily in them. I had come so far.

I can’t see through the tears that have somehow found their way through my eyes. I’ve never cried before; it’s not in our programming. “Goodbye Lukas,” I whisper, but I doubt he can hear me. Even with hearing as sharp as mine. In fact, everything about him is exactly the same as me. The entire population (except for Them) are genetically modified clones. And now no one will know what They plan to use us for. No one except for Lukah.

A trace of a smile finds its way onto my face as they drag me into an enclosed chamber I have been in before.

It’s all over, a part of me whispers in relief.

Not quite, the rest of me replies.

Not quite.