Epilogue
***
He drove them to hisflyer stationed several miles away. Afterward, he helped Clara pack her things and load them into his vehicle. Like him, she had very little. It didn’t bother him because he knew once they left Earth, they’d collect things together and start a new life elsewhere.
Once they ditched the trailer, he flew them to the largest port in New America, and where his ship was stationed and ready for departure. Clara kept close on his heels as they passed different measures of security and he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.
“Don’t worry.”
“That’s easier said than done. I don’t want us to get caught.”
“There’s nothing they can do to stop us.” And to prove his point, he led her straight to the entrance of his ship and helped her inside. People looked on, curiously, but no one stepped forward. No one wanted to against a Cyborg. Like a lazy mob mentality, he knew they assumed he had jurisdiction over them. The door shut behind them with a finalizing thud.
He led her to his room to shower and clean up as he made his final preparations. Technology came to life around him and his past-life was on the brink of closure.
I may be the last fucking Cyborg on Earth.
When she was done washing, he knew, and retrieved her from their quarters. Every fiber of her body was tense with fear.
Reid cupped her face and rested his forehead against hers. “The first time is always scary.”
“Is it?” Clara whined.
“Even for a Cyborg, Clara, and our first time, we had to pilot. The scientists assumed we knew what we were doing, but it was all new on our part.”
“Hah. I’d like to have seen that.” She smiled and he led her to the bridge, and further into his territory. It thrilled him to know—once they were spaceborne—there would be no way for her to leave it. He’d always be able to keep her safe.
“Ready?”
Clara clapped her hands. “Ready!”
They buckled in and he nuzzled the soft skin of her neck. She still smelled of fear and berries, but he now smelled excitement on her too.
No one stopped him when he requested for take-off. No one stopped them when his ship’s thrusters powered on. No one came after them when they shot up into the air and left Earth’s atmosphere.
They left the old world behind, the secrets, and the misunderstandings; he didn’t look out at the stars in front of him, and he didn’t look back at his mistakes. He looked at Clara, at her awestruck face, and her wide eyes seeing the universe for the first time.
He saw it all through her.
Reid coughed, cracked his neck, and loosened his collar. His heart painfully full.
And with giddy laughter filling his ears, he warped them away.
***
“PUSH!” ROSE CAGLEYscreeched between Katalina’s legs. Clara flinched; in fact, they all did as the female Cyborg forgot how loud her audio tech could go. She sat at Katalina’s side and gripped her hand. They held onto each other like it was the end of Ghost itself and that any moment, they’d be consumed by an explosion.
Reid stormed back through the medical door, disheveled, his eyes wide. He left immaculate but had come back looking like he’d just been in a brawl. Minutes earlier he had forcibly dragged Dommik out of the room, eight giant metal limbs and all.
Clara bit down on her tongue and focused back on Katalina, who, despite the chaos, looked the most put together.
