"Come on Emily, it's morning already," I hear Eve chide me.

"Sure..." I mumble. I slowly roll out of bed. Another day, no Aria. After everything she said, everything she did, she just went off to die.

"Come on, you can't stay down forever you know, let's go... do... something, ok?" Mary tries to cheer me up, but it's not like she has any real ideas of what to do, does she?

"No, it's fine..." I say quietly, staring over at Aria's bed. I've been agonizing over this for a week, and it hasn't gotten any better. This mix of anger, distrust, and pity. It's hard to know how to feel. She lied to me the whole time. But she had to. I feel guilty, knowing that she couldn't have told me. When she said no one would believe her, I was so sure it wouldn't be a big deal. So sure she was just over-reacting. But when the time finally came...

I was this close to running.

I sink to my knees, burying my head in my blanket at the edge of my bed. I shouldn't feel guilty. Anyone would run from a rail unit, wouldn't they? But she's Aria! She was my friend! She's still my friend... right?

"Urgh!" I groan. Not if she's dead! She's already been gone for a week! I haven't even seen Maven since then! The rail units all came back the next day, making a big scene marching back through the city. But no Aria. Of course that means she's dead! I shouldn't still be beating myself up over all of this. But I can't help it, it doesn't feel real! How could it? She tells me she has to go off to battle, fighting against those monstrous weapons, with nothing but some metal ingots and fruit. How am I supposed to understand that?!

Maybe I just need more time? But how long will it take before these jumbled up feelings fade? I sigh, deflating. I already know they'll never go away. Not completely. It's been four years since my parents died, and I still get this feeling once in a while, like they'll just show up again out of the blue. It's rare these days and I know it's stupid, but...

I sniffle, when I think of that. "S-she's crying again!" Helen stammers, and Eve immediately comes over, starting to pat my head and rub my shoulders.

"I'm not crying!" I deny it, but the sudden contact just makes the tears harder to resist. It reminds me of her. Of my family.

"Shh, it's alright to just let it all out," Eve is still trying to comfort me. I don't want to accept it. Tears don't help.

I'm supposed to be the strong one. Put together. I've been here longer than almost anyone else. I know how this goes. I can't count the number of times kids have been sold, or just vanished. Leaving the rest of us behind, to trudge on through this miserable, lonely life. Tears never help.

But this is different! Aria didn't just disappear! No one else understands. They can't understand, they don't know what she... what it, is. It hurts, thinking of Aria that way. I don't want to think of her as an object, but she's a rail unit. A weapon. A thing.

But everything they told us was lies! Rail units aren't going to just kill us for no reason! But... that's what Aria said. She lied the whole time she was here so I wouldn't find out. She even pointed it out! What's one more lie, trying to convince me that she's really not like that? How can I really trust her?

Even as a few hot tears trickle down my face, Eve picks me up from the floor. "Come on now, we have to get breakfast," she urges me on. I force myself to nod a little. No matter how messed up I am, life must go on. I have to go on. Eve hesitantly moves back toward her bed, and I wipe the tears from my eyes. I need to get changed and go eat breakfast before church.

Crash!

Everyone flinches at the sudden explosion of sound and motion tears through the room without warning. We all shield our faces as a bird flaps frantically around our room, before exiting through the window again.

"W-what was that?" Eve asks, dumbfounded and sprawled backward across my bed. Everyone keeps staring blankly where the bird left, but...

Was that what I think? It was carrying something when it left, right? I dash over to the window, looking out, but I can't see the bird anymore. If I remember right, it hit the floor just after coming into our room, didn't it? A glance back to the spot, near Aria's bed, and I see it. That's her rail unit robe, thrown haphazardly under the bed!

A wordless realization strikes me. The next thing I know, I'm running out of our room. I bounce off of the nosy boy opening our door, moments after the commotion and flail as I fight to keep myself up and run down the hall. I crash through the other children, staggering and off balance as my mind spins and all I can think of is run.

I end up tripping down the stairs to the first floor, tumbling and rolling as I hit the floor painfully. The other kids back away, looking shocked, but I just force myself back up and keep going. There's an older boy standing at the front door holding it open so I just shove past, right out into the road, and run with everything I have.

Aria! My mind is screaming. I'm going north, toward the gate. It's only a block away. I arrive before I know it, panting and sweating from my manic sprint. The gate guards stare at me, clearly taken aback, but I don't care. I just look around, searching frantically.

She's not here. I run out of the gate, kicking up the loose dirt and stumbling over my own feet.

She must be around here, right?! Panting for air, I make it a little way down the road, searching left and right. She must be here!

Then I see her. Brilliant white hair shining in the morning sun. I'm at her side before I know it, leaning down over her.

These injuries! She's wearing her usual clothes, but everything visible underneath them is covered in bloodied bandages or horrible, gaping, fresh wounds. Just looking makes me gag. I force down a wave of sickness as my stomach turns. "Aria!" I gasp out.

Her eyes crack open, tiny slivers between her eyelids wandering across my face. Her lips form into a faint smile. She says, "I'm sorry Emily, I tried, but I couldn't do it. I died." Her voice is so tired and hoarse that it's a little difficult to understand. And what she's saying doesn't make any sense either. What does she mean, she died? How did she even get here? And those clothes? How did she get dressed?

I have so many questions, but for now, all I can do is hug her.

But her body feels like it... kind of crushes a little as I squeeze, and I stop immediately, flinch, and pull back.

"Ow, no. Please don't," she moans faintly, her eyes rolling up as trembles shake her small body. Shit, look at her wounds! I can't just hug her like that!

"C-come on, we have to get you... h-home. You need to rest. You need..." What does she need? What can I even do? "You... can recover, r-right?" my voice is hitching as I try to ask. I try to rub away the tears because they're blurring my vision, but my hands are shaking uncontrollably. She said she's been through horrible abuse before, right?

I couldn't imagine it being anything like this at the time. Is this what the rail units were doing to her, her entire time growing up?

"Yeah, I'm through the worst of it. But I really need food and water." Her voice is so faint I need to lean over her mouth to hear her. But her words fill me with unbelievable relief. If she says she's fine, I have to believe her.

"S-sure, anything you need," I agree immediately, frantically wiping away my tears. Then I look down at her and gulp, another tremble shaking me.

How do I even pick her up in this condition? How can I carry her without hurting her even worse? I think and think, trying to come up with something, until I think I have an idea.

Nodding to myself with determination, I slip between her legs, sliding one hand under her butt and one behind her back. Then I lean all the way forward, pushing to lift her up onto my back as gently as I can. She's so light...

I push up with my legs, quickly sliding my hands to get them under her butt to hold her as I try to straighten up. It feels like she's completely unconscious and limp against me. I have to stop and stay leaning forward, keeping most of her weight on my back and legs.

She's small and light for her age, but she still comes up to my chin, so it should be hard to lift her. And it is, but not because she's heavy. I have to carefully balance her on my back since she can't even hold on like this. But she's so light. Way lighter than someone our age should be. Lighter than anyone should be. It's scary...

I swallow the tears and start walking. No matter how hard it is, I have to get her back. She needs food and rest. She said she's made it through the worst, but these aren't wounds a human could survive. She said she was a broken rail unit, so even she must have limits! I struggle one step at a time, fighting to keep her balanced so she won't fall, until I approach the North Gate again. As soon as I see the gate, the guards rush out toward me.

I look up at them the best I can bent over like this. They stand like a wall between us and the city. I hadn't thought about it before at all. They're asking questions.

How do I explain this?

What do I say?

What's going to happen now?

But then a familiar face appears from behind the wall of guards. Why is Eryk here?