[2082]

I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I didn't do it.

I kept repeating it in my head as if convincing myself that that really was the case. I was starting to doubt myself, everything all happened so fast I wasn't sure if I did have something to do with it or not. I want to stop thinking about it, I can't let myself be bothered with this right now. I just needed to get away from this place as far as possible. But I just keep seeing her, following me everywhere I ran. I wasn't sure if I was feeling guilt or maybe that damaged my memory core.

I don't know where or when did I lost them but I haven't sensed them anywhere near me for some time now. The partially-lit buildings around me and the dimly-lit streets nearby meant that I was somewhere outside Zone 4 by now. I gingerly felt my way through the dank and dark alley and lowered my hood to avoided making contact with the people around here. I know that if I get into any misunderstanding with anyone here I could find myself waking up in some junker's shop.

I ran a partial system check on myself to see how much energy I had left. Not much as it turns out; my energy pack is almost at a critical low and I had at least an hour left before I start depending to run on my backup. But this area was obviously deprived of regular energy supply I didn't want to steal from what little they have here. I didn't know where else to recharge except... up there. I looked up and saw the night sky as bright as it could possibly be in Zone 4. The buildings around me were quite high but lower than the high rises in the Inner Zones. I found myself on the move once again to look for a way up there.

I followed the light of the night skies until it led me to a group of smaller buildings that didn't obscure the sky above. I cautiously made my way towards one of the smaller buildings. There was a fire escape on its side and with everything I've got left, I tried to leap up and grab onto the railings but it was too high up for me to reach. I made another attempt to reach up but it still wasn't enough.

"Need a hand?" I heard a low-pitched, heavily-processed voice out of nowhere.

I turned my head to the side and saw a person walking towards me. After running for what seemed like hours just a moment ago, I didn't even think twice about running away from whoever that was. I heard them call out to me and telling me to stop but I just ignored it. Looks like they've caught up to me somehow, but I was really running on empty. This is bad.

I fumbled a bit as I ran, I couldn't see clearly anymore and there were piles of junk scattered along the alleyway. When I took a turn to the right, however, I had to stop as I saw a figure of a person just standing there.

"Stop, let's just talk," the voice from earlier called out again.

I quickly turned around and run back the other way. But as I ran back, I suddenly felt my leg functions just shut down and I fell straight to the ground. I had to crawl and drag the weight of my lower body as far as I could but then I felt someone pull me by the back of my clothes.

"Please, I didn't kill her, I swear," I weakly pleaded.

The stranger turned my body over then took off their hood. The metallic face mask covering half their face unfolded by itself, revealing her face. She didn't look much older than us, well, how old we're supposed to look like t least.

"I know," she replied then asked. "Unit WW-97?"

"How do you know that?" I was a bit confused, to my knowledge our unit numbers were classified information. I wasn't exactly sure why but I suppose knowing about it would expose everything about us. Not even our managers knew about it, and they're basically in charge of our lives. Who is this person?

She didn't answer my question. She just held out their hand for me to take and I did. She pulled me up and I did try to lift myself up as well but I couldn't.

"My legs, I can't. My energy's almost drained."

The stranger dragged me to the side and I had my back against the wall. They pulled out a thick cord from the bag they were carrying on their back. They didn't say anything but they just stared at me as if waiting for me to do something. I paused for a second and realized I had to show them my charging port. I immediately pulled up my shirt and turned to my side a bit to expose my lower back.

As they brought the cord close to my back, my port surfaced and easily accepted it. Normally, I'd have to allow access to unknown devices first, which I was told to never do since it would risk getting my systems damaged, unless...

"That's NCF equipment," I told her.

"Yep," she answered simply.

"Where did you get that?"

"Some dude."

She didn't say anythingmore and I stopped asking too. I don't think she was much of a talker and I don'twant to get on her bad side. We were in silence the entire time we were waiting for my energy levels to get back to normal. After a while she removed the cord and told me,

"That's as much as I can give you."

The cord automatically slithered its way back to where she kept it.

She managed to get me back up to 67%. It was more than enough to get me back home at least. She then offered me her hand once more, which I immediately accepted. This time I managed to get myself back up on my feet.

Now that I didn't have to worry about myself, my thoughts shifted to my savior. She wasn't one of those people tracking me, that's for sure. But who was she?

"Are you BSA?" I asked.

"Those jerks?" she groaned. "Nah, I'm on your side."

"Another group like the BSA?"

"No, I work alone and I'm on your side. No more questions," she firmly told me. I didn't press her any further, she did save me after all I figured it shouldn't matter.

"Anyway, what's important is that you're safe. Did they ID you?" she asked me.

"I don't know?" I answered uncertainly. "I know they never got close to me to be able to ID me but I know they were in pursuit."

"Let's just assume they did. I guess I have to throw them off again," she replied. "You better get going. Straight back to NCF, you hear?"

Without waiting for a reply,she turned around and walked away from me. I watched her as she disappearedinto the dark alley I had come from. I took off not long after she did. I wish I'd gotten her name at least.

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