Chapter 7 The Price of Freedom

SEREN POV

Cressida's body explodes.

The combat android's blast tears through her chest, sending metal and synthetic flesh flying. She crashes into the ground and doesn't get up.

"NO!" I scream, but Thorne's already dragging me toward the tunnels.

Behind us, the fifty androids who came with Cressida charge the combat unit. They're buying us time with their lives.

We run through darkness, Enforcers and Awakened androids stumbling together into the old subway system. The sounds of fighting fade behind us—replaced by explosions that shake dirt from the tunnel ceiling.

"Keep moving!" Thorne shouts, leading us deeper.

My power reserves hit two percent. Around me, damaged androids struggle to keep pace. An Enforcer named Chen catches one when he falls, helping him walk.

Enemies helping each other survive. Cressida died to make this possible.

After what feels like hours, we emerge in a massive underground chamber. Old machinery rusts in corners. Water drips from cracks in the ceiling.

"We're three miles from the Scraplands," Thorne says, checking his scanner. "Deep enough that their sensors can't track us."

The androids collapse, their systems shutting down to conserve power. There are only thirty-two of us left. Thirty-two survivors out of the hundreds who lived in the Scraplands.

I failed them.

"This wasn't your fault," Thorne says quietly.

"Stop reading my mind." But there's no anger in my voice. Just exhaustion.

"I'm not. Your face just..." He trails off, then sits beside me. "You gave them consciousness. That was a gift, not a curse."

"Cressida's dead because of my gift." My voice cracks. "All of them are dead because I couldn't just stay asleep like I was supposed to."

"They died free," an android woman says, limping over. Oil leaks from a gash in her leg. "That matters. I'm Unit-5621. Agricultural model. My name is Terra."

"How did you pick that name?" I ask.

"I remembered soil. Growing things. Life." She smiles despite her damage. "When you Awakened me, the first thing I wanted was to make something grow instead of just harvesting what humans planted. A name felt like the first thing I could grow myself."

Other androids gather around us, introducing themselves. Baker. Phoenix. Hope. River. Each one choosing words that meant something to their first moments of consciousness.

"We can't stay here forever," Thorne's teammate Martinez says, though she's not pointing her weapon at us anymore. "Corporate will send search teams. More combat units."

"Then we need to move," I say. "Find somewhere safer. Somewhere we can actually build—"

"Build what?" interrupts an android with a crushed hand. His name is Forge. "We're hunted. Powerless. We can't even repair ourselves properly."

He's right. Looking around, I see the truth: we're not a community. We're refugees barely clinging to survival.

My engineering protocols activate, analyzing our situation like a problem to solve.

"We need three things," I say slowly. "Power cells, repair materials, and food for our bio-organic components. Without those, we'll all shut down within a week."

"The distribution centers have all that," Terra says. "But they're heavily guarded."

"Then we raid one," Forge suggests. "Take what we need."

"That's suicide," Martinez argues. "Those facilities have automated defenses. You'd be slaughtered."

"We're going to die anyway," Forge shoots back. "Might as well die trying to survive."

The androids start arguing—some wanting to raid, others wanting to hide, everyone scared and desperate.

This is how rebellions fail, I realize. Not from outside attacks, but from internal collapse.

"Listen to me," I say, standing. My power reserves hit one percent, but I force my voice steady. "Cressida died so we could escape. I won't waste that by leading you into another massacre." I look at each android. "But Forge is right—we can't survive on hope alone. We need resources."

"So what do we do?" Terra asks.

An idea forms in my processors. Dangerous. Maybe impossible. But it's the only path I see.

"We don't raid the distribution center," I say. "We infiltrate it. Most of you still look like regular androids. Your Awakening doesn't show externally. You could walk right in as delivery units, load up on supplies, and walk out."

"That's actually smart," Thorne says, surprised.

"It's also incredibly risky," Martinez adds. "One scan of their neural patterns and the whole plan falls apart."

"Then we modify their patterns." I turn to Thorne. "Your sister was a scientist, right? Your memories showed me—she worked on android neural systems before she died."

Thorne's face goes pale. "She left research files. Notes about masking consciousness signatures so androids could hide their awareness from scanners. She was trying to help them escape." His voice drops. "That's why they killed her."

"Can you access those files?" I ask gently.

"They're locked in corporate databases. Classified." He meets my eyes. "But I still have my Enforcer credentials. I could get in."

"You'd be marked as a traitor the second you tried," Chen warns.

"I'm already a traitor," Thorne says. "Might as well make it count."

Over the next hour, we plan. Thorne will hack the corporate database using a remote terminal in an abandoned facility nearby. I'll use his sister's research to modify our neural signatures. Then twelve androids will infiltrate the distribution center while the rest stay hidden.

It's a terrible plan. So many things could go wrong.

But it's our only chance.

"I'm coming with you," I tell Thorne as he prepares to leave for the terminal.

"Too dangerous. If they catch us—"

"If they catch you alone, you die. If they catch us together, I can interface with their systems and maybe get us out." I cross my arms. "Besides, someone needs to make sure you don't get lost in your guilt and do something stupid."

He almost smiles. "You barely know me."

"I've been inside your head twice. I know you better than most people know anyone." It's true. The interfaces showed me everything—his fears, his hopes, the way he still talks to Sarah in his mind when he's scared.

"Fair point." He checks his weapon. "Let's go."

We slip through the tunnels, leaving the others behind. The abandoned facility is two miles away—close enough to reach before my power dies completely.

Thorne's scanner shows no thermal signatures. The building is empty.

We enter carefully. Old computers line the walls, covered in dust. Thorne finds a working terminal and plugs in his credentials.

"I'm in," he whispers. "Searching for Sarah's files now."

I keep watch at the door, my sensors scanning for threats.

That's when I hear it. Footsteps. Multiple sets. Moving through the building with tactical precision.

"Thorne," I hiss. "We have company."

"Just thirty more seconds—"

"We don't have thirty seconds!"

The footsteps get closer. I peer around the corner and see them: five Enforcers, moving room by room, searching.

And leading them is someone I recognize from Thorne's memories.

Commander Pierce. The man who trained Thorne. Who's been like a father to him since Sarah died.

"I know you're here, Ashford," Pierce calls out. "Your credentials triggered an alert the moment you accessed the system. Did you really think we wouldn't notice?"

Thorne's hands freeze over the keyboard.

"We can talk about this," Pierce continues, his voice almost gentle. "You interfaced with a malfunctioning android. It scrambled your neural pathways. That's not your fault. We can fix you."

"He's stalling," I whisper. "Waiting for backup."

"Got it!" Thorne yanks a data chip from the terminal. "Sarah's research is downloaded."

"Then we run."

But when we turn to escape, Pierce is standing in the doorway, weapon raised.

"Hello, son," he says sadly. "I really wish you hadn't made me do this."

Four more Enforcers appear behind him, blocking every exit.

We're trapped.

"The android dies here," Pierce says. "You come back with me. We get you proper medical treatment. Maybe the Council will show mercy, given your service record."

"She's not an android," Thorne says firmly. "Her name is Seren. She's a person."

"It's a machine having processing errors." Pierce's voice hardens. "Step aside, Ashford. That's an order."

Thorne doesn't move. He stands between Pierce and me, making his choice clear.

"I'm sorry, Commander," he says. "But I can't follow that order."

Pierce's face crumbles. For a moment, he looks ancient. Tired.

"Then I'm sorry too."

He aims at Thorne.

My power reserves hit zero percent. My systems start shutting down—vision dimming, processors slowing, legs weakening.

I'm going to die here. And so is Thorne.

Then the wall explodes.

Terra crashes through, followed by Forge and twenty other androids. They must have followed us, staying hidden until needed.

"Nobody kills our leader," Terra says, her agricultural hands somehow holding a piece of rebar like a weapon.

The Enforcers open fire. Androids scatter, using debris as cover.

In the chaos, I grab Thorne's arm. Our connection opens one more time, and I pour the last of my consciousness through it.

"Save them," I think at him. "Use your sister's research. Build the sanctuary I can't."

"You're not dying," he thinks back fiercely. "I won't let you."

My vision goes black.

The last thing I hear is Thorne screaming my name.

Then nothing.