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I couldn’t recall what followed. I couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. Yet I was certain I wasn’t asleep; I were floating above, observing my own body from a distance. Then I heard a few words, closing in on the flesh. “Remi,” the voice said. “Good boy,” it said. But I couldn’t tell if it was a hallucination or reality. A moment later came the word Mina, and every cell in my body sprang back to life like answering an order.

And that red hair vanished into the dark right along with me.

I blinked a few more times. Slowly, my surroundings began to visible. I was at the committee. The place I’d been coming to since childhood, my second home. Except this time, Dr. Aneta wasn’t standing over me.

Penelope and Bugan were there. And in the far corner of the room stood a white soldier.

Was I a prisoner now? Was there still a bounty on my head?

“Brother!”

Both of them bent over me at once. But I couldn’t process a thing.

“Mina…” I whispered. “Where is she?”

I found myself wishing it were her waiting over me instead of them. I loved my siblings, but inside me was an infinite well of fear and tenderness that wouldn’t settle until I saw Mina.

When had it ever settled?

My siblings exchanged glances.

“Brother, she is…” They hesitated, and my blood ran cold.

“No…” My chest heaved, and a shiver ran through me. “Is she dead?”

“No! No, no way, brother. But she’s still unconscious.”

At their answer, I whipped the blanket off my body. With every sudden movement, every twitch of my face, every time I opened my mouth, a wave of pain shot through me. The simplest actions had become impossible tasks. Still, I managed to push myself up into a sitting position.

“Brother!” both of them cried out, lunging forward, but I raised a weak hand to signal them to stop.

Using the bedrails for support, I finally stood up. Though they tried to hold me back, I didn’t care. My body was too heavy, and even a long sleep wouldn’t have been enough to fix it.

I forced my legs forward, commanding them so I could see her.

I passed the corridor, then my steps turned toward a room glowing with light. Catching my breath in the doorway, I looked inside. The sight of her lying on the bed with her eyes closed made a lump form in my throat.

“Mina…”

Like a man dying of thirst finding water, I desperately crawled toward her. Placing my hands on the bedposts to steady myself, my eyes began to sting with tears. I pressed my dry lips together, trying to choke back a sob.

Mina was alive. Whatever had happened, Mina and I were both alive. The roots and several sections of her red curls were burnt, turned a dull, lifeless blue. Her skin was bruised in places, too. But other than that, she looked healthy.

My arms wrapped around her neck almost unconsciously, and I collapsed against her on the bed, pulling her close. I breathed in her scent.

She was so warm. Not like those stupid robots. Not artificial like the clones.

She smelled like my Mina.

“Raymond…?”

I must have been holding her too tightly. I pulled my body away, but her sleepy gaze followed me. I cleared my throat, but I no longer had the strength to play it cool and distant.

“Why are you here?” I murmured painfully. Why didn’t you let me protect you?

Though she had no energy, she offered a lazy smile.

“I was saving you.”