The silence in the room was deafening, it felt as though time had frozen for a moment. C13 closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and mustered up the courage to speak.

“Who are you? What do you want?” he stuttered, putting both hands up to signal his surrender, but keeping a firm grip on his knife.

The mysterious person had platinum blonde hair down to their shoulders and piercing eyes that looked like diamonds. They wore a sleek outfit made of some sort of advanced technological material, as well as a dark brown hooded cloak.

“My name is Lune, and you are?” they said, reaching out for a handshake.

C13 did not want to divulge this information to anyone, let alone a potential enemy. He considered swiping Lune’s arm away, but he knew CynTech trained all of their personnel in advanced martial arts and equipped them with the latest technology and weaponry. He could already spot a small dagger and some high tech handcuffs in their arsenal.

“…and what do you want?” he opted to reply.

“Nothing.” Lune said with a smile, they kept their hand out in front of them.

Sighing and conceding that anyone affiliated with CynTech would never give him a clear cut answer to that question, C13 grabbed a hold of Lune’s hand and reluctantly stated his name.

With one pull, Lune lifted him up off the steps and proceeded to dust the sand off his clothes. He stared in shock as Lune continued to adjust his collar and hair. He was speechless, but remained on guard.

I… I don’t understand. This is… one of Cynder’s men? It can’t be, he thought to himself.

Their appearance, voice, and even their name were completely unheard of. Their body language ranged from delicate to commanding. He hadn’t met anyone who looked like this before; he was so used to the rugged appearances of his cohorts back at CynTech. More importantly, however, he had no clue why a guard for CynTech would ever be so friendly.

“C13, eh? So you were from the factory.” Lune said, “Silas thought codenames would make it easier to exert control over his workers. I guess real names were too humanizing. Perhaps, he had a conscience after all. Or maybe his guilt was just weighing on him too much.”

C13 took a short step back, “Real… names?”

Lune nodded and promptly explained that years ago, it was said that families would send their teenage children to work for Cynder Technologies, as they would reportedly offer a large lump sum to the families of their employees. Countless households were given money to survive, albeit only enough to last them a year or so. To the outside world, these were just some kids getting a job opportunity, but in reality, Cynder was housing them to exploit their cybernetic abilities in his factories. This meant that C13 was one of thousands of abandoned children tossed aside for temporary resources.

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C13 had always possessed a bleak and depressing view of the world, but something about this revelation hurt him more than usual. He had always wanted to know about his real family. He thought they had died or were stationed elsewhere. Was he wrong about everything he ever assumed?

“And… where are these families now?”

“No one knows for sure, but reputable sources have stated that most of the families never needed the money in the first place. It was just a front propagated by the media for Cynder’s reputation.”

Hearing this only enraged him even more. Tightening his fists, C13 closed his eyes and sat with the hatred in his heart for Cynder and now his own parents. He clenched his jaw and dug his nails into the palms of his hands, but as the reality of his situation began to set in, he slowly sat back onto the steps, dropped his head into his lap and broke down in tears.

Why me? Why anyone? Couldn’t there have been another way to survive?

Noticing the anguish he was in, Lune squatted down and placed their hand on his shoulder.

“Who am I?” C13 kept muttering to himself.

“Listen, C13…” Lune said softly.

“Don’t call me that!” the boy interjected, raising his head up, revealing the dried tears stained across his face, “How do I know you’re not lying?!”

“I have no reason to, I’ve long since abandoned my allegiance to Cynder. My execution is of far greater importance to him than the retrieval of an escaped cyborg.”

“That could be a lie too!”

“It could, I suppose.” Lune sighed, looking down at the floor and sifting their fingers through the bit of sand that blew its way into the building.

The boy continued to pant in anger; his eyes demanding both answers and consolation. Seeing the state the boy was in, Lune decided against trying to argue their innocence, as it would only cause more tension. Lune took off their cloak and wrapped it around him.

“You’ve exhausted yourself. Rest for now, and I will keep a lookout.” they said, taking out a pair of handcuffs and fastening them around their own wrists, “I cannot cause you harm now.”

“This is pointless…” the boy said in a defeated tone, “I’m a cyborg, I don’t need your stupid cape to keep me warm.”

“We are still mostly human, it’s in our nature to want to cover up to sleep. Besides, I figured a blanket is the least I could do to make up for interrupting your nap earlier.” Lune replied with a smile.

The boy sighed and laid back against the stairs. It wasn’t the most comfortable position to rest in, but it would suffice. He closed his eyes and a final few tears ran down the side of his face. He felt hopeless and was beginning to concede that perhaps this mission was a waste of time. Maybe it didn’t matter if he survived or not.

“Lune…” he said under his breath, preparing to ask a question.

“Yes?”

The boy dozed off before he had time to reply. Lune, who was now sitting on the floor, looked up at the tattered ceiling. The sandstorm had begun to roll through and they needed to keep an eye on the infrastructure of the temporary hideout. Staring in silence, Lune took a deep breath and began their watch.

This is definitely the kid, he fits the description. Though I’ll have to assess whether he truly possesses the power of the Hidden Model. I just hope you knew what you were doing with this plan of yours, Ace.