Morning had arrived and the storm was subsiding. Hanging their legs off the edge of the worn down roof was Lune, they had seemingly found the only spot stable enough to handle their weight. Lune had remained on reconnaissance all night. Being a higher ranking member of CynTech granted cyborgs a flurry of perks, including ocular technology for night vision.

“I really should’ve thought this whole handcuff thing through.” they said to themselves, desperately trying to scratch an itch on their back.

Amidst the final clouds of sand swirling through the air, a silhouette of three men could be seen walking towards the building. Noticing it was a CynTech tracking unit, Lune hopped down to confront them.

“Hey, fellas! How’s it going?!” Lune said in a cheerful tone.

Unamused, the leader of the group spoke up, “The hell are you doing out here, Lune, and what’s with the cuffs? Did an enemy do this to you?”

“Oh, these? Haha, y’know, sometimes a guy’s gotta experiment once in a while.”

“Quit the games, punk. Our radars led us to this location. I’m assuming you’ve secured another escapee?” His tone was very stern and he kept a serious look in his eyes at all times.

“Nah, another dead end.” Lune replied, “Seems one of the cyborgs must’ve removed their tracker and left it here as a decoy knowing the recent sandstorm would’ve covered their footprints.”

“Boss, I think I see someone inside the building!” one of the members shouted.

The squad leader rolled his eyes and stepped closer to Lune. He wanted answers and the only way he knew how was through intimidation. Grabbing a hold of Lune’s collar, the leader asked again for clarification.

“It seems to be another escaped cyborg, sir!” the other member said, “Another one of those rogue cyborg freaks. Do we need ‘em dead or alive?”

Lune was visibly vexed, knowing the façade was up, “The only rogue cyborg here is me.”

Within a split second, Lune kicked the leader of the troop to the ground and dashed towards the other two soldiers. Startled, they reached for their weapons, but it was too late. Lune had grabbed one of the men’s arms and pulled him closer to use as a shield. Wrapping their cuffed wrists around the neck of the man, Lune attempted a chokehold. The second soldier rushed to the rescue and took out a small dagger. With each lunge of his blade, Lune countered by shifting his teammate in the way of the attack.

“Stop!!” the first soldier screamed in pain, “Just get this thing off me!”

“Thing.” That’s what they always used to call me.

Lune’s decision to go rogue was not only out of empathy for all of the cyborgs being exploited. They also had a vendetta against their former colleagues. Despite their clear natural talent and friendly demeanor, Lune was targeted by most CynTech guards and soldiers for their appearance.

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Lune had been selected to work on Cynder’s security detail after exhibiting a significant amount of strength and proficiency in the role they were previously assigned. However, Lune always presented themselves in an unconventional manner. They were light-hearted, positive, but most noticeable of all, they looked completely different from everyone else. CynTech’s guards were all towering in height, with disheveled faces and intimidating attitudes. Lune, on the other hand, had much softer features and had no interest in the typical battle-hardened visage.

The enforcement roles were only offered to male cyborgs, which Lune qualified for. However, due to his unconventional appearance, the other guards refused to accept him. Cynder couldn’t care less who was selected, they were all cannon fodder to him anyway, but for the six years Lune was in service to the company, not one guard treated him with respect.

“Six years. Six years I had to put up with you.” Lune said, gritting his teeth, “You all called me a monster… and treated me like one.”

With all the commotion, the young boy awoke from his slumber and slowly made his way to the door of the building.

“Hey, man! Look, you’re one of us, okay?” the first soldier said, his voice trembling in fear as he tried to remove Lune’s arms from around his neck.

The leader returned to the battle with a high-tech rifle, firing shots straight at Lune and the helpless soldier. Taking the brunt of the attack, the first soldier had been killed. The second soldier went in for another strike of his dagger and Lune blocked it with the cuffs, causing them to break.

With the handcuffs out of the picture, Lune was free to unleash all of his pent up rage on the remaining two members. It was no surprise to the soldiers that Lune was far above their skill level. The moment the fight began, the plan had become a matter of stalling Lune for one of them to retreat with the escaped cyborg.

Back during their days at CynTech, the security team leaders had an acute awareness of every guard's abilities and strengths. They felt threatened by the idea of Lune eventually joining them or taking their spot in the ranks. Each guard generally had a code name or classification to denote their talent level. Lune was always referred to as “The Monster.”

The leaders knew, if he wanted to, Lune could easily turn on them while some of their higher ranking members were out on a mission. They hoped that if they belittled him, he would struggle to develop self confidence and opt to conform to their rules.

“B84, grab the kid and run. I’ll deal with this freak.” the leader shouted.

“Yes, sir! I’m on-“ the soldier’s sentence was cut short as Lune shoved his hand into the man’s torso, causing him to completely shut down. Lune’s eyes were now emitting a bright yellow glow and his face lit up with a harrowing grin. The leader immediately backed away, placed his weapon down and shouted his surrender to Lune.

The yellow eyes were a sign of the activation of Lune’s special ability. Yellow eyes were stage one, with orange and red as stage two and three respectively. He was one of very few cyborgs that had been gifted with a secret file known as the Hidden Model.

“Okay, okay, relax, Lune. Stand down. I won’t fight you!” the leader said as Lune maniacally laughed over the fallen body

Dragging the body of the soldier towards their leader, Lune said in an ominous voice: “This is your only chance to escape. Take this soldier back with you, I’ve only reconfigured his internal circuitry. One of your mechanics can bring him back. Now leave… and never return.”

The leader picked up his teammate and retreated. Lune held his hands over his eyes and grunted. He knelt down and began to weep. After a moment, he returned to his feet, walked over to the one fallen cyborg and attached a small device to one of his arms.

“Come on, kid. Let’s get out of here.” he said, revealing that he was aware the boy witnessed the incident, “We’ll head in whichever direction you were originally going.”

The boy remained silent, noticing how distraught Lune looked. He checked his pockets to make sure he wasn’t missing anything and promptly followed Lune while pointing out the way. No words were exchanged as the two cyborgs trekked forth across the lifeless expanse.