“I can’t do this,” said Valerie. “Not anymore.”

“You know what you’re saying?”

Amidst perfectly manicured rose bushes, they sat side by side on side on a terrace swing watching the crimson sun sink into the Pacific.

Christian hung his arm over the edge of the swing, swirling a glass tumbler, sloshing ice and the last remaining drops of amber liquid.

“Of course I know what I’m saying.”

“You can’t ask me to do this.”

“I can’t do it myself.”

“Don’t ask me to do this.”

“There is no one else to ask.”

“I won’t do it.”

Her voice was soft like a lullaby. “You will. You know you will. You said you loved me. That you would do anything for me.”

After a moment of silence, he tore his gaze away from the setting sun. “I lied.”

Valerie smiled, running a hand alongside his cheek and through his hair. “You can’t lie to me. I know you too well.”

He collapsed into her embrace. She held his head to her bosom, combing his hair with her fingers.

“It’s funny,” she said. “I should be the one broken up about this. But look at you, going to pieces.”

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“You always were the strong one.”

“I know.”

Valerie rocked her foot in rhythm with the swing. A soft squeak kept time.

“I can’t go on like this, knowing there is someone out there willing to harm others to get to me.”

“But he didn’t hurt anyone. They were synthetics.”

Before Valerie could issue a response, Christian averted his gaze. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You did.” Silently, she stroked his hair. “I’m not special.”

“You are. To me.”

“Wires and circuits and plastic. Just like RX-S7. He even had a name. They called him Scott.”

“No. Nothing like him.” Christian hesitated. “I don’t love him.”

His words stole her breath. He was supposed to be the practical one, the hard edge of reality.

“That’s just it,” she said. “I shouldn’t be alive. If the attack had happened to you, I’d be the one in mourning. There would be no second chances.”

“But it was you. And you survived. Twice.”

She paused, looking out at the horizon. The sun was partially hidden behind a copse of clouds, painting the sky ruby. A golden glow reflected off the endless sprawl of Pacific. Even from this distance, she could hear the waves crashing on the shore, a peacefully calm white noise that had been the soundtrack of her life.

“I didn’t.” She shook her head. “I’m not like you. I can’t forget. The memories are there. And they always will be, as vivid and alive as if I was experiencing the attack for the first time. I can’t escape them. Death is a part of living that I will never truly know.”

“But you can live forever.”

She nodded. In the past few days, she hadn’t given much thought to his concerns, and understandably so. But she finally understood why he had fallen for her in the first place. She had always wondered what he saw in her. She was unable to provide a family, unable to give him what biology could offer. But still, he worshiped her, and while she took his love at face value, there was a part of her that could never understand why.

Until now.

Instead of family, she gave him an escape from his own mortality.

She gave him a reason to love another.

This was the person you wanted to pass immortality on to the world, through genes or legacy. And sadly, she couldn’t be that for Christian.

Not anymore.

She said the words she needed to. Words she knew would break his heart.

“I don’t want to live forever.”

“You can’t do this.” Christian sat upright. His voice edged on pleading. Moisture rimmed his eyes. “I’m going to miss you.”

“As I will you.”