I backed against a wall so Quinn couldn't sneak up behind me. I felt good, I was ready to fight again. But as I scanned the lab, waiting for any movement, I saw… nothing.

I moved through the lab carefully, checking behind each table, each piece of equipment. My hands, balled into fists, ready to strike as soon as her big fat head showed itself. But as I made my way through the lab, even peaking my head out the lab door and into the corridor. Quinn was nowhere to be found.

"She's not here?" the girl's voice chimed in my head.

"Doesn't look like it," I replied, still whispering and walking cautiously, just in case.

I relaxed slightly, my attention fell back on the fridge. I grabbed one of the zip lock bags and made my way back over to it. I looked inside, only a few vials remained, I realized not all of them were the same color?

There were three different colors; two of the red vials, which were health. But there were also two green vials and one yellow.

"Do you know what these other colors do?" I asked the girl.

"The yellow one is an XP boost, but only for a short time," the girl replied, "and the green one's an adrenaline boost that increases your energy for a bit."

"Nice," I said as I grabbed them and put them into the bag. "Okay, let's go."

I ran out of the room and sprinted down the corridors, following the path of drone shrapnel. It felt like it had taken hours to get from the control room to the lab. But on the way back, now with full health, I was back in the control room in a few minutes. I scanned the monitors as my metal heart raced. There was no sign of Quinn, Rover, or Milo.

I stuck my head out of the hole into the large stadium-sized room, "Milo!" I shouted, but there was no response, just an eerie silence.

"Hey, girl?" I said, "Is there any way we could find Milo?"

"Stop calling me girl,” she said as I realized I'd never actually asked if she even had a name. “My name is Sheila!"

"Oh? Sorry, Sheila…" That name sounded familiar but I wasn't sure why and I didn't have time to figure it out.

"So, Sheila, is there a way to find Milo?" I asked.

"You have no current powers that can help you. But there are some things that could if you level up enough."

"How far away from the next level am I?"

"You are 305.66666xp away, you are also one point away from leveling up your hand combat skill," she said, "but it doesn't look like there are any more bad guys to fight."

"Can’t you just give me another mission so I can level up?" I asked.

"I don't create the missions, I just come up with the names," she replied.

"Wait, who comes up with the missions?"

"Oh, there is a robot that determines the missions for me."

"So my AI has an AI?"

"There is a new mission for you though," Sheila said, ignoring my comment.

'Mission accepted: escape the facility' appeared at the top of my vision.

I stuck my head back out of the hole, scanning the room, looking for any clue that might suggest where Milo might have gone. The giant saber tooth sat in a large heap of metal against one of the sides of the room. Then I saw Leo, he was still here, they had left his body.

I jumped out of the hole and ran over to where he lay. I dropped to my knees, placing the bag of stims on the ground as I knelt next to him, "This is all my fault," I whispered, my voice cracking. "Sheila, is there any way to revive him?"

"I don't know," she replied softly.

I nodded, not really expecting a different answer. I looked at Leo's face, usually creased with anger and determination, it now looked alien, and not just because it was a robot cat face. He looked peaceful. I'd never seen him look peaceful, it felt wrong!

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"I'm gonna make this right," I promised, trying to make my voice sound more confident than I felt. "I'm gonna get Milo, then I'm gonna find a way to bring you back. Somewhere, somehow, there's a way to bring you back!"

I hauled myself up back onto my feet. I snagged the bag of stims and placed it on top of Leo's chest. Then, with a grunt, I scooped up my brother's body. Even with my increased strength, Leo felt like he weighed as much as a small car.

As I adjusted my grip, something caught my eye. One of the floor panels was missing, leaving a gaping hole where the robotic tigers had made their dramatic entrance earlier.

"Well, that's not ominous at all," I muttered, as I walked over to the hole.

As I trudged towards the hole, carrying Leo, I noticed a crumpled, small form lying on the ground near the hole, motionless. Dr. Purkins' body sprawled face-down on the tiled floor, his lab coat was stained dark with blood.

"Dr. Purkins!" cried Sheila. "We have to save him too."

"Are you serious?" I asked, but she didn't respond.

I sighed, trying to find the right words to explain it to her. "Look, Dr. Purkins is the reason this all happened. He's the bad guy here. Leo was my brother, my family."

"But Dr. Purkins created you," Sheila said, sounding genuinely confused.

"Created us?" I scoffed. "He kidnapped us and forced us into... whatever we are now. He is the reason Leo is dead."

I shifted Leo's weight in my arms, the metal of our bodies scraped together as the bag of stims rolled into the crease between our bodies.

"Look, family isn't about who creates you. It's about who is willing to be there for you when it doesn't benefit them. Leo and Milo, they're my brothers. We've been through hell together."

"I guess that makes sense," she said. "So are we family?"

"Sure," I replied trying to make her feel better.

"Okay," she responded, a little more cheerful.

I stood above the hole, looking down into the eerie darkness. Milo said that there was probably a way out through these tunnels. It must have been how Quinn and Rover got out of here without me noticing.

I took a deep breath and readied myself. With Leo's body in my arms, the hole was steep, but I managed to lower the both of us down into it. It was pitch black. The only saving grace was my neon glow created the smallest amount of light that allowed me to see a wall just before I bumped into it.

"Sheila, do you have any info on these tunnels?" I asked.

"No," she replied, "sorry".

I continued on, scanning for any signs of Milo, Quinn, or Rover. Eventually, I reached a fork in the path, I squinted into the dim light unsure of which way to go. Just as I was about to choose one at random, something glinted on the ground. It was a small, twisted piece of metal. I looked down the corridor.

"Milo?" I called out, my voice echoed down the tunnel.

Could he have left it for me? It had to be him, he was still alive! I turned the metal piece over in my hand. He was leaving me a trail.

As I continued down the corridors, I heard a distant sound that reverberated from above, through the facility’s structure. It was faint, but it sounded like footsteps coming from above. A lot of footsteps.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered to Sheila.

"I don't have ears," she replied, missing the point entirely.

The echoes that came from above weren’t the familiar clanking of metal I had grown used to. Instead, they sounded like the soft thud of rubber souls, the occasional squeak of leather. Like human footsteps. But, whoever it was, I doubted that they were here to rescue me.

I repositioned my arms under Leo's body, as if that would make him lighter, and started moving faster through the tunnels, trying to be as quick, but also as quiet as possible. At every fork I came across there would be another metal piece waiting. It had to be Milo.

I continued down the corridors as my mind raced, trying to figure out who could be making the noise above me? Did Purkins have human goons as well? Could it have been robots wearing shoes?

As I rounded a corner, I saw a light at the end of the corridor. An exit? A trap? It didn't matter, it was all I had. I approached the end of the corridor, as my metal feet clanked against the floor. As I got close enough, I noticed that the light illuminated a large circular platform. It looked like some kind of lift, designed to transport those robo-tigers or other large, heavy things from the main facility, down into the tunnels.

"Well, isn't that something," I muttered, eyeing the platform warily.

"It looks like the way out," Sheila chimed in.

I nodded but hesitated. The platform looked sturdy enough, but activating it would probably make a racket. I glanced up at the hole above the platform. It was a good 20 feet up, I could easily climb it, by myself. But Leo...

I looked down at Leo. The weight of his metal body felt heavier than ever. "I can't leave him, I'm not leaving him," I said, more to myself than to Sheila.

Before Sheila even had a chance to try and talk me out of it, I pushed the button on the platform, raising it up. Its gears grinded as the platform made a loud cranking sound as it moved up.

The platform groaned and creaked as it ascended, the sound echoed through the tunnel. I winced, knowing it was probably alerting everyone above that we were coming.

As we neared the top, I tensed, ready for anything. The platform shuddered to a halt with a DING as it locked into place. I was in a large, empty room. Large doors that were probably meant for machinery and robotic tigers to fit through stood in front of me.

"Sheila? Any idea where we are?" I whispered.

"No idea," she replied.

Great. Just great. I stepped off the platform, Leo's body still cradled in my arms. The doors began to open on their own. A bright light shone through into the room, two silhouettes appeared as the doors opened wide enough.

"There's another one!" one of the silhouettes shouted.

Light filled the room, and as my eyes adjusted I realized the silhouettes were two human security guards. They were both covered in blood.