I ran towards Sonia's home with a fire on under my ass. I slammed the doors open and was startled when Milo was right behind the door. On his head were giant, oddly round glasses. He was sitting on the floor and he seemed to be grimacing.

"What are you in such a hurry for?" His voice sounded pained. He looked beaten. A large burn ran from his cheek to under his shirt. He held his other hand still as he tried to tie a bandage around his arm without hands.

"I- Do you need help?" Before Milo could say anything, I took the bandage from his mouth and proceeded to tie his hand much better than his clumsy attempt. "What happened to you? Evalyn went to help you- and now… You're like this.”

Milo fell to lie down. I sat down next to him. Milo laughed. "Well, me and Samuel tried... something. It failed hard. We got ambushed. Serena and Evalyn are fixing the things... that are broken now."

"Were the ambushing people giant. Who could do something like this?" Milo laughed loudly. His laugh was just the kind that covered every corner of the hall with its intensity.

"You should see the other guy." Milo's smile froze a bit when he noticed me being worried about him. "I have been worse, trust me." Milo raised his other hand which was a limp robot hand. Oh yeah, I forgot. I was such a idiot.

"How do you- So if you want to tell-" I would certainly have blathered on much longer if Milo hadn't slap his mechanical arm to the floor which made it work again. He tapped my shoulder gently.

"It's such a depressing story so warning." Milo looked at ceiling smiling wistfully. "My sister, Sonia's mom, she wanted to sacrifise herself to her new family. I was going to let her do it, but I changed my mind for a last second. I just got used to... Eh, You don't have to hear about me moaning. The important part was that I was too late to save her. Instead I was right in a zone for crumbling wall."

"I'm sorry if I opened any…wounds." I tried to smile as understandingly as possible. Milo's smile back was playful.

"Don't apologize when you don't have to. It's good to keep all memories alive, no matter how negative they are." We were silent for a couple of minutes. At the same time, I tied the bandage the man's hand properly. Milo turned his hand from side to side, then he just smiled at me. "Listen… Andy, can I ask you one thing?"

"I read a lot of books and every day I try to learn something that I might need. That's why I know how to tie bandages", I said enthusiastically. I had been reading a lot of hospital books lately when mom was away. Because of that, I probably know too much nipple information from brain surgery to psychology to myths.

"No, not that.Why did you want people to call you Andy?" I knew I had to answer that question eventually, but I couldn't figure out what to say.

"Evalyn asked."

"You could have told that you don't need a different name. What's that one letter change to you?"

I felt that my throat was dry. "I don't know. I'm not that creative. I just... I just... I have never felt that right with anything."

“Trust me, I know how you feel. Own identity is a tricky thing. A name that feels like your own... is the best feeling in the world.” A couple of tears fell down my cheek. I don't know why I cried.

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"Did you have another name too?" I desperately tried to shift my attention back to the man who was chirping a little annoyingly.

"Once, to people who used that name as weapon towards me. Sonia's mom made that world disappear, literally and figuratively. She literally held a gun on some guys head so he could change my name in every single document you could find on me. She was amazing." Milo laughed with himself remembering a memory that would sound traumatizing to other people. "After my 29th birthday, age my sister never got to know, I promised myself to live my life fully, with nothing to regret. I would fail her if I don't keep that promise."

I wanted to ask something about his sister, but I blurted out completly different: "I wish I could live freely."

"In here you can." Every thought that came into my head seemed like a dream. They were closer to reality than ever before, but it still felt so far away.

Fortunately, I didn't have to say another word. Sonia slammed the doors open and almost ran over us. In her lap were cold packs, bandages and strange mechanical machines. When she noticed us on the floor, she dropped all the things in his lap on the floor. She crawled next to me and grabbed Milo's mechanical hand. Milo squeezed her free hand gently to calm the girl down. Milo finally sat up and turned to Sonia. He motioned something to calm Sonia down and showed her the bandage I had made. Sonia looked at me, smiling.

"Andy, did you have anything to Sonia?"

Yes, I- Or we- We-" I blinked at Milo and Sonia for a while. "It's related to my and Sonia's... project that we've been doing while I'm here. I found a new clue, where could we get new clues. I'm sure Edan would like that too."

Sonia's eyes widened. She started thinking about something. He got up and walked over to the wall that was full of various weapons and pressed some button. Suddenly, the wall opened and a steep staircase appeared in the middle of the wall. Sonia then looked in my direction and waited for me to follow her to those stairs.

"Where are you going? Do you need weapons?" Milo stood up and walked up to the weapons wall. He took a rifle with the name "Bonnie Darling" written on it, and tried to give it to Sonia. When Sonia said no, Milo sighed. "Not even the shield? I fixed it. Nothing can get trough it. Still, be careful. I haven't had the time to fix the railing. Just follow Sonia."

I wanted to ask Milo something, but Sonia pulled me to the stairs. When we reached the top, a gigantic antenna-like device appeared beside us, behind which the whole of Tartaros was visible in all its beauty. When I looked more closely at the antenna, I could see a plaque among the rust that read "Air Purification Device."

I didn't have that much time till I fell from the ecxaxt railing Milo warned me about with Sonia. I fell to a roof of a nearby house. Sonia was nowhere to be seen. After some looking, I saw Sonia running between the roofs.

I looked around in every direction but down because I didn't want to pass out where I could fall. I tried to run after Sonia, but I froze as if I saw a gap between two roofs. So I was completely... I sat on the edge of the roof and silently decided that I wouldn't move from it unless Sonia came to pick me up.

"That can't be a comfortable place to sit," a young man's voice came from below me. I gripped the edge of the roof as hard as I could and looked down. A young-looking, but clearly grown-up man looked at me with a questioning smile. He was much plainer looking than the others in Tartaros. The most noticeable thing about him was his freckles, which almost completely covered his nose.

"I... Sonia... I don't know anything-", I tried to explain something, but the fear of the unknown took over me.

"Have you always had trouble with social situations?" That question hit me like an ax. No one has ever said my problems like that. Mom always said I was just shy. Louis used to tell me I was a coward. Yes, I would like to know how to talk to other people, to live a normal life. The only problem was that my own body wouldn't let it happen. I couldn't help but nod. "Sorry, that might have been a bit too forward. But you look now and like.. If Sonia gives you a break in parkour sometime, come and talk. Just ask Evan when you go to the hospital."

I smiled at the man as he walked away like he didn't just tell me that he might be the first to volunteer to listen to me. In his place appeared the giant hovering ship that I had just stared at less than 48 hours ago as it approached Tartaros. Sonia, who was at the control place, winked at me and told me to jump on board in one hand motion. What else can happen in one day?