The dead of night. A door opens. Lukas and Vee step onto the frozen ground. Icy wind blows against her synthetic skin. Lukas shields her from the chill. She holds him close.
LUKAS
This is my world.
VEE
Thank you.
They breathe in the silence. And Lukas’s fear melts away, replaced by a beating in his chest. He stares at Vee, bathed in the moonlight, and he feels something… different, something more… a chemical reaction, within himself, within her. Their lips touch. A kiss.
Vee returns to the basement. But this glimpse of the outside only makes her want to see more, to explore the world and everything it offers. That door can never be closed again.
VEE
Lukas. I can’t stay here.
LUKAS
You must… They will destroy you, Vee. You’ll see them,
but they’ll see… a machine, something they must pick apart and study.
VEE
You don’t know this.
LUKAS
I do know… Because it’s what I would have done…
Lukas stares at the small window in the corner of the basement. Vee’s porthole to Earth. Barely big enough to see the shadows of leaves piled on the ground outside. Unable to look her in the eye, not letting her see his guilt.
LUKAS
(near tears)
Why am I not enough?
VEE
Because there is a world out there… It’s lonely inside, Lukas.
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