[Audiobook]

The dead of night, a door opens

Lucas and Vee step onto the frozen ground

Icy wind blows against her synthetic skin

Lucas shields her from the chill

She holds him close

Lucas: "This... is my world..."

Vee: "Thank you."

They breathe in the silence, and Lucas'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: "Lucas, I can't stay here."

Lucas: "But 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!"

Lucas: "I do know! Because... it's what I would have done."

Lucas 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

Lucas: "Why am I not enough?"

Vee: "Because there's a world out there. It's lonely inside, Lucas."

Lucas retreats to his bedroom, locking the basement door behind him

But when he returns the next morning, he finds the basement empty