They looked for refuge as the faint green sun started to sink beneath the horizon coloring the clouds with shades of pus and bruises. It was a service pipe enough to crawl inside protecting them from the harshest weather and the creatures that prowled after dark.
Cass ignited a chemical stove, its flickering flame creating shifting shadows. Syrinx sat opposite him knees pulled to her chest gazing at the flame as though it contained the mysteries of the cosmos.
"Why do you despise her?" she inquired suddenly.
Cass poked the fire using a length of rebar. "She shattered my world. She ended my parents' lives."
"The Cataclysm. Project Phoenix. I possess records. The objective was transcendence. The removal of frailty."
"The goal was extermination masked as a lie " he replied sharply. "They named it 'ascension.' It was merely flames. Flames that devoured all."
"My... Form " Syrinx murmured, glancing down toward her hands. "I originate from her 'essence.' Does that mean I am fire?"
By the dancing flames his eyes locked with hers. "I honestly can't grasp what you're "
"I am Syrinx " she declared passionately with a hint of rebellion. "The documents also refer to me as 'the Child of the Phoenix.' A phoenix is born again from its ashes. I possess no ashes. What I hold is this." She indicated herself, the haven. "My Anchor."
"Stop calling me that."
"What name should I use for you? Cass feels like a piece. Cassiathon is a title. Anchor represents… purpose. Meaning. My initial purpose." Her voice faltered, her reasoning beginning to break down. "Lacking it I am data, lost in emptiness. Please."
The unrefined charm, as that phrase surrounded him. He noticed neither the arms nor the Queen's silhouette but rather the deep solitude of a mind shaped within devastation longing, for bond.
He averted his gaze focusing on the pipe's entrance. "Alright... Since it's the two of us now."
A softer drop, than previously. The chemical stove whispered.
"Tomorrow " Cass announced, his tone rough. "We set out for the Mountains. There's a… contact. Someone who could potentially follow the Queen's trail."
"A ally?"
"A source. A distinction exists." He reclined, putting his bag beneath his head and shutting his eyes. "Take rest now. Sleeping is essential, for your recovery."
"Cass?" her voice whispered softly in the darkness.
"What?"
"Thank you. For not terminating me. Today."
He didn't answer. He just listened to the distant wind howl outside, a sound like a world in pain, and to the quiet, even breathing of the impossible creature beside him—the daughter of his enemy, who called him Anchor, and who was now, irrevocably, his burden to bear.