A teenaged girl with two long teal colored pigtails ran along the hallway as fast and as silently she could. Her bare feet made soft thuds as she sprinted past the gray walls with its dull blue lights. She suddenly skidded to a stop and stiffened up, pressing her back against the wall. Before her, the passage was split into two halls going in opposite directions. She glanced at her watch, her blue eyes narrowing in frustration. Time was running out. However, she needed to wait. As she waited, she idly drummed her fingers against the wall behind her. Her mind drifted back and she swirled her finger around her information sheet.

Hatsune Miku. Age 15. Female. Birth date: August 31st. Her information sheet displayed that she was 158 cm tall. Her nationality was Japanese.

This was all under a title called Biographical Information. To Miku, all of this sounded pretty normal. But it was the section underneath on the information sheet that broke all the boundaries of being normal. This section was labeled Vocaloid Information. In this section, it stated that Miku was VOCA Crypnoid #010, her rank was S (which translated into: extremely dangerous and highly lethal), her power type was Cyber/Universal Force Hybrid. Specifics stated that her cyber power was hacking and electronic sensing and her universal force power was atomic manipulation.

So what was a Crypnoid? Even Miku found this question a bit hard to answer. But before the concept of Crynoids could be understood, one had to know what Crypton was. Crypton was an institute founded by a group of scientist who had found the secret to intergalactic travel. Soon after, the same scientists had uncovered the remains of some alien cells on earth. They then discovered that by fusing the alien DNA with the cells of humans, they could create something that was superhuman. After incorporating nanobots with the alien cells, they created the first Crypnoid. Of course, all of this was kept away from the rest of the world. Everything that the scientists were doing was considered to be in Sci-fi genre by the rest of the world, and even if it were somehow revealed, most people would consider it to be an elaborate joke and laugh it off. The institute in which the Crypnoids were in was located in deep space, somewhere in the depths of the inner asteroid belt, where the institute was disguised as an asteroid.

To put it simply, Crypnoids were androids. The VOCA crypnoids were about 70% human, 20% alien and 10% machine, while the UTAU Crypnoids were 30-45% human, 35-50% alien, and 20% machine. On the surface, they were the same as all humans. They ate, slept, spoke, saw, heard and thought. In fact, all of the Crypnoids were originally human before they had been taken by Crypton and turned into androids. All of their bodily and psychological functions were human. However, the similarities stopped there. These androids had superhuman strength, fast regeneration powers and high intelligence. However, the main thing that separated them from humans was that they had superpowers. Most Crypnoids had one superpower, but there were rare hybrids like Hatsune Miku, who had two powers. Whenever Crypnoids used their powers, their eyes would turn a bright crimson red. The otherworldly traits that the Crypnoids possessed (the superhuman strength, regeneration, etc) varied between different Crypnoids. Some were strong in a certain area and weak in others, some were strong in almost everything, and others were weak.

The Crypnoids were split into two main groups, which were the VOCA group and the UTAU group. VOCA Crypnoids were about 70% human, 20% alien and 10% machine, while the UTAU Crypnoids were 30-45% human, 35-50% alien, and 20% machine. The eyes of a UTAU would also be different from VOCAs, as UTAUs had naturally occurring red eyes while the eyes of a VOCA would only turn red upon using superpowers. When a UTAU used superpowers, the whites of their eyes would turn black while the iris would turn red. This meant that the VOCA Crypnoids would be weaker than the UTAUs, but the UTAUs would have a less stable mind. Also, most VOCAs knew nothing about the UTAUs and vice versa. It was only a coincidence that Miku knew about the UTAUs, as she had accidentally listened to a conversation that the scientists were having. She knew nearly nothing more than the fact that UTAUs existed.

The most obvious physical trait that was a telltale sign of a Crypnoid was a small device located on the back of their heads. It was called a port. It was a small button with two parts, an outer ring and an inner compartment. If the small compartment was slid open, a connection port could be visible, where cables could connect the Crypnoids to configure the nanobots, which were key in maintaining the Crypnoid's superpowers. The nanobots were the ones that made sure that there weren't any wrong mutations happening in the Crypnoid's body, and also to keep the alien DNA in check. The nanobots also activated the Crypnoids' superpowers. A command from the brain would get the nanobots to activate the alien DNA in the cells, therefore activating a Crypnoid's superpower. The outer ring, however, had an entirely different purpose. The outer ring was separated into two halves. The upper half when pushed would make the Crypnoid lose their powers temporarily. There were other ways to make them lose their powers temporarily, which could be overusage or special signals admitted that would disable their powers. When the lower half was pushed, it released a lethal chemical into the person's body, causing them to disintegrate and perish. It was not a pleasant death. However, this button had to be pushed very hard for at least 15 seconds to trigger the Switch. However, Switching wasn't the only way to kill a Crypnoid. Although these androids regenerated fast, if they sustain enough fatal wounds, they would still die. The rate of regeneration for Crypnoids varied; though currently no Crypnoid was able to regenerate lost limbs. Also, they usually only healed about 5-10 times faster than humans. Crypnoids could also die from illnesses if they were severe enough and most of them were susceptible to poisoning.

Miku clenched her fists in anger as she remembered the inhumane experiments that the scientists had done on her and the other Crypnoids. She remembered the people who were ruthlessly killed simply because they weren't good enough. The only reason that she herself had survived until now as because of that fact that she was rank SS.

Miku was escaping, running away from the hell hole that had tortured her for so long. Miku was considered lucky, as she was one of the few who held on to their memories of the outside world. Many of the Crypnoids who were on the younger side had absolutely no recollection of the outside world due to their young age when taken. As for others, memories were lost during excessive experimenting, or were simply blurred as time went on and the mind focused on other things. Miku had forgotten almost everything about the outside world, other than the fact that it existed and that it was much better than Crypton.

Suddenly a voice jerked her out of her thoughts. "Yo, Miku."

Miku turned around and came face to face with her brother. Miku sighed. "Don't spook me out like that Mikuo, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

Right, she thought. We were escaping. Miku was about to ask what Mikuo found on the right passageway at the cross section when he turned and answered the very thing Miku was thinking. "The right passageway has a trillion traps along it, probably courtesy to Luka."

The pink haired android had escaped a week ago, and as a result, security was now tighter than ever. Miku had been worried about Luka's plan to go separately, as she believed that the more people they had, the easier they could withstand assaults. But her pink haired friend had assured Miku that the less people, the harder it was for them to be discovered. After that, Luka had volunteered to escape first, ignoring Miku's protests about her wellbeing and safety, to act as a guinea pig for their plan. Luka had mapped out some possible routes as she escaped, and had compiled a map for Miku and any others who were escaping to use. Although Miku's strongest power was her Univeral Force power, Atomic manipulation, she was an A rank Cyber user specializing in receiving transmissions past an otherwise unpenetrable firewall. The day before, Miku had hacked past the firewall to receive Luka's map of the institute. This took longer than expected, as her hacking skills were on the lower end, but she did manage to get the map.

Miku wished that mnay more people could have gone with her, but their plan had to remain in utter secrecy, lest they get caught. They couldn't afford to trust anyone, unless they were absolutely sure that they wouldn't say anything at all costs. Miku remembered debating with Luka over the subject of letting more people know about their plan to escape.

"No." said Luka, firmly.

Miku crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "Why not? Personally, I think that the more people we get outta this hell hole, the better."

Luka sighed and gave Miku a sad look. "Miku, you don't understand. Not everyone wants to escape. Not everyone knows that what's out there is much better than what we have here. Not everyone knows the concept of family and love. Not everyone hates this place like we do. People cannot wish for something they don't know, and sadly many of those who live in this institute know not the existence of freedom nor the world where we came from."

Miku frowned and looked down at the ground. "But I trust that there are quite a number of people who I think wouldn't tell anyone. They're our best friends! C'mon Luka! Like for example, Rin and Len would NEVER tell anyone!"

Taking a deep breath, Luka looked Miku in the eye. "We cannot tell Rin and Len. They are too loyal and naïve. They know nothing about the concept of freedom. They may seem nicer than the others, but deep down they are the same. If we told them, Rin and Len would probably not only spill the beans, but also turn against us upon a single word from their master."

Shocked, Miku couldn't find anything to say. But deep down Miku knew that there was always something they didn't tell her, that they were holding back. Miku really wanted to escape with her two best friends, but she knew the risk that came with telling them.

Miku surveyed the other corridor. She knew that time was running out, and by this time they would have definitely been noticed already. Going back the way she came was too precarious. Miku knew that she and her brother didn't have any choice but to follow the other corridor.

Grabbing Mikuo's hand, Miku sprinted down the corridor. As Miku ran, she had the uneasy nagging feeling that she had forgotten something very important. Miku stopped to catch her breath when she heard her brother. "Oh no…."

"What?" Miku turned towards her brother. Mikuo didn't say anything. Instead, he pointed a shaking finger at the ceiling. Miku squinted as she tried to make out what was on the ceiling. Mikuo seemed to be pointing at a little black circle. Wait…Miku thought. The black circle was a surveillance camera!

"Oh no!" cried Miku. "I didn't sense the camera!"

Miku cursed herself for being so careless. Now their little escapade was probably displayed nicely on every scientist's computer. They were lambs walking into a lion's den, where the lion was patiently anticipating its meal. Miku felt tears pricking at the edges of her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away before they could form into anything. She took a deep breath. Think. She told herself. Think. Onii-san's life and yours depend on whether or not you find a way out of the situation.

Miku bit her lip. The video camera situation seemed very strange now that she thought of it. The routes that Miku was currently taking were the routes with very few video cameras. Her cyber abilities allowed her to be able to sense any active technical instruments, so she should have been able to sense the cameras, and therefore run in their blind spots. She had not sensed anything, so she had then concluded that there were no cameras. Unless… Miku came to the only possible logical conclusion.

"I should have been able to sense the camera. I didn't sense it, so that could only mean that the camera was shut down. Now that I'm trying to sense the cameras, I can't sense any of them right now. That could only mean that someone powered them all off. But who could have…?" Miku trailed off, furrowing her brows.

Hearing this, Mikuo smiled. He put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "That must mean that there is someone helping us right now. They must have heard about our plan and decided to help."

Miku smiled. "Come on. Let's go. We don't have much time left." With that, the pair of siblings ran off.

In a small room filled with computers, a young girl shifted, her shackles making a faint clanging sound. She let out a faint sigh and rubbed her eyes with one hand as another ruffled her short, moss green hair. She lifted her unfocused, unseeing blue eyes to the only thing that she could "see". Fingers flew across keyboards and soon the screen displaying everything from the security cameras turned to black. The girl stopped typing and rested her head on the desk in front of her.

"I may be blind and unable to see anything but whatever is displayed digitally; I still know that running away with your clone is the worst idea ever." She murmured, and shifted her head to a more comfortable position. "Be glad that I'm in charge of the security."

She sat up again and felt tears sliding down her face. Even if you don't remember me, our parents, the past or anything, I'd still do anything and everything for you, Onee-chan. Anything. With that, she turned around in her seat and faced another computer screen, fingers flashing across the keyboard at inhumane speeds.

"Eh? All the traps deactivated?" Miku stared at the corridor in front of her in disbelief. Mikuo turned to her and smiled. "Someone must be very kind. Let's go!"

They ran through the corridor and were in the middle of the next when they heard footsteps approaching. Miku turned around and whispered. "Someone's coming!"

Quickly, they each found an open door to what seemed like an empty cells and dove in just in time and locked the doors. Miku held her breath as she heard footsteps approaching. However, the person walked right past the cell in which she was hiding. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard the footsteps fading away. Suddenly a voiced penetrated the silence in the cell.

"Who…are you?"

Miku turned around to the voice, heart thudding in her chest. She was pretty sure this cell was empty! Scrutinizing the cell, she managed to make out the shape of a person crouched in the back corner. She couldn't make out its gender, but it seemed to be a boy from its voice. He didn't seem too dangerous. Smiling a bit, she replied. "I'm Miku! What's yours?"

The boy seemed to hesitate a bit. Then he spoke. "I'm…Kaito…I think. I am…Rank B VOCA Crypnoid."

"Kaito, nice to meet you!" Miku said. "Ummm…. If I may ask, why are you here? I thought no one used these cells anymore."

Kaito paused and swallowed. "They do now… they turned these cells into the waiting rooms for execution subjects…. Today is my execution day. They are getting rid of useless Crypnoids. I…refused to kill the subject for the Rank A qualifying test, and said I couldn't do it. So…"

He couldn't finish his sentence. He couldn't talk about being switched. He couldn't talk about being useless. He couldn't think of what to say, so he whispered. "It was…nice to meet you."

Miku's eyes widened with horror. Kaito was going to die? She knew that she should probably be going now, but she found herself walking up to him, crouching down and taking his hand.

"Kaito, I'm escaping right now. My brother and I are going to get outta this hell hole and go to a better place. Come with me-with us. We're going to the outside world, where we can live without the fear of dying and do whatever we want, not what we're pressured to do."

Her words ignited a small fire of hope within the Crypnoid. However, other thoughts swarmed his mind. He squeezed her hand and whispered. "But I'm so useless…I don't deserve to go with you…"

At this Miku was furious. "How could you say that? Listen Kaito, your rank and your powers don't mean anything! You are a person and you have a life. Every life has a meaning. So don't you dare say anything more about that!"

Suddenly, the cell door opened. Mikuo had opened the door to tell Miku to hurry up, but he stopped what he was about to say. The opened door let in light, which illuminated both Kaito's and Miku's faces. Miku's determination shone like fire in her light blue eyes, which she locked with Kaito's dark blue orbs. The faint glimmer of hope grew and filled him up with courage. Kaito smiled. "I'll go."

Soon, Miku, Mikuo and Kaito came to the last corridor in the VOCA section. The wormhole to earth lay at the end of the hall, all security surrounding it disabled. Miku smiled in triumph. She turned towards Mikuo and Kaito. "Let's go together!"

The green haired girl sat in front of one of the screens. Everything seemed fine. Suddenly, a realization dawned on her as she zoomed up closer to the back of Mikuo's head and checked his information by emitting a special signal. Mikuo was a clone of Miku, the only clone that was not currently locked in a test tube, as he was the most successful clone and the most powerful. However, as the girl scrolled through the data, she saw that he had major defect. During his making, it seemed that some of his programming had gone wrong. He could not pass through wormholes.

Horror flashed across the girl's face. If he jumped through that wormhole his body would be torn into a million pieces. The only solution was for him not to go through the wormhole. She bit her lip. The way to make it look convincible was if she made a hologram to make it seem like some other Crypnoid killed Mikuo. She would also have to tinker with the speaker system to create the appropriate sounds, all in the next 10 seconds. It was quite the challenge. The hologram would make it seem like Mikuo was killed, while she would use a collection of radio waves and electricity to push Mikuo away. She had to think fast about who to use as the murderer. Her mind ran through the Crypnoids she knew. Then it clicked. 022 and 023 Crypnoids Kagamine Allen (codenamed LEN) and Kagamine Rilliane (codenamed RIN) seemed to be a good choice. They were codenamed, as only a handful of the strongest Crypnoids were codenamed. In fact, she only knew three of them, that being the twins and she. They were also the strongest Crypnoids she knew, so it would make sense to anyone watching the hologram for them to carry out the job. Sighing, she stared at the screen. I'm sorry, Onee-chan.

As Miku was running towards the wormhole, she felt Mikuo's hand slip from hers. Skidding to a halt, she turned around. Mikuo was bound by ropes of shining golden light. Miku's eyes widened. It couldn't be…! Mikuo was struggling, trying to get out of the light binds. But before he could use his ability to destroy the binds, the ropes of light exploded. Blood sprayed across the white walls like someone was splashing crimson paint across the walls. Burnt broken bones with torn muscles and ligaments still attached clattered to the ground. Burst and burnt organs scattered all about, spilling their contents all over the ground. Mikuo's head was suspended in the air, eyes wide and unseeing, pain and agony still written over his features. Blood dripped from his open mouth. Then his head fell to the ground with a dull thud, teal hair dyed red. And standing behind the bloody mess of what used to be her brother was a pair of twins with lemon yellow hair with usually cerulean coloured eyes shining bright crimson. Their faces were cold and emotionless. Rin and Len… who were her best friends…no… the murderers who used to be her best friends.

Miku screamed. Grief, resentment, betrayal and fury boiled within her, threatening to burn her alive. But before she could make a move, a hand grabbed hers. Kaito pulled her along as she screamed.

"Come on Miku! The wormhole is right there!" Kaito pleaded.

"No… no… Onii-chan is… I can't…" Miku couldn't speak coherently. Hot tears slid down her face and spattered on the ground. She didn't want to be free anymore. She didn't want anything anymore.

"Miku, please. Mikuo… Mikuo wouldn't have wanted you to die too!" Kaito urged. Miku glanced up at him; he himself seemed to be holding back tears. Miku didn't say anything; she just grabbed his hand and together they sprinted through the wormhole.

The green haired girl sighed in relief. It was over. She had used a burst of electricity to knock Mikuo through the door of an unused cell. It would be a while before he woke up, and she would have made sure to sneak him back to his own cell by then.

She had no time to lose. Quickly, she placed three fingers on the computer. There was a flash of light, and she was gone. She emerged out of a security camera near the wormhole and quickly deactivated the hologram. Then, she grabbed Mikuo and placed three fingers on a security camera. She emerged out of another security camera near Mikuo's corridor and placed him back in this cell and closed the door. After which she transferred herself through the camera back to the computer in her cell. She quickly turned the security back on and shackled herself back into the cuffs.

She contemplated on the strange timing of everything. The energy supply in the entire facility had diminished for a few minutes, therefore diminishing the power of her shackles, which kept her from doing things she wasn't supposed to do. During that moment, she had utilized the opportunity to disable security for Miku and Mikuo to escape from their shackles and locks, although Miku thought she was the one who did it. She also disabled her own shackles at that time. Perhaps it was not just her who was helping; perhaps there were others who were helping too.

Suddenly, the door behind her opened. A scientist walked in. "013 Codename MEGPOID, Hatsune Gumi, would you care to explain what happened to the security?"

Gumi turned to the scientist. She smiled on the inside. She had just the perfect lie; after all, she WAS a genius with an IQ of 172. She put on a worried look as she started to explain.

In a big cell a pair of blonde twins sat on their beds, eating snacks. Len looked up from his banana cake and spoke. "Hey Rilliane…"

Rin glared at her brother. "I told you not to call me that, Allen."

"Sorry, I just did it to get your attention. You just seemed too engrossed in your orange lollipop." Len took another bite out of his banana cake.

"Yeah yeah, get to the point."

"I was thinking how privileged we are not to be shackled to the wall like all the other Crypnoids. And how we can eat all these snacks that no one else can eat." Len swallowed the last of his cake.

"But I only get orange lollipops and you only get banana cakes. I remember when we were younger Okaa-san used to make orange pudding…"

"Don't talk about it Rin. Please." Len looked like he was about to cry. Rin didn't talk about their mother anymore.

"Alright, alright. Hey, you know our plan worked? Miku and Kaito managed to escape. The news is all over now." Rin jumped up, gesturing wildly with her hands.

"Shhh!" Len put his finger to his lips. "Not so loud! We could totally get heard." Len was silent for a while. Then he spoke softly. "Hey Rin, was it that good of an idea to do that? I mean, help them, that is."

"Oh come on!" Rin elbowed her brother. "You're being Mr. Doubtful again. First you're doubtful about whether or not Gumi would notice the fact that we diminished the energy supply, and now you're doubtful about whether or not it's the right thing to do. What's done is done; we can't go back in time to fix it."

"Yeah, guess you're right." Len fiddled with his shirt absentmindedly. "Do you think it was okay to do that though? I still feel a bit uneasy about disobeying Master."

"I think it was okay, okay and a hundred times more okay. Stop worrying, we're fine. Today was the only opportunity for us to be able to follow our own orders, because Master is fixing the programs. Usually we don't even get a chance. You know what it's called? It's called seizing the opportunity. Plus, I think it was a fitting birthday present for Miku, right? It's her sixteenth birthday, and as her best friends I think it's fitting to give her something she really desires." Rin took a deep breath, as she had said her little speech in just one breath, and bounced up and down on her bed, clearly pleased with herself.

Len smiled too. "Of course, my dearest Onee-chan is always right." He paused for some time and looked Rin in the eye. "Do you miss home?"

Rin fiddled with her shirt a bit. "I can't answer that."

Len was going to say something when the door to their cell opened. A man stood in the doorway and greeted the twins. "Hello, Len, Rin. How was your day?"

The twins' faces lit up. "Oh! Master is back!"

Miku flew out of the wormhole and effectively faceplanted on the ground. Wincing, she picked herself off the ground, only to be barreled over by Kaito, who flew out of the wormhole arms flailing and screaming like a baby. Together they crashed into a tree and feel into a heap of tangled limbs on the ground. Picking herself off of Kaito, Miku took the chance to properly survey her surroundings.

Tall trees spread their limbs in a green canopy over the ground, forever reaching towards the sky. Fallen leaves littered the grassy ground. Water gushed and leaped about in the small creek running through the forest. Birds sang among the tree branches. On her left was a forest, but on her right was a cliff, where the forest ended and she could see the forest underneath and the city beyond that. But it was another sight that caught her eye and kept her transfixed.

The sun was rising over the horizon, painting the indigo sky with splashes of pink, red and orange. Its rays dyed the leaves of the trees a faint yellow and filled the air with warmth. She heard Kaito come up and stand next to her. A faint breeze ruffled their hair and she smiled in spite of all that had happened. After a moment of just standing there, Kaito took her hand and whispered. "The sun… its beautiful. The outside world is beautiful in every aspect…"

Emotions welled up in Miku. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had lost so much, yet she had gained so much. But she knew that this was not the end. It was only a beginning of something new. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Luka walking up to her and Kaito, dressed in some very strange new clothes.

Luka smiled at her. "Happy Birthday, Miku."

At this Miku began to cry. If only Mikuo could be here with her, it would make her birthday perfect. But when she saw the rising sun casting light onto the earth, her tears slowly stopped. For every new sun there was a new hope. She couldn't change the past, but she was now in control of her future. Her new life was beginning.

Miku smiled.