Deeper and deeper into the forest she ran, dodging trees and clearings; hoping against hope that the helicopters wouldn't catch her. Tears covered her face at the thought of what she had almost been forced to do. A life without Ben, she couldn't imagine. He was the one who had made her Max, he had told her stories and helped her during her spasms, he had saved her life too many times to count and she had almost ended his. She was absolutely furious with herself, how could she have let that happen? 452 was even more enraged, she prowled like an animal stuck in a cage, which is essentially what she was, growling about mates and idiocy. Max was confused, nothing had ever gotten to 452, the perfect soldier, they were two sides of the same coin, Max the emotional, illogical one and 452, the one who could rip a mans heart out of his chest and not even care, the one who could calculate the best possible strategy in the worst situation and come out not only on top, but with everyone swearing fealty to her as they believed that she had made their lives much better. They were one and the same, and yet polar opposites. While Max heard of freedom and a world outside of Manticore and wanted to go immediately, 452 tallied the pros and cons and designed a checklist of what would need to happen while warning Max of what the real world was like.

The sound of Helicopters whirring above her head caused Max to blink from her thoughts as she ran and make the tactically correct decision regarding the situation; she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The snarling within suddenly stopped, replaced by a calm indifference as 452 realised what what happening, another breath, closer to the surface, the beast waiting patiently. With every breath X5-452 was slowly unleashed.

Eyes opened wide, the newly released X5-452 immediately took stock of the situation. Fatally injured X5-493, being chased by helicopters, danger of getting captured and further experimented on very high. Solution, run to a safe place and continue running. Wiping the unnecessary tears from her face she she nodded to herself, secured 493 and focused on the mission. Get 493 to safety. She ran.

She had only been running for about an hour when his eyes fluttered close, no. "493," she commanded, "open your eyes. I demand that you stay awake." His eyes snapped open instantly then widened in recognition, "452?" He asked, his voice majorly weakened by blood loss indicating how long he had left to live... Not long.

452 kept running. Safe place, away from helicopters, away from anyone who might know them. Must get mate to safety.

They had reached a small town far away from danger when he started to die. 452 immediately sought the tiny hospital and yelled in her best damsel in distress voice for help.

It was hours before there was any sign of change. She only dared stay for another day as they were still running. After stealing a car and enough supplies, both medical and mundane, she got rid of all the evidence of their being in the town, grabbed 493 and left.

By the time 493 was fully recovered, 452 had driven them to Canada and gotten ahold of fake ID's and enough money for 2 one way tickets to Argentinia in a hope to throw those following them off their trail.

The plane ride was tense. 493 kept looking at her like he couldn't believe she was there. It pissed 452 off.

Once they arrived in Argentina, 452 immediately sought tickets to Australia, they were going to lose any possible tail. After stealing money and changing their identities once again, the duo set off for Australia.

They stayed down under for just short of 6 months, never staying more than one week at a single location, stealing, lying and running, always running.

One night 452 came to the motel room they were staying at and informed 493 of the next destination; Singapore.

"Why?" He asked.

"Our final destination is Scotland, but we need to make as many stops as possible in places where people won't recognise us before we settle in one place."