"He's dead. He's dead." My hysterical mind could comprehend nothing else as I stared down at his motionless body. His, being the Renegade.

Rain still pattered onto the streets, soaking through my clothing and wetting my skin. But I didn't even notice. Everything was numb except for the one repetitive thought that kept flashing through my mind. "The Renegade is dead." Quick, feverish breaths began to drag in and out of my chest. I couldn't think. Couldn't figure out what to do.

"Stop!" A voice commanded in my head."You were programmed for this."

My eyes slid to the gleaming surface of the black mask. A simple calm descended upon the chaos in my head as I recognized my programming. "Do what you are meant to do." came the instinctive command. Almost in a mechanical manner I got up. Crawling closer to him I tentatively placed my fingers on his neck. The coding on my fingers registered the quiet thrumming of his energy. It was there. But it was very faint.

I moved on. Gingerly, I placed my fingertips around the edges of the slash. With an imperceptible click the coding embedded in my skin connected with his and began deciphering the information that lay buried there. As the damage translated into understandable thoughts for me, I glanced at the wound itself and stiffened immediately. A slash, the length of an identity disk, tore through the right side of his abdomen, brandishing the sparkling, teal cubes of pixels and, in some places, I could see the ground beneath him. Even before the information reached my mind, I knew that the damage was bad. Maybe even unrepairable.

With a small click, the coding finished it's translation. I sighed. The wound was severe. But it could be fixed. If I hurried. Now knowing the extent of the damage and what portion of his coding needed to be repaired, my medically engineered mind began processing solutions. I needed to get to his disk. Needed to mend the damage from the core. But the entire process required advanced tools. I looked up at the dark alley lined with doors. He needed to get to the hospital.

Rising to my feet, I slid my hands underneath his limp shoulders. A quiet groan escaped from the figure's lips as I raised him into a sitting position. I knew dragging him an entire block wouldn't do the injury any good but I was too small to carry the white-clad figure and leaving him here was not an option. Then I froze. "Was it an option? Couldn't I just leave the Renegade here?" That would be the easy choice wouldn't it? My limbs locked up as my mind warred against itself. This was where my programming stopped and my personality began. A decision.

If I left him for dead... it was the right thing to do wasn't it? He was an outlaw after all. An enemy of the people. But he was still a program... a person. I growled angrily. "Why did this have to happen to me?!" But I stopped. "Maybe... it was supposed to." I looked down at the dark screen that shielded the Renegade's face from mine. My scared reflection looked back. I felt the my throat tighten with determination. " The was no way I was leaving anyone to die."

Lifting the figure off the ground, I emptied my mind of any thoughts other than "get to the hospital" because I knew that if I dwelled on the issue anymore, I would give in to my common sense and leave him. My arms encircled the Renegade's shoulders and I lifted him so that only his heels touched the ground. Slowly, I began the trek across the street.

It was obvious I could not take him directly into the hospital. If I walked in there with the Renegade in my arms we would both get derezzed on the spot. So the only other option was to get in through the back, a.k.a my apartment. As I dragged him along the street, heat caused the back of my neck to become damp and my hands began to grow slick with perspiration. His weight seemed to increase every step I took. My arms began to shake. I cursed. Medics were not supposed to be driven to this sort of physical exertion.

Suddenly, a shout rang through the air. I froze, waiting. Then it came again. The marching of footsteps now accompanied the noise. Panic blossomed in my chest. I looked over my shoulder, my eyes latching onto the end of the alley. Very faintly, an orange glow was brightening along the left corner. "Oh, dear Creator, they were coming this way."

Hefting the Renegade's limp form closer to my body, I began to drag him towards my apartment with newfound determination. Another moan of pain escaped from him but I barely heard it over the adrenaline roaring in my ears. Gasping, I stopped when we reached the door marked 8. Wasting the time to set the program down gently, I slid my hand across the wall beside the door. A keypad illuminated itself and I quickly tapped my code into the lock. My eyes darted to the street as the keypad accepted the code. The voices were now close enough to discern. Patrollers. Lots of them. And I had seconds before they spotted me.

The lock deactivated with a small beep and I ripped the door open. Bending down I looped my arms around his and pulled him into my small, dark entryway. There was no time for me to do anything else. Jumping over the motionless body I latched onto the door and pulled it closed. A millisecond before the opening disappeared completely, I glimpsed a crew of five Patrollers turn the corner into the alley. Gasping I slid to the floor. Pushing myself into the corner right below the door, I grabbed the Renegade and pulled him close. Hopefully now, if any of the Patrollers glanced in through the small window at the top of my door, they would just see a deserted apartment and not two programs huddled in a corner. Holding my breath, I waited.

Electronic voices bounced back and forth outside the apartment walls. I tensed when I heard the loud rattling of a door handle. But I was distracted for a moment when his head tipped onto my shoulder. My breathing tripped in my throat when the top of his head slid across the bottom of my chin... BANG! I was frightened out of my stupor when a fist smacked into my door handle. A fiery orange glow leaked in under the door frame and I stiffened when a large body filled the window only a couple of feet above my head. Six tense seconds passed before I heard, "All these entrances have coded locks! Keep searching!"

A breath of relief fluttered out of my chest. After a minute of silence had passed I released the Renegade and stood. Glancing at his wound I bit my lip. It was time to see just how good of a medic I really was.