Chapter Twenty One

The soft nuzzling of whiskers was what had woken Mira up. Her eyes snapped open to find Rinzler sleeping beside her. His nose kept twitching as he slept, and Mira realized with a start that he must be dreaming. She laughed and gently stroked between his ears before sitting up.

Memories of the last cycle were still fresh on her mind. Mira couldn't hide the blush that followed as she realized what she had said to Beck. She couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun. Yet hanging out with Beck was just another reminder of how far apart they really were.

Would it be possible for programs and Users to be together? she wondered. It wasn't like she had developed feelings for him. But it did make her curious. She smiled as Rinzler rubbed against her hand, purring from her touch. Rinzler jumped into her arms once she joined Tron in the main room.

"Anything wrong?" she asked when Tron remained eerily silent.

"Tesler has found a new target," Tron announced when he finally turned to face her. Mira raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You remember that scientist, Keller."

Mira nodded as she pictured the scientist who had knocked Pavel out. She could see Keller fighting against the occupation, if she was given enough incentive. Though she had a feeling that the scientist would sooner get captured again than fight for something that appeared to be a lost cause. Especially when it put her life at risk.

"Yeah, she hated Pavel enough to knock him out." She smiled at the memory – at least she knew that Keller didn't want anything to do with the occupation. "So, Tesler wants Keller derezzed, that's nothing new. He wants every program against the occupation derezzed."

She shrugged and looked away. It wasn't as if his reaction to Keller's deflection had been any different from other generals. She'd simply learned to accept that there were some things that couldn't be changed even if someone was willing to make said changes.

"That's not the point," Tron snapped. "Keller is a scientist, if we rescue her she could become an important ally to the uprising."

Mira looked at Tron doubtfully. She couldn't imagine that a scientist of all programs would want to help fight back. Keller didn't seem like the type of program who could put up a fight. That was likely how she had been caught in the first place. But Mira didn't bother arguing with Tron. She knew that he was right; Keller would make an important ally if she joined them.

It didn't take long for Beck to come back. Since he'd taken off for two cycles he was able to come and go as he pleased from the garage. Mira was surprised that Mara and Zed didn't try doing the same. But than Mara might still be angry, and knowing Zed, he was still recovering from his last adventure.

Rinzler jumped out of her arms and rushed over to Beck as soon as the door opened. Mira smirked when Beck let out a startled gasp after Rinzler jumped into his arms. He was still getting used to the fact that they now had a companion looking after them, and Mira found the whole thing amusing as she thought of how other programs would react to his appearance.

At least Tron didn't freak out too much, she thought upon recalling his reaction to finding Rinzler in the safehouse.

"Hello to you too," he muttered after Rinzler climbed onto his shoulders. "What are we doing this time?"

He looked back at Tron, whose expression refused to waver. Since he had been looking at the files that contained information on Keller and her whereabouts, Mira wasn't surprised that he wanted them to bring her back to the safehouse. She just wondered if his suspicions about the scientist were right.

Would she really be willing to join the uprising if she knew what it was about? she wondered after tilting her head to one side thoughtfully.

"Rescue mission," Mira replied.

Beck looked at her in surprise, but Tron had already returned to the screen. After typing in several codes, an image of Keller appeared on the screen. Mira bit her lip when she realized that Keller was in disguise when Tron pulled up another image.

"Keller is boarding a train to Bismuth," Tron explained. "You two will be taking a ride there." Mira tilted her head to one side when Tron pulled out a pair of tickets. "Just be careful, the guards will often ask for your disk."

He looked at Beck warily, and Mira rolled her eyes in annoyance. She was experienced enough with traffic stops not to let the guards catch her. Besides, it wasn't as if this was her first mission.

"We'll be careful," she promised. Rinzler jumped out of Beck's arms and ran towards her. "You stay here and keep Tron company," she told him. Rinzler looked up at her with his red eyes, and she wondered if he understood a word she had said. Tron certainly didn't look convinced; if anything he looked more annoyed that he'd be spending alone time with their new companion. "Try not to derezz him while we're gone," she muttered when she looked back at Tron.

Some things would never change. At least he wasn't going out of his way to make some valid argument about having animals on the Grid. Mira realized at that point that he was probably just relieved she hadn't left yet. The thought still occurred to her every now and then, especially when she realized Beck was getting strong enough to handle these missions on his own.

"So exactly how are we going to find Keller in a crowd like this one?" Mira asked when they reached the terminal.

Beck leaned forward and sighed in frustration when he realized that she was right. There were too many programs for them to pick apart. And too many guards. Mira groaned when noticed that several guards were boarding the train to Bismuth.

They must know that's where Keller is hiding, she thought.

"Come on." Beck got off of his light cycle and turned it back into a baton. Mira looked over her shoulder before doing the same. Images of Keller's face were plastered on screens around the station. Mira noticed how a few guards had cornered one program in particular after he made a run for it. "If we're going to find her we need to follow those guards. Play it cool."

Beck looked back at her as if he expected her to argue. Mira simply shook her head and followed as he led the way to the train. She knew it was pointless to argue with logic. Especially after noticing how heavily guarded the train itself was.

Again, there were countless programs in the passenger cars. Mira realized that the guards were splitting up, each going into a different cat to question programs. And one of the guards boarding the train was Paige.

"Well this just got more interesting," she whispered under her breath.

If Beck heard, he gave no sign of interest. Mira rolled her eyes and started pushing her way through the crowd of programs. He was headed for the car Paige had just left. Mira wondered whether she should pull him aside or just give themselves away at that point, until she saw who Beck was after.

Her fists clenched in surprise when she realized that the program was sitting in a lounge car. They kept looking around as if expecting an enemy to leap out of the corner. And Mira suspected from the shifty way the program kept looking around the program in question was Keller. She rose an eyebrow in surprise when she noticed that the program was holding a strange device after they checked to make sure they were alone.

Paige being on the train itself only led to bad news. Mira suspected she had been sent by Tesler to recover Keller before she reached Bismuth. Whatever her reasoning behind boarding the train, Mira knew it wouldn't lead to anything good.

The program sighed in relief and sank into his seat after piercing his skin with the device. Mira winced and wondered how any program could stand using such an object. Then she realized that this must be Keller, the only program who would need a disguise other than the Renegades.

If she's hiding from the Occupation, it makes sense that she'd want to wear a disguise of sorts, she realized. She'd wondered what programs used to disguise their entire appearance. She had always been able to disguise her hair and even her facial appearance a little with her disk, but she suspected that was due to being a User rather than a program.

"Hello, Keller, going somewhere?" Mira said after walking towards the booth. Beck stood beside her and grinned when Keller jumped in surprise. Her expression changed from a look of relief to that of terror when she realized that someone had recognized her. "Don't make a scene."

"Who are you?" Keller demanded.

"Let's just say that I'm part of a growing resistance in Argon," Mira replied after looking around warily.

Beck was keeping an eye out for any soldiers that might wander into the car. Since he'd been worried about how Keller would react to him appearing at her side, he'd asked Mira to take over the task of explaining their situation.

Her eyes widened in alarm when a door swung open. Paige had wandered into the car, and Beck looked back in surprise when he realized who had wandered int the car.

"Don't." Keller started looking back when Mira stopped her. The program's eyes widened in panic when her disguise began wearing off. "Your disguise…" She broke off when Paige questioned a group of programs that were sitting beside the door. "There's no time, get to the stairs," Mira ordered when Keller fumbled with her device.

She had dropped it in surprise and was trying to look for it when Mira held back a sigh of frustration and pushed her towards the stairs. She knew that if Paige recognized her, the commander wouldn't hesitate to arrest her. Getting Keller away from the commander was the most important task they had at the moment, not looking for some device that altered her appearance.

"Paige, what are you doing here?" Beck was distracting Paige as she tried getting past.

Mira rolled her eyes and stood up to join him.

"Do I know you?" Paige demanded.

"We met before," Beck replied.

He was grinning sheepishly while trying to keep her distracted.

Mira only rolled her eyes at the way he was staring at Paige. The commander was not happy, and understandably so.

"I've met a lot of programs before," Paige muttered crossly.

"But we had something." Beck was persistent. Paige managed to get past and glared when Beck stopped her. "We met at the games, I smiled, said 'My cuffs are too tight'." It was at that point that Mira tried not to gag in disgust. Especially when Paige crossed her arms and glared at Beck. "Maybe this will jog your memory, 'One goes free, one goes free!'" he added in a hopeful tone.

"Oh, now I remember you two. Your disk skills were… adequate, for an amateur." Mira smothered a laugh when Beck frowned in annoyance. "But don't worry, I'm sure that you excel at your job. Don't you find waste disposal fascinating?"

By now, Mira was struggling for air as she held back her laughter. Paige was really going all out with the insults. Not that Mira couldn't blame the commander. She clearly wanted to get her job done, and Beck did an even better job at trying to distract her.

"For your information I have a job," Beck snapped defensively. He glanced at Mira and rolled his eyes when he noticed that she was clutching her stomach and trying to catch her breath. "I'm an… architect."

Anyone with eyes could clearly see that Beck was anything but an architect. Mira kept her mouth shut though as she realized Beck was hoping Paige wouldn't recall them meeting at the garage. But it seemed as though Paige believed him as she relaxed her posture.

"And what exactly are you programmed for?" she looked at Mira, who glared back.

Beck may be willing to trust the commander, but Mira wasn't. She had seen what Tesler's soldiers were capable of, and what sort of trauma programs had suffered from because of them. Paige might not be nearly as annoying as Pavel, but that didn't make her any better.

"That information is classified," she retorted, earning a look of surprise from Beck. Fortunately, Paige couldn't ask any further questions when blaring red lights gleamed into the car. Mira let out a sigh of relief she hadn't realized she was holding. A light copter was hovering in front of the train, and of course the program operating said light copter happened to be Mira's least favorite commander. "Great," she muttered with a roll of her eyes. Paige had gotten away as Beck looked around in surprise. "An architect, really?" She looked at Beck in annoyance when they were alone.

"I was… improvising," he replied with a shrug. Mira only rolled her eyes at that. "Come on, we need to stop Pavel before he finds Keller."

Mira nodded in agreement before following him. She knew that Pavel would likely cause more trouble than they needed. One commander was bad enough, but two would just be dangerous. Especially with Pavel around. He didn't care what happened to the programs around him. She had her doubts about Paige though. It was clear that Beck liked her, despite everything she had done to him.

She couldn't help but grimace as she remembered the previous cycle they spent together. Not for the first time, Mira found herself wondering why Beck had bothered at all. Maybe he just took pity on her and thought that would make up for what was happening now.

They followed Paige into the top of the train, where wind buffeted against them. Mira looked up just in time to see Pavel and Paige arguing.

"I don't need your help, get out of here now!" Paige shouted above the roar of the light copter.

"Unfortunately, our gracious leader believes otherwise," Pavel sneered.

"I can find Keller on my own," Paige snapped.

"Apparently you can't, because I just flushed her out!"

Mira groaned when she turned to see Keller peering through another opening in a different car. Beck pulled her down just in time as the light copter began shooting at them. Without warning Mira threw her disk into one of the blades on the light copter. It swerved away from the train and aimed it's shots towards Keller, who dropped the chute she'd grabbed in surprise.

She couldn't help but gasp when the train jolted forward. She looked back to where Paige and Pavel were standing to see that an explosion had wracked the train's throttle. It was moving at an impossible speed, and Mira hung on for dear life when she realized that something had gone wrong with the engine.

"Are you happy now?"

"I'm ecstatic!" Pavel was sneering again as the light copter hovered nearby, just close enough for him to jump on.

"Thanks to you and your trigger happy pilot hundreds of innocent programs are going to die!" Paige sounded furious as she stood up to Pavel.

I wish I could have said that to his face, Mira thought with a slight chagrin. She had to admit, Paige had a lot more courage than she realized. Though being one of Tesler's top commanders probably meant she had to have that kind of courage to keep fighting on.

"What I did you ungrateful ingrate, was stop a program from escaping, and I've sent her to her early demise." Pavel's eyes narrowed as he glared at Paige. "Now come on, and maybe I'll let you stay and watch the fireworks."

"I'm not leaving this train until I have Keller."

"Oh, Paige, how predictable you are, even to the bitter end!" Pavel shouted before he jumped on.

His voice was grating to Mira's ears, and she couldn't stand hearing the way he spoke down to Paige. She wasn't sure how Paige could stand working alongside a goon like him. It was clear from watching them that they didn't get along that well. The only reason Paige seemed to tolerate Pavel's presence was because they happened to be coworkers, and fighting against a coworker would likely lead to certain deresolution.

Mira looked down to see that Beck was climbing back in. She followed him down the latter and through the panicking crowd of programs. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Keller moving towards an unguarded door. She pushed her way through the crowd until she reached the room Keller had disappeared into.

"Keller, don't." Beck stopped her before Mira could by pulling her out of the window. "Risking your life isn't going to get you anywhere," he added when she turned to glare at him.

"And neither is joining some ragtag revolution," Keller shot back. "At least if I go to Bismuth, I can start over." She looked like she was about to say something else when the cars shook once more. Mira jumped back when they were both thrown out of the room and into the car. "Then again, maybe that isn't an option either," Keller said when Paige walked into the car.

"Don't say that. Whether you join the revolution or not, we're getting you to Bismuth alive," Mira said when she pushed Keller aside.

The program eyed her cautiously before she gave a reluctant nod of agreement. Even if she doubted whether or not they could be trusted, at least Keller was willing to listen. Mira just hoped that she and Beck would buy her enough time that she could escape and reach Bismuth as planned.

"Paige, how's it going?" Beck stopped Paige before she could get any closer.

"Are you trying to get yourself derezzed?" Paige demanded when she pushed her way past.

When Beck blocked her way again she threw him against the wall. Mira tensed as she realized Beck might have pushed Paige just a little too far this time. She knew there was only so much the soldier could take on a daily basis.

"Look, I just wanted to help," he admitted.

"How can you help? You're just an architect."

"I lied… actually… I'm really a mechanic." Beck dropped his gaze when Paige glared.

Mira sighed in annoyance when she realized that Paige was having trouble believing him. After the last few lies, she couldn't necessarily blame Paige for not trusting Beck. Then again, if Paige really knew who Beck was, she would turn him in within nanocycles.

"Why would you lie to me?" Paige's voice was cold as she pressed Beck's face against the wall, but Mira could sense the curiosity in it.

"I was trying to impress you. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Now, it was Beck's turn to sound embarrassed when Paige's grip lessened. Mira only rolled her eyes when he said that. Seeing the look in Paige's eyes told her that the commander was having trouble believing him.

Suddenly, the doors and walls around the train had begun to close, and the programs inside started panicking. Mira looked around to hear that an alarm stated the code in the train was trying to resolve the issues that had started.

"Fine, you wanna impress me, than fix that!" Paige ordered after releasing her grip.

Mira rolled her eyes as she followed them. Paige was shoving Beck towards the source of the problem, and she didn't seem to notice that Mira was following them. Beck pulled out the tool that Bodhi had given him. Paige leaned forward when a screen of codes appeared. They were broken apart in places where the engine was trying to fix.

"Are you sure you can fix it? For all I know, you could've lied about being a mechanic too." Paige sounded bored when she glared down at Beck.

"It wasn't a lie." Beck smirked when the code was fixed. The windows and doors opened, revealing the black sky of the Grid. "And I have a feeling you were impressed with me before this."

Paige only rolled her eyes in annoyance, though she didn't answer right away. That only seemed to give Beck a little more confidence, and Mira caught the look he was giving the commander. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes after noticing that herself. If Beck wasn't so focused on trying to gain Paige's approval, maybe they wouldn't have gotten themselves into this mess.

"Okay, let's see if we can get the throttle fixed," Paige muttered while looking more annoyed than ever.

Paige led the way towards the sight that had received the most damage. Mira's eyes widened when she saw a gaping hole in the middle, with bits of codes torn apart. Even with Bodhi's tool Beck would have a difficult time fixing it.

"There's not enough code for me to fix this," Beck announced when he saw the extent of the damage. "There's nothing we can do. Unless maybe you can modify the code somehow?" His voice had dropped to a whisper as he looked at Mira hopefully.

She only shrugged in response and shook her head.

You got yourself into this mess, she reminded him silently. Besides, even if she could modify the code, it would take more time than they had. On top of it, modifying the code would mean giving herself up to Paige. She was in no hurry to alert the entire Grid of her existence again.

"I'm not about to let these programs die!" Paige snapped. "There has to be something we can do."

Her response made Mira blink in surprise. After seeing how the occupation treated so many innocent programs, she found it hard to believe that one soldier could care so much about their fate. Paige was a lot more tolerable than Pavel had been. Even so, that didn't mean Mira planned on putting her trust in the commander.

"Since when does the occupation care about the lives of others?" Mira demanded.

Paige turned to glare at her, and for a moment Mira thought she might kick her off the train. She had little doubt that the commander would stoop to such levels. Even if she wasn't anything like Pavel, that didn't mean she wasn't above taking her anger out on those unfortunate enough to cross her.

Fortunately, Paige only shook her head in frustration.

"You don't know anything about me," she shouted back.

"Fair enough." Beck folded his arms before Paige led the way back into the main engine. "Tell everyone to move to the rear of the car, if I uncouple the train before it derails than it should stop," he added when they reached the com. "You stay with Paige, she'll keep you safe for now."

He looked at Mira pleadingly, but she only glared back. The last thing she planned on doing was spending anymore time with Paige than she needed to.

"If you think I'm about to put my trust in a program who would easily turn me in to Clu, than you're dead wrong," she snapped. She reached for her light sword baton hidden in her boot just to prove her point. "And besides, you'll need the help."

Beck looked as if he was ready to argue when he thought better of it. Seeing the look of determination in her eyes told him arguing would be pointless.

Paige didn't seem to hear them as she told everyone through the com to move to the rear of the train. Mira followed Beck as they reached the second car. She looked back to see that the rest of the cars were empty, and she suddenly wondered if Keller was among those programs.

Doubtful; Keller is jumpy and desperate, she thought with a sigh of frustration. She'll do anything to get away from Paige.

Not that Mira couldn't blame her. She would have done anything to get away herself if she had the choice.

"We need to break this before the train derails," Beck explained when they looked down at the couple.

He grabbed his disk and began working on the chain, and Mira did the same.

"Do you two have this?" Paige asked when she reached them.

"Wait, where are you going?" Mira demanded when she began heading towards the passenger cars. Paige turned to glare, but Mira tried to relax, despite how annoyed she was getting with the commander. "We may need your help," she added in a calmer voice.

She was already walking on thin ice as it was with the commander's attitude. Mira winced as she imagined Paige turning her in without a second thought if she ever found out what she was. She tried pushing the uneasy thought aside. Helping these programs had been her main priority, and she planned on seeing through with that plan.

"Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?" Paige muttered as she leaned against the doorway.

"We're not the only ones who should worry," Beck said under his breath.

Mira rose an eyebrow when Paige leaned forward.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"He means that you didn't just come aboard for a casual trip to Bismuth," Mira replied.

"I'm looking for someone who's also supposed to be on this train," Paige sighed as she looked up. Mira followed her gaze to see that Keller had jumped across the car to the other side. Her fists clenched when Paige suddenly jumped. "You two are on your own now!" she shouted when she reached the top.

"Great," Beck sighed in frustration when the train uncoupled.

Mira jumped onto the other side to join him.

"Now what?" she demanded.

Beck looked around in panic before he reached for the ladder. Mira followed him and climbed to the top to see that the half they had uncoupled was beginning to slow down. The engine car was still speeding ahead, leaving them a wide gap to jump over.

Another train was flying beside them on the light rail. Mira flinched when she saw an escape pod crash onto the other train. She wondered if Keller had been inside, and if this was a pointless mission after all.

"Come on," Beck called when he rezzed his light cycle.

Mira looked over her shoulder before rezzing her own light cycle. She was thankful she had grabbed a spare baton. Mira held her breath when she turned towards the engine half of the train. She suddenly pulled forward until her light cycle was in the air. Before she could reach the other side, her light cycle suddenly turned back into a baton, and she caught the ledge of the car.

Beck wasted no time in following after she pulled herself up. He made a clumsy landing, and she had to help him up.

"Let's go."

Mira ran down to the engine car to see Paige wandering through the hall. She spotted Keller hiding in the upper level and breathed a sigh of relief. At least Keller wasn't in the escape pod when it crashed. She couldn't imagine how terrible of a fate that would have been.

"You shouldn't have followed me."

Mira resisted the urge to flinch when Paige shoved her into Beck.

"Look, I just wanted to see if there's anything we can do to help," Beck insisted after Mira stood up.

Mira's eyes widened in alarm when she looked at the map on the car's doorway. A blinking light showed that a bridge was left unfinished, and the train was moving too fast to stop. They would all crash if they didn't start working together.

"I don't need your help, now stop worrying and got off before you both get killed," Paige snapped.

She turned and ran before Beck could stop her. He noticed the map too and turned to face Mira.

"Is there a way for you to work out the codes?" His expression was helpless, and Mira sighed in frustration once more.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. Suddenly she thought of the breaks on their light cycles, and an idea came to her mind. "We need to get Paige and Keller out of that engine car," she added after looking over her shoulder.

Beck nodded in agreement before pushing his way to the other car.

"You're not going to save anyone's life if you don't get out of here now!" Beck shouted when he reached Paige. Keller peered from her hiding place when Paige turned to glare at him. "We're going to see if we can stop this train before it reaches the bridge," he explained when Paige asked how they would make it out alive.

"And if you can't stop it?" Paige asked coldly.

"Then it won't matter if you're impressed with me," Beck replied. Mira rolled her eyes as she followed Beck towards the top of the car. Her eyes widened in panic when she saw that the bridge was approaching them quickly. "So what did you have in mind?" he asked when they stood in front of the engine.

"Use the breaks from our light cycles," she explained. "The code should be enough to slow it down."

"Should?" Beck asked the question warily.

Mira only shook her head and began rezzing the spare light cycle she had borrowed from Tron. She would have kicked herself if she used the light cycle Mara and Zed upgraded. To her relief the code was being pulled into the light rail, and into the train's engine. Beck saw what was happening and did the same with his light cycle baton.

After what felt like cycles the train began screeching to a stop. Mira's teeth ground together when the train hovered dangerously over the ledge of the bridge. Without warning Beck grabbed her by the wrist and they ran before it could fall. Mira gasped when they rolled across the ground just as the engine fell into the Sea Of Simulation.

"We made it!" she exclaimed after recovering from the shock.

Beck looked at her thankfully before looking back at where Paige and Keller had walked over to. A light copter had landed near the crash sight, and Mira sighed in frustration once again. Keller's suit had changed from blue to red, signifying that she had joined the occupation once more.

"So much for that mission," Beck muttered as he tossed what looked like a piece of metal into the sea.

"At least she's alive," Mira couldn't help pointing that out.

She was surprised that Paige hadn't derezzed Keller as punishment for deflecting from the Occupation. Maybe Paige wasn't nearly as bad as Pavel after all. That still didn't make Mira feel any better. She couldn't help but avoid Paige's eyes when the commander tried looking at her curiously.

"I thought for sure you two were derezzed," Paige admitted when she approached them.

"Yeah, so did I," Beck replied after throwing another piece of metal into the sea.

"I'll admit, you are impressive mechanics." Paige glanced at Mira cautiously, and she returned the glare.

Despite everything that had happened recently, she wouldn't trust Paige. Not anytime soon anyways.

"That's good, because we're terrible architects," Mira rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time.

Beck just threw her a look that said it all and dropped the third piece of metal he had picked up. Even Paige laughed when she saw Beck's expression.

"It feels good, saving lives, doesn't it?" Paige asked. Mira eyed her curiously as Paige looked away. "Most of the soldiers in my command don't know this, but I used to be a medic before joining the occupation. Saving someone's life is still important to me."

"You know, that's pretty impressive too," Beck replied after looking at her in surprise.

Mira hadn't missed the way he was staring at Paige. She couldn't help but look away as realization dawned on her. Why did she ever think they would have a chance together? It was obvious that Beck had feelings for Paige, much as he would deny it. And the look the commander was giving him told Mira that the feeling was mutual.

"Hey, here's an idea, why don't you look me up the next time you're in Argon," Paige suggested after a moment of silence followed. "We could… hang out sometime."

"I'd like that."

She swallowed the unease that was threatening to overwhelm her once Paige had left them.

I should have known it was too good to be true, she thought bitterly as she returned to the safehouse. She didn't say much the moment they had started heading back to Argon City. Her mind was still churning with shock at the outcome of this cycle. Shaking her head at the thought, Mira decided that maybe it was better this way.

She was expecting things to be quiet at the safehouse when she returned. What she wasn't expecting was to see Rinzler sitting on Tron's chest, blinking in amusement. Mira held back a fit of laughter at the sight when she saw the look of annoyance in the security program's eyes.

"Get this thing off of me!" he ordered, and she did just that.

Rinzler jumped into her waiting arms when she knelt down coax him off of Tron.

"That's just his way of saying he likes you," she explained cheekily as Rinzler rubbed his cheek against her hand.

"He decided to attack me," Tron said in an accusing tone, though Mira knew he wasn't holding a grudge.

"He probably just wanted someone to play with him," she replied with a shrug. She rubbed Rinzler between the ears before looking out the large window. "Keller decided to go back," she added quietly.

"I had a feeling she might," Tron replied after crossing his arms.

"She didn't seem like the type who would be on the run for long," she added thoughtfully. "When we found her, she was desperate to get away from the Occupation. But Paige managed to convince her otherwise." Her voice had become bitter at the mention of Paige, and Tron didn't miss it. "Beck thought it would be a great idea to 'hang' out with her the next cycle," she added in an icy tone.

"And you trust her?" Tron rose an eyebrow in surprise before she shook her head.

"Of course not! Paige is a commander for Tesler's army! I don't get why Beck is so hung over her, or why he seems to think she'll actually go along with whatever bitbrained plan he has," she managed to say all of that without losing her breath.

Tron actually looked amused with the way she was ranting. Whether she liked to admit it or not, maybe she was jealous. Whatever the cause behind her sudden anger, she didn't like what was happening.

"She may be a lost cause." Mira nodded in agreement and glared out the window.

"Try telling that to Beck," she muttered under her breath before heading up the stairs.

She was exhausted now, after escaping from a runaway train. Besides, she was annoyed enough with the way Beck had acted around Paige during that terrible train ride. Something told Mira that she was going to regret going with him on that mission, especially after seeing how much closer they had gotten.

Rinzler bounded after her and jumped onto the bed as soon as she did. Once he was curled up beside her, she found it easy to fall asleep. Having a companion was a good idea, especially when she felt lonelier than ever.