It was difficult to see, especially since Mini had kept them in Bulletfoot mode. She had adjusted to the rhythm of the mech's movements as it ran on all fours, which provided some semblance of comfort inside the mech. Maybe comfort was too much of a stretch, though. Jessica13 knew she would be sore by the end of the day.
They were three hours into running across the landscape when what she'd done began to actually sink in. Something seemed to almost thump into her body and made her realize that she had—on some level, at least—thought about this, dreamed about it, and day-dreamed about it, but in the end, there was nothing that could really prepare her for what the Outside looked like at night.
"Mini?" Jessica13 asked. "Are you there?"
"I am always here, Jessica13," Mini replied.
She had no idea why she expected the soft voice to be out of breath and shook her head. "Do you think we can stop for a while? I think we're far enough away from Sanctuary to be safe."
"Safe from them, maybe," Mini pointed out. "We are far from being safe out here. But…my sensors do not indicate anything near us."
It took the mech a few seconds to draw to a halt as it first needed to slow after having maintained a high rate of speed for a while. Once they stopped and Mini returned them to the regular Minato mode, the silence overwhelmed her for a moment.
Beyond the almost unnatural quiet, something creaked outside and seconds later, something chirped. Night had fallen and out there and they were surrounded by life.
Life, not concrete. Sanctuary had never been quiet, not even during the evening shifts, but everything had felt so isolated. Out there, she couldn't help but feel vulnerable. The Outside was here.
"Is…is the air safe to breathe?" Jessica13 asked and peeked at the sky alive with bright, twinkling stars.
"Affirmative," Mini replied. "The air around us consists of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide, among other elements. There are no traces of chemical or biological hazards. Why do you ask?"
"I thought I could open the mech," she explained and drew a deep breath. She couldn't believe that she was doing this or saying it.
It seemed crazy that she even considered it. Her mouth was dry and her heart hammered inside her chest as she waited for the response.
"Well, you have access to the control to open the mech, if you want," the AI said. "There's no need, of course. We have supplies in here to last you for at least a couple of weeks."
"No, I want to get this over with now. I came out here. We…came out here. We started all this and put ourselves on the line and in the end, we did it to get this moment over with. So, I say we get it over with. What…what do you think?"
"I can think of no reason why not," Mini said.
Jessica13 nodded, took another a deep breath, clenched her teeth, and steeled her nerves. "Okay…I'm opening the mech."
"You have my full support."
Jessica moved down and tugged at the levers that were all that kept everything that was Outside away from her. A horrible moment of doubt surged, swamped her mind, took control of her emotions and she began to panic.
"No. I came here for this. I'm doing it!" she shouted and yanked the lever.
The magnetic clamp released and the other locks lifted, and a quarter of a second later, the mech was open and the doors swung outward. She held her breath for a moment and covered her mouth as she was exposed to the air for the first time. Instincts kicked in and she was unable to respond otherwise. Years and years of being told how dangerous the Outside was were difficult to ignore and there was nothing that terrified her more.
And yet, as the cool, fresh air touched her skin, a small chill rushed up her spine. The gentle shiver persisted as she moved closer to the opening and inched forward until her leg protruded from the mech.
Resolute, she followed it with the other leg and soon, Jessica stepped out, although she still covered her mouth and held her breath. The surreal feeling of the earth under her feet was interesting.
Her hands lowered. She wouldn’t be able to hold her breath for much longer. The seconds ticked by and the sound of her heart grew louder in her ears.
The option to get back into the mech and run the oxygen through a filter grew more and more distant. She didn't want to get back in the mech. After everything she’d been through, she wanted to be out there.
Finally, lacking any other options aside from passing out, she gave in and sucked a deep breath of air into her lungs.
It was clean, unrefined, and filled with so many different smells. Not all of them were good, but the air still tasted clean, somehow. Like it hadn't been run through fifteen different filters every hour to keep it clear of impurities. Clean and fresh were the words stuck in her mind.
And, most importantly, she wasn't doubled over while poison consumed her body.
"There…there's no poison gas!" Jessica said and released a loud laugh that echoed through the woods around her. "Only clean, fresh, beautiful air!"
"One might say the only poison gas in the air comes from the people in the cities," Mini said.
"How do you mean?" she asked and focused on the mech.
"Maybe some of the pirates," the AI continued. "They eat bad food. It makes sense that they foul the air they leave behind."
Jessica13 narrowed her eyes. "Wait, did you make a joke?"
"The possibility exists," he said.
"Okay, hold on, I simply need to…" she started to say and proceeded to climb up the side of the mech, pulled herself to the top, and balanced herself carefully on the shoulders to look upward.
"Have you never seen the stars before?" Mini asked.
"Well, I've
