They were losing daylight quickly it seemed as the sun set, the stars coming out. The temperature dropped immediately as well causing the inside of the LineRunner to become freezing, making its inhabitants shiver in unison. The heater quickly kicked in and started to warm the interior up, but it didn't offer much comfort. There was too much on the line, too much at stake for either of them to be comfortable.

"Wren?" asked a small voice from the backseat. She was clad in an oversized green trench coat, her feet covered in red high top sneakers. Nestled on her head of short light blue hair was an aviator's hat. She was clutching a stuffed lion (she called him Lionel) with her right hand, looking out the window into the dark abyss that had become the desert. "I don't feel good."

Wren clutched the driving wheel, her knuckles turning white. This is why she couldn't rest. This is why she was always jumpy and observant. Whenever Ivy said she didn't feel good, that meant something horrible was about to happen.

Just stay on the line Wren, stay on the lighted line before you.

Wren sometimes found herself questioning why she ever picked up little girl she found in the center of an O.A.S.I.S. wreckage over a cliff behind an abandoned gas station she had stopped at.

She had stood there motionless, her eyes closed and Lionel hanging from her left hand. She was dress in a navy blue skintight suit that had white lines ending in dots all over. She didn't respond when Wren called to her and that sent Wren into a state of worry. Ivy only responded when Wren touched her arm.

Her eyes opened to reveal bright blue eyes, almost matching her hair color. A computerized voice stated, "IVY AntiVirus System activated. Repairs are needed. Repair? Voice authorization required."

"Repair...?" Wren said, drifting off.

"Repair initiated."

Wren stepped back in amazement as the white lines on the suit began to glow on and off.

"10 percent completed. 25 percent completed. 47 percent completed. 62 percent completed. 84 percent completed. 100 percent complete."

Wren jumped, started when the machine/girl let out a yawn. She rubbed her eyes, still clutching the stuffed animal.

"Huh?" she said sleepily. "Who are you?"

"Wr-Wren. Wren."

"Well, Wren-Wren, it was nice to meet you! I have to get to Entralink City, so this is goodbye." The little girl started walking off.

"Wait!" Ivy turned back around. "What is a little girl doing in the middle of an O.A.S.I.S. carnage? And how the hell did you get out here?"

"Master sent me here!" the little girl said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Master said, 'If any of those O.A.S.I.S. scumbags try to stop you from reaching E.C. then you just let Lionel plow right through 'em!'" She held up the stuffed lion. "This is Lionel by the way. Isn't he adorable?"

Confused as to how a stuffed lion could destroy several armed trucks, Wren nodded anyway. "Yeah, he's pretty cute. What's your name, kiddo?"

"AnitVirus System, Class IVY, but Master just calls me Ivy. I was specifically created to infiltrate O.A.S.I.S. headquarters and rewrite their system to better suit the need of the people rather than the oppressors. Lionel is my bodyguard for this task. Master said I was a super computer or something like that and that Lionel would always protect me," the little girl recited while looking at the sky, trying to remember the whole speech her master had told her.

The girl was created for everything I believe in. Maybe I should help, as a nod to a fellow revolutionist. "A-ah. So, do you need a ride to E.C.? I have a LineRunner and I'm sure I can get you there faster."

Ivy contemplated it for a moment before turning around. Wren watch in curiosity as she held a hushed conversation with the stuffed lion.

What have I gotten myself into? Wren thought miserably.

"Wren-Wren, Lionel and I have come to an agreement. We have agreed to allow you to escort us to Entralink City, but Lionel says he won't personally be responsible for you if we get into a skirmish with O.A.S.I.S. scumbags," Ivy said.

"Fine by me, I guess..."

"Great!"

Wren looks up into the rearview mirror to see Ivy still looking out the window.

Her stomach twisted in knots before she opened her mouth to answer the big question. "How far?"

"2.3 miles, and they are encroaching at a fast pace," replies Ivy. "Should I get Lionel ready?"

"No, he's our last resort remember?" Lionel takes his power from Ivy, which causes her to shut down. Lionel is always Plan Z. Wren tries to look around for an escape route.

“2 miles. There are no exits, Wren,” Ivy says. “Lionel?”

“Not yet,” Wren says sternly. “Are you buckled?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” says Wren before she floors the gas, jerking them both back into their seats.

Ivy cries out in surprise, clutching Lionel for dear life. “Wren, they’re getting closer!”

“I know, I know!” she exclaims. Wren looks up into her rear view mirror and sees three armed O.A.S.I.S. trucks rolling after them, becoming closer by the second.

Wren tries to keep ahead of them, but she knows it won’t last long. O.A.S.I.S. vehicles are faster then Wren’s standard LineRunner (a stolen and hot wired one at that). There was no way she’d be able to stay ahead for long.

Her worst nightmare came to life as two of the tanks drove up and hugged both of the sides of the car, the other coming up behind so she could only escape ahead.

“Wren!”

“Not yet!” Wren growled before grabbing the shotgun that was nestled next to her leg. She watched at the one to her right rolled its window down, revealing an O.A.S.I.S. robot, the company’s logo stamped on its forehead.

“Wren Knight, you are violating seven laws. Housing a fugitive, assisting a fugitive, armed robbery, battery—“ The robot didn’t get to relay the rest of the information before Wren shot its head with a plasma blast from the shotgun, effectively destroying it.

“Don’t they ever learn?” she mutters, watching as the robot that had been manning the car turns to her with red eyes.

“Known fugitive Wren Knight. Attack mode activated.”

Wren ducked just in time to dodge a blast coming from the opposite car, hitting the robot and sending the truck spiraling to the side and into the dark night.

“One down, two to go,” Ivy says.

Wren grunts in agreement. She sees the other truck move to take the spot of the other.  Wren’s immediate thought is to hit the breaks to fall behind. She’d turn around and race in the opposite direction. Wren quickly shoots it down. They’d fall days behind and the trucks would still catch up.

Wren fires at the truck to the left, but she hits the plasma-proof sides. She curses under her breath. What am I going to do?

The trucks start closing in on her sides, trapping the LineRunner. Wren starts to panic, trying to find a way out. She curses again, louder this time. She closes her eyes for a moment to think.

Wren hears the window open and is brought out of her thoughts, knowing instantly what’s happening. “Ivy, no!”

“IVY AntiVirus System shutting down. Metal Leo activated,” says the computerized voice.

Wren flinches, ready for the explosion that is bound to happen. She wasn’t disappointed. The truck to her left is crushed in metal jaws and thrown off into the distant, lighting up the night as it explodes when it hits the ground behind them. Large metal paws suddenly crush the one to the right, the LineRunner now rid of enemies. The night lights up again as that one is thrown and explodes off to the side. Wren keeps going at full speed, just to make sure there are no surprise vehicles.

Once she is sure that there are no more, she pulls off to the outer line and stops the car. Wren is frigid. She sits there, staring down the road and trying to slow her frantic heart. She peals her hands of the wheel slowly, before rubbing her face. Wren leans back in the seats and lets out a sigh of relief. She takes deep breaths in…out…in…out. When she’s calmed herself down she opens the car door. Wren glances back at Ivy to make sure she’s OK before she steps out.

Wren instantly pulls her jacket closer to her body, her jeans doing almost nothing to stop the cold from numbing her legs. She looks around before spotting Lionel sitting obediently like a dog in the middle of the road. The large metal lion looks at her as she walks closer to him.

“Great job, Lionel. You really saved me back there,” Wren praises, patting his leg. She grins when she hears the metal ringing at the contact.

Lionel stands taller in pride. He lets out a soft roar before standing back up. They walk back to the LineRunner together, Lionel shielding Wren from the cold the best he can.

Wren smiles up at him. “And you said you wouldn’t be responsible for me.”

Lionel growls before he starts shrinking. His body folds in on itself, forming a small cube that is then stuffed inside the stuffed lion that was hidden inside the machine. The back closes up technologically and the stuffed lion lies there next to the car. Wren picks it up and dusts its head, trying in vain to rid it of dirt.

She knows Lionel can hear her when she says, “I would kiss your head, but its disgusting.”

Wren giggles before opening the back down put Lionel next to Ivy. She pulls up Ivy’s sleeve and pats her wrist.

“IVY AnitVirus System offline. Turn online?”

“Yes.”

“Turning online.”

Ivy wakes up, blinking her blue eyes at Wren. “Did we win?”

“Yup. Only three more days ‘till we reach Entralink City.”

Ivy nods. “Three days.”

Three days until they change the world forever.