Lyra stepped closer, her synthetic arm almost touching his shoulder.
"Do you want to go outside? The mountain air might calm your mind," she suggested.
Kaivan hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
He put on a thick jacket and wrapped a scarf around his neck. A researcher approached and handed him a small black device.
"Please take this GPS with you, so we can track your location if anything happens."
Kaivan accepted it and placed it in his bag along with the Tome of Omnicent.
They walked toward the snow vehicle. Lyra took the driver's seat, her precise hands calmly guiding the controls.
Autumn air embraced their journey. The wind carried the scent of wet earth and fallen leaves. The six-wheeled capsule-shaped vehicle glided smoothly between tree roots and damp rocks.
Orange and red leaves drifted slowly from high branches, like memories falling from the sky. In the distance, the Caucasus Mountains rose majestically—giant walls guarding the world.
Above them, in the dim sky, a full supermoon hung silently, its silver light casting long shadows across the valley.
"We've arrived, Kaivan," Lyra said. Her voice was as flat as ever, yet there was a faint trace—perhaps of admiration, perhaps of understanding—reflected in her eyes.
Kaivan slowly opened the door and stepped out. Dew-covered grass brushed against his shoes. Before him stretched a forest painted in gold and amber, a star-filled night sky, and a giant supermoon hanging above. His chest felt wide open and small at the same time.
"Th-this… where are we, Lyra?" he asked, almost in a whisper.
Lyra turned, lifted the bag from the trunk with ease, and replied calmly, "When I helped you and Fabrizio back then, I saw this place from the air. I remembered it. I thought… in autumn, this view would suit you." Her tone was flat, yet her words carried a warmth she herself had not yet realized.
Kaivan gave a small smile and dropped onto the grass. He lay back, staring at the sky, at the moon shining quietly among the stars. His breath formed faint white mist in the cold night air.
"Lyra," he said softly without turning, "now that you have a new body, you can feel the world—temperature, texture, wind. But you're wearing something that thin. Aren't you cold?"
Lyra slowly turned and sat beside him, her movements as smooth as flowing water. She opened the bag, took out a small thermos, and spoke gently.
"No. I can regulate my body temperature. Just like when I held you during that snowstorm… so you wouldn't freeze."
She handed him a cup of hot chocolate. Steam rose softly between them.
Kaivan flinched slightly, then sat up. He took the cup and sipped it slowly. Warmth flowed down his throat, driving away the cold clinging to his body—and his heart.
He looked down at the cup in his hands, then at Lyra gazing at the sky. Moonlight danced within her emerald eyes.
"I never thought I'd make it this far," Kaivan murmured, his voice nearly drowned by the wind. "After everything I've been through… I shouldn't even be here anymore."
Lyra turned toward him and moved a little closer. Her hair swayed in the night breeze.
"I believe," she said quietly, her tone like the breath of the valley, "that if we're still alive… it means something isn't finished yet."
Kaivan frowned slightly and looked at her. "You mean… like a mission?"
Lyra looked down at the grass beneath her hand, feeling its softness through her synthetic skin. She gently clenched her small fist, as if trying to grasp something invisible.
"I don't know yet what 'life' really means," she said slowly, "but I know I want to feel it. I want to know… what it's like to live."
The night sky stretched endlessly above them. The supermoon hung calmly, its silver light filtering through trees and valley mist. The wind carried a gentle melody, shaking fallen leaves like fragments of time.
In the heart of that silence, two figures—an injured human and an android searching for meaning—sat side by side. They did not touch, yet they were connected by a warm, quiet bond.
"I want you to know about my life," Kaivan said softly, almost like a whisper afraid of being carried away by the wind.
His voice trembled through the air, breaking the near-sacred silence. His eyes remained fixed on the sky, unwilling to turn toward Lyra beside him.
He took a long breath, as if gathering courage from the freezing air filling his lungs.
"My life…" he said quietly. "It was never easy. I once fell in love."
He paused.
"I used to like a girl named Rina. But she didn't choose me. I was so broken back then… until a woman named Tania came into my life. She made me happy for the first time."
His voice wavered.
"But… she was also the one who destroyed everything."
Kaivan lowered his head, his lips trembling as he held back the bitterness he had swallowed for so long.