I Am Learning, Ph1LzA

No Easy Way Out

For the first time in his life, Ph1LzA knew what it was like to burn. Heat raged all around him, flames gnawing on his clothes and at his skin; he could smell meat cooking. Yet he ran through the fire, hands relentlessly gripping the hair and jacket of a boy he would not allow to die.

Whether Wilbur was still fighting back or not, Ph1LzA could no longer tell. He just kept pulling and pulling, staggering with every ounce of strength he could muster towards an exit he knew was close at hand. The smoke made him cough, and he wished he could hide his face, but both hands were preoccupied. One step, two steps. He felt like he was dragging a dead weight. What was Wilbur doing? Had he fainted? Was he resisting? Ph1LzA did not look back to find out.

The fire soared up to the ceiling behind him, wrapping its dancing form around the EGG servers Ph1LzA had so desperately desired to save. But there was no use in trying to get anything off them now, they were lost to the consequences of Wilbur's decisions. And so would Ph1LzA be, if he didn't locate the way out.

Where was TechnoBlade? Ph1LzA hadn't heard the AI's voice for a long time, even before the fire started. Had he been disconnected somehow? Had he been distracted, unlikely as that possibility seemed, or perhaps Trixtin had put him in the frame she had finally built and he was working out how to use it? Questions and thoughts flitted without response through Ph1LzA's mind as he struggled to haul Wilbur from the building.

He was thankful for one thing at least: fire didn't just explode on its own. The smoke was one danger, but things would have been much worse had the fire been able to consume them before Ph1LzA dragged Wilbur out of its reach. Now all he had to worry about was suffocation, surely. And whatever burns he'd contracted.

Something, however, did explode not far from him. Ph1LzA lurched sideways, throwing Wilbur to his left as he fell, blocking the boy's body from whatever new flames might be rising. A wave of heat smote him, forcing the hacker to climb to his feet and begin to pull again. This time, the effort nearly jerked him off his feet. Looking down, he could hardly see Wilbur amid all the smoke, but he could make out no movement. Ph1LzA gritted his teeth and bent over, picking up Wilbur in arms already throbbing with pain. Then he turned. And realized he'd lost all sense of direction.

Ph1LzA shook his head, coughing violently. Left. I fell left. He was lying left. He had to turn around again, and then off he went, breathing in small gasps and choking coughs, searching for that wall he knew would lead him out. Another explosion behind him sent him stumbling forward, almost pitching him to the floor again. He had just regained his balance when another explosion sounded from farther back, then another and another. Panic streaked through his heart, making every drop of blood tremble in his body. Ph1LzA threw himself forward, his legs pounding as he tried to run.

He collided with something hard and flat, and he fell over in a heap with Wilbur on top of him. The effort of getting back up was almost more than Ph1LzA could bear, because every breath drawn burned inside him and made his lungs feel as though they were being slowly shredded. When he coughed, blood spat from between his lips and hit the floor in little drops. He could see them, though his vision was blurry with tears and smoke. No conscious thought remained to motivate him, but Ph1LzA got up anyway, pulled forward by something in the back of his mind, something he couldn't take the time to think about. The grip he managed to get on Wilbur now felt weak, incapable of moving the body beside him. Ph1LzA tugged and yanked, managing to get his hands back under Wilbur. When he heaved upwards, the strain on his back nearly sent him to his knees.

Setting one foot in front of the other felt like a monumental task. Sweat ran down Ph1LzA's back, arms and neck, redoubling the misery he was in. The heat from the flames pressed down upon him, and all Ph1LzA could think about was where to find the door. Fresh air, cool winds, something. Relief. He needed it badly. Ph1LzA pulled himself forward. He'd hit a wall when he dropped Wilbur, so he followed that and hoped he was heading in the direction of the door.