'Ready?'
Ana took his hand and they walked over to the solitary seats placed near the large floor-to-ceiling glass panels covering the atrium, and looking out over the station. This level covered predominates, research, rehabilitation and more recently a section-comms. Ana had requested and been assigned her own team, herself, Ricard, Genee and Spencer. They would form the core communications insights. And since their progress on coupling meant that they have more time together, this level was dedicated especially for  exercises.

In front of them spanned neatly built rows of several similar buildings. She imagined everyone going about their daily business no clue as to what was going to happen when news broke out of the decision to take on more human populations. For the briefest moment she felt sad. She was going to miss the relative calm they enjoyed before. Reserves were low across the valley and population shifts were common in other stations. When news of a diaspora from the South spread, Lumin were the first to welcome new visitors.
Death explosions...

   Distancing themselves from their unwelcome guests put Ricard at ease and she felt him relax beside her as they sat down.
  'I'm sorry about this,' she said.  Feeling the need to say something. The last few days were tense, leading up from the time they had received the message.
   'We could go the cafeteria, we can do this later,' she suggested.
  'No, I'm fine. I don't mind them really.'
Ana was relieved. The more they spent time together, the surer she was that their coupling would succeed. But the fact he was becoming more agitated every time they did the exercise troubled her. He was acting strange. Growing quiet at times. He held his gaze longer. And last night as they completed the purge, he held her hand longer, thoughtful as if the trip had taken something more out of him.

   'We are all ghosts,
    living in haunted houses
    We call our bodies,'

She smiled at this. He chose his words carefully, and it made her like him more.
   'Sheets of milky rain,
    fill these gaps in summer pine.
    There's no dry way home.'

The room and the level slowly deteriorated around them. And even as they spoke these words together she could feel small drops of moisture forming against the windows. New sounds, barely audible at first.
Then the rain came, cold and icy, it fell in waves around them. He didn't look away but instead held her arm tight.
   'Don't let go.'
   'I won't,' she replied.
And then they were meshing, and falling into the abyss together.