Faded Flare — L.B. Carter

Fire is spreading. Who will bask? Who will burn?

A handicap is only one if you let it be. In the case of Henley Bickford, it was a tool manipulated to improve upon herself. Until recently she was a hard-working grant-awardee student at a prestigious school generating technology to handle the changing climate. That is until she learned the clause in her contract meant literal termination upon completion...
Now, Hen's on the run to escape her termination and warn her sister before she follows in Henley's footsteps.

When you knowingly step into the enemy's clutches to learn at their very hands, having an escape plan is essential. But when nerdy Buster Acton finally looks up from his research to dart out the door, his conscience recognizes a girl he can't leave behind; she could be an asset...
With the girl, and the two he intended to break out, Buster--whose real name is Ace--has to modify his mission to protect the nation from traveling solo to being part of a team.

Outrunning the brightest minds in the country isn't easy. The only way to reach their families across the country with their warnings in tow is to expose their secrets and learn to hold hands, intertwining android and flesh fingers...
Before their own creations catch them.