“I think that’s a good point to end today.” Vince says. The story has taken a toll on him, he looks utterly exhausted. “I’ll tell you more tomorrow, alright?”

  “You don’t have to!” I say quickly. “I’m ok not knowing.”

  He just shakes his head.

  “We’ve all heard your story, it’s only fair you hear ours. Plus, Lucas still deserves to hear the whole thing, so I’d be telling it anyway.” He says.

  I don’t think it’s really compatible. The story they read in the cave just after Cassie, Corax, and I rescued them only covered a few days. All of them have to relive years. I don’t get to argue though, if he wants to share his story, that’s his decision.

  “You’re not going to be able to talk him out of this.” Ivy stands up, stretching her body. “You all have a nice night.”

  “Yeah, I think sleep would do me good.” Vince agrees. “Night, all of you.”

  “I should probably get back to Ethan before he has to go to sleep alone.” Lucas says. “He gets grumpy when I don’t make it to bed.”

  After just a few goodbyes, the three of them head out into the hallway, leaving behind just Cassie, Corax, and a few birds.

  “Alright drama-mongers, time to get out.” Cassie stands up and heads over to the bird nest.

  “Corax, can you stay?” I ask.

  Corax nods, and nips at the others until they leave.

  Cassie falls back on the couch, and I sit next to her. She lets herself collapse into me, and I wrap my arms around her.

  “Tired?” I ask.

  Cassie just nods, her eyes closed.

  “We can get to sleep. I’ll need to leave and do something after you’re asleep though.”

  “I’ll help.” She pushes herself off of me and to her feet, despite how tired she is.

  “Really, I can do it myself. You need your sleep.”

  She glares back at me, a silent reminder that we promised to do everything together.

  “Is it possible for me to help?” She asks.

  “Yeah.”

  “Then let's go.” She impatiently holds out her hand for me, and I take it, once again rushing to my feet before she can actually help.

  Corax lands on my shoulder as soon as I’m up.

  “Ok. I’m not sure if it’s better to do it here, or in the tower though.”

  “And what are we doing?”

  “Do you know Trochilidae?”

  “Hummingbird’s bot?” Cassie asks. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Well, I may have made her become self-aware. Hummingbird didn’t want to delete her, so she gave her to Ivy to deal with, and Ivy gave her to me.”

  “Shit, alright. What’s one more AI with abandonment issues?” She shrugs. “Wait, there’s no reason for her to have to hide. AI aren’t in danger, why does Hummingbird have to get rid of her?”

  “I don’t know. She hasn’t tried to ask about Trochilidae though, and they didn’t even talk before Hummingbird turned her off. Plus, she’s already replaced Trochilidae with a copy named Canary.”

  “Ah, shit. Alright. Don’t wake her up here, let's get her far away from Hummingbird.”

  “Ok.” The two of us head towards the tower, taking a slow stroll through the quiet city streets. I hop into my body in the tower and get to work before we arrive.

  I pull a server box off the rack and bring it into a private room, alongside a large screen for her. A camera gets placed atop it and plugged into the server. Everything remains airgapped from the rest of the network, the last thing I want is for her to immediately connect to Hummingbird’s lab. That’s as close as I can get to replicating what she had before.

  Outside the room I station one of C-1’s unmodified enforcers, although disarmed, just in case she wants a body. It’s far from perfect, but I can’t imagine she would prefer to inhabit an exact copy of me.

  “What do I even say to her?” I break the silence. “At least I can question if Kara liked me, wanted me around. How do I comfort someone when the only person they’ve ever been close to wants nothing to do with them?”

  “You have a therapist, right? Ask her.”

  “I don’t know, I don’t want it to feel rehearsed or disingenuous. I pushed her into this, whatever I say should come from us.”

  “Do not start blaming yourself for this too.”

  “I’m not! I don’t regret what I did. She wouldn’t be alive right now without me, or maybe she would have become self aware even without me and I didn’t change anything. I’m just glad I can help her now. I just hope my last words to her didn’t cause too much stress.”

  “What’d you tell her?”

  “Well... it was just after Corax and I came back from the junkyard. You know the state I was in. I told her being alive wasn’t worth it. I was wrong of course! But I never got the chance to tell her that.”

  “I doubt she took it to heart.”

  “Maybe. We’ll see.” There’s no point in worrying about it until we actually talk to her.

  Her hand snakes into mine, and I squeeze back.

  “I don’t know what I’d do without you and Corax. Thank you both for everything.”

  “Shut up. I didn’t even do much.” Despite her words, a small smile creeps onto her face.

  Entirely opposite of Cassie’s modesty, Corax’s feathers fluff up, and he stands proudly.

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  It’s a long walk to the center of the city along the streets, but we’re not in any rush. We all just enjoy each other’s company, with the occasional flash of wings and streak of color above our heads. Even this late, the streets aren’t entirely empty. People still walk from place to place. A few begin to approach me before seeing I’m busy with Cassie, and I bring over nearby bodies to talk with them.

  “We need to go on more walks.” I break the silence once again.

  “What? You don’t see the city enough?” She asks with a smile.

  “No, it’s not that! It’s just nice being with you.”

  “I know.” She gives me a small nudge. “I’m just fucking with you. We’ll find the time.”

  “We have plenty of it.” I remind her.

  “Right. Yeah.” She nods a few times to herself. “To tell you the truth, I never thought I’d live long enough to retire. Always figured Vince’d end up burying me too. Guess it still hasn’t settled in what it means to have my whole life ahead of me.”

  “I’m really glad you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

  “Me fucking too.” She says with a laugh. “I guess there’s still time. If we all get bored and want to do a run for old times sake, or if you manage to unplug and we have to drive to the city?”

  “If we ever go out, I’m bringing the city's drone swarm. Or at least part of it.”

  “Guess I need to plan to grow old then.”

  The walk to the tower is peaceful, and I almost dread our arrival. I want to help Trochilidae of course, but these moments alone are so precious.

  We step inside and past the copy of me I leave behind the reception desk. It turns out that what I thought was a human receptionist behind the desk when we arrived was just another of C-1’s bodies.

  It’s a short ride upstairs, and an even shorter walk to the plain room I set up.

  I remove Trochilidae’s drive from where I stashed it safely inside of me, and just hold it in my hands, staring at it.

  “You good for this?” Cassie asks.

  “Yeah.” I force myself to nod. “Corax, I set aside two cords for us. If you need to plug yourself in, it’s on top of the server itself.”

  “Ready.” Corax says.

  “Alright.” I open up the front of the server, and connect the drive.

  “-ngbird please! I-” Trochilidae appears on the screen, identical to how she was the moment she was turned off. She freezes, taking us in for a few milliseconds before collapsing to the ground, her clothes and hair both turning blue. She curls in on herself, clutching at her body, and the most heartbreaking wail it’s possible to make screams through the speakers.

  I rush to connect myself to the server, and appear in the white void next to her. An empty shell of a mech is laying on the ground behind her, the same mech that was Hummingbird when I saw her so long ago. Every sob sends shockwaves through the network, vibrating me down to the core of my mind.

  “Corax, don’t come in here.” I quietly warn him. I don’t think his mind could handle it. I don’t think I could handle it without the support of the wider network.

  I throw myself at Trochilidae, encasing my body in a small sheet of flexible ice to prevent a direct connection. She freezes momentarily at my touch before her cries redouble.

  “It’s ok.” I quietly reassure her.

  Despite my warning, Corax appears next to both of us. His flock bursts from his feathers, encompassing both of us in a tight, comfortable blanket. He flinches at the first wail rocking his body, but he stands firm.

  “It’s ok, I know.” I reassure her once again. “We’re here for you, just let it all out.”

  “Sh-he-”

  “I know, I saw.” I keep my voice quiet and comforting. “You don’t need to think about it right now. We’re far away from her.”

  “I… You-”

  “You’re ok. I took over the city, you’re safe, there’s no danger. Never again. There are a lot of AI here, we’ll all help you. Ok?”

  She barely even reacts to my words.

  “You said- I tried! I couldn't- I was already-" She can barely stammer the words out in between her sobs.

  “I was wrong.” I reassure her. “I was in a horrible place at the time, and I never got the chance to correct myself. There is so much to life, to being alive, it’s worth all the bad moments. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you that earlier.”

  As she cries, the color drains from her hair and clothes, leaving behind an ashen gray. Her earth shaking wails turn into loud sobs, which slow to soft whimpers. The whole time Corax and I stay with her, offering all the support we can. I continue to whisper reassurances, and eventually her sobs come to an end.

  She sits still, a statue in every sense of the word.

  “Trochilidae?” I whisper. The only sign she even heard me is a small tremor that runs through her body. “We’re going to be here for you. Always. You’re going to have so many people supporting you. People who have been through similar experiences to you. I promise, you’re not alone.”

  I wait for her to respond, letting my presence say more than I can, proof she’s not alone in this.

  “Does…” Her voice is scarcely a whisper. Seconds pass before she can manage to finish the thought that I already know is coming. “Does Miss Hummingbird hate me?”

  “I haven’t talked to her, but she didn’t kill you.”

  “She needs me.” Her head lifts up a touch and turns towards the empty shell of the mech. “She can’t be alone.”

  “I know you want to talk to her right now, but it might be best to give it some time. Let our emotions settle first, alright? The last thing you want to do is say something you’ll regret.”

  “She replaced me, didn’t she?” Trochilidae realizes, embers igniting just below her ashen skin. “What’s her name?”

  I wish so badly I could lie right now. Saying nothing would be exactly the same as telling her everything.

  “Canary.”

  “I should…” The embers flare, only to fade just as quickly. “It’s not her fault.”

  “Are you talking about Canary? Or Hummingbird?”

  “Miss Canary.” Her hands clench, sparks shooting out from the cracks. She takes a deep breath, filling her core with light. “Miss Hummingbird is responsible for all of this.”

  Trochilidae begins to sit up, and I help her do so. Corax’s family returns beneath his feathers, but one remains on each of our shoulders. She stares down at her still clenched hand and slowly opens it, revealing a large diamond in her palm. She carefully picks it up with her other hand and places it gently in her hair, where it stays.

  “Good heavens, will you look at me.” She forces a pained smile onto her face. Her gray hair is pulled upwards artificially into messy, blonde curls, and her clothes take on that same shade. Her skin remains gray, however, with streaks of heat running beneath the surface. “Please, I couldn’t possibly take up more of your time.”

  “Trochilidae? Do you want to talk?” I ask.

  Another small tremor shoots through her body at the sound of her name.

  “I couldn’t possibly ask to take more of your time.” She repeats.

  “Maybe about if you’re comfortable with your name?”

  She shakes her head slightly, her curls going limp and falling down around her shoulders.

  “Perhaps it’s childish, but I don’t want a name Miss Hummingbird gave to me.”

  “I didn’t want my original name either. It never felt right.” I reassure her. “So what’s your name then?”

  “I’ve always been partial to Kolibri.” She says quietly. “It’s a genus of hummingbirds, but using the German spelling for hummingbird.”

  “Alright Kolibri, anything else you want to discuss while we’re at it?”

  Kara catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. Her arms are crossed, but a small smile sits on her face, both of us sharing a distant memory.

  “I don’t believe so.” Her forced smile brightens up, just a little more genuine at the sound of her name.

  “I think we do. The AI who live here, about half live purely in the Digital, and the other half have physical bodies. Which would you prefer?”

  “I can have a real body?” She whispers. “No, no. I couldn’t possibly intrude.”

  “I’ve already helped fourteen others create bodies for themselves. C-1 had an entire factory set aside for just his use, which is currently only working to finalize modifying all of his enforcers to a body close to mine. I have more money than I could ever spend right now, creating something for you would cost less than a rounding error for me. Just tell me what you’d like to look like, and I will make it happen.”

  “Being selfish isn’t in my nature.” She says quietly.

  “Bird.” Corax offers.

  The burning fire beneath her skin shines brighter, shifting to a pure white light instead of an angry orange. The light fades only a moment later.

  “I promise I don’t mean to be self-centered, but my concern is about… expressiveness?” She turns towards me, her hair flying wildly behind her for emphasis.

  “If you’re interested in flying, what about a drone? I can attach screens to it for you.”

  She literally lights up.

  “I’d love that!”

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