Corax, Cassie, and I keep Kolibri’s mind off of things while I work on quickly manufacturing a body for her. I take one of the combat drones for a base, remove the weapon, and add on a large screen. The only real manufacturing I need to do is adding a few manipulation arms for her that are able to be safely retracted inside the body.

  “Kolibri, we do need to have one final tough conversation.” I warn her.

  The color that’s been steadily returning to her skin fades.

  “What is it?” She asks.

  “I don’t want to deny you access to the wider network. The ability to speak to anyone at any time, to always have someone to reach out to, to lean on, is far too valuable. However, most computer systems in the city are unknowingly connected to that network.”

  “You’re concerned about me spying on Miss Hummingbird and Miss Canary.” Kolibri guesses.

  “I’m concerned whatever you find will end up hurting you. Monary and I already have limitations in place to prevent anyone inside the network from connecting to private computers, but I have no illusions that someone persistent couldn’t burst through those limits while the two of us are distracted.”

  “I won’t look.” Although she promises, her eyes flicker away from mine and focus on the plain floor around us.

  “If you want to talk to her eventually, I’ll be there to support you. But I do think we should give it some time. Let yourself figure out who you are before she tries to dictate who that is.”

  “Right.” She nods and claps, forcing more color into herself. Her hair turns pink, and her clothes turn an identical shade of blue to mine. “Enough worrying about little old me! I couldn’t possibly take your entire day.”

  “Kolibri, please. I literally have more processing power than I can use. I’m actively answering questions from six separate citizens right at this moment, and have over a hundred bodies just waiting around. You, Cassie, Corax, Vince, Ivy, Lucas, and the kids at Silver’s are the only people I would want to talk to right now, and they’re either here or asleep.”

  “See! You’re busy! I’m doing well, really!”

  “Don’t give us that shit.” Cassie says. Kolibri jumps with surprise at her voice. “Look, you’re not used to being alive. I get that. But part of being alive is getting help and learning it’s ok to need things, and it’s ok to need help. Now stop lying because you don’t want to be an inconvenience, you’re worse at it then Blue is.”

  Kolibri glances between both Corax and I in surprise.

  “Right.” Corax agrees.

  “I’ll try. I just… I spent so long living for her.”

  “I know it’s a big change. But I promise, living for yourself is worth it.” I ensure the ice covering my body is still in place, and hug her tightly. “And we’ll figure out what that means to you.”

  Kolibri nods, and squeezes her eyes tight to try to prevent tears from rolling down her face. Her tears escape regardless, and while color does drain from her once again, her ashen skin goes with it. She ends up clear, semi-transparent, similar to the diamond sitting in her hair.

  “Things will be ok, ok?” I stress once again. “There’s a woman who lives here, Emma. She came here with the intention of helping people, both humans and AI, acting as a therapist. You should talk to her when you get the chance, she’ll really help.”

  “If she has an entire city to speak to, I’m sure she’s busy.”

  Was I ever this frustrating? I don’t think so? At least I hope not.

  “It’s literally her job to talk to people and help them, and she’s really good at it. You won’t be taking up her time, she’ll just be doing the entire reason she’s here.”

  “Ok.” She says quietly.

  “Thank you.” I barely hold back a sigh.

  I let Corax and Cassie comfort her the best they can, while I focus on finishing her body. The factory and the bodies inside it make quick work, fabricating the arms for her and attaching them to the drone.

  After a quick test, there are a few more design problems than I originally expected. Her body needs a series of cameras and microphones, which are easy to fit on. The problem comes from the motors and propellers that keep the copter in the air. C-1 didn’t care about the volume when he designed them, once you have a thousand in the air, their individual noise levels don’t matter much.

  The entire flight assembly has to be redone from scratch. The motors have to be removed and replaced with something designed exclusively for quietness. Replacing the existing four rotor design with a six rotor design, and increasing both the size of each individual propeller, and the number of blades on each will make her overall larger and less efficient, but quieter. The goal is to let her hover in front of someone and still be able to both hear, and be heard clearly, and a few simulations say this design should work.

  Only twenty minutes later, another of my bodies enters the room, much to Kolibri’s surprise. I place the drone on the ground, and return the body to the manufactory.

  “Alright! What do you think? It’s a drone carrying a screen for you, and I attached small arms and landing legs to it.”

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  Kolibri just sits in stunned silence, staring through her camera at it.

  “Do you want to try using it?” I ask.

  “Can I?” She glances back towards me.

  “Of course! I’ll give you access to my wireless card so you can take control of it.”

  Before I do so, I send a message to every AI in the wider network.

  “Hello everyone. A new software AI is coming into the network, Kolibri. She only became self aware a little bit ago and during some extreme circumstances. Please, give her some space and do not immediately ask questions. She’s still dealing with a lot right now.”

  I get all manner of affirmations back.

  I connect to the drone, and reach out to give Kolibri access. The moment she connects, the drone takes off, buzzing as she leaves the ground.

  The self she displays on her screen is pure joy. Her entire body is shining brightly, and the drone flits rapidly through the room. It hovers closely in front of Corax, Cassie, and I for just a moment before shooting over to the next person.

  “This is great!” She cries loudly, before her embarrassment makes her shrink back a little bit.

  “City.” Corax offers.

  Kolibri’s confusion says far more than her words ever could.

  “There’s a small flock of mind ripped birds that live here. How would you feel about exploring the city with them?” I clarify.

  “No. Me.” Corax insists.

  “Oh, ok. How would you like to explore the city with Corax?”

  “I think… If it’s not too much of an inconvenience.”

  Corax takes momentary control of the body outside the room, only long enough to open the door. The moment there’s space, he rips out the wire connecting him to the network. With powerful wings he takes off from atop the server and flies through the door, escaping through a permanently open window.

  “Oh! Wait!” Kolibri takes off a moment later, quickly following after him, her digital hair flying in the wind.

  “What’s gotten into him?” Cassie asks.

  “I don’t know.” I step into the room with that spare body and set it on the ground. Skin plates around its head retract, and I pull out the wireless card hidden inside.

  “Kolibri?” I send her a message, thankfully she’s not surprised in the slightest. “I’ll need to plug in a permanent wireless card. Hotplugging it in should work, but I just wanted you to be aware.”

  “Ok! Go for it!” Whatever sadness was in her is entirely gone from her voice.

  I open the computer, plug in the board, and close it up. A moment later Kolibri stops using my wireless connection, and seamlessly begins to use her own.

  I smile as I unplug myself, finally returning to my original body.

  “I’m really glad he’s able to help though.” I continue my and Cassie’s conversation.

  “Mm-hmm. Make sure you keep an eye on her.”

  “Monary and I keep an eye on all the birds, don’t worry. I’m a little paranoid about someone getting drunk and taking a shot at one of them.”

  “Shit, actually that’s pretty possible. Corax will probably end up blowing up half a building to get revenge too.”

  “No he wouldn’t.”

  Cassie just tilts her head at me, revealing the small triangle in her ear that’s still missing.

  “I’m not saying he wouldn’t get revenge! Just saying he’d be careful about not hurting anyone else at the same time. The person who did it would almost certainly be injured though.”

  “Uh-huh.” Cassie raises both of her hands in the air, stretching her entire body. The hem of her shirt gets pulled up, revealing a small portion of her midriff. I try with every bit of my being to avoid staring, but I’m just not strong enough. I take in the sight, every scratch and scar, small pieces of her history she’s shared with me. “I need to get to sleep pretty soon.”

  “Do you want to head back to our room? Or should we just sleep in one of the beds here?”

  “I can make it home. Besides, I wouldn’t be against a second walk.”

  I take her outstretched hand and let her lead me towards the elevator.

  “Oh, wait! Do you want to read on the roof?”

  “We don’t have any books stored up here, do we?” She asks. “And no, I don’t want to read off a tablet.”

  “I can read to you. We could scream up there and nobody would hear us, and the angle even to the nearby buildings is too sharp for anyone to see us.”

  “Yeah alright.” Cassie shrugs. “Long as the drama-mongers stay away.”

  “They really don’t like going through the dome, not without some protection. It really messes with their circuits. Plus I can physically disconnect the cameras up there, we’ll be alone.”

  “Alright, if you’re sure.” She turns, and the two of us head upstairs, letting out onto the roof of the tower. The bright sky above us, and the soft blue glow of the dome surrounds us on all sides.

  Cassie takes a seat on the top step and lets herself lay back, staring up into the stars above.

  I lay next to her, hand in hand.

  “What do you want to read?” I ask.

  “I just want to sit here for a moment.” She says.

  Things are peaceful, perfect. No sound makes its way up from the city, a gentle breeze tickles our faces and ruffles our hair. Even my citizens, seemingly sensing our peace and not wanting to break it, refrain from disturbing me.

  Cassie’s head drifts to the side, her emerald eyes taking me in, specks of starlight reflecting in them.

  “Hey.” She says softly. “Do you remember Vegas?”

  “I think I remember it too well. What part of it are you talking about?” I think I already know, and I hope so badly that it’s true. I’m not going to let myself assume though, I’m not going to let myself be disappointed.

  “Don’t make me ask.” She rolls her eyes.

  “I don’t want to assume.” I answer back.

  “Do you- would you- ugh. Just tell me when to stop.” She rolls over, resting one hand on the hem of my shirt.

  “I’m ok doing anything we did at Vegas.” I answer.

  “Me too.” She says softly, before slipping her hand under my shirt.

  I lean over for a deep kiss, letting our warmth meld together, and explore her skin with my fingertips once again. I trace over every scar, every story, every beautiful part of her.

  Her hand drifts past my hips and to the small of my back. She pulls the two of us together, leaving not even air between us.

  She breaks off the kiss and glances away from me.

  “Hey, uh. I’m not good at this, just so you know.”

  “None of the information I was born with covered this in any detail. It’s ok, I’m sure I’m bad at it too.”

  “As long as we’re bad together.” She says with a small smile.

  “As long as we’re bad together.” I agree.

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