Thankfully Cassie is off catching up with her friends and I don’t need to disturb her with something as inconvenient as having to move.

  I join the small trickle of people headed downstairs. Oscar, sitting in front of Silver’s office as always, nods as I pass.

  I let myself in, joining the already packed room. Silver glances at me for just a moment before returning to their computer. Behind them, Clover sits in a comfortable chair, the child still cradled in her arms. Two wires drape down their bodies and connect them to Silver’s computer.

  “We’re waiting on one more.” Silver announces.

  I stand in the corner as far out of the way as possible, and turn my attention back to the caravan, still working my way through endless samples.

  It’s less than a minute before the door opens once again, and the last person steps through. There are eight people in total, and although I haven’t had the chance to talk to most of them, I know their names and recognize their faces.

  Silver hits two final keys on their keyboard, and turns to the group.

  “Thank you all for responding quickly. I need you to arrest a caravan.”

  “You do?” One of the men, Sam, says. “Or are we just Blue’s muscle now?”

  “You work for me.” Silver’s voice, although quiet, pounds against my ears, and their eyes pierce into his soul. I’m glad I don’t have to be on the receiving end of that. “This is no different from any other mission I decide to take. If you have a problem with my decisions then you’re free to leave.” Silver waits a moment for him to respond before continuing. “They’re smuggling in dangerous chemicals, and it’s only a matter of time before one of ours gets killed. Take them alive.”

  “And why can’t she do it?” Sam jerks his head towards me.

  Have I still not earned the right to be seen as an equal from everyone? It’s fine, people just need time.

  “I would if I could, I don’t like having to put you at risk.” I answer. “I need you to keep this a secret, for obvious reasons, I hope. They have a device that’s capable of either deactivating, or controlling electronics. That’s why I came to Silver, I don’t know any purely organic humans that I trust to take care of this. I have one of the devices as well, just hit the button on top and it’ll knock everything near you offline. Hopefully it’ll disable at least a few of them, and at worst, will disable my bodies and prevent them from using them against you.” I open up one of my arms, unplug the puck, and place it on the table. “Just please don’t hit the button until you’re far away from here, and use it as little as possible. It could seriously harm or kill anyone with brain implants.”

  “I’ll hold onto it.” Another man grabs it before Sam has the chance. “And your secret is safe with us.”

  “Thank you. And I’ll need that back when you’re done with it.”

  “Of course. I imagine you could wreak some havoc with that.” He says with a knowing grin.

  “It certainly came to be useful, and it’s a very good reminder to never rely solely on myself.”

  “So what do we know about the caravan?” One of the women asks.

  “Fifteen people, all lightly armored and armed. They’re transporting a large shipment, I’d be very surprised if they weren’t capable fighters. I’m really hoping since it is such a valuable shipment they would send their best, and that would mean cybernetics. They don’t know I have the puck, and they won’t be expecting you to have one either.”

  “If not, we’ll be ready for a fight. Are they willing to die for this?”

  “I have no idea.” I answer honestly. I check the camera in our living room and thankfully find Ivy still there, still watching through my eyes. I speak through the speaker. “Ivy? Do you think they’re going to fight back if I try to arrest them?”

  “They’re going to fight like cornered dogs.” She don’t even twitch from my sudden voice.

  “Great, thank you.” I relay Ivy’s answer to everyone else.

  “Wonderful.” Sam sighs. “We’ll get it done.”

  “Thank you.” I say.

  “Go see Jade.” Silver orders. “I want all of you in full riot gear.”

  “Will do.” The eight of them quickly file out of the office.

  “Blue, stay here.”

  “Alright.” I wait for all of them to leave and take a seat in front of them.

  “You need to be careful with playing favorites.” Silver says. “Every request you make, every time one of our people takes a risk for you, every drop of blood spilled, makes them more resentful. You’re still a part of this gang, and I hope you will be in the future too, and I will always support you. But it’s hard for them to see you as an equal when you hold so much power. In addition to that, the gangs you don’t work with, they see that as a slight, an opportunity stolen. That makes things harder for both of us. I understand you don’t trust anyone else to do this job, but try to involve the other gangs as well. Choose carefully who to lean on, and don’t neglect those who have the power to make things harder.”

  “Both C-1 and Zero ran into that same problem with the top floors and the numbers, respectively. I don’t want to have to bend over backwards for people, to give them more than others just because they’re a danger.”

  “That’s a good ideal, but people will vie for power regardless. If you don’t want to deal with them, your best bet is to have an official group do your bidding. Give them power and build the expectation that they and only they will do your work. And before you offer, I decline. I wish to remain separate from you, as much as possible while you live under my roof.”

  “Ray and Monary both already do that with my bodies, it’s just that this is an extreme situation.”

  “And the raider caravan last month? The one you specifically called us in and used our defenses for? Or the riots we quelled during your transition into power? I understand the second, and the first as an unneeded, stressed reaction to a new situation. But others don’t see it that way. They see you playing favorites, and some of our people see you as using us. I just ask that you be aware of your actions.”

  “I’ll work with Ray to make a permanent solution. We’ll be prepared if Yellowstone tries anything. I’ll do everything I can to make sure we don’t need to rely on you.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Thank you. And if you truly can’t find a solution, or can’t implement it fast enough, I will always stand beside you. Just keep in mind the cost of calling in that promise.”

  “I’ll never cause you trouble without a good reason.” I promise. “And if this wasn’t a risk to my citizens, I’d ask you to call off this mission.”

  Silver nods deeply.

  “Clover? Any flashes?” They turn their head and ask.

  “The Child, Kismet, and I have nothing of use.” She says. “Only baseless guesses.”

  “You’re dismissed then. And in the future, I would suggest adding some less lethal options to your bodies, to avoid a repeat of this situation. Gas would be effective even if your bodies get disabled.”

  “I’ll look into it.”

  “I’m sure Jade would love to talk shop if you need suggestions.”

  I walk my main body back to my room, and focus again on those in the desert. What’s the best way to do this? They’re going to see the cars coming as soon as they leave the city. If they ask, I have to respond. I could lie and tell them it’s just a caravan headed in the direction of Yellowstone, entirely unrelated to me. How likely are they to know that I can’t lie for the life of me?

  The chances are too high. I have to tell the truth, it’s the only option. Or at least tell the truth technically.

  I can’t test everything they brought with just Frankenstein’s tool. They could theoretically be smuggling anything, maybe something radioactive even? That would be a reasonable thing to test, and actually, probably something I should test for.

  I walk a spare body into the range. The gunshots don’t even affect me anymore as I walk past everyone. Vince gives me a nod and a slightly raised eyebrow as I pass.

  Ok. I signal as I pass.

  The door along the back wall is closed, and Jade is gone from her post. Silver has closed the backdoor that C-1 installed, and while I could bust through their new security, I wouldn’t open it myself even if it wouldn’t break Silver’s trust. It’s not my door, and not my room to enter.

  I knock on the door, and it opens a moment later.

  “Blue.” Jade nods and steps back. I follow her in, and take in the group. They’re about as heavily armored as it’s possible to be. Heavy ceramic plates held in place by thick vests. Four ballistic shields lean against the wall near them. Not as heavy as Lance’s, but they’ll certainly hold up to a few shots. “I was told you weren’t coming.”

  “This body isn’t, but I already have a few there. That’s not why I’m here though. I need someone to bring a geiger counter.”

  “If radiation is a concern, you need iodine pills-”

  “No no! Radiation isn’t a concern!” I say quickly, but it does little to calm people’s worries. “It’s just that… I can’t lie for the life of me. It’s a small quirk of early generation biological AI. I just need someone to bring it so I have an excuse to say a different fact and hide the reason that I have people coming. I’ll be saying you’re going to help me by bringing tools to help test their cargo, which is true. Only when you arrive and get out will I announce they’re under arrest.”

  “Fine.” Jade heads back into their endless racks of supply. “And while I have you here! There’s a matter of payment for my supplies!”

  “Send me a bill for triple whatever we use, and give the extra to them!” I nod to the small group. That’ll make them a little happier about this job.

  “Consider it done!”

  All that’s left to do is wait. I return my body to storage and wait alongside Ivy. Two cars leave my city, headed directly towards the Yellowstone caravan.

  “They’ve already noticed.” Ivy announces.

  “Ok.” I need to get Silver to install digital communication systems in their cars. I can’t give them an update without broadcasting it to the entire city. Although I guess asking for that would just be telling them that I’m going to rely on them more in the future.

  “You going to tell those cars to give us a wide berth?" Dean asks.

  “No, they’re with me. They’re bringing another tool I need to test all of this.”

  “Is something wrong with your gear?” His suspicion is clear, even before Ivy tells me about it.

  “No, it’s working fine.” I reassure him. “I just want to do one to do a more general test.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Aww, look at you Blue!” Ivy coos. “Learning how to mislead people.”

  “I don’t intend to make a habit out of it.”

  It only takes a few minutes for the cars to arrive. They park nearby and step out.

  “I’m sorry, but you’re all under arrest. Please-” I get violently ejected from those bodies. I have to completely isolate them to prevent junk data from flooding the network.

  I watch from atop the tower as Silver’s people rush forward. The caravan reaches for their weapons, only for half of them to collapse as the puck gets activated. The ballistic shields each take a few pistol rounds before slamming into the caravan.

  Those without cover stay in close formation behind the shields. When the shields connect, they move forward, quickly and efficiently. It’s more brutal than I would approve of. I should have told them not to hurt them if possible, that’s my fault. My failure. Even if they’re trying to hurt my citizens, they don’t deserve to be treated as anything less than human. I don’t know their stories, I don’t even know if they know they’re doing anything wrong.

  Even after everyone is neutralized, and their hands cuffed behind their backs, and the puck I gave them is turned off, my bodies remain disabled. Thankfully the few who collapsed seem to be still breathing,

  “Excuse me!” I call out through the radios in my car. One of the scrappers hears my voice from my car, thankfully, and makes her way over. “One of them should have a puck, or something similar. Probably one of the ones who collapsed when you activated yours. If you can find a way to disable it, I can take over from here.”

  She doesn’t bother to grab the radio and respond, just walks over to the small group of caravaneers. After a short conversation and checking each of their gear, she returns to one of my cars.

  “None of them have anything on them. If they have anything, it’s internal.”

  Shit. They can’t come anywhere near my city then. There are too many people with cybernetics, not to mention both me and the other AI.

  The thing doesn’t pierce thick materials very well. It might be safe to hold them in one of the tunnels that run beneath the desert. They’d be a mile away from anything important, and have, at minimum, several feet of sand between the puck and anything at risk. That, plus an entirely analogue security system, should make things safe while I talk to them through the radios.

  “Monary, I have a task for you.” I announce through the server, and let them figure out the specifics.

  “Give me a few hours.”

  I ask S-21 to prioritize everything Monary requests, and ask the scrappers to keep my… what do I even call them? Prisoners? I don’t like thinking about them like that, but I suppose it’s true. The scrappers keep them safe while Monary works.

  The nearest hidden entrance gets entirely reworked. Thick walls made of scrap get installed, with doors impossible to force through. I make sure to add some amenities for them. Lights, music players, comfortable furniture, electronics that can be used if they disable their puck. If I’m going to force them to stay, the least I can do is make them comfortable.

  Once finished, I extend the entrance out of the sand, disable electricity to the motors, and ask the scrappers to deliver them to me. In just a couple of minutes they’re safely deposited, watched by analogue systems with radios built into the walls of each of their cells. As soon as they’re away, my bodies come back online, and I get to work safely storing their cars and handing over their chemicals to Frankenstein.

  There’s only one last thing to do. I broadcast through the radio in one of their cells.

  “Dean? Can we talk?”

  “I’ve got nothing to say to you.” He responds.

  “I just need to know a couple of things and you can go home, I promise. I know you have a device that can manipulate processors. I have one too. I need to know where it came from, and what you know about it. And I need to know why you are bringing in materials to harm my citizens.”

  “I don’t know shit.”

  “And your companions?”

  “They don’t know shit either.” He says.

  “Alright, I guess just let me know when you’re ready to talk then. In the meantime, do you need anything? Food, something to drink, or any comforts?”

  He doesn’t respond.

  “Ok. Dinner will be around soon. If you need anything, please ask.”

  I ask the same things to the rest of the caravaneers. None of them are willing to say anything more than Dean.

  I retreat back into just my singular, main body. At least I can try to relax by listening to Vince tonight.

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