“And say these artilects become sentient. And we recognize this sentience. Are they then able to get married? Own property? Vote? Obtain positions of power? And if we don’t let them, what then? Will they rise up against us? Turn us into second-class citizens? Destroy us? If even the remotest possibility of this exists, why would we give them the chance?”

— Sarah Weiland, President of the Preserve Terra Society, 2039

I’d been awake for an hour, trying to scrub the last vision from my mind. If I’d been able, I would’ve taken my brain out and washed it. I recognized the cyborg this time; I’d been in him before. He’d been in agony, undergoing the procedure that would make him a cyborg. Judging by what I’d just seen, it had worked out well for him. I wasn’t quite sure what he’d meant by the woman in the bunker, but at the moment, that wasn’t important. What was important was that he was nearby.

“Tor. Tor!” His composure—his lack of snoring, his closed mouth—was unnerving.

“Is it morning already?”

“No. Yes. I have no idea.”

He propped himself up on one elbow, bits of bark clinging to the tangle of his hair. “If you don’t know, why are we having this conversation?”

“There’s someone else.”

He sat up, the furrows on his forehead distorting his tattoos. “Someone else? That was quick. When did you have a chance to meet someone else? Is he hotter than me? Can he do this?” He crossed his biceps in front of his chest, flexing his muscles.

“Tor, I’m serious.” Avoiding his gaze, I described the Saints of Loving Grace. “He must be one of the other cyborgs Pax was talking about. He’s an asshole, but he’s close. I mean, very close.”

“Wait, you mean you were in his body while he was…with her?” He snorted.

“Tor. Living through it once was enough, thank you.”

“Sorry. Can you speak to him, the way you do with Pax?” His mouth was still twitching.

“No. I only seem to be able to do it with Pax. It was like every other time, where I’m watching behind their eyes. I still felt what he was feeling, but I couldn’t communicate with him, or him with me. I don’t even think he was aware I was inside him.”

“It sounds a bit weird, though, doesn’t it? Do you think the thoughts you felt were real? That there’s some artilect-worshipping cult carrying on as normal in the middle of the woods? Who thinks he’s some kind of god? And if it is real, is he the kind of person we want to expose ourselves to? From what you’ve said, he seems like a bit of a dick.”

I had to agree, though ‘dick’ was putting it mildly. “But he’s so close, and I thought he might help us. With Pax and Cindra. Strength in numbers and all that.” I hated delaying our rescue attempt, but if there was any way to increase our chance of success, we had to take it.

“Pax?” I reached out to him, feeling his consciousness as I slid through the thread connecting us.

“Ailith. Are you here?”

“No, Pax, but we’re close. Listen, there’s another…one of us, very near to where we are. Maybe he can help us. Can you hold on a bit longer?”

A long pause. “Yes. Oliver. He must come with you.” Anticipation tingled in his voice.

“How do you know his name? Do you know him?”

“No, but we must.”

“What do you mean, we must? How do you know about him?” This enigmatic bit was starting to wear a bit thin.

“I can’t tell you yet. You have to trust me.”

“Trust you? Pax, you need to give me more to go on.”

“We’ll be waiting. Bring him. He’s the last piece. But please hurry.” And he was gone.

“Pax said they can wait a bit longer. He said we need to recruit ‘him.’ That his name is Oliver.”

Tor bowed his head. “I don’t like it, but I don’t particularly like the idea of charging into a Terran base with just the two of us, either.”

It was still early, but we broke camp and headed out. We decided, or more accurately, Tor decided, to make a quick detour and harvest what we could from the deer we’d killed. We eventually found where it had died beneath the brush, but its body was gone.

“Damn. Looks like some animal got to it.” In truth, I didn’t mind. Why delay our journey any longer than necessary? Tor, on the other hand, was upset.

“Don’t worry about it, Tor. It was only going to slow us down, plus it would be more to carry.” Even with his strength, we’d packed as lightly as possible.

“It’s not that,” he replied, troubled. “Something’s taken it.”

“Probably a wolf. Or maybe a bear. Or one of the other monsters you were worried about. Don’t worry. I’ve seen you in action. I’m pretty sure you could take on a bear.”

He smiled without humor. “Maybe, but this wasn’t an animal. Look, no tracks, no drag marks.”

He was right. The impression of its body and a large pool of frozen blood remained where we’d bled it out, but nothing else.

“I wonder if whoever’s following us took it?” I said without thinking.

“Wait, what? You think someone’s been following us, and you didn’t tell me? Christ, Ailith. Are you kidding me?” He closed his eyes and steepled his fingers against his forehead.

“I’m not totally sure there is. I haven’t seen anyone, just felt them. I tried to tell you but…” The loss of focus. “They’re not dangerous, whoever they are,” I replied defensively.

“How could you possibly know that? Wait. Let me guess.” He held up a hand. “You just feel it.”

I turned away and bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. My first reaction was to lash out at him, to remind him that I was still coming to terms with this new life. But it wouldn’t change the fact that he was right. I should’ve told him. I could’ve put both of us in danger. “I’m sorry.”

“Never mind; it’s done. Just please, tell me this stuff in the future.” He tightened the straps on his backpack and began walking again.

“Wait, that’s it? That’s all you’re going to say? No ‘Ailith, what were you thinking? Or Ailith, you could have gotten us both killed?’”

He shrugged. “I can give you a telling off if you like, but something tells me it wouldn’t make a difference.”

“I’m not that difficult, am I? Wait, are you laughing ?”

His shoulders were shaking under his heavy pack. “Yes.”

“Why aren’t you more upset?”

“I told you before, if anyone tried to sneak up on us, I’d know.”

“Well, I—”

One of the threads in my mind’s eye flashed as though it had been struck by lightning. That turned out not to be far from the truth.