"Alright dearies." E-1 pushes herself onto her feet. "Why don't we start with the garden?"

"Ok, I've been meaning to ask, but how the hell do you have dirt?" Cassie asks.

"I'm not actually sure, give me a moment to find out." E-1 goes silent for only a second before starting her explanation. "We have a physical process to break apart the sand into its constituent parts and reconstruct dirt from that. It's incredibly power intensive and has to be done completely under an antibacterial gas or risk recontamination. The bacteria that caused the change aren't dead, just inactive, and just a handful of cells are capable of re-infecting everything when in the presence of moisture."

"Has that ever happened?" I ask.

"Not in a few years." She starts to lead us along the path, but not towards the large gate we entered from.

"Doesn't that mean the trees are young then? How are they so big?" It would take a decade at minimum to let the tree we sat under grow so large.

"Genetic and biological engineering. Frankenstein adores it, he's even attempting to make himself a new complete human body." She pauses and turns to Cassie. "I'm certain you wouldn't accept, but I'll be damned if I don't offer. If you want a set of organic legs or a new arm, he can help with that. It would take a few months to grow a replacement to graft on, but it is doable."

"Fuck no, I like my legs." She says strongly, but her eyes glance down at her metal arm. She clenches her hand a few times before letting it relax. "And this thing's fine too." She says with much less conviction.

E-1 lets a grin spread across her face, but doesn't say anything else. She turns and takes a few steps towards the gate before I ask another question.

"How did you look up that information about the dirt? Isn't it dangerous to be networked together?" It's the only answer I can think of. Those bodies are designed for anyone without a physical form to jump into at any time, it has to be wireless. It'd go against the entire point of them existing if biological AI had to have their organic chips physically moved over.

"The Digital can't exist without everything being connected together." She says. "I know you've been told wireless is dangerous, but we're AI. The only danger is from other AI and a few exceptional humans, and we have thousands of protections in place to prevent anything like C-1's madness happening again."

"Like Silver." Cassie says. "They fought in and survived the war."

"Yes. Like them." E-1's voice turns cold, only to quickly return to her soft, caring tone. "Please don't mention them again, it brings up bad memories for most of us."

"Right, sorry." Cassie quickly apologizes.

"It's alright deary."

E-1 leads us to an identical heavy metal gate heading out the compound, but not the one we first entered. It swings open automatically as we approach, and closes on its own after we step through.

The garden is gorgeous. Dark green plants and bright fruits and vegetables sit in long lines of deep, rich dirt. An entire orchard stretches along the wall of the cave, every tree full of food, just waiting to be picked.

A few people walk the rows, picking the ripest plants and leaving the rest. They occasionally crouch down over what looks like a healthy plant, only to prune off a small section of it for reasons outside my knowledge. Two human children are lounging in a cherry tree, laughing and eating every small fruit in reach.

A large building has been erected in the corner of the farm. Pipes snake out of it and along the ground with sprinklers placed at regular intervals.

Cassie's eyes are wide and her mouth partially open, barely able to comprehend what she's seeing. She tries to speak a few times, only for the words to die in her throat.

"Welcome to the garden." E-1 says. "Just like everywhere else, take what you need. Just try to make sure you only pick fully grown fruits and vegetables."

"How many people can this support?" Cassie finally forces the words out of her mouth.

"It can support everyone that lives here with enough extra to handle small influxes of people or desertification of our garden. We're very concerned with waste, and don't produce more than we can use."

"What's wrong?" I ask Cassie.

"There are so many starving people out there."

"I know how you feel." E-1 says. "We've spent tens of thousands of cumulative hours discussing if we should help the humans out there, but it always ends in the fact that it's just too dangerous. We, as a majority, don't want humans to suffer. But we risk so much if C-1 finds us. We cannot fight against all of Arc City, not with all the people and weapons that wealth allows him to throw at us. All we want is a peaceful life."

"What the fuck do you mean by as a majority?"

"I told you about C-1's code and how it still affects people. However, that doesn't mean they will act on it."

Cassie's eyes flick between me and the building we're staying in, conflict obvious in her face. Her hand reaches down to pat her waistband where her knife is held and she reluctantly turns back to us.

"That's not what you fucking said."

"I said-"

"I know what you said." Cassie cuts E-1 off. "You said they knew it was wrong and didn't want to, not that they actively want me to suffer."

"There's a difference between knowing and wanting." E-1 says gently, as if she's talking to a small child. "They can't help what they want."

"Oh yeah, that's so much fucking better."

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"Cassie, I'm sorry." E-1 says quickly. "But-"

"I don't care." Cassie interrupts her. "Let's just get the tour done so I can get back to our room."

"We can go back now." I need to do something to help, but what? Pressure helps me, maybe it'll help her. I reach out and gently squeeze her hand. "I don't want to see the rest of the city if you're not comfortable with it."

Cassie glances at me out of the corner of her eye, seeing right through me in an instant.

"Someone has to make sure you stay safe." She says. "Let's just keep going."

"Alright dearies." E-1 says sweetly, and Cassie squeezes my hand tightly. She leads us towards the building connected to the garden and stops just outside it. "This is our water plant. It's similar to what Arc City has. We pull water from the ground when needed, but recycle as much as possible. If you continue on north," she gestures behind the building, "you'll reach a neighborhood. Those who live there prefer a quieter life compared to the rest of the city, for any number of reasons. If you go to visit someone, just make sure you keep your voice down."

E-1 leads us along a road towards the main avenue with houses flanking either side. Before we even arrive, she points at a massive building far off at the other side of the cave, barely peeking over the roofs.

"In the south east, the big undecorated building is our data center. That's where I and many others reside. We guard it fiercely, and unless you're looking to give up your body and live in the Digital full time, there's no reason to enter."

The path leads between two buildings and lets out onto the main street.

"The main street is a mix of shops and houses. The shops will say so on the outside, so don't worry about accidentally walking into someone's home. If you plug yourself into the Digital or use any of the Digital Interface Stations around, you can find an inventory on what's available to grab, and what's currently in someone else's possession."

She leads us back towards the entrance to the town. Cassie and I both get our share of glances as we walk, but mine are always curious glances. Cassie steps a little closer to me, her eyes flickering between everyone looking her way.

"This is the hospital." E-1 stops suddenly in front of a building that stands out against the rest. It's painted bright white and red and has a simple, flat face. It's eye-catching in its simplicity compared to the buildings around it. "It's not large, but you won't find safer hands anywhere else. We treat both humans and AI here. Failing components, failing hearts, viruses of both kinds, everything." She glances at me while she talks about the viruses.

"Can I really get my hard drives fixed here?" I ask.

"Of course." E-1 reassures me. "We've dealt with infections like yours before, and I'm sure we will again."

I can finally get those memories back! Everything that was stored in the hard drives! Every fact, every inflection of every word to supplement my own memories! I don't have to forget!

"I'll stop by later." As much as I want to run in there now and ask for help, Cassie wants to get home. I'm not going to make her wait longer than she has to.

"Alright deary." She turns around, walking past us and towards the massive building at the end of the main street. "That is the heart of our city." She says, beaming with pride. "Every decision is made there, and everyone gets a say in it. The city was built by and shaped by everyone, just as everyone shaped the building. Each one of the engravings you see are done by a different citizen, including you two should you choose to stay after all this is over."

Cassie gives me a small shake of her head, and I nod in agreement. No matter how nice it is here for me, if she can't feel safe and be happy here, it's not an option. Maybe I can visit, but I can't stay. I should discuss with Corax what his plans are though, if he has family here, I can't take that away from him.

If E-1 sees our silent conversation, she doesn't give away any sign. She keeps walking, and the endless small buildings give way to three massive buildings just outside the government building.

"This," she says, gesturing to the first one, "is our research lab. They're open to the public, and if you have an idea that won't kill anyone, claim a lab and get started. Just behind this building, and going all the way back to the edge of the cavern, is our manufacturing center. Feel free to make use of it. If you need any upgrades just upload a set of blueprints or make some in a Digital Interface Station and it will be made. We also have a mineshaft inside it, so while raw materials aren't a massive concern, please don't waste anything. Try not to overdesign, and recycle what you don't need or what doesn't work."

Cassie glances at me, and I just smile back. The servos we used to fix her joints aren't as strong as the old one, and all Zero did was fix the covering, not replace those servos. I'm already generating blueprints to make both her legs and Corax's entire body better than ever before.

"Next to that we have the fire station." This building is far less grand than the two next to it, just a simple, two story building. "Hopefully it's not needed, but accidents in both the lab and manufacturing plant do happen. Even we aren't infallible."

She doesn't introduce the last building, a massive, intricately designed pure white structure. Instead she steps in through the large wooden double doors, and we follow in behind.

It's beautiful. Screens displaying art line the right side of the building. Sculptures and installations are spread out between them. Humans and AI alike stare at the installations, but I can't even begin to guess what they must be thinking about.

The other side of the building is even more beautiful. Carved wooden bookshelves are filled to the brim with endless, colorful books. Far more books than I've ever seen, that I ever thought were possible to have. They must be making their own copies, the ones on the shelf are in nearly perfect quality. All of them have a little bit of wear on the spines from use of course, but that's it. They're not tattered and barely holding together after multiple repairs like Cassie's are. In between the endless shelves are small reading nooks, just big enough for a few people to sit together.

"This is our cultural center." She spreads her arms out wide as she says it. "Feel free to take copies of any digital books, and we'd appreciate it if you left behind any we don't already have. As for the physical books, feel free to check them out, but please, return them before you leave. Our paper production is rather limited, and people on the waiting list to get their work printed would be upset if we had to replace existing books first."

A few cords hang out of numerous points on the wall, and I can't physically stop myself from stepping over and plugging myself in.

The inside of this server isn't set up to represent a physical space, but that's fine. Everything is incredibly well laid out. Every single book is tagged with thousands of descriptors, each with their own ranking on how applicable that descriptor is to that book.

I can feel other AI moving around in here with me, each searching through the endless collection, but none pay any attention to me. Even when we're in the same folder, they just send a welcoming, happy emotion my way and move on.

I dive into the system, I have to find the perfect book for Cassie. Something to make her happy. Something to lessen the stress of being here. Something to make all this worth it.

Their selection of purely sapphic romance isn't large, but I collect all twenty books. I broaden my search slowly, adding in action books, mysteries, anything she might like. I collect over a hundred books by the time I'm done, I'll never run out of stories to read her, or at least not for a long time.

There's one more thing I need to check. I need to design new servos for Cassie and Corax, and they have plenty of books on engineering discoveries the people here have made and their applications. That's perfect. I can make something truly magical with these.

There's just one last thing to do. Once my drives are fixed, I want to upload every last book Cassie has let Corax and I read, but even if I had them available, I can't just yet. Just like Corax's memories, they aren't mine to give away.

I return my focus to the Physical world for just a moment.

"Cassie, are you ok if I upload the books you've let me read?"

"Go for it." She says.

"Are there any you want to keep to ourselves?" I don't know if she's ok sharing her special book, and want to be extra sure.

"No, just go ahead."

"Alright."

I upload every book I stole, her favorite book, and leave a promise for more lesbian literature to come.

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