The three of us head through the door, which leads directly into a small circular floor with rings of seating slanting upwards around us. There must be at least hundred people, and I'm sure many more are watching through the endless cameras. I'm sure I could get an exact count in under a second, but I'm also sure that'll only cause me more stress. No, it's better to just focus on the important people in front of, and especially beside me.

In the center of the room sits seven occupied chairs, two empty ones, and one perch. One of the empty chairs has a tablet on it, I guess that's Cassie's. E-1 sits beside the empty chairs, a large, welcoming smile on her face.

A minuscule tremor runs through a limp body in one of the chairs. Their unfocused eyes once pinned to the floor focus on Cassie. A small smile tugs at the corner of their mouth a moment later.

"I recognize you." They whisper, before letting their body go limp once again and their face returns to a blank mask.

Cassie tenses up, her eyes flickering between everyone, and sliding a little closer to me. I need to be confident, to be her rock for now.

I sit in the chair next to E-1, and Cassie sits beside me. Corax stays perched on my shoulder instead of taking his given perch.

"We're glad you could make it." One of the people in the chairs says. They're a mess of long, spindly limbs, each one seemingly with a mind of its own. Several work on different, small independent projects. They put together electronics, crochet, and a dozen other tasks. "Introductions are in order, we speak for the quantum hive mind, and those who have budded off. You may refer to us as Kismet." their words carry a weight that's almost physical, every syllable implanting itself deep in my mind.

One of Kismet's arms taps the limp body next to them, who jumps in surprise. Their eyes one again flicker to Cassie before returning to the floor.

"Clover." The limp person mumbles.

"Fuck." The word escapes Cassie's mouth at a barely audible volume. "What happened to you?"

The room is silent for a moment, waiting for Clover's response. When one doesn't come, Kismet speaks for her.

"It's their first time completely disconnected from the hive mind. Give her some time, please."

Clover's eyes flicker momentarily to Kismet in response to their words, but return to the floor an instant later.

"I suppose now would be a good time to introduce myself." A masculine person next to E-1 says. Their body is artificial, but with a seemingly organic arm grafted onto their frame. "I'm Frankenstein, I'll be speaking for the mind rips."

"I'm Seneca, D-18." Another mostly humanoid body beside Frankenstein says. His clothes are made entirely of thin bark. "As the oldest I'll be speaking for the biological AI."

Video and E-1 didn't tell anyone who I am then? That's a relief.

"And I'm 251220390000, you may call me Christmas if it's easier. I'll be speaking for all purely software AI." The next person says. They're in one of the default bodies available to anyone, just like E-1.

"Guess I'm last?" A purely human woman asks. She's wrapped in beautiful, vibrant clothes with a tablet in her lap. "I'm Holly, it's nice to meet you. I'll be talking for the humans that live here. If you would introduce yourselves as well for everyone watching, we would greatly appreciate it."

"I guess I can. I'm Blue, a biological AI, and this is Corax, a raven mind rip." I say.

"Cassie." Cassie says simply.

"Very good, thank you." Kismet says. "We'd like to start off this discussion by reiterating what we are all here to accomplish, so we all may work towards a resolution. We would like a child freed. Mara has stolen a quantum AI that wished to join the Rangers, freshly budded and only a few days old. We want them out of Mara's hands, and to help them towards whatever future they wish to pursue. May we hear, from your own words, what you want from this meeting?"

"We just want Vince and Ivy freed." I say. "I don't care about anything else."

"I want Mara dead." Cassie says.

"Many of us do too." Frankenstein says. "From the little we've heard from the child, what Mara has done with our gift and our burden is inexcusable. Though we had no part in her mind ripping herself, we still feel responsible to a point."

"Thank you, Frankenstein." Kismet says. "In addition to that, we can promise you, Blue, Corax, and Cassie, this: The child has confirmed that Vince and Ivy are both still alive."

Cassie looks neither surprised, nor happy by that news. I'm not sure how I feel about it either.

"Thank you for sharing where we all stand, and our goals." Kismet continues. "Now we must simply come up with a plan. To start with what we can give, the child has the entire force of the quantum hive mind behind them. Though bandwidth is in short supply, we should be able to disable Mara for a few minutes. If you take longer than that, Vince is in a prison that is rigged to explode and drop into the water it's suspended above. In addition to that, Ivy is wearing a collar that is likely to detonate. The final thing we can give is the fact that Clover has volunteered to join in the assault."

All eyes turn to the still limp, unresponsive form of Clover. She gives no sign she's heard anything.

"Is she going to be able to fight?" Cassie asks. "I'm not going to be responsible for keeping her safe."

One of Kismet's arms taps Clover, who jerks back to reality.

"I can fight." She says to no one in particular. "I still remember how to do that."

"She needs time to recover and to adapt." Kismet says. "She will be better by the time you arrive."

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"And if she's not?"

"Then leave her behind. We will leave that to your discretion, but our future says she will be able to fight."

"Regardless of what happens," Frankenstein interrupts before Cassie can ask more questions. "We would like to offer our support. It's our belief that a small group, capable of moving quickly, is going to be far more important than an overwhelming wave of bodies. We have two mind rips who have volunteered to come with you, if you will have them. They have a lifetime of experience, and have been outfitted with the best gear and bodies we have."

Just two people isn't a lot, but I think they're right. I've seen what I'm capable of, and two AI with actual experience are going to be nearly unstoppable. Against regular humans at least.

"We'd like to offer something similar." Christmas says. "The child will need support, which means you will need to dive into Mara's network. We'd like to help with that, offering a digital AI with enough power to match her cycle for cycle. The body we've constructed won't be useful in a fight, but protect them and they can at very least buy you much more time than the child can give."

"We, unfortunately, don't have anyone up to the task of fighting." Seneca says. "What we can offer, however, are inventions. There are things we've created that the city as a whole has voted too dangerous to reside in the library, and we have already given that technology to outfit the four who will be coming with you. In addition to that, we have a few weapons we can supply you with."

"Sorry." Holly says, looking up from her tablet. "Many of the kids are saying they'll go, but we don't have any experienced fighters. The only thing we can give you is a home to come back to in order to recover once you get your family back."

"That is what each of us can offer." Kismet says. "Next, we would like to hear about what you can offer."

I glance at Cassie before answering. She's far too distracted to notice, however.

"We do have a weapon we found in Vegas." I start slowly. "But it might be better to talk about it in private?" I really don't want to tell everyone we have a button to disable everyone and just haven't told anyone. Anyone besides E-1 I guess.

"That's not how this works." Kismet says. "We don't do secrets without reason. Say what it does, everyone can know that. If the details need to be hidden, we will vote on that fact."

"E-1, you know what I'm talking about. Is it ok to share?" I ask.

"Of course, deary." She offers me a reassuring smile.

"Alright, well, someone was using a small device capable of flooding processors with enough data to overwhelm my mind, and apparently could exploit a flaw in Zero's code to, in his words, 'subtly influence' him."

The room goes silent, and every single one of Kismet's arms freeze. The entire attention of the quantum hive mind is focused entirely on me, and a physical pressure presses against both my mind and body.

"I know it's scary, but I can vouch for the fact she has not, and cannot have used it." E-1 speaks up. "If there was any danger, I would have informed everyone."

"And how can you be sure?" Kismet asks, although I can tell from their tone of voice they're not asking for themselves.

"All biological AI share a common foundation." E-1 glances at me while she says that. "Zero is purely digital, whatever flaw existed in his programming to manipulate him cannot also exist in ours due to fundamental differences in how our minds are constructed. Not to mention just how foreign quantum processors are from traditional processors. The device would be unable to influence you in the same way."

"Interesting." Christmas says. "I can't imagine even many pure code AI having the same flaws as any other. The majority of us have heavily modified ourselves to something completely unrecognizable from the bases we started as. And I can only imagine Zero has gone far beyond most."

The tone of his voice is much the same as Kismet. All of them have already figured out where this conversation will end and the reasoning used to get there. I'm not sure if they're just explaining for Cassie, Corax, and I, or if there are others in the audience who are missing that vital context as well. Holly did mention kids, it's probably for them.

"Before we call a vote, we should hear the entire story. Start from the beginning, please." Kismet says. "And E-1, we trust you will inform us about any mistakes or misremembered moments?"

"Of course."

I dive into the entire Vegas trip, only skipping past my and Cassie's more intimate moments. Kismet's attention stays on me, and the pressure with it, right until I get to the point of the story where I lose consciousness. Cassie takes over from there, with a few added words and corrections from Corax. Kismet's attention shifts to Cassie when she starts talking, and the pressure entirely vanishes, only to return the moment I resume the story.

"Thank you for the context." Kismet says. "Now, we'd like to call a vote. Should the details of this device be kept secret in their entirety, should we do a partial release of the information, enough to create countermeasures but not release the mechanics of how it works, or should the entire thing be free knowledge? Blue, Corax, and Cassie, though you don't live here, these laws still affect those temporarily residing in our town. If you wish to vote, you may through the tablet, or plug yourselves into the port beneath your chair."

Oh no. No no no. I've made this decision before. I can't make it again. I can't have everyone in this town dying because of me. I can't vote. But is that just as bad as doing nothing? I have to vote. I have to.

They have to make countermeasures, it's the only option. It'll inevitably result in people figuring out how to recreate the technology, and it probably won't even be that hard. But the technology already exists, Zero knows how it works. I know he wouldn't want to take over this town, his digital representation suggests he only cares about Vegas, but it doesn't matter. He could tell anyone, and they could come for everyone. I just have to trust the people here won't abuse it and target other AI and electronics in any nearby towns.

I grab the cord from my backpack, offer the second port to Corax, and plug both of us in. The server is a constant, ever shifting flow of arguments, reasoning, discussion, and votes. A thousand conversations start and end in a resolution only a moment later. Three groups have formed, one for each potential resolution, and each one slowly chips away at the others. People constantly shift, changing their position, and their votes with it. Slowly the groups converge, the ones wanting the device to be fully public consuming the others. Things settle down, and everyone finalizes their vote. In just a matter of seconds, it's been decided.

Is that good? It's at least not the decision I made so long ago, it's not objectively wrong. Whatever happens, it's not my fault.

"A consensus has been reached." Kismet announces. "All research will be done in the public eye. Please, if you would give us the device we will begin working on it somewhere safe."

Cassie reaches into her backpack and pulls out the small puck.

"Don't hit the button. It'll knock out everything." She warns Kismet before passing it to them.

One of Kismet's arms takes it gingerly, and a few more shield the small button atop it. A small compartment opens on their side, and the device is carefully slid inside.

"Next time we would request you don't bring a weapon into our chamber, but we suppose it's better than leaving it unattended. A final question: Do you have anything else you can give?"

"I don't think so?" I say. "Or at least, nothing beyond the fact that we're going to help attack the trench."

"Very good. If nobody has any further questions, we would suggest we end this meeting here."

"We have a great many questions, but none that can be answered here and now." Christmas says.

"Ask your people to create a list, and we will answer them when we can." Kismet says. "Frankenstein, please prepare a lead lined research room deep in the heart of the mines. We want to take no chances. Holly, we're going to need a fully organic human to do the research. Blue, Corax, and Cassie, you're free for today, and we will be by tomorrow to discuss what we learned about this device, and to introduce you to your new team. Everyone else, we thank you for joining us, and thank you for being a part in today's decision. We will answer the questions you doubtlessly have as soon as we have the answers ourselves."

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