Small hands curl around the edge of one of the buildings, followed by unkempt hair, the number 217 tattooed on a forehead, and shining, wide eyes.

I give a friendly smile to the child, and they duck back behind the building.

"What are you smiling at?" Cassie asks.

"There was a kid." I nod to the alleyway, just as their little fingers reappear once again. I quickly look back to my food, the last thing I want to do is to scare them off again.

"She looks like she's starving." With her metal arm, Cassie reaches directly into the boiling pot of rice and fishes out a mostly rehydrated strawberry. "Are you hungry?" She asks loud enough for the child to hear. Cassie drops the fruit into a bowl and sets it a few feet away from us, in between us and the child.

The child slowly begins to approach. A shirt that's far too big clings to her, with large knots tied into it in a failed attempt to make it fit. She creeps forward, and neither Cassie nor I move. She reaches the bowl, snatches it up, and quickly scoots backwards, never taking her eyes off of us.

She reaches into the bowl, grabs the food, and pops it into her mouth. Her already wide eyes grow wider at the taste, and I can't help but let my smile grow.

"Do you have a name? I'm Cassie, and this is Blue."

"Can I have more?" She asks nearly silently.

"It's not quite done cooking yet." I say. "But as soon as it is, you can have a lot."

The child takes another few steps forward, but remains well out of reach of us.

"You look weird." She says quietly, preparing to run at any moment.

"I really like how I look." My voice comes out far more defensively than I expected. I don't think she meant it as an insult, I shouldn't take it like that. I do look different from humans, she's right. "In fact, I've worked really hard to keep looking like this."

"Why?" She asks.

"It's the look I've always had. I'm an AI, and this is my body. I wouldn't change it for anything else." I say.

"What's that?"

"An AI?" How do I even explain it to a child? "Well, I'm not human. I was made, not born from a mom and dad. But besides that, I'm just like anyone else."

"Oh! Like me!" She says excitedly.

"Like you?" Cassie asks. "What do you mean?"

"Mom says I don't have a dad."

Cassie's eyes narrow in an equal amount of anger and disgust. I think I'm missing something here.

"Is your mom here?" Cassie asks.

"No. She said she'd be coming when she could though! So I'm sure she'll be here soon." Even I can see the doubt and worry in her eyes.

"I'm sure she will." Cassie's voice stays quiet and calm, despite the fire in her eyes. "Do you have anything of hers?"

"I do!" She reaches into the neck of her shirt and fishes out a necklace, just a bottle cap on a string.

"Good. Keep that close, alright? Don't give that to anyone." Cassie says firmly. "Do you have someone taking care of you now?"

"Yeah. Everyone's nice."

"Good. If they aren't, tell me. I'll take care of it. Do you have a knife?"

"No." Her voice turns cold, full of shame, as if she just failed some test.

"Alright, give me a minute." Cassie pushes herself to her feet, and the child takes a step further away. Cassie makes sure to walk away from her before turning to head to the car.

Oh god, how do I talk to a kid? I glance at Vince and Ivy for help, but he's too focused on fishing, and Ivy only has an amused smile on her face.

Alright, fine. She's still a human, I should just treat her like any other. Some of the books Finn put in my head talked about how kids were dumb, but she seems smart so far.

"So, what's your name?" I ask as casually as I can.

"Two Seventeen." She says reluctantly.

"Did your mom give you that name?" I can't imagine she did, but I don't want to accidentally insult her by saying she should have a different one.

"No." She says quietly, her eyes suddenly pinning to the ground.

"I don't think that's a very good name." I say. "Do you have another?"

"No." She says quietly, her weight shifting from foot to foot and her shoulders raising to try to look smaller. Is she lying? I can't think of any other reason she would act like that.

"I didn't like my given name either." I say. "I was originally called B-11, but picked Blue myself." I can handle saying that name once. It's fine. I need to make sure she feels comfortable, and this is the only way I can think of doing it.

"Daisy." Her voice is so quiet, I can almost think I imagined it.

"That's a good name." I reassure her.

"Mom says I'm not supposed to say it around people."

"I think it's safe to use it here." I say. "I understand what it's like to have a hidden name."

Daisy nods, and sits down just a few feet from the pot of food, holding her knees to her chest. Behind her, hidden in the dark alleyways of the city, a few people stand, watching us, whispering to each other. I give them a reassuring smile, but they don't react.

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Cassie returns a minute later, saving me from the awkward silence. A knife it tucked in a sheath I've never seen before. It's clearly not hers, but I didn't realize we had any spares in the trunk. She sits down a few feet away from Daisy, who turns a little bit away from her.

"Here." Cassie holds the knife out, and Daisy only stares at it. "Keep this on you and it'll help keep you safe, but don't forget it's a weapon. Don't show it off, don't play with it."

"I'm not allowed to have one." Daisy says.

"Says who?" Cassie asks, and waits for just a moment for a response that doesn't come. "Look, whoever says you can't have a way to defend yourself is doing so because they're afraid of you doing so, so fuck 'em. Your safety comes first, always. My knife has saved me hundreds of times, and if you're lucky, yours won't have to. But make sure it's there when you need it."

"Fuck 'em." Daisy repeats quietly and grabs the knife and carefully draws it, staring at the shining metal.

"That's the spirit!" Cassie says excitedly and scoots a little closer, drawing her own knife. "Alright, listen, these things are dangerous. Don't touch the blade, and don't draw it unless you're ready to hurt someone." Cassie begins to thoroughly go through everything she knows about knives. Everything from safety, to taking care of it, to how to use it, and how to practice with it.

Daisy sits in awe, absorbing every ounce of information possible. She doesn't even touch her own knife until Cassie tells her to so she can demonstrate something. I just let them talk and focus on the food. I'd hate for this to be anything less than perfect for everyone.

People begin to be drawn from the protection of the city, but keep their distance, just watching. A few of them have bowls held hopefully in their hands. I can only assume the smell filling the cavern drew them out, and I can only hope it's good.

Before telling anyone it's finished, I turn off the heat plate to let it cool. I'm not going to give anyone food, but tell them not to eat it while waiting for it to reach a safe temperature. The moment it's safe, I ladle out a small portion of food into a bowl, and interrupt Cassie's tutoring by placing the bowl directly in Daisy's lap.

"Can you tell me if it's good before I announce to everyone else it's ready?" I ask. "I can't actually taste anything."

"All this is for me?" She asks, her eyes growing wide with wonder.

Oh poor baby.

"You can even have more if you want later, but try to eat slowly."

"Ok." She clutches the spoon in her fist and begins to awkwardly bring a small mouthful of rice to her face. Her eyes light up when everything hits her tongue, and she dives back for more immediately.

"I'm going to assume it's good then." I stand up and return to the large pot of food. "Anyone who's hungry, feel free to come get some! We have plenty, there's no need to rush!"

Everyone quickly forms a line, with Joseph in front. I ladle a small amount of food into Joseph's bowl.

"If you're still hungry after you eat, feel free to come back. But I want to make sure everyone gets some first." I say loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Those who have managed to find a bowl hold theirs out, and I put a small amount in. Those who don't just hold their hands out, waiting for me to deposit the rice directly in their cupped hands. I make sure to give them one of our limited bowls, and ask them to make sure they bring it back when they're done. Every single one of them gives a near silent 'thank you' before walking away.

It's nice being able to memorize everyone's faces at just a glance. I have to turn a few people who have already gotten food and snuck back into line away while I focus on getting everyone their first portion.

Every single person comes back for seconds, and I make sure to ration things to ensure the last of the pot goes to the last person. I can make more for Cassie, Vince and Ivy later. Although I guess I wasn't entirely fair, I did sneak a little more into Daisy's bowl, and she somehow got a few more goodies than everyone else, oops.

The people who live here are still obviously distrustful, but aren't too afraid to be seen anymore, thankfully. Two of them even begin to talk to Vince and Ivy, although they're too far away for me to hear their soft words.

As soon as I begin to pack up my cooking supplies, Joseph makes his way over.

"May I speak to you two in private please?" He asks.

Cassie's eyes are immediately drawn to the knife, still in Daisy's hands. I can't imagine he wants to talk about anything else.

"Sure." I answer. "We'll be right back." I reassure Daisy, who gives a small nod.

He leads us away from the lake and towards an open, abandoned house. Cassie's hand settles on her knife, although I'm not sure if that's a conscious decision or not.

Joseph leads us into the small room and closes the door behind us. There's just enough light coming through the windows to ensure we're alone, and Corax is perched on a nearby rooftop, watching.

"So, I heard you gave a knife to Daisy." Joseph says.

"I wasn't trying to hide it." Cassie says immediately.

"I hope you understand what an uncomfortable situation you've put me in. She's too young to be carrying that around. I don't want to be the person to take it from her and lose all her respect. I want you to take it back from her."

"Then don't take it back." Cassie stares unflinching into his eyes. "She needs a way to defend herself."

"She's going to hurt herself, and we don't have medical supplies."

"Then reinforce what I've already taught her." Cassie says. "I'm going to work with her as long as I'm here, show her the danger, how to take care of it, how to use it. If you don't teach her at a young age, she's just going to steal one and really hurt herself eventually. Trust me. Sure, she may end up with a small cut now, but that's a valuable lesson. We'll leave some meds for her."

Joseph closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and slowly exhales.

"You're a stranger. You have no idea what we've been through, what we've experienced, and what is best for us. Please, don't stretch our hospitality."

"And what happens if a slaver sneaks in during the night? If one of those extra entrances gets uncovered without you realizing? She's going to have to learn to fight eventually."

"She's a child!"

"So was I." Cassie says darkly. "You should know just as much as I do that slavers and raiders don't give a shit who they hurt, who they exploit. I've put in her hands a fighting chance, not a good chance, but damn better than she would have otherwise. Don't take that away from her."

"I can see where you're coming from, and I can see it's coming from a good place." Joseph says. "But she's had such a hard life already. She doesn't need the stress of preparing to kill on top of everything."

"She doesn't need the fear of not being able to either. I'm not saying to give her a pistol or anything, I almost shot Vince during a nightmare that way. But she needs something she can hold onto during the dark nights, something she can rely on when nobody else is around."

"Look, I'm sorry. I see your points, I really do. But we will keep her safe, I can assure you. Her mother wished for her to be safe, to have a peaceful life, the life of a normal child. We are going to fulfill that wish."

"I've made my points. I'm going to go out there and teach her how to respect her knife and be safe around it. That's the best thing I can do for her."

"No, you won't." Joseph says, his air of patience cracking. "You're guests here. If you want to stay, you'll leave her alone."

"Are you going to stop me?" Cassie stares directly into his eyes. Regardless of her height, her presence towers over his. "I can't imagine her new friends getting executed would be very good for her mental health."

Joseph has no response to that, but he doesn't look away.

"We'll be gone as soon as the storm passes, and you'll never see us again. Now if you don't mind, I just heard Vince hook a fish, and I really want to see how it turns out." Cassie turns around, pulls open the door, and steps through in one smooth motion.

I follow closely behind her, I don't even know what I'd say to Joseph if I stayed. I don't know if Cassie is right or not, but I do know I'm going to support her decision.

She lets out a large sigh the second the door closes behind us, and shakes away some thought.

"Are you ok?" I ask.

Cassie only shrugs in response.

"Not the worst negotiation I've ever done. Come on, we've got a show to see."

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