Our caravan heads east, finally heading home.

"So where's this city full of AI you've promised?" Vince asks.

"Northeast of the Grand Canyon, you'll see." Cassie answers.

"We're heading all that way on one charge?"

"We made it all the way from there to Mara's trench on one charge, yeah." The repaired windmill at the city made enough electricity for us to entirely recharge the cars. Not that we actually need to recharge them, but it's better to be safe. "Cassie was the only one who needed to eat, so Nimda's car was entirely filled with batteries. If you keep us to thirty miles an hour we'll make it before the storm. Don't worry about the tires, we packed extras."

"Well alright. They must be well hidden, I'm excited to see the place."

"I really think you should be." It's hard to not tell him everything that is there, and everything we did. "Ivy, do you want to get surgery there? Or wait until we get home?"

"We'll have to see." She types out. "It's not that I don't trust them, it's just that Sonia is intimately familiar with my insides and there's a lot in there. If they have a good setup and I can talk to the surgeon, then maybe."

"Ok. If not, someone can probably come up with some external mechanism to let you talk at the very least."

"That would be nice."

I let silence settle over us for only a few seconds before asking a question that is quickly burning its way through my mind.

"Is everyone going to be safe?"

"What else could we have done to prepare them?" Ivy asks.

"So that's a no then."

"That's not what she said, Little Blue." Vince says. "It's just a dangerous question to ask yourself. No one can give you an answer to that. We did everything we could to give them the best chance possible. I've seen a lot of unprepared people get lucky and live, and a lot of prepared people get unlucky and die. At some point you've just got to be satisfied with what we've done and hope, no matter what the reality is."

I don't bother responding. I'm not sure I could even think of anything to say that wouldn't make things worse.

Cassie grabs my hand, entwining her fingers with mine is silent support.

"Good feeling." Corax whispers.

I give her a squeeze, Corax a nod, and just watch the world pass by. The endless rolling sand hills, lava bubbling up through distant spires, pools of shifting quicksand, all are easy to avoid and barely slow us down.

Ivy is the first to see a convoy in the distance, and everyone grabs their weapons. It thankfully stays away from us, and we avoid another fight.

I guess I should be doing something productive instead of just wallowing in my emotions. I grab my cord and pass it forward.

"Can you plug me in?"

Ivy doesn't bother to grab her tablet to say something, just plugs me immediately into the car. I extend my awareness through the network, connecting to Nimda and Lance.

"Nimda?" I send over the network. "Is Clover conscious?" I ask. If not, Corax can always fix that.

"I'm awake." Clover responds.

"Alright. Sorry to ask you to do more, but we're going to arrive at the start of the continental shelf around sunrise, in 14 hours. Can you ask the Rangers to let us through?"

I get only silence back in response. I rest my forehead on the window while I wait for her to respond.

"We'll be safe." She eventually responds.

"Thank you." I wait a moment to give her the chance to respond before retreating from the network and returning to my body. "Clover says we'll be safe when we try to get back onto the continent."

"Were we not?" Vince asks.

"The Rangers are watching every car that passes through, we think to watch for us."

"We barely got through the first time." Cassie adds. "Apparently a load of quantums work with them, and apparently she can just tell everyone to let us through."

"I think it's more that Kismet can." I say. "I've seen their true form twice, and I don't even know how to describe it." Awe inspiring? Earth shatteringly horrifying? "Zero wouldn't stand a chance against them in a straight up fight, if that gives you any idea. From what I understand, they're the quantum hivemind, the one that all other quantum AI bud off of."

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"Well alright. Remind me to stay out of their way." Vince says.

"You'll meet them in the city, actually. They're one one of the two AI who fought Mara. There was another quantum AI Mara stole, and that gave them a tiny opening to help Nimda through. With just a fraction of a percent of their full power, they could still keep her distracted."

"I'll be careful when giving them my thanks then."

"Have you talked to the quantum that was there?" Ivy asks.

"No, I think Clover has been trying to help her the whole time."

"Alright, well, I should probably warn you that I'm the one who kidnapped her." Her tablet says plainly, but her face is apologetic.

"I'm certain Kismet knew the moment you did it." I say. "I don't think it'll be a problem as long as you explain yourself?"

"Here's hoping."

Nobody wants to ask her to expand on that, or anything else she had to do. I don't think I want to know it anyway.

"So, Little Blue. While we're on the topic, I've been meaning to ask. About the City you three found, what are you planning on doing when we're all ready to head back home?"

"Cassie and I already discussed this." I stop him before he can continue. "You guys are my family, and I'm not losing another. I'm going wherever you guys are, and Corax is going wherever I am."

"Aww." Ivy says, although without the tone of her voice I'm not sure if that's a sweet aww, or a sad aww. Maybe both.

"Alright. We've got to figure out what we're going to do about your uh, old friend then."

"Yeah, about that. I know who my mom wants me to meet. Simon, my dad, he made another AI, C-1. Apparently he still runs Arc City, and also directly caused the war." I try to keep my voice even, I don't even know what emotions I'm trying to hide.

"Is it going to be safe for you to be in the city? We can stay with you wherever we're going." Vince says immediately.

"No, no." I can't take them away from everyone they know. "I think not meeting him will just make things worse for everyone else. I have to."

"We'll back you up then."

"You've done more than enough. He went insane when Simon died. He lost his anchor, and in his grief did everything he could to ensure everyone else lost theirs too. I think it's safer if Corax and I go alone."

"Fuck that! You're not leaving me behind." Cassie says immediately.

"You heard the story from Kismet. I don't know what mental state he's in, he might just use you to teach me his idea of some fucked up lesson." I'm not going to be able to handle her dying. I don't want to experience what he did, not again.

"You're just going to disregard doing everything together at the first chance? Really?"

Vince turns to pay close attention to the road, and Ivy is trying to look like she is as well. Although I'm certain she's watching us through the rear view mirror.

"No, you're right! Sorry." I say quickly. "I just haven't thought about what he might do before now, and I'm just scared."

"I know." Her face softens. "But honestly? I'm kind of hoping he does try something. I have a lot to pay him back for."

Does he deserve to die for what he did? The obvious answer is yes. How many people did he directly kill? Less than I did indirectly. But it was his direct actions that led to so many deaths, that was his goal. What kind of state was he in mentally? Is that an excuse? Does that matter? When I thought I killed everyone back in the junkyard, I wasn't myself. But if it was real, would I be responsible for my own actions? Should I be killed if I did that, and later came back to my own senses?

I don't know.

When I look at it from my own perspective, if I did that, then my answer is yes. I should be punished in that situation, despite everything, and death seems as close to fair as possible. But when I think about Cassie being in the same situation, the same mental state, my answer is no. It's not her fault, she wasn't in her right mind. She wouldn't have wanted to do that, just like I didn't.

Does that even apply to C-1? Is regret enough to absolve him of what happened? Does he even regret it? I've never heard about him trying to fix what he did, so is the answer no? Or was he just incapable of undoing what he did?

Pain blooms from my ear, saving me from my thoughts.

"Thank you." I lean my head gently against him for just a moment before turning my attention back to Cassie. "We need to talk to Kismet about what's the safest way to go about this."

"Sure, but I'm not letting you go in there alone. I don't give a shit what they say."

"I know. I shouldn't have even thought it was an option. We'll figure it out together."

"Good. Thank you."

Ivy reaches for her tablet, but a quick glance from Vince is all the convincing she needs to put it back down.

"So, what does everyone want to do when we get to the city?" Vince asks in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

Ivy reaches for her tablet once again and quickly begins to type.

"I need a lot of stuff refilled. Can they produce medicine there?" She asks.

"Yeah, they can." I answer.

"Good. Hopefully I can get something before the shakes start." She types out. "I'm quickly running out of a lot."

Vince reaches over and gives her hand a single squeeze.

"What about you, Little Blue?" He asks.

"Cassie really doesn't want me to spoil anything."

Vince keeps us on happier topics, thankfully steering us away from anything too heavy. We talk and laugh together until the sun disappears behind the horizon and Corax immediately hops out to fly. Vince ends up making dinner for everyone, and I take the driver's seat, with Cassie relaxing beside me Ivy spread out across the back seat, her head resting on Vince's lap.

Cassie works the radio until she's sure the both of them are deeply asleep. Only when she's absolutely certain they're out does she let herself lean to the side and rest against me. I wrap an arm around her, and she wraps one around me too.

"We need a day to ourselves." She whispers.

"We'll get one soon. A few days, hopefully." I whisper back. "Corax will get time with his flock, and I'm sure those two will be busy."

"They better be." Cassie reaches up with an exhausted arm to pull off her headphones and gently place them on my head. "Keep us safe, they're still discussing our bounty."

"Alright, I will." My mind short circuits with a memory and an idea. Do I tell her I love her again? I don't think it's fair to do while she's this tired, but I want to so badly. My entire mind burns with the desire, the primal need to tell her. "Sleep well." I give her a small squeeze.

She gives a small nod and leans a little more of her weight against me.

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