How can one week be so short? Each individual minute with everyone is a long, precious period of time. But somehow, the days fly by in a blink of an eye, feeling shorter than a single second with everyone.

We all spend as much time as possible together, although Vince, Ivy, and Cassie all do find the time to meet with friends they haven't seen in a long time. The room gets incredibly cramped when Lucas, Ethan, and the rest of their group come to visit. It's very nice to hang out with them regardless.

Although, even I don't get all day with everyone. Vince makes good on his promise to put me to work teaching the kids. They're all far less willing to listen to me when I try, but an hour or two of playing with them helps get their energy out and focused. I treasure every moment I have with all of them, and I can only hope I can keep helping to teach them in the future.

Clover stays separate from us, spending most of her days in Silver's office. She does come around occasionally, but never stays for more than an hour. I'm so glad she seems to be doing better than she was.

However, nobody can relax as much as I wish we could. C-1 and Mary are looming over us, inevitably getting closer with every passing moment.

I try to let Cassie sleep away our last peaceful morning, but we're interrupted by the intercom coming alive.

"I hope all of you are recovered." Silver's voice fills the room.

"Huh?" Cassie's head lifts off of me lazily. "Oh, fuck. We'll be down in a minute."

"See that you do."

Cassie takes a deep breath before pushing herself off of me and reaching up to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. I got enough." She says. "Go make sure Vince and Ivy are up please."

"Sure. I'll meet you there when you're done." She's still afraid to change with me in the room. Not that I blame her, I'm not sure I'd be able to stop myself from staring on accident. She's just really pretty.

Corax lands on my shoulder with just a few flaps of his strong wings, his vest clutched in his beak, and we both head for the door. I walk straight past Ivy's room and head for Vince's. I can't help but hesitate before knocking on the door. I really hope I'm not interrupting anything, but there's nothing else to do.

The door opens just a few moments after I knock. Vince stands in front of me and Ivy is lounging on their bed, both of them fully prepared for a fight. The remnants of breakfast have been discarded on the nightstand.

"Hey Little Blue. Everything alright?" He steps to the side and lets me come inside.

"Yeah. Cassie's getting ready."

"You two aren't at that phase yet?" Ivy asks.

"I guess not?" I'm not sure what she's even talking about.

"Are you ready for today?" He thankfully changes the subject.

"I guess. I was just trying my best not to think about it last night."

"I think we all were." He nods and takes a few steps back, taking a seat on the side of the bed. "I assume Silver let you know to meet with them?"

"Yeah. They woke us up."

"Good." Vince nods and takes a deep breath, letting it out over the course of a long second. "Whatever happens today, just remember we've got your back."

"I know. Are you two feeling good enough to fight if we need to?"

"I've felt worse." Ivy has almost entirely stopped using her mouth when she speaks around just us, using only her necklace. The few times I've seen her talk around other people, however, she still uses her mouth to imitate what she's saying, just like me.

"We're both ready for whatever comes." Vince promises.

I guess there's nothing else to say or do but to wait patently for Cassie. I spend the time focusing entirely on Corax, getting his weapon strapped around him. Thankfully we don't have to wait long, and a knock soon arrives at the door.

Vince stands up to welcome Cassie in.

"Lucas?" Vince takes a step back to give him space to enter.

"Morning everyone!" He steps in, taking in all of our faces. He's fully geared, both his submachine guns strapped to his hips and light armor covering his body. "Oh, don't look so surprised. Did you think I'd let you go at this without me?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I'm more surprised Ethan let you come alone." Ivy says. "You talked to him about this, right?"

"Yeah, of course! Both of us agreed it's safer if I go alone. We're both worried he's not close enough with Blue to be considered family."

Ivy lets slip a doubtful look, but holds her tongue. Or voice.

"Well I don't think that's a bad decision." Vince says. "Just make sure you've said goodbye properly." The meaning behind his words drives a spike into my mind.

"Do you think today is going to go that poorly?" I ask.

"No, but nobody's ever been disappointed while planning for the worst. Today just has an awful lot of unknowns, and that makes the worst case scenario far worse than reality is likely to end up." He explains.

"I hope you're right."

A metallic knock on the door thankfully saves us from further conversation. Cassie lets herself in, light armor obviously hidden beneath her clothes. She carries a helmet in her hands and drops it wordlessly onto my head. I'm not sure how much a helmet will do for me against another AI, but I appreciate the gesture regardless.

"Well, we should get moving then." Vince stands up and wordlessly heads downstairs.

It's a short walk through a busy building to reach Silver's office. Every single person we pass gives us knowing looks and curt nods. No words need to be shared. I'm not sure how much they know about what we're going to do today, but I can't imagine the secret has been perfectly kept.

Oscar gives us a nod and lets us through into Silver's office. They sit behind their desk, with Clover sitting just beside them. Silver waits for everyone to get inside and for the door to close behind us before they say a word.

"Blue, has this week helped you calm down?" They ask with a measured voice.

"Yeah. I'll be nicer to Mary."

"I'm glad pushing C-1's hospitality this far wasn't a waste. All of you, most of my speech doesn't apply. No matter what either of us say, none of you would be willing to stay. I don't care what happens, make sure I see you again. If you die, just make damn sure you don't die for nothing."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Vince says.

"Before you go, Blue, I just want to say that I hope things go well for you." Clover slides a piece of paper towards me with a message written on it in letters almost too small to read.

Our mutual friend is ashamed of how they reacted, but they don't feel it was unwarranted given the situation. They're hopeful today will go well, but our future can offer no assurances. If our future determines it's safe, you will be welcome to return. Remember everything we've given you.

"I appreciate that, thank you." It's still not safe to hope that Corax can one day visit his flock again, but hope takes root in my mind regardless.

Cassie glances at me, her face making it clear I'm missing something. Oh. This is just another way to ask me to kill him without actually saying it. At least it makes sense to do so now, C-1 could certainly be listening.

Remember everything we've given you. Is that implying what I think it is? It can't be anything else. They wouldn't put such emphasis on the weapons they gave us, and they didn't give us the pucks we stole from Vegas. The only thing they can be referring to is the payload we used on Mara. They have to be saying it'll work on C-1 as well, isolating him from everything, making him safe. Cassie and I both still have our payloads, it's good to know we have another backup plan.

"Well, any last minute advice?" Vince asks.

"No, I have nothing." Silver sighs. "He's nothing more than a ghost. I have a few top floors I'm certain know of him, but no matter how many favors I try to call in, nobody is willing to talk."

"Alright. Anyone else have any questions?" Vince turns around, taking in all of our faces. I don't even know what I'd ask at this point, there's nothing they can give me advice on. "Guess not, let's get moving."

Vince heads past us all, and we follow closely behind. I reach out for Cassie's hand, and she entwines her fingers with mine. I don't care how it looks, I need the support.

The compound is still prepared for an attack. Bulky installations have been constructed throughout the compound, on the roof, and even in a few of the windows. Everyone is on high alert.

We walk straight past everyone and out onto the street. People stay out of our way, and we make our way towards the tower in the center of the city as directly as we can. Of course, with how the city has grown, even an attempt at a direct path is long and winding.

Cameras turn towards us as we walk, making no attempt at hiding their purpose. Bulky, armored robots are a common sight in the crowd as we get closer to the tower. Everyone is doing their best to avoid them, and those gaps in the crowd reveal them to us.

"Enforcers." Cassie loudly whispers for me. "They're bad news."

"I assumed so."

The central courtyard is the same as it was the first time I saw it. Robots with highly customized bodies follow dutifully behind humans who are quickly rushing from place to place. Cameras built into every surface stare downwards, observing everything. A grand statue of Simon stands proudly in the courtyard, the rest of the scientists staring at me from his feet. Ivy doesn't mention Mary. She's not real.

We push our way through the crowd and head for a set of doors built into the tower. As we approach, they open automatically for us.

We step into a fine waiting room. A few plush chairs are spread around tables, with dust covering every surface. The only door in this entire lobby is a closed elevator built into the back wall. A human receptionist stands behind a wooden desk, sitting up straight and alert, a forced smile that doesn't reach her eyes plastered on her face.

"Welcome! He's waiting for you." The elevator behind her silently slides open.

"Appreciate it." Vince nods and heads further in.

I follow closely behind him, ignoring everything. The last thing I need to do is to think and let my mind spiral.

The second we're inside, the elevator slides shut, and the elevator shoots into the air, Vince's knees nearly buckling under the force.

"How do you prepare for something like this?" I ask, desperate for something that will help.

"It's a little too late to start trying to relax now, Little Blue." Vince says sadly.

"I know." The elevator comes to a stop, and I step forward. If there's a trap on the other side, I'm going to make C-1 shoot me before he harms anyone.

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