The Girl Who Dared to Think 7: The Girl Who Dared to Fight

“What about Rose?” I asked. “She was in the sentinel.”

“The sentinel lost power about an hour after you left Dylan,” Grey replied for Maddox. He looked rough, his mouth turned down in a sad expression, his eyes filled with loss and pain. And I suddenly realized that Leo must’ve been uploaded at some point, against his will, which meant Grey had lost him suddenly, and without warning.

It suddenly hit me that I had, too, and I couldn’t help but feel a crushing wave of despair slam into me. My friends were alive, but I had lost someone after all.

We both had.

I met Grey’s eyes, and there was a flash of recognition there, and a slow darkening. “I’m all right,” he said, before I could ask. “I… Leo’s gone, Liana. I… I don’t know what happened. One minute he was there, the next he was gone, and I…”

He faltered, and my heart broke all over again. Leo was gone. Both of us had lost him, and neither of us knew what it meant for the other. My spirits plummeted, but I forced myself to push it aside to deal with later. We didn’t need to hash it out right then and there, and I was exhausted. Even sleeping for five hours hadn’t done much to replenish me, and all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and go to sleep. “We can talk about it later,” I replied with a smile that I didn’t quite feel, trying to reassure him that everything was okay. “I’ll head up to the Citadel and see you all soon. Just… stay there, okay?”

Maddox frowned, clearly confused by my order to remain in the quarters, but she nodded. “See you soon.”

The screen went blank a second later, and I released a heavy breath. In truth, I wasn’t sure how to feel. My friends were alive, but the trauma at seeing them dying still lingered. I knew it would consume my nightmares for years to come, but what was worse was that it was a weight the AI version of me was going to have to carry as well. I wondered what it was going to be like interacting with her. Would she appear at council meetings by Leo’s side? Would I have to watch them standing there together, and only reminisce that it used to be Leo and me like that?

It felt strange thinking of her as some interloper who had stolen my man away from me. She was me. The exact same person, only… without a body. Able to share something with Leo that I never could.

“How are you feeling?” Lionel asked from behind me, and I sighed heavily, shaking my head.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “Tired, upset, emotionally drained… I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that it’s over. That nothing I experienced actually happened, and yet we still won.”

“Some of what you experienced did translate through to the real world,” Lionel pointed out. “But I can understand. I know you’re tired, but someone wants to talk to you.”

I turned in time to see his form flicker out, replaced by an amber glow that I recognized intimately—it was the color of my skin only a short time ago. It was weird watching the lines of my body form, like a mirror that drew me in to create suspense before I could see my final image.

I took a step back as the crimson armor formed over her, the purple wings behind her, and lifted an eyebrow, already concerned with her decisions to keep those as part of her permanent image. “You really think the citizens of the Tower are going to respond well to that?” I asked, giving her the onceover.

“The citizens of the Tower aren’t going to know about me,” she replied, folding her arms over her chest and lifting an eyebrow. “Leo and I talked it over, and we decided to keep my existence a secret from everyone except the council. In time the citizens might be able to handle the truth, but many of them are still too brainwashed by Sage’s changes in the system over the years.”

I pressed my lips together but had to give her credit. It was smart to restrict information like that, especially with the way things were currently. “It’s a good idea,” I agreed with a nod.

“I know it is,” she replied dryly, and I couldn’t help but smile. She was still me, but also not. It was so weird. “I’m here to talk to you about what comes next. For you.”

I frowned, giving her a wary look. “Are you firing me as Champion?”

The AI version of me snorted derisively and shook her head. “Not at all,” she replied. “But… you have to know this is going to be really weird for all of us. Do you really want to go to council meetings and have to watch Leo and me working together, side by side? You never wanted to be Champion—it was just something thrust upon you through forces out of your own control. You have an out, if you want to take it. Leo’s already told everyone that you single-handedly defeated Sage and Sadie’s evil plot to destroy Scipio, so you could retire tomorrow, and everyone would understand.”

I chuckled at that, and then shook my head. “I… I’m not sure what I want,” I told her truthfully.

“Oh, you are. You just haven’t had as much time as I have to think about it.”

“You’ve only had five hours,” I shot back tartly, not liking how she already seemed to know what I wanted. Sure, she was me, but that didn’t mean she was able to read my mind.

“An eternity to a computer program,” she replied, waving a hand dismissively. “Now, I think you can agree with me that this Tower is too small for the both of us. But, if you’re willing to hear me out, I have a great idea for a new department that I think you’d be suited to take point on.”

I stared at her for a second, both intrigued and a little frightened by the fact that my neural clone was already creating a whole new department. That was a little fast, and I had no idea what function another department could even serve in the Tower! Still, the questions the idea spun up in me were far more intriguing than the speed with which she was moving, and I took a step closer and gave her a considering look.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, and she grinned.





Epilogue





One year later





“Hey, Liana!” Quess shouted from behind me.

I turned from where I was inventorying supplies, lifting a hand to shield my eyes from the bright glare of the morning sun hitting Greenery 8’s roof. The young man was walking over with another crate in his hands, but had a smaller white box on top and a very pleased grin on his face. “Morale Officer and Official Cheermeister of the Diplomacy Corp reporting for duty, with the first bit of good news of the day!”

Excitement thrummed through me as he looked at the small box, and I hurriedly stepped away from the stack of boxes to go to him. “Okay, one: Morale Officer, yes, but you are not introducing yourself as the Cheermeister to the Patrian delegation, or anyone, ever.” Quess groaned in mock disappointment, but the smile on his face never wavered as we stopped in front of each other. “Two… is that the gift?”

“Sure is. Dinah says it contains every survey of the outside environment since the Tower’s creation and historical events of note, as well as an assortment of what she coined ‘cultural gems.’ Think they’ll like it?”

I grinned as I picked up the box and pulled open the lid, barely able to contain my pleasure when I saw the data crystal nestled in the center, glowing slightly. It had taken hours to persuade the council to give it up—one of the few things that they had argued with me about—and even though I had won, they might still try to convince me one more time that an air filtration system would be a better gift. They just couldn’t see the value in passing along elements of our history or culture instead of a piece of technology that served a purpose. But I knew the environmental studies would give the Patrians some idea as to how to help us eradicate the radiation seeping into the area around the Tower, hopefully making it habitable again.