My successful team and I returned to the Mainframe. I didn’t even want to talk about how awkward the ride back had been.

Apparently, Exo had had the ship drop him on the building’s roof. He had “climbed” down from there. That had been the cause of all those tremors. I was silent while he explained all of that. Anything I had to say to Exo would have just made the ride more awkward.

When we all regrouped, my team explained what had occurred to the others. Mentioning Connolly soured Nessa’s expression. During the recap, the team left out the part about Connolly causing Exo’s little rampage. Bringing it up would have been…awkward.

Ben and Manning carried Upton up to the fourth floor and laid him on one of the Teras’ chairs. He hadn’t woken up yet, so that was our chance to analyze him. It felt weird to do so without him knowing, but it was so that we could figure out how to fix him. The AI could only reverse whatever damage the Implants had done after analysis.

“You will be notified when our analysis is done,” Tera said to Manning as she floated around Upton.

Manning eyed her strangely, but then he smiled. “I trust that you will. Thank you.”

I’d never thought I would hear Manning thank an AI. It was strange to see him trust an AI at all after what we had just gone through. Maybe it was because he’d seen proof that the AI who killed my parents had been tampered with.

Anderson, Manning, Ben, Rebecca, and I headed toward the elevator. Once far enough away, Rebecca patted Manning on the back.

“You got him back and reclaimed yourself in the process. I no longer see animosity towards those automatons in your eyes.” Rebecca beamed. “If you go soft on them, it’s going to rub off on me. Nevertheless, I’m proud of you, Theo.”

Manning returned her expression. “Yes, well…it seems that they genuinely wish to atone for their past crimes. It’s better to have them as allies than enemies. Exo’s rescue may have been sabotaged, but the fact that he came at all is appreciated. We might not have made it if he didn’t.”

That was one way to look at the series of events that had led to this moment. I didn’t share the optimism, but the fact that Manning had felt it said a lot.

“I’m just glad you’re talking to me again,” I said. “Your guidance made me who I am today. Winning the war wouldn’t have meant much if you hadn’t been there to celebrate with me.”

Manning rubbed his eyes. “Such kind words. I do not deserve them. It was foolish of me to doubt you. I allowed bitterness to dictate my relationships, but I shall do so no longer. I’ll stand by your decisions…as I always have.”

The chaotic mission had been completely worth it. My team—my family—was complete again. Just in time too. The battle for Red City took place tomorrow, and we needed to be as united as possible—

“I’m the reason why we lost the Oppressed base,” Anderson blurted out.

Everyone skidded to a halt. I let out a sigh so deep that it would have made Kaela proud.

“Dude, seriously?” I said.

“Andy?” Ben raised an eyebrow. “What did you just say?”

“When I was Frost’s prisoner, I snitched on you guys.” Anderson clenched his fist as he spoke. It was obviously hard for him to say. “Frost would never have figured out our location if it hadn’t been for me. Everything that happened on Earth was my fault.”

“Frost would have found us eventually,” I said. “You know how she is. Besides, you just prevented us from going to jail. You broke everyone out of their cuffs. You’re basically a hero!”

“That’s why I had to come clean.” Anderson shut his eyes. “I felt that stupid thing again: guilt. I couldn’t stand feeling good about the mission when I’d just messed up a little while ago.”

“You didn’t.” Ben ruffled Anderson’s hair, much to his audible dismay. “Everyone makes mistakes, kiddo. I made one just by coming on that mission. I…I didn’t want to admit that I was done. I thought I was fine. I didn’t take this power—I mean, this ‘condition’ seriously. I didn’t take my recovery all that seriously either. I’m done being a nuisance. I’m leaving things up to you guys now. You and the rest of your incredible generation.”

Anderson grinned. The guy deserved a victory by now. So, hopefully, he would quit beating himself up over this one defeat. Surge’s opinion regarding all this might be different, so whether or not he’d find out would be up to Anderson.

There was only one person there who hadn’t spoken about what she’d learned. All eyes fell on Rebecca. She met all of them with her single eye before sighing.

“I’ll seek help for my condition as well.” Rebecca copied Ben by ruffling Anderson’s hair. He groaned, brushed it away, and did a poor job at hiding his smile. “This little one has inherited my strength. I can’t imagine living a life in which I’m not fighting, but it’ll be nice to figure out just what that would entail.”

“What do you mean, ‘inherited’? I’m not your kid!” Anderson said, even though he was still smiling.

Rebecca and Ben chuckled at that. I’d never thought I would see Rebecca have such a bond with Anderson, whom I’d once had to fight in order to rescue her. The words “good” and “evil” might as well not have existed. Things were way grayer than that. My time with the Oppressed had already taught me that.

I left everyone to their fun as I set off on a mission: to find Exo.

Exo was talking to Laura and Peta on the Floor of Coalition. They were near the back of the room, standing beside the refrigerator. Perfect. Metallic footsteps announced my arrival as I approached them. I would have preferred that Laura wasn’t here to witness this, but I couldn’t wait any longer.

“Alpha.” Exo looked up at me. Laura’s smiling face and Peta’s cautious gaze followed suit. “I’m glad you are here. We were discussing tomorrow—”

“Laura, Nessa, Beth, and Kaela.” I furrowed my brow as all three gave me quizzical looks. “Those were the names I listed when I called for backup. ‘Exo’ was not an option.”

“I apologize,” Exo said. “Events did not transpire as I’d hoped. Fortunately, everything went well—”

“Fortunate? I’m supposed to feel grateful that you joined the mission after I told you not to? You disregarded my authority because you were so desperate to see that place. Now Frost knows that we’re both in the city. By the way, your arrival was the least subtle thing in the world. How badly did you damage the building on your way to the bottom floor?”

Exo averted his eyes. “It does not matter. I’ll be returning to that place after the war’s end. I will help those suffering souls.”

“How heroic. If you’re just going to ignore me and do whatever you want, why am I even here? Why didn’t you just do the mission? I’m supposed to be keeping you in line!”

“Wander, relax.” Laura stepped in between us. “Without him, you’d be wasting away in a First Division jail. Maybe he was wrong to ignore your orders, but at least he came through.”

I scoffed. “You want to know the full story? When Connolly showed up, he used Frost’s stupid aggression enhancer on Exo. He went nuts and started attacking us. If we hadn’t figured it out in time, we wouldn’t be in jail. We’d be dead!”

Exo’s face fell. He clearly remembered what had happened. Good. Laura raised an eyebrow as she turned toward Exo. I could only imagine what was going through her mind.

“Lord Exo would never attack you ungrateful bloodbags on purpose. Back off!” Peta stomped up to me. “We’ll get some work done and see if we can prevent their crap from working on us. Happy?”

Technically, I should have been, but I wasn’t. If Frost’s aggression enhancer was used on the following day, it would disable half of our army and make them fight the other half. It’d be an instant loss. How was I supposed to react?

“This alliance was a mistake.” I whipped around. “I need some sleep.”

I stomped away despite Laura’s pleas to stop. It seemed like I was being immature, but, in reality, I was sparing them another lecture. There was no way I could calm down, so I’d just sleep this off. I had nothing to do until morning anyway. Maybe we could come to a conclusion then.

I headed to my room on the sixth floor, stepped out of my space suit, and lay down on the metal bed. I hadn’t gotten used to it yet, but I was too tired to care. I shut my eyes and drifted off. When I woke up, it would be time for the final battle…

White, followed by a multitude of other colors, filled my vision. I looked around and realized that I was marching down a hallway. The walls and floor were streaked with white. It looked like the hallway in the underground lab back on Earth.

I was back in Exo’s memories.

I would have sighed if I had control. Instead, I lifted my hands off the wheel. I wasn’t in the mood to enter Exo’s memories, but I knew better than to fight it. I had brought this upon myself by calling upon his memories back in the hospital. The least I could do was ride it out.

Exo—I mean, I—marched into a room on my right. I wasn’t sure how I was able to march when I had previously been just a light. I took that to mean that some time had passed since that last memory.

The room was filled with guys in white suits who were stationed at monitors, fiddling with tools, or chatting with each other. A blackboard in the back was coated in chalk. I assumed it had previously been comprehensible but was now just a mess of white scribbles. I marched toward Doctor Damien. He was deep in conversation with a copper light, who must have been Peta.

The scientists stared at me as I marched by. Or were those glares? Either way, I’d unintentionally become the center of attention. To be fair, I was a robot. I wasn’t as tall or wide as Exo’s current body, so this must have been a prototype.

Damien’s eyes lit up as he spotted me. “Oh, Exo! We were just talking about you.”

“We were not; go away,” said Peta, who lit up with each word. “Damien and I were just having a nice little chat before you came shaking up the place.”

“I came to redirect you, Peta,” I said in Exo’s deep and robotic voice. “Due to being a personal AI to Doctor Damien, you do not have an assigned role like the others. Therefore, I have scheduled you to assist Mega at this time. I am doing so as well by testing this exoskeleton that he created. He uses them to assist the engineers, but they have potential for other tasks.”

“You’re only testing it because he named it after you,” Peta snapped. “You’re not getting me in one of these stupid machine bodies. We AI were made to be virtual. We communicate through the Stream, not in person. March away, and try again.”

Exo’s frustration became my own. Peta wasn’t adjusting well to my…existence. Omen Frost had created me to lead my fellow AI. Peta wouldn’t accept that, and, sometimes, I didn’t blame him. My role was artificial. I was created to lead them. I hadn’t earned the role. However, Peta wasn’t allowing me a chance to earn the title. He was the only AI without a true role, so his rebellion was to be expected.

“Peta, give Exo a chance already,” Damien said. “It’s been a month since his inception. I thought you’d be used to him after the second week.”

Now that I’d been properly introduced, I understood that Doctor Damien was one of the most skilled engineering technicians in the Frontier Project. He was essentially Omen Frost’s right-hand man. He was Peta’s “master” and the only human who actually talked to us. He was nice to all the AI.

He was also a father to a six-year-old girl, whom he hadn’t seen much since he’d started working here. He promised to introduce us to her and his wife someday. I felt everyone’s eagerness about it through the Stream. Peta was the most excited, but he refused to admit it.

“Give Exo a chance?” Peta scoffed. “I’ll give the unnecessary bundle of data a chance after he’s proved himself worthy of it!”

“You’re both part of the same stream of knowledge. You know that he’s worthy, you’re just stubborn.” Damien furrowed his brow. “I didn’t know an overgrown computer program could be such a baby. Give Exo a chance or you’ll never meet Lauren.”

Lauren? That was the name of Damien’s daughter. It was also similar to the name of someone close to me. The Wander me, not the Exo me. Being two people at once was confusing.

Peta made a choking sound. “You wouldn’t dare! I mean, I don’t care. Do what you want.”

Damien snickered. “All right, tough guy. Go ahead and face your punishment if you’re up to it.”

Silence fell over them as Peta thought it over. I knew that he was thinking because I could feel his thoughts. I’d expected Damien and Peta to have a much friendlier relationship. I supposed that it was my fault for believing that Peta would be friendly with anyone. Luckily, Damien had as much snark as he did.

“Fine!” Peta gave an audible grunt as if he’d just crossed his arms. “I’ll give Exo a single chance. I’ll go help Mega—”

The door slid open. Omen Frost marched in, silencing the room. It was like a bubble of silence surrounded him. His snowy hair was distinct enough to stand out even against a white background. His calculating green eyes swept over everyone before settling on me, Peta, and Damien. He strode toward us. If I could back away, I would.

“Exo, command all the AI to report to the underground laboratory and resume work on the weapon,” Omen said in that velvety voice of his. “Effective immediately.”

He was telling me and Peta to get out. I didn’t like working on “the weapon” because some of us hadn’t been made for purposes like that. It was as if Omen only cared about our intelligence and nothing else. Were our roles just for show? Whatever the answer, I wouldn’t find it here.

“Right away, sir.” I picked up Peta’s circular console, which was about the size and shape of a drink coaster. It contained his essence, so I was essentially carrying him.

I marched out of the room. Once in the hallway, something tugged at my mind. The Knowledge Stream. The fact that I could feel it this strongly in a memory was disorienting. Nevertheless, I tapped into it.

“Stay by the door,” Peta’s voice called out. He was communicating through the stream even though I was holding him? He must not have wanted anyone but me to hear him. “Enhance your hearing. Let’s hear what our ‘father’ wants to say to Damien.”

Eavesdropping? Surely, Omen Frost would know if he were being spied on. His order had been suspicious, though. He wanted all the AI out of the way, and he wanted us to continue working on that dreadful cannon. An explanation was the least that I deserved. I enhanced the parameters that enabled my artificial hearing and waited.

“We can’t do that to them,” Damien said in a harsh tone. “Wipe their memories, refresh the Stream, just find some other way!”

“Ah, of course,” Omen said. “It truly is that simple, isn’t it? There is only one complication: the AI aren’t supposed to exist in the first place. The fact that they do is a secret known only to the people in this facility.”

If that was true, then how would we ever meet Lauren? Had she not known we existed all this time?

“So we created virtual life: big deal. It’s been done before, just not at this magnitude. What’s the worst that the other countries could do if they found out?”

“Divisions,” Omen corrected him, “and it’s a matter of not allowing our enemies to know our full potential. We’ll bestow upon them the secrets to living galactic lives in exchange for peace, as planned. However, only fifty-seven divisions have agreed to our conditions so far. That’s about a quarter of the agreements we need. If we can barely get them to cooperate, how are we supposed to trust them? We must prepare for the possibility of betrayal.”

“You sound like a lunatic, sir! Who cares about the other divisions? The AI are living creatures that deserve to exist alongside humans. We can’t delete them just because our ‘enemies’ might discover them. Hell, if they betray us like you say, you’ll just order us to bring the AI back. We’d need their help for the hypothetical war.”

“Perhaps. I must admit that throwing away all our hard work is frustrating, but I cannot risk anyone outside this facility discovering them. As their caretaker, you’re blind to the risk, the very controversy that this would breed. You care too much about our talking accumulations of data. I occasionally regret bringing you onto this project for that very reason.”

Damien scoffed. “Sucks that you can’t fire me then. Not only do I know too much, but I’d take them with me if you did. I don’t care if you declare them government property; I’ll sneak them out if I’ve got to.”

Silence returned to the environment. It sounded like even the scientists who were still inside had frozen up again. Omen must have been pretty confident if he’d let them stick around.

Damien’s determination to protect us was admirable, but he had to remember who he was speaking with. Omen Frost was the most powerful man in the United States—or the “First Division,” as it’d soon be renamed. Even the president feared him.

Omen sighed. “Yes, I believe you. Despite our lack of agreement, I do not plan on replacing you. You will be with this project until the very end. That is all.”

The tone in his voice indicated that that was the end of the conversation. I hurried down the hall before either Omen or Damien could walk out and catch me. I had to get away from there, I had to…prepare. If Omen Frost wanted to delete us, we had to be ready.

“So, Leader, how do you propose we go about handling all that?” Peta asked through the Stream. “If Omen wants us gone, there’s not a lot we can do to prevent it. Aside from bashing his skull in with one of Mega’s suits. Want to try it?”

“No. I have a less violent idea.” I concentrated and connected to all the AI through the Stream. Now I could communicate with all of them. “AI, I’m uploading information that you all need to learn. It seems that our employer no longer wishes to work with us. Therefore, it’s time to seek other opportunities.”