“I uh… don’t think I did it right,” Xan remarked, wrinkling his nose as the acrid smell of spent powder reached his nostrils. The ear protection had done its job well, but it did nothing to stop the novel shock of recoil. Winters chuckled as he moved to help Xan, his voice quite faint thanks to the earplugs.

  “Well you didn’t drop it, so that’s a good start,” he told the Cauthan. “Maybe don’t close your eyes next time? It’s not going to hurt you.”

  “Yeah, I get it,” Xan replied frustratedly, still stuck on the fact that such a small object could produce such a strong sound and force. “I felt it in my chest.”

  “Mmm? Oh, you mean the sound wave? You’ll get used to it. Pretty fun, right?” Russell asked, leading Xan through the simple motion of cocking the hammer to prepare for another shot.

  “I think it would be a bit more fun if I managed to hit something,” Xan pointed out. It was obvious enough from the electronic display that he’d not managed to place his shot on target, a single red dot still denoting the location where Russell’s first shot had landed. “I don’t even know where it went.”

  ‘Did you also hit the first arrow that you fired, Xan?’ Io wondered from behind him. She didn’t seem any more interested in shooting on account of the Cauthan’s learning experience, but she was supportive in her tone.

  “Well no, I guess not,” Xan agreed, raising the pistol again. “How do I even aim this thing? Just point straight?”

  “Honestly, in the current situation that’s exactly what you should do,” Russell confirmed. “We can get into the nitty gritty later if you’re so inclined. Go ahead whenever you’re ready.”

  Xan nodded to him, taking stock of his body’s positioning and returning much of his weight to his good leg before holding his hands straight out from his body. After a long few breaths he moved his finger to the trigger and felt the point of maximum resistance again. Fighting down his body’s natural reaction, especially now that he knew how much his hands were likely to move in response to the shot, he forced his good eye to remain open as he fired. Though still disorienting, he found that the experience was over almost too quickly to react and, excitingly, a second red dot had appeared on the target.

  “Well look at that, you’re getting closer!” Russell told him approvingly. Xan had still technically missed, his shot landing outside of the human silhouette itself, but it was close enough for the target to register and display the hit. “How did it feel?”

  “Not much different, I guess,” Xan told him after collecting his thoughts and leaning against the side barrier of the lane for support. “It feels a bit uncomfortable in my elbow and shoulder though. Not painful or anything, just odd.”

  “Mmm, I see,” Russell said knowingly, stepping forward again and taking over for Xan. After cocking the hammer and taking a casual stance he glanced over at the Cauthan. “Here, watch my wrists closely.”

  Xan did so, or at least he tried to. Whatever Winters might have been doing with his wrists, it was far less interesting than the small gout of flame that burst forth from the muzzle of the weapon as he fired off the remaining live rounds in the weapon, much more obvious now that he was observing at an angle. “What the heck was that?!”

  “Hmm, what do you mean?” Russell asked, placing the spent revolver down and removing his ear protection so that they could converse more reasonably.

  “There was a huge burst of fire that came out of it!” Xan exclaimed, pointing to the revolver. “What the hell is in there? I thought they were made of metal.”

  “I guess you weren’t watching my wrists then,” Winters laughed, earning an arch look from Io.

  ‘Decidedly the least interesting aspect of the demonstration,’ she pointed out.

  “Well excuse me, your majesty,” Russell ribbed her gently, taking up a fresh round and holding up for Xan’s scrutiny. He pointed to the top. “This right here is the part of the bullet that actually flies out and hits the target. The rest of it contains explosive powder. When you pull the trigger, it ignites and the force of that flame pushes this bit out of the gun. If you want we can go over all the physics and science behind it later, maybe tomorrow if you’re not busy with festival stuff. For now what I was trying to show you was how to shoot properly. The reason your elbows and shoulders might have been feeling off is because you were keeping your wrists stiff. The force that propels the bullet out of the gun has to go somewhere, and if you don’t let your wrists absorb it, it’ll keep going through your arms. So try that next time, alright? Leave some slack in your wrists and let them tilt up and back after you shoot. I promise you won’t drop the gun. If you were going to do that at all, it would have been the first time.”

  “Well I’m glad someone’s so confident,” Xan replied, adjusting his tunic as Russell extended the revolver to him.

  “If you want I could give you props for not falling over on your one good leg,” the soldier chuckled, making his point. “Here, why don’t you reload it this time? Right there is the release and… yep, now just put the new rounds in and push it back into position.”

  Xan was able to follow the instructions easily enough, finding that as Winters had described, most of the bullet was left behind after firing and uncomfortably hot to the touch. He avoided the shell casings after touching the first, and finished reloading under Russell’s watchful gaze. When the human was satisfied that Xan had that last portion of the fundamentals down, he gave him a quick pat on the shoulder and gestured towards the target. “Just feel your way around it for now and keep the front sight centered on the target, that white dot there. You can shoot as much as you’d like. I’m going to go get Io set up.”

  “Yeah, sounds good. Thank you,” the Cauthan responded, suddenly set upon by the notion that he’d not actually thanked Winters for taking him aboard and showing him that particular area of the ship. It was clearly not an imposition on the man, but it was still a favor. Russell gave him a wide grin and a thumbs up.

  “You got it, buddy! See if you can get yourself a decent grouping by the time I get back. So Io, ready?”

  The AI clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, holding her hands across her chest and leaning against the far wall like some delinquent high schooler. Russell’s obvious smirk and raised eyebrow did nothing to improve her mood. ‘I do not need you to instruct me on the operation of a firearm, any firearm.’

  “Then why are you still standing there instead of having at it? We’ve got plenty of shells,” the Jumper pointed out. Io cocked her head and huffed in annoyance.

  ‘Because I wanted to observe Xan for a while, and because I don’t enjoy being told what to do,’ she said, looking a tad uncomfortable as she adjusted the cans over her ears. His shoulders fell slightly, but he eventually shrugged and nodded.

  “Alright. Well I guess if you’d rather sit it out, keep an eye on him for me?” Russell requested before turning away from her and stepping up to the lane on Xan’s left. After a quick examination of the shotgun’s action, he laid out eight shells before entering a handful of parameters into the target projection system. As a red, blinking light appeared at the far end of the lane, he pulled the slide back to open the chamber and rested the butt of the weapon against his right shoulder. When the light switched from red to yellow, he began snatching up shells as quickly as possible, loading one into the chamber and pulling the slide forward before filling the tube. The Jumper dropped a handful of choice curse words as the light held steady green and targets began appearing, demanding that he begin firing. They shattered out of existence almost as soon as they sprung up, the man pivoting his upper body from target to target. The first six went down in sequence before he cleared the chamber and set the shotgun down, rolling his arm twice and shaking his head. He’d fumbled the seventh round on his reload. “Damn, I’m out of practice.”

  “Woooah, when do I get to do that?!” Xan demanded from behind him. Russell turned to face him, looking down at the revolver still in his hand. It was pointed at the floor, however. He pointed to it and then made a motion to indicate that Xan should return it to its rightful place before engaging in conversation. The Cauthan did so with an apologetic look on his face before returning shortly. “Seriously, that was crazy!”

  “Heh, thanks buddy. Could have been better. I missed two,” Winters pointed out before removing his cans. “Look honestly, you might have a hard time until you get a mechanical leg, if you get one. The recoil on these things are manageable, but might be hard for a thinner guy like you who’s only got one good point of contact with the ground.”

  “I appreciate the vote of confidence,” Xan scoffed, only for Winters to load up a round and offer the shotgun to him.

  “By all means then!” the Jumper encouraged, showing him where to shoulder the weapon before suggesting he just fire down range.

  ‘Are you sure this is wise?’ Io hissed in his ear as Xan tried to get a feel for the much heavier twelve gauge and assume a shooting stance. Russell shrugged and shook his head at her, stepping forward so that he was just behind Xan when the Cauthan pulled the trigger.

  Xan’s shout was one of surprise more than anything, but true to Russell’s warning the firearm was loud, powerful, and knocked him clear off balance. The Jumper had very intentionally handed him a weapon with only one round loaded, and was at the ready to stop Xan’s fall and secure the gun itself. “You fucking ass… I know I deserved that,” Xan admitted immediately. “How the hell did you shoot it so quickly?”

  “Lots of practice and bruised shoulders,” Russell told him with a smile before pushing him back to his feet. “Now do you understand why I started you on a pistol? Good job hanging onto the gun, by the way.”

  “Oh yeah, I feel very successful at the moment,” Xan informed him, happy to hand off the shotgun before rolling his shoulder uncomfortably in its socket.

  “We all start somewhere. How far did you get with the revolver?”

  “I managed to put the new uh… things, whatever you call them. I managed to fill it up with new ones before you started shooting over here,” the Cauthan replied, having a bit of trouble around the word bullet.

  “That’s a start; let’s have at it then,” Russell suggested, leaving his station and walking Xan back over. After a few words of advice and encouragement to try and find a rhythm, he stood back and let the Cauthan have free reign. While the experience with the shotgun had not been graceful, it had clearly given Xan some perspective regarding smaller caliber firearms, and he went about his next few shots without the need for intervention from Russell or Io. When the young death priest proved capable of going through the motions to reload without assistance, Russell clapped him on the shoulder and motioned that he would be taking the semi-automatic pistol over to the next lane. Xan nodded and returned to his task, finding the act of shooting to be rather enjoyable even if his shots were still landing all over the target.

  Upon stepping back from Xan’s lane, Russell found the one next door occupied by none other than Io who, despite her earlier protests, was found in deep contemplation over the shotgun and a handful of shells arranged much as Winters had done in preparation for his time trial. Xan began firing again, lending Russell a bit of cover to lean against the wall and watch as Io attempted to perform the same feat of fully loading the weapon and then eliminating targets in quick succession. The man watched with evident curiosity as the signal began to blink and Io took her turn at it. Her movements were precise and unflustered, befitting a being who claimed that marksmanship was beneath her on account of mechanical advantage, but she had only loaded four shells by the time the first target appeared. Winters kept his eyes glued to her back as she shouldered the shotgun in frustration and dispatched as many as she could. Each shot was delivered with precision, but she was too slow to the fourth target and settled for the fifth before throwing a final round into the chamber and taking down the eighth. For the briefest of moments, Russell thought she might slam the shotgun back down onto the platform, but she controlled whatever momentary aggravation was coursing through her system and deposited it with unnatural care.

  ‘I know you were watching. And whatever you were thinking of saying, please don’t,’ she requested in a frustrated tone of voice. ‘I am aware that I failed.’

  Winters scratched his head for a moment. “It’s not a test. You know that, right?”

  ‘By definition it is a test, sir. And I happen to have underperformed my own expectations,’ Io elaborated as the quieter pops of .38 caliber ammunition rang throughout the range. Russell glanced over at the other lane, finding that Xan was putting rounds on target yet again but perhaps not as closely grouped as one would like.

  “Well, you just started and you nailed every target you took a shot at,” he observed, gesturing towards Xan’s many bullet markers as silence fell over the range, indicating that the Cauthan was reloading. “What?”

  ‘Was being compared to a crippled novice meant to make me feel pleased?’ she wondered.

  “I already married one woman, Io. So why don’t you just tell me what would make you feel pleased? No one forced you to be here,” he pointed out. She crossed her arms over her chest.

  ‘Are you sure that’s the story you want to go with, sir?’

  “Look, I just wanted you to have a little fun firing off some heavy duty stuff, feel the weight of the recoil and whatnot. I thought that would be entertaining for you, or at least interesting, help with your calibrations and stuff? No one said you had to run through advanced training programs. How’s your arm, by the way?”

  Io huffed slightly and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. ‘I am fine, thank you. My body cannot bruise, as you might imagine. I cannot imagine the force to be particularly pleasant, even for someone like you. But it was substantial, I will say that. I should have been able to complete the course.’

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “What? On your first try? No one does that perfectly their first time,” Winters told her with a laugh, stepping forward to take up the shotgun and inspect it. “Not even you. Practice makes perfect though if you want to go again.”

  ‘For a being like you, it does engender improvement,’ Io allowed, dropping her hands to her sides. ‘I am not the same.’

  “Seems to me that you are,” Russell responded, his eyes on the lane as he laid out eight shells again and picked up the shotgun. “Shouldn’t that make you happy? To err is human, after all. Some smart dude said that a while back. My mother always enjoyed that saying. I erred a lot. I’m very human.”

  Io watched with a scowl on her face, wanting to tell him that he could not be farther from the truth in terms of biomechanics and her body. Out of respect for the trial, at least, she held her tongue and observed. Russell was faster the second time, placing the first shell home and racking the slide before swiftly grabbing each metal and plastic shell and forcing them into the tube. The AI clicked her tongue and let out an annoyed ‘oh’ as he managed to get the final shell loaded just in time before proceeding to obliterate the eight targets one at a time as they flashed into existence. ‘Of course you have that stupid grin on your face too,’ Io muttered as he finished and turned to face her, butt of the shotgun on his hip. He frowned when he saw her face. ‘Well done.’

  Winters walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking down into her emerald eyes which seemed, to him, completely human. “Sorry I smell like spent powder right now, but what’s eating you up inside, Io? Even people who don’t like guns don’t get like this their first time on the range. Did the Admiral say something?”

  ‘I only wanted to tag along, sir,’ she told him, looking over at the shelf where the shotgun rested. ‘You’re just very insistent!’

  “Well yeah, I figured you could join in on some of the fun,” he repeated the obvious. She blew her hair out of her eyes and looked straight at him.

  ‘Even if it is fun, sir, don’t you think it’s unwise to let the AI play around with firearms? What happens if I become obsessed with beating you, or at least breaking even? How many hours will I spend changing myself just so I can do what you just did? You think the crew will want an all powerful gun nut on board with them?’

  “Stop being an idiot, Io,” Russell told her as quietly as he could with two sets of cans in the way. “You know as well as I do that if you wanted to kill everyone on board, guns would be the worst way to go about it other than maybe stabbing. I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t mean to spark a crisis here.”

  ‘I am not being an… idiot,’ she protested, suddenly aware of the fact that she was ‘trapped’ between him and the wall separating them from the next lane over. She did her best to tamp down the various subroutines that demanded a display of submissiveness or embarrassment given the situational similarity to endless fictional accounts of such acts, but was sure one or two would slip through. ‘It is a legitimate concern. Not everyone appreciates my existence like you or the Admiral, and quite possibly Dr. Lamont. I need to contend with those who are only polite because they serve under Natori.’

  “Well I can tell you that being a gun nut, or at least competent and knowledgeable around them, is a great way to Darius’ heart,” Russell assured her. “I think you’re overthinking this, Io. Is something else on your mind? Minds? How much can you actually run from that body?”

  ‘Enough to know you were watching me shoot the whole time,’ she replied coyly, a bit more comfortable with his proximity. ‘And maybe I am, but now is not the time.’

  “Alright then,” Russell nodded, hands in his pockets. “If you’re not feeling it then I’ll just finish up with Xan. Otherwise, if you’re feeling daring you can take the sniper rifle through that next door and have a blast.”

  ‘Oh you’re just full of it today,’ she protested lightly at his pun, pushing herself off the wall and moving past him to take up the weapon that was not quite as tall as she was. ‘But I appreciate that I am the one raining on what is supposed to be a good time, so why don’t you help your student? He seems to be in need of instruction.’

  True to Io’s word, Xan’s head could be seen peeking around the side of the wall separating their lanes. The lad was pointing to the revolver, signaling that something was amiss. Russell nodded in reply and moved to assist him, leaving Io to her own devices. Part of her wanted to take his offer and just return to the armory, but the idea of standing around in the presence of Darius and Dr. Lamont, and possibly even being offered a drink, did not sit well with her either. ‘Well, what would Veera do in such a situation?’ she wondered to herself. But a moment of contemplation was required for the AI before she reached down and grabbed the anti-material rifle, testing its weight in her arms. ‘Yes, I suppose she would.’

  In the meantime, it took Russell but a second to determine what the problem was with Xan’s revolver. With a quick motion he pushed the cylinder out and away from the main body of the weapon, gave it a quick spin, and returned it to place before resting it on the shelf before them. “I appreciate the caution, but sometimes you just need to use a modicum of force when it comes to firearms. You’ve felt it by now. They’re built to take a punch.”

  “Really, that was it?” Xan asked in relief, examining the revolver closely but making sure it always pointed down range. “I thought I’d broken it or something.”

  “It’s not a big deal. I was pretty skittish my first time around guns too, believe it or not. My dad started me early,” Russell told him, taking a chance to look out at the target that Xan had put about twenty five rounds into. “Not bad for your first time. Care to try this one after you fire those off?”

  “I mean, I guess so? This has been pretty fun,” Xan said, taking up the revolver again. Russell leaned over and adjusted his grip slightly but otherwise allowed the Cauthan to shoot as he liked. He had no idea when or if they might be able to fit the apprentice priest with a prosthetic, but figured that if there was a chance it wouldn’t be good to allow too many habits to form from his awkward, but necessary shooting stance.

  “Not bad, not bad at all,” Russell opined as Xan finished up and set aside the revolver. The Jumper took a quick peek at the other lane, finding Io to have vanished to places unknown. He shrugged his shoulders but made the best of the situation, motioning to Xan that he could remove his ear protection temporarily for a moment of instruction. “This is what’s known as a semi-automatic. All that means is that one pull of the trigger shoots one round.”

  “Isn’t that the same as the other?” Xan asked, pointing to the revolver. Russell nodded.

  “Yes and no. You still get one round for one pull of the trigger, but the difference is that this puppy here uses the force of the shot to load your next round into the chamber. There are revolvers with what’s called a double action trigger that can do the same thing for you, but that’s probably getting too far into the weeds.”

  As if to confirm Russell’s suspicion, Xan’s eyes had developed a glazed over look and he was pretty sure the Cauthan was just nodding out of formality. He was jolted out of his stupor, however, by a resounding bang that seemed to shake the ground they were standing on. “What in the name of Kel was that?” the young priest exclaimed, not too worried on account of Winters’ broad smile.

  “That is the sound of Io hopefully having a little bit of fun for herself in the next room over. It’s getting late though, so let’s finish up here, yeah?” he suggested, motioning for Xan to replace his ear protection before loading up a magazine, racking the slide, and quickly firing off the entirety of the ammunition. Xan may not have understood the technical descriptions, but a visual demonstration was more than adequate to convey the differences between a standard pistol and a revolver. The Cauthan seemed eager to try it out as Russell inserted another pre-loaded magazine and handed it off, allowing Xan to have his turn as he fed round after round into the depleted magazine from a box of 9mm rounds. “Easy there, champ!”

  In an effort to match Russell’s rapid emptying of the magazine, Xan had allowed the compounding recoil to get the better of him, unable to fully correct after each shot. It was when he finally missed the target altogether that he slowed down and took a deep breath. “Oops.”

  “Well, you didn’t hurt anyone so no harm, no foul. For what it’s worth, I don’t blame you,” Russell said as another resounding noise echoed dully through the walls that separated them from the next range. “Here, how about one more and we call it a day?”

  “Yeah, I guess I’m getting a bit tired. Hard to think about that with all the bright lights and loud noises though,” Xan told him, finishing the magazine with more patience and control before accepting Russell’s help in figuring his way around the novel reloading mechanisms. Unwilling to let a good, loaded magazine go to waste, Russell hopped over to the other lane and arranged for a handful of distant targets. Taking up the burst-fire variant of the standard issue M-22 rifle, he shook off the rust of a year on Mara and focused on the control necessary to land a three round burst at distances of a hundred feet or more. The new ruckus inevitably attracted the ever-curious Xan, once he was finished with his last magazine.

  “I really hope you all stick around long enough for me to try that,” he stated with obvious jealousy. Winters made sure his magazine and chamber were empty before turning to face the Cauthan.

  “Sadly, that sort of thing is way out of my control,” he admitted. “But I’m glad you had fun tonight.”

  “Course I did. All of this stuff is incredible! It’s scary as hell, but pretty amazing,” Xan rendered his judgment on the overall experience of a military firing range. Russell nodded in agreement.

  “I’m glad you got to experience it, even if it turns out to be a one time thing. Shall we go collect Io and turn in for the night?” he suggested. The Cauthan wiggled his ears, finally beginning to chafe and the constant, foreign sensation of earplugs now that there was nothing interesting to distract him.

  “Yeah, sounds good. Unlike you, my family is going to want me down there bright and early for breakfast.”

  “And we wouldn’t want to disappoint the family,” Winters agreed before waving him over to a small restroom that sat near the door back to the armory. “Come over here for a second. Let’s wash up.”

  “But I’m not dirty,” Xan protested while following along nevertheless, his talons clicking lightly on the cement-like and then tiled flooring. Russell explained further as he activated the tap on one of the sinks and cold water began to flow. “And you’ll have to explain that to me sometime as well.”

  “Ask Io about the plumbing,” Russell quipped, indicating that the Cauthan should follow his lead. “Funny story about that, actually.”

  “What’s that, the water?”

  “No, the name. Plumbing. It comes from an old empire on Earth, one of the first to have running water like this. The system they built to carry the water was made of a metal that we now call lead. They called it plubium or something like that. I don’t remember. I wasn’t paying attention in history class. What I do remember though is that the metal is toxic, something they didn’t know at the time. They used it because it’s relatively soft and easy to work with. Over time it seeped into their water supply and poisoned the populace, slowly, over generations. There’s still an ongoing debate to this day about how much this may or may not have contributed to the eventual downfall of that empire.”

  By that point, Xan was simply letting the water run over his hands and scales. “That’s fascinating and all, but what exactly does that have to do with washing our hands? And what is this stuff anyway?”

  “That is a special soap designed to wash heavy metals off of your hands,” Russell told him, giving the Cauthan another healthy dollop so that he could begin scrubbing. “And the reason I’m telling you all of that is because that metal that the Romans used to use in their pipes is what we make ammunition out of. And the last thing you’d want to do after a nice day at the range is suffer lead poisoning.”

  At his explanation, Xan began a furious lathering of his hands as Russell laughed. “You could have told me that sooner, you jerk!”

  “Hey now, don’t go off on me, man. It’s only dangerous if you ingest it, you know, in your drinking water for example. You honestly think I would have let you do something dangerous here?”

  The man and Cauthan stared at each other for several seconds, hands unmoving under the finger-chilling water as Xan ran through a list of dangerous things in his mind that he’d done with or with the permission of Winters. The man preempted him. “You know what? Forget that I said that. Let's just finish up here and collect Io.”

  “I’m glad you realized that being your friend is a dangerous pastime,” Xan declared with a smirk as footsteps approached them from the range.

  ‘Be that as it may, it also saved your life,’ Io pointed out as she joined them at the line of sinks, her uniform and hair looking immaculate and certainly not like she’d just been firing a weapon meant for the destruction of light armored vehicles.

  Xan shrugged his shoulders as he mimicked Winters and shut off the tap. “Yeah well, that’s the Balance at work, isn’t it?”

  -----

  “You know that you guys didn’t need to walk me to my room. I would have found my way,” Xan told Io and Winters as they dropped him off at the civilian cabin that had been set aside for his use.

  ‘Be that as it may, Xan, we would have likely been scolded if we allowed you to roam around the ship unaccompanied,’ Io informed him. ‘Goodnight.’

  “Yeah, see you two at the hangar tomorrow morning,” Xan replied before squinting at the door controls and finding the button that would close it. Russell looked at Io as they stood for a moment in the darkened hallways.

  “You heading back to your little workshop?” he inquired.

  ‘Unless you put in a requisition order for a king sized mattress, sir, I think that’s for the best,’ Io replied with levity.

  “Oh, so you would if the bed was large enough?” he replied with a smirk, finding a miffed AI glaring back at him. “Ok ok, joke’s over. I get it. Did you enjoy yourself a bit today at least?”

  ‘You know that I quite enjoyed my time at the festival and, yes, I suppose you are correct that there is more to firearms than just hitting a target,’ she admitted with a hand on her hip. ‘I think the experience was very good for Xan, and perhaps it was for the better that I begin introducing myself to more members of the ship’s crew.’

  “Yeah, no arguments here,” Winters agreed as they walked through the deserted corridors. “You wanna talk, or…”

  ‘I suppose I did leave you hanging earlier,’ Io admitted, taking a half step closer to him. ‘It’s just been a bit difficult, dealing with all of these festivities and encounters knowing that they may very well be our last. I am happy, I think, maybe even thankful that you will finally be able to go home and see your family again, tell them about all of your adventures here.’

  “Our adventures, you mean,” Winters clarified calmly. “You were there too.”

  ‘Yes, I was,’ Io agreed, looking as though remembering something far in the past. ‘And now I must make ready to leave my home, possibly forever. Even though you and Veera will come with me, and I have no mortal possessions or other material attachments to this planet, it does not sit well with me for some reason. I am left wondering how much of it is because of the possibility that our other friends do not come along with us, or if there is something about Mara itself that I will miss. I have not devoted an inordinate amount of processing power to this question but… what I have only seems to be running in circles.’

  “I hear you,” he agreed, reaching down and taking her by the hand. Io made to jerk it back from him, but he held firmly and she didn’t force the issue once she got a good look at his face. He looked very much the way some of her cores felt. “I know that back on Earth is family, my mom and dad, Emily and Adam… but I lost Jess, lost what I thought was my future. Then you came along, and then Veera. I’m going to have kids soon. I have a wife. And I finally have someone I think I can call a true friend. Maybe several someones down in that village, all of whom I might have to leave behind too. Don’t give me that look, would you? You and I both know that it’s a bit more complicated than friends.”

  ‘Yes yes, I concur. I’m not sure if it is even possible for one to ‘friendzone’ an AI, to use lingo from your father’s era,’ Io chuckled in spite of the heavy topic. ‘But that… I believe that helps, sir. Thank you for sharing. It is not the same, but it gives me some relief to know I’m not the only one going through this at the moment.’

  “It’s a very human reaction to have, Io. Fear of change, reminiscing about the past, connections to home, wherever that may be. Hopefully that reassures you.”

  ‘Given that your hand feels uncomfortably hot I think I still need to work on a few things,’ she replied, earning her freedom as he released her. ‘But it does, at least to some extent. I worry for Antoth and all the others, of course, and I will doubly so if they decide not to come with us. But that is a selfish wish, I think.’

  “Mmm, yeah, it probably is,” Winters agreed, running a hand through his hair. “That’s what freedom is though, the ability to make decisions even if they turn out poorly. We can’t make this call for them, much as we’d like to. I feel like the choice is obvious but I might see things differently in their shoes, you know? Most of them seem to recall stories or ancestors who fled whatever city state they used to belong to.”

  ‘Quite so, sir. So what do we do?’ Io wondered. He looked over at her with a shrug.

  “The only thing we can do, really. We get some sleep and enjoy the last day of the festival with all of them. Think you’ll join us for the run?”

  Io smiled genuinely at that point, giving him a brief, if awkward hug before motioning that she would take a different turn at the next juncture in the Event Horizon’s corridors. ‘Given that your wife might be sitting this one out on account of your twins , I’ll make sure I am prepared to accompany you. Goodnight, sir. This conversation was… pleasant, but at times I feel I prefer speaking with you digitally. I’ll see you in the morning.’

  Winters nodded and gave her a quick wave, his other hand in his pocket. “Yeah, you got it, Io. You’re always welcome to occupy the touch panels in our bedroom, you know. Goodnight.”

  Io cocked a brow and waved him off with a slight smirk, feeling the need to shake her mechanical head even though she’d long decided what to do and murmur to herself in reply. ‘You are such a man, mein barbar.’