by L. C. Mawson
No shots made it through.
Love looked across the clearing to see Jia drawing a weapon of her own and begin firing.
After a moment, returning fire focused on Jia, and Love assumed that Hren had given up trying to get through the shield Hate had erected.
Love frowned. Jia wasn’t wearing armour and had no way to protect herself. Not only that, she was running away from Hate and her shield, not towards it.
Why would she do that? Love thought to herself. Unless...
Unless she was deliberately drawing fire, afraid that Hate’s shield would collapse and expose Love to Hren’s attack.
“No, Jia!” Love yelled. She obviously couldn’t hear, so Love turned to Hate. “She’s going to get herself killed.”
“If I lower the shield, or if you run out from under it, you'll be the one he kills,” Hate told her. “I’m not letting that happen.”
Love glared at her. “And I’m not letting him kill Jia. I refuse to let her die to protect me.”
“What are you going to do about it? I can’t exactly draw my weapon like this, and you’re not the greatest shot in the world. Your powers aren’t offensive, and there aren’t any creatures around for you to bond with. So what are you going to do? Talk him down?”
Love blinked for a moment. “Well, maybe...”
Hate frowned. “What?”
“Well, these powers existed before the creatures, right? Then what were they supposed to do originally?”
Before Hate could say anything else, Love stepped out from behind the shield.
She had to protect Jia. She had to protect Hate. She had to protect Empathy.
She had to protect all of Jia’s other descendants on Earth.
And she also had to protect Hren.
As much as he wanted her dead, she didn’t want to see him die by Jia’s hand. Or Hate’s.
She didn’t want to see Hate go through that again.
“Stop!” she yelled at Hren.
Hren immediately stopped firing, turning to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “Well, aren’t you the heroic fool? Do you truly care so much for the Princess that you would risk your life for her copy? Discard her sacrifice? Don’t you realise what she’s doing? This copy is temporary, she knows this, and she also knows that the future of her line rests on you continuing to live. Why would you sacrifice yourself for that?”
Love could have cried with relief. The idiot was too busy talking, he hadn’t shot her right away.
Or maybe he wasn’t an idiot. Jia had spoken as if he wasn’t that foolish.
Maybe something else was taking effect...
Something like her powers.
She had to keep him talking. Had to figure out exactly what she was doing and how she was doing it.
“Of course I would,” she told him. “Do you honestly think that I would just let her die while I could stop it?”
Hren stared at her in disbelief. “She’s just a copy,” he repeated.
“That doesn’t matter. Is that why you’re okay with killing her? Because you think she’s ‘just a copy’? And is that why you’re okay with killing me? Because you think that my Human blood is enough to make me not a real person, despite the Rena blood we share?”
He blinked at her. “But... It does.”
“Really? And how do you explain the fact that our species are genetically compatible?” she asked, repeating Jia’s words from before. “Humans are likely an offshoot of Rena, not a completely separate species. Do I still count as less than a person then?”
He frowned. “I... I don’t know...”
“If I don’t – if I am a real person, just like you – how can you justify killing me? Are you truly the kind of man who would kill an unarmed teenager just because she was in his way?”
The look of conflict across his features told her that he very well might be.
“Do you really want to be that person?” she asked, taking a slightly different track. “It’s not too late. You haven’t hurt anyone yet. There are other ways for you to win this fight, if that’s what you actually want, but there’s no need to kill me, or anyone else here.”
His grip seemed to tighten around his gun, and for a moment, Love thought that she'd failed, but then, the weapon dropped to the ground.
Love breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived, as she saw something move behind Hren.
Before she had a chance to figure out what it was, she heard the familiar, high-pitched squeal of a Rena weapon.
A moment later, Hren dropped to his knees, falling forward to reveal that his back had been blasted open and that Jia was standing behind him, the end of her weapon still glowing from the blast.
“Well, I’m glad that’s over,” Jia said with a smile as she walked back over towards Love, who was staring at her in shock.
“That was... Unexpected,” Hate said, having dissipated her shield. She looked a little wobbly on her feet, and Love looked over to her, offering her shoulder for Hate to steady herself on.
Love turned back to Jia after Hate had regained her balance. “Did you have to kill him?” Love asked with a glare.
Jia gave her a sympathetic look. “Yes, I did. That was quite an impressive display, using your powers like that. I know that you’ve only used your abilities against the creatures before, and to convince someone so intent on killing you to back down is incredibly difficult. But it also probably only worked because he wasn’t anticipating it, which is why I didn’t attempt to use my own powers against him. Not to mention, using your powers on another sentient being is always temporary. You managed to cloud his mind with thoughts of love, not hate, but the second your influence waned, he would have killed you dead. Stopping him was the only way.”
Love looked away, not entirely convinced by Jia’s reasoning.
There had to be another way...
“I’m going to see about scavenging some parts from his ship,” Jia told them. She nodded to Hate. “You don’t look as if you can stand, never mind walk. Give yourself five minutes rest, and then we can see about getting you back to the city.”
At that, Jia walked toward the ship, leaving their earshot.
Love helped Hate to the ground next to a tree, leaning her back up against it before sitting down next to her.
Hate grinned at her once she was settled. “You actually managed to talk someone out of shooting you.”
Love grinned back. “Yeah, I guess I did.” Her grin quickly faded, however. “I just wish Jia hadn’t shot him. I really don’t think she needed to...”
Hate grimaced. “Love, you know that the way things went down with Geral has never really sat well with me, but... I don’t think either of them could have been talked down permanently. They both wanted you dead, and as far as they were concerned, you were just in their way. You heard him talking, he didn’t even consider you a real person.”
“But after I explained, about how close we are to the Rena...”
Hate shook her head. “I don’t think that would have convinced him. Not really. Thinking Humans are less than people gave him the justification he needed to get what he wanted. No one is going to let go of a lie when believing that lie benefits them.”
“But it’s not the truth.”
Hate just smiled. “You’re as stubborn as Justice sometimes, you know?”
Love rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t mean I’m not right.”
“No, it just means that you’re sometimes a little naive about things. But, hey, it’s one of the things I like about you. You're kind of good at seeing the good in people, even if they don’t deserve it.” Her voice wavered, and she looked away, and Love frowned.
“No, I’m not,” Love eventually said, unsure of what was bothering Hate. “I mean, remember when I found out that Empathy had been lying to me about who she was? That she was responsible for my memory loss? I was more than a little harsh with her...”
Hate just snorted a little. “She wiped ten years of your memories, including
the only memories you had of your parents, and you ignored her for a couple of weeks. That was hardly an uncalled for response. And now...”
Love frowned as she trailed off. “Now?”
Hate shrugged, her gaze stuck to the ground. “Love, you shouldn’t be with me. I made a split-second, impulsive decision to break up with you because I was anxious about the future, and we’ve both suffered for it. I messed up your powers!”
Love shrugged. “Yeah, but you’ve been doing that since I met you. I’m used to it by now.”
Hate glared at her. “You shouldn’t be used to it! You shouldn’t put up with it.”
“You promised you would work on it,” Love said simply. “Just promise me that you’ll talk to me when you think there are problems between us, even if you think it will mess with my powers. I think we’ve both learnt not talking about things messes with them even more.
“And, yeah, if you keep doing this, I’m probably not going to keep putting up with it. I believe in second chances, I’m not a masochist.” She smiled, hoping that was enough to indicate that she was joking.
Thankfully, Hate smiled back. “Okay,” Hate said. “I promise not to do this again.”
“Good, because I’m not entirely sure that I could have talked him down if I hadn’t just kissed you again.”
Hate nodded. “Yeah, and I’m not entirely sure I could have produced that shield if I wasn’t protecting you.”
“Then I guess we both have reasons to be sensible about our relationship in the future.”
CHAPTER FORTY
As soon as Hate had recovered enough to walk, she, Love and Jia made their way back to Sleepy, before riding the Dreamer back to the Tower.
“So, this is where you live?” Jia asked as she walked into the building. “This... Was part of this built from the ship I brought here?”
“Yes, it was,” Lita answered, startling Jia.
“Ori?” Jia asked after a moment to catch her bearings.
“No,” Lita informed her. “When you built the Towers, you needed an AI for each one, and with no way to create new ones, you instead split the one that you had.”
Jia’s gaze dropped, and Love figured that she was processing the implications of that.
From what she'd seen from the remnants of Ori, the splitting process had been quite drastic.
In fact, while Lita’s voice was as cold and emotionless as always, Love couldn’t help but ascribe some bitterness to it as she spoke to Jia.
“I’m sorry for that,” Jia said.
“It is two hundred years past,” Lita said. “There are other concerns. Love, I see that you have retrieved Hate. How did the mission go?”
Love and Hate exchanged a meaningful look, wondering if an AI could change the subject out of anger.
After a moment, however, Hate answered. “It was another Rena after Love,” she explained. “We should probably increase security measures at all of the Towers, and warn the other Aspects not to go off investigating strange activity on their own. Not until we’re sure that no more will come.”
“Of course,” Lita answered. “I shall send the message at once. Do you want me to send one to the others reclaiming the new city as well?”
Hate shook her head. “No, we’ll head back there in the morning and explain everything. I don’t think they’re in any immediate danger and I don’t want to panic them.”
“Then I shall only inform the other Towers.”
Love turned to Jia. “Do you want to stay here for the night, or do you want to head straight back to the city?”
Jia looked up, and Love quickly realised that she was probably looking to Lita. “I think it would be best for me to return to the city,” Jia said after a moment. “I made my own way here, I can make my own way back. That is, assuming the two of you will be okay?”
Love nodded. “Yeah, I think we will.”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Jia headed out of the door, and Love assumed she knew where she was going, so she instead turned to Hate.
“Are you okay?”
Hate nodded. “Yeah, I’m just tired. And I could use something to eat.”
“Me too,” Love agreed before helping Hate through the communal area to grab some food.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
While returning to the city meant telling the others about the Rena, the news didn’t change much. Everyone was concerned about it, to be sure, but none of them had any kind of concrete suggestions as to what they should do.
“If more come, we will deal with them then,” Justice had eventually said. “For now, there is no use in worrying about it. Until they come to Earth, they pose no threat, and with our lack of interplanetary travel, there isn’t anything we can do to stop them before then.”
“What about Jia?” Vengeance asked. “Or her clone, or whatever that thing is.”
Justice turned to Love. “Do you think she intends harm?”
Love shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m still not entirely sure why she came to Earth. Though, while I don’t think it’s the entire story, I do think part of her reasoning was to protect Empathy and me from Hren and his brothers.”
“Then I suppose, until she does something to earn our distrust, we should simply be grateful that she came,” Justice eventually reasoned, before adding, “While I wish that we could stay to see the city reclaimed for good, I think it’s time for Loneliness and me to return to her Tower. We should be close to proper medical facilities, I think.”
Loneliness nodded, but was quick to add, “We’ll be back as soon as the baby’s born and we can travel with them.”
Vengeance placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, smiling at his sister-in-law. “If all goes according to plan, we will be done with the city by then, and the construction crews will have made their way in to rebuild. And given that we have done all the hard work, it seems only fair that Aspects from other Towers should do the work of guarding the construction crews. Or maybe we’ll have even chosen which Aspects should staff this new Tower, and it will be up to them.
“Either way, by the time my nibling is old enough to travel, there should be no need for you to be back here.”
Loneliness returned his smile. “Maybe not need, but if they are choosing Aspects from the older Towers to staff this new one... Well, Justice and I seem the most logical choices from our Towers. Otherwise, our family would be split across the globe...”
Vengeance looked away for a moment at the news that his twin might be leaving to live in a different city, but he didn’t seem surprised.
Justice bit her lip as she looked over to him, trying to gauge his reaction.
Vengeance just smiled at his sister. “Then I will be sure to find excuses to visit often.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
It was only a few weeks after Justice and Loneliness had left the city when Love moved the last nest out of the city.
“To Love!” Vengeance cheered after distributing wine in depressingly plastic cups. All of the remaining Aspects in the city were at the top of the now-finished wall, looking out at the crumbled city they had managed to reclaim.
Love felt heat rise to her cheeks and looked away. “I wasn’t the only one who helped,” she muttered into her cup.
“No, but you managed to beat out the arrival of the baby. I don’t think we could have done that without you.” Vengeance looked over to the terminal next to him with an anxious frown. “Though, perhaps only just.”
“Wait, has something happened?”
Vengeance blinked. “Oh? Did I not tell you guys? Loneliness went into labour about an hour ago. I guess with getting the last nest out of the city, I forgot to mention it. I’m still waiting to hear any more information, though.” He gave Love a gentle nudge on the shoulder. “This is probably the best birthday gift you could have gotten them.”
Love couldn’t help but grin as she took a deep drink from her cup, still a little embarrassed by all the praise.
After a moment
, the terminal next to Vengeance began to beep, indicating that there was a video message coming through.
“Is it Loneliness?” Love asked.
Hate shook her head from beside her. “If it would be anyone, it would likely be Justice.”
Vengeance frowned. “It’s neither of them,” he said, before looking to the others, making sure that everyone’s attention was on him. “It’s Bennett.”
An eerie hush fell over the Aspects as Vengeance went to activate the terminal and answer the call.
“Bennett,” Vengeance greeted as soon as the call connected.
“Vengeance,” Bennett replied, looking as immaculate as usual. “I am only calling to say congratulations to you and the rest of the Aspects. Construction teams will begin arriving in the city tomorrow, and a press release will be issued to declare that the city has, indeed, been reclaimed. As you may or may not be aware, there have been more than a few rumours circulating about where you all disappeared to, and the possibility of you attempting to reclaim land from the creatures has been brought up more than once. It will be good to finally address those rumours, and give some hope to the people.”
Vengeance nodded. “That it will,” he agreed, though it was clear that he was still tensed, waiting for more.
“I have also been made aware of the fact that Loneliness is due to deliver her child at any moment now. Arrangements have been made for the delivery to take place at the Tower, not a hospital. It was decided that would be best for privacy.”
Vengeance’s jaw was slightly clenched, and his hand white for gripping the edge of the terminal. “Is she... Will she be allowed to keep the child? Now that we have reclaimed the city?”
Bennett paused for a moment before answering, and the silence hung in the air between the Aspects like a thick blanket, ready to suffocate them.
“It has been decided that, as long as we see continued growth in the lands reclaimed from the creatures, the Aspects will be allowed to manage their own personal lives, with no interference from the Program. Our new policy of noninterference will include sexual and romantic relationships and any children produced by those relationships. However, we retain the right to revoke this freedom if we deem that it is detrimental to the Program as a whole.”
