A sharp pain jabs into my side, another needle being driven deep into me.

Not again! I flail, trying to bat away my assailant, my torturer. I flail against something soft, not the hard ground.

Fuck, where am I? Not the cell, not the car, not the cave. I shoot up, groping for my rifle.

Focus, here and now. What's around me? A familiar bed. Familiar walls. A familiar woman next to me, patiently waiting for me to come back to reality.

Home. I'm home. I'm in my bed, in my room. I reach down with shaking hands and pull up a single crumb I rolled onto.

"Another nightmare?" Ivy asks gently.

"A memory." I respond.

"What's even the difference?"

I shrug and flick away the fragment of a cracker.

"What time is it?"

"Nine-twelve."

"That's what? Six hours of sleep?" I climb over her to get out of my bed. I need to do something. Anything.

"Six hours of sleep after a night of drinking." She reminds me.

"That's enough. The kids are going to be rioting if I make them wait any longer."

"They're going to eat you alive for not showing up yesterday."

"Eh, there are worse ways to die." I use my shirt to wipe the sweat out of my eyes and pull on a clean one. "Are you heading back to work today?"

"I've got to see what mistakes my replacement drilled into the kids, unfortunately." She says.

"Think that top floor's kid still around?"

"Oh god, I forgot about him. No chance Samuel ran him off, he's too nice."

"Too nice?" I can't help but laugh. "Sure, whatever you say." I sling my rifle over my shoulder before opening the door. "Good luck, love you."

"I know." She says with a smug, shit-eating grin. "Love you too."

I close the door and head downstairs. Today's going to be a busy day, a person doesn't just disappear for months without people asking questions. I make it all the way down to the canteen before running into anyone.

"Well look at this fucker!" John's voice fills the room, and the door to the kitchen bursts open a few minutes later. "Comes home from God knows where and he's too good to say hi to his friends." Before I can even react his arms wrap tightly around me.

"Careful." I struggle to get the word out. "Little fragile."

He thankfully loosens his grip, and I reach back to massage some of my bruises.

"Where the Hell did Silver send you? China?"

"Not quite. Did make it halfway to Hawaii though." Assuming it still exists.

"Not sure where that is, but sounds far." John finally turns around and heads back to the kitchen. "Good news! Budgets finally way up."

"No more 'spaghetti' then?" I ask hopefully.

"No more spaghetti for everyone else. Lucas, Cassie, Ethan, your little bot, and her bird cleaned me out last night." He put an awful lot of emphasis when he referred to Blue. Guess the worst kept secret has continued to spread. At least John is trustworthy, not that it matters much anymore.

"Ah, right, sorry about that." On the bright side, the cake they made was incredible. "How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm just giving you shit." He ducks back into the kitchen and heads behind the serving counter. "Just stop by next time you disappear for months."

"Well hopefully I won't do it again. I'm hoping to retire after just one more thing." I grab a plate, and John piles on some of my favorites. The AI city was nice, but nothing compares to a home cooked meal.

"Heard that one before. You look like you could use it this time though."

"Well there's always one more job, isn't there?" I ask. "You take care of yourself."

"Someone should tell you the same. You come around more often, alright?"

"Will do." I take a seat at an empty table, only to be swarmed by more people. I can barely get a bite in between all the people trying to talk to me. I don't mind though, every face I get to see is another person who survived the months I've been gone. I'm happy to see every single one of them.

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It's two hours before I finally finish my long cold food and stand up, still having to excuse myself from fresh faces looking to get their 'welcome home' in.

At the end of the main hallway sits a single door with a guard who's still trying to wake up sitting in front of it.

"They're mad at you, you know." He says as I approach.

"Who ended up telling them I was home?" I slide my rifle off my shoulder and place it on the table next to him.

"Dunno, go ask them yourself."

"Guess I'll have to. Ask Silver to send an army, will you? Not sure I'll be able to fight them off alone."

"Oh no, I'm not getting torn apart with you. You're on your own." He steps to the side and opens the door.

Any further conversation is drowned out by the screams of nearly thirty kids. They rush out of the door and into the hallway, half of them trying to hug me, and the other half trying to tackle me. My muscles give out, and I stagger back under their weight, barely able to break my fall on the ground without crushing any of them.

"Alright! Alright!" I laugh from beneath the sea of bodies. "At least let me get in the room before you drown me!"

"Vince!" An angry yell comes from inside the room, and kids slowly climb off of me. Alice stands at the door, looking far more pissed than anyone her age should. She's gotten so much taller since I was last here. Cowering behind her is Zia, who although taller than Alice, looks tiny in comparison.

Alice walks up to me slowly, the kids parting for her. She jabs a finger at me accusingly.

"You pinky promised Zia you'd see us again before you left."

"Ah." Shit. "I'm sorry Zia." I stagger to my feet and crouch down in front of the two of them, doing my best to get eye level. "I promise I had a good reason. Why don't we all go sit down and I can explain myself, alright?"

Zia hesitantly holds out her hand, extending only her pinky. I wrap mine around hers, and a small giggle escapes her lips.

"Alright, come on." I scoop her up and walk into the room, taking my seat and sitting her on my knee.

The other kids slowly file in, itching to pile onto me again, but equally, not wanting to miss one of my stories.

"So, my friend was in a lot of danger." I start.

"Was it Ivy?" One of the kids asks.

"No, it wasn't Ivy."

"It was Cassie then!" Another guesses.

"No, it wasn't Cassie. Or Lucas." I say to another kid before they can guess.

"So you're lying then." Colin sneers. He's one of the older kids here, I guess too old to just believe me. "Nobody else went with you."

Is it time to introduce Blue to the kids? She deserves something nice, and half the compound already knows. The kids are going to hear about her eventually, assuming they haven't already. Is introducing her going to change anything about C-1? No idea, but I doubt it. The kids have got to learn about AI eventually, next generation has to learn they're not all bad. Besides, everyone who comes into and out of this room is tracked and vetted, we'll just keep out everyone who can't be trusted.

"Sure they did. Two people, actually. We need to be serious for a minute." I stay quiet to let things sink in. "The people you're about to meet are a secret. A very important secret. I'm trusting all of you to not tell anyone about them, alright?"

Unsure nods ripple through the kids.

"Alright. I'm trusting all of you with this." I emphasize and glance towards the intercom at the door. "Hummingbird? Can you ask Blue to come down here?"

"Vince, that's a horrible idea!" Hummingbird responds.

"Come on, don't make me leave the kids to go get her. Not when I just got here."

"No. And I'll lock the door if you try to return with her."

"Ask Silver what they think." I know them well enough to already know the answer. Especially with Clover being in the picture now.

The intercom is silent for a few long seconds, every single one of the kids holding their breath. It's not every day that they get to meet someone new.

"Her and Cassie are on their way." Silver answers.

"Thank you." I turn back to the kids. "Hey, who wants to play a prank on Cassie?" I ask. "We'll get back to the story in a second." I reassure Zia.

A round of excitement ripples through the kids.

"Alright, when she comes in, all you have to do is…" I conspiratorially whisper my plan to the kids.

It only takes a minute for the door to open again, and all the kids call out in unison.

"Auntie Cassie!"

Cassie visibly recoils before glaring daggers at me. It's a little mean, but I can't stop myself from laughing at her discomfort. Even Blue can't hold back a laugh, although she looks mortified about it. On the other hand, Corax's entire body is shamelessly shaking with laughter.

Shrill laughter rings out from the kids, and a few of them rush for her. She easily steps to the side, avoiding the bulk of the bodies and jogging around the outside of the room. The kids don't let her speed stop them from trying to catch her. A few even move to try to cut her off, and she crouches down to try to jump over them.

"Alright everyone!" I clap my hands loudly, putting an end to that before one of them hurts the other. "Why don't we all sit down so I can introduce someone very important to you."

The kids reluctantly sit back down, and Blue tentatively makes her way over to me.

"Is this safe?" She asks.

"Silver wouldn't let you in if it wasn't." I reassure her. "We have a plan, and you deserve something nice." I turn back to the kids. "Alright everyone! These are my friends, Blue and Corax. I-"

"What is that?" One of the kids asks, pointing to Blue's shoulder.

"Why don't you ask him? It's rude to just point." I say.

"Oh." He lets his hand drop. "What are you?" He asks in the same exact tone.

Instead of responding, Corax leaps off Blue's shoulder and takes a few laps around the room. Nothing compares to the look of amazement on a kid's face.

Has Corax always been so quick? I can't imagine Cassie's happy about that.

"Corax is a bird." Blue explains quietly, doubting her every word before they even leave her mouth.

"So, who here knows what an AI is?" I ask.

Most of them are far too enraptured by Corax to even notice my question, but the few who do are an equal mix of surprised, confused, and afraid.

"I know you've all heard some stories, but I can promise both of them have been nothing but wonderful." I turn my focus to Zia. "The two of them were in a lot of trouble, and we had to leave right away. I didn't have time to say goodbye. Is that alright?"

"Does Corax want to play house?" She asks.

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