Two of my bodies approach a chaotic scene. A scattered, but growing crowd is distributed throughout the courtyard, all staring at the statue of Simon. A man has climbed up onto his shoulders and is shouting across the crowd. At the feet of the statue lies a man in a bloody pool, large shards of glass embedded in him.

Fuck. I don't have the capacity to deal with this.

"There it is!" The man yells as soon as he sees me. "Come on! Prove me right!"

"What?" Zero passes me a transcript of everything he's said, but I ignore it. I already can't handle everything that's happening, just another thing to think about is not doable. "I don't know what you're talking about. Can you just come down and we can talk?"

"Oh, you want to talk?" He yells. "Take over the place, dictate sweeping changes at your own whims, without any thought to the people who live here, and now you want to talk?"

"Yes, I want to talk to people. I underestimated everything, and everyone panicking is pushing me to my absolute limits, but I'm trying to get a few bodies out here to answer questions with."

"Just fuck off! None of us want someone breathing down our neck every time we take a piss!"

"You already had someone doing that!" I yell back. "All I did was tell you someone was doing it!"

"And you've done that! So fuck off and let us take care of ourselves!"

"Blue, what do you think you're doing?" Silver asks.

"Trying to make him understand." I respond.

"You're arguing with a man who has no intentions of a fair argument. There is no situation where you come out better for debating him. Even if you could, you need to be thinking about efficiency first. You can't spend an hour debating every single angry person, not when this city is on fire. Expose him and move on."

"Alright, I'll try." C-1 has helpfully tagged every instant of video from every camera with every visible person and every action they take. I could watch this man's entire life if I had the time. But of course I don't.

A simple keyword search is enough to find everything I need. Every conversation he's ever had about his job, every deal he's ever made, every action he's ever taken in support of the top floors.

"I haven't looked into a single person since I took over, but if you're going to consider me guilty anyway, I will let you be the first. I think it's only fair if everyone knows our histories, and our intentions." I announce. The man tries to argue, but he's nothing beneath the speakers spread throughout the area. "I've made my intentions clear, I want to help those who need it, and to stop those who take too much from continuing to do so. My intentions are to entirely remove surveillance from anywhere other than public spaces, and to have every single camera marked so everyone knows. You are paid by the top floors to support them, at the direct expense of those you call friends." On every screen I show his history. I show every deal, with a transcript always beneath it. I show every action to support their cause, every word spread, and a running total of every arc his actions have cost those around him. "All of you can make your own decisions based on that fact. If anyone needs any more clarifications, please, form a line and I will answer every single question you have."

"Our future says that's enough." Clover says. "People will continue to be agitated, but it won't lead anywhere."

"Thank you." I focus only on moving my bodies towards the Bastion, waiting on either side of the front door. I entirely ignore the man on the statue, still trying to rally the crowd to his side.

How many conversations can I keep up with at once? I managed to read the lips of three kids at once, and even that taxed my mind to its limits. I need to find a way to do more, to make it so I can have time to respond and don't have to listen to the full extent of every single question. C-1 kept track of every word ever spoken in his microphones by using a program to transcribe everything. Uploading that to his bodies is trivial, and they can feed every completed sentence back to me to deal with on my own time.

That works. That's a good start. I can finally turn my attention back to modifying the programming on every body I still have access to. I get them to the point where they can walk where I tell them to, and nothing else. I sent six more of them down to the courtyard to line up and wait for more people.

"One of the top floors have begun to act." Zero informs me.

"Silver, can you take care of it?" I beg.

"Gladly."

"Thank you."

I can't stop at just talking with the people who approach me. No matter how much I don't want to do more, I have to. I promised those who need it, and the AI who hide that I would be around to talk to them. I have to do that.

It makes far more sense to speak to the AI first. There are far less, and based on how many messages they're sending amongst themselves, they're almost certainly panicking.

Shit, is it better to physically walk to their physical location? Or is it better to just reveal that I can see every single message they've ever sent? Which is less threatening?

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I already revealed that C-1 had access to every single server in the city, they have to assume they're included in that. It has to be better to just rip off the bandaid now instead of leaving them to worry until I can arrive.

There are a pair of quantum AI in the network. That seems like the best place to start. At least I have two people who will hopefully vouch for me.

"Clover? I'm going to connect to the quantum AI who live in the city. Can you come with me?"

"One moment." I feel her leave a body, only for Zero to step into it. "I'll ask Kismet to open a connection to them, and leave them to mediate."

"I can just connect to them directly." I say.

"That's a mistake." Another fragment at the center of my server begins to rip open once again.

Through the tear in reality exists a being that still, even with my extra processing power, dwarfs me easily.

"Blue, it's a pleasure to see you again." Kismet's words flow through the tear, far too small for even a fraction of themselves to squeeze through. "We apologize that we are unable to help right now in any great capacity, but our caravan is prepared and will be sent out after the next storm ends."

"It's fine. I think we're kind of managing. Is Zero trustworthy?"

"Absolutely not, but he is your best chance right now." They respond. "Let us not delay, you have a great many things to attend to." Another tear opens up, connecting us to two more people. Apprehension and fear flows through, even before I see them. One is a bubbling mass of shifting colors, and the other is a light exuding only darkness. Sparks of light ignite inside them, only to be extinguished a moment later.

"Saccharine, Zenith." Kismet calls through the new tear. "We'd like to formally introduce both of you to Blue and Clover."

"I feel Silver's presence." One one of them says, their radiating apprehension turns to anger and fear.

"Zenith, Let them explain." The other, Saccharine I assume, says. Their voice is soft, gentle. Their words almost float lazily through the server.

"They're working with me, trying to help keep the city in one piece." I explain. "I wouldn't be able to keep up with anything without them."

"The 'I' I am and the 'I' I was both know them well." Clover says. "They killed for work, to keep their people safe, never for the love of it."

"Our future can confirm they're safe." Kismet adds. "And equally, our future confirms that it is a fight you have no hope of winning."

"You would turn your backs on us?" Zenith asks.

"We would do what's best for the future, and offer you only a return to Us. This city requires Silver, even beyond the emotional damage it would do Blue and her family."

A sparkling void reaches through the tear, and a green tendril reaches back. The two of them connect and pure power ripples through the server as an unfathomable amount of data gets transferred. My very mind shakes, and the server threatens to buckle. Even Silver and Zero glance over in fear.

The tendrils separate and the server settles back into a comfortable stability. Though my mind still feels like it's vibrating, the entire thing isn't about to collapse.

"I see." Zenith says. "Blue, what did you intend by contacting us?"

"What just happened?" I can't stop the question from coming out.

"We cut out the inefficiencies. Communicating through only words is imperfect, an unnatural concept only needed to keep you informed on what's happening. Direct memory transfers are far faster instead of speaking the Human's words and going in circles. Now, again, what did you intend by contacting us?"

"I made a promise that I would contact everyone and try to find out what they want. Whether that's to stay where they are, move to the Bastion with the humans they want to keep safe, or to…" I glance at the tear that Kismet exists behind. Is it safe to share where they live?

"Or to join us in a city we have set up, entirely safe and separate from the world." Kismet finishes for me.

"You've already taken one option away from us." Zenith says. "Revealing our existence to the public has put us all in danger. Even now divers are searching across the network for us."

"We'll speak with the others." Sacchrine says. "Though apprehensive they might be, they'll see moving into the tower is the only option in the short term. Although I'm not sure how many will stay."

"We will expand the caravan to bring home any who wish to come." Kismet says.

"Very good."

"Thank you." I can only hope they can see my genuine appreciation. "And if someone tries to attack anyone, I'll stop it. C-1 had every line tapped, even the ones you used to send messages. I didn't decrypt anything!" I add quickly. "But I'll be able to watch for any danger."

"We're aware you didn't decrypt anything." Zenith's fear shifts to amusement, and more lights flicker into existence around them. "Every message you thought you saw was a honeypot, a test you thankfully passed."

"I'm glad you can trust me at least. What would have happened if I opened it?"

"I imagine you would be dead!" Saccharine says happily, a particularly big bubble exploding for emphasis.

"Well, ok. If you need help moving anyone, I can give you a few bodies." I open the backdoor into this server, giving Sacharine and Zenith limited access to a few enforcers, as well an unrestricted map of the city. "There are hidden tunnels running through the entire city. You can use that to get into the Bastion. Floors eight through twelve are only being used for storage that I don't need, and are yours. I can help build a better space soon. If you need anything else, or any help, please let me know."

"Thank you for trying, it's more than we've had in years." Sacharine says.

"We'll allow all of you to get to work, time is of the essence still." Kismet announces, and the tears in reality begin to stitch themselves back together. "We hope to meet all of you in the Physical one day."

Am I included in that? The tears close before I get the chance to ask. I can only hope that means I'll be allowed back in the future, if I can ever figure out how to leave the city alone for a few days.

"Blue." Zero messages me the moment after Kismet leaves. "Since you've so obviously forgotten my lessons, allow me to inform you of the mistake you just made. You've delegated yet more power, power you will not be able to get back easily. The other AI will naturally follow the two quantums if they're the ones to rescue them. An attempted coup is a distinct possibility you need to be aware of."

"Look, if one of them wants to take over, and to actually help people, they're more than welcome to." I snap back. "Just tell me what the next problem is."

"You mean beyond your growing line of people waiting for an answer to their question?" He asks.

Shit, I forgot. At least I have the transcripts. I quickly read every question and spew out an answer as fast as I can.

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