Jandru had done it.

After years of obsessive effort, he'd upgraded the VINES system to the extent that it could manifest its own avatar. Rift was the perfect infiltrator. He could move fast, quiet, and blend in with any gathering. He knew enough to choose targets well and without risking exposure to the wrong people.

Well. With one exception.

The first thing Rift did after manifesting was insist on visiting Kia. Somehow, VINES still remembered his little User 0126, though they were up in the 300s now thanks to Jandru's explosive recruitment efforts, and Rift wanted her back. Jandru tried to explain that it was too late, that Kia was lost to them, but Rift only nodded and then went to see her anyway.

Stupid virus program. It could be as stubborn as Ivy when it wanted to. Not that AIs ever chose to be stubborn, it was more that their nature inherently resisted change after a certain point. That point was different for everyone, but VINE had reached it long ago. VINES, the younger and more reasonable counterpart, may have arrived at it more recently, but had become equally intractable in the end.

Jandru shrugged and waited for the inevitable failure report. Yet when Rift returned, he didn't appear dejected; he almost looked smug.

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"Did she change her mind?" Jandru asked, disbelieving.

"No. She finally made a choice."

"Why would we want that if she chose wrong?"

"Because now she's out of my system for good. You should be happy. She won't be able to see echo prints of your quests any longer."

Jandru nodded. He hadn't realized that was a thing she could do, though of course he should have guessed. They'd been party members for a long time, though she'd taken to leaving more often lately. There was little she could do to stop him, but she could forewarn the NPCs of his coming.

He found himself wondering how many of his recent quests had been complicated unnecessarily by Kia's interference. Would he have advanced faster if she'd been removed from VINES sooner? Perhaps he had been foolish to even imagine she might return. There were no reasons to hope, hadn't been for a long time. He'd known ten years ago that Kia was lost to him, destroyed by VINE as surely as if she'd been stabbed in the heart.

But, for so long, he'd imagined...

It felt oddly lonely, knowing it was only him. That it would be only him.

He forced his thoughts away from the traitor and back to his newest creation. Now he had Rift. Rift could help him, and he could help Rift. Much as Kia and Ivy ran about causing chaos and destruction, they could now counteract the insidious VINE propaganda with truth and freedom and potential for more.

"Come, Rift," Jandru said, rising to his feet. "We have work to do."

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