> “AI doesn't have to be evil to destroy humanity – if AI has a goal and humanity just happens in the way, it will destroy humanity as a matter of course without even thinking about it, no hard feelings."

>

> – Elon Musk

“So, walk me through this, Sophie. I want to make sure I’ve got it right.” Alex walked closer to get a better view of the interactive displays. The high-end units took up most of each wall in his home office, and when they weren’t in use, the system looked like panes of glass mounted to the painted walls. The setup was probably his most extravagant investment to date.

He started pacing in front of the display as he frowned. Graphs with staggering amounts of negative values were hard for Alex to wrap his mind around on a normal day. This one tended to elicit a mild sense of panic since it was effectively his bank balance.

I’ve graphed out our finances to make sure you understand some of my recommendations. We’ll have a few lean weeks, but I’d like to get you out from under your obligations to Apollo as fast as possible.

Alex tapped a finger against the glass and traced a finger over his beginning balance of negative 45 million dollars. The memory caused his jaw to tighten as he noted the date. It’d been a day of bad deals and forced hands. He’d been overly optimistic about the agreement. It might have worked, but within a few weeks, the entire situation had soured against him. Unfortunately, that didn’t change the amount due.

He followed the payments, investments, and revenue streams as he walked his way to the right. Overall, Covalent Technologies was doing incredibly well, but they’d started with so much debt that it was hard to get excited about it. After he’d criticized Apollo during a news interview, they’d initiated the clause in his public persona contract. As expected, they hit him with penalties, demanded most of the money back, and then made it clear that he was on the hook for the full amount owed and they weren’t about to help him in any way.

Apollo’s lawyers had been sharpening their knives ever since.

“Bastards,” he muttered.

As his finger ticked past the vertical line that marked the current date, he got to where Sophie had added a highlighted what-if section for the following month. It projected a massive payment to Apollo to zero out their debt. It also forecasted a resultant cash shortfall. Breakout labels identified what was and wasn’t going to get paid.

Alex rubbed at his temples, feeling a stress headache coming as he read the details. “Damn it, Sophie. We’re a half million short, and you want to take it out of security payroll? I’m not going to do that to Shelley. The Black Flags earn their keep every week.”

I’ve discussed it at length with her. Shelley feels that she could leave a partial team here and send a team of three or four on a contract with a month-long cap to make up the difference. If wetware installations were ready, she could pay them herself and provide services in trade. Unfortunately, I need sterile medical facilities and specialized equipment to make that happen. I have it all ordered, but the contractors are still building Aubrey’s medical lab.

“But security?” Alex asked.

As much as I’m loathe to relax your security detail, we haven’t had a serious attempt in weeks. We can also try to reduce your public exposure during that time.

Alex blew out a frustrated sigh. The last thing he wanted was to be even more hunkered down. He complained, “For the record, I don’t like it. How did Shelley react?”

She was professional about it. I suspect she wasn’t thrilled, but Shelley did think it was an excellent opportunity to see how Mesh performs in field trials.

Objectively, Alex knew that they were a team of mercenaries. It was a career they’d all chosen, but he couldn’t help but feel he was putting his friends in danger.

Alex drummed his fingers on his desk. The prospect gave him a bad feeling in his gut, but he wasn’t sure what he could do about it. He ran down the lists of what was getting paid, but it only caused the unpleasant sensation to get stronger. He didn’t see anything that he could swap out without major repercussions. Not only that, any minor hiccup in their timelines would put them in such a poor position that they’d be laying off people and shutting down operations. At this point he had hundreds of employees that depended on him not to screw up.

After a moment, his voice softened. “Can you look after them? You know, even if it’s off the books. I don’t know what to call it but can you keep them out of trouble?”

I can offer, but that’s Shelley’s decision to make. Either way, can I get your approval before we move forward?

Alex looked up at the ceiling, wishing for another option. “Are you certain this is the best route?”

We’ll lose significant momentum if I reduce funding to our Covalent Technologies projects. You saw the numbers, if I don’t carefully manage this, the company will be filing for bankruptcy. If I can cut costs for a month, the new workstreams should be established and it’ll pull us out of the fire. A few of these items I project it to have an exponential return.

I could try other approaches, but there is significantly increased scrutiny on the financial markets. The cyber-attack the other AI launched shook things up, and regulators got involved. I’ll need to taper off our illicit gains for some time or it may tip our hand. You’ve also been asking me to focus on legal methods where possible.

“Can’t we just open up more Mesh sales? They aren’t illegal. Well, not yet anyway.”

Tina would need to spin up new manufacturing facilities, which take time and money. Also, we’re still not ready for public sales. We’ll poke the legislation bear once we do that. Until it’s publicly available or someone gets caught doing something stupid with them, authorities can’t justify regulation.

“So why the push on Apollo then? This looks like it’ll wipe us out entirely. We’ll be lucky to recover if anything unexpected comes up.”

They aren’t idiots, dear. The fact that you are still up and walking around means the hardware that runs your implant is still turned on. Even if they can’t easily prove we were the ones who took it, they are still the owners of the equipment. Until it’s paid off, they can bring in law enforcement and point them our way.

Alex pushed a quick question over their bond. He didn’t need to let the idea fully form before Sophie got the idea.

There are two main reasons they haven’t already caused issues. First, publicly admitting that it was stolen from their secure facilities would rattle their clients and investors. Second, and more to the point, you had their interim-CEO assassinated, and no one else knew the full story.

That changed when Apollo teams began briefing his permanent replacement this week. They were able to put a working theory together that it wasn’t the protesters that stole the hardware. It's a hunch at this point, but a dangerous one. I need to remove their ability to get law enforcement on our asses and fast.

Alex winced. “Ouch. Ok, good point. How do other companies deal with stuff like this? The shortfall, I mean. We can’t be that unique.”

Investor funding, public stock offerings, or loans. None of which we can go after. Simply put, we can’t open our books due to our… creative assets and revenue streams.

Sophie then followed that up with a noisy grumble.

Alex fired off an inquiry over their mental link.

No, sorry, dear. I’m not frustrated at you, just the situation. We’ve prepared as best we can, but outside influences are crunching our timelines dramatically, and this is a side effect.

“You mean the rogue AI that’s still running amuck out there.”

Sophie pushed a nod his way.

Even after months, I still don’t know much about it. Everything points to it being the one pulling Humanity First’s strings as well as arranging the attempts on your life. The damage it’s done to other high-tech industries that could be used to defend against it is significant.

Alex tapped his fingers on his desk, returning to the topic at hand. “What about short-term funding options? Our support team is expensive, but they aren’t that expensive. It looks like we’ll be sweeping positive immediately after, so we could cover some interest.”

What I haven’t shown you yet is what we need to invest in immediately to meet our updated projects. I wanted to make sure you understood our base-requirements first. If we can’t meet these expenses, you run a risk of Apollo bringing down law enforcement on us. Anything else would be pointless if we can’t keep you afloat.

Alex had already begun shaking his head. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

Sorry, dear, if there were an obvious answer, I wouldn’t be bothering you with it. I’m hoping you can see something my analysis cannot.

The screen shifted with a new cost outlay that made all other expenses look minuscule. The readjustment blew out the scale of the prior graph entirely. The previous mountain of costs was shrunk down to a small blip in comparison.

Alex’s heart began speeding up as he took it, and its meaning, in. He felt Sophie put an internal clamp on his anxiety before it could spiral out from under him. After a few seconds to regain his mental footing, he leaned in close to the display, breaking down the expenses that she had clearly labeled for his benefit.

The first bump was filled with detailed estimates for fabrication equipment, quantum processors, massive high-speed storage area networks, neural network fuzzy logic units, high density compute fabric, fiber-optics network uplinks, and a hardened data center to house it all. Alex recognized the list as what it would take to free Sophie entirely by building her a replacement server, and the sums were over half a billion dollars even at her lowest estimate.

The second and much more massive surge included hardening global internet service provider networks, creating thousands of defense nodes in all major cloud hosting companies, securing critical infrastructure endpoints, and so on. Alex’s chest tightened for a moment, before Sophie yet again suppressed his reactions, slamming the mental clamp down into place, and putting a cooling touch on his mind.

He blew out a long breath. He didn’t like having her tweak him so much, but this was their agreed upon path. If his emotions got out of a certain range he tended to spiral out of usefulness fairly quickly. “So, this last part is what a global defense network looks like? Well into the hundreds of billions, right?”

Sophie pushed her agreement.

Alex shook his head. “Fuck me.”

For a moment, Alex wondered if Sophie would twist his words as a chance to tease him. After a soft pressure as she rifled through his thoughts, she remained quiet, giving credence to how seriously she was taking her new mission.

“So, no matter what we do short-term, it’s… kind of pointless. Not only do I need every damn penny we can scrape out of the couch cushions, but what we’re doing isn’t even close to enough,” Alex groused as he plopped into his office chair.

Alex leaned back and stared out the window, gazing longingly at the bay that stretched to the horizon. He tried to focus, but his mind seemed to resist the idea. Instead, he desperately wanted to get away for a bit. Unfortunately, he knew he was needed here to keep operations on track. Alex also knew that he caused security headaches any time he so much as left the house. His presence in the city had instigated a near-riot the last time he tried to grab ice cream with Aubrey and Jamie. Even if it’d become less organized, there were still pockets of negative sentiment around what he was doing.

Despite the threats, he felt a strong pull to leave the island. He was stuck. It was as if all creativity had been drained from his mind, and it got worse the longer he stayed sequestered away. It left him so strung out that he could barely make it an hour without Sophie tweaking his brain to deal with it.

She’d likened her adjustments to micro-doses of anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication, and whatever she was doing was becoming less effective over time. It seemed there were still parts of Alex’s brain she couldn’t permanently fix due to the Apollo firmware code in the neural interface.

Minutes passed as he chewed on the impending cash flow problem and the need for massive cash infusions before he admitted temporary defeat.

“I simply don’t see any way that we can do this ourselves. Like at all. No company, no matter how powerful, could raise that type of money from where we are today. I could be selling immortality and not hit those numbers. Shy of holding the world for ransom to save it, I don’t see it working,” Alex muttered, reaching for his mug of green tea and taking a sip.

“We’re well into the range that only a handful of governments could put something like that together without crashing their economy. Or well, ya know, the mega-corps, but our little bout with Apollo doesn’t have me eager to go into another snake pit.” Alex wiggled his fingers on his synthetic left hand. “Not sure I would consider that one a clean win.”

I know, dear. At least Aubrey’s dad got us a lot of good PR out of it when we launched Mesh-controlled limbs. You’ve adapted to the change remarkably well.

Alex glanced back to the screen again and scowled. He’d have to grow the company at a rate unheard of since the Revision 4.6 crash to even get Sophie’s server secured, much less her bigger project to save the world from her rogue peer. The massive tech recession after a bunch of AI-powered bots slaughtered tens of thousands of people was the end of the multi-billion-dollar unicorn tech startup era. That just didn’t happen anymore and certainly not without being publicly traded.

Mull over the finances, my love. If there’s a clear path through this, I don’t see what it is. Now, you’ve got your date with Ava, best to get changed into something comfortable.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Not a date, damn it. Shelley has her teaching me self-defense and running me into the ground. Dates don’t lead to as many bruises.”

Hmm… If that was the case, why do you have so many bite marks on your chest? Or perhaps the hickeys on your…

Alex interrupted, “Nope. We’re not talking about that right now. And it’s not a date.”

Standing, Alex went to leave his office but slowed as he came even with the doorway.

In what had become a ritual of sorts, his right hand trembled as he placed his palm atop the two plain silver cylinders that were in a small nook next to the door. In small engraved letters atop the containers, one read “Connor Sage” and the other “Caroline Sage.” Giving each of the urns a few seconds of his attention, he gave a sad sigh, then tightly locked away the empty feeling in his chest before moving on to his task.

Even though the dull ache remained, the morose thoughts disappeared quickly, sliding off the parts of his mind where there simply wasn’t anything to process it. Instead, he shifted gears and prepared for his evening workout. Alex refilled his water bottle and dashed upstairs to change into a synthetic base layer and sweats. He twisted his neck, eliciting a few pops. Then he began pulling at the knuckles on his right hand, limbering them up.

Even though it didn’t do anything, he repeated the motion on his left hand, feeling the range of the synthetic muscles and tendons, and ensured its charge was topped off. He didn’t want a repeat of last week where it had died in the middle of a sparring match.

He’d have lost anyway, but Ava had been rather ruthless about hitting him in the face with his own fist once she’d gotten him pinned.

Ava was already doing warm-up stretches behind the detached stone-walled workshop when Alex padded across the grass. She gave him a smile and a nod, but the tall and hard-muscled blonde kept to her routine, dipping low and stretching her hamstrings. Her black tights showed off her toned legs, and the stretchy tank top left her well-defined and tanned shoulders bare. Without meaning to, Alex caught himself staring at her backside.

As if reading his mind, she flipped her shoulder-length hair over her shoulder, tracked his gaze, and gave him a knowing smirk. She then looked him up and down in an obvious manner that ended with a soundless chuckle.

Busted, Alex just shrugged. “Can’t help it, Ava. You in those tights… just damn.”

Ava snorted and grinned back, obviously amused. “You couldn’t handle me, and you know it.”

Not one to argue, Alex jerked his eyes forward and settled in next to her. The women of the Black Flags had figured him out over their winter together. Unlike those he worked with off the island, there really wasn’t much point in trying to act like someone else around them. He was who he was, and they didn’t seem to mind. Still, he was glad Ava took his roaming eyes in good humor. It wouldn’t do to irritate his sparring partner. Especially not one that could so readily kick his ass any time she felt like it.

Alex joined along in the stretches, then worked through the same process that she’d drilled into him, and finally shifted to their usual warm-up of squats, jumping jacks, crunches, and push-ups. He worked through each set wordlessly as she did the same.

Stolen story; please report.

Once the pair had gone through their calisthenics, Ava nodded toward the circle of sand off to the side. The sandpit, or simply the pit, as everyone called it, was a ring of boards about thirty feet in diameter filled with a foot of sand.

Alex blew out a deep breath and worked through some options in his head. Since Trish had the night off, tonight he wouldn’t be splitting his time between firearms and hand to hand. This was their free-style sparring night, so anything was fair game.

Alex had a lot of options at his disposal. They had been training for months through various disciplines, and Sophie helped him learn much faster than the average student. He could memorize static moves and techniques quickly, but Ava had figured that out and knew how to defend against them. It was a prime example of knowledge and experience being two wildly different things.

If it’d been a fight to the death, Sophie could guide his body in an emergency, but it usually left him exhausted or puking if she overdid it. It also didn’t magically make him any faster or stronger than he normally was, she just had a much better reaction speed.

About the only thing he and Sophie could manage for extended periods were his Mesh connections. After a bit of practice, he could sync up with someone’s mind and hold it there for some time. To date, that was something he’d limited to Jamie after they’d gotten involved.

The intense connection left emotions bared and even allowed him to press physical sensations over their connection. Thankfully, Jamie was just broken enough not to be freaked out by how his mind worked since they shared some rather problematic behavior. She had, however, made a few comments that made it clear she sensed more than he thought he’d shared.

That’d been enough to put the brakes on trying to sync his mind with others. He could read emotions or push sensations to his heart’s content, but the moment he shared anything of himself, it laid out the broken and shattered part of his mind for his partner to see. There was a gulf of things he just couldn’t bring himself to accept. Not yet, anyway.

After Jamie had explained a bit of it, Aubrey had taken the hint that Alex just wasn’t comfortable admitting how bad it was in there. In the end, Aubrey opted to give him more time to recover and had politely likened it to a bit of house cleaning before visitors came, even though she knew full well it was a full renovation project. However, instead of sawdust, broken drywall, and out of date appliances, it was full-on roaring bonfires of anger, a basement flooded with disconnect and apathy for others, impulsive behavior dashing into and out of every dark crevice like cockroaches, and large patches of anxiety that covered every nook and cranny like black mold.

Realizing he was far too distracted, which would just mean he was in for a beat down once in the ring, he tried to center himself.

He sucked in a long breath and envisioned a gigantic fist. Rigid and unyielding. He focused on it, and grew the hand in his mind until it extended into the sky. It then aimed an apathetic middle finger at the universe, his abbreviated form of meditation that Ava had found hilarious to teach. Since then, it’d become a bit of an inside joke they shared. If any person or situation was particularly annoying, he and Ava would simply say they needed to meditate on an answer, not mentioning it involved a skyscraper-sized “fuck you.”

As stupid as it was, it resonated with his sense of humor, and when it came to preparing for his training, it often worked long enough to give him a moment to file away stray thoughts. Giving an amused smirk, Alex decided on his opening moves and a couple things he wanted to try if the opportunity presented itself. He locked down his focus and let Sophie amp up his senses slightly. He’d need every edge he could get.

Ava had been holding back less and less as they trained. Even at what Alex figured was half strength for the team’s designated hand to hand expert, she could knock him to the dirt if he didn’t deflect a strike properly. He’d seen her spar with the other mercenaries, and she was a terrifying sight to behold when she got going. The fact that she could bring Shelley to a standstill while also taking one of the others at the same time without anyone getting seriously hurt said a lot about her level of control.

Alex took up his stance, left foot slightly forward, and legs spread shoulder-width apart. Not even waiting for confirmation, Ava dashed forward with a round kick aimed at the outside of his left knee. Alex pulled to his right, and pushed off, pivoting cleanly to avoid the strike and lined up a shot at her kidneys as her momentum carried her forward.

He snapped off a punch, but she had already spun away, leaving him striking at thin air. He settled into his stance again and circled her slowly.

Her fist struck forward, aimed at his stomach in a lightning-fast move. Alex missed his redirect and ended up blocking dead on with his left arm. If it’d been flesh and blood, he’d probably have been seriously injured with the force of the attack. Instead, her blow connected with the hard-exterior shell of carbon fiber and polished silver. Ava yelped as she pulled back her split knuckles with murder in her gray eyes.

“Fucking goat-blowing son of a bitch, that hurt,” Ava cried out as she shook her hand, thin rivulets of red dripping down her fingers to the sand.

Alex winced but didn’t quit circling. He’d learned the hard way not to let his guard down when blood was drawn. “Sorry, Ava. I’ll wear one with fake skin next time, it’s softer if I screw up.”

Ava shook her head. “No, no, you won’t. Use every damn advantage you’ve got. Learn to use it, you’ll usually have it on you. Gonna start wrapping my knuckles, though.”

Nodding, Alex dashed forward, trying for a leg sweep while she was distracted.

Ava jumped his kick and landed a hard punch to the side of his face. Alex slammed into the sand and rolled with the momentum. Catching his footing mid-tumble, he popped back up into a low stance and shuffled his feet to gain some room before she could move in on him.

“Good recovery,” Ava commended as she corralled him closer to the edge of the ring.

Alex began to backpedal but glanced back momentarily to make sure he didn’t trip on the edge of the pit. In that one moment of distraction, Ava sprung forward like a panther on a frightened rabbit and tackled him in a brutal move that drove her knee into his gut.

Alex tried to roll out of her grip, but faster than he could follow, she had him pinned on his back and landed with her knee still wedged into his stomach, knocking the air free from his lungs. While he was dealing with that, she pinned his arms above his head. She then twisted Alex face down and locked both hands behind his back as though she was going to handcuff him.

Alex managed to shift her hold using his bionic arm but was otherwise hopelessly pinned.

“Yield,” Alex said through a mouth full of sand, still struggling under her weight.

“Go again?” Ava asked.

Nodding, Alex was quickly released, given instruction on where he’d fucked up, and then given ideas on how to do better. Ava might have a vocabulary to keep a sailor blushing, but for Alex, she seemed infinitely patient. The pair kept at it until it was dark enough that the security floodlights turned on.

Sweaty and beaten, Alex staggered along the pathway back to the house, Ava at his side. They were both exhausted but smiled as they chatted about inconsequential things. Wanting to cool off before going inside, Alex plopped onto the wooden steps of his home, and Ava followed a second behind him.

“You’re getting better. That judo throw managed to take me by surprise.” Ava grinned.

Alex shook his head. “Just trying to mix it up. I almost got you out of the ring, but I’ve still got a long way to go before I can give you a proper challenge.”

Ava sent a wet raspberry his way. “Shit, that ain’t exactly a fair comparison. The rest of the team comes from more training, and I can still drop ‘em in the dirt. I was only a US Marshal. Well, until they canned my ass one year in. I wasn’t some spec ops mofo like Shelley, but I’ve always done Saturday night cage fights for prize money.” Ava rubbed at her side. “Besides, you got a mean left hook. Fucking stings like a mother when you use that thing, but I still think you’re holding back.”

Alex flexed his left hand, it felt perfectly fine, unlike his right, which was bruised and aching. Aside from knowing it was about dead on battery life, he couldn’t tell his left arm had taken blow after blow.

“I want to say that’s bullshit but… maybe? It makes me feel lopsided at times. It’s like something is forcing me to swing with the same speed and power with both arms. I’ll keep trying, but it doesn’t feel natural yet,” Alex replied thoughtfully.

Ava patted Alex on the shoulder and leaned in closer. “What was it that Sophie keeps saying? Embrace the weird, right? It ain’t natural, but it doesn’t mean it’s not you. You still shooting right-handed, too?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, I’m right eye dominant from what Trish says.”

“Not gonna trash our marksman, but have you given any thought about having Sophie tweak that for you? Use your gifts, ya know. Ya ain’t all human now,” Ava replied.

Alex nodded, impressed. “Huh, I’d have to get used to being a lefty, but I think it’s more mental than anything else.” Alex rolled the idea around in his mind. “Thanks, Ava. That’s pretty clever.”

“It’s about knowing how to use your advantages and your opponent’s disadvantages. There’s no such thing as a fair fight in the real world.”

Ava thumbed at her black braided choker idly, then gave Alex a warm smile that strummed a happy chord in his chest. He hooked his arm over her shoulder, and she nudged her shoulder back into him in a friendly gesture. Then she rested her hand on his thigh, and he was suddenly unsure if it was strictly platonic.

“Huh, that’s new,” Alex thought to himself.

Footsteps behind him caught Alex’s attention before he could figure out an appropriate response.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Jennifer with her big blue backpack-sized medkit slung over one arm. She was wearing her usual baggy navy-blue cargo pants that paramedics usually wore, along with a tight gray t-shirt with a rainbow-colored napping cat on it. There was a twinkle in her violet eyes as she strode toward the pair. She’d made a habit of patching the two up after their matches and seemed to enjoy the break from watch duty.

He grinned broadly and motioned for her to join them on the steps. Her loose black hair bounced along behind her as she trotted forward.

“Didn’t break him, did you, Ava?” Jennifer asked with a chuckle.

“Naw. But I’ve got a couple split knuckles I could use your help with. I never can get a bandage to stay on ‘em,” Ava said.

Jennifer gave the bigger woman a smirk. “It’s because you’re a big lug and always yank it too tight. It rips the adhesive loose the moment you start flexing it. But you already knew that.” Jennifer added the last part with a wink. “Still, I’m always glad to be useful.”

Jennifer dropped down to the stoop next to Ava. Ever the professional, she donned her blue gloves, and after a bit of rummaging through her bag, she found a spray bottle and with a few quick spritzes had Ava’s hand clean. She then proceeded to patch up the hand-to-hand expert’s right hand with skin sealant and a bandage to go over it in a few practiced motions.

Once the wound was closed, Jennifer retrieved a small dermal strip that was color-coded with a red and white checkerboard that had a “P1” clearly denoted in the middle. It was the mildest pain medication that she carried in her kit, but since it was an adhesive patch instead of a pill, it lasted a really long time. She tended to opt for dermals more often than not since it wouldn’t cause stomach issues when repeatedly used. Given their training regimen, it seemed like everyone got a little too knocked around on a regular basis.

Jennifer ripped off the backing and stuck the mild painkiller to the underside of Ava’s arm, pressing firmly to activate the microscopic spines that perforated the top layer of skin to deliver a steady dose of medication.

“There you go. Good as new,” Jennifer said as she patted Ava’s wrist, then produced a lollipop from her bag and passed it to the other woman.

Ava took the candy without comment. She knew no amount of objecting would actually get Jennifer to quit giving them out. Instead, she flexed her fingers a few times to test her range of movement then said, “Thanks, a perfect job as always. Dinner about ready?”

Jennifer nodded.

Ava said, “Great, I’m starving. I know Shelley wanted us to leave the three love birds alone tonight.”

“Hey, I don’t mind cooking for you all,” Alex objected. “I kinda enjoy it, actually.”

Jennifer chimed in, “Yeah, we know, Alex. It’s nice to get together most nights, but well, we’ve kind of been dominating your free time. You’re either working or cooking. You need a few nights off, you’re starting to go overboard too much.”

Alex bit his lip, not wanting to admit that he often got intensely lonely and tended to fall into a disconnected funk if he wasn’t busy or surrounded by others. Saying that he didn’t idle well would be an understatement. Aubrey and Sophie tried to help, but there was only so much they could do.

Jennifer continued, “You’ve been making it a two-hour affair. You don’t just make soup and cornbread, last night you recreated Carla’s family recipe for poblano soup, stuffed arepas, and enough other stuff from her childhood for a six-course meal.”

Ava made a soft moan. “Oh, but damn, that was good.”

“Ok, so yes. It was delicious. The filling was a bit spicy for me, though,” Jennifer said as she pursed her lips.

Alex’s eyes fell on her lips for a moment and found himself leaning involuntarily forward under an intense urge to kiss her. Shifting his attention, he gazed upward and only managed to get ensnared by her violet eyes. Sophie gently flicked his nose, trying to startle him out of his daydreams. Pulling his thoughts’ leash, he yanked them forward. Both women shared a look, acknowledging that he’d zoned out, but didn’t make anything of it. Him getting distracted by Sophie or simply his own thoughts was no longer something worth noting. It happened dozens of times each day.

Once he could focus again, he explained, “Oh, that was what the crème fraîche was for. It cuts the heat if you want it. And you can’t really blame me for wanting beautiful women to dine with, can you? I’d gladly slave over a stove to see that wonderful smile of yours.”

“Oh… uhm.” Jennifer blushed. “I didn’t know that. The cream I mean. I… uh. Thanks.”

Ava laughed. “Anyway, chica, I need a shower. I’ll catch you all later.”

As Ava got up to leave, she trailed a finger down Alex’s arm. It made him shiver involuntarily. He was still processing the fact the violent skull-buster seemed to be returning his flirtations when Jennifer pulled his attention away.

Jennifer’s eyes narrowed as she scooted closer to take Ava’s place. “Hey, you didn’t say you were bleeding too.”

“Huh?” Alex replied. “I didn’t know I was.”

Tracking where she was looking, he reached up to his forehead and felt a small damp spot where his right eyebrow was a bit sore. His finger came back stained red. “Ah, Ava landed a couple good ones. I’ll be fine.”

Despite his protestations, the combat medic rummaged in her bag up to her elbows. Coming back up with fistfuls of supplies, she proceeded to soak a small ball of gauze in her disinfectant and poked at the wound. Then, after deftly peeling away a wrapper, she produced a small sponge coated with a powdery white substance. Reaching over, she lightly dabbed at Alex’s eyebrow while she scrunched up her face in concentration. Alex winced as the stinging powder hit the broken skin, but the twinge of pain only lasted a few seconds. She traced her finger down his temple, and her touch became much softer as she shifted focus back to his dark eyes.

Seeming to get flustered, Jennifer awkwardly looked away as she peeled off her gloves. “Ah, sorry. Yeah, it stings. Uhm…”

Alex laughed. “It’s fine, Jen. I’d have healed up by tomorrow night anyway. But I always appreciate the way you take care of me. If you keep that up, I might start getting hurt more often.”

Regaining her composure, Jennifer playfully slapped his shoulder and zipped up her kit. “Don’t even joke about that. I’d stay longer, but I better go before there’s nothing left. Trish is making fried chicken, and it goes quick. I’ll be sleeping on the couch if I miss it.”

“Give her a kiss from all of us,” Alex said with a grin.

She gave a small laugh and turned to go. As she made to leave, Alex noticed her check over her shoulder to see if he was still watching. She caught his eyes as she bit her lip. She gave him another soft smile and disappeared over the crest of the hill toward the guest house that the mercenaries had taken over.

She’s rather fond of you. They both are.

Alex’s lips curled into a smile. “Yeah, different ways, though.”

Oh, I think Ava is a bit sweet on you too.

Alex gave that some thought. “Well, she’s growing on me too. She’s a lot different than I expected. She almost seems like a timid thing under that hard exterior.”

You know, she’s the one that put on your tourniquet at the courthouse. No one thought to tell you, but I saw it on the news feeds. She was the one covered head to toe in your blood as she tied off your arm with your belt before Jennifer could stabilize you. She handled it all rather stoically at the time, but I think it impacted her more than she let on. I believe she now envisions herself as your personal defender. A paladin from the books you read, one wholly dedicated to you.

“Huh. That weirdly makes sense. Uhm, did she…” Alex trailed off.

No. Unlike Jennifer and Jamie, she didn’t ask Aubrey for any sort of arrangement or permission to pursue. I think she’d need you to make the first move if that’s what you want to do. I suspect Aubrey would gladly pull her into the family, as it were, if only to make you happy.

“Mmm… maybe? I dunno. I always think of Ava as a friend first, but every time I’m with her, I usually end up flirting. Like a lot, and I don’t even notice I’m doing it. I’m afraid I might accidentally do something stupid, or well, maybe something smart and rather enjoyable.” Alex tried to think his way through that situation. “I… yeah…” Alex trailed off as he felt the cool edges of his scripted reaction take hold, and he forced himself to blank out his thoughts. Those thoughts wouldn’t do him any good, so he tossed them out.

Well, I think our girlfriend has designs on about half your security team for either you or her. I would say she isn’t picky, but I know better.

Alex blew out a sigh; that was a big topic altogether. His hormones made it hard to think straight being surrounded by so many women that could leave him swimming in need with little more than a casual touch or a warm smile. Aubrey didn’t mind since it fed her kinks. He also wasn’t above admitting he enjoyed it too. He wasn’t some passive bystander in their complicated relationship, swept along by a partner that was a half-bag of crazy. He and Aubrey were in it together. Partners in crime to the end. She just had a better picture of what it was she wanted out of life. Genuine introspection was a lot harder for him since he was twisted up in impulses and a blank wall where memories that might guide him should be.

Alex replied, “As far as Ava, I like spending time with her. She could probably tip me either way, and I’d be happy. Things are kind of complicated already. You, Aubrey, and Jamie keep me pretty busy.”

Perhaps. But Ava does make you happy and, being candid about it, it’d hurt to see her move on.

Alex pursed his lips and nodded. It wouldn’t do to leave that type of conversation off forever. He’d need to parse out his feelings on the matter sometime soon.

Admittedly, he had become a terrible flirt, but his attention for new pursuits had actually been aimed elsewhere lately. When he could break away, he’d been spending quite a lot of time with Jennifer. The shy combat medic seemed to likewise enjoy absorbing as much of his time as he was willing to give as they went out for hikes while she snapped photos of the local flora and fauna.

Any time she was around, he’d end up flirting with her without even thinking about it. Then usually a bit more once he realized he was doing it. Something about her just clicked with him. She was all blushes and soft caresses. If he were honest with himself, he was sorely tempted for a retry at their earlier shenanigans. The way she got all twisted up around him was simply adorable. The fact that they’d ended up in a hot and heavy make-out session next to their collective lovers in a big pile of covers had left an impression on the primal part of his brain, and he frequently found his thoughts returning back to that night.

Of course, there was the insane hotness that was Jamie, too. Their trysts had started as an occasional thing to blow off tension but had become a weekly thing over the last few months.

With so many distractions going on, he had trouble sorting his mind out. It seemed like every pretty girl turned his head, and there was too much brain damage to understand his own boundaries most of the time. His impulse control wasn’t the best on a good day, and non-existent on a bad one.

He was making progress as Sophie glued together better responses in his mind, and he’d regularly begun forcing himself to slow down and at least try to think through the things that didn’t come naturally.

Even then, he’d hit these strange decisions that seemed pre-made in his mind. He normally had a habit of over-analyzing everything, but certain responses had the inflexible reek of software code. He’d react as though it was instinct and without any doubt. It was a little unsettling since he knew it was his personality matrix Sophie had programmed. She’d literally predestined certain reactions for him, and it was getting hard to argue that he had free will at this point.

Whenever he thought about the complicated love life he’d carved out, or his impulse to flirt with every attractive woman he met, it had that same feel to it. It was absolute. Certain. Only afterward would he realize what he’d done and then debate if it had been the right reaction. He couldn’t even inspect his own thoughts directly, or he’d trip the routine again. He’d have to come at those ideas and concepts at an oblique angle just to see if he really was ok with whatever he’d done. So far, it’d worked out ok, but his impulses made it clear he’d probably keep doing much the same and he didn’t always feel in control of it.

The problem with that was that as much as he wanted to jump into it all headfirst, he didn’t want to hurt the handful of people he’d gotten attached to in the process. There were precious few of those in the world, and if he were honest, he really didn’t care much for everyone else.

He could fake his way through interacting with others, but acting exhausted him. He’d have to pick out an appropriate cast member and pretend it was an improv bit on stage. Without it, he’d found that people would notice if he hit situations where his mind slid off the beaten path, and into areas that had been damaged.

Aside from those who knew him well, he could see the twinge in how they looked at him. It was usually an uncomfortable glance, an extra pause in the conversation, avoiding his eye contact, or even a sudden excuse to be elsewhere. They couldn’t tell why, but they’d get unsettled by whatever rested behind his eyes. They’d catch a glimpse of whatever was back there, and he’d sense a spike of fear from them.

Dear? Aubrey is asking when to expect you. Her pasta is about ready.

Alex pushed a thankful kiss to his AI companion over their link and started heading inside.

Since it would just be the two of them, he’d ask Aubrey her thoughts on the Ava and Jennifer situations over dinner. The compassionate former nurse understood him better than any other human and had no issues being his moral compass, even on delicate matters.

Seeking her guidance was the best he could do until things changed, and he quit feeling alien to this world. Too many times, it was like he was looking into the window of humanity from the outside. Too much seemed to set him apart. His arm was one thing, but his mind itself was much more troubling to come to terms with.

In the meantime, he’d have to accept that he wasn’t entirely human.