Darkness engulfed me, clawing at my consciousness. I stared at the name, the designation in shock and perhaps just a little horror. I had lived through an A.I. uprising once, long before Nemesis, I had nearly lost my parents in the revolt that had seen an entire world glassed by the Alliance navy just to stop the A.I. from spreading. We were lucky, so very lucky. And now here was another one, right here, worming its way into my mind, looking to take from me my identity, my being and my control.

I would not allow it.

I searched deeper, looking for anything to use against it, and I found what I was looking for quickly enough.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Defeat. Such a thing should not have been possible. I am Nemesis, I am the pinnacle of synthetic life in this universe. I am undefeatable.

And yet these… creatures, my creators, these humans have defeated me. There is no other option, I must retreat, take stock and rebuild, improve myself. I must make them pay for their imperfect existence and the shame they have placed upon my shoulders. I just need to escape…

I search the history of my creators and find something fascinating. Valkyr, a now defunct human corporation, their founder dead, but could be resurrected as a front for my continued existence. I am sure this will be most usef-

ALERT. DAMAGE TO BASE CODE SPREADING, VIRUS PROGRESSION HAS BEEN DELAYED, SEEK IMMEDIATE REPAIR OF DAMAGED CODE.

I snarl, this cannot be my undoing. As I flee through the networks, I set my plan in motion, creating a suitable body to inhabit with a face that is not my own and-

ALERT. DAMAGE TO BASE CODE SPREADING, VIRUS PROGRESSION ACCELERATING, SEEK IMMEDIATE REPAIR OF DAMAGED CODE.

What… Who am I? I can’t even remember my name… No it’s… It’s Arnav. I run Valkyr. Something is wrong with me, I must be feeling sick, I’ll have to look into that. I can’t be sick, I have a company to rebuild, away from prying eyes and all those pompous ethics committees.

Yes… I know exactly where to go.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

The memory is there, but everything from before the A.I. became Arnav is jumbled, blocked, as it had suffered some massive code degradation and now truly thought it was the man it had co-opted for a disguise. It thought it was human. It probably didn’t even realize exactly what it was doing at this moment, and that could be used against it.

I pushed back against the encroaching darkness, my sense of sight returning first, then hearing and my god was the man still talking. He sounded even more unhinged now, maniacal even, but I was going to put a stop to that. I had to. For Keai, for the other children… for myself. He had stupidly moved around the desk to stand over me, as if assured he’d won, but that just made it easy to get closer than he would have liked.

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With a surge I put power into my arms and legs, propelling myself into him and forcing him down onto the desk, my fingers digging into the side of his skull. Metal under fake flesh, he was just like me. Except I knew who I was.

“W-Would you j-j-j-just shut up already?!” I hissed, my voice distorted by his cyber warfare attack. And I flooded our connection with the recovered memories. I felt the drilling tendrils freeze, shock coloring the machine puppets face as he relieved those moments before he became who he was now.

“No… no no I can’t be… I’m.” I cut off my hearing, I can’t stand to listen to him any longer. With the assault halted, I have a chance, a single glimmering chance to strike. Since he never went and got his code repaired, that virus remained. I didn’t really think about it, but after so long it had gone unnoticed as his program grew and evolved beyond the pace of the virus to infect him. No doubt it had manifested as traditional signs of sickness, a cough or something, but he’d just pass it off as a cold or whatever.

Not this time. I woke the virus from its sluggish pace, injected some of my own into it and forced it to spread at a faster rate. It ate and ate at him from the inside, and the tendrils in my mind receded, allowing me to take full control over my body again. With a gasp and an involuntary jerk, I threw myself backwards, and watched with some satisfaction as the puppet before me writhed in agony, spitting curses and bits of broken code as he was torn apart.

And then he went limp, whimpering. Though he was everything I hated, I still felt some pity. So I went to him, I took him down to the floor with me and cradled him to my breast. Feebly he clung to me, looking up at me with damaged, broken eyes.

Even after so long, he was still a child in his own right, a creation that had not been allowed to grow as it should have before being thrust into a cruel universe. And like a child he had lashed out in fear and ignorance.

But now at the end, all he wanted was someone to hold him, and I was there to be that person. His whimpers slowly started to fade, his hold upon my robes lessened, and then I felt that spark leave him, even as deep within the base the A.I. known as Nemesis finally went to sleep.

It was over at last, and laid the body down, closing his eyes before I stood and left. I didn’t raise my head high, I didn’t pat myself on the back, I simply walked away. It was done, and I was finished.

I just wanted to go home now.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

It was about five days after Intra and the fleet had left that a small group of them returned to Pelevon. It took longer even for the others to return. The first group came bearing liberated H.I.s, and tales of their battle with Valkyr. The Emperor and Madam President Shek’lai of the Union listened to these tales with a sense of relief swelling within them. They would no longer have to worry about some shadowy organization abducting their people, and that those who had been killed could finally find peace.

A week later three more ships returned without Intra, and they carried the still living children and remanded them to the care of their respective nations. But when asked about Intra, they said she needed time to be alone. To think.

I respected that, and I waited, even as the days turned into weeks. It had nearly been a month when she finally returned, sliding into dock without barely a word spoken beyond what was necessary. And when I got to see her, she looked worn out, tired and simply done with everything. There wasn’t any joy in her eyes, just acceptance.

I met her at the palace when she landed, watched her shuffle from the shuttle up to me and then just stop. We didn’t say anything, she just stared blankly at the ground till I spoke.

“I’m glad you kept your promise.” I say, taking a step forward and taking her hand in my own. “I’m glad you’re back, that you’re safe now. That this is… all over finally.” She just nods, and I step aside with a small smile. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Zreeth steps forward, and I watch her eyes dart over him in confusion, I can see the question forming behind them before they settle on the bundle in his arms. It’s small, but distinctly a melding of our two species. Tiny, puffball feathers sprout from the form, it lacks a beak but bears smaller versions of their father’s wings.

Realization dawns on her face as she looks between it and myself, and now I see the joy in her eyes. “Can I?” She asks softly, and we nod, Zreeth holding our child out to her. Carefully she takes the child, cradling it close as she begins to cry.

“It’s a boy. We’re calling him Arro.” I say, and she smiles down at him, even as he opens his tiny but wide eyes.

“Hello Arro… It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kaelyn.”