Earth

2027

In the light of the morning, the world looked even more bleak. Rory and Theo had studied the data for hours.

"The cost of retrieving this data was so high. We struggled for every crumb we got. People died." Rory pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know how we didn't give up. I think it was because we couldn't accept being broken apart. Our desperation drove us to fight for the impossible." Rory looked up at the ceiling. "Vehru has spoken so often about the human spirit and resilience. I used to think this was a game to her. But she said there's always purpose in our suffering. Like she does have a goal."

Theo looked up from his notes. "Why do they care so much about our spirit?"

"Vehru has consistently allowed people to get away with things even though she knows about it. She claimed it didn't matter because it posed no threat. Even so, it's never made sense that she'd allow the insolence, regardless of whether we're actually a threat. The entire invasion of Earth is yet another exercise in futility to her. She believes Earth's defeat is inevitable and claims to want to finish the job swiftly. Yet, she lets us fight."

"What do they gain by convincing us to join them? They could permanently squash any rebellion. They don't need our consent."

"On Lumiea, people are happy with the Federation. Or we just don't allow ourselves to feel any different. We're taught to not only be content but thankful for all they've given us. It could be that they prefer that result. But Vehru said that every day they are here is costly."

"The purity of the consciousness makes a difference," Jace said as he walked down the stairs. "Conquer someone in a day and their spirit is broken forever. Convince them to come to your side and they're content. Allow them to think they fought valiantly against you and they will believe maybe their next rebellion could be successful." His voice lowered. "It's already happened to us. Every tiny victory we had before Aeryn was taken made us believe that maybe it would be different next time. Maybe we'd figure out how to save her on Earth." He smiled sadly. "Hope is too hard to let go of when you can't survive the alternative. Better to die fighting."

"It's about protecting their resources." Theo shrugged. "There goes my theory that advanced alien civilizations will have socially evolved into more ethical societies out of the evolutionary advantage of a thriving species."

"Maybe they aren't done growing up yet," Rory said.

"Have you explained the conundrum to him yet?" Jace asked.

When Theo's brows raised in question, Rory faced him. "We have always worried that there's a way for Vehru and the Federation to read our thoughts, because they can somehow control our access to our memories. Just like how the US worried about this."

"Right." Theo stared for several seconds before dropping his head into his hands. "If she can, then she knows we have a recording of her attacking us and threatening Levi."

"We trained ourselves not to think about our plans more than we absolutely have to."

"In case it's not every thought being monitored? That is a large amount of data to digest," Theo said. "The human mind is complex. All the neurons firing in your brain for every single thought you have… But for omni-AI, it would not be particularly challenging regardless."

"There's reason to believe that Vehru can't read our minds," Rory said. "At some point, she would have stopped us from many things we've done. It's a concern, but it has never actually become a problem."

"And if she can read our thoughts, what can we do?" Jace asked. "Of course we've tried to figure out how to get around it, how to remove the neuroweb, how to somehow use our thoughts to manipulate her. It's unsolvable–so far, at least. It's something we have to remember as a factor so we don't accidentally harm people."

"We have to be careful about who we work with or give information to," Rory said.

"How are we supposed to win if she can read our minds?" Theo asked.

"We aren't supposed to win. That's the point." Jace shook his head. "There's no reason to believe we can be successful."

"We fight anyway." Rory looked at Jace and then at Theo. "The alternative is to give up."

"Your son, though." Theo looked between them nervously.

While Rory had, in a way, escaped for ten years from the burden of waging war against such a powerful being while essentially being held hostage, Jace had not, and the weight of that burden showed now. "The only reason I can fight knowing Levi is in danger is because I can't surrender him to the Federation. We do everything we can to protect him. Giving in, though, is the most certain way to lose him. Imagine if he grew up to become a Commander like Vehru. I can't set my son up for a life like that."

No parent could ever choose between their son dying or becoming Vehru one day. Or any other nightmarish scenario. If Rory could give up, then she probably would have. She would have saved her son. But the love that made her want to protect him, also deepened her drive to fight the battle that she and Jace had sworn themselves to after she was kidnapped.

"Are we wrong?" Rory asked Theo, looking to him for the wisdom he always seemed to have.

His voice was soft. "No. You're not wrong. You're incredibly strong."

"Vehru stealing my son's mother from him makes it easier to fight." Jace's voice lowered to a growl. "I will never accept that."

Rory gasped in a breath and looked up to keep her eyes dry. "Okay. I can't function if we take the time to actually comprehend what we're up against. We have to move forward."

"I'm going to call Nikka," Jace said.

"I want to see the squad."

He nodded. "Keep doing what you're doing until you hear from me."

When Jace left, Theo didn't speak at first. "I would give anything to fix this."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I know." Rory sat beside him and opened a file. "We need to focus. Read about the Omni-AI before I leave."

For fifteen minutes, Theo read, until Jace returned to tell them they could meet with the squad in half an hour. He chose to wait outside, maybe needing time alone, or maybe thinking that Theo and Rory did.

"I can't believe what I'm reading," Theo said. "I mean, I can. But it's too horrific to think that Earth could soon be quietly ruled by this AI."

Rory watched his face as he took in the information that she had after she first witnessed the Replica take over Trin's body. All decisions made by world leaders had to be run through Omni-Ai's system and it was allowed to sacrifice the life or livelihood of thousands of people as long as it saved more in the future. The supposed peace on the streets of most cities in Lumiea came at the price of eliminating or incarcerating those who the AI determined to be a threat. Even embryos had to be approved.

Women on Lumiea no longer carried their own children. It was exceedingly rare for anyone to conceive on their own given that both men and women had highly effective implanted birth control. Having a child was a carefully planned process with the fertility doctor who would eventually implant a healthy embryo into an artificial womb at the nursery. Expectant parents would visit the growing fetus at these cozy clinics until the time of birth.

While they were told this process came about because of high rates of infertility on their planet that had once caused the number of live births to plummet, Rory had learned it really had to do with screening embryos. The Omni-Ai would reject an embryo for defects, but also based on genetic factors through a process that only the Federation knew about. Somehow, it selected embryos which had a greater likelihood of meeting the citizen index created by the Federation. Of course, rebels and those with a criminal history would not be approved. Instead, rebels removed their implants and relied on women carrying to term themselves.

At every level, the Omni-Ai silently judged each of them and every aspect of their world in order to carefully control their society.

It had shocked Rory when she found out she was pregnant. In fact, later, she became convinced that Vehru had orchestrated it somehow to have more control over her. At the time, it had felt like one of the great dreams she had denied herself coming true. They'd decided not to have children because she was a Witness candidate and they would both set out for Earth. But she'd wanted a baby. There were so many things that she had sacrificed for that horrible program she didn't even want to be a part of anymore, including her own parents and siblings. The loss of motherhood had hurt her more than she even allowed herself to feel.

Once Rory knew she was pregnant, she could not bring herself to let it go. Not even when their shock and happiness turned to suspicion. In the end, Jace had slid his hand over her stomach and told her that whether Vehru had planned something or not didn't mean that they had no choice. He wanted her to decide.

Rory would never know whether Vehru caused their birth control to fail or whether they were one of the rare cases. But she'd undergone the transfer to the artificial womb. Every time they could come home from fighting, they would sit by the artificial womb to talk to Levi or read to him.

When she discovered that the Omni-AI selected their embryos, she couldn't help but wonder why Levi. What about his DNA made the AI decide to approve him for transfer?

It all weighed heavily on Rory as she waited for a very fatigued Theo to digest all the information he read. Since regaining her memories, it occurred to her that she may have had trouble carrying a pregnancy to term on Lumiea too. She would have never known considering everyone used artificial wombs, which were considered far safer and more healthy.

"There's no way to measure all that the Omni-AI stole from the people of your world when the interventions are so pervasive." Theo looked at her. "If this takes over Earth, it'll be completely dominant."

"Yes." Rory swallowed hard. "It will. Growing up, I knew there were criminals. I never saw them, though, or even heard about what they did. To us, they were the worst kind of people because they threatened our peaceful world for no reason. At least the rebels fought for something. I often wonder about these supposed crimes they committed. It turns out that for some the crime was not fitting into the life chosen for them."

Theo closed his eyes. "We have to stop them."

Rory stood up and offered her hand. "You have to sleep now. You do that while Jace and I meet with our squad."

"There's so much more here." He rubbed his eyes. "I'll sleep for a few hours and then I need to get back to this. Earth needs this information. We need more scientists combing this data and working to reverse-engineer the technology. This is hope."

Rory was too afraid to let herself feel hope. Many times before, hope had only led to the worst of heartbreaks.

Theo started for bed but grabbed her arm before he reached the stairs. "Please don't talk to Vehru without saying something. I can't stay here knowing there's a chance you'll–"

"I won't." Rory slid her arms around his waist and hugged him tight, forgetting she'd planned to keep her distance. They'd been together for so long now. She didn't know another way anymore. "No risks while you sleep. Don't worry."

Theo settled his forehead against hers. "Be careful."

"I will. I want to get your shoulder checked out too."

"You used that scanner on it. No broken bones."

Rory sighed. "You could have torn something."

"I have full range of motion. It's just sore."

Lifting her hands, she surrendered the argument and nudged him toward the stairs. "You're about to fall asleep standing up."

He hesitated, worried eyes on her. "We can't give up."

"We won't."

Rory left to find Jace waiting for her outside with his face lifted toward the ceiling of the dome over them. "Today will be a hard day."

"I promised Theo I wouldn't talk to Vehru while he sleeps. I could hardly get him to go to bed. If she makes me talk to her first, will you find a way to get back to him? He'll never sleep again if he wakes up to find out I was in danger."

Jace gave a strange smile. One that wasn't particularly happy nor sorrowful. "Sure, Aerie."

They traveled out of the residential area to meet with the squad. Along the way, Jace shared that Vehru had instructed their friends to stay away last night and that they hadn't even had access to status updates on their condition. They'd worried the entire night.

"I hate her so much," Rory said.

"Me too."

The base looked so different. Broken bits of pavement crunched beneath her feet as she walked along ground disturbed by bullets and debris from buildings hit with explosives. In place of the usual people at the base, she saw Lumiean soldiers.

What would Earth look like by the end of the week? Or the month?

"What will Vehru do next?" Rory looked up at Jace, the slightest hint of peace filling her at being beside him again.

"She'll start with humanitarian efforts this week. We'll bring medical care to refugees and civilians in active war zones. Help bring them to safety. Anything to support the narrative that we're here to help."

"This isn't a fair fight."

"Never has been." Jace slowed and nodded ahead. "See that building?"

Her heart slowed.

"Go on through that door."

Rory bit her cheek and continued forward, looking back as Jace followed at a distance. Turning, she moved faster now and pushed open the door he had pointed to.

Even though she had told herself she was absolutely not going to cry, a mix of a sob and laugh burst from her immediately. Nikka ran to her and caught her in a hug so tight that Rory couldn't breathe.

"Aeryn," she cried, spinning her around. The other woman's tears wet her cheek. "It doesn't feel real."

Rory tried to speak but she couldn't. It had been such a shock when Jace appeared in the hallway and so much had been going on, that she hadn't been able to properly savor seeing him again. She'd had time to prepare for Nikka. Still, she couldn't contain herself.

Jace entered the room behind them and watched as they held onto one another, the smile on his face cutting through the weariness.

"I'm sorry we couldn't stop her," Nikka said.

"Don't ever apologize." Aeryn drew back and pushed the short black hair from Nikka's face. "You took care of my boys, didn't you?"

"Of course."

Aeryn pulled her into another embrace and squeezed her eyes shut. "Thank you."