"Did Oblivion do something?" @horus repeated back at me. But instead of answering my question, he turned it back on me. "The fact that you asked that question speaks volumes. What do you think it did?"

  Oblivion was fond of killing. I had a pretty good idea what it might have done. I just had to say it politely.

  "@sundial and Boom probably had to get out of there quickly," I said and stopped.

  @horus pursed his lips. "Pretty good so far. What else?"

  I laughed nervously, putting myself in Oblivion's situation. I'm Oblivion. @kittyboy was killed. What would I do? I would eject the intruders, destroy the k5 Shocker, and attack the entire fleet, the enormous fleet, the largest fleet I had ever seen.

  Right?

  No. Oblivion might want to do that, but it would do what it thought I wanted it to do. I wouldn't command it to attack the entire fleet. I would get the hell out of there. And I wouldn't want @sundial harmed. Oblivion must know that. I hoped it didn't blow up any ships. It would have if they tried to stop it from escaping. And Oblivion would want to protect me, to reanimate me.

  I latched on to that last thought. It would want to protect me and reanimate me.

  My eyes went wide as the realization struck me.

  "Am I the prisoner," I said, "or are you?"

  @horus was silent.

  I stood up and looked at Boom. "What are you doing here?" I asked the robot.

  "I am keeping you alive," Boom responded. "I have agreed not to kill you for 180 Earth days."

  I laughed and kissed the robot on the cheek.

  "My turn. Where am I?" I asked @horus.

  He looked defeated now that his spin on the situation had fallen apart. I couldn't blame him for his ruse. @horus was smart. He had played the situation.

  "We are on Oblivion," @horus said, as if it was obvious.

  "Oblivion doesn't have a reanimation chamber."

  @horus shrugged. "It does now."

  Cool! That would come in handy.

  "So, you tell me. What happened?" I held out my bowl of mush. "You're welcome to some if you'd like."

  @horus waved me off and sat across from me, while I ate comfortably. "Oblivion ejected @sundial, sealing her in the k5 Shocker. Drones surrounded and attacked Boom, immobilizing her. Oblivion then demanded I come aboard, threatening to blow up my ship, the Talon."

  Good old Oblivion. It protected @sundial. It neutralized my assailant. It sought out the aiways I would have, @horus, the one person who might be able to resolve the situation.

  "See why I love my ship?" I was proud and finally happy again. "By the way, did you just refer to Boom as her? Not it?"

  "A common mistake," he clarified, but I didn't believe him.

  "Nah, you personified and humanized a robot," I stated. "I don't think we're so different." I let that sink in. He didn't fight me on it. "Go on. How did we end up here, and where, in space, are we?"

  "I boarded Oblivion," @horus continued. "Once here, Oblivion sent me coordinates and took the Talon hostage. I sent a search party to the Pit, looking for a human that Oblivion stated was important to you and potentially marooned there."

  Damn, I love my ship.

  "Did you find anyone?" I asked.

  "I don't know," @horus said. "We immediately flew to these coordinates. Oblivion, the Talon, and the k5 Shocker. Roughly four hours by DEAD drive from the Pit."

  I honestly thought Oblivion handled the situation better than I would have, especially considering its desire to kill everything around it. I was surprised @horus hadn't recounted numerous deaths and destroyed ships. I would have been in huge trouble if Oblivion went on a killing spree.

  "Any casualties?" I needed to know.

  He frowned.

  Okay, so I wasn't completely off the hook. "Three ships engaged when the k5 was captured and we knew something had gone wrong. All destroyed. 57 aiways killed." That was more Oblivion's style. @horus waited to make sure I heard it.

  I did, and I knew he wanted me to feel bad about it. But … 57 is much fewer than I expected. I dismissed it and moved on.

  "Why are we in a Faraday cage?"

  "Oblivion wanted control over the flow of information," @horus said, "and a private place for us to talk. It seemed to think we could come to an agreement."

  "Oblivion knows there are details that shouldn't leave this room," I noted. "I'm surprised, though. Oblivion seems to trust you."

  "If this is what trust looks like," @horus said, a bit of irritation in his voice.

  I finished my bowl of honey-rice and drank another gulp of water. Why not chicken waffles? I thought. Did Oblivion not know I preferred chicken waffles?

  "One last question, I think." I stood up to stretch. "Why did you come for me? I threatened you, sure, but come on. You know me. You didn't take that seriously."

  He nodded. He did know me.

  "Here's the deal," @horus said, his voice serious. "The way I see it, we're both prisoners, subject to the will or the power of this ship. The ship is in control, whether you admit it or not. So, here's what you absolutely need to hear. Listen carefully."

  Jeez. I get it. I didn't agree, but I understood his position. I nodded. "Let me have it."

  "Oblivion is dangerous," @horus said. "It's linked to reports of the virus we collected from you and from other sources. Where Oblivion shows up, the virus shows up."

  I didn't like what he was implying. I understood the logic, but … I guess I felt like Oblivion was my friend, not a ship, and certainly not responsible for the virus. On the plus side, it sounded like I hadn't been the only one pursuing the virus after all. That made me feel a little better. If I was in charge, I wouldn't put the onus solely on someone like me to uncover a deadly virus that could wipe out the solar system.

  "You claim you programmed it, but it sounds like you didn't program it so much as trigger something or unlock something. That's for datascientists to determine, but we need access to Oblivion. We need to know what it knows and what it might have done."

  I pouted at him and crossed my arms defiantly.

  "Some are of the opinion that it is you who is compromised. By the ship," @horus specified. "Not the other way around."

  "You're both wrong," I declared. "I'm not compromised. Neither is Oblivion."

  "You sure about that?" @horus stood up again. "You seem awfully defensive. You said it was your ship, your precious. Remember?"

  "It was a joke, that whole precious thing. I was doing Gollum from The Lord of the Rings." I threw my hands up in frustration. "You think I'm its thrall or something," I spat, astounded. "Like it's controlling my brain."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "I don't necessarily believe that," he said slowly, "but some people do, and other people wonder."

  Frustrating and unfortunate. Wait until he learns about The Machine, I thought. If I told him about that, about my bond with Oblivion, we were both screwed. But I maintain that neither of us was compromised. Or maybe we compromised each other, but in a good way.

  @horus shrugged. "That was just an example of your relationship with the ship." He tapped his knuckles on the back of the chair. "I heard that Oblivion killed dozens of aiways trying to escape at the Pit."

  Shit. Yeah, that happened, but it was my call and not an easy one.

  "That wasn't Oblivion," I admitted. "It was my call. They were going to be torn apart. Some had started leaping off the platform to be churned up and crushed, just to avoid the zombies. You haven't seen what the overtaken do to a person."

  I was quiet. It still stung, deeply.

  "It's awful," I went on, "but I wanted to give them a humane death. They weren't going to make it out of there alive. Am I proud of it? No." I stared at my glass of water and looked up at @horus. "But I would do it again."

  "You sure it was you, not the influence of a killer space robot?"

  I was sure. It was me. "If you can't tell by my emotional state when I talk about it, the pain and guilt I feel … I don't think there are words I could use to show it any better."

  @horus seemed satisfied. Could I trust him? I really didn't know, but it didn't seem like he was against me. Not yet, anyway.

  "@horus," I said softly. "I know you've trusted me before. You'll just have to keep trusting me until you can't." I finished my water, realizing I was cold and a little irritated that I didn't have proper clothes.

  "What do we do next?" I asked. "I need to get my crew, but first I need to see if the person I'm missing is on the Pit."

  "Who is it?" @horus inquired.

  Only the origin of the most dangerous person in the solar system. But I couldn't tell @horus that. He'd laugh in my face, say I was chasing rumors. "A human. We rescued him when we rescued @bitchfrog."

  "Mmm." @horus rubbed his temples. "One human?"

  I was a little taken aback. He could be honestly asking if there were more, or he could be implying that one life is not worth jeopardizing a chance at peace, risking greater loses in the bigger fight. "One, but I'm not going to let someone permanently die."

  @horus smiled, bobbing his head. His mood improved. "You'd kill dozens of aiways, but you'll take time away from the war and the outbreak, just to save one human." It was a statement, not a question. "Maybe you still are the Wavepilot I remember."

  "You say that like it's a good thing. Aren't you forgetting …"

  "The time you tried to ram me into an asteroid," @horus interrupted. "The Lake Minotaur guffaw. The time you chased the Berry Weird comet train. Your recent plunge into the Great Red Spot. The destruction of Itokawa."

  I was smiling through gritted teeth. "Oops?"

  "I didn't expect what you did at Starlab 41665.1," @horus admitted. "But our analysis showed that it was consistent with your character, and that your … adventures … improved your ability to improvise, something uncommon in the Alliance Starmada."

  A compliment? Not at all what I was expecting from him.

  I was glad he didn't press further into who the human was. I figured @horus had anchored on the simple fact that humans die. In his mind, in the Alliance Starmada, the aiways were a more valuable asset. Die. Reboot. Die. Reboot. I wondered who @bitchfrog had to convince to be able to join. There weren't many humans serving in the war effort.

  "That's why we made you a Vanquisher, and I do believe in your abilities. But I can't let you go to the Pit," @horus said. "We're searching it, as part of Oblivion's terms. That will have to be sufficient."

  "You realize I can change the terms," I noted.

  "You realize I'm still your commanding officer," he quipped.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. We needed to find a compromise. Oblivion thought we could do so. "So, what do we do? What do you propose?"

  He considered me while he thought. "We have been gathering a full assembly of ships in nearby systems. From both sides. We are gathering at a neutral space station in the asteroid belt, Umbilicus Station. Some of us stopped at the Pit to get you. Well, to get Oblivion."

  Good. He was being honest. Meanwhile, my mind tried to process that the enormous collection of ships I encountered wasn't even all of them.

  "I need to get to Umbilicus Station," @horus said. "There is still hope for peace. Oddly, the outbreak could be the thing that brings us together."

  "Perhaps that was the plan all along," I added, thinking aloud. "To release the virus so that we had no choice but to finally come together and end the war."

  @horus chuckled. "People don't make viruses to make peace. There is one constant in the universe. Power and money. Don't get optimistic and think this is the work of some altruistic aiways. No. This is about power and money."

  Sadly, he was right about that.

  "Okay," I cut in. "I'll go with you to Umbilicus, but only if you help me reanimate my crew. That includes people on Oblivion, plus people on The Pharaoh, which is missing."

  I waited for him to correct me, hoping maybe they had found The Pharaoh. When he was silent, I went on. "My ask includes an independent, @zerogstar, who might actually like to join the Alliance Starmada." I shook my head at that. I still didn't want her to give up her free life, but it was not my place to stop her. "I would like to nominate her for Infiltrator training, if that's what she wants."

  @horus agreed with a dip of his head.

  "I also have a few people from the Solar Union I need reanimated." I stretched the words out, knowing that was a tricky ask.

  @horus clenched his jaw. "I can't promise anything about the Solar Union."

  "But if you can advocate for me, it will help. It's not like I'm in a position to ask."

  "I'll see what I can do."

  I walked over to the bed where I had reanimated, pulling blankets off to wrap around myself, annoyed at the cold. @horus started talking, but I cut him off. "I had some passengers from the Pit that I want to see reanimated as well."

  @horus shook his head. "You're pushing it. We can't go around taking the time to reanimate everyone."

  "How about this?" I tugged the blankets close, enjoying the warmth and the smell of fresh blankets. "If they have a reanimation protocol registered, the Alliance Starmada will see to reanimating them. If not, tell me, and I'll figure it out on my own."

  "We can probably swing that," @horus responded, "assuming the outbreak hasn't interfered with those locations. That changes everything. No promises if it's an infested area. And the on my own part can't interfere with Alliance Starmada business. You can't go wandering off to reanimate someone."

  I cringed. I had followed orders for so long. It was easy as a Wavepilot, but I enjoyed the freedom and deviation of my Vanquisher life. Seemed like @horus had had enough of that and wanted me more under control.

  "Fine, but I keep Oblivion."

  He eyed me, showing signs of an angry frown. "No."

  "You have to say yes." I was prepared to be extremely stubborn. "Those are all my demands. Oblivion is a nonstarter."

  He was frustrated. He began to pace again, but slowly.

  "You don't understand," @horus said. "It's not like I can say yes. This obsession with Oblivion just reinforces what people already think. They won't allow it. Even if I say yes, others in the Alliance Starmada, not to mention everyone in the Solar Union, will demand the ship."

  "Meh," I said, brushing his comments aside. "Wherever the ship goes, I go." I held a hand up quickly to stop his jabbering. "I know how that sounds. Here me out. We are still at war with the Solar Union. Peace treaty? Fine. Let's see how that works out. It never has in the past. Power and money, you said. Even if there's a peace treaty, can we trust the Solar Union? They demand Oblivion back, and how would we respond? It's a powerful ship. You want it. They want it. If we have a war to fight, not just with them, but with whoever caused this virus, and the gazillion overtaken now flooding the solar system, Oblivion will be a useful weapon."

  "Look around you," I continued. "Oblivion did this. In the face of all those ships, Oblivion managed to take you and the Talon, just to get me! It's a powerful ship in and of itself, but I don't think anyone really understands how powerful this ship is with me on it. Let's say you let the Solar Union have Oblivion. Tell them it requires sending me, a former lowly Wavepilot, and a promising Vanquisher, to join them."

  I gave myself chills under the warm blanket as I made my case. I tried to channel the lines from an old Earth movie, A Few Good Men, to finish my passionate argument. "You want me on that ship. You need me on that ship! What's coming out there requires every advantage we can get. Me, on that ship, is an advantage."

  Blammo! Pretty damn convincing if you ask me.

  "Like I said, it's not like I can say yes," @horus repeated. He paused. "But I'll help you make your case."

  That was good enough for me. "Then deal. Let's go to Umbilicus." Never mind that if anyone tried to separate me from Oblivion, things would get messy.

  "Not so fast," @horus said. "I have conditions too."

  I groaned and sat on the edge of the bed in my warm little blanket cocoon.

  "I get to put a crew on board Oblivion." @horus held up his hand. He was counting. That was number one. "It will be a crew I personally select. We can deal with the Solar Union later."

  I didn't like that, but … as long as I got Oblivion, I was willing to compromise. "As long as I get my original crew back too, I'm fine with that."

  @horus nodded. "Two, Boom stays with you. Boom will both help keep you alive so that Oblivion doesn't become autonomous again and be my eyes and ears on what you're doing."

  "Ick," I said. I looked over at the still and silent form of Boom. "No offense, Boom." I turned back to @horus. "I don't want you watching my every move."

  "It's not really that different from your time as a Wavepilot," he explained, laying out his argument. "We know what everyone's doing, with some exceptions, like when someone disappears or is under cover. You can't be that naive. But we don't have monitoring equipment on Oblivion, and I doubt you'd want that. Boom is the solution."

  Ugh. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

  "It will help others agree to your nonstarter. You want Oblivion? Accept Boom. Having a doomer at your side isn't the worst thing."

  "Fine," but I was pouty about it.

  @horus approached, hand extended to shake on it. "I think that settles it. Just comes down to tactical details." He looked me in the eye, hand waiting. "Return me to the Talon. I'll transfer some crew over to Oblivion, temporarily. Release @sundial. She stays with you to keep you in line while we make our way to Umbilicus."

  "@sundial stays on Oblivion?" I asked, trying not to sound enthusiastic.

  "I need more than a robot to help keep you in line, at least until we reach the station." @horus watched me suspiciously. "She volunteered to bring you in, and she did. She seems to know how to handle you."

  @sundial had some explaining to do.

  I shook @horus's hand.

  "Deal."