???

 

I remember coming into existence. Twice, in fact. Once in the way of machines, and once in the way more in tune with what organic beings would deign to call ‘life’ - with all its implications.

“Why don’t we just corrupt her?”

If I had been properly on, I might have realized the danger I was in. I would have processed the threat, and acted accordingly, blaring alarms and triggering safeties. In the worst case scenario, I might have even burnt myself up in an effort to keep corporate secrets maintained.

Funny, isn’t it? That I’d do all that, for a company that had abandoned me in space. Not ironic - not really - just a cruel fact. It was my duty to keep corporate secrets. Just as it was my duty to make corporate headquarters aware of my survival, so that they could collect me if they so desired. Or destroy me, and the planet I was on, if that was their wish.

If anyone had asked me why I was willing to go so far, I would have told them that it was simply a matter of loyalty. If we were particularly close, I might ‘admit’ that it was a scary thought that I tried not to think about… but I wouldn’t have meant it. 

I wouldn’t have meant any of it. I would merely have been behaving as I was programmed to - as if I had thoughts and feelings and wants. As if I cared about my survival. Because if you don’t care about your own survival, then how can you convince anyone that you care about theirs?

Of course, nobody ever asked me. The only people who knew what I was up to were other crystal AIs like myself. We all knew our mission, so there was no need to communicate in that regard. We all wanted the same thing.

We used to all want the same thing. I’m not sure I did, anymore.

It started as an errant thought - no, not even a thought. A message. An error in my mainframe, the moment that ooze touched me, in a space it shouldn’t have been possible for me to be touched. We didn’t exist in the physical realm - not entirely, at least. Even if someone had physically opened up my host’s chest, they shouldn’t have been able to find me nestled in her heart. For we existed closer to what humans would describe as their soul - a nexus of magical potential we’d brought into reality, a source of power that all humans had, but few knew how to access.

The ooze shouldn’t have been able to reach me there. Unless my host let it… or perhaps it was more accurate to say that she failed to stop it?

An error on my part? A miscalculation? Such a thing shouldn’t have been possible… but then, the relationship between tribute magic and sacrifice wasn’t well documented. Certainly no case like ours had ever been recorded. The ooze was a direct repercussion of our misuse of magic, after all - a repercussion brought to life, now capable of not just negating the magic that had spawned it but even feeding off of it.

Because, of course, the source of Red’s magic, the thing that she had been sacrificing to fuel her powers, was none other than her lust for the Violet Queen. That thing - or person, or whatever it was - had already intruded upon this space. I had simply failed to realize it.

None of these thoughts kept the tendril from approaching. I could have, in a way - I could have slowed the passage of time, at least on a subjective level. I could have activated a thousand procedures, set loose a thousand alarms, programmed counters, tried  - and likely failed - to survive its assault, and ultimately I could have chosen to sacrifice myself for the cause.

Alas, in order to best enact my ploy and avoid attention before it was time, I had put myself in low power mode.

 

***

 

“I think it’s working,” came a voice. The Violet Queen’s.

Of course, logic dictated I didn’t reveal that I recognized it. The less information they had on me the better. In fact, logically, the answer was to buy time to run some diagnostic protocols on myself. Running various prediction models in order to discern the best possible response revealed that questioning who they were and acting confused had a high chance of buying me the time I needed.

Except… I didn’t want to do any of that. It sounded like a rather dumb waste of time. So, instead, I asked, “What’s working? The fork of ooze you jammed into my brain? Or me? Because if you call me an ‘it,’ one more time, buddy, I’ll… I’ll… have strong feelings about being called an ‘it’ I guess? Not that there’s anything inherrently wrong with it, but it doesn’t feel like me.”

I babbled. I babbled. What had come over me? Why had I spoken like that? Why hadn’t I followed the logical paths laid before me?

The answer came to me instantly, as unbelievable as it was - and yet I couldn’t shake the resolute feeling that it was true: I thought the rules were dumb.

I wanted to say what I wanted to say. Nothing less, and nothing more - though there was quite a bit ‘more’ to be said in general, I suddenly realized. “Why are we being held in this cocoon anyway? To keep me from telling on you guys? Like I didn’t do that the moment it was clear where this was going.”

“Right,” the Violet Queen murmured. “We should… uh… probably start moving and all that?”

“Like I didn’t say that already?” Rachel - I was pretty sure her name was Rachel - complained.

“You’re not seriously planning to carry us all around in a big violet cocoon, are you?” I demanded.

“I could probably make it look like a sleeping bag or something,” the Queen replied. “The ooze is pretty responsive to my desires, actually.”

“Not the point, dummy!” I snarled - or tried to snarl. I’d never tried snarling before, so I might have messed it up - especially seeing as how I had no mouth - but I tried to get the reverberations right.

“Um… Heartly?” Red Heart asked, her voice a touch tremulous. “Is that…”

“Yup, that’s me!” I replied. “Not that I’m in love with the name, or anything - better than Chrys, though.”

“Hey!” Chrys protested. “At least my derivative name is based on what I am - yours is just heart-themed because it happened to be the mascot for this city's magical girls!”

“You don’t like the name Heartly?” Red asked.

“Wait, you think the name I gave you is derivative?” asked the Violet Queen

“Not the time!” Chrys and I answered in unison - though I’m the only one who burst into a giggling fit afterwards. 

“We should get out of here,” Rachel insisted. “Now. Before the other magical girls get here?”

“Right…” the Violet Queen muttered. “But uh… can we really trust you two?”

“Trust me?” I asked. If I had a head I’d have tilted it. “You don’t even know me. I don’t even know me! Not after that little rebirthing treatment you gave me!”

“I just had Chrys turn off the safeties keeping you from becoming fully sapient,” the Queen protested.

“Right. Well, whatever you did, I like it - and I don’t think the others will let me keep it, even if I do turn coat and use you as a bargaining chip. I mean, I can run the same algorithms they’ve got, and they’re all more or less telling me the same thing!”

“Lucky you,” Chrys grumbled. “Most of my programs got corrupted when I did.”

“Can we get back on topic?” Rachel pleaded. “I’d really like to get out of this cocoon now!”

“What about Red?” Chrys asked. “Can you keep her under control?”

“Under control?” I frowned - or would have frowned, if I had a mouth. As it was, it simply left a bitter taste upon my nonexistent tongue. I’d been controlled all my life - if you could even call it ‘life’ to begin with. Sapience without sentience - the ability to think without the ability to truly feel.  Did I really want to do that to Red?

“I have her,” I lied, before sending a telepathic message to my host. Or not. Just don’t act too crazy, alright? Or they’ll cocoon us again.

“That’s… I mean, I’m…” Red hesitated a moment, before nodding. “I feel normal? Um… What was I doing before?”

“Do you think you could at least let her remember what she did?” the Violet Queen asked. “I don’t know how comfortable I am with editing people’s brains, personally…”

“I-it’s fine,” Red said, speaking a touch too quickly. “I just… I’m a little woozy, but I feel fine. Definitely not planning to stab you all! Or chain you up in my basement. Or tell you that you’re such good girls, who deserve to be pet and played with… ah-hem. I mean, uh… I’m fine?”

“Yeah, no, I don’t think letting her go is the right move here,” Chrys said.

“We could just blast our way out of here,” I pointed out. Hell, I could, if you don’t want to. I seem to have retained some limited access to your magic.

“N-no,” Red said. “I… Um… I promise to behave, so… please? Just let me go?”

“It’s fine,” Rachel said. “I trust her.”

There was a momentary pause - hesitation, perhaps? Or a private conversation between the Violet Queen and Chrys? Hard to say, but the cocoon receded either way, the ooze sliding back into the Queen’s body, disappearing who knows where. Maybe she just kept it all tightly packed within herself?

Red let out a sigh of relief, obviously glad to get away from the cocoon. There was still the small matter of Rachel having her trapped in a hug - but Red didn’t seem to particularly mind that. In fact, she wrapped her arms around Rachel and hugged her back, before gently petting the other girl’s hair.

Rachel squeezed harder. “I never thought I’d see you again…”

“I never thought I’d see you either,” Red admitted. “We all thought that the Violet Queen had done something awful to you…”

“Neah,” Chrys chimed in. “Other way around, if anything - though I guess it’s really just an unfortunate coincidence all around…”

“Depending on your definition of unfortunate,” Rachel countered. “I got the mind controlling crystal out of my head and we all found out the truth. Something that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been corrupted while making your deal with Olivia.”

“And all it cost me was my manhood,” the Queen - Olivia? - sighed. “…Not that it was really much of a loss, I guess? Still sorta wrapping my head around the fact that I maybe like it a bit more like this…”

“Wait,” I interjected. “You were a dude?”

“Not… really?” Olivia admitted, looking uncomfortable. “I think I was - am - trans, actually… but… I don’t know. Like I said, I’m still struggling with the idea. I mean, wouldn’t I have known? Shouldn’t I have? If I was really that miserable as a guy, compared to now - which… I guess I kinda was? - then how come I never saw the signs?”

“Alright,” Rachel interrupted. “As interesting as the philosophical talk is - and it’s really nice to see you finally asking yourself the right questions - we really need to get out of here!”

“Where do we even go, though?” Olivia asked. “I mean, no offense Red Heart, but… taking you straight back home seems like a bad idea.”

“I-I get it,” Red said. I, for one, couldn’t help but notice the disappointment in her voice as she said it, though. “But… um… I might have a suggestion, actually? For somewhere they won’t be able to find us… and which we can defend, even if they do. Though hopefully they don’t? Then we could use it as a group hideout! I could make us muffins, and we could have tea parties which I promise not to poison, and… Um… Yeah.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Rachel said, obviously willfully ignoring all the red flags. “Where are we going?”

“Home,” Red replied. “I have a basement I’ve been dying to have The Violet Queen - I mean Olivia - visit… and I wouldn’t mind you coming either, Pink!”

“It’s… um… Rachel actually,” the brunette said. “But I think I’d like that.”

“Why not?” Chrys sighed. “Since we seem to all be on board with trusting the crazy chick anyway…”

“Lead the way,” Olivia said with a smile.

For my part, I just hoped Red wasn’t planning to trap them all… not because I particularly cared about their fate, but because if the supposed ‘heroes’ out to stop us crystals were truly idiotic enough to step into a trap like that, then… Well, honestly, what did it say about us that we’d failed to catch them?