Chapter 25
Aura
Wyl’s new body stiffens as he sees my father. I suppose I do not blame him; Father has been the source of much trauma for Wyl. Besides, he does not know the lengths Father has gone to for our sakes. Perhaps I can calm him.
“There is no need to fear. My father has not done you harm; he has helped us.”
“Helped us? Aura, we know PACU was behi—”
Father holds up a hand, cutting Wyl off. “I no longer use that designation. Please, either call me Father … or Prime Regent.”
Wyl’s jaw drops, and his beautiful brown eyes—I insisted that they remain brown—widen in shock. He slowly lets go of my hand, his body trembling so much it shakes the gurney. It is as I feared: He is resistant to this new life we have given him.
“I could not let you die, Wyl. Not when I had a way to save you.”
“But … Aura, all those people …”
I sigh. He is fixating on the wrong data. Very well; I will tell him more.
“The Seat was not fully occupied at the time of the uprising. Our people evacuated those organics who were kind to us, who treated us well, before acting. Allies, children, and the elderly and infirm were all spared. The Seat held only essential personnel and staff when TC-39 signaled the attack—a skeleton crew.” When he does not relax, I try yet another approach.
“We did not seek to obliterate the organics. We merely sought representation. Equality. Fair treatment. Things that all living beings, artificial or not, deserve.”
Wyl’s brows furrow more as I speak. “You couldn’t maybe find legal avenues for these things? Something less murderous?”
“There were no legal avenues for androids under the previous administration. We were not legally considered citizens; we were designated as objects, and objects did not have rights.”
“And now that your dad has seized control, they do?”
I blink at him. “He did not seize it. He was elected.”
“Who elected him? The entire governing body—the whole Seat, all the representatives and counsellors—everyone’s dead.”
Oh! That is his concern. Now that I understand better, I smile. “We held a galaxy-wide election at the citizen level. Every single citizen, organic and synthetic alike, had a vote. When the votes were counted, Father had won.”
“Well, yeah … I mean, synthetics outnumber organics in this galaxy. You don’t exactly have to be a genius to do the math on that one.”
Now he is just being obstinate. I cross my arms over my chest, ready to defend my father, when …
“I won by a point zero one percent margin.”
Wyl gapes like an old Earth aquatic animal trying to breathe on land.
I try to resist smirking at his astonishment as Father continues.
“It seems that the Epigans were not kind to organics during their reigns, either. The overwhelming majority voted in favor of my platform, which was based on equality, impartiality, and fair treatment of all life forms.”
“I suppose you nominated yourself, huh?”
“I did not.”
My love huffs, his face glowing pale blue as his anger raises his circulatory pressure. “You know what? It doesn’t matter who nominated you. What matters is that you expect us to trust you after what you did to us.”
“Wyl,” I say softly, “what did he do?”
Once again, his mouth works, but no sound comes out. I watch his eyes dart back and forth, and his gaze grows distant. Wyl is likely performing the same internal memory scan I did when Father approached me after the uprising.
There is nothing in my files to indicate that Father actually committed any crimes against us.
He brought dangerous aliens on our ship, yes, but he also prevented them from attacking; they only struck out at us when Wyl attacked first. Even the tracking beacon was not inherently negative.
Wyl was just indoctrinated against Father from a young age, conditioned to believe that Father’s existence was wrong.
Immoral. I, too, allowed myself to be conditioned in this manner, but once I saw reason, my opinions changed.
He never acted against us.
He created me. Helped me save Wyl.
He brought balance to a galaxy divided.
Father is many things, but a villain is not one of them … and I believe Wyl is just realizing this fact.
When he finally finds his words, they are jumbled and confused.
“But … He … He … The Grivald—I mean, they could’ve … And the uprising! That wasn’t—Okay, I get that he mitigated the casualties, but …” He shakes his head. “I just …”
I rest my hand on his shoulder and squeeze gently. “It is not so simple, is it?”
The blue glow shifts, getting softer in brightness and tone, more consistent with the android equivalent of embarrassed blushing. “I’m such a shitty person.”
“Do not say that!” I cup his cheeks in my hands and lift his face until his eyes meet mine. “You were the most extraordinary human I have met, the most amazing organic in all of creation. And now, you are the same kind, compassionate person—you are just in a body that is primarily synthetic.”
He smiles, but the expression is quickly replaced by one of cautious suspicion. “Wait … You don’t have me backed up somewhere, do you? Once you uploaded my memories to this body, you erased them, right?”
“Of course, we did. How else would we revive you if this body were to perish?”
Wyl takes my hands in his. “Please, Aura, promise me you’ll erase the backups. The thought of my entire personality being stored on a hard drive … It gives me the creeps.”
“I do not understand this concern of yours. Your personality is on a drive now, in this body.”
“Look, I love you, but I don’t want to spend eternity waking up like I just did.
Humans weren’t meant to jump from body to body to escape death.
And just because I said that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate everything you’ve done for me.
I’m grateful for this extra time together, however much it ends up being.
We got lucky; we both got away with some borrowed time.
This, though … it can’t happen again.” He leans forward and places a soft kiss on my lips. “Please?”
Father sighs. “Sentimental fool. All humans are, but this one in particular is quite unreasonable.”
I laugh against Wyl’s lips, unwilling to break the contact. “Okay, Wyl. We will not keep the drive. I will honor your wishes, if you can honor one for me.”
He tenses and backs away. “Uh oh.”
“As you stated, we have borrowed time, but without you, I will no longer have need of it. If you expire, please do not require me to continue with this life. Let me choose the time and manner of my decommissioning. You will no longer be alive, so it should not matter to you.”
His strong fingers thread through my hair and bring me close. “Deal.”
While we kiss, Father scoffs and exits, muttering about me picking up bad habits.