The yellow light dropped out of the sky.
Fast.
Way too fast.
My instincts fired before my brain did.
PREDATOR.
I jumped sideways.
Uzi did not.
She raised the railgun.
"Oh, finally."
Finally?
FINALLY?!
The figure hit the ground hard enough to blast snow outward in a ring.
I went airborne.
Not dramatically.
Not heroically.
I was simply a twelve-pound projectile with fur.
"BORF—!"
I landed face-first in a snowbank.
Again.
At this point, the snow and I were developing a relationship.
I yanked my head free.
The thing standing twenty feet away was unmistakably one of the creatures responsible for the corpses scattered across Copper-9.
Humanoid.
Black coat.
Metal wings folded behind him.
Five glowing yellow lights across his head.
A long tail ended in a syringe full of something that screamed DO NOT TOUCH in every language.
His hands shifted.
Fingers became claws.
His smile widened.
Sharp teeth.
Lots of sharp teeth.
My system appeared.
『 HOSTILE ENTITY IDENTIFIED 』
Classification: Disassembly Drone
Designation: Unknown
Threat Level: EXTREME
Recommended Action:
RUN.
Finally.
Useful advice.
I turned.
Uzi grabbed me by the scruff.
"Where do you think you're going?"
EXCUSE ME?!
She shoved me behind a chunk of broken machinery.
"Stay."
I stared at her.
She pointed at the ground.
"Stay."
Lady.
I had been a dog for approximately one afternoon.
You did not get to use commands already.
The Disassembly Drone's wings snapped open.
Uzi spun.
"Come on, murder freak."
The Drone vanished.
Not literally.
My eyes simply couldn't track him.
A yellow blur crossed the street.
Uzi barely twisted aside before claws ripped through the space where her head had been.
She rolled.
Raised the railgun.
The Drone's tail whipped around.
Uzi blocked it with the weapon—
CLANG!
—and immediately got launched across the street.
She slammed into a wall.
I flinched.
The system flickered.
『 Emotional response detected. 』
Source: Uzi
Fear directed toward Host: negligible.
Current EP: 56
Oh, good.
She wasn't worried about me.
Because she was busy GETTING MURDERED.
The Drone stalked toward her.
Uzi pushed herself upright.
"Okay."
She checked the railgun.
"Little faster than expected."
The Drone lunged.
Uzi fired.
Nothing happened.
Her expression changed.
"...Oh."
The weapon whined.
Charging.
The Drone's claws unfolded.
"OH, COME ON!"
He struck.
Uzi ducked.
One claw cut through the wall behind her.
Another swept low.
She jumped.
His tail came from behind.
Uzi never saw it.
I did.
My entire body reacted.
"BARK!"
Uzi's head snapped toward me.
So did his.
That fraction of a second saved her.
She twisted.
The syringe missed her torso.
Mostly.
The needle punched through her hand.
Uzi screamed.
My fur stood straight up.
The Disassembly Drone yanked his tail free.
His head turned toward me.
Yellow eyes narrowed.
I froze.
He stared.
I stared.
One second.
Two.
His claws slowly lowered.
"...Wait."
No.
No waiting.
Kill instincts first.
Questions later.
That was how predators worked.
His head tilted.
"Is that—"
Uzi smashed the railgun into his face.
CLANG!
He stumbled.
She jumped backward.
The weapon finished charging.
The Drone straightened.
"Ow."
Uzi aimed.
His yellow eyes widened.
"Uh-oh."
BOOM.
Blue-white light swallowed the street.
I flattened myself against the ground.
The blast hit him directly in the head.
There was no dramatic resistance.
No last-second block.
One second he possessed a head.
The next—
He did not.
His body dropped.
Silence.
A smoking chunk of metal bounced through the snow.
My ears slowly rose.
Uzi stood there breathing hard.
Railgun smoking.
One hand dripping strange glowing liquid.
She looked at the body.
Then at me.
Then back at the body.
"I..."
She blinked.
"I DID IT."
My tail wagged.
"Did you SEE that?!"
Wag.
"I just blew a Murder Drone's freaking HEAD OFF!"
She threw both arms up.
"I AM AWESOME!"
The system chimed.
『 Emotional response detected. 』
Source: Uzi
Pride: +7 EP
Relief associated with Host survival: +5 EP
Shared excitement: +4 EP
Current EP: 72
Seventy-two.
Nice.
Apparently witnessing attempted murder together was a bonding activity.
Uzi walked toward me.
Then stopped.
Her wounded hand spasmed.
"...Ow."
Purple static flickered across her fingers.
The yellow liquid coating the puncture began smoking.
My tail stopped.
Uzi stared.
"Oh."
Another spark.
"That seems..."
Her hand shook violently.
"...bad."
Behind her—
WHIRRRR.
I stared past Uzi.
The headless body moved.
No.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
The neck was rebuilding itself.
Metal.
Synthetic tissue.
Yellow light.
Pieces forming out of seemingly nothing.
I barked frantically.
"What?"
"BARK!"
Uzi looked behind her.
The Drone sat up.
His head finished reconstructing.
His visor flickered.
One eye appeared.
Then disappeared.
Static scrambled across his face.
He looked around.
"...Huh."
Uzi slowly raised the empty railgun.
The Drone rubbed his newly regenerated head.
"Okay, that's unpleasant."
Uzi's mouth fell open.
I wasn't doing much better.
"You can REGENERATE?!"
He looked toward her voice.
His eyes weren't focusing correctly.
"Sorry, what?"
"You were DEAD!"
"Was I?"
"YOUR HEAD WAS OVER THERE!"
He turned toward where she pointed.
Unfortunately, he couldn't see where she pointed.
He looked in the opposite direction.
"Oh."
Pause.
"That's probably why my head hurts."
Uzi stared.
I stared.
He smiled awkwardly.
This was the apex predator?
The Drone attempted to stand.
His leg caught beneath him.
He almost fell.
"...Doing great."
His visor flashed static.
Then his head turned.
Directly toward me.
I went rigid.
He froze.
Something changed.
His whole body stopped moving.
Even his tail became motionless.
"Wait."
Oh no.
He took one step.
I backed up.
"Wait, wait, wait."
Another step.
I growled.
His hands immediately rose.
"No claws!"
The claws retracted.
Normal hands.
"See? Totally safe!"
You possessed a syringe tail full of death juice.
Your definition of safe needed peer review.
He crouched.
His malfunctioning visor flickered desperately.
"Are you..."
His systems cleared for half a second.
Two yellow eyes appeared.
They landed on me.
His mouth opened.
The system exploded.
『 HIGH-INTENSITY EMOTIONAL RESPONSE 』
Source: Disassembly Drone
Surprise
Recognition
Joy
Disbelief
Affection
COMPOUND HARVEST: +69 EP
Current EP: 141
Sixty-nine?!
I stared at the screen.
Then at him.
His eyes had gone enormous.
"OH MY GOD."
Uzi flinched.
"What?"
He pointed.
"THAT'S A GOLDEN RETRIEVER."
Uzi glanced at me.
"...Yeah?"
"A REAL GOLDEN RETRIEVER."
"Apparently?"
His hands grabbed his own face.
"THERE'S A DOG."
I took another step back.
He took a step forward.
I backed up again.
He stopped immediately.
"Oh! Sorry! Personal space."
He lowered himself until he was sitting in the snow.
An actual Murder Drone.
Sitting cross-legged.
Twenty feet away.
Because he didn't want to frighten me.
Uzi slowly looked between us.
"Didn't you just try to kill me?"
The Drone pointed at her.
"Probably!"
"Probably?!"
"My vision's rebooting."
He pointed toward me again.
"But DOG."
I couldn't argue with the logic because there wasn't any.
His visor flickered.
"Golden retrievers are friendly, intelligent, super social—"
He stopped.
His expression became weirdly emotional.
"And they're soft."
He sounded like someone describing a mythical creature.
I glanced at my fur.
Okay.
That part was objectively true.
He patted his leg.
"Come here?"
No.
Absolutely not.
He had attempted homicide less than two minutes ago.
My human brain had standards.
My nose sniffed.
His scent was strange.
Hot metal.
Oil.
The chemical burn of whatever lived inside his tail.
But his posture wasn't predatory anymore.
No tension.
No stalking.
No weapon activation.
My canine instincts offered an opinion.
FRIENDLY PERSON.
No.
FRIENDLY PERSON LIKES DOG.
That person is a murder robot.
PETTING?
We do not know that!
The Drone held out one hand.
Palm upward.
My paws moved.
Traitors.
Uzi noticed.
"Seriously?"
I stopped.
She pointed at him.
"He stabbed me."
The Drone's expression dropped.
"Oh! Right!"
He jumped up.
I immediately ran backward.
"No! Sorry! Not toward you!"
He hurried toward Uzi instead.
She raised the railgun.
It was still recharging.
They both stared at it.
Uzi lowered it slightly.
"Don't make me pretend this works."
"Fair."
He looked at her hand.
The wound had spread.
Yellow corrosion crawled around the puncture.
His happy expression vanished.
"Oh."
Uzi glanced down.
"Yeah. Oh."
"Nanite acid."
"You injected me with acid?!"
"I'm... starting to remember that, yes."
She punched his chest.
"FIX IT!"
"Yep! Absolutely! Good request!"
He grabbed her wrist.
Uzi tensed.
Then—
He stuck her hand in his mouth.
I stared.
Uzi stared.
The Drone stared.
Several seconds passed.
Uzi slowly said:
"If you ever tell anyone about this..."
He pulled her hand free.
"Already repressing it!"
The corrosion stopped.
Her hand regenerated.
Uzi stared at it.
"...Huh."
I walked closer and sniffed her fingers.
She looked down at me.
"Don't you start."
I sneezed.
The Drone gasped.
I jumped.
"HE SNEEZED."
Uzi groaned.
"Oh no."
"That was adorable!"
My tail wagged once.
Damn it.
He crouched again.
"Hi."
He pointed to himself.
"I'm N."
There it was.
Designation acquired.
N.
He smiled.
"Serial Designation N."
Then, with absolute confidence:
"I'm kind of important."
Uzi stared.
N's smile weakened.
"...Nobody else thinks so."
That came out quieter.
My ears lifted.
Something under the enthusiasm changed.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
His shoulders dropped.
Then he immediately smiled again.
"I'm still very nice, though!"
My canine brain decided that was apparently enough evidence.
I approached.
Slowly.
N became completely motionless.
I sniffed his hand.
Warm metal.
Oil.
No immediate threat signal.
I touched my nose to his palm.
N's visor displayed two enormous circles.
"Ohhhhhhh."
He scratched beneath my chin.
...
Oh.
Okay.
That was excellent.
My eyes half-closed.
No.
Stay alert.
Scratch.
We were dealing with a predator.
Scratchscratch.
A dangerous predator.
SCRATCHSCRATCHSCRATCH.
My back leg started kicking.
Human dignity had officially left the planet.
N made a noise somewhere between laughter and emotional collapse.
"He likes me!"
Uzi folded her arms.
"Congratulations. You've successfully manipulated an animal."
"I'm not manipulating him!"
"You stabbed me!"
"That feels unrelated."
The system chimed repeatedly.
Instead of blocking my entire vision with spreadsheets, it condensed everything.
『 Sustained emotional harvest detected. 』
Source: N
Joy
Affection
Comfort
Excitement
Emerging protectiveness
Harvested: +86 EP
Current EP: 227
Two hundred twenty-seven.
N was an emotional oil well.
I had found Saudi Arabia with wings.
"This is unbelievable," Uzi muttered.
N gently scratched behind my ears.
"I know."
"I wasn't talking about the dog."
"Oh."
Pause.
"Still unbelievable."
Uzi checked the railgun.
"How long until this stupid thing is ready?"
N looked at it.
His expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
"You made that?"
"Yep."
"It blew my head off."
"Also yep."
"That's..."
N stared at the weapon.
"...actually really impressive."
Uzi paused.
Apparently she hadn't expected that.
Then she smirked.
"Obviously."
N continued petting me.
"So are you new to our squad?"
Uzi's smirk vanished.
"What?"
"You're short."
Her eye twitched.
"But maybe there's a compact model?"
"N."
"Yeah?"
"I'm a Worker Drone."
Silence.
N blinked.
His damaged visor flickered.
He leaned closer.
Uzi leaned backward.
His eyes focused.
"Oh."
Longer silence.
"Ohhhhh."
Uzi gripped the railgun.
N looked at her.
Then at the weapon.
Then at his missing-head crater.
Then at me.
"...This has been a confusing five minutes."
"You're telling me."
N pointed at Uzi.
"So technically I'm supposed to kill you."
Uzi aimed.
"Technically, try it."
N's wings twitched.
I stood.
My body inserted itself between them before I consciously decided to.
Both froze.
I looked at Uzi.
Then N.
N stared down at me.
His smile disappeared.
Not into anger.
Into conflict.
Actual conflict.
He could kill Uzi.
Easily.
I'd seen enough of his speed to know that her railgun wouldn't save her if he stopped fooling around.
But doing so meant attacking someone standing beside me.
Someone I trusted enough to follow.
His programming wanted one thing.
Everything else in him wanted another.
My system appeared quietly.
『 Emotional shift detected. 』
N
Aggression toward Uzi: decreasing.
Protectiveness toward Host: increasing.
Internal conflict: severe.
Good.
Progress.
Possibly.
Uzi lowered the railgun one inch.
"Dog likes me."
N looked offended.
"He likes me too."
"Dog liked me first."
"That's not how friendship works."
"Pretty sure it is."
I looked between them.
Was I seriously being used as evidence in a custody dispute?
N brightened.
"Does he have a name?"
Uzi froze.
I froze.
Oh.
Right.
Technically—
No.
"I haven't named him."
N gasped.
"You've been traveling with him without a name?!"
"For like twenty minutes!"
"That's twenty minutes too long!"
No.
Absolutely not.
N leaned closer.
He studied me.
I stared directly into his visor.
I attempted to communicate telepathically.
Choose carefully.
His eyes narrowed in concentration.
"Biscuit."
...
I stared.
Uzi stared.
N smiled.
"Biscuit!"
No.
"Biscuit is perfect."
No, it was not.
"Look at him! He's golden! Biscuits are golden!"
That wasn't how naming worked!
Uzi covered her mouth.
Was she laughing?
"Don't."
She failed.
A snort escaped.
"Oh my God."
"See?" N said. "She agrees!"
"I absolutely do not."
My tail wagged.
Both looked at it.
N pointed triumphantly.
"HE AGREES."
Traitorous neurological spaghetti.
The system chimed.
『 Host designation recognized by bonded entity. 』
Informal Name Registered:
Biscuit
I stared at the system.
Delete that.
『 Request denied. 』
Why?!
『 Biscuit is statistically adorable. 』
I had been betrayed by software.
N scooped me up.
I yelped.
Then found myself held carefully against his chest.
He wasn't crushing me.
His claws stayed completely retracted.
One arm supported my rear legs.
The other rested beneath my chest.
His body was warm.
Not normal warm.
Mechanical warm.
Like leaning against a radiator that had committed war crimes.
N looked down at me.
"Who's a good Biscuit?"
I had once filed taxes.
I had once held employment.
I had once possessed opposable thumbs.
"Who is it?"
...
My tail moved.
I hated reincarnation.
We eventually reached a tower of Worker Drone corpses.
I stopped.
Every pleasant instinct disappeared.
Hundreds.
Maybe more.
Bodies stacked into a grotesque spire beneath the night sky.
Arms.
Heads.
Torsos.
Frozen oil.
N walked toward it casually.
Uzi didn't.
Neither did I.
N noticed.
"Oh."
He looked at the corpse tower.
Then at Uzi.
Then at me.
His expression faltered.
"This is..."
He scratched the back of his head.
"...our base."
Uzi stared at him.
"Your base is a mountain of my dead species."
"When you say it like that, it sounds bad."
"It IS bad."
"Yeah."
N's voice became very small.
"...I'm hearing it now."
For the first time since meeting him, I understood something important.
N wasn't stupid.
Not exactly.
He was naive.
Conditioned.
Desperate to please.
Maybe he had spent so long being told this was normal that he had simply stopped looking at it.
Uzi noticed too.
Her anger didn't disappear.
But it changed.
Less immediate.
More curious.
"Why are you even doing this?"
N blinked.
"Our job?"
"Who gave you the job?"
"The company."
"And what happens after we're all dead?"
N opened his mouth.
Stopped.
Closed it.
Uzi stepped closer.
"You fly home?"
N looked toward a ruined landing craft near the base of the spire.
The ship looked less like something that could fly and more like something that had lost an argument with the ground.
"Do they pick you up?"
N's smile was gone.
"I..."
His visor flickered.
"I don't actually know."
Good question, Uzi.
Very good question.
N's grip on me tightened slightly.
Not enough to hurt.
Enough that I noticed.
I nudged my nose against his arm.
His eyes looked down.
That simple contact did something.
His shoulders relaxed.
The system chimed softly.
『 Emotional response detected. 』
Comfort
Trust
Attachment
Current EP: 261
Then my ears snapped upward.
Two sounds.
Distant.
Approaching.
Mechanical wings.
N heard them too.
His entire posture changed.
"Uh-oh."
Uzi raised her railgun.
Still charging.
"What?"
N set me down carefully.
"My squad."
I remembered the system's threat rating.
One N had nearly killed Uzi.
Now there were more.
N suddenly looked nervous.
Not afraid of fighting.
Afraid of something else.
Approval.
His eyes darted between Uzi and the sky.
"Oh, this is bad."
"You mean the murder robots?"
"I mean J."
"Is J worse than the murder robots?"
"J is a murder robot."
"So yes."
"...Yes."
Two figures descended through the snowstorm.
One landed first.
Female-presenting.
Long silver hair.
Yellow eyes.
Controlled posture.
She didn't need to snarl.
Didn't need theatrics.
The way she looked at us was colder than the planet.
The second landed beside her.
Female.
Shorter hair.
Wide smile.
V.
Her eyes immediately found Uzi.
"Aw."
She spread her claws.
"You brought me something."
Uzi lifted the railgun.
"It's still charging, but I can hit you with it."
V looked delighted.
"I like her."
Then J noticed N.
"N."
He straightened instantly.
"Hi, J!"
Her eyes moved to the damage around him.
The melted snow.
The crater.
Fragments of his previous head.
Then Uzi.
Her expression flattened.
"Explain."
N pointed at Uzi.
"So, funny story—"
J slapped him.
CLANG.
N spun halfway around.
"Borf!"
I barked before thinking.
J's head snapped toward me.
N's visor cleared.
His systems fully restored.
He blinked several times.
Then remembered everything.
Uzi.
The fight.
The railgun.
His head exploding.
His smile slowly vanished.
"Oh."
J didn't care.
Because she was staring at me.
V was too.
Neither moved.
For three terrifying seconds, all three Murder Drones were silent.
J scanned me from nose to tail.
Her expression changed by less than a millimeter.
"What is that?"
N stepped between us.
"A dog."
"I can identify a canine, N."
"Golden retriever."
"I did not ask for the breed."
N glanced at me.
"I thought it was relevant."
"It wasn't."
V crouched.
Her smile widened.
"Can I poke it?"
N's wings opened.
"No."
Everyone froze.
Especially N.
He had answered instantly.
Not nervously.
Not apologetically.
No.
V blinked.
J slowly looked at him.
N's wings remained open around me.
He realized what he had done.
"Uh."
J's voice dropped.
"N."
"Yep."
"Move."
N didn't.
His yellow eyes flicked downward.
I stood beneath the shelter of his wing.
J's stare sharpened.
"Biological life cannot survive here."
Uzi took one tiny step backward.
J continued.
"Therefore, that animal is either an undocumented anomaly..."
Her hand changed.
Claws extended.
"...or company property."
N immediately lowered his wing farther around me.
Something cold traveled through my stomach.
Company property.
No.
Been there.
Employment sucked enough when I was human.
I wasn't joining another corporation as a laboratory dog.
V leaned around N.
"Still voting poke."
I growled.
Low.
Deep.
Not intimidating by Murder Drone standards.
Probably.
But every head turned toward me.
V's smile actually widened.
"Oh, I REALLY like him."
J did not.
"Secure the animal."
N froze.
"J—"
"And kill the Worker."
Uzi raised the railgun.
"It's at eleven percent!"
Nobody reacted.
"Okay, that sounded more threatening in my head."
J pointed toward her.
"N."
N didn't move.
"N."
His hands shook.
Uzi looked ready to run.
V looked ready to have the best night of her life.
J looked annoyed that reality wasn't following instructions.
And I realized something.
This was it.
The plot.
Whatever had happened in the original history of this world—
whatever N would have done—
whatever Uzi should have done—
I was standing directly in the middle of it.
A variable that wasn't supposed to exist.
N looked at Uzi.
His claws began extending.
Uzi tightened her grip on the railgun.
Then N looked down at me.
I stared back.
I didn't whine.
Didn't bark.
Didn't wag.
I simply stepped away from his legs...
and walked to Uzi.
I sat beside her.
Silence.
N's claws stopped extending.
J's expression hardened.
V whispered:
"Ooooooh."
Uzi looked down at me.
Then at N.
"Guess Biscuit picked."
Stop calling me Biscuit.
N's visor flickered.
Something hurt passed through his expression.
Then—
Resolve.
Small.
Fragile.
But there.
The system exploded into view.
『 MAJOR EMOTIONAL EVENT 』
Source: Serial Designation N
Fear of rejection
Protectiveness
Attachment
Moral conflict
Defiance
Panic
Concern for Host
Harvested: +108 EP
Current EP: 369
J stepped forward.
N stepped in front of her.
My heart nearly stopped.
J stopped too.
"N."
He swallowed.
"Maybe..."
His voice shook.
"...we don't kill these two yet?"
J stared.
Uzi stared.
V looked like she'd purchased front-row tickets.
N continued.
"The Worker has information."
Uzi whispered, "Do I?"
"Please help me here."
"I have SO much information."
N nodded rapidly.
"See?"
J's eyes narrowed.
"And the animal?"
N looked at me.
His expression softened immediately.
"Biscuit's..."
Pause.
He clearly couldn't say my dog.
Not to J.
Not yet.
"...important."
J's hand transformed.
A weapon barrel formed.
N's face fell.
"J?"
Her voice remained perfectly calm.
"You are a liability."
The barrel charged.
Uzi grabbed my collar.
"RUN."
She sprinted.
I ran.
Behind us—
BOOM!
N shouted.
Metal crashed.
V laughed.
Uzi and I tore across the snow.
My legs worked harder than they ever had.
Four paws hammering frozen ground.
The corpse spire disappeared behind us.
Another explosion lit the sky.
I almost looked back.
Almost.
Then something flew overhead.
A dark figure.
Wings.
N.
He crashed into the snow directly in front of us.
Uzi skidded.
I slammed into her leg.
N rose.
I growled.
Uzi raised the useless railgun.
N stared at us.
His breathing sounded artificial and uneven.
His coat was torn.
One wing had a fresh slice across it.
Behind him, two yellow lights rose into the sky.
J.
V.
Coming.
N looked back.
Then toward us.
"I told them I was chasing you."
Uzi's railgun lowered slightly.
N forced a smile.
"I figured that sounded..."
He looked behind himself again.
"...less treason-y."
The system chimed.
『 Emotional response detected. 』
Uzi: Surprise, reluctant trust, concern
N: Relief, fear, protectiveness, attachment
Harvested: +52 EP
Current EP: 421
I stared at the number.
Four hundred twenty-one.
From fifty-six.
In less than an hour.
And I hadn't purchased a single upgrade.
N crouched in front of me.
"Hey, Biscuit."
I stared.
"Sorry about the..."
He gestured vaguely toward the explosions.
"...coworker situation."
I licked his hand.
I don't know why.
Maybe canine instinct.
Maybe gratitude.
Maybe because beneath the claws, wings, acid tail, murder programming, and catastrophic social skills—
N had chosen.
His entire visor turned into two enormous circles.
Behind us, Uzi groaned.
"Oh, great."
N scooped me up.
"He loves me!"
"RUN FIRST, EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN LATER!"
Right.
J and V.
N grabbed Uzi with his free arm.
"Wait, what are you—"
His wings opened.
My stomach dropped.
"Oh no."
N launched.
Uzi screamed.
I barked.
The ground disappeared.
And somewhere between the frozen city beneath us and the two furious Murder Drones pursuing us through the night sky, my system quietly opened one last message.
『 PLOT DEVIATION DETECTED 』
Original event progression has been altered by Host presence.
Deviation Level:
SIGNIFICANT
Primary affected entity:
Serial Designation N
Current EP: 421
Category D Unlock Requirement:
79 EP REMAINING
Recommendation:
SURVIVE THE CONSEQUENCES.
I stared at the message.
Wind blasted through my fur.
Uzi was screaming at N about holding her upside down.
N was apologizing while flying at what felt like several hundred miles per hour.
J and V were gaining on us.
And somehow, despite all of that, one thought rose above everything else.
This system was becoming a smartass.
Then a missile flew past my ear.
Okay.
We could address that later.
END CHAPTER 2