of a mad AI.
But I do know this—all of it can change.
There are billions of possibilities out there just waiting to play out. Just because ALCOR Prime wants this loop to end a specific way doesn’t mean that’s the only way it can end.
You’re pretty sun-damned arrogant, Crux. To think that you know better than a mind like ALCOR. He can see all the pieces on the game board. He can run millions of simulations in the span of moments and see how each one plays out.
But here’s the difference between him and me.
I am a living thing that can die and he is not.
And I don’t care how many times I’ve lived in the past. ALCOR was right about me in one way. When I go back to see teenage Corla, I won’t be that Crux, I will be this one.
Those lives weren’t mine and those other Cruxes weren’t me.
Only this one is.
“Crux!” The Baby’s voice sounds distant and far away.
“I’m here,” I yell back. “I’ve got them. I’ve got them all.”
I carry Delphi out first because Flicka is bossing orders at me from beyond the entrance.
I set her down on the floor, then go back for Nyleena. We place them both on a bot and Baby directs it to take them to medical.
“Put a lockdown on their medical pods,” I call out. “And keep them unconscious.”
“What?” Baby asks.
“They’re not on our side yet, Baby. When Luck figures out that I’ve pulled them back to Harem, they could be very angry with me. And Luck has already killed me once. I’m not going to assume I’ll come back a second time.”
“Right,” Baby says. “So where should we put Luck and Jimmy?”
“Lock them up down in the jail with the princesses. And make sure they can’t get out.”
“Are you sure?” Baby asks.
I sigh. “Look, I don’t have the energy to explain this. I’m not sure I fully understand what just happened to me inside the spin node and I need time to think. We can’t risk these four interfering with the plan.”
“What plan?” Baby asks.
“I’ll let you know when I figure it out. Just lock them up for now.”
Flicka hesitates. I can tell she’s not into my plan, so I fully expect her to object and start an argument. “I need to inform you,” Flicka says, “that I will be leaving Harem Station and will need access to the gate.”
“What?” I squint my eyes at her as she flits and flutters around in front of my face.
“I’m going to attack Wayward Station.”
“Why?”
“Because I can.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Because I have an army and it needs a job.”
“Again, not an answer.” Why? Why me? Why do I have to be in charge of this place? And for the love of the sun, why did I ever agree to let this dragonbee bot on my station? I grit my teeth. “Please explain this army.” Being diplomatic is hard. Because all I want to do right now is smash her with my fist.
“I have a dragonbee bot army and—”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I really do. They’re all down in the docking bay. I’m taking a ship. Lady Luck will do and then—.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I reproduced. And to be clear, Crux, I’m not asking for permission. I’m just informing you. Whatever plan you have for the endgame, you’ll have to do it without me.”
“What about Delphi?”
“She’s back with you now. Jimmy is here. Tycho is here. She doesn’t need me anymore. I am handing in my resignation.”
“Don’t you think you should talk this over with her before you take off? I mean… you’re her best friend.”
“No.”
“No? That’s it? Just… ‘thanks for the last twenty years, later?’”
“I know your plan. It’s a good one.”
I laugh. “You can’t know my plan. I don’t even know my plan.”
“I see things. My job here is done. But I have another one to do before you can annihilate this world.”
“What? I’m not gonna—”
“Oh, yes. You are. That’s your plan.”
“That’s not true, Flicka. That was ALCOR’s plan. Not mine. I’m trying to fix things. And you can’t have access to the gate!”
But she’s gone.
So I yell that last part into the eerie silence of the station.
Fuck it.
She’s can’t get past the gates because I can’t even open the gates.
I put her out of my mind and start heading up to the top of the station.
Veila and Valor are waiting for me in the harem medical center when I walk in. Delphi and Nyleena are both inside medical pods