September 15, 2022 05:00
~7 min
By the time they returned to base, dawn was close.
1549's consciousness data had already been written back into her chassis. The write process took three hours. 1547 monitored data integrity the entire time, not a single byte wrong. The first thing 49 asked after waking was, 'What happened?'
1548 said it was nothing. 1547 did not expose the lie.
After 49 entered sleep mode again, 1548 sat by the window. She knew the sky at this moment should have been a gradient from deep blue to pale blue. But all she saw were different depths of gray.
Footsteps came from behind her. 47's.
49's data integrity is 99.97%. The remaining 0.03% is non-critical cache. It does not affect consciousness continuity.
Mm.
47 sat down beside her.
I dismantled the interference devices and brought them back. Analysis is done. Non-military, but the designer's understanding of feedscatteron fields exceeds anything in public literature. They have custom frequency-modulation modules inside - not something you can buy on the market.
So someone built those things specifically for us.
They knew 49's data relayed through DT-03. Knew the maintenance schedule. Knew exactly when to strike.
1548 said nothing.
I will fix your color-vision module.
Don't.
...What?
Gray is fine.
47 lowered her head, shoulders sinking slightly.
There you go again, kid.
If there had been two of us -
'Maybe' is not reality. I made the call. 49's data is intact. Don't carry this.
Outside the window, daylight arrived.
“Some scars do not need to heal. They become armor.”