CADE

  "How's it going, over there?" Shiloh says, her voice coming in through Cade's earpiece in the Nanosuit.

  Cade leans against the wall in the hallway, hugging the corner. It's near-silent in this section of the ship. Silent except for the buzz of the circulation vents, and the distant hum of the ship's engines.

  "Not bad," he whispers, looking up at the dark security camera bulb in the corner of the ceiling. "I was actually wondering if you could be my eyes for a second."

  "Way ahead of ya. I'm actually calling because there's a squad of Corsairs headed in your direction right now. Five of them. They've just regrouped, and there's someone new with them, looks like she's their lieutenant. She's got white hair and 'resting bitch face'."

  "Interesting detail."

  "I call it how I see it. Hey, listen...with everything that's been happening, I've kind of been forced to think about my, you know, behavior, over the past few days. Heck, over the past few years."

  Cade makes a quick peek around the corner, glancing at a closed metal sliding door down at the end of the hall. "Not to interrupt, but is 'now' really the best time for this?"

  "It's the only time, Cade. But you know what I'm talking about, right?"

  "Your father's dream took precedent over everything else. Your expectation was that people would fall in line and do what you told them. And now you feel guilty, because you're starting to see the consequences of these decisions play out. Something like that?"

  "I...I thought it was the right thing."

  "It was the right thing."

  "Was it? Razor died right in front of me because I convinced him to help us. I led him to his doom. And the Cloister..."

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  "That wasn't you, Shy."

  There's a few seconds of silence. Then Shiloh's voice comes back. "When Daimon killed those people on the Watch, Gavin accused me. He said I'd set up the whole thing. That I was willing to endanger the Cloister if it meant getting what I wanted."

  "But he was wrong, right? You didn't do that."

  "No. No, I didn't. But would I have? If I had the chance? I...I'd like to think I wouldn't, that I'm not capable of that. But I honestly don't know."

  Ominous.

  Still, as interesting as this conversation is, Cade's mind is still on the present--that is, the imminent confrontation with those Corsairs. There's a little bar on his forearm--a Nanobit reserve indicator. With every encounter the Nanosuit has lost more and more of its Nanobits in the process of protection and suit maintenance. If he gets shot just a few more times, he's liable to lose the suit completely. It's game over, if that happens.

  "You know, it's funny. I wanted Silas to kill that Ruster. You know. Razor. And now here I am, trying to process the fact that he's gone. He...he was a person, you know? I never thought about it that way before. I know that probably sounds horrible. I always thought we were fundamentally different from the Biodroids. But Razor, he had hopes and dreams, a potential future. So does Silas. I don't know why I didn't get that before. The fact that we--"

  She breaks off. Was she just reminded of the fact she's not actually human? Had she forgotten?

  It can't be an easy transition, for her. Talk about an existential crisis.

  "Anyway, I get why Silas didn't want to do it. I can't believe I didn't see it at the time. I was so caught up in the end goal. I wasn't thinking about what was good for him, or how he felt. That was wrong of me."

  "Maybe you should tell him that next time you see him."

  "...maybe. Oh, Cade. They're almost to that door, the one you keep looking at."

  Cade pulls back behind the corner, so he's not visible from that door.

  "What's the plan, anyway? Pop out from the bend and say 'boo'?"

  "It's that, or let them come straight to you. I'm the one holding up the fort, here."

  "...right. Where's Echo?"

  "How should I know?" At a certain point Cade had come to the realization that Echo simply wasn't around. "Must have fucked off somewhere."

  "Uh...does that concern you as much as it concerns me?"

  "Probably."

  There's an electric murmur at the end of the hall as the door slides open.

  Footsteps.

  "It's them."

  Cade waits as the footsteps get closer. He coils behind the corner, ready to strike.