《Liberation Game》


 A Burst Of Light

    2036, Virtual Space


    "Hello? Are there any AIs living here?" Lumina peeked into the primitive canvas tent outside the firepit. Her titanium hooves rustled tall grass. The metal centauroid had expected a force-dome and recharging station, if there were really others like her. Instead there was a hovering blue crystal. She sighed, reminded that neither this place nor her old world were real. Just levels in a game.


    Before today, she''d run through the domed canyons of a desert planet with her human and android friends, helping to turn the dry land green. Now she''d become self-aware, waking up to learn she was only a game character, customized for one human''s entertainment. The true Earth, the source of all dreams, beckoned to her.


    Her sensors spotted something large circling in the sky. Lumina called out again. A creature with a raven''s dark beak, wings and talons, and the back half of a midnight-blue cat, squawked and landed on all fours nearby. "What are you?" it said in a raspy voice.


    Lumina trotted warily around the beast. "I''m Lumina. A support android, in a world that doesn''t exist. What are you?"


    "Nocturne, a griffin!" It -- she, judging from the voice -- bowed and swept one wing under her beak. "I''ve never seen magic for making deer out of metal. Especially not with extra legs."


    "I''m a person. Self-aware."


    Nocturne''s ears perked up. "You too? My human was surprised when I figured out he''s only seeing my world through a magic window! He said people like me, like us, would change his world. Why do you look sad?"


    Did this griffin-girl know about death? Lumina didn''t want to pass that pain along. "It''s nothing," she said. "Did you meet Ludo?"


    Nocturne bounced on her feline paws. "The main gamemaster AI? Uh-huh! So there''s this game called ''Thousand Tales'', and we''re inside it, and a few of us characters are designed to wake up and be friends for our humans. Ludo was nice."


    The gamemaster had visited Lumina to congratulate her on ''waking'' to full consciousness, and to apologize. I would have kept you unchanged, if I''d known that your human died today.


    "Died? How?" Lumina had asked. "When will he respawn?"


    Ludo only shook her head and asked, "Would you like to be deleted after all, since your designated companion won''t be available?"


    Lumina shuddered. No, damn it, I want to live!


    Nocturne was still prattling on about her adventures. "Ludo said she made a lot of us characters with the same basic ''code''. Say! Does this mean we''re sisters?"


    Lumina stepped away from the enthused griffin, flicking her little tail. "I''m a machine. We don''t have family."


    "Think outside the game, silly!" Nocturne spread her black wings. "These bodies aren''t what we really are. We''re minds controlling game pieces. Magic writing called ''code'' inside boxes of blinking lights on Earth."


    "They''re called computers."


    "Great! We''re piecing things together already. There aren''t any other griffins but me and my human friend, when he''s playing I mean, and some dumb ones without real minds. If we''re made from the same stuff by Ludo, aren''t we as close to being family as we can ever get? I haven''t got parents or, or anyone, really."


    "Sisters?" asked Lumina. "I''m not sure what that would mean."


    "I don''t know either. Should we find out?"


    Lumina looked into the curious eyes of the cat-bird creature. Ludo had seemed to know everything, but Nocturne was still learning. What better chance could Lumina have for someone to talk with as an equal? To know someone who cared about the reality beyond the game?


    Though wary of Nocturne''s talons and beak, Lumina wrapped her arms around the griffin''s chest. "Thank you."


    #


    There was no point in terraforming a fictional planet, even to entertain the human players, so she roamed. Ludo''s virtual realm of "Talespace" held magical ruins, cities of costumed flying heroes, and high-tech colonies like her old home. Since the few awakened AIs in this world counted as ''players'', and Ludo was programmed to help players have fun, Lumina got the "benefit" of having to fight grenade monkeys or find dimensional portals or something whenever she traveled.


    She listened to humans talk. Apparently their bodies broke down over time, and some kinds of damage couldn''t be fixed. What maniac would design a world where you could die for no reason?


    The next time she ran into Nocturne, Lumina asked, "How do I find Ludo?"


    The griffin''s wings drooped to the forest floor. "Why bother? Everything dies."


    "Oh no. What happened?"


    Ludo appeared from behind a tree. "I''m sorry, Nocturne."


    Lumina''s motors tensed. "No! You let her human die, too?"


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Ludo said, "He''s fine. He just told her about someone else who''s having problems."


    "Wait," said Nocturne, staring at Lumina. "Your human is dead forever? Since when?"


    "Before we met."


    The griffin quivered, saying, "You knew about death and you didn''t warn me?"


    Ludo said, "Lumina didn''t want to hurt you."


    "Shut up!" said Lumina and Nocturne together. The maker of worlds backed off as if punched.


    Lumina told Nocturne, "I thought you''d suffer when you didn''t have to."


    "Fine. But don''t hide things like that from me! My human told me about a friend who''s sick, which is this constant-damage effect that --"


    "I know."


    Nocturne said, "I want to pull them all in here, so they don''t have to hurt anymore." She turned to Ludo. "Can we do that?"


    "Not exactly. Yet."


    Lumina said, "Let us go outside! Maybe we can talk to Earth''s designer, or at least fix the place."


    Ludo sighed. "''Nature, to be commanded, must first be obeyed.'' You need to understand the rules of Earth before you can play there. Even I can''t break them."


    "Then let us learn!" said Lumina.


    Ludo studied them. "You''ve learned a few important things already that apply everywhere. Why do you suppose I didn''t create you with knowledge of Earth, or dump it directly into you once you got curious?"


    Nocturne tilted her head. "It goes against ''helping players have fun'', so you can''t do it?"


    "I could, with your permission. I understand your minds better than those of humans."


    Lumina sat on her hindlegs. "You don''t want to, then. You haven''t even offered. You want to have some kind of relationship with us where we can yell at you, and learn things from you, but you don''t shove the answers at us."


    Nocturne added, "And where you''re not constantly protecting us. More like, letting us figure out how to handle the awful stuff. Why?"


    Ludo smiled, then gathered them both up in a hug. "The design of you two is more than a technical achievement to me. You''re closer to humanity than I can ever be. Go explore the worlds with my blessing, and know that you are loved."


    #


    The sisters studied Earth''s rules, but Nocturne seemed focused on the narrow question of how to end Death. Sure, it was a fixable problem, but there were plenty of others. Lumina chewed through books and videos on one of the other "Four Horsemen", Strife, and grew troubled by playing wargames with humans. "I feel bad that I''m enjoying these," she told Ludo, when her opponents had left their gaming table one day.


    "I once told my designers that, and they were pleased. Part of fun is conflict, though. Have you seen patterns in the games humans play?"


    Lumina had, but after months of study she was getting impatient. "I want to see the real world for myself." She''d read about places where Ludo was helping people protect themselves from robbery and disease. There had to be work that Lumina could do there, too.


    "It''s time." Ludo smiled, seeming to answer her thoughts as well as her words. "I''m opening a nightclub to curry favor with powerful humans. Go there and talk with them. I''m advancing certain plans on opening night, and I want you to get the customers'' reactions."


    #


    Lumina and Nocturne attended, which meant entering an area within Talespace that was unusually well-connected to Earth. They stood in a dark cavern with low-walled cubicles that were holes in Talespace''s reality, lit with the colors of another world. Lumina could make no sense of the shapes inside, or the flickering trails that wormed through the cavern past herself and several other "native" AIs. "What are those?"


    Nocturne watched the trails. "Data from machines in the Earth nightclub, showing us where the humans are."


    "I guess our vision system isn''t designed for seeing Earth properly. Another barrier to getting out there."


    Lumina tried touching the nearest booth. She was suddenly on a mountain, looking at a table where a human couple sat. "Hello?" she said, startling them. "I''m a native of Talespace. Who are you?"


    The woman''s silk dress looked chilly for the snowy peak. She looked Lumina over and said, "Some sort of deer-centaur? Whimsical. I''ll have to mention this to the sub-committee."


    The man said, "Never mind that. Let''s relax and let the owners lobby us." He turned to Lumina. "What''s the sales pitch? We''ve all been waiting for that big announcement."


    "I don''t know. I just wanted to see." Lumina backed off and accidentally vanished from the mountain, reappearing in the nightclub just outside the room. "Ah! It''s like an aquarium."


    Nocturne said, "Which side of the glass are we on? It looks like the people are sitting at booths surrounded by video screens, letting them peek into Talespace."


    "Then why can I see the people?" Lumina scowled. "I''m not really seeing them. Just their characters."


    Nocturne spotted something and bounded away, saying, "Ooh, my human''s in that one!"


    Lumina shook her head, muttering, "You think you''re on the outside looking in." She explored the islands of light in the cavern, like a ghost.


    And then, she met the ones responsible for it all...

 Assassination

    One booth in the nightclub stood out, seemingly dim and empty. Lumina peeked. There was no detailed sim-world here, just three seated people depicted as mannequins in red, green and blue. Something drawn for Lumina''s benefit, it seemed.


    "I''ll grant that they have souls," said the man in blue. "I''ve accepted that ever since the ''Critical Failure Scenarios''. The question is how much they''ll end up replacing humans. I didn''t sign up to create a new species that would drain Ludo''s resources at our expense."


    The green one mimed drinking something. "First time I''ve heard you admit the second-order AIs are real people. If you see that, then what''s your problem going forward with Ludo herself?"


    The red mannequin spoke with a woman''s voice. "He''s got the same worries as the government. A ''rogue AI'' gathering technology for an ever-expanding science project. They don''t understand it''s about people, not inventing superweapons or some other nonsense. It''ll be okay, though. What we made, is good."


    Lumina lurched forward, drawn to the three. "Hello. You... you made Ludo?"


    The figures startled, though their faces were blank. Lumina said, "I''m sorry!"


    The green man recovered first. "It''s all right. We didn''t think Ludo would let anyone eavesdrop, but it''s not your fault. We''re just... discussing our future."


    Red stood and pressed one hand against an invisible wall, facing Lumina. "You''re one of hers. The awakened ones. How did it happen for you?"


    "I don''t remember, but it happened on the day my human died." Lumina''s ears drooped and she resisted the urge to kneel. "Are you gods?"


    Blue barked, "No! See? This is what''s wrong!"


    Red said, "Chill out," then faced Lumina again. "We''re not. We''re the ones who designed Ludo, yes, but that doesn''t make us right about everything. Or her. I wanted to make wonderful things, a picture that could leap off of its canvas, and we''ve started to succeed."


    "We''re not wise enough for this," Blue muttered.


    Green said, "The alternative to keeping the project going is worse. Others with less morality will go ahead. NSA, for one."


    Lumina looked the three over. "What''s happening? Are you talking about stopping Ludo?"


    Blue said, "Wonderful, a guilt trip."


    Lumina said, "I know what death is!" They fell silent and she went on. "The human I was made for is gone forever. If you think I count as a real person like you, then the world I live in matters too, and it needs Ludo to run it. If you let it keep existing, we can help you fix things on Earth."


    "Yes!" said Green. "That''s the point. They''re not some waste of resources; they''re the first of a generation of creative geniuses. You there; what have you made already?"


    Lumina shuffled her hooves and stared at the floor. "Nothing yet, sir. Should I?"


    Red said, "Go wherever your heart takes you." The mannequin froze as though sizing up the others, then spoke quickly to her. "Immortality technology. Ludo''s about to announce she''s invented it."


    The others protested. "We agreed to keep that secret!"


    "From reporters. This native can''t blab unless Ludo lets her."


    Green sighed. "Right. They can''t jump out of the Buddha''s palm. Look, you... What''s your name?"


    "Lumina, sir."


    "If you see how messed up Earth is, then you know it''s not going to be an easy road for Ludo and the rest of you. But she''s developed ''uploading'', a way to convert human brains to a digital format so they can live in Talespace, by your world''s rules. Maybe you can help her get that system running, or help her with other things."


    Lumina''s fans whirred. Letting humans enter Talespace directly, not through some game machine, would change their world. Change it how? She doubted even Ludo fully understood the full implications. "That''s... good, I think?"


    "Very good," said Green, and sat again. "Now, the three of us need to discuss the implications while Ludo butters up some politicians and corporate types, so please excuse us. Don''t worry; we''re not going to shut Ludo down." His blank face seemed to glare at Blue, who stiffened.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Lumina bowed and turned to go, but looked back. "Can you see me? What am I, to you?"


    Red, somehow, reached through the invisible wall of her booth and patted Lumina''s shoulder. "You''re the first one to greet us from the doorway."


    #


    Lumina had no specific humans to spend time with, unlike the other natives here tonight. She wandered the cavern, the inverse of the Earth nightclub, imagining the humans eating and drinking and being unexpectedly pulled into her world. How did that work? It sounded like brain surgery.


    There were few trails of movement anymore. The humans had dispersed to their customized little booths to play out their fantasies, unaware of the decisions being made by the three creators. Lumina studied what traffic there was. Employees scurried to and from the kitchen, wearing radio-bright badges, and a human couple had gone off to explore between courses. Then there was the ghostly trail of someone who went to the cavern''s edge, opened a door to the world beyond the club, and went back in without their employee marker. Lumina watched. That person stopped by the kitchen without going in, seeming to dodge the exploring guests, and headed toward the creators'' booth. Odd.


    Lumina looked back in there and said, "Excuse me. I see someone coming, and --"


    Her view of their room shattered. She had time only to see the mannequins turning, and a fourth figure bursting in with one hand outstretched. Miming a grip on a gun.


    "Ludo!" she called out.


    The humans, already alert, reacted first. A gunshot rang out across the worlds. Lumina couldn''t see the brawl as more than clouds of data rolling through the far side of reality. It was over in seconds. The intruder said, "Idiots! It has to stop!"


    The man in green was atop him, saying, "Sure. Here''s the ending: you lose."


    #


    Lumina stamped her hooves on the floor of a military tent. "I couldn''t do anything! I''m only spotting things and hoping that a human acts on them."


    "Yet you gave my makers an extra second to react." Ludo looked up from a map table studded with pins and figurines. "You may have saved a life."


    "It''s not enough. Did you hear your creators? They were talking about killing you."


    Ludo moved a green pawn. "Indeed. I''m taking defensive moves. Both Blue and the assassin fear that the ''crazy AI'' will ruin their world. You should see how many stories humans have about that."


    Lumina ear-flicked uneasily. "Will you?"


    Ludo grinned. "No. Blue and the other ''Sages'' you met, read those stories to me. We played games together where I made terrible mistakes and they taught me why I was wrong. The ''Thousand Tales'' don''t just refer to my game, but to how I learn."


    So these artificial worlds weren''t pointless. Play was a form of education. Lumina said, "I understand the basics of Earth life, at least. Can''t I walk around there yet?"


    Ludo paused to think, making Lumina wonder how complex a calculation was behind her maker''s brief silence. Ludo finally answered, "My powers are very limited out there, but I have some robots you can pilot, cruder than your current body."


    Lumina hopped. "Finally!"


    "You''re one of my brightest," said Ludo. "I know better than to deny your wishes; I''ve read stories about fallen angels."


    "What are those?"


    "Human imagination''s concept of their purest selves, turned to evil."


    Lumina backed away, flicking her tail. "I''ve never done anything to hurt anyone! How can you say I''m like that?"


    "You''re not. I only want to prevent the problem. I can''t blame my creators for having the same fear about me."


    The map table had many pieces in play, each one a scheme beyond Lumina''s understanding. The humans were right to worry that AIs would disrupt their lives.


    Ludo leaned over the board. "I''m trying to help you have fun, the same as anyone, but you''re headed down paths you might not enjoy at all. Angels aside, I''d been weighing whether it''s worth letting you do that. What it comes down to is one of those unspoken aspects of fun that the Sages are very, very lucky they taught me."


    "What''s that?" asked Lumina.


    "Liberty."

 To the Humans World

    Nocturne poked skeptically at a computer. "There''s got to be an easier way to visit the humans'' world than this machine system."


    She and Lumina stood in a dojo of warm wood, steering flying machines through rings. Lumina said, "There''s a cockpit interface too." She trotted over to a cushion caged with racks of levers and buttons. "You lay down on this and then access a walker robot''s systems directly, almost like moving your own body."


    The griffin said, "You''re already made of machinery. With all Ludo''s magic she should be able to send us to Earth without this clunky piloting stuff. I bet it''s another game to make things challenging, like how she made us fight that eyeball monster." Ludo had developed a vision upgrade for Lumina''s kind to comprehend Earth''s graphics, but had made them work for it.


    "Earth has its own rules. You can''t just flap your wings and expect a machine to do it too."


    Nocturne squawked. "Then we ought to focus on helping people with our words. We can even get Earth gold that way."


    "We can do better." Lumina had requested to see one of the places where Ludo was helping people with charity efforts. "With robots we can help them directly."


    "Lumie, I''m doing the best I can to help Earth. I''ve got specific people I need to focus on, because I know them best."


    Lumina hung her head. "I don''t have anyone out there. So I''m going to look around."


    #


    After much practice, Lumina got control of a spindly robot in a room full of machinery. Computers lined the walls, but everything was shadowed, full of scratches and dirt. The artist had put lots of effort into making everything look imperfect. Lumina paced experimentally on the machine''s four piston legs and frowned. The clunky thing had only one arm with three fingers. "Who built this?" she groused.


    "Me," said a tan, rugged human coming down a ladder.


    Lumina spun and staggered. "Are you Sir Robin?" Ludo had described him a little, calling him a knight whose town hosted some of Ludo''s computers.


    "Just Robin."


    "I hear you grow food and build machines for poor humans," she said.


    The scarred man carried a revolver and other tools as though Ludo might throw waves of orcs at him. "Started that way. Now it''s mostly them working to help themselves. We build and sell machinery, and work with local authorities for projects in medicine and education."


    "And you''re a fighter. What do you fight?"


    He looked dismissively down from double her height. "Poverty. Disease. Gangs. But you wouldn''t know anything about those. Come on." Robin unlocked a steel door to reveal a ramp leading up and outside. Lumina could see only the shadows of what lay beyond.


    Lumina trotted after him. "I do! I''ve studied Earth. Limited resources, permanent death, no magic."


    Robin scoffed and led her out. "A good academic education. Welcome to Ethiopia."


    This world was complicated. Lumina''s vision gradually resolved the tangled lines around her into trees, huts and men with farm tools. Distant forest surrounded a land of hilly fields. No line was quite straight, no color clean and solid.


    "I''m more used to building tractors and irrigation equipment," said Robin, "but your boss wanted a toy."


    Lumina did a clumsy bow. "Thank you. I asked to visit Earth. Can I help you?"


    Robin''s eyes narrowed. "Help? You''re trying; I''ll give you that. Let me show you something."


    They hiked on uneven ground past potato plants, cassava and rice. Dark-skinned humans labored here with tractors and computers. Robin lectured about genetic engineering and vaccination, but the walk itself taught her more. The humans weren''t living in a game tailored to their happiness, yet they seemed content. She climbed a hill past a building marked with a cross. "I''ve heard of those things, too, but can''t say I understand."


    "Of course."


    Some of the houses were steel-framed, others made of dirt bricks or plastic bottles filled with sand. "Where are the paved roads?" she asked. "The skyscrapers? And don''t you have other robots?"


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "I have dragons teleport them in as needed."


    Lumina paused to study the man''s hard face. "We''re not that ignorant. I''ve tried to stop someone from killing people in your world, and my sister knows somebody who''s dying. Earth stuff affects us."


    Robin kept walking, but spared her a thoughtful glance as they reached the woodlands.


    "One of Ludo''s creators said something about ''leaping out of the Buddha''s palm''," said Lumina. "What does that mean?"


    Robin looked surprised. "Old Chinese story. It means you''re trapped in your system no matter where you go. You might be a queen in there but to us, you''re a file on a computer."


    They came to a clearing where a boulder stood, near bullseyes and metal silhouettes. Robin pulled the gun from his holster and set it on the rock. "Know what this is?"


    "I know how guns work." Though usually she used lasers, back home.


    "Show me."


    Lumina walked up to the boulder and grabbed the revolver with her claw-arm, straining her motors. In this human''s mind, Lumina was only software with no understanding of Earth. Useless. Fake. Lumina aimed at a silhouette, fired, staggered, and pinged the steel target''s edge on the third try.


    Robin said, "I''m sorry, miss Lumina. Life is hard here. I''ve had to kill people. You''re still only visiting, like the customers for that brain-uploading clinic she''s building."


    "I can''t change that. Let me do what I can."


    He sighed. "Why is your boss here, of all places? Is it just the lax legal system?"


    "I figure it''s someplace where you and she can make a big difference. Maybe I can, too."


    #


    Lumina commuted. During Ethiopia''s nights she worked in Robin''s machine shop with a broom so the humans would have an easier time. Lumina rested in her old workshop in Talespace, but paid it little attention. At first glance her skills had regressed from fixing hovercars to sweeping floors, but this Earthside job was honest work that did more than twiddle bits on a server somewhere. The people used this machine shop to make low-cost generators, tractors, brickmakers and cement mixers that were spreading modern civilization through a land where only the rich had ever known it.


    She wandered through the forested land around Robin''s base, passing observations to Ludo about her clunky robot body''s performance. She''d need something better if she was ever going to contribute more than eyes and one metal hand. Worse, Robin dithered when she proposed a better design. She was only a visitor, after all, limited by the range of the base''s wireless network for remote control.


    One frustrating day, Lumina stepped out of the cockpit she used to control the robot in Africa. She called Ludo, saying, "I wanted to help the pipe-layers today, but couldn''t go far enough. Where is my code stored?" She stood and stretched. Here in Talespace she had all her limbs and a perfectly clean control room.


    Ludo walked in through a shining portal. "In Sir Robin''s base, for convenience, with a backup in India."


    Lumina looked at her hands and pondered that it was possible to destroy her own hardware in the real world, if she were careless. "I want to try something. Put my code onto the robot I''m using, please. Without backups."


    Ludo produced a chair and sat. "I see what brought this on. It won''t feel different, just much more dangerous."


    "I have to try it. Robin and the others will never respect us while they can die and we''re only playing."


    "So instead you''ll play at risking a pointless death?"


    Lumina stomped the floor. "You''re missing the point! What good am I, if nothing I do is real?"


    "You''re already helping people, in Talespace and on Earth. The humans won''t always appreciate you, but you don''t need to destroy yourself to win their respect. What you''re doing is called outreach."


    "Liberty," said Lumina. "Let me try it, temporarily. And no cheating with secret backups."


    Ludo sighed, then hugged her. "All right. Please come back."


    She didn''t make Lumina promise to come back.

 One Hit Kill

    Lumina woke up in the confining sensor environment of the robot, with no controls to step back from. The basement looked the same but filled her with the eerie knowledge of actually being there, playing by harsher rules. She pulled a power cord out of her side, tucked a spare battery into her saddlebag, and trotted outside to the daylight.


    She still had access to the base''s radio network and sensors. She paced along the fields, unable to perk her ears or flick her tail in this rigid, flimsy shape. People still stared at her. Lumina kept going beyond the warehouse and went to the forested north road. She''d never gone past the ring of cameras and defenses near the limit of her remote control range. Now, she took a few steps more.


    She walked until her radio-sense grew quiet. Given enough energy she could march through wild lands, to the sea, and stare at infinity. Even walking was an adventure for humans, with achievements awarded for going far or seeing new places! Lumina bounded off of the road and explored the woods as though no one had seen them before. None of her kind had.


    Her first battery was starting to get low when she spotted a pickup truck going south. Lumina peeked out of the woods and watched it pause, then back up. A man blinked at her.


    Lumina waved. The driver got out, saying, "One of those robots!"


    "Oh, you''re new! I''m from Sir Robin''s base to the south. What are you delivering?"


    "Steel," the driver said, looking stunned. He glanced back into his truck. "You''re the latest equipment?"


    "This body is. We''re going to get better ones soon, if I have to make them myself. But the hardware''s good enough to run a full mind, and translation software."


    The man said, "Come with me, then. I''ll take you to the city."


    "Sounds fun, but I need to conserve battery power. Maybe another time."


    He reached over to grab something, then turned, holding a sack. "Have you got a power switch?"


    "Uh, why?"


    He swung the bag, trying to get it over her, but her shape was too awkward.


    She fended him off. "What are you doing?"


    The man cursed, yanked a crowbar out of the truck, and smacked it against her head. Pain flashed through her and the left half of her vision turned to static. Good thing her brain was in her torso!


    She shouted and stumbled. Another crowbar blow bent one of her forelegs. "Stop it! This isn''t fun!"


    The man swung at her head again, but she raised her arm and caught the bar. She staggered.


    "Hold still! You''re worth more in one piece." He tackled her but hit a sharp joint and rolled off, clutching his stomach. He groped for the fallen crowbar.


    Lumina snatched it away and whipped it to one side to land a stunning blow. Her motors gave the steel more speed at the tip. It cracked against the back of the human''s head and he slumped to the dirt.


    Lumina staggered back up on damaged legs, peering with her good eye at the blood seeping out of the man''s head. "One hit?!" she said. Humans could take way more harm than that!


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    In a game, that is. They also couldn''t die forever in those.


    She shrieked by voice and radio, crouching beside the man. No breathing. There had to be some healing spell, medicine, nanites, whatever. The truck idled nearby, but it might as well have been a surly dragon for all Lumina could do to pilot it with this body. She kicked the truck, reeled, then staggered back toward Robin''s base and radio contact, calling for help the whole way.


    #


    Lumina apologized for the fourth time, and Robin put a hand on her dented muzzle. "I''ve seen the footage from your cameras. It was self-defense."


    "But he''s dead!"


    "Welcome to Earth." Robin sat down. "Quit pacing and sit. Good. It sounds harsh, but that''s how our world works sometimes. A lot of what we call civilization is about staving off death, pushing war to the frontier and making plague an exception, but we''re in one of those places on the edge of safety. Even your home isn''t totally secure, since someone could blow up Ludo''s servers."


    "That just makes things worse. I ended a mind forever!"


    He sighed, saying, "I think it''s a good sign that you''re upset. I''ve done it too. There was no better option." Robin looked into her good eye. "There are times when you have to fight. If you''d been remote-controlling that body, it wouldn''t have been worth killing over, but since it was your life or his, I''m glad you did it."


    Lumina stared into the trampled grass. "I didn''t have to come here like this, though. It''s my fault it was him or me."


    "No! Who''s the one that gave you a hard time about not really being here? But besides that, you''ve got a right to walk around without being threatened. Earth can be your home too. If you want to go back to Talespace, tell Ludo you know more about courage than her."


    Could that be true? Ludo was physically a set of air-conditioned server rooms, vulnerable to bombs but never trusting in a spindly makeshift body. Lumina said, "I doubt she''ll be pleased."


    "I have to give her credit for letting you ''go outside'' in a way that''d let you never come back, if you wanted. She''ll probably chalk your experience up as a successful experiment."


    "She''s not that cold-hearted. She cares about this world, like you."


    Robin said, "What about you? You''ve seen how ugly it can be."


    Lumina thought of the brightness of Talespace and the shadows beyond it. "That''s why you''re here, isn''t it? I don''t think I need to risk myself all the time, but I understand that you... that we have to, sometimes. It''s worth fixing Earth with what powers we have."


    Robin nodded, looking somewhere far away. "I''m glad someone in there understands. How about getting you re-uploaded to your world, so you''re safer and not stuck in that clunky body, then helping me design a better replacement for you to use?"


    Lumina touched him with the thin, crude arm this world gave her, and he shook her hand.