Ai focused on Tate, her expression almost childlike. “They are there but not there. I cannot access them at this time.”
Tate released the breath she’d been holding, disappointment replacing the relief she’d just had.
Ai looked back up at her suspended body, something close to yearning flitting across her face before disappearing.
That yearning gave Tate a hint of hope that some piece of her friend remained. “What do you feel when you look at your body?”
Ai’s forehead creased. “Feel?”
“Do you wish you and she were one?”
Ai’s head tilted as she focused on her body once again. “I don’t think that is possible. The other versions of me cannot be separated from this place.”
Tate’s shoulders slumped.
“But—”
Tate’s head lifted to find the purest expression of naked longing on her face, the first real emotion Tate had ever seen in the minor goddess.
“It would be nice if the part of me that is her was allowed out.”
“Is that wise?” Dewdrop asked as Night slunk to their side. “She did almost kill us all. I don’t think her real body is bound to this place like the rest of her.”
Just the thought of an all-powerful Ai able to wander the world at will was enough to send chills down Tate’s back.
For a moment, Tate hesitated, the responsibility of the world threatening to crush her. Did she have the right to make such a big decision just because she could?
Ai’s head tilted in a gesture Tate recognized from the younger version of herself. “My abilities are only possible in this form. My physical body will not have the same capabilities.”
Tate pressed her mouth together, wavering for a split second before nodding. So be it.
“The freedom of choice was what this world was founded on,” Tate finally said.
Ai and the other half-Ijiri deserved the chance to make those choices in the same way the Silva and Kairi once had. Tate was under no illusion that they would always be choices she agreed with, but they’d been enslaved in their domains long enough. It was time for them to take charge of their own destinies.
“I will release your physical self,” Tate said, meeting Ai’s gaze.
“If it will make you feel better, I can promise never to harm a human.”
Tate’s smile was poignant as she walked toward the console. “While the sentiment is welcome, I can’t in good conscience accept it. The years are long, and you never know what you may encounter. I would never want to take away your ability to defend yourself.”
Ai’s gaze clung to Tate, a lack of understanding written on her face.
Tate shook her head, not explaining further. Some things, Ai would have to figure out for herself.
Tate climbed on top of the console, reaching for the red gem on the collar. Already cracked, Tate sensed it wouldn’t take much effort to destroy it fully.
A part of her wished she could restore the Ai she knew and have one last conversation with the other woman. An impossibility with all Nathan had done.
In some ways, this was Ai’s death, but in others it was also her rebirth. Tate held onto that as she concentrated.
Tiny cracks spread from those already present, splintering through the gem faster and faster until it disintegrated fully.
The field suspending Ai lowered her to the ground as the Ai behind Tate flickered and then disappeared.
As she did so, the eyes of the woman in front of her opened, the deep black of her iris and pupil focusing on Tate.
“Who are you?” Ai said haltingly.
