Raven’s black hair is now bleached blond. She checks me over, concerned. “I’m so sorry that it took—”
“How long?” I ask. “How long have I been shut down?”
“Been about…” She pauses, glancing once at Sydney. “About six months.”
My lips part in surprise, and I’m hurt. I’m hurt that I’ve missed that much time. “Did it work?” I ask. “Everyone’s still alive, so the procedure worked?”
“The kill switches are deactivated,” Raven says with a smile. “All of you are free to age and die. Congratulations.” Marcella snorts a laugh.
“And Valentine?” I ask, looking over Raven. Her shoulders sag, her face serious.
“She asked Annalise to reboot me,” Raven says. “She said the body wasn’t hers to keep.”
“I’m glad to have you back,” I say, reaching to squeeze her hand.
I sigh out my relief, but when I look around the room again, it occurs to me who is missing. “Jackson,” I say. “His surgery. Oh, no, is he—?”
“He’s on his way,” Sydney reassures me. “We’ve already called him, and he swears he’s on his way.”
“What happened to me?” I ask. “Why was I asleep for so long?”
“I don’t know,” Raven says. “Annalise made all the right repairs, found the kill switch and removed it. Put you back together. But when they turned you back on, you didn’t reboot. And even though your body was working, it was impossible to wake you.Valentine thought I could help; I’m sure that factored into her decision to leave.”
“Raven told us you’d wake up when you were ready,” Annalise says, coming to stand next to her. “Guess she was right, finally.” Annalise smiles, making Raven laugh.
“Thanks, I think,” Raven says. “But honestly, Annalise gets the credit here. She fixed all the girls. She was amazing.” Annalise smiles at the compliment and leans in to give Raven a sideways hug. It’s nice to see. I’m happy that we have another girl to join us.
“You know I would never have let you do this, right?” Sydney asks me, crossing her arms over her chest. “You don’t get to just decide to die for me.”
“It was necessary,” I say, sitting up. I brush my hair back from my face, the strands feeling different, coarser.
“Because of you,” Annalise says, “I got the chance to get up close and personal with the kill switch. I was able to inspect it, and using Raven’s notes, I figured out how to navigate deactivation.”
“Well, good,” I say, looking around. “I would have hated to have died for nothing.”
Marcella chokes out a laugh, and we all smile. It’s a little weird, mostly because they look a bit different. I imagine I do too. I definitely don’t feel great. My bones and muscles ache, and my skin is painfully dry.
“I’m curious,” Raven says. “You had very little brain activity with the exception of occasional blips, almost like you were having a conversation. Do you remember anything from when you were dead?” she asks.
Valentine told me that we never really die, we just shut down. Our programs are forever, finding another source when they need to. Always running and finding their way back together.
“It’s a nice story for me to tell you all later,” I say. “I need to think about it for a while longer.” It’s selfish that I’m keeping it to myself, but I can still smell the flowers. And I’m still missing Valentine’s gentle love.
My muscles are weak, my arms and legs spindly after lying in bed for so long. Walking is difficult, and I have to hold on to Sydney as she brings me out to the porch, saying a bit of sunlight will be good on my jaundiced skin. She helps me ease down on the top stair, passing me a cup of hot tea once I do.
The sun is like a warm blanket, and I close my eyes, letting it penetrate my skin. After a moment, I sigh and turn to Sydney.
“How are you?” I ask.
She laughs. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” She nudges my arm playfully with her elbow. “Well, first of all, I got a job.”
“A job?” I ask, taking a tentative sip of tea. “Where?”
“Downtown,” she says. “It’s temporary for now, but I work at an art gallery.”
“That’s amazing,” I say. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks.” She pauses before looking down at her feet. “Mena… I went and saw my parents.”
