Milo leaned against Rowan’s shoulder, not saying anything for several minutes. Or maybe it was only seconds before he spoke again. He truly couldn’t tell.
“He is anawfulman.”
“He is,” Rowan agreed.
“Rowan, I think there must be more to this that we don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
In the turmoil of his mind, additional thoughts had been plaguing Milo, and he struggled to voice them. “If Andrew could secretively, dismissively, get Troy to add a kill switch, what else might he not be telling us? They have been sharing information privately about the experiments, but not even Troy knows everything. I haven’t eavesdropped on their messages, but because of how Troy used me to assist in the experiments, I have certain access to Ray even when we’re not connected. And as we learned, Ray is still connected to Jay’s data Cloud. Wiping his memories wouldn’t have changed that.”
“Wait, Milo…” Rowan shifted slightly to look at him, and Milo met his eyes for the first time since Rowan had joined him. “What are you getting at?”
The fluid in Milo’s eyes was drying the more he thought of this. “Andrew likely doesn’t know it, but Icaneavesdrop. I can access so much more, his emails, his files, his private data. And I believe I can do so without Jay, and therefore without Andrew, being alerted.”
“Milo, you can’t—”
“Why?” Milo sat up straighter, dislodging Spot where she had stopped between them, and she turned once more and rolled further into the living room. “Isn’t one entitled to do everything they can to survive and protect their friends, their loved ones? You just swore you wouldn’t let anything happen to me. Did you mean that, just as I would do anything to protect you?”
“Of course—”
“Then while I do notneedyour permission to do this, I would like your blessing.”
Rowan slumped. Milo knew he was putting Rowan in a difficult position, but what other choice did he have? “You only want to poke around, see if he’s keeping something else from us?” Rowan asked.
“Yes. After all, data collection is always the most important part of science.”
Maybe it was the somewhat cheeky way Milo said that, more like his usual optimistic self, but it made Rowan smile. “Okay. But be careful. Even if I would do anything to protect you, that doesn’t mean I’m capable of it if Andrew or anyone else manages to do something I can’t predict.”
“I know. I will not get caught. Give me a moment first.” Milo centered himself and closed his eyes, opening their text thread with Troy, so Rowan could see what he sent should he wish to.
Milo: Thank you, Troy, but if you want to make this up to me and to Ray, I have a request.
Troy: Anything, Milo! What?
Milo: Is Ray still online? I know he was wiped and rebooted, but are his systems accessible?
Troy: They are. The kill switch wasn’t meant to destroy the bot’s body or internal components. Why?
Milo: Leave him that way and charged for the night. I will do the rest.
Dots responded for some time, but when Troy’s message came through, it was a simple:
Troy: Okay.
When Milo returned his focus to the living room, Rowan was looking at his phone with a concerned expression, having read along.
“It will be okay,” Milo said. “I will charge as well while I use Ray as a conduit. I believe he would be okay with it knowing my goal. I have been neglecting charging anyway, and it will help me focus on the task.”
“Milo…”
When Rowan trailed off, Milo prompted, “Yes?”
Rowan set his phone aside and took Milo’s hands in his. There was something different in his eyes, something shifting. Resolution maybe? “I will do anything and everything to keep you safe. To give you the future you want for you and other bots. Even if I am small—relatively speaking to the situation.”
Milo chuckled, which felt strange in the moment, but good.
“Even if I am small,” Rowan said again, “and don’t know how much I can help if Andrew fights us, I will try with everything I have and everything I am. Do you know why?”
