“Why are you designated Helix? What does your name mean? Why are you called that? I’m called Aevi because it means ‘fallen star’ and Qalu found me when I was a nestling. I had been abandoned by my progenitors, likely because I was the smallest, and she nursed me back to health. She also implanted technology that allows us to converse like equals. Which brings me back to my original question. Why are you Helix? Is it a geometric story?”

“Do you know geometry?” he asked.

“A little. I don’t like it. Calculus is more fun. But I remember the equation for you!” Aevi scampered to the wall and scraped claws until the following appeared:

x = a sinθ, y = a cosθ, z = b θ.

“Fascinating,” said Helix. “In fact, I do not know how or why I acquired this designation. It never occurred to me to query the origins.”

Aevi scampered down from the wall and came toward him, twining around his ankles with a tasting apparatus fluttering out to…sample him? That couldn’t be right, but he felt the touch and scrambled backward. He couldn’t get used to that, the absolute intrusion of it, of someone else imposing themselves on him, as if trying to scrape away his essence.

“Why not?” The little being crept toward him in what felt like a stalking posture, like Aevi might possibly latch on physically while demanding answers.

A flicker of an unpleasant feeling began within him. He didn’t know what to call it, precisely, but he was ready to end this conversation. Why and why not seemed to be Aevi’s favorite words, and he couldn’t adequately explain the lack of curiosity that had dictated his life before. Even when his behavior deviated from acceptable algorithms, it had been concern for Zylar and some instinct for self-preservation that determined his actions.

Helix had never pursued information for its own sake. He mined data purposefully, serving Zylar’s interests as best he could. It never would have occurred to him to wonder why he was called Helix.

“That’s enough,” said Qalu. “I see you’ve already met our guest and have begun pestering him already.”

“He doesn’t even know what his name means. He can’t be very clever,” Aevi declared. “I have no idea what you want with this one. Is it because he’s pretty?”

That was an appalling insult to one who had recently been unparalleled in intelligence. “Perhaps I am incorrect, due to cultural differences, but it seems as if your companion is being rude.”

“Aevi, mind your manners. We don’t often have visitors, so she’s gotten into the habit of expressing her every thought, mostly because I don’t mind.”

As Helix noted the proper pronoun, Aevi hissed, then said, “I won’t apologize!”