Welga brushed away the tears that clung to her eyelashes, then looked up at whoever was watching. “I don’t need more time to think. I’ll do it.”

NITHYA

Experts estimate that the damage to personal property as a result of the Machinehood’s activities will exceed two billion in Global Trading Coin, and that doesn’t include the cost of new constellation drones. Those are usually replaced on a staggered schedule. Manufacturers say it could take weeks to ramp up production to a high volume, not to mention the launch and placement of so many high-altitude devices. While the drones themselves are inexpensive, the additional resources to replace them will not come cheap.

—Up Close news feed, March 27, 2095. Current accuracy rating: 52%

The news of restored stellation traveled through Chennai with the relief of a cool winter breeze. It threaded its way from one hive to the next with shouts, fingers pointed to the sky, faces smiling. Nithya caught it as she stood on the balcony, fanning herself with paper. A week had passed since Welga left for Eko-Yi, and they’d had no word from the station about her.

She turned and called through the open doorway, “The stellas are back!”

Carma jumped up. “Can I go play with Soumya now?”

“Not yet.” Nithya walked inside and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll have to get all our agents and systems working first.”

“Oh, can I be first? Please?”

“No, you’re too young. I need to make sure it’s safe.”

“It shouldn’t take long,” Luis assured their daughter.

Nithya flipped the switch on the kitchen. “Thank God we didn’t throw this out.”

Zeli made a sour face. “Those idiots. Such a waste.”

“Do you have an agent, Zeli?” Nithya asked.

“Of course.”

“Will you turn her—or him or them—back on?”

“Yes. I’m not scared of WAIs.” Zeli cocked her head. “Are you?”

Nithya quelled a tickle of shame. “No. Not really, but they can be hacked by the Machinehood. That’s a little scary.”

Zeli’s expression took on the familiar impatience of a hundred project calls. “Sure, but why would they hack people like us? They can’t get everyone in the world, or they would have pushed that stupid manifesto onto every visual. That’s probably why they went after the network constellations. If they could have done worse, I have no doubt they would have.”

The kitchen hummed to life. Nithya went into the bathroom to put her lenses and jewelry on. Luis slipped in beside her.

“Do you think they’ll stay up?” he asked. “They got knocked down again as we left San Francisco.”