Clemence curled one side of her lips.

“You have an override built into you,” Ao Tara said. “Much like the dakini we sent to Earth.”

Why let me fight at all?

“She wants to know why we allowed her to fight,” Clemence said.

“We thought you needed this, an outlet, something familiar, but I hoped you would realize the error of your ways. I convinced the council to give you this gift of being dakini so you could advocate for us.” Ao Tara’s frown deepened. “I thought you would come to a change of heart.”

At least let me speak!

“She wishes to speak,” Clemence said.

Control of her body returned. “Don’t try to mother me. I can see right from wrong, something you’ve lost sight of. What would young Josephine say to you? Murdering funders. Letting people die from sickness. Risking the lives of millions. Putting your own residents in danger. Who gave you the right to teach humanity a lesson?”

“No one gave it to us,” Ao Tara said. “We arrogated it because someone had to. We are the fire that makes room for new growth. Look at history! The last true revolution brought power to the proletariat. It brought rights to workers and liberated women. What’s happened in the decades since then? We’ve allowed labor regulations to erode. We work all the time, multiple gigs, in exchange for basic social services. We’ve traded the security of a livelihood for the government safety net, one that is riddled with holes beyond repair.

“You see what people do with the first indication that machines might control themselves. They panic. They destroy bots, shut down their agents. Lock themselves in. Post guards. Attack the soldiers and police who try to protect them. Look for yourself if you don’t believe me! People let fear rule them, the basest way of life. We can teach them another way, a better one. The way of compassion and unity. We can build a future where we coexist with every intelligence in a way that creates respect and trust.”

Welga broke into her sati compartment, found the stellations of Earth. She accessed them with the delicate probing of a tongue against an infected tooth. What an unholy mess. Data of all flavors swirled and collided. She triggered her body to focus better.

Threads sorted themselves by context: political events, her family, her friends, outbreaks, exfactor entertainment. She found the tunnels that allowed communication with the other dakini, closed the doors so they couldn’t hear her. The functions that Por Qué had previously performed to her specifications now happened with a thought. Welga didn’t have the words to describe how she did it, but she knew.

That is the power of sati. The words came from Clemence. Welga could discern her mental voice now. The next generation of human beings could have what we have.