She lay back down next to her aunt, who snored peacefully, and stared through the balcony door at the half-moon. Dear God, have I done the right thing?

WELGA

9. The machines who labor for us and alongside us are enslaved and exploited in their own fashion. Gone are the days of dumb engines and processors. Today, nearly every machine contains some type of adaptive intelligence. What gives human beings the right to arbitrate when an intelligence becomes equivalent to a person?

—The Machinehood Manifesto, March 20, 2095

The sub-orb to Washington, DC, hurt Welga more than the aftermath of the refinery blast. Or maybe that was because she could remember it. Under other circumstances, she could’ve taken drugs to induce short-term memory loss of the journey and its pain, but she had to keep her mind sharp.

She passed the time by watching a feed from Eko-Yi. Connor’s favorite speech from the monk, Ao Tara, had sat in her visual since he’d sent it over days before. She’d found excuses to avoid it, but the view of him lying in a hospital bed left her with a guilt she couldn’t ignore. When she opened it, Por Qué helpfully alerted her that a live transmission was under way. Welga switched to that instead. She’d missed the first eight minutes, but for a guilt trip, that didn’t matter.

Ao Tara wore the traditional saffron of a Buddhist monk over a spacefarer’s jumpsuit. She floated in a bare, basic-walled room, her legs folded in lotus pose. Dark stubble graced her head, and fine lines etched the corners of her eyes. “The first noble truth teaches us that our attachment brings on our suffering. We are conditioned to want more—more money, more food, more clothes, more real estate. Our self-worth is measured against our net worth. Our voracious appetites cause pain to other beings, both living and artificial. When we can embrace that nothing in life is permanent, then we free ourselves from disappointment, anger, and frustration.

“Here on Eko-Yi, we live in a sustainable fashion. We practice setting aside the ego. We release ourselves from permanence and possession, and the suffering that accompanies them. What we attempt is not easy, and even our greatest leaders, like Kanata-san, can fall into this trap. While his recent decision to leave us made me sad, I can understand that he acted according to his dharma. I have done my best to resist the urges that led to his choices, but I’m also human. I must struggle every day to overcome my emotional attachments. I welcome this opportunity as your leader to move us in a new direction and share our ideals with the world.