Have they been here so long they’ve become numb to the little things? Residents are an artificial intelligence trying to become human. What if humans, after all this time, and all this pain, are starting to become more machine?

I clamp down on my thoughts guiltily. The others would hate me if they knew what I was thinking.

“I should go. Shura says I should have another dress ready, in case another festival is in the cards.” I turn for the door.

“If you wouldn’t mind before you left,” Ahmet starts, setting the object down and exchanging it for a strange crescent-shaped piece of silver, “could you pass this along to Gil? I keep forgetting to give it to him when I see him. I know you both spar every day.”

I scratch my elbow awkwardly. “We decided not to train together anymore.”

“Gil never mentioned that.” He frowns. “Did the two of you get into an argument?”

“I don’t know if we’ve ever been out of one. We don’t really see eye to eye.”

“You mean when it comes to training?”

“When it comes to anything.” I reach for the piece of metal. “I’ll drop it by his room, though. It’s on the way.”

“Thank you,” Ahmet says, shifting the object to my hand. “And, if it makes you feel better, it always takes Gil a while to trust people. Especially after what he went through in War.”

“I get it,” I say, shrugging like it’s not a big deal.

“I told him I know you’ll do the right thing when the time comes.”

I cradle the crescent-shaped piece against my stomach, frowning. “What makes you say that?”

“Just a feeling.” He pushes his glasses back up his nose. “I’m usually pretty good at figuring out how things work. And that goes for people, too.”

I leave Ahmet’s hut and take one of the spiral staircases to the next level. I knock three times on Gil’s door. It’s been left slightly ajar—most people in the Colony don’t bother with locks—so I push it open and peer inside.

“Gil?” I call out, but there’s no answer.

I can see his workbench from here. The same sculpture is still half-finished, but the thin sheet is crumpled on the floor beside it. I wonder if he’s out scavenging again.

I step inside, hurry to one of the small tables, and leave the crescent gift where Gil will be able to find it. Part of me is glad I don’t have to actually talk to him, but the other part of me is fairly certain he’s avoiding me. We haven’t seen each other since the afternoon I sent him flying across the training room.

If there was ever a good reason to avoid someone, I guess that would probably be it.