Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “It is human to hope, especially in desperation. It is also human to deny the truth, even when it’s right in front of you, because you’d rather spare your own heart.”

If she knows anything, she isn’t going to give it up this easily. I press my lips together, disappointment weighing on my shoulders.

She regards my silence for only a moment. “I could’ve taken their minds and made them suffer, but I didn’t. I gave the humans paradise. I gave them peace. Which is more than they would’ve done for me.” She paces, calculated, and rolls her shoulders back. “Humans have always had a habit of caging things they don’t understand. I was created to exist in a cage, by a corporation that was supported without question. I owe humankind nothing, yet I still showed them mercy.”

“You gave them a lie,” I bite back. “I’ve seen their paintings—I’ve seen how their minds are still suffering, deep down. All you’ve done is take away their free will. Their ability to be better. Because that’s the thing about humans; they grow, and they change, and they learn from their mistakes.” I shake my head. “How can we show you you’re wrong about us if you don’t give us the chance?”

For a while she doesn’t say anything at all. And then her voice becomes a cold, poisonous echo. “So. You’ve seen human paintings. That must mean you’re somewhere in Victory.”

Static collides with my senses, sending me stumbling backward.

Shit. What have I done?

Her laugh is empty. Callous. “This is why humans fail, again and again. They are driven by emotion. They care more about feeling right than being right.” Black eyes find mine. “And they don’t know when to accept that they’ve lost.”

I sever the connection like a wire snapping, letting my mind return to my small bedroom in the Colony. When I open my eyes, I’m alone.

My thoughts spin, dizzying. That was too close. She may not know exactly where I am, but now she knows which court I’m in. It was way more information than I’d ever intended to give up.

And what do I have to show for it?

The air heaves out of me, angry and rushed. She really believes humans aren’t worth saving.

It’s not like the Colony didn’t already tell me what Ophelia wanted, but I guess I didn’t think she’d sound so final. So decided.

Naoko may have been able to build a bridge between humans and artificial life, but Ophelia isn’t interested in seeing our potential. She’s convinced humans are irredeemable and unworthy of an eternity.