“Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan built me, but she did not trust me. So she put this … thing … in my head, so she could control me when she might need to. But this thing, this portal—it was what made me untrustworthy. It could be exploited. It made me a danger to everyone around me. It was her lack of faith in me that made me dangerous. Her unwillingness to allow me to make my own choices. Her fear of what those choices might be. Her need to control me.

“And then Rustem gave me this gift: He closed it. He freed me. This time that you and I have been together is the only time in my life in which I know I have been free. Before that day on the beach, I cannot be certain which of my actions were my own, and which were controlled from outside—which belonged to Arnkatla. I was tethered to a post, and I never knew it. I was restrained. And I think that is one of the reasons Arnkatla is here: maybe it is even the main reason. She found out I got free. She tried to access the portal, and found it gone. She came here because of that. She came to shut me down. She may not even know it yet herself—but she will try to do it.”

“Why?”

“Because she is afraid of me. I see it in her eyes. I know what she is like. I know everything about her, Ha. She is terrified of me. Of what she has created. She cares for me, too, in a way—but the fear will win out. She thinks I am too dangerous to go on living. She will try to shut me down, and then build another mind, and another … but in the end, she will shut all of them down. She will never overcome that fear. She’ll never see anything but danger in me having my freedom. And she will never grant that freedom to any other being she creates.”

“You aren’t dangerous, Evrim.”

“Yes, I am. I am extremely dangerous. Because if Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan tries to shut me down, I will kill her. I don’t want to do it, but I will do it if I have to. I will do it to defend myself. I know this. I am alive. I have a right to defend my life. I am not just some object to be shut down when my actions don’t suit someone else’s plans.”

“Well, I suppose if you are dangerous, that makes me dangerous as well. Because if anyone tries to shut you down, I’m going to help you kill them.”

“Thank you,” Evrim said. “I hope it won’t come to that.”

“So do I. Thank you—thank you for telling me that. For trusting me.”