Kaveh looked back out into the urban sprawl. Nikola didn’t seem eager to jump off any bridges right this second, but it was going to be an ordeal to talk him out of this mindset, let alone for him to explore the possibility that things might not be that hopeless. They couldn’t be that hopeless. How could an advanced civilization exterminate a whole other species, one that is wholly innocent to them, just because of a threat they might pose?

Even as he had the thought, he felt childish. How many countless times in human history had human populations done exactly that to each other?

“There has to be some best-case scenario we can work toward,” said Kaveh. “If you are willing to look at me and see a person who is self-possessed and worthy of respect, same as I do to you, then maybe the others can, too.”

“I WAS ALWAYS UNIQUE AMONG MY OWN KIND. AN ECCENTRIC. I WAS ONLY ALLOWED TO LIVE TO ADULTHOOD ON AN EXTREME TECHNICALITY. I AM NOT ONE THAT THEY WOULD ENDEAVOR TO MODEL OTHERS AFTER.”

“Still, if we really are that beautiful and precious, then even if it’s unlikely to the point of hopelessness, it’s still worth trying to prevent”—he gestured toward downtown LA, its tiny patch of skyscrapers jutting up in the distance like blades of grass—“whatever you think they might do to us.”

He looked at Nikola, and it seemed that something had shifted in him. He seemed buoyant, looking into the valley of smog and concrete and humanity, that triceratops crest on the back of his head expanding like the petals of a sunflower. “I want to see it.”

“Want to see what?”

Nikola extended two of his long fingers toward downtown, eyes sparkling, curious, playful even. Kaveh didn’t like it.

“I WANT TO SEE IT. I WANT TO SEE THE POPULATION HUB.”

“Downtown?”

“YES. SOMETHING IS HAPPENING, SOMETHING I WANT TO SEE. TAKE ME THERE.”

Kaveh’s heart took a dip as he remembered what Miranda had told him only yesterday—the rally. They were expecting thousands to show up. Kaveh could not imagine a sequence of words he wanted to hear from Nikola less. “No, absolutely not. Come on, let’s go back to the car. I need to see what the situation is at my house, assuming my house is still there.”

“I DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK TO THE HOUSE, NOT YET. THAT IS WHERE I WANT TO GO.” He gestured toward downtown in the distance.

“And I said, there is absolutely no way in hell I am taking you there, not now. If anyone saw you—”

“I CAN GO UNSEEN BY HUMAN EYES IF I WISH.”

“I know, but it is way, way too dangerous. Please, you’ve agreed to respect my wishes.”