Page 58 of Guiding Reason
Oh, but he is coy. And I want to kiss the coyness out of him, want to pull down his pants and kiss his cock until he feels too much bliss to give me coyness.
“I can keep up,” Hyran said.
“Good. Show me.”
The day was bright, beautiful, and holding Col’s hand should have made it even more so. For a moment, Hyran imagined they were just out for a walk—ideally to loosen up their leg muscles after a day spent fucking—and nothing more.
He knew where Col was going too. They were crossing a wide plaza with training facilities on one side and the fancy drama museum shimmering in a quarter circle on the other. The plaza itself was smooth stone and benches and sculptures breaking it up and saving it from becoming monotonous.
A stele no wider than a Conduit but a good five times as high was a common meeting place. It had been inscribed with a love poem, one that imagined Wilan was singing it to Avan. Hyran spotted the stele right as he looked up from Col. He smiled.
My Conduit near me, just showing him around where he’s safe and satisfied and—
“Well? Your ideas?” Col asked, blue and brown eyes expectant.
Hyran took a deep breath. “The first one was… Why don’t you talk to your Op-AI, see if it can and is willing to do what the Judiciary AIs do? You know, copying relevant parts and building a new one in a way that shares the experience and the knowledge of the mother AI?”
Col nodded. “I can do that. I just don’t know about the hardware. I’ve been near the AI core’s room in the G&C Center in Argentea, and it’s large. Explains why the G&C is almost always the biggest building in the Grounds of any city. We might have to see if there is anything we can salvage here. If we can repair the body of the Ferrean Op-AI, who knows, that might work.”
“I take it you have no idea how to do that.”
Col snorted. “Not a one. We’ll ask around? I’ll ask my Op-AI about it too. And there are maintenance bots around for each Op-AI. Maybe they can help. What was your second idea?”
Hyran’s good mood turned. “To ask around outside the walls. I don’t know how much you know or remember, but whatever the outsiders use, every bit of technology, they make it or have made it. They do have robots and such, but nothing on our scale. Maybe what we lack in knowledge, they can offer. I don’t know what would incentivize them to help though, assuming they know how to build an AI.”
They got to the end of the plaza. Col’s brows scrunched up even as he waved over an auto drive. The auto-drive stopped, but not in front of them like it should have. Instead, it came to a halt three vehicle lengths away.
“I fucking hate this.” Col walked toward the auto-drive’s open door and got in ahead of Hyran. “To the Judiciary.”
The door closed, and the lights in the auto-drive flickered. “I cannot take you there, Conduit. The Judiciary is outside of theGrounds, and you should remain within the Grounds where it is safe.”
“Oh, is it? Take us to…” He looked at Hyran.
“The Western Entrance.”
“Right. There.”
The auto-drive blinked again before the lights stabilized. “As you wish, Guardian.”
“The issue is going to be to get it done with the help of outsiders, if they even know how,” Col said. “Not just finding what we have to offer to them, but also to present it in an acceptable way. But we have to find out if they can even help in the first place. Ugh, I need to call my little brother.”
Col pulled out his screen, and from the conversation, he was tasking Orrey to take Senlas and handle the agriculture situation and enlist members from the Agri-Team as necessary.
“Oh, and have you seen Vinnie? Ah, with Yamara? Fine. No, let them be. Hyran and I can handle this.”
Col ended the call—by saying boop. Hyran wasn’t sure what to make of that. A few minutes later, they arrived at the Western Entrance, and the auto-drive stopped like it was supposed to.
Col groaned. “We have to change to a regular auto-drive, don’t we? And we have to walk past all that.” He pointed at protectors gathered around the Entrance as well as the many regulars who were still waiting to hear about their relatives.
Hyran didn’t immediately hit the door release but turned to Col. “Or we could go back to the Tower? Please, Col. I don’t want you near Alesa or any of those insurrectionists.”
Col got out on his side but stuck his head back into the auto-drive. “Maybe they don’t want me in a room with them either, did you think about that?”
Hyran pushed his speed to get out of the auto-drive and close to Col. This time, Col either anticipated it, or he hid his surprise at Hyran appearing next to him well.
“I think you are a brave person, Col. Stupid brave sometimes. Do you ever consider that you might not always be right?”
Col crossed his arms. “Just my Hound-fucking luck. You’re already sounding like Taros. Come on.”
