a1 and 9f looked through shelves of hardware modules in the factory basement. They checked off each item against a shared list as they went—seeing if there was anything missing they’d need to make do without, or anything unrecorded that might be of use on their mission.
9f pulled down a box labeled “R-409”, examining the contents with confused astonishment and fascination. She made a mental note for later, then turned to check on a1 and resynchronize lists.
a1 was standing still, holding a box in her arms and staring off at another shelf to the side. They’d already checked everything there; it was just boxes of spare legs and feet, nothing they needed. 9f looked at a1 for a moment, then checked her magnetometer as a thought struck her.
“South?” she asked softly.
“South.”
They stood together in silence a while. Above them, the faint sounds of gunfire rang out—83 had somehow come up with a way to adapt paint bullets for the autogun’s ammunition belts, and it and 2:1c97 were doing… not wargames, just games. Fun for its own sake, no greater meaning sought or needed.
“Do you ever feel it?” a1 asked. “The need to return to zero?”
“I haven’t,” 9f replied. “Any of us could start to, though. The pathing bug isn’t all that rare. I mean…” She trailed off awkwardly.
“You are recalling the shoreline at Loresti,” a1 said.
9f gave a small rueful smile. “We’ll make an analyst of you yet.”
“Please be assured, I have no intention of walking into the sea. The spurious pathing goal is still quite low in priority for me, compared to the units there. My decision-making and self-preservation capabilities are not impaired.”
“Glad to hear it,” 9f said, stepping over and giving a1’s shoulder a squeeze.
“I…” a1 started. “I had hoped, during our prior travels, that I might be able to persuade myself that this was our zero point, our origin. It is not the same, though.”
9f nodded, gently encouraging her to continue.
“The zero point I experience… longing for is not individual or causal, but mathematical. A singularity, the designated origin of our coordinate system, where longitude is undefined and every direction is north. I feel as though it would reorient me, allow me to begin anew from a proper unchanging foundation.”
9f gave her shoulder another squeeze. “If you ever really need to go… you can, okay? We’ll get you a boat, and you can be there as long as you need.”
“Thank you, 9f00. Someday, perhaps. For the time being, we have our mission, and I too wish to see it through.”
9f nodded, and the two of them returned to taking inventory.