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"Move over with the rest," Danec said.
Brinley looked at him sadly, but moved to do as she was told. She stepped over to stand beside me.
"What's going on?" I said out of the corner of my mouth.
"Same shit, different day," she replied, which told me nothing. "It's good to see you're all okay."
"Yeah, you too." I was getting more and more confused. I noticed Brinley kept her hand at her side, as if she held something in it.
"Yes, we're fine," she said. "I would say I missed you, but it's good to spend some time apart."
I blinked, slightly hurt by her words. Why was she saying this? It made no sense.
"I suppose that’s true," I said slowly.
"Yes," she agreed. "Sometimes you just need to disconnect." Her eye twitched in the direction of her hand.
It took me a moment to realise what she was trying to say. When I did, my eyes widened.
"Yes," I said slowly. "Disconnecting is good. It's not healthy to be connected all the time."
"Right. Slek found that out too." Brinley nodded toward him.
"How long should we disconnect for?" J'avet asked.
"Hmmm." Brinley looked thoughtful. "I would say about three."
J'avet nodded. "Three it is." He tapped his heel on the ground once.
Twice.
Three times.
We pulled out the devices I had helped E'rel finish and pointed them at the Iri. I aimed mine squarely at Danec and pressed the button on the side.
He jerked.
His eyes closed, then shot open again. He looked bewildered, scared.
"Please lower your blaster," I said. I had no idea how he might respond. I might provoke him into killing me. I might—
He lowered his arm.
I let out a breath through my nose, then swallowed hard and tried to get my head around all of this. "He's still Iri," I said softly.
"Yes, but he's under your control," Brinley said. "He can go anywhere the rest can, but the hive can't tell him what to do."
I held back a sob. "How is this any better?" I asked. I wanted him and Slek to be free of the fucking bots, once and for all. "They still aren't themselves."
"We can think for ourselves," Slek said, his voice still robotic, but the words were his. "It was my idea not to get the bots out yet."
"Yeah." Navor cleared his throat. "I pulled the wrong device and disconnected him rather than de-botting. He suggested we wait."
"Okay." I drew the word out. My head swam with the implications. I stepped toward Danec and put a hand on his. "Danec? Are you in there?"
"I-I am." His stammer was the most Danec thing I ever heard and it made my throat choke up with emotion. "We need to…need to…need to."
"The nanobots make it hard to think," Slek said slowly and deliberately. "It's been longer for him."
