[Random update! Quick note, though, there's some spoilers for classic literature in here.]

[...I promise it'll make sense.]

Maya's life with the Order of the Impending Storm had been a long series of practice exercises. Weapons training, hand-to-hand training, agility training, tactical training... it seemed like it never stopped. She hadn't exactly minded; the physical exertions had gotten easier and more fun over the years, while the mental exercises gave her mind an acuity that had saved her life more than once.

Her time on Pandora, though, had been more satisfying than all the training years of her life. Out from under the Order's thumb, Maya was free to use her training, testing her skills against real threats. Life on that wild, dangerous world had thrilled her in ways she never would have imagined.

The only thing she missed about the abbey was its library.

Countless books, across infinite subjects. No tome had ever been too dull to read at least once, no mass of paper too daunting a challenge. For years, Maya had let her mind roam the multiverse of paper and ink, and she was certain that those tales, in part, had driven her to seek more from the Order than the worthless answers they routinely doled out.

The library on their new ship wasn't as enormous physically, but it definitely had more books in it. Maya slipped into the room, selected a leather-bound reader from a shelf, and settled into a comfortable, plush chair, and opened the 'book'. The pages were blank, but that was about to change. "Computer, resume from last chapter."

{Confirmed.} The blank pages glowed briefly, and writing appeared as though it had always been there. Finding the last line she remembered, Maya turned the page and read on.

The ship vanished. Woods grew up around her, filled with the sounds of night creatures. A boy and his dogs sprinted through the night, seeking their own type of challenge and prey. Maya watched silently with her mind's eye, reveling in their successes. Then, the last night. They headed out as always, but this time, they found too much-

"Why are you weeping?"

The ship reappeared. Maya tore her gaze away from the pages, and looked up to see Cassidy in the doorway. "I'm sorry?"

Cassidy touched her own cheek. "You're crying. What's causing you consternation?"

Maya brushed her face and saw droplets on her gloved hand. "Oh, it's just this old story." She smiled and sniffed. "It always gets me right at the end."

"Oh." She looked confused. "You've read those writings before?"

"Yes."

"So... you knew it would set you sobbing?"

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Is there a point to this?"

"I'm just wondering why you'd subject yourself to a stimulus that makes you mournful," Cassidy explained. "It doesn't really make much sense."

"That's a little tough to explain," Maya agreed. She stood up and held out the book to Cassidy. "Maybe you'll understand if you read it yourself." She started out the door, then turned back. "By the way..."

Cassidy looked up from examining the book's title. "Hm?"

"Next time you see me engrossed in a book, don't interrupt me unless the engines are blowing up. Got it?"

"Yes'm."

"Atta girl."

Maya didn't think about the exchange for the next couple of days. She practiced her shooting with Zero, spent a day hand-to-hand training with Krieg, even tried lifting weights with Axton and Salvador. She didn't run into Cassidy during that time, but nothing about that seemed odd to her. The girl spent most of her time on the bridge anyway.

Then Gaige caught up to her.

"Did you show this to Cassidy?"

Maya glanced up from her dinner. Gaige had taken seat across from her and was holding up the book Cassidy had taken. "Probably. Is it still a story about a boy and a couple dogs?"

"That's the one." Gaige's voice was a long way from its usual cheerful self. "You told her to read this?"

"It's a great story! It's got loyalty, courage, determination-"

"And an ending that rips the heart out of anyone that reads it!" Gaige yelled. "You really thought this should be Cassidy's first book?!"

"First?" Maya looked at the book with a slightly foreboding sensation. "First ever?"

"She's a month old! Of course it's her first book ever!"

Maya winced guiltily. "Oops."

"Yes, oops." Gaige glared at her. "After she read it, she stayed glued to my side for a whole day. I think she half expected the mountain lion to burst out of walls and eat me." She jabbed her finger at the door. "You need to go apologize to her. Right now."

Maya found herself battling with an almost uncontrollable urge to burst out laughing, but also a surprising sense of child-like guilt. "What can I do? She already read the book, it's not like I can just erase her memory." She frowned. "Can I?"

"No, you can't," Gaige growled. "Go."

Of all the dangerous, deadly things Maya had battled, somehow her red-headed friend had become the most threatening creature she'd ever seen. "Yes'm."

A few minutes later, Maya stepped off the elevator and under the dome. "Cassidy?"

"Here." The voice came from its usual spot in the command chair, surrounded by a wall of holographic screens.

"Um, listen..." Maya said, walking over to the chair, "I wanted to apologize for telling you to read that book. You probably weren't ready for it, and-"

"I repaired it." Cassidy's hand stabbed out from behind the wall of light holding another book. "Read."

"Repaired...?" Baffled, Maya took the book and started leafing through the pages. "What do you mean by..." She trailed off.

There was a low cough and a deep growl from the lion. I saw him crouch. I knew what was coming. My hands felt hot and sweaty on the smooth ash handle of the ax. With a blood-curdling scream he sprang from the tree with claws outspread and long, yellow fangs bared.

I knew my dogs would fight. I knew they would save me. I knew they would die for me. I didn't want it. I closed my eyes, and asked for a miracle-

Yellow lightning flashed through my eyelids, and a thunderclap boomed through the air. The devil cat shrieked like it was being torn apart. My dogs howled, and a burst of strange noise rattled around me.

"You can open your eyes now. You're all safe."

I opened my eyes, but I didn't believe them. The lion was dead on the ground, a dozen bloody holes in its side.

"You need to be more careful. I can't always be around to save you."

It was a woman's voice. I looked around, and what I saw about floored me.

A beautiful woman was kneeling by my two dogs. She was petting both of them. Dan looked happy as I'd ever seen him, and Ann was wiggling like a pup. Her left arm glowed brighter than my lantern, and, the strangest thing, she had a bright blue gun on her back.

"Who are you?" I croaked.

"You called. I answered." She stood up and walked towards me, Dan and Ann at her feet. She laid her hands on my shoulders. "But I can only do it once." She bent down and kissed the top of my head. "So you be careful, okay?"

I felt my whole body go hot, like I'd been dunked in fire. I tried to nod, but my neck felt like a rusty pump. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be careful."

"Good boy." She turned and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Somehow, I managed to yell without sounding like a bullfrog. "Who are you?"

"Someone that knows you deserve better." There was another flash of yellow light, another roll of thunder, and I was alone with my dogs again.

Maya couldn't read any more. She stared at Cassidy through the wall of holographic screens with a mixture of amusement and embarrassment. "Really? You rewrote the ending so I saved his dogs?"

"You showed me the story," Cassidy said. She sounded oddly distracted. "You were the suitable savior."

Maya sighed and leaned against Cassidy's chair. "I'm sorry I upset you with the story, but there's a lot of good stories with sad endings out there. Part of it is to help people understand that sometimes bad things happen. You can't just change them."

"Of course I can." Cassidy looked up, and Maya suddenly noticed she had another book in her hand. "Really, rabies? That can be cured with a simple shot."

It took Maya a few minutes to find her voice. "Are you changing the end of Old Yeller?!"

"Zero zapped in with a syringe." Cassidy motioned to a stack of books by her chair. "And Axton led Lennie away from the barn, and Salvador shot Tom so she could go with Gatsby."

Maya opened her mouth... then closed it. Well, I guess it's better than torching the book after reading it the first time. It had taken half the monks to put out that fire.

Brother Sophis had been extremely displeased.

She perched on the arm of Cassidy's chair. "You know, I bet Gaige could help Holden find his bearings."

"Probably, but there's another problem first." Cassidy glared at the next book on the stack. "I figure it'll take all of you to bring down Big Brother."

"See, that one I'll help you write."

[Apologies to anyone who's never read those books. Thanks for reading!]