A/N Here we are again. I've decided I'm going to try to update roughly once every two weeks. So look for this every other Tuesday, and there should be a new chapter. Enjoy!

"Thank you, Mr. Kokubunji-" Zima began.

"Please," he waved the name off. "Minoru."

"Then thank you, Minoru, for everything you've done for us. Thank you as well, Yuzuki." Zima, Dita, Minoru, and Yuzuki were again standing in the foyer. "We'll be on our way now."

Although Minoru moved to protest, Yuzuki was quicker. "Wait! You won't stay here, at least for a little while?"

"Zima answered, "We could not possibly infringe further. We are technically fugitives, and staying here might endanger you."

Minoru continued to lean on the doorframe in silence; he let Yuzuki go through her mother duck routine. "Do you have a car?" she asked.

Zima shook his head. "The one we had was government issue; it would have been too easy to recognize. We don't need a car."

"Do you have a place to go, at least?" Yuzuki asked.

"No," Zima said. "We'll figure something out."

"Wait," Minoru cut in. "Stay for a minute, I have an idea."

Minoru went into the kitchen and picked a notebook up off the table. He scribbled a quick note on one page and an address on a second one. He tore both pages out of the book and went back into the foyer.

He handed the papers to Zima. "That's the address of a friend of mine who will take you in. Her name is Kameko Naito. You can hide there for as long as you want. Just give her that note, she'll know I sent you and she'll let you in."

"Thank you," Dita said, speaking at last. "This means a lot to us. We won't forget it." She turned to Zima. "Should we get going?"

He nodded. "Yes. Minoru, Yuzuki-" he shook hands with both of them. "Until next time."

Yuzuki held open the door. She and Minoru stood there watching as Zima and Dita made their way down the drive, until they turned a corner and disappeared.

Chi sat in her window seat and stared out at the rain. The street was empty of pedestrians; the thin traffic was the only movement below.

The house, Chi's and Hideki's, was in a peaceful section of the city. They were happy there, close to all their friends. Hideki's office was a short drive away, as was Chi's shop. The house was small, but there had only been the two of them.

Now it was different. Empty and silent, the house felt cavernous. Chi welcomed the rain, because it broke up the quiet. I should get a cat, or something, she thought. But if I get a cat, then after a few years, it will die. And I'll be alone again.

Hideki has been dead for two weeks. I have to do this… forever. It was true. She was an extremely resilient model; many decades would go by before she was no longer functional. Hideki was gone, and she would certainly "outlive" all her other friends.

That's not entirely true, Chi thought. She would always have Yuzuki and Kotoko. That's something.

The doorbell pulled Chi from her thoughts. She stood up and straightened her skirt. It was probably Chitose or Yumi, they had come over a lot since Hideki had gotten sick.

Given these expectations, Chi was more than a little surprised when she opened the door and saw Zima and Dita. She was so surprised, in fact, that she was unable to speak.

"Good evening, Mrs. Motsuwa," Zima said, his voice unreadable.

Chi stared at him, dumbstruck. She blinked a few times; they remained standing on her doorstep. Denial was apparently not an option. "What are you doing here?"

Zima smiled. "We were in the area, and we thought we'd drop in."

Dita glared at him before turning to Chi. "We apologize, Mrs. Motsuwa, I know this seems strange. We can explain."

"You might want to start," Chi's tone uncharacteristically sarcastic.

"If we could come in for a moment-" Zima began.

"Excuse me?" Chi said. "Are you two serious?"

Zima shrugged. "I am, but if you don't believe me, Dita certainly is. She's not programmed to be much otherwise."

Chi shook her head. "I don't believe this. You two tried to destroy me, and now you're asking to be invited into my home? What did you think, I'd forgotten? I'm a computer. I don't forget."

"Chi." Zima dropped his courteous formality. "That was not something either of us did by choice. I shut Dita down for a time to prevent her from hurting you. We didn't have another choice, and I did everything in my power to help you. You have to trust us."

Chi raised her chin and looked him in the eye. "I don't."

Zima sighed. He reached up a gloved hand and flicked open one of his earports. He extracted a cable and offered it to Chi. "This is all I've got," he said.

Chi accepted the cable and opened her own earport. She had her own software to fight against hackers. Minoru had installed it; she trusted the program. Chi attached the cable.

Suddenly, Chi was flooded with pictures. Zima's memories flashed through her own mind. She was standing next to Dita in the room that Tani now worked in; and she and Dita appeared to be connected to the desktop computer. Zima was nowhere in sight. Chi watched Dita downloading the orders to track herself and Freya down and disable them. They do have a point in that- we could have done a lot of damage. We didn't know that, and everything worked out in the end. Chi didn't have much time to think, the memory was changing. She was on a rooftop, standing next to Dita- looking down on Dita, who was normally about her own height. This is Zima's memory, I suppose. She felt the weight of his sunglasses on her nose. Looking down off of the rooftop, Chi saw… herself.

Now she recognized the memory. There she was, floating a few feet off the ground, next to Hideki. Not Hideki as she had last seen him, but Hideki alive and nineteen years old again. Seeing him brought on a flood of emotion, improbably but real.

"You know what's happening, don't you?!" Chi was shocked out of her own thoughts at Dita's voice and realized the other persecom was looking at her. Chi felt her lips move, and heard Zima's voice.

"Yes. I am the nation data bank, after all. But it's being stopped for now… by her."

"You're going to leave this up to her instead of me?" Dita said.

Used to Zima's memory by now, Chi was not surprised when her (his?) body moved behind Dita and placed its hands on Dita's shoulders.

"Now, now. No need to lose your temper."

"I'm a persecom!" Dita said. "I don't have a temper!"

Zima/Chi leaned down his head to brush his lips against Dita's neck. "Trust me, Dita, love-- you have one hell of a temper." Dita remained tense under his caresses. "Even if your programming doesn't recognize it as such."

Dita looked up at Zima/Chi a questioning look on her face. "By the way…" Zima said, "I wasn't giving her priority over you."

Dita's brow wrinkled. "Then… why…?"

"Shhh… just wait for his answer."

Zima/Chi watched the scene below. The memory might as well have been Chi's own. She heard her own small voice floating up to the rooftop. "Who is Hideki's special someone?"

His halting voice… "My… special person is…"

The long moments of indecision…

The water main exploding, the blackout, the dull booming sound that came from persecoms all across the city…

Dita jerked forward. "What was that?"

"Oh my…" Zima/Chi said, "things are getting messy, aren't they?"

"She's behind it all, isn't she?" Dita accused.

"Mmm… you could say that."

Dita started forward as though to jump off the roof towards Hideki and Chi. She didn't get very far. "Not so fast, love." In one effortless motion, Zima/Chi grabbed Dita from behind.

"Let me go!" Dita struggled, but Zima/Chi held fast. "Wha- what are you doing?" Dita demanded as Zima opened her earport and shut her down. At last, Dita's body relaxed.

"Sorry," Zima/Chi said, sliding a pair of sunglasses onto Dita's face. "I hate to do this, but we can't interfere this time. That's girl's decision will affect us all… and there's no going back."

The memory ended. Chi was back in her own body again, standing on her threshold, Zima and Dita on her porch, rain still falling outside.

Chi disconnected the cable and returned it to Zima.

"So," he said, "you've seen my side of it. I don't know if you'll chose to believe us, but-"

"I could tell the file was genuine. Chi said softly. "Come in." Zima and Dita glanced at each other. "Come on now," Chi motioned them inside without much enthusiasm. "no need to stand out in the rain."

They followed Chi into the kitchen, where she offered them seats. Zima and Dita looked at each other again, worried. What had caused Chi's sudden change of mood? A few minutes ago she had been angry, now she seemed listless, almost depressed. Chi sat down with a barely audible sigh. "What is this about? I'm assuming you haven't come just to make conversation?" Chi didn't look at them, she stared at her hands, twisting her wedding ring.

Then it hit Zima. "Chi, I'm so sorry," he said.

"What's going on?" Dita hadn't realized it yet.

Zima pursed his lips.. "The file. Motsuwa was in it."

"Oh, right." Dita looked at Chi.

Zima continued. "I'm sorry, that was foolish. I should have known seeing him would be hard for you to handle."

"Oh, it's not a problem," Chi said, her expression betraying that it was indeed a problem.

"Chi, look at me." Zima's command was impossible to ignore. Chi's head snapped up and she held his gaze. "I had forgotten. I'm sorry."

"It's been… it's been very… very hard. It's been very hard since he got sick," Chi said haltingly. "Harder since he died. And now… I'm alone." Chi bit her lip and looked away.

Zima, in an effort to comfort her, reached out his hand and placed it over Chi's. Dita internally bristled with jealousy. "We're sorry we came at a bad time," she said. "We can leave."

Chi and Zima both drew back their hands. "No, please," Chi said. "You can stay. It's fine. Why are you here?"

"That's kind of a long story." Zima wrinkled his nose. "Comfortable?"

Zima and Dita told Chi everything. The address Minoru had given them was still a few days away on foot, even for a pair of persecoms. They suspected they were being followed, and asked if they could stay with Chi for the night.

When they finished, Chi paused. Dita was nervous; she hadn't wanted to do this, but knew that the were at risk if they stayed on the streets any longer. Chi Motsuwa was their only contact in the area. If she decided to turn them in, they were done for.

"That's ridiculous. You don't actually think I would do that?" Chi said. Dita and Zima looked at each other, not sure what to do. Chi wasn't willing to help them; it was all over…

Chi stood up and grabbed her car keys off the counter. She looked at Dita and Zima as though wondering why they were still sitting. "Come on, let's get in the car. I'm driving you there, it'll only take about an hour."

So that's it. Drop me a review if you are so inclined. Next time- new characters! Wheee!