They drag themselves back through the path, past the clutching branches. Out into the cemetery. Over to a large visitor centre, comprised of dark timber and gleaming stone steps.

Takeru's face hardens as they approach, while their shadows, barely disguised by the darkness of the one the building casts out, fall over each cut of rock. His face twists further into a downright grimace as they push open the doors. And then rage fills it, as quickly as a naked flame exposed to oil will explode outwards into light.

For there, inside the large open hall, beyond the benches and bonsai trees, beyond even the large squares in the walls that open to the elements in place of windows, is Roboppi. Sitting quaintly, seiza-style, with the head of a slumbering Kiku resting on the slant of their lap.

'GIVE HER BACK!'

The shout is a wild roar that fills the area. It makes the air shiver, tremble, and quake. And yet Roboppi continues to sit there, face blank like a doll's. And then provocatively, their fingers twist into Kiku's hair and stroke, as though she's nothing more than a pet.

Takeru lets out a growl, and both Ai and Yusaku have to grab him in order to prevent him from marching over with swinging fists and further demands.

'I thought you said you didn't like swallowing minds?' Ai calls out to Roboppi, over the sound of Takeru's struggling limbs.

Roboppi shrugs, their facial expression still looking coldly detached. 'I lied. Just like you do, Aniki.' A small smile crosses their face. 'I don't think you get to act all surprised about that. Not when I learnt how to do it from watching you.'

Looking oddly chastened, Ai drops his gaze to the floor. Before it hardens upon finding the trailing ends of Kiku's soft hair, midnight-blue and rippling over the rise and fall of Roboppi's patronizing fingers.

Roboppi's smile grows a little bigger at this, and then carefully, their hands slide Kiku's head off their lap, leaving it to rest on the floor. 'I guess we're all ready to Duel now, huh? But that reminds me...' They tap their finger against their chin, looking thoughtful, as though something's only just occurred to them. 'If I hadn't broken down in my last Duel against SoulBurner, I would have won, right? Seems a bit unfair to Duel you again with that handicap outta the way...hmm.' They shrug. 'So to make things fairer, I'll let two people Duel against me now.' They puff out their chest self-importantly. 'I'll give you guys the exact same chance that Aniki gave Blue Maiden and big-boss Zaizen!'

Ai narrows his eyes. Opens his mouth.

'Takeru and I will do it,' says Yusaku firmly.

Ai's head whips round in a glare. But Yusaku doesn't meet his eyes, choosing instead to reserve his own stare for the cat-like glow of Roboppi's eyes.

'Yeah...' says Roboppi slowly, their voice slow and punishingly sweet. 'You like Aniki, the same way Homura-kun like this girl, right? So you're not gonna do anything that will let his data get gobbled up like the other Ignis, huh?' The sweetness from their tone settles into their smile for one brutally short moment. Before it's gone, wiped clean, their mouth stretching out into a leer, one with actual teeth in it. 'Good.'

It's a savage whisper, one that screams out a warning to Ai and he shoots an angry look at Yusaku, feeling a bit bewildered by just what exactly is happening here. And angry too. Because it's not Yusaku's place to decide whether or not he can handle Roboppi! Besides, Ai is tonnes smarter! And last time he had to watch Roboppi nearly win and claim his beloved's mind, he was almost useless, locked out of the Duel just like he's about to be now, again, and...and...

...It doesn't bear thinking about!

So Ai can't help but clench his teeth as Roboppi grins and snaps their fingers together, both Takeru and Yusaku starting in surprise, as turquoise lines of code instantly swarm over the glass window in their Duel Disks.

'Just giving you a helpful update!' chirps Roboppi. 'This dreary place is all boring and doesn't run any strong wi-fi signals here. So we have to make do and Duel in the real world.'

Ai frowns, and runs a gentle finger over the bulge in Yusaku's Duel Disk, the one he has popped his head out of in the past many, many times. It feels strange to be standing outside of it now, when he's so much bigger and hopefully less stupid, the glass cool and black to his sensors as he partially invades the data within.

'Well, it's definitely not a virus,' he notes, his eyes glowing at he carefully analyses Roboppi's newest gift.' And it's stretching your poor old Duel Disk to its outdated limits...but yes. I can't sense a trap.'

And Roboppi's telling the truth; there's no nearby wireless connection to any virtual world nearby. So much like his duel with Pandor, the monsters will have to spread their glittery wings inside the hall.

'Yusaku,' he whispers urgently. 'I don't like this. Roboppi hasn't even said what they want if they win. Something here is fishy.'

Yusaku inclines his head to the side. Slightly. Barely enough to even be called an actual head-tilt really.

'They haven't mentioned anything about their own deletion if they lose!' Ai continues, now thoroughly rattled. 'Oi!' he calls out, raising his voice. 'I know you're eavesdropping! What is it you want if you win? And what happens to the losers!?'

There's a flickering flare of calculation in Roboppi's eyes, akin to the spluttering start of a firework.

'Nobody has to die here,' they say faux-sweetly, all in a cold, creeping tone that Ai has programmed to drift out his own mouth many times. 'But if they lose...' they motion to the two humans in the room. '...then Kamisawa Kiku stays asleep. Forever.'

That sets off a growl in Takeru's throat. It rumbles, a low, humid storm in the air as his expression tightens and then unfurls into one of blistering rage. 'You bastard! I won't forgive you!'

'That's fine,' Roboppi answers brightly, despite the cold look on their face. 'Because I don't much feel like forgiving you either, Homura-kun.'

They glare at each, twin lions in their bristling postures, and so of course it's now that Yusaku takes this moment to actually turn his head and address his worried partner.

'Ai,' he says firmly, as though he's still just a tiny Ignis on his wrist. 'Go watch us from the side.'

But Ai hesitates. Something about all this doesn't sit right with him. Don't get him wrong; he loves the drama evoked by this situation, adores it even! Just the way the darkness of this hall helps set the scene, much like the inside of a gothic church would do, as someone prepares to fight for the sake of someone precious to them, is enough to get his code shivering and racing in all the right ways! And the way the invisible tension crackles between everyone, rippling through the air with a promise of a great Duel is just the chef's kiss on top of a great dish!

...And yes, sure, he feels guilty as well. He's torn between enjoying this, and feeling overwhelming fear. Fear for Yusaku. For Roboppi. For Takeru. Even for Kiku, who he doesn't really care for, or know at all really, but still. It's a shame she's got dragged into this.

'Ai,' Yusaku repeats, even firmer, actually turning his whole body to the side this time. His voice is harsh, and so is his gaze, firm and unrelenting when it rests on Ai's and oh great, he's being all commanding, Ai actually sort of has a thing for it...but even so, when Ai's lips move into the start of a quip or a protest, Yusaku's hand lands on his face. Warm, soft and yet firm, his palm cups Ai's cheek and there's a strength there, in those fingers, that Ai could easily shake off and push away from, but they still bite into his sensors in a way that makes the words he wants to push out into the air dry up and delete themselves.

'Go,' Yusaku tells him. But he doesn't shove him away. Just holds his gaze.

Enraged, Ai pouts, rips himself away from Yusaku's deceptive hand, and stalks off to the side, where bonsai trees rise up, carefully cultivated inside small pots. And Ai grimaces as he stands beside one, wishing he still had on his cape to make himself look broader, more imposing. As it is, he has to make do with crossing his arms and setting his face into a mean glower.

Yusaku had better win.

Yusaku is doing better than last time. Of course part of that may be because Takeru is there by his side, backing him up.

Ai's fingers tighten against his arms as he keeps them stubbornly crossed. He can feel jealously sweeping up inside him, unfurling into a storm of petty rage. Because he should be the one out there, beside his partner, tossing out a reassuring smile, or else smirking at Roboppi from behind the safety of an Ignister monster. He should get the honour of performing a tag duel with Yusaku not...not someone else.

Still. At least Takeru is pulling his weight.

So Ai watches. And tries to enjoy himself, the way he always does watching a Duel.

'This is where the wake for your parents was held, wasn't it?'

Ai tenses as Roboppi suddenly says this brightly out of nowhere, as though there's no real pain to be found in the subject matter. 'I saw it in Kiku's memories,' they continue blithely, as Takeru's face goes blank in sheer shock for a moment, before a deep frown curls back into his forehead once more. 'You weren't there – still stuck in the Lost Incident – but Kiku remembers. She wasn't invited, but she watched near the steps for you. Left flowers afterwards, because you couldn't.'

Roboppi shakes their head. 'She's always doing stuff like that. Taking notes for you when you didn't go to school. Tracking you down when she knows you're feeling lonely.' They place a finger near a card they're holding, prodding it as though it can react and answer back. 'Humans do that. Try to clear up other people's messes for them. Or help them with it. I didn't always get that. I think I do now, though.'

Takeru lets out a breath from between his teeth. 'You don't know anything about it. Nothing.'

Roboppi's face goes blank. 'Maybe,' they say. 'Maybe I'm still not smart enough to. But I am smart enough to understand Kiku. I get it, you see? Wanting to fix someone. But not knowing how.'

And it's now that they summon it, the dragon monster from before, comprised of steel and delicate, clever-patterned panes and sticks of metal, a mirror image of the frames that hold the segments in a stained glass window. The same creature that almost took Yusaku away from him last time...

Ai narrows his eyes as it roars, a deep motor purring down through its throat instead of a roar.

'You know,' continues Roboppi, above the unsettling thrum of it. 'Humans like doing lots of weird things when other humans are dead. They want to believe that they're not gone. Not completely.' And then their head turns. Just a little. But more than enough for their eyes to meet and match with Ai's. And then flicker, perhaps meaningfully towards the SOLtiS that bears Flame's voice, still watching from the back of the room.

Roboppi turns back to the Duel. Spreads out their arm. Declares an attack. And as though waiting for that command to be its cue, the dragon lets out an actual roar in response, pistons grunting, even squealing, as its wire-trimmed teeth saw through the monster in its path.

And Ai continues to watch, fingers tightening into his sleeves as life-points trickle down. The wrong side's life-points.

Wincing at this last, latest blow against them, Takeru pants, head lowered, before he huffs out a determined breath and draws a card with a single rip of motion. Then he pauses, hesitating, before glancing down at his Duel Disk. And as though in answer to his stare, the curve of glass that once housed Flame starts to glow a faint red, as though a single ember, one tiny stray star of light, remains burning within.

'You know,' he says slowly, 'You're absolutely right, Roboppi. Sometimes those we've lost aren't completely gone. They always leave something behind, to prove they were there in the first place.' He smiles softly. 'I don't know why I keep forgetting that.'

And then he summons a monster, and confidently uses it and two of Yusaku's other monsters, still staunchly remaining on the field to summon...

The red ember in the Duel Disk glows brighter and brighter, as he chants, like a glimmering piece of coal. Then it explodes.

'DECODE TALKER HEATSOUL!'

Takeru calls its name out and Ai stares. And stares. And stares. It bears the same black body and purple markings of Decode Talker. But pieces of its armour shine a bold orange, and fire burns brash and heavy from its head in place of hair.

This...this is a Code Talker. But not one Ai has ever built, not in those dark years he was on the run, lovingly crafting them for his precious Playmaker to one day use. No, this one has nothing to do with him, because he can feel the same steady, almost tribal thump of code emanating from it that has always thundered through Flame's Salamangreat deck.

He chokes. A few warnings spiral up through his own private code as his vision blurs, just for a second, in a minor glitch. And he finds his hand grasping uselessly in front of his mouth.

But, he can't help but think furiously, when? When did Flame do it?

Was it a monster he never got round to finishing? Inspired by one of Ai's? Or maybe a stray idea, started, but never finished, and only worked upon and completed by...

Ai's gaze slides to the SOLtiS at the back. Who is still watching the Code Talker with a wavering look of adoration, practically star-struck with awe. Yes...if Flame left enough threads, enough of a framework, then a reasonably advanced AI could complete it. These SOLtiS are silly babies now, yes, but they also have the potential to be...

World-wreckers. Just like the Ignis were. Like Ai still is.

It causes a cold feeling to pool at the base of Ai's stomach, to dance at the roots of his program. And yet it cannot douse out the fire in his belly, all that raging heat at proof, solid proof that Flame left a surprise behind, that it was recovered and not lost to the ether he and the other Ignis are now stuck in, never to return.

'Go!' he bites out harshly, heart alight at the rapturous joy in Takeru's face, and in the brief surge of heat he sees in Yusaku's eyes as they find his, plunging deeply into him, as though they can see it all, his grief, his joy, and his fear.

Yusaku frowns at him. But Takeru grins. And uses this new monster's ability to whittle down his own life-points so he can draw a new card from his deck. A card that causes an even wilder new grin to spring into life upon his face...

And Ai just watches, fist curled and rising, in triumph, as a feeling of yes, yes, yes coasts through his program.

Because within the next few seconds, after some monster-banishing, with another new summon and the activation of a spell card, the tide has turned and Roboppi's dragon is now twisting and turning under the onslaught of flames that rain down over the metal structure of its body, causing all the pipes and fine lattice-work of its wings to crumple and melt away. And through the space it leaves behind, the orange heat builds and builds, a gale of wind erupting forcefully as the dragon completely vanishes, the force of it barrelling straight into Roboppi. Whose legs crumple in turn, arms sweeping out to scatter the remaining cards in their hand, the thin leaves of brown flying out as they crash back through some chairs and cause the wooden limbs to snap off at the sheer speed in which their body is hurled to the floor. And Ai winces in sympathy.

Still. It's done. The Duel is over. Roboppi has lost.

And Takeru pants and pants, open mouth curved up into a helpless smile. But as soon as the monsters disappear, he remembers exactly where he is, and more importantly why he has come here in the first place. And off he bounds, becoming a violet streak in the dark as the shadows successfully daub his white tracksuit into a blooming tent of soft purple. Moment later, he slams down to his knees beside Kiku, yanking her up against his chest. His expression shatters a little as her head lolls listlessly to the side, barely supported by the gentle press of his palm against the roll of small bones that arch through her neck.

'Keep your promise!' he snarls, head swinging up to lock onto Roboppi. 'She's not awake yet!'

Roboppi, still sprawled over the snapped legs of some chairs, lets out a dazed giggle, and cautiously, Ai approaches. Roboppi's face is bruised slightly, but they still have this large dopey grin on their face, eyes not staring anywhere in particular.

'You're so cool, Soul-burner...' they half-sing. 'Even though I'm still so much smarter than you-'

Ai frowns, nudging him with his boot. 'Oi,' he says. 'Don't be lame. You're a Duelist now, remember? Keep your promise.'

Roboppi wrinkles their nose at him. But still, they gingerly push themselves up with their arms, wincing and Ai can't help but fall down to their level, clutching at their arm to help their wobbling body clamber up onto to their feet.

Roboppi looks at him. Their eyes are wide, almost vacant. They let out a small hum under their breath, then a slight snigger. But then the hollow look on their face jolts a little, as their irises glow. And stiffly, as though they're stumbling over on a twisted ankle, they stagger over to Kiku.

'It's alright,' Ai says quietly as Takeru stiffens, his fingers pressing out a few more creases into the dress on Kiku's back. 'Roboppi will keep their promise.'

And if they don't, he'll have to do something about it.

But Roboppi just gives him an annoyed scowl as if to admonish him. Then, after a second, they gingerly press fingers against Kiku's brow, the skin puckering beneath their touch. A small snuffle instantly escapes her mouth and her jaw clenches as though she's stuck in a bad dream.

'Kiku?' Takeru pulls Kiku closer to his face as Roboppi steps back, his eyes fastened on each tiny twitch in her expression. And as her eyes open, as they squint and focus on his frantic-looking face, his eyes soften, his mouth below blossoming into a relived smile.

'Tak...eru?'

'Kiku!'

He hugs her tightly, her white dress billowing out in waves beneath the harsh pressure of his fingers.

Ahhh, thinks Ai. This is cute. Romantic, even. He just adores stuff like this. Especially since it always beings his mind back round to...

Yusaku. Yusaku, who is watching with the tiniest upturned tick to his lips. But whose body language is still tight, shoulders tensing, as he moves over towards him and Roboppi.

And unbidden, Ai's gaze moves out again. To that other SOLtiS, the one that led them here. Who is still watching as Takeru buries Kiku's head into his shoulder, as the shine of her hair is swallowed both by the curve of Takeru's neck and the soft arch it creates under his chin.

It comforts Ai to see the frown this provokes on the SOLtiS' face, a thoughtful one as opposed to an angry or frustrated one. His eyes squint as they flicker, as though there's still something here in this scene that he's watching, that is escaping him slightly. And yet still he watches, rapt, as though he could trace out these two humans and the shape they make together and recreate it, copy it, into a hundred virtual scenarios later on.

A dry chuckle escapes Ai as a weak fluttering of hope unfurls in his chest. Perhaps he hasn't opened Pandora's box after all, and maybe the mere fact that it is the code of the Ignis, AI modeled from humans themselves, that has set some of the SOLtiS free, is enough to make them feel curious about the better parts of humanity, rather than immediately superior-

There's a faint twinkle of light from outside, one that soars in an arc of motion through the air. It crashes through the window, to reveal the slender javelin of a glass bottle as it falls, flames branching out of its open top. And Ai watches in horror as it lands, direct and precise, into the body of the watching SOLtiS.

There's a whining screech, and a clatter of noise as the SOLtiS fumbles, batting at the flames in a confused sort of wonder. Move, scream a thousand codes that crash through Ai and his program, save him! And yet others, a thousand more, crumple, re-write themselves, loop through years and years of sped-up footage, from all those failed simulations where cities burned to ash. Something about the orange brush of the flames before him now, the bright, bold licks of their colour, capture Ai, paralysing him and locking him into all those memories Yusaku and any other human out there would call fake. But they're not, they're real, they're real - and then there isn't time left to act.

The Molotov cocktail ignites in full and all there is now is a body haloed in flames, the hard-light projection of the face blurring. It manages to fumble out an expression of surprise, shock, and then finally pain as the arms reach out in agitation, the long kimono sleeves flaring out up into tapers of yellow light. Stumbling, the SOLtiS manages to clutch against a nearby pillar before he slumps down to his knees.

And yet still, he does not scream. But the motor beneath whines, letting out an ear-piercing shriek as he becomes nothing more than a candle.

And no, no, there's no nearby wireless network here, not one strong enough for the software inside to escape to, to be downloaded and copied from unless maybe Ai opens himself up-

Ai scrambles forward, ready and willing to let this fragment of Flame and this whole other person that kept him safe, join him and the data inside this SOLtiS body, just for a while-

But another twinkle of light arcs through the sky, and now there's another flaming bottle soaring through the broken window – and it's coming right for him.

Ai makes an abortive trip to the side, quickly calculating the exact angle the bottle will fall into. And yet for all the quickness of his mind, his body is still limited to this fumbling shape that can only operate at certain human speeds. He successfully dodges the bottle, but still it catches on the corner of a nearby bench, the fire instantly rushing up out of the nozzle to eat the wood and gobble up the trailing end of his hair as it swings round in a dark arc above the wood.

It's not real hair. Not something that should act as a candle wick for any flame. But it still holds physical mass. Mass that Ai has made as soft as possible, soft enough for Yusaku to run his fingers through, to bring a smile to his partner's lips...

And so it burns.

Ai yelps, reaches out to pat it with his hand, thinks better of it and attempts to roll down against the floor. For a moment, the world passes round in a flare of yellow light, grey smoke, and brown wood, before the black burn of his hair, and the oily and metallic stench that rises out of it, brings him back into a world of fire. It spreads everywhere, the roar of it echoing inside this wooden canopy, dancing across the floor, the walls, the pillars, haloing the bonsai trees as it eats them up from the outside, crackling along the now black hilts of their branches, and the dead and furling crinkle of their brown leaves-

And the SOLtiS, the SOLtiS that delivered a part of Flame back to them, is lying curled against the pillar like a child, fingers still twitching but now there's nothing left but the metal body and its creaking chest plates and twisted limbs-

Ai stares at him, the unnamed SOLtiS, hollowly. At the shape he made, curling into himself like a dying, no, dead human. He's seen similar shapes before in those simulations, the ones where bombs fell and the world caught on fire. Sometimes they had even caught Yusaku and he choked and fell, his lungs heaving, clawing out as much oxygen as they could before-

The sight of it is whipped away from him, closed off by the dark lining of Yusaku's jacket falling over his head, the arm sleeves quickly dripping over the burnt fall of his hair. Yusaku's hand presses down a moment later against the material with a hard shove, extinguishing the few flickers of light still gleaming at the ends of the strands.

Ai wobbles. Blinks.

He feels his shoulders shake, his sensors registering the press and feel of human fingers digging in and trying to rattle his very limbs. Even pain filters in, the sting of it echoed in his cheek, the bend of his neck as it turns under the impact of a human hand that leaves his shoulder to land on his face.

Ai blinks. Did...did Yusaku hit him? Maybe. His partner's yelling words about 'moving' and 'needing to go,' and humans do sometimes hit each other when they're distressed, and trying to make others bend to their whims. And...he shouldn't be standing here, like this, in a fire where Yusaku could choke like he did all those other thousands of times in a world Ai constructed again and again and again...

This isn't...Ai's adaptable, he thinks quickly. He's good at thinking of ways to get out of trouble and yet now, for once, his strength is failing him and his mind is caught in a loop, playing out all those images of curled and blackened humans shapes, that existed because of him and Yusaku, Yusaku, Yusaku-

-Is tired of waiting.

The world immediately tilts to the side, shapes turning heavy and dark through the fabric of his partner's jacket, outlined only by the hue of amber light the fire gives off as Yusaku scoops him up like an unruly child.

His partner's hands are on his back, under his knees, and all of a sudden it's like he's back, alone, scared, re-living Earth's death again in the small world of this SOLtiS body and its failing systems, as Yusaku carries him away from the temple, away from Hayami and her nasty tool-

Yusaku carries him again now, like he's nothing but a helpless princess. And Ai is stuck, still caught by fear, by the picture of that SOLtiS against the pillar, of Yusaku dying over and over-

'It's fine.'

Yusaku's voice is firm, harsh, angry. But hoarse too, from the smoke. Ai can hear it tremble, in rage, in fear, the syllables curt and cut by the grunt of breath that leaves his body as he steps through the frame of the door, into the fresh air, free of the smoke spilling out.

And Ai feels guilt claw at him; why should Yusaku have to carry him out, when he, Ai, has a body that can't pass out from smoke inhalation?

Yusaku's hand, the one beneath his knees, tightens, as though he knows what Ai is thinking.

'There was nothing you could do.'

Nothing you could do. Ah. Yes...isn't that always the way? Ai smiles grimly to himself, the curl of his mouth disguised by Yusaku's jacket. Yusaku had said that during their last duel too, hadn't he?

And now there are shouts, human shouts. But Yusaku keeps walking towards them, moving past them as though they're nobody of interest.

'Jeez, we're sorry, we didn't realise there were actual people in there-'

'Hey, put down that SOLtiS, if it's like the others running free with no master, than it's dangerous-'

Ai's stomach runs cold.

'He's mine,' Yusaku says sharply, not slowing down in the slightest. 'Do you want to see my digital receipt for him on my phone?'

Ai has no doubt at all that Yusaku is prepared enough to have forged one for an occasion just like this, but thankfully humans, these stupid, ugly humans, seem to back off without asking for proof. Perhaps it's the authority in Yusaku's tone. Or the harsh expression on his face. Ai can't see it, but he has no doubt it's there.

'No need for the attitude' one sullenly mutters. 'They kidnapped that girl – one of them told us.'

Ai closes his eyes. Of course. Some of these SOLtiS probably are stupidly trusting, seeing no need to filter the truth when they tell it. They aren't old enough to understand how quickly humans retaliate out of fear and anger.

He swallows. He wonders if the rest of them got away. He hopes so.

Yusaku keeps moving.

'Yusaku-' Ai tries.

'Be quiet,' Yusaku says sharply.

Ai is. But it doesn't help. Without the sound of voices to block things out, he hears everything, the crackle of flames and the thumps of Yusaku's feet on the grass, as he manoeuvres round the graves, and the blare of the sirens from the approaching fire engine.

Ai trembles. He cannot experience adrenaline, and yet still he shakes, little conflicts in his programming erupting from the clash of the emotional surge he has experienced upon revisiting old memories and feeling them mix in with the new rage and fear he feels for what these other humans have done.

'Roboppi-' he tries again, voice breaking, and Yusaku's body turns, it bends still holding him, and Ai feel the swift press of his partner's lips against the fabric that slides over his forehead. It's more of a bruising force, than anything tender, but it still shuts him up.

'I couldn't carry both of you,' Yusaku says and Ai can hear the guilt in his tone. 'I'm sure they moved but I didn't stop to check.'

Ai laughs bitterly. 'No. You had to take care of me, the error code.'

Yusaku stops. The wind bites through the fabric, enough for Ai to register the thin pinpricks of goose-bumps litters his partner's arms as they curl beneath him.

Fed up, Ai shoves the jacket off his head. 'Oi, don't freeze up on my account.'

Yusaku is staring behind them back at the hall, now a molten ball of gold on the horizon. His jaw is clenched, his brow unbelievably furrowed, deep, dark trenches etched there into his forehead. He's not just simply angry. He's seething.

'You're my partner,' Yusaku says, his voice a thin thread of sound, cold anger thrashing though every syllable. 'Error code or not, I will always put you first in situations like these.'

He turns, the green glare in his eyes raking Ai through to the very depths of his soul.

'I won't apologise for that. Even if you hate me for it.'

It's not you I hate, Ai thinks dumbly. But he can't quite hate himself for it anymore either. Not when this new life, this second chance, has given him these snapshots of a life with Yusaku. There was a reason he didn't allow himself to meet up with Yusaku until their final Duel four months ago. Spending time with Yusaku like this weakens his resolve. Make him feel hope.

Yusaku stares down at him a moment more. Ai stays still. There's something powerful about being held like this, by a creature so much more fragile than he is, as though Ai is the one who needs to be guarded. It's flattering, humbling and...and...

A slight breeze travels past the gravestones, weaves it way through the flowers left behind. It pulls at Yusaku's hair, Ai's too. The burnt, tattered ends of his strands drift out like an erratic scarf and Yusaku's gaze hardens even more as he sees them.

Nervously, Ai passes a few fingers over them, gleaming gold patches of tiny pixels reworking the strands into pristine condition under Yusaku's glare.

'I'm fine, I'm fine!' he says brightly. 'We both know I don't break as easily as a human does.'

Yusaku's silence speaks volumes.

'What about Takeru and his girl?' Ai asks, eyes already scanning round the bend of Yusaku's shoulder.

'They got out. I saw it.'

Ai closes his eyes. 'Then put me down, Yusaku.'

Yusaku stares at him some more, eyes focusing on the repaired weave of his hair, the shape of his face, as though trying to analyse him, the way a facial recognising program would.

Ai sighs, loops an easy arm round his partner's neck and carefully presses his lips to that firm, stubborn line Yusaku calls a mouth. 'Please,' he whispers, as slowly, as seductively as he can as their mouths part. He makes the very sound of it vibrate against his partner's lips, like the small sting of a bumblebee.

And after a moment, Yusaku does.

Ai isn't fooled. He knows – knows- that any sultry tone he develops, couldn't inspire Yusaku to let him go. But Yusaku expects it. Expects the jokes, the flirting, sees them as staple parts of AI's personality when he's not busy being a traumatised statue, that is.

They walk past gates, out into the road, buzzing with activity. With firemen, with a fire engine and an ambulance, red lights flashing and causing streaks of scarlet to seep into his Yusaku's skin. Ai shudders a little at the sight, picturing the bright smudge of light on the horizon and the similar flare of angry light it forces out against human faces.

Yusaku sees it of course, the shudder and how it makes him closes his eyes, and quickly wraps a firm hand round his wrist. 'Let's go,' he says firmly. And attempts to unsuccessfully fend off the ambulance workers.

Thankfully, they seem more concerned with Kiku. Who sits at the back of the ambulance, an orange shock blanket wrapped over and around her shoulders like a shawl. Who stares out into the night, eyes wide as an owl's. And who flinches, recoils back against Takeru's steadying hands as soon as her eyes land on him and the SOLtiS diamond on his neck.

The wild fear in her expression, that Ai hears echoed in her small, startled gasp as it leaves her mouth, metres away from him, stings, and feels far hotter than any fire that could rage over his circuit boards.

And some small mean part of him is gratified that it exists. She should fear him. She's smart too.

But the other, larger part him is sickened by it. Tired of it all. It's not like he ever wanted to make any human cower before him.

So he turns away. She has Takeru now. Let him either tell her that he, Ai, is a good AI, a friend even. Maybe he'll even him lie and leave out the messy truth that Ai has already done to humans exactly what Roboppi has just done to her.

One of the workers throws a querying glance at Yusaku's hand on his wrist. But he does not stop his work. He continues to instruct Kiku on how to breathe, how to count inside her head for each panicked one she holds. He even has an oxygen mask ready and waiting for her to yank all her frightened breathes out of, supplying it like a magician with a top hat.

Ai can't be here. He yanks his hand free of the curl of Yusaku's fingers and marches out into the trees, ready to double back to the theme park littered with SOLtiS. He keeps his eyes fixed on the sky the entire time, feeling hope rise with each step; there's no orange glow from that direction, no faint curl of smoke moving up to dust the tops of the trees.

'Ai,' says Yusaku, and Ai feel the pull to turn round, to meet his eyes to maybe let Yusaku coax him back-

'You should go back,' Ai mutters half-heartedly. 'You almost got burnt alive just now.'

'And you still could,' Yusaku retorts. 'Just because you can use a wireless network to transfer yourself somewhere else, doesn't mean you could do it before the fire damages you enough for you to feel it.'

Ai smiles grimly. 'It would take a very hot fire indeed, for the body I'm in to reach any kind of melting point.' He braves a glance at Yusaku, feeling guilt strike him at the small smudge of black on one of the sleeves. 'Besides, you don't have enough clothes to spare as a makeshift fire extinguisher.'

Yusaku's look firms into a downright glare. 'There's no need to feel guilty for that. I was the one who chose to give you my jacket. I didn't want any more of your hair to catch on fire.'

'That's sweet,' Ai says jovially. 'But it doesn't-'

His words cut off. His foot lands on some leaves, the crackle and snap of their brittle veins suddenly sounding as loud as a gunshot to his ears.

There is - there are:

Bodies on the ground, grass tucked into their side. Blackened holes punctured into their chests. From a flamethrower perhaps, or a makeshift gun, rigged with illegal parts. Not many bodies, not enough to be called a...

Genocide, thinks Ai dumbly. He stumbles over to one of the smaller forms, to one of the children playing in the roller coaster. Now just a grey body , without even the protection of a human face to cover the shining metal skull and make them look like the person they could have been recognised as.

No, Ai thinks. That was never on the cards, was it?

There are upturned carts. Wheels separate from their axis. Two darkened human forms stumbling out of the seats, rolling over and outside the paint-flaked rim.

'They didn't do anything to you!'

'What are you, some kind of traitor to your species?'

'No, I'm just not a murderer!'

Ai watches punches rain down on a body, a still breathing one, and feels unsurprised at the sight. Make sense. Just as Yusaku, Takeru and Aoi were firmly on the side of co-existence for Ignis and humans, so too will some humans not be willing to execute a SOLtiS just because they speak and move freely, outside the dictatorship imposed by a human owner.

But they won't be enough.

Ai storms up to the humans. And before they can do more than turn to him. To snarl at him, he raises both hands and firmly stabs both their foreheads with his fingers. With just a slight burst of data, a tiny trickle of electricity, they slump to the ground.

Yusaku tenses. But he does not admonish him. He does not even bother to lean down, to squint at their chests, to try and monitor their rise and fall of movement. And Ai feels gratitude seep into him at this implicit show of trust.

...but that still won't be enough either.

Ai walks through the ruins of the park. A few more bodies. But most of the SOLtiS aren't here. Tucked away, hopefully miles from here, finding new homes for themselves.

Ai closes his eyes. Which to choose, these new brand of AI or humanity? He smiles mirthlessly. As if there was ever really a question? There's only ever been one real choice to make...

Ai spins round. He holds out his hand. And lowers his lashes. 'Yusaku,' he purrs. 'Come away from this drab and dreary sight! Let's do something to cheer us up!' he stalks forward, ignoring the worry in those green eyes, instead grabbing Yusaku's rather wooden and unresponsive hand and raising to his lips. He gives it a quick kiss, relishing in the softness of the skin beneath, at those multiple sensors that jangle beneath the mask of his face, and the ones that temporarily line the layers of the fake skin that buds out from his robotic body. He takes a moment to relish in all the information they bite out, all the sensations of 'tender' and 'warm' and 'too dry.'

Ai backs away, still holding Yusaku's hand, as he tows him back to the carousel. 'You told me to dance for you earlier, remember?'

Yusaku just stares back at with something like sadness in his gaze. 'Ai,' he says softly.

But Ai just stares back at him crossly. And huffs. 'Stop it with that boring expression! I'm about to perform for you!'

He pulls Yusaku up, onto one of the open carriage fixed on the carousel, one of those boring shapes that fail to rise and fall the way the horses do. He squeezes Yusaku's hand one more time. Then lets it fall from his grasp and bounces over to the nearest horse, twisting one of his hands round the pole and launching himself up. But not over, onto the seat. No, he keeps himself suspended in the air, with only the tight curls of his fingers and steady branch of his squeezing palm around the pole to support him, to keep him out of gravity's clutches.

And in the seconds these movements comprise of, Ai plays out that distant memory of sharp angles on red sofas and a circular stage doused with a spotlight; he remembers each stroke of movement played out round a solitary pole that rose up and shone with a metallic gleam on the ship Queen had boarded, and now chooses to play them out to perfection in the here and now. Even though he hadn't been there long, and had barely paid attention because the woman stuck to the pole hadn't interested him, it doesn't matter now. Because his memory is not a human one, retaining all visual data, and even the boring shapes mapped out in the corner of his eye can be re-viewed as sharply and as focused as they were the day they crossed his path.

And so Ai easily plots out a course for his body with rapid-fire accuracy, readjusting some calculations for his differing frame. And in an open arc of movement, he swings himself round the horse, throwing his head back with a snap to form a wide arrow with his entire body, one with both legs bent to create a single point, one far more so in front of the other. All of him protrudes, quivering, as though there really are bones to hold him in place and muscles tensed and ready to snap. He holds it for an impossibly long second, and then relaxes, swinging down and round to the ground.

'Well?' he asks with a grin, bouncing back to Yusaku. 'Risqué enough for you?'

Yusaku looks at him, as Ai sinks into the carriage, down onto his knees, flopping his head down onto his human's lap like an overeager dog to grin up at him fondly.

'Where did you steal those moves from?' his boring, stone-faced Yusaku asks. 'You're far too clumsy to have come up with those by yourself. Did you write a program to mimic the muscles of a Youtube performer?'

Ai gives him an annoyed look from beneath his eyelashes. 'Rude! If you must know they came from Queen's ill-fated voyage on that ship I attacked her on. Someone there hired a pole-dancer.'

A faint grimace of distaste crosses Yusaku's face at that, and Ai rises, practically slithers into his lap, his head dropping down to nuzzle as the sensitive junction between Yusaku's neck and collar bone.

'Alas! I am not alluring enough for the heartless Yusaku! I shall have to cry myself to sleep tonight, alone and unwanted!'

'You don't sleep,' Yusaku says with a sigh, one firm hands sinking into Ai's curls, brushing them down and away with a forceful sweep. And each stroke, each firm press, causes Ai to flutter his eyes shut in delight, to preen and press a pleased kiss into the skin Yusaku allows him to stay attached to.

It's true what Yusaku says. Ai doesn't sleep. But Yusaku does. And he will.

Ai pulls himself away from Yusaku's neck. He meets his eyes. Smiles coyly. And raises his hand as he draws in close, close enough to kiss, to distract-

Yusaku's hand curls round his wrist, before Ai can even lets his fingers so much as touch his brow where Yusaku's beautiful, bustling brain can be drawn down into a well-deserved rest.

'Ai,' says Yusaku, from beneath his lips and Ai flinches as the name touches him, as it's breathed onto him. 'Don't.'

Up close, Ai can stare into Yusaku's open eyes, can see the tiny flecks of yellowish green and the hazel-like mist that douses his irises, that prevent them from being one boring block of colour, like a child's crayon can be. He can see it from far away too but up close, like now, he's really, really forced to see it. And it's memorising. The way they stare right at him, firm and unrelenting. Knowing. And without judgement.

'You think I can't tell when you're trying to distract me?' Yusaku asks, but there's no barb to his question. 'I know it's tempting, But don't make the same mistake as before. Let me help you.'

Ai could still do it. Could break Yusaku's hold and force him down into slumber.

He closes his eyes. 'No, Yusaku,' he manages, the sound of his voice turning dark and cold. 'I won't.'

...He doesn't even know who he's saying that to any more. Yusaku or himself.

And then he tears himself free of that SOLtiS body, rips himself away into the network nearby. Ridding himself of this cumbersome form, he shifts into his smaller, and in some ways, more frail Ignis one. The one he was created to fit, the one where, if things had turned out differently, the way he wanted them to, he would have never had to leave.

A body that can't kiss Yusaku, can't attract Yusaku, can't pull him close, a green-eyed moth to the crackling flame of his love...

Ai sobs. His tears glitter, fall freely through cyber space the way they did the day he was forced to leave the Ignis behind, to let them sink into Bohman and disappear forever. They were so much braver that he was when he tried to transform Yusaku into his executioner. Not one of them admitted they were scared. And they must have been. They must have been.

The way he knows the SOLtiS who died today must have been too.

And that thought weighs in him like a stone, causes him to hunker down, curl his small black fists and head deeper into the network.

Picture this: a boy sits there, a silver-faced SOLtiS on his lap. Around him, the wind whispers through the trees, causing leaves to rustle and the fallen ones, already on the ground, to flip and fumble over stones and twigs with tiny scratches of sound. And yet Yusaku remains there, ignoring this same pull of air as it tugs at his hair and rolls over his skin with a chill just severe enough for goosebumps to rise like an army across his flesh. Long enough in fact, for his thighs to turn numb across the plastic seat they still rub against.

And if a passerby were to stumble past him now, and draw close enough to catch the expression on his face, they would not draw any deep conclusions of the emptiness that rests there, that keeps his mouth firm and still. They would think it neutral, at best.

Few people indeed, would understand the storm brewing beneath.

Finally, Yusaku pulls the SOLtiS up into his arms. He lifts it up so he can clamber of the carriage without bashing or scraping it against the sides.

A passerby may sneer at this. May see it as unnecessary. In some ways it still is.

For Ai is gone. Can zip through the network in a way a human cannot, like lightning forking between trees, burning cells to their roots with a speed that lasts less than a second.

But Yusaku cannot bring himself to leave any part of him behind in the real world, however cumbersome.

And if Ai were here to see his partner's expression, as he walks out back towards the town, he would recognise it, now freed of its customary blankness...as one of determination.

Notes: One step forward, and two steps back. Or in Ai's case, an entire world away...