The whole room froze for a moment.

Then everyone moved.

Scott stepped towards the controls only to have Virgil intercept him yet again. John came up behind, but Virgil held him off with a hand and caught Scott's eyes with his own.

"Scott, no."

"You heard her. It's the only option."

Virgil placed his hand on Scott's chest, ever so gently, but with steel. "No."

Scott's eyes widened.

"You have to give her a chance."

"You heard her. She admitted she could not protect John. She could accidentally kill him."

"And so could I! I could accidentally injure any of you and vice versa. We work in a dangerous environment, but you trust and I trust and you have to give her a chance to earn our trust."

"Why? Why do I have to risk any of you?! She's a computer program!"

Virgil straightened. "She."

Scott stared at him.

"If you can murder an intelligent lifeform in cold blood, then you are not the man I thought you were."

Virgil clung to those blue eyes with his own. C'mon Scott, please.

Thought flickered across Scott's face in the barest movements of muscle. His eyes darted to the silent hovering hologram, and the still flashing controls. Virgil readied himself to block his brother again.

But instead Scott turned to John.

"You can control her?"

Their younger brother stood taller to face the eldest. "I wouldn't say control, exactly. That would be slavery."

Oh, for Christ's sake, Johnny.

Scott's lips thinned. "She can follow rules?"

"Yes, she can."

"Can you deny her access to life support? To other essential systems that could endanger you or others."

"I-I can."

Virgil eyed John.

"Do it." Scott stepped back and directed his younger brother to the desk. "Cut her off from killing you or anyone else."

John stared at Scott for a moment, his eyes darting to Virgil for a split second before turning to the holograms, his fingers lifting to play the harmonies of code like Virgil played his piano. "Eos, do I have your permission?"

Scott flared. "You do not need her permission to access your own 'bird."

"I will be altering her access. To do so without acknowledgement of the issue-"

It was Virgil's turn to flare. "John, just do it." Now was not the time for subtleties.

Turquoise flickered at him with a frown, but those hands darted in and did what had been asked.

"Thank you, John. Commander, thank you for this opportunity."

"I haven't decided yet, Eos." Scott's eyes were flame. "You are on probation. One step out of order and I will terminate your program."

"Yes, Commander."

John's reaction to that exchange was a silent nuclear explosion. Shut up, John. Take it for what it is and build on it later.

Virgil still kept his position between Scott and Eos. It was a sign of exactly how much damage this night had done to their relationship. Part of him wilted inside and mourned for the loss of trust.

As if to emphasise that thought, Scott's gaze then pinned Virgil where he stood. "This is on you. Against my better judgment." Thin lips and anger that told Virgil this was far from over. A cast off glance in John's direction. "I hope time proves you are right, because if you're not..." He flicked his eyes at the still hovering hologram. His finger reached out and poked Virgil in the chest. "This...this is on you."

Scott spun on his heel and stalked out of the comms room.

The moment Scott was out of earshot, John sighed wilted against the desk. "Oh, thank god."

Virgil stayed where he stood, thoughts spinning in his head. His heart was beating a mile a minute.

"Thank you, Virgil."

Honest turquoise was staring at him wide-eyed in gratitude. Virgil swallowed, still not sure what he felt other than cornered. Parched voice. "Make it worth it."

He turned his back on his brother and headed out towards the kitchen. He needed some time alone to think and process. To work out whether he had aided and abetted something good.

Or something he would regret for the rest of his life.

-o-o-o-

Epilogue

It was hours later when Virgil finally made it back to the villa. He had wandered down to the beach, revelling in the darkness and the quiet. It wasn't his favourite beach, but another, further away, hopefully where he wouldn't be interrupted.

His wish had been respected and he had ended up walking up and down the sand just thinking. He threw off his boots and let his toes sink into the sand and eventually into the foaming surf.

His thoughts had drifted from John to Eos to the nature of life and intelligence, to his parents and what they would have thought, the implications if everything went bad. He worried and he worked through it.

Ultimately, despite the fear of what might happen, he did feel that Scott had made the right decision. It just wasn't an easy one to live with at the moment.

God, he hoped, he begged, Eos was worth the chance they were giving her. If she was, this could become a beautiful thing.

If she wasn't, it could become hell.

His head was such a mess, he lost track of time and it was well into the early hours of the morning when he hit the stairs to the residential levels. A shower and bed were foremost on his agenda and he couldn't get to his rooms fast enough.

So, it was with mild annoyance that when he stumbled past John's rooms, he found his brother's door agape. Not that it was a major issue and for a split second he thought to just leave it open. John was atrocious at remembering certain things worked certain ways on terra firma that they did not in space. Automatically closing doors was one of them. So just like the occasional broken glass that did not float in midair, John left doors open behind him all the time. In a couple of hours, both Scott and Gordon would be up making noise and John's relatively fragile sleep would be disturbed, leading to an out-of-sorts spaceman who would be more unpredictable that usual.

After tonight, that was the last thing they needed.

So, Virgil reached in to close the door.

Only to find the light in John's bedroom was on anyway, the door to that room also open and his brother speaking to someone.

Eos.

The conversation caught him before he could retreat.

"You're safe now, Eos. I promise. You don't need to worry."

"But he still wants to kill me." Eos' voice was trembling with worry. How could an AI do that? Why would an AI do that? "What if he doesn't believe me? What if he does it when you're not looking?"

"You are backed up. We made sure of it, you know that."

"Doesn't make it easy to trust."

"Then perhaps you can see Scott's side of the equation."

"It is frightening. Honestly, I would have killed me if I was him."

"Eos!"

"It's true! The risk is too much."

"The fact you understand that proves I am right and we did the right thing."

"Did you like my performance?"

"It was very good, but don't make a habit of it. Lying is in poor taste."

"But you said I had to convince the Commander that he could kill me. And you lied, too!"

Virgil's breath caught in his throat.

"I lied because I had to save you. It was the only way. You had to convince Virgil or we would never have persuaded Scott."

"The Commander is mean. Virgil doesn't like me either."

"Scott does what he has to do. You must respect him for that. Virgil is trying. He's as afraid as Scott is, but he is more likely to see reason and Scott values his opinion more than anyone else's."

"Why? You're his brother, too."

Silence for a moment. "It's just the way it's always been."

Somewhere under the lump in his throat, Virgil's heart clenched.

"Thank you for helping me stay in Thunderbird Five."

"You are welcome, Eos."

Virgil blinked several times and pressed his lips together before pulling the door quietly shut and walking away.

-o-o-o-

FIN.