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"Ugh, I can't believe I did that," I muttered as we flew home. The memory of my skirmish against Jovan kept replaying in my head. I wasn't feeling very proud of the way that I fought.
"Hey, it's okay," Trik reassured me as he flew closer. "Mr. Russo had it coming."
I looked down at the ground far below, trying to convince myself of the same thing before glancing at Trik again.
"If you want my opinion, you defeated him fairly, using his weaknesses to your advantage. A warrior is aware of their weak points and safeguards them – he did not," Arne complimented.
"I suppose. I can't help but feel guilty about it, though," I responded as I shifted my gaze toward Trik.
"Hey, why didn't you tell me about your meeting with my dad?" I asked him, changing the subject.
Trik shook his head as he looked away.
"I don't know. I didn't know about the conversation until that moment...Perhaps it was a glitch? I've been forgetting things lately."
"Or you were programmed not to remember," I put bluntly as my jaw set in frustration. Once we returned home, I went straight to my dad's office to confront him about it.
"So, you've been spying through Trik?" I inculpated him as I burst through his door. "Why would you do that without telling us?"
My dad was sitting at his desk staring at a computer screen that he no doubt had been using to watch what transpired at the Russos'.
"Firstly, well done with Jovan. You handled him splendidly," he commended as he stood and approached me. "As for Trik, the relay system installment was part of a recent update sequence due to what's been happening. I didn't inform you because I knew you'd be sensitive about the topic and would become overstimulated as you rejected the idea. Having Trik relay information as he supports you benefits the entire branch and will help us better protect ourselves."
I stared at my dad in disbelief. He couldn't honestly believe that made it right.
"He has a will of his own, Dad. You can't just use him that way," I declared defensively. My dad looked at me with sadness and a kind of parental pity in his eyes as his shoulders lowered a bit.
"Unfortunately, I can, sweetheart," he said with a cold confidence. "It's part of his design."
Did he seriously say that? My eyes started to tear up as I stood there, glimpsing at a side of my dad I'd never seen before.
"So is that why you built so many others – to replace him when something happens, or should he become defective? To switch him out when you get new ideas? Because you don't see him as anything more than a tool that you created? If so, what does that make me? You created me: am I just a tool, too?"
My dad looked at me as if I had just offended him.
"That's not the same, and you know it," he stated fiercely.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind as I realized something that had never occurred to me.
"Is he even the same Trik that I grew up with?"
There was a short pause before my dad responded.
"Mentally, yes." He answered.
"So, all of those times you'd take him away when something was wrong with him...you'd replace him with an upgraded version. His entire life, he's been constantly used as your guinea pig to improve your army further, hasn't he?"
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you never would have understood had I told you. I created that army for the future long ago should the other branches decide to target us or should the Primordials become a threat to us. They are designed to collect data that I can use to protect us better."
"But at the cost of Trik's life and free will," I said flatly.
My dad reached out and placed both hands on my shoulders in an attempt to soothe me.
"He's the same Trik you've always known and loved," he said softly. "He has the same memory nodes and personality specifics – he just gets a better body now and again."
Hearing him say that so casually frustrated me even more as I pushed away from him.
"A better body equipped to spy for you," I snapped back. "And he doesn't even know about it! How can you not see how wrong that is?"
"It's for the best," he stated more solemnly.
"But—"
"That's enough, Lisa." He declared.
I looked at him silently, understanding I wouldn't win, and stormed to my room.
While I buried my face into my pillow, Viraa spoke from my holo-bracelet.
"He's right, you know. Though you may disapprove of the method, viewed objectively, Boman is using Trik exactly as he was designed to be. The knowledge and experiences he gathers are meant to be accessed to protect everyone better. All the while, Trik will continue to be the Trik that you know and love."
I sat there, not responding to anything she said, but I knew she was right. I just hated how I seemed to be the only one who viewed him as a person. Then, a pit in my stomach formed as the memory of Trik, reminding me a few months ago of how I had ignored his contributions for a year before finding Tymon, flashed in my mind. I couldn't believe I had allowed myself to forget and take him for granted. And now I was expecting everyone to view him as I did suddenly...
"Fine," I let out in a defeated yet understanding tone. "I have no choice but to accept it, but I'm gonna tell him everything. It's not right to keep it from him."
"I already know," I suddenly heard Trik's voice say, startling me as he appeared on the couch across my bed.
"How did..." I asked, dumbfounded.
"It's a new feature to my camouflage mode I received after my last 'upgrade.' I used it to tail you when we got back."
I looked at him sympathetically as it occurred to me that he'd been there to hear my dad's words for himself.
"I'm so sorry, Trik."
"At least I now have an explanation for the minor gaps in my memory bank," he said, trying to make light of the situation as he returned to his robotic form, but I could still hear his true feelings in his voice.
Trik looked at me and saw my pained expression before floating over to me.
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