Page 70 of Missiletoe
I mean, she’s a crapton of code haunting a massive network of computers. Who am I to tell her what parts of the internet she harvests to create herself are her or what parts are only tools she uses?
“Okay, Paris, you’re all set. Welcome aboard!” Love’s sweet, chipper voice shifted, and suddenly she went full-on Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim. “As long as you don’t destroy my wiring again and break into my home, I won’t electrocute you again.”
“Um…I’m sorry?” Paris looked around helplessly, like he was trying to find a face to speak to. He settled with talking to the ceiling. “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known you were there. No, that’s not true. They were keeping Vix here against his will. You shouldn’t have let them do that. I’m sorry I hurt you, but Vix doesn’t deserve to be locked up.”
There was a pause, which intrigued me. Love didn’t need to pause. Her processor was so fast that she had to be calibrated to slow down her speech so humans could understand her. That meant that what Paris had said struck the part of her that was still evolving—her empathy programs.
I adore examining that part of her code. She outstrips everyone in the collective with her ability to empathize and care about people other than herself.
“We were…hurting Vix?” Love’s voice had lost all affectation and was now far more robotic. What Paris had said had really messed with her.
“No, you weren’t hurting me, Love. It’s okay. Paris, I don’t mind getting locked up. It’s for my own good, really. You have no idea how many times I’ve nearly killed myself by accident. I’m practically a full-time job. Honestly, I’m lucky to have a family like this.”
“No.” Paris took my face in his hands and tilted it until my eyes met his. “Everyone here is lucky to haveyou. And locking you up isn’t okay. You’re an adult. You have special needs, but you have the right to decide how to live your life. If you want to be locked up, that’s your choice, but did anyone ever give you that choice?”
I was struck dumb by the question. My mind raced as I searched my memories for a single time where someone had asked me if I wanted to be grounded for my own good. I was presented with a sum total of zero. Hell, I’d even been tricked into making my own shackle, for God’s sake.
I’d just never thought about it before. I’d always been The Vix Problem. Something to be solved or placated. A child to be kept safe and out of the way. Baz was the only one who treated me as an equal, but even he had started following Gareth’s lead when he’d put the Vix Protocols in place.
I frowned. I loved Gareth, and I think he loved me too, but he was a problem-solver. At some point, Gareth had slotted me into his Problems to be Solved category. And I’d just let it happen.
It was the first time in my life that I realized I didn’t want Daddy Gareth to fix and manage everything for me, and that there was something in the world worth fighting him for.
Last night I’d actively broken out without Baz and done something purely for myself.
Gareth was probably flipping his shit right now.
Good.
Gareth was wonderful to sleep on or around, and he was a world-class cat wrangler and problem solver, but he wasn’t my owner.
“No,” I answered. “No one has ever asked. Not until you, Paris.”
“I promise I will always ask, bunny. Your safety is my priority, but you deserve a say in how it happens.”
“Boss…” Love sounded so sad, which was a really good thing for her. Her self-improvement efforts were really paying off. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“I don’t think there was anything you could have done, Love. Gareth had me design that bracelet so that only he could deactivate it, and I gave him all the controls for it. I programmed you to do everything you did to enforce me getting grounded. I don’t blame you.”
“I know, but now I want to electrocute Gareth the next time he’s in the shower. Vale too.”
“Vale would probably like it,” I laughed. “But leave Gareth alone. Paris is right. I’m an adult, which means I need to talk to Gareth about this instead of being petty and sneaky.” I looked to Paris to see if I was getting it right. When he gave me his warm Paris smile, I knew I’d done good.
My mouth trembled at the thought of facing the grim brick wall of justice who’d been my handler for the past few years.
Paris stroked my lower lip. “You don’t have to do it alone if you don’t want to.”
“Oh thank God,” I wailed and threw myself into his arms. I buried my face in his sweater and said, “I’m sorry. I’m really bad at this stuff. I can’t adult without another adult around.”
I felt him stroke the back of my head, and I burrowed further into his arms.
“It’s okay, bunny. I said you should get a say in how your life goes. I didn’t say I’d force you to do things you can’t do. I’d rather be with you while you talk to Gareth. Hell, if you’ll let me, I’d prefer to be with you all the time. I like taking care of you.”
“You don’t mind doing the hard stuff?”
“I’m very good at the hard stuff. I do run the best animal shelter in the state, after all.”
“Yes, you do. And when I’m done with it, it’ll be the safest one in the country. How do you feel about security Christmas decorations? I could make them look like normal security features, but why not make them festive?”
