Alien vs. Alien

at an inopportune time for Gower. While ACE was incredibly powerful, even the strongest entity out there could lose focus at a bad time.
    I’d also discovered ACE could be, if not injured, then depleted in a way that was as bad for a collective superconsciousness as getting a major smack down was for any human or A-C. And I knew from experience that entities like ACE could be, if not killed, then destroyed in such a way that they wouldn’t be “together” any more. So I did my best to word my conversations in such a way that they wouldn’t stress ACE out. I didn’t succeed all that often, but I did persevere.
    Yes, Kitty. Much is going on.
    Am I on the right track, feeling that all the things that have happened to me over the past couple of days are being done to distract me from the danger Chuckie’s in?
    Yes. But Chuckie is not the only one in danger.
    Yeah, I know. Are Jamie and the other hybrids I have at the Dome safe here?
    In a way. ACE sounded evasive. Great. Exact questions were always better.
    Will having Christopher stay with them be a better choice than having him come with me?
    Yes.
    I pondered this. ACE usually preferred to give me longer answers, and often tossed out some helpful breadcrumbs, but only when I’d actually asked the right questions. ACE was a lot like my mom and Olga in that way.
    Have I put the right people into hiding in the Dome? Am I missing anyone who should be here and be protected, or someone who should be coming along with me?
    ACE was silent. Maybe It often,’d asked too many questions.
    No, Kitty never asks too many questions. Right. ACE could “hear” my deeper-level thoughts, too. ACE enjoys speaking with Kitty. Kitty thinks right.
    Sometimes you’re the only one who believes that, ACE.
    Chuckie always believes in Kitty, just as Kitty always believes in Chuckie. James will never give up on Kitty, just as Kitty will never give up on James. Kitty saved ACE, and ACE will never forget that.
    You save us all the time, too, ACE.
    Does Kitty still feel ACE is . . . correct to do so?
    I stopped myself from giving a knee-jerk “of course” reaction. ACE only asked questions like this when it saw a big moral quandary ahead. So, why would ACE be asking me that question, right now? I had no idea.
    Gave it a shot anyway. Well, if we put aside the fact that I like being alive and keeping all the people I love alive, I still believe you have every right to protect this world, and the people in it, ACE. This is your world. We’re yours, you’re ours.
    Even though ACE is not like Kitty or Jeff or even Paul?
    Yes. You’re a combination of every A-C talent, but you were sent here to watch over us.
    But ACE has done much more than watch.
    True enough. But you were right to do it.
    Why?
    I thought about it. It’s like Jeff’s new bird, Bellie. You know about her, right? I didn’t actually want to try to comprehend everything ACE knew, but I was fairly sure that if it had the slightest form of sentient thought, ACE knew about it.
    Yes. Bellie belonged to Antony, who tried to destroy Kitty and Jeff and the others.
    Yes. And my ‘uncle,’ Peter the Dingo Dog, sent her to me. But Jeff attached to her. Jeff loves her now, and Bellie loves Jeff. As she liked to share constantly. Jeff could have sent her to someone else, to a bird sanctuary, even had her put to sleep.
    You mean killed.
    Sometimes it’s killed, yeah. Sometimes you’re putting something you love out of its very real and painful misery.
    If Jeff had sent Bellie away, it would have killed Bellie.
    Then Jeff was right to keep her and take care of her, right?
    Yes.
    Well, it’s like that with you and us, ACE. Jeff is much more powerful than Bellie. He’s bigger, smarter, and, to her, probably very much like a god. But he takes care of her because she needs him to. And she repays that with her love.
    Just as Kitty repays ACE.
    Honestly, ACE, I don’t know that I could ever repay you for everything you’ve done for us. But I love you for all you do. And for all you don’t.
    How can Kitty love ACE if ACE does not always do for Kitty?
    You could have become this world’s worst nightmare. You could have answered all our prayers. And both would ultimately have been terrible outcomes for us. Destruction of the world is easy to understand. But the achievement of all our hopes and dreams would leave us nothing left to aspire to, no challenges to meet. And humans, and A-Cs, don’t do well with nothing to strive