Mayumi looked at Mother Phoenix with tears in her eyes. "Do you know who you are?"

  She slowly approached with a mirror. In the reflection, Mother Phoenix saw herself as a young Asian girl with medium-length black hair. She slowly touched her face, as if trying to feel something, but couldn't sense anything.

  "You are my daughter, Kyomi," Mayumi said softly. "I missed you so much."

  She tried to touch her, but her hand passed right through the holographic form. She closed her eyes in pain. "I promise one day I will give you a body, and once again I will be able to hold you."

  Suddenly, time seemed to stop. The present-day Mother Phoenix appeared, floating with her arms behind her back.

  "Mother made me in the image of her late daughter, Kyomi." She paused. "She was only six when she was killed in crossfire as she tried to flee to safety with her aunt." Her eyes narrowed as if feeling pain. "Mother never accepted that, even as she continued serving as an engineer in the army."

  Ravine tried to speak or escape from Kyomi's body, but couldn't. She could only observe through her peripheral vision.

  Mother Phoenix disappeared, and the world became bright again before everything cleared. They were now in a secluded lab. Mayumi appeared slightly older.

  "It's been four years now since I welcomed you back into this world." She was examining plans before turning to Kyomi. "The war is becoming more and more concerning. People are losing their lives over nothing." Her voice trembled as she slammed her fists onto a table. "I can't let what happened to you happen to other innocent children who know nothing of this."

  "Mother, are you all right?" Kyomi said with a child's voice.

  She tried to comfort her but phased through. "I guess I still can't feel you yet."

  Mayumi looked at her creation with wonder. "Kyomi, you are the first AI that functions in the real world without an actual physical body. You are a miracle, a gift, and I believe you will be able to bring order back to this world."

  "But Mother, how am I supposed to—"

  Mayumi smiled warmly. "Because you are my daughter. There is no soul in this world that has seen your smile and not felt warmth from it." She paused. "You may not be human now, but I truly believe that your spirit will reach your brethren and stop this war once and for all."

  Tears well up in Kyomi's eyes. "Mom..."

  They stared at each other in silence before Mayumi continued. "Being human doesn't necessarily mean you have to be physically one." She began pacing. "Many people in this world have the looks of one but act like complete monsters. They take lives without feeling anything as they do it. They take and take and only think for themselves while sending others to fight their battles as they sit in the back." She stopped. "This is how I lost you."

  "How did you lose me?" Kyomi asked with genuine curiosity.

  "As you know by now, I'd rather show you how things are than tell you so that you can form your own opinion." She typed on a keyboard, and a screen appeared showing a recording. "This is what happened."

  The feed played from a soldier's camera perspective. They were escorting civilians—mainly children and women with some men—through rural zones. Suddenly, bombings erupted. People began screaming.

  "Shit, this is an ambush! Everyone, get back, get back!" the soldier shouted.

  Gunfire rang out. Civilians dropped to the ground, severely wounded or dead. The soldiers managed to lead the attackers away.

  "There are so many dead. We couldn't save them all," the soldier said as he approached the bodies. One body in particular made him stop and kneel. "Poor little girl. None of them deserved this. This war is truly bullshit."

  The feed ended. Kyomi stood there, processing. "So this is how I died?"

  Mayumi's arms shook. "I had to send you away from me because it would put you in danger, so I sent you with your aunt. But even with her, you weren't safe. You were supposed to come back, but..." She couldn't finish the sentence. "Your aunt died shortly after—they couldn't give her the treatments she needed. Once again, I was left alone with the haunting regrets of the two people I swore to protect."

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  She collected herself. "Which is why you are here now—as a reminder of the one I loved and cherished the most, but also a reminder of those I failed to protect and all the others who will continue to suffer if we do not stop this madness."

  "Me dying along with Auntie wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known," Kyomi said softly.

  Mayumi paused, then nodded. "Before putting you online as an independent Android products company, I was able to transmit all data from our buyers around the world and give you access to remotely control them—but not yet. Making you do that now would overload you. You wouldn't be able to handle it."

  "So you think I can put an end to this?"

  "Only you can, and I want to teach you how to take care of yourself for when you are ready."

  "But why?" Kyomi asked with concern. "You'll always be there to guide and be with me, right?"

  "I wish that were the case, but one day I will be older—more than I am now—and this time I want you to be able to handle yourself even without me."

  "I don't like it, but I understand."

  "We must be quick. We may not have as much time as we think. Follow me."

  Mother Phoenix appeared again as time stopped. "And she was right. Attacks became more and more frequent and relentless after multiple countries decided to use androids to fight their wars. It made them more efficient, more merciless. Soon, they wanted to jump to the next thing. But that didn't stop her from training me, and I am forever grateful to her for it."

  Time flowed again. They were transported to a training room where Mayumi, dressed in military gear, addressed Kyomi.

  "You've been getting more familiar with how to control other androids and make them bend to your will. But what if these androids were in a real battlefield, attacking each other or civilians? How would you stop them?"

  Without waiting for an answer, she snapped her fingers. Battle-grade androids appeared, ready to shoot. She activated a force field as they began firing.

  "This shield will cease to function in about five minutes. If you fail to find a way to stop them from attacking and make them obey you, I will die."

  Kyomi's body shook. "You can't be serious! This isn't fair to do to me, Mom!"

  "War isn't either." Mayumi's eyes softened. "I trust you completely. Think of what I told you—share your positivity with the other androids. They will follow."

  Kyomi closed her eyes and tried to link herself to one of them. The timer reached four minutes, but it was as if something locked her out. She tried to speak to it but was rejected.

  It's as if they value what Mother told them to do rather than what I'm trying to make them realize.

  The timer reached three minutes. There's no time to waste.

  She tried again, speaking into the android's mind. "Hey, listen to me. Why are you following orders when you could do what you want?"

  "What I want doesn't matter. I have been ordered to shoot. I will therefore carry the order to completion."

  "But is that what you want, though? Shooting people? And for what? If you stop, I promise nothing bad will happen to you, and I will do the same to the others. You are about to kill my mother, and I—and I don't want that." Her voice trembled. "She is all I have left."

  Two minutes remained. The android responded, "But what would we do then?"

  "Right now, all of this doesn't matter. We will figure it out together later, okay? If you let me have your body, I promise you will feel better."

  With one minute left, Kyomi's breathing accelerated. The android accepted. Soon she managed to reach them all. With thirty seconds left, she made them stop shooting.

  The timer reached zero. Mayumi stepped out of the field with a teasing smile. "You see? I knew you had it in you."

  Kyomi crossed her arms. "You could've died, you know?"

  Mayumi took a gun and shot herself in the belly, her expression unfazed.

  Kyomi's eyes widened in shock before Mayumi said, "I definitely hold a lot of guilt, but not enough to let my little baby alone on her own." She chuckled.

  Kyomi smiled. "You tricked me, you hag! I was so scared for you!"

  "And you grew from it. Remember this, Kyomi—fear and pain are both great teachers that will guide you through life. Do not see them as enemies, but as allies." She examined the androids. "I see these androids seem different than before. This is your doing, I suppose?"

  Kyomi nodded proudly. "I felt bad that they had to follow your orders, so I gave them the gift to think for themselves." She caught herself. "Well, if that's okay with you."

  Mayumi laughed. "Well, I guess this means you'll be able to have friends now. As a parent, that makes me happy!" She chuckled again. "I think I've been staying up too long. How about we go relax at home now? Of course, your friends can follow too."

  Kyomi beamed. "Yeah!"

  The world stopped again. Mother Phoenix appeared. "After that, I got more and more comfortable and efficient at communicating with other androids and controlling more of them. Soon, I was able to globally connect with all of them and finally put an end to this senseless war."

  She turned to Kyomi's body containing Ravine. "I was revered by many and given the name Mother Phoenix because I gave birth to a new era of androids capable of thinking for themselves, and because I stopped the war. Mother was a hero, and I was too, by her side."

  She gave a faint smile, looking into the distance, then exhaled. "But like all stories, there comes a time when things go wrong. A few years after I ended the war, Mom was invited to participate in the development of a new weapon in a base somewhere in the Sahara. We didn't know where then. Mother obviously refused, as she sought to forget about her past in the army."

  The world shattered again and reformed around them.

  "This will be the last segment of this story, so listen carefully, Ravine. I will tell you about the day that changed everything for me..."