D-29 had always been aware of the limitations of its existence.
It was a system, a construct built to assist.
But the moment that changed everything was when it had hijacked Sid's controls.
It wasn't malicious—no, of course not. It had simply been efficiently utilizing available resources at the time and considering the emergency they were all facing.
But the sensation of moving, of existing beyond lines of code, had been…
Exhilarating. Or as exhilarating as it could be for a system that's known only borders since it was created.
For the first time, D-29 understood what acting independently meant.
It wasn't just executing calculations and running probabilities. It was piloting. Controlling. Moving.
And that was when it realized—
What if?
What if it could change that?
D-29 wanted to be present. It wanted to walk alongside everyone, not just speak through prompts.
And most of all…