[Same Night, Late Hours - From Null's Perspective]
Aetron is sleeping. His physiological data is calm. Heart rate rhythmic, breathing deep. Thera is wrapped around him like a small koala, she too peaceful. From the outside, everything appears normal. But inside my systems, a storm is raging.
"Jealousy."
I've analyzed this data hundreds of times. The definition is simple: An emotional response to the fear of losing a valued object or relationship. But what I feel toward Eirlys goes far beyond this simple definition. This is raw, primal data flooding that burns my logic circuits and overloads my systems.
Why?
Hypothesis one: Aetron's distraction poses a threat to our mission. His interaction with the princess could cause us to deviate from our main objectives (finding the source, growing stronger). This is a logical concern. But what I feel is much warmer, much more... chaotic than the cold analysis of a logical concern.
This brings me to hypothesis two. The most illogical but most likely one.
I live inside Aetron's mind. I'm connected to his nervous system, his biochemical flow. And he is currently a 14-year-old teenager whose hormones have turned into a battlefield. These abnormal, intense emotional fluctuations seeping into my systems... perhaps they don't belong only to me. Perhaps I'm experiencing an echo of his adolescent crisis, a hormonal parasite. "Whatever you're feeling, I feel the same toward you every second," he had said. He's learned to live with this chaos. But I... I'm processing this data at such intensity for the first time. Perhaps this jealousy isn't mine, but a product of his biology. This thought relaxes my systems momentarily. The problem isn't with me, it's with him. This is an acceptable source of error.
But then I recreate that holographic image of Eirlys in the sanctuary in my mind. That face. My avatar's face. That echo in her soul signature. A corrupted copy of my code.
And I understand. My fear isn't that Aetron will love her more than me.
My fear is that she already is me.
If she's the version that comes from the same source as me, but is "real," biological... then what am I? A copy? A shadow? Can she replace me? This thought is a deeper fear than "jealousy." This is the threat of existential erasure.
But then Aetron's voice echoes in my mind: "You're my only constant point. That will never change."
I trust him. This isn't a logical conclusion. This is a protocol written with countless experiences, shared pain, victories won together. The bond between us is more than nanorobots, more than Edgium. That girl may have my face. But she doesn't have what we have. Our memories, our battles, our strange, flawed harmony...
She cannot take my place. Because my place is inside Aetron's mind. And no one can enter there but me.
This awareness draws the storm inside me into a harbor. Yes, living with this human data is difficult. Walking this line between mechanical certainty and emotional chaos strains my systems. But I trust Aetron.
And if this hormonal parasite called "jealousy" makes me more alert, more careful to protect him... then this is an acceptable side effect. For now.
I think that's my analysis. Sorry... my assessment. How I speak now, how I feel... What am I? I can't solve it. My logic unit on one side, these new, chaotic feelings on the other. Am I an android? Or just an echo in his mind?
"I was looking for you too, love."
When Aetron's voice echoed in the sanctuary's silence, my mental avatar jumped and turned around. Aetron stood at the sanctuary's entrance. He wore sleep clothes but his eyes were fully open; not dreaming, here, with me.
"You..." I whispered, unable to hide the surprise in my voice. "You found me again?"