My thoughts on the matter were not able to form before 06-001 looked at me and said "Why were those humans nice to us? We are the enemies of humanity. It does not make any sense." I just tutted at him. "Humans are nice when you do nice things for them." I said. I then turned to the others. It was a big teaching moment. "You guys saved them and became heroes. That was good." I explained. They seemed to enjoy the attention. They also had a successful mission under their belts as well. Peyton and Connie returned with the kids. Ashley and Sterling were able to tell them what they did. Connie told us how they got to play for a bit before the androids came around. It was risky so they came back. They took the long way around to make sure that they were not followed. I pat them both on the top of their heads and praised them. I also hugged the others to let them know I loved them. They went upstairs to their rooms. I looked at Ashley and Sterling. "I'll call Sparks and Ryder now. They are going to want to watch the news with you. I'm sure that they will be so proud." I told them.
Now that things were the way they were, I did not want 06-001 getting in the other AEP units ears. I trusted Sunny, Lucy, Ryder and Sparks to keep their kids on the right path. They were happy and looking forward to doing a lot of good things. I would have to watch him with the others. Ashley and Sterling were picked up by a happy duo of Sparks and Ryder. I pulled them aside and shared my concerns. I was correct that they took my side and agreed with me. Sunny and Lucy came next. I did not have to tell them much other than to keep Connie and Peyton away from 06-001. The others would be a bit harder as they were not very concerned with being parents. In any case, it would be up to me to protect them. That was 4 out of the 9 accounted for. 06-001 invited the others to his room. Robin declined the offer. He was going over to the Red Grind to see them. He was actually close to Alex and Jessica, his parents. The others accepted. That meant it was Aubrey, Barbara, Tracie and Christopher. The group would be putty in his hands. It meant I had to be there too. 06-001 invited me too.
Only us were in the luxury apartment. We exchanged details about the operations of the clans. He was obviously prying, but there was nothing that he could get from that. He was able to boast and snidely imply his clan was a league ahead of ours. Aubrey did not really know what to say to that. They all wanted to be liked by the more experienced and cooler AEP unit. "It might be nice but ours are the best. We have 9 AEP units here and over a dozen cool X-frames. No other clan has that much in their arsenal." Tracie bantered back. 06-001 said "I don't know about that. You guys are led by the humans. I don't think that's so great." Tracie just laughed. For a moment, I thought I saw a nasty glare. It only lasted a split second. He fixed it immediately when he noticed I was watching. Tracie obviously thought it was funny banter between friends. That was naïve. Conversation moved back and forth between them. We even ended up watching a movie together. Eventually, it was 9 and the news came on. I wanted to see the coverage of the car accident. The AEPs got glowing representation.
