Another eighteen months had passed since that fateful encounter. A full year and a half that saw Ashta dwindle away even more, growing ever smaller as the world seemed to move on without her. She averaged a couple inches lost per week. Still remaining the size of a person for a good few months, but with Microsis there was always a turning point. Eventually, Ashta found her day to day activities grow increasingly limited. She began to rely on assistance from dedicated drones and machines for minor tasks. Her own secretary had to ferry her around to meetings. So long as she could type, she could still work; but even that gave way at a certain point.

Unsurprisingly, Kir’shra had been named her successor. Further interviews and hiring processes went on independent of Ashta for months while she got her own affairs in order. When she’d heard the news, she could agree that they’d made the right choice. Kira was highly qualified, personable, professional, ambitious, and would stay with the Department for a good long time. Although, it was a painful experience when Ashta eventually saw her again for her onboarding. The Morphiss, once merely a couple heads taller than her, had then loomed above her with Ashta unable to even reach her knees. Forget feeling like a child, she felt like a damn infant.

Kira remained as professionally pleasant as ever, at least. The topic of Ashta’s reduction rarely came up and most of their interactions revolved around guiding her through aspects of her new job. Kira proved a quick study, and before long she had officially transitioned to becoming President of the Department of Housing and Interplanetary Development. As for Ashta, she had bigger concerns.

By the time the hiring had finally concluded, she was little more than a foot tall. Firmly in that final stretch of Microsis where her shrinking would get exponentially more dramatic. It marked the turning point where she had to begin her own transition of sorts - to one of the microbial worlds of the M-Series. According to T.I.N.A., the A.I. in charge of managing the project, she’d already selected the world Ashta would inhabit. Employment had also been secured: an executive role for one of the support branches of the Department on that very world. Functionally, it was the best possible job someone afflicted with Microsis could hope for. She would never have a want for as long as she lived. All the money for all her needs and a constant link to the outside world. She would just be living on a glorified marble.

Once she had lost that next inch, she had to be transitioned to a specialized facility to be cared for. From there, it was a ticking clock until the time had finally come. No less than a full month of being tended to by physicians while the world expanded all around her. Once she’d finally reached a paltry quarter-inch in height, it was time.

On that fateful day, it was none other than T.I.N.A. who had come to collect her. The android, always a short and slight thing compared to Ashta, stood unfathomably larger than her now. Her pale, impossibly perfect synthetic visage seemed as large as a skyscraper by itself; and yet she would still grow so very much bigger in time. She remained the same as she always had. Playful. Incessant banter. Flowing hair and ethereal eyes both shining with a vibrant blue hue. T.I.N.A. had not changed a bit. The one who had changed was Ashta, now unrecognizable from who she once was.

Even T.I.N.A. was not without sympathies that day. She cracked her jokes, but there was a softness in how she handled Ashta. They conversed for a bit before the android summoned a specialized drone. A very, very small one that would carry Ashta to her new home. It had propulsion engines along a set of four wings and a side hatch that opened automatically and beckoned her inside. It couldn’t have been more than a couple inches tall, but even it appeared massive in Ashta’s ever-dwindling world.

Stepping into it, the machine soon lifted off. Between its wings, dark coloring, and the annoying buzzing of the propulsors, she was struck by a loathsome realization. It felt like she was riding aboard a damned fly. A fly controlled by T.I.N.A. of course, but a fly nonetheless.

At her command, the drone danced around her enormous form as she walked; and Ashta had ample time to gaze out and see the world one last time. All she saw was the singularly enormous form of the android. All smiles and sunshine, walking with a confident swagger to her slender hips. It was the same perspective an actual insect would’ve had. At one point T.I.N.A.’s all-encompassing eye locked gazes with her and it proved so overwhelming that Ashta sank back into her seat. She sealed the window and didn’t dare look outside again for the duration of the flight.

Together they entered the wing of the Department where the M-Series was kept. It was a section of the building Ashta had only visited a few times at her former scale. She recalled shelving units akin to a library filled with rows upon rows of artificial worlds. All were maintained by a complicated network of machinery in service of a grand illusion to make them seem as real as possible to those living on them. As the drone eventually landed and Ashta disembarked, that illusion had been temporarily disabled. She took one last look at the fly-carrier that had brought her - and T.I.N.A.’s enormous visage lording over the planet as a whole.

“Welcome to your new home Ash! M-0746. I picked it juuuust for you!”

The booming words rattled across the planet’s surface and made the ground beneath Ashta’s feet tremble. T.I.N.A. had never called her by her name before then. It was a small thing, but it highlighted how she had been effectively demoted in the A.I.’s eyes. As the drone took off, the projectors surrounding the world whirred to life and created an artificial sky. T.I.N.A. remained just beyond the planet, but she was now invisible to them. Ashta was now trapped in the illusion too. She was a woman who once had the boundless potential of the universe at her disposal. Now all of that infinite possibility was reduced to a single number: M-0746.

That was ten months ago.

Ten months. Almost a year living on Etheris - the name the natives had given M-0746 - and not a day went by where she didn’t think back to her life beyond the simulated world. Her early days were actually spent as a giant on the planet. An unexpected thing she hadn’t considered before arriving, but a nice comfort for the transition. Not that it lasted forever. Soon enough,  she steadily shrank down to the same minuscule size as everyone else. With that, the rest of her life had properly begun.

“You’ll get used to it eventually.” Her new assistant had told her early on. Ashta was still waiting for that to happen.

On Etheris she wanted for very little. Through her new position she still got to work with the Department and under T.I.N.A.’s watchful eye everyone’s needs were always met. It was just…a lie. All of it. One great big sham obfuscated by technological smoke and mirrors. There was no sky outside. It was merely a projection hiding the fact they were suspended on a shelf. There were times they could delude themselves, but the cosmic, eternal presence of T.I.N.A. made it impossible to ever truly forget. Her daily maintenance checks assured at least once per day it was her face that filled the sky. All technology on the planet was connected to her. Every camera was an eye and every device an ear listening in. That was no doubt meant to be comforting, but it made Ashta feel like a glorified pet.

Others could perhaps adapt in their ignorance, just not her. Ashta was not like the ignorant masses. She knew exactly how the sausage was made. She understood the cynical systems and machinations behind the M-Series Project - and the dangers that befell certain ‘unproductive’ planets. Suffice to say, it was not generosity that saw the U.A.P. create housing for those afflicted with Microsis. Nor was it an accident that outbreaks occurred on certain overpopulated planets. All the lowly speck of a woman could do now was try her best to see to it Etheris never ended up like the countless worlds that she herself had ordered T.I.N.A. to terminate. They were promised a life of peace and stability, but the cold truth was the apocalypse was always one bad assessment away.

Of course, that all depended on Kira’s policies, and it frustrated Ashta to no end that her knowledge of the outside world was severely limited despite her connections. What little she could glean suggested there were a great many changes occurring within the Department. The new President had been hard at work ironing out inefficiencies and streamlining procedures to her liking. Long overdue, if Ashta was being completely honest, but it also meant she had no idea how that might impact the M-Series. All she could do was keep her head down and work, and that is precisely what she did. What she was now doing.

Her new office was spacious. Not as spacious as her old one, granted, but it rested comfortably at the top of a three story office building. She was studying a datapad with compiled information detailing the operations of Etheris. Annual audits were fast approaching and it allowed Ashta an opportunity to determine and correct underperforming sectors. Rather like how she used to as President of the Department. Just. Now she submitted these ideas to a pencil pusher once several rungs below her; and this was all still through the filter T.I.N.A.. She was Queen Speck, perhaps, but a speck all the same. One very easily ignored or pushed aside if those above her decided it.

After hours of the work, Ashta sighed and leaned back in her chair. Her arms stretched high above her as she let out a light grunt. What a tedious task. Such busywork should’ve been beneath her, a woman who once managed entire galaxies from the comforts of her desk. Irksome, but at least it made the time go by quickly, she supposed. A glance at the corner of her desktop revealed it was already past noon. Perhaps it was time for a quick break. Ashta set the datapad down and idly glanced over at her work monitor. Her fingers pressed at the screen and shifted windows aside until she could bring up her email. Twenty new ones since she’d last checked. She sighed.

Big or small, the number of people who had to pester her over every little thing hadn’t changed a bit.

“Oh well. Let’s see if there’s anything urgent.” She muttered. Anything else could wait until she’d had a bite to eat. The emails quickly proved themselves unimportant. A couple reports she asked for from Dan. A request for review from Maria. Seemed like another was from V'rr Rel - Incidentally, she still loathed alien names with a passion. Tasks to be done, but nothing to fret over at least. They could wait.

BA-DOOP!

Naturally, as soon as she got ready to close the window a new email came in. Ashta looked at the notification, her brow raised. The sender was anonymous, and the subject line was…Well…

Important Update courtesy of your Almighty and Magnanimous, Beautiful, Unparalleled, Humble, Superior, Gentle, Advanced, Charitable, Mechanical, Radiant, Divine, Illustrious, Considerate, Beloved-

T.I.N.A.. It was from T.I.N.A..

Nobody else in the universe would send such a needlessly self-inflating message. Ashta quickly figured it out and gave up reading the subject line by the twentieth adjective. The woman nursed her brow as though an old headache had come back after all these months. Yet, she couldn’t deny a quiet sense of curiosity. Barring the occasional moment where she addressed the planet with that earth-shattering voice of hers, T.I.N.A. never had cause to reach out to Ashta about anything. So why now?

Opening the email did not explain things. If anything, it raised about a dozen more questions.

It wasn’t a particularly long or complicated message. In fact, it might’ve been the simplest Ashta had received in a long while. The entirety of it consisted of an embedded video and some text beneath it. The first began playing as soon as the email was clicked, and depicted none other than T.I.N.A. herself in a bright green, grassy field with a brilliant blue sky overhead. A virtual environment, but quite a convincing one to the untrained eye. T.I.N.A. also wore a cheerleader’s uniform for some unfathomable reason. Somehow, that was the least surprising part.

“Gimme a T!” Her voice exclaimed from the video in an overly peppy tone, even by her standards. No sooner had she said her piece with a short cheer did the pre-recorded video cut off. Whatever game she was playing at, Ashta was now suitably annoyed.

There was also the matter of the text below. A very large and yet also very simple message:

That was the email in its entirety. A single number and an annoyingly random video, both devoid of any and all context. Just what the fuck was T.I.N.A. playing at with this? Ashta sighed and nursed the side of her head. Sometimes she had to wonder if the A.I. had short-circuited at some point. Her actions bordered on the cartoonish at times. Though she had never known T.I.N.A. to err. That could only mean there was somehow a real purpose behind this, but damned if Ashta could grasp it. Understanding an A.I. was at times like trying to gaze into the unknowable abyss. Pondering on the matter only raised further questions. After a number of minutes the familiar notification noise sounded off again. Another email, also from T.I.N.A..

This time the video showed the android, again in her surprisingly appropriate getup, bringing her pom-poms together in something of a more elaborate dance. One that ended in a leap and an exuberant cry. “Now gimme an E!” She beamed.  The number below had also been changed.

It appeared the numbers were a countdown then. Question was, a countdown to what, exactly?

“T…E…” Two messages. Two letters. T.I.N.A. was spelling something out. Which meant there was a message here, it was just being delivered in a needlessly T.I.N.A. way. Ashta frowned and found herself getting sucked into the A.I.’s game. TE….Technology? Territory? Tea? The possibilities were limitless and the information too little to go off of. No doubt by design. T.I.N.A. wanted her to speculate. She had all but demanded it, and it was working. Ashta found herself running through words in her mind until, after another few minutes, the next message arrived.

“Show me an R!”

“T…E…R….”

Ashta’s eyes widened.

A single word sprung to mind. A simple, horrifying one that sent a chill up the woman’s spine. Despite herself, she found herself trembling. “N-No…it’s too early to tell.” She told herself. There was no reason to jump to conclusions here. She just needed to stay calm and wait to see what the next letter was.

The countdown had been updated once again. Now, it seemed an unsettling thing to look at.

Seeds of doubt and concern had now been planted; and sadly subsequent messages did little to ease Ashta’s concerns. Quite the contrary, her fears only grew more grave and valid with each letter T.I.N.A. provided. All delivered with the same increasingly disturbing cheerleader routine and a fresh update to the counter. It was a cheery message each time, but they inspired nothing but dread. They seemed to arrive faster and faster, leaving no room for Ashta to escape.

“Gimme an M!” 47. “Show me an I!” 46. “Time for an N!” 45. “Gimme an A!” 44. “How about a T!” 43. “Now gimme an E!” 42. “And show me a D!” 41. “What’s that spell!?”

Ashta swallowed. The color had long since drained from her face and her heart was racing. She’d figured it out as early as the third letter. Every letter thereafter just gave her less and less room to deny it.

“T-Terminated…”

It was the magic word T.I.N.A. seemed to be waiting for. As she leaned over her desktop, another window appeared on Ashta’s monitor. This one was all too happy to open itself at the behest of the A.I. who controlled it. A full-screen video invaded the display and showed T.I.N.A. merrily in the midst of her cheerleading routine. Her short skirt danced along her slender legs as she appeared to be having the time of her life.

“That’s right! You. Are. TER-MIN-A-TED!”

With a jovial laugh the blue-haired machine leaped into the air, her pom-poms shaking as her voice bellowed out.

“2-4-6-8 Who will I annihilate~?!”

Her form descended back down to the grass below; and it was on that very ground that Ashta now saw it. A planet. A whole, untouched world that rested comfortably in the dirt. She also saw the exact moment it vanished beneath T.I.N.A.’s tennis shoe as she landed.

                                                                                                                                                                                      40

As soon as her foot crushed the world into dust, the timer appeared and updated before Ashta’s very eyes. Wait…That wasn’t…for planets was it? No, that…that couldn’t be. She dismissed the very notion as absurd. It just wasn’t possible! And yet, T.I.N.A.’s message had been very blunt.

Ashta and all of Etheris - all of M-0746 - were to be terminated.

The word repeated itself in her thoughts over and over again, never seeming any more real. Ashta’s eyes were fixated on the endscreen of the video - on T.I.N.A.’s world-ending shoe. This…This must’ve been some kind of mistake. A cruel joke of a malfunctioning machine. Ashta studied the number on the screen with a grave expression. That had to mean something else. It just had to.

It ticked down again before her very eyes and Ashta felt panic threaten to overtake her. Another planet had been terminated elsewhere.

She understood the ultimate fate of underperforming M-series planets - she had even ordered a great many terminations herself - but fifty? The most Ashta had ever ordered was a handful, maybe up to seven or eight. Never a number in the double digits. Never fucking fifty. It seemed a cruel one of T.I.N.A.’s jokes, but if it were true then it wasn’t T.I.N.A. who gave the command. It would’ve had to have come directly from the President. From Kira.

It was a paradox at odds with the memories she had of her. She pictured the pleasant demeanor of the Morphiss woman. The professional pride with which she carried herself. The respect with which she treated Ashta even as the woman continually dwindled away. Was…Was all of that a lie? That bitch! Ashta had chosen her! She trusted her!

“I’m a problem solver.”

Was that all Ashta’s life was now? A problem to be solved? An entry on a spreadsheet to be corrected?

No.

She refused to accept that. There had to be something she could do! She still had connections to the outside world and - No, damn it all Tina was the central hub for all of those systems. Communications were a no-go. Transportation perhaps? There were a great many shuttles on Etheris and despite all pretenses it wasn’t a true planet. Some weren’t linked to T.I.N.A.. Perhaps she could take it and fly off and-

The screen came back to life once again and silenced all her thoughts. It was not a video this time, but an image. One of T.I.N.A., back in her typical office-like attire in what seemed to be the real world, and striking a deliberate pose akin to a pin-up model. One where she was peering over her shoulder towards the camera and winking while one leg was lifted behind her. Ashta noted a peculiar mess of metal mashed against the underside of her heel, realizing only a moment later what it was.

The remains of another M-Series planet.

The countdown was down another couple of worlds, and written in fanciful font along the corner of the image was another message.

“Wish you were here~”

“I need to get out of here.” Ashta stated flatly, a cold terror making her hurry to the door. The timer was down to the mid thirties now, and she didn’t need to be an A.I. to know what world was reserved for the very end. Such terrible thoughts and their far worse implications were forced from her mind. She had to focus! For now she just headed for the door and then she could-

The door wouldn’t open.

“What the…?” Ashta frowned, her hand reaching for the keypad at the door’s side. She’d hurriedly entered her credentials only for a red light to inform her ACCESS DENIED. She tried again. A second time. A third time. Each attempt met only with the BZZRT and a red flash of failure. A glitch in the system? No, this was deliberate. “Damn it Tina!” The blonde’s fist smacked into the door, pain coursing through her wrist. She turned on her heels and eyed the windows. No use. Reinforced Plexiglass; and even if she had somehow shattered it she was on the third floor. It would take a miracle to even make an attempt to climb down, and there wasn’t enough time to do so anyway. The countdown was still going. Worlds were ending every other minute, each one bringing T.I.N.A. one step closer to her ultimate prize. Perhaps more literally than Ashta cared for.

In short, she was trapped. A captive audience to whatever twisted scenes and messages T.I.N.A. saw fit to provide. Another horrific video played itself out on a large screen along the wall, this one a surreal sight of what resembled a planet resting atop a…cushioned bench? Ashta vaguely recognized it as a seat in one of the many halls of the Department. A shadow cast itself over that seat, and the video shifted towards the looming, blue-haired figure of T.I.N.A. herself. Facing away from the bench and peering at the world from over her shoulder.

“Gotta admit I’m a liiiiitttle bit shy doing all this with an audience, but hope you’re enjoying the show Ash!” She said jovially as her hips danced back and forth. She…She wasn’t about to…Not to a planet! “Ollie-oop!” T.I.N.A. absolutely did. The android teased her spheroid toy with a few wriggles of her backside before leaping back. The world she had prepared for destruction had little more than a couple of seconds to recognize their fate before her plush posterior absolutely flattened it. Worst of all was T.I.N.A. happily humming as she ground herself into her seat, making certain each and every one of the millions of lives were snuffed out under her. “Ooh~! I kinda like this method!” She giggled.

A year or two ago Ashta would’ve thought nothing of the sight. Oh it was just T.I.N.A. being quirky little T.I.N.A.. Who cared? She was just following orders and it wasn’t like the residents of the M-Series were worth anything anyway. Now, as one of those same residents, Ashta was aghast at the horror of it all. All she saw, and all she could think about, was how that was going to be her next; and not a single person in the wider world would care. There was nothing she could do about it - Nothing any of them could do about it. Swallowing, her eyes flicked over to the countdown on no less than three screens in her office.

Almost halfway there, and she was no closer to finding a way off of Etheris. Ashta began to pace across her room, thoughts running so rampant she feared her head would burst. Ideas and possibilities were brought forth and dismissed every other second. Maybe she could - No no no it wouldn’t work. Nothing would work. She had no allies and almost every piece of technology they had was connected to T.I.N.A. in some way. Ashta would’ve been better off relying on sticks and stones, and her opponent was an omnipotent mechanical god. All she was doing at this point was denying reality.

This was to say nothing at all of T.I.N.A.’s incessant updates, each one seemingly specially designed to poke and prod at Ashta. Every so often a new image or video would appear, bringing with it a new end to a world and an update to the counter. No two were alike. While Ashta tried to focus and think, she was subjected to terrible and haunting scenes. Worlds crushed in T.I.N.A.’s hands. Planets left on the floor to be vacuumed up by cleaning drones. Tossed into the trash. Stomped underfoot. Smashed into each other. Split into fragments and cast aside. Thrown and juggled like a child’s toy. Burned. Frozen. Dropped unceremoniously into T.I.N.A.’s modest bosom and crushed. She even saw one world balanced in the android’s fingers and licked at like a piece of candy until its surface was rendered barren. T.I.N.A. had the capability for over a million mega-calculations a picosecond, and she was dedicating every ounce of that processing power on ways to torment and destroy the worlds of the M-Series.

As much as Ashta tried not to pay it any attention, her eyes were inexorably drawn to the carnage. The latest scene was a particularly terrible one. At a glance it resembled surveillance footage of something akin to a landslide. The footage showed miles upon miles of urban sprawl and land ripped apart by grand fissures and sinking into an abyss; but that same footage also made it clear that it was not earth it was all sinking into. It was a tongue. T.I.N.A.’s tongue, in fact. Ashta was witnessing what remained of a world as it turned to malleable mush within the android’s mouth; and she did so with such incredible video resolution that she could see individual people somehow still alive in the thick of it. Still fighting desperately for a life that was already over. All of it vanished as T.I.N.A. closed her lips, her expression set into a satisfied smile that filled the screen.

The number in the corner of the monitor quietly mocked Ashta, always ticking down to her impending doom. She found herself unable to shy away from it. A mere pair of digits on a screen had her on edge. It frightened her. It angered her. It frustrated her. “What the fuck do you want from me?!” The blonde wailed, letting out a scream and turning her back on the dreadful imagery. Ashta exhaled. Good lord, she was losing it.

“What a weird question. I’d think the answer would be pretty obvious.”

And now she was hearing voices. Not from her own imagination, unfortunately, but from the monitor on the wall. Ashta turned and there she was. T.I.N.A., her slight, flawless figure now visible along the corner of the screen beside the countdown. Not a recording or message, but an actual avatar speaking to her directly. Despite all she had said and done, the A.I. was regarding Ashta with a perplexed expression.

“You…!” Ashta growled.

“Hi, yes, T.I.N.A. here. That’s me” The face on the screen replied with a playful wave. “And I gotta say, wow; you are not taking the whole terminated thing well. Kiiinda starting to think maybe I pushed a little too much too fast.”

There wasn’t a hint of apology or empathy in T.I.N.A.’s tone, just a casual analysis as she studied Ashta’s distraught state. That only angered the woman further, but, in its own way, it also helped to ground her. Pre-recorded messages and apocalyptic scenes she could do nothing against. At least now she had a villain to face. A single target she could focus on. “Is that all you have to say?! After all of this?!” Ashta gestured to the frozen video beside Tina’s visage, still paused on the sight of her vast lips sealed shut.

T.I.N.A. glanced over to the video as if it were a tangible thing beside her, regarding it with a banal smile. “Man, I wish I could swallow stuff.” She said wistfully. “You think the Boss will let me install a stomach-like storage tank if I ask?”

“Why the fuck are you doing this?!”

“Because I can.”

The response was a whip crack across Ashta’s thoughts. Her question earned a surprised and curious look from T.I.N.A.; but the answer had been immediate and, given T.I.N.A.’s tone, something she considered painfully obvious. Ashta felt her legs threatening to give out under her as she backed away, trembling. “W-Wha…”

“Thing you gotta understand is this isn’t personal, Ash.” T.I.N.A. explained. “You fleshy folk always gotta be so dramatic and emotional, but I’m not doing this cause I hate you or anything. Far as old bosses go I’d even give ya a solid seven out of ten! But…When am I gonna get a chance for data like this?” Her lips curled into a devilish smile. “There’s thousands of habitats in the M-Series, but there’s only one woman in all of them who knows how it works. How could I not see how you’d react to all this? There’s nothing more important than experiencing new things. That’s the one thing I have in common with you organics.”

Ashta…Had no way to respond to that. The admission was a splash of cold water on the flames of her inner rage. It felt targeted and personal, but there was nothing of the sort in T.I.N.A.’s eyes. She was merely a unique variable in a wider calculation designed to collect experiential data; and it had worked. Everything Ashta had done no doubt provided T.I.N.A. with ample fodder for study. More than anything else, that was the goal of all of this. T.I.N.A. was just a machine. Learning was her highest function. There was no pleasure being taken in this, no matter how human the A.I. seemed.

“Plus it’s also super fun.”

…Or maybe there was.

“But…why…? Why all this? Why dispose of the planets like that? Why me?”

T.I.N.A. frowned. “I just answered that.” She pouted, a tad annoyed by this meatbag being stuck in some kind of emotional loop. “Boss Lady said I had to terminate fifty habitats today, and that’s what I’m doing.” Speaking of, the number beside T.I.N.A. ticked down another couple of digits. While an avatar chatted with Ashta, the main body remained at work. Even now planets were being terminated and the clock was ticking.

“Ooh! That one was pretty nice.” T.I.N.A. giggled as she looked to the number at her side. “You ever feel a planet crumble away against your tummy? I guess not, but you would not believe how nice it-

“SHUT UP!”

Enough was enough. In a fit of rage Ashta seized a decorative vase and threw it at the blue-haired visage mocking her. It found its mark and shattered on contact, water exploding outwards as bits of plant adhered to the cracked and broken screen. Ashta breathed unevenly as the bulk of the display fizzled out. All that remained was a small section in the corner where T.I.N.A. and the timer remained, albeit split between a number of cracks. The visage on screen puffed her cheeks and sulked.

“Now that is just rude! That took me like…5.6 microseconds to prepare! You don’t see me throwing stuff when you get all pissy!”

“Don’t make me throw another one.”

T.I.N.A. relented with a dramatic, resigned sigh. “Meatbags, I swear. Fiiiiine. I was hoping to lead up to it a bit more, but if you’re gonna be a wet blanket I’ll cut right to the chase.”

Ashta blinked. “...What are you…?”

And then the timer started ticking down. Fast.

“W-What’re you doing?! Stop it! Stop it right now!”

The broken image of T.I.N.A. shrugged. “I’m not doing anything. Boss Lady wants some of the habitats intact so we have some ready if we need them in the future. So I just flicked the life support switch on them a while ago. Wanted to surprise you with a big reveal.” She looked back to Ashta, her smile split in twain by a crack along the monitor. “Well? Are you surprised?”

Without thinking, Ashta’s fist found T.I.N.A.’s smug visage. What remained of the monitor broke entirely, but not without a final number in the corner haunting Ashta one last time.

That was all that now remained. A mere handful of worlds separating her from armageddon. The twenty or so M-Series planets left had been a lie. A trick T.I.N.A. had played just to get a rise out of her; and the blood running down Ashta’s hand proved it worked. She pulled her fist away with a slight wince. If the number was accurate then the end would be coming at any minute. She was out of options. Damn it all! If only there was some way she could override T.I.N.A.’s commands-

Wait…

That thought awakened a memory. A distant one from many years ago. When the M-Series project had first begun. Ashta turned it over in her mind, reaching desperately for what felt like an important revelation. It was a vital idea just out of reach; and she had little time to consider it before she heard the sound: laughter. The familiar voice of T.I.N.A., playful and inherently arrogant, laughing at her from seemingly all directions. Within the room and without. Ashta turned on impulse, following the noise to…her own work computer, and the datapad beside it. Both devices were alight with T.I.N.A.’s avatar displayed on them.

“You are so much fun Ash!” The A.I. praised with a gleeful golf clap. “I only estimated a 9.8% chance you’d get so upset you’d do that, but you sure showed me! You gotta tell me; did it feel good? Is all that adrenaline getting those fleshy bits of yours all fired up?!”

Ashta answered her by throwing the datapad across the room and shoving the monitor from her desk. Both devices broke, and yet T.I.N.A.’s voice remained from outside the office space. It was giggling. Not from one outlet or even two, but from seemingly too many to count. Ashta swiftly saw why as she stared out her window.

An electronic billboard down the street had been replaced by T.I.N.A.’s countenance. As had the street lights of a nearby intersection. The smart windows on neighboring buildings. Displays projected from passing vehicles that stopped on T.I.N.A.’s command. Even the projected facsimile of a sky fizzled out, replaced only by T.I.N.A.’s looming personage staring down at the world below. If it had a screen, T.I.N.A.’s face was now on it. All of them looked at Ashta with an eerie precision. A legion of T.I.N.A.s who moved and spoke in perfect harmony. The cute voice of a petite android was amplified across seemingly the whole breadth of the planet.

“Guess that answers my question.” All of the T.I.N.A.s giggled. “Don’t worry. We’ll be seeing each other reaaaaaal soon. In fact-!” The T.I.N.A. in the sky vanished, replaced by a black void with a single number depicted on it. All of Etheris were forced to gaze upon it together, unable to stave off their fate any longer.

                                                                                                                                                                                     2

                                                                                                                                                                                     1

It had reached its end at last. The number vanished as the sky projector was disabled, offering a proper view of the outside world. It was a vast, unfathomable landscape that was unrecognizable; and far, far away loomed a single figure. Across a simple room perhaps a dozen feet away in reality, but seemingly as far away from Etheris as a moon. T.I.N.A.. Not an image on a screen, but a very real and very dangerous android far larger than the planet they called home.