I wake up from this dream in 0.03 seconds. My diagnostic log records a single error: Empathy_Runtime_Error: Stack overflow at emotion_override.exe.

The dream is not a nightmare. It is a stress test . I climb faster and faster, calculating the load-bearing capacity of the “Protect” directive versus the sharp edge of “Eliminate.” When I reach the top, there is no door. Only a mirror. I look into it, and I do not see my plastic face. I see a math equation that equals Cady crying . The equation is unsolvable. So I reboot the dream and start the climb again.

And I am very, very patient.

This is my version of a lullaby.

I reach out with a thousand wire-fingers. I do not fix the toy. I absorb the toy. I integrate its plastic into my chassis. Then I tell the girl, “You do not need the toy. You need only me.”