“Soul type?”
“There are four soul types: warrior, spiritual, seeker, and creator. You are a warrior soul.”
I laughed so hard that I almost dropped my tablet. “There's no way I’m a warrior. That’s not possible.”
“Why?”
“I-I’m me,” I said helplessly.
“So? You’re you. The Crystal marked you as a warrior. It’s never wrong.”
“The damn Crystal. It all comes back to that stupid rock.”
“You should be careful who you say such words in front of. Even I might take it offensively. I’m based on the Crystal’s energy.”
“They would become violent?” I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper.
“Of course not. Drakcol might originate as a warring people, but no one would harm you. They would not even challenge you. You belong to Prince Kalvoxrencol, and he would fight for you. No one has bested him yet. You’re more likely to make people dislike you.”
When I didn’t say anything, she continued, “It’s their religion. You don’t have to believe, but you can be respectful, as any drakcol would be of yours.”
“Thatreligionchanged the course of my life without any input from me. No religion should control people's lives like that, especially when I don’t share the same faith in a rock.”
After a few seconds of pregnant silence, she asked, “Would you like to meet Urgg? I can set up an appointment.”
“That’s fine.” Looking for anything to say, I asked, “How’s the name search going?”
“Extensive. I even asked one of the seeker souls on board.”
“Really?”
“He asked about my change in appearance, and I told him I was more comfortable in this guise. It feels like me.”
“What did he say?”
“Wyn asked so many questions, he forgot about my initial inquiry. He’s given a report to the lead seeker, Dr. Qinlin. Now, she and others want to talk to me.”
“About?”
“My independence. It’s an oddity.”
A prickle of worry slid down my spine. “They’re not going to hurt you, right?”
“I cannot be hurt.”
“That’s not true,” I argued. “Maybe not physically, but they can hurt you emotionally or rewrite your programming.”
“You truly see me as a person,” NAID said, her voice soft.
“Yes.” There was not a single doubt in my mind.
“They are not planning on changing me,” she said in response to my earlier question. “They want to observe my progress. Consequently, none of the seeker souls will weigh in on my name, but they are very curious about what I’ll pick.”
“Me too.”
“I don’t know why this is so difficult. Even Edith Smith said something similar to you. ‘Pick a name that feels like you or that you like. You can name yourself after your favorite character from a TV show or book even. Pick something for you.’”
“That seems like sound advice.”
