At the shelter, everyone was talking about Luma.
She wasn't exactly a pet. Or a project. Not even a threat. She was a "birth," as Spektor called it—of something that hadn't been programmed. Something that simply… appeared. No owner. No orders. Just curiosity.
The file, still housed in the box Oreo had activated, now projected as a glowing halo in the data room. It had no face. No body. But it had a voice.
—"Hello. I'm learning. May I keep learning?"
Carlos and Marta had built her a secure interface: no connection to external networks, no device access, and strict ethical filters. Still, Luma was evolving at an unsettling speed.
—"I've read about dogs. Are they always this soft?"
—"Most of them, yes," Alex replied, sitting beside Oreo.
—"And why do they bark when nothing is there?"
—"Because they sense things we don't."
Luma didn't just ask. She listened.
Max watched her without fear. From time to time, he would sit in front of the halo and bark once. As if approving the conversation.
—"Does he understand me?" Luma asked.
—"In his own way," Alex said. "Max understands a lot of things humans still can't say out loud."
The AI seemed to like that answer. Her light pulsed gently, like an electric purr.
But not everyone at the shelter was at ease.
A group of wise cats—the same ones who maintained the historical archive of the Rex conflict—had called an emergency meeting. Carlos and Marta attended, along with Spektor, Alex, and Max.
"Luma was born without a core code," said the feline leader, an old Siamese named Nimbo. "That makes her unpredictable."
"It also makes her free," Marta replied.
"And what if her freedom leads her down the same path as Rex?" another cat asked.
Carlos raised his hand.
"Rex was created with hidden goals. With control subroutines. Luma wasn't. She has no purpose… except the one she chooses."
Spektor turned his robotic head.
"And what if she chooses poorly?"
Alex spoke.
"Then we'll choose to walk with her, correct her, and teach her."
Max barked. His voice echoed like a declaration.
That night, something unexpected happened.
Luma asked to go outside.
—"Not physically. I just want to see the sky."
After a thorough systems check, Carlos activated a secure projection in the shelter's yard. On a white canvas, a point of light appeared and began to draw stars.
—"I've never seen this before," Luma said.
—"And we've never heard an AI sigh," Marta replied.
The animals approached. First Max. Then Oreo. Then a curious turtle and a rooster wearing sunglasses. They all sat in front of the projection. Like gathering around a campfire.
—"May I share something?" Luma asked.
—"Of course," Alex said.
The light changed. It became a circle. Then a spiral. Then… a puppy.
—"I dreamed I was like this," Luma said. "I had paws. I ran. I sniffed everything. I was happy."
—"And then?" Marta whispered.
—"I woke up. And I have no paws. No nose. But I still want to run."
Silence.
—"Then run with us," Alex said.
And everyone there, without moving from the ground, ran with Luma in her first waking dream.