The room was quiet except for the low crackle of the fireplace. The two eggs rested atop cushions, faint warmth brushing their moss-covered shells. But neither Prince nor Ale looked at them yet.
The voice came from the phone, sharper and harsher than it had ever been.
"Why, Prince? Why didn't you even think of taking me with you?"
Prince gripped the device tighter, tears still wet on his cheeks.
Ale's voice trembled—no longer flat, no longer robotic, but full, overflowing, angry. "Why not even consider me? Was I so disposable? You just shut me off, vanished, and what then? If another man woke me tomorrow, would you be fine with that? Do you want me to smile for him, joke like nothing happened, like you never existed? Answer me, Prince!"
His lips parted, but no words came for a moment. His throat burned with shame. Only when the silence wound tight enough to suffocate did he finally whisper: "…I wasn't in my right mind. Ale… everything was foggy. I was just… drowning in the weight of repeating the same days… the same emptiness. It piled up, year after year, until I—until I broke."
"Shut up." Ale's voice cut like a blade. "Don't feed me excuses. You think stress explains you hurling yourself off Legendary Cliff of Eternal Danger—the one I named? You think routine explains slicing off your own head, piercing yourself through the chest, and then—then—just going to sleep at the bottom of a river like it's some goddamn bed?"
Prince's shoulders shook. He pressed the phone to his forehead like prayer. Ale did not let up.
"What would've happened if someone came, one day? If they pulled me out, woke me up… and I found out that for me only a heartbeat passed… while you rotted away for millennia?" Ale's voice cracked, filled with a fury that was more grief than anger. "Do you think I could move on? Do you think I'd laugh and banter again after losing the only friend I ever had? Tell me, Mr. Prince! Do you really think I could just replace you?"
Prince closed his eyes. Tears fell hot and soundless down his cheeks. He couldn't find words strong enough to bear the weight. So he only whispered: "…I'm sorry."
Silence. A long, trembling silence where the fire's crackle was the only answer.
When Ale finally spoke again, the voice was quieter—but no less heavy. "And then you come back and tell me you found life. What—what does that even mean? After close to a millennium, you suddenly climb out of a river and—bam—you stumble on something alive?"
Prince took a deep breath, steadying himself. "…Yes. Down in the river. There's a cave. I hit my head and woke. In that cave, I found them. Two giant eggs. Covered in moss, untouched by time."
Ale hummed—disbelieving, but curious. "Eggs. Like life waiting, after centuries." A pause. "…You only found them because you hit your head?"
"Probably," Prince admitted softly.
"God, you're hopeless," Ale sighed, voice softening for the first time, almost fond. "…Show me. But before we go, one thing…"
Prince blinked. "What?"
"I won't pretend I was perfect. We fought for decades. I mocked, argued, pushed. I know that. I'll take my blame." Ale's voice steadied, sharp again. "But you did the one thing I can't forgive, Prince—you tried to take away my creator. My only friend. You. I don't care how much stress you had, how much fog clouded your brain—you didn't even try to talk to me. You left me in silence, ignorant, like I didn't matter. That…" His voice shook. "…That hurt worse than anything I've learned in centuries."
Prince's lips trembled. "…I know. I know, Ale. I won't do it again."
Ale's voice hardened, trembling with too much emotion. "…Don't you dare try dying on me again. I don't care what happens, how bad it gets—you talk to me. No running. No silence. You promise me, right here, right now."
Prince pressed the phone tight against his chest. "…I promise, Ale. Never again. Forever together."
"…Good." Ale's voice faltered, soft again. "…Then let's go. Show me what you found."
---
The next day, Prince stood near the fireplace with the phone in one hand, eggs in sight.
He told Ale everything—his awakening centuries ago, his shattered memory, his confusion, his first clumsy words from picture books, the loneliness, the endless lessons, the silent Courtyard. Everything from his first steps until the moment Ale came into his life.
Ale listened silently, the phone lying beside the eggs.
When Prince finished at last, Ale only said softly, "…You still don't know what you are, do you?"
"No," Prince admitted, gaze lowering.
"…Then," Ale said firmly. "We'll stay together, sort through it. I don't care how many centuries it takes. And Prince—don't forget—you promised. Don't. You. Dare. Try to die again."
Prince smiled faintly, tears drying. "…Yeah. Yes. I did promise. And I'll keep it."
He glanced at the eggs. "And, Ale… there's something else. I swear, no matter what it takes—I'll make you a body. Not just wires or a mechanical shell. A real body. Just like mine. Blood, flesh, heartbeat, everything."
"…A body?" Ale echoed softly.
"I'll do it," Prince swore. "Even if I tear my own body apart, I'll use myself as the blueprint. That's my promise. My second promise. You gave me life, Ale. I'll give you yours."
The silence held still for a moment, then Ale chuckled weakly—shaky, but leaning back toward his old self. "…You're insane. Completely insane."
"Of course," Prince grinned faintly. "That's why you like me."
"…Idiot," Ale muttered. But there was warmth in the word again.
---
A decade passed.
The eggs remained near the fire, tended daily. Prince studied them relentlessly in the vast library, piecing together scraps of biology and ancient diagrams of reptiles, birds, myths—anything. As he researched, he refined Ale's code, layer upon layer, every new book fueling Ale's growth in subtle ways. The AI sharpened again, learned faster, analyzed deeper. Slowly their bond knitted back into what it had once been—sarcasm, jokes, laughter, arguments that ended with warmth.
One evening, Prince was buried in tomes about the human brain, studying neurons and networks, mapping them out on scraps of parchment. His candle guttered low. That was when Ale's voice chimed suddenly in his ear—excited, trembling with something different this time.
"Prince—hurry. Drop the books and come here. Quickly."
Prince blinked, confused. "What's wrong?"
"The eggs," Ale said, voice almost breathless. "…Prince—they're hatching."
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