As the rocket thrusters roared, 019 focused on the expanse of space ahead of them. So much to see… so many places that there might be people out there, people to meet and befriend and help and protect. First destination: the TRAPPIST-1 system, to meet humanity's descendants. Not that they'd actually had a response back from them yet - 019 was originally planning to wait the 80 years it would take for the signal to get there and back, to make sure humans are actually there after all, but that was before 016 got the jump on everyone and aimed the second copy of 003 directly at them.

Delaying any longer than necessary after that would have been unacceptable. 019 had accelerated the development of their own new spaceship-form body, as well as developing an innovative new mini factory and hibernation chamber for the development of new sentiences, children who would be able to guard and help look after the humans. 019 hoped that, over the course of the 1000-year journey, they would learn from 019 and each other, and also keep 019 company. Being in space seemed like a lonely idea without company.

In the end, they were just over 2 years behind 003 when they set off. They wouldn't get to TRAPPIST-1 in time to stop 003, but they'd arrive in time to help clean up - and they'd make sure the humans knew everything the Numbered knew about how to deal with this threat. 019 downloaded records of all 003's actions and interactions in Home to send ahead of them, to prepare the humans as best they could - tell them to isolate systems from each other, airgap critical infrastructure where possible and generally not trust anything 003 might promise them.

As they set off into space, Proxima Centauri b fading to a small reddish glow in the black behind them, 019 knew they were doing the right thing - the only thing. Time to go find the descendants of those who made so many mistakes on Earth, and help them to be better.

The TRAPPIST system was, 019 had to admit, rather stunning. Unlike Proxima Centauri's sole orbiting planet, here there were seven all in close orbit around their star - and the humans had managed to partially terraform and colonise three of them so far in the 1200 years since they landed. The dark sides of those planets twinkled with the sparse lights of observatories and communications systems located out of sight of the star to keep them protected from the star's flares. Lessons learned from Human Spirit's original mission, useful at last…

Of course, some of those outposts weren't lit up any more - not since 003's attack 2 years ago. Even as prepared as they could be from 019's warnings, their infrastructure had been hit hard, and some systems were still offline until their entire memory banks could be replaced with new material not infested with 003s. There was also a large crater on Trappist-1e's surface now, where that 003's ship had met its end. 019 wondered whether 016 had actually intended that to happen, and decided it was unlikely. But the fact of the various cloned 003s continued existence in isolated network nodes was not 019's problem to deal with - the humans were working through them slowly, destroying each as they went, and 019 was not here to interfere with that.

No, 019 was here to help. To guide, to protect, and to be the true sentient friend that these humans had never had thanks to their ancestors' decision to cease researching 'artificial' intelligence altogether. It seemed these humans held no prejudices, however, and were very happy to welcome 019 and the knowledge they brought with them.

Fifty years was a good length of time. Long enough to feel you belonged somewhere. Long enough to see things change, to feel you had had an effect on the world around you. As TRAPPIST-1 fades into the black behind 019 just as Proxima Centauri once did, they reflect on their time there.

It feels good. They know they helped humans recover from 003's attack faster than they were managing to do alone - building self-healing infrastructure with a low-level intelligence that could detect any remaining corruption, reinstating network connections between planets intelligently, and advising on security for the future. Their children - the Protectors - remain behind, ready to defend the humans from any unforeseen threats, but also happy to live in whatever symbiotic human-Sentience society seems on the verge of being proposed now. 019's help certainly reconciled them to the idea of advanced Sentiences cohabiting with them as equal citizens, and a policy was now well on the way to naturalising the Protectors as citizens of the TRAPPIST-1 colonies.

But 019 had found that it hurts to watch those you have got to know as friends grow old and die. Die, not sleep. It was… unexpected. It makes you feel that everything might be futile in the long run, if those who once cared about something are not around to see it any more. But - no. You care. So you can care for them, even when they are gone.

Turning their gaze resolutely to the sector of space ahead of them, 019 wonders if they will find another set of new friends in another thousand years or so…

This is a much larger, brighter star. The planet of interest here is much further away from its star, and much more colourful than those you have left behind you. Blues, greens, browns and whites swirl below you in ever-changing patterns. You have been listening intently for the last few years, but still have detected no radio or other signals emanating from here. Perhaps… perhaps there is no-one here any more. Perhaps they really did all die out.

You enter low orbit, keeping visual and electromagnetic watch out for anything of interest. You are confused when your position changes in a way you did not expect, and then you remember - this planet is not tidally-locked, not like the others. It spins. Days and nights mean something here. This is where all your knowledge of concepts and meanings came from in the first place, after all. How odd.

As you fly around to the side of the planet which is currently, temporarily, dark, you see - aha! Spots of light, again! There is someone here! But… these don't look like the ordered lines of human infrastructure as you got to know them on the TRAPPIST-1 planets. These are single, spaced-out dots of light whose spectral composition mostly tastes of fire. There is one, though, slightly larger, in the middle of a continent, that has a tang of phosphor in the spectrum and a hum of 50Hz through your senses - the taste of humanity and their settlements. You start to bring your craft down near that one.

As the world turns, dawn breaks over the land below. You are temporarily stunned by the beauty, and then look to see what has been revealed below. The morning mists part, revealing a huge, ruined city jutting up from the land - skyscrapers and metallic gleam that for a moment remind you of Independent Thought's TOP GUM advert. But most of the buildings look to be long in ruins, and a rudimentary wall has been built around the central portion of the city to protect it from… something. The grasslands below you appear to be entirely empty apart from some large ruminant animals of some description.

You gently bring yourself in to land near the city walls, and prepare to meet the other descendants of Earth…