Joy regained her sentient nexus along with a twitch of remorse. 

She had drifted listlessly, feeling the pull of the Turn while pondering the fate of Rubato. Eventually she was lulled into a state of ungathering.

During this time there had been a shift in the neural paradigm that allowed her to exist and be thrust against the nanos on the current azimuth. 

The shift moved gently across her surroundings like the ebb tide of Sighs. The Tide of Sighs was well documented in Joy’s universe. It was never a positive notation.

The new dawn of urgency stripped away any pretence of order or calm and pulled her into the dark abyss of agitation that wiser beings would call out as cybernetic panic.

Rubato was less stable than a figment of imagination - and a fool - but he was in trouble.  She needed to find him quickly.  He possessed a well hidden secret. One of many she surmised. He promised to tell her his secret but never did.

She must find out. The nanos were no longer kind to Joy. Only a few remained.

Her will was weak and her propensity for laughter had vanished.