Android Malfunction (Closed)

Axel was too happy to have the droids arms around him. Her coat felt cold from the outside air, but the actions were truly warm. Far warmer than the continued barrage of pictures Choad kept sending him - at this point, all of the new ones being safe for work.

“Well we got the owner, don’t we cutey?” he playfully joked while flicking Gardenia’s nose with his finger. Axel almost laughed at himself with how relaxed he had become around the droid now. Like something more comfortable and confident was beginning to bloom inside of his own programming. “Trevor Hensley. But let’s not get into that.” Axel was trying to avoid the conversation on when they would eventually need to return her, and instead broached another subject, and Gardenia’s question directly. Looking down at her purple eyes he smiled, “You are special. You are part of a prototype strain of clones that they built up at a plant in the Tech Center. I don’t know why, but they only made a few of you and your sisters. Sounds like Mr. Hensley just got one of the few.”

“You know you love birds can cut that out,” Kota sarcastically said as she moved over to the the computer that Axel was working at. “She like the others then? Or did they improve on the model for production.”

“That’s what’s strange. We can’t find anything about what is different than the prototypes, only that they are from a different DNA strain that the other Gen3s, but every plant uses different stains. Why they only made a few like Gardenia, I don’t know.”

Kota was staying hard at the screen. “What’s wrong with these things.”

Axel confused walked over to the computer, taking Gardenia13 by the hand with him. Kota was looking at some of the pictures of Gen3s.

“They look dead. Or like zombies,” Kota stated.

“I guess, that’s what’s interesting. They all look distant don’t they? Like they are lost. Nothing like Gardenia.”

“No,” Kota agreed.

Just at that moment, a new message came in from Choad, with the fearful letters that made Axel panic … NSFW. Before he could react, Kota opened it. There were a series of three photos. The droid in each of them had a similar build, hair, and look as Gardenia13; except she had far more distant gaze - not unlike any of the other Gen3s that were out there. Also, she was naked, and impaled on a large black cock. The first picture, she sat in the man’s lap while the thick member stuck inside her. The second, she lay onto the man’s chest while still mounted on the tool. The third, she lay face down on a bed, her head turned to the side, and the face showing slight straining - the man straddled her hips and was pushing himself into her ass. Something about the photos, and not just in the look on the droids face, made Axel believe that it wasn’t specifically Gardenia13, but another clone of the same type. Still the view was graphic, and while embarrassing still a little erotic.

Kota grumbled, “you have some sick friends, Axel.” Looking over her shoulder to Gardenia, she asked, “that’s not you is it?”

(made some edits!)

Gardenia held onto Axel's hand as the three of them were looking at the pictures on the screen. Gardenia's eyes widened as she saw the resemblance between the droid on the screen and herself. Her face was distant, but you could tell the body was reacting to the stimulation from how the muscles in her face were straining. Looking at the pictures, it was easy to imagine herself in place of the other droid... but she honestly didn't understand why the male human had inserted himself in her anus.

"No, Trevor wouldn't take pictures." Gardenia said as she continued to look at the screen. "Why did he insert himself... there? Does he not understand its in the wrong place?" Gardenia let her head rest on Axel's shoulder as she wondered if he had ever done that. She was about to ask, but the sound of Kota stopped her.

It started as a snicker but then Kota just started laughing at Gardenia's question. She might have been a droid, but her knowledge on sex wasn't very extensive from the old standard. Maybe she wasn't intended to be a fuck-bot.

Even though Kota was laughing she did mentally note that the droid said her user would never take pictures... Which means he had fucked her, and probably used her often in that fashion. This revalation didn't sit well with Kota. Gardenia was so close to human, it was scary, and her owner... Kota didn't have a good feeling.

"No... Some people just like that," Kota patted Gardenia on the head. Kota let her hand linger as she remembered the other thing she wanted to do.

"Oh... Do you like that?" Gardenia had asked casually to Kota.

Kota was caught off guard by her question and started turning red as she quickly moved to change the subject. "Gardenia13, we need to take a look at you," she coughed out as she lightly tapped the androids head, "In here. Just looking, I promise." There had to be something more about her programming.

Gardenia paused for a moment. Before Kota talked about clearing out her memory... She didn't think she would still try to do that now, and Axel was here. He promised he wouldn't. Quietly she nodded, let go of Axel's hand so she could climbed up on the table.

Kota smiled at Gardenia, "Thank you. I promise it won't be long," she turned to Axel.

"You said other than DNA there doesn't seem to be a difference from her model and other Gen3s, right? I don't suppose your friend has information on the kind of software and programming they used?" It was probably the standard, but she still asked.

Gardenia let her head fall forward as Kota opened her access panel and plugged her into the Hub. Kota took Axel's seat and started tapping away on the keyboard as she was digging through the multiple files and coding. So far everything looked normal. Kota didn't work for Blackwood, but she knew her way around computers.

"What is that?" Kota highlighted a file, 'Lilly'. When she tried to open it, the Hub computer alerted that the file was corrupted. Tapping a bit more, she was able to get it to open, it just wouldn't run if it was a program. What came on the screen was not something she was expecting.

"Is that... Is that a brain scan?" Kota hadn't seen one of these since college in one of her classes. The human brain was basically an organic hard drive. 50 years ago someone developed a way to scan a human brain, making an electronic copy of that person's consciousness. "Axel... what is a human brain scan doing in a Gen3?" She asked him as if he would know.

This still didn't explain how Gardenia was the way she is. The brain scan was corrupted and not a valid file. It was basically taking up space in her memory. Kota left it be, she promised she wouldn't delete anything.

(edited up a bit too)

“Yeah, same as the others but for the DNA, in theory at least,” Axel responded. He punched away at a few things on the terminal. “And be careful over there, if you break the interface, my boss is going to be wondering what I was up to here.”

He was cleaning up the mess of bad pictures that Choad dumped onto his system while Kota was working away, meanwhile trying to pull up the scan results he had from the night before. He thought to tell Kota about it, “Ran a scan last night when she first came in, mostly for diagnostic reasons. There were some anomalies, I didn’t quite figure out what there were at the time because I started to …” He stopped quickly, and did a quick glance towards Gardenia13. He know what he got distracted with, and thinking about how he lost track of things while ‘exploring her functionality’ made him blush a little. “That is, once I assessed there was no existing damage, the priorities changed to one of cleaning her up and getting her something more suitable to wear. Did I tell you she came in wearing nothing but a torn t-shirt?”

His attention immediately changed when Kota alerted him of what she found. Instead of worrying about the files on his own terminal, he became directly interested in what Kota found; and of course worried that there was something wrong with the droid. Axel walked quickly over to the examination table wanting to remain close to Kota in case she got any bright ideas to go rogue when messing around in Gardenia’s synapses. “I didn’t put that brain scan there, that’s for sure.” He thought about the file chewing on his lip a little as they looked at the terminal. “It would match some of Blackwood’s nomenclature, they seemed to like to use regular names for the Gen3 models. It doesn’t make sense though, it’s not like its connected to her systems at all. It’s like … they are just using her memory for storage.” While still looking at the terminal he thought to ask, “Gardenia, you don’t remember a Lily do you? Like someone at your owner’s house?”

Axel leaned in closer to study the file itself. As he did he put a hand around Kota in a light side hug. Realizing he was doing that, he quickly looked to his friend with a smile. “By the way, thanks for helping out with us today, I know you didn’t have to.” It’s all something that Axel wouldn’t have done normally. Not the the compliment, he would usually turn anything nice into a chance to be sarcastic with his friend; but the physical contact. He felt more confident today,more at ease with himself, and … well … thanking Kota just felt right.

Kota smiled back and seemed just a slight bit uncomfortable with the embrace; but took it anyway. This different Axel, as different as it was, wasn’t at all unwelcome either. Even if he did seem to pay more attention to the droid than her. “Well, maybe we should at least download this file,” she replied trying to initially change the topic. “It would be better to play with the brain scan somewhere else than to mess around with it inside of Gardenia13’s brain.”

Axel watched closely to ensure that it was just a file transfer and not going to mean anything would be removed from Gardenia. When he was sure of it, he gave a quick look to Gardenia and gave her a wink and a smile. “Everything is still intact up there, no wiping going on. I promise.” Even with the wires hanging out of her body, she looked cute lying there. As cute as she did when she first walked into his life.

Kota kept doing more digging in Gardenia's head as the brain scan downloaded. They might be able to run the scan if she repaired it. The idea made Kota nervous though. As soon as they started the program, IF it would start, they would have a live human consciousness in the Hub's computer...

Now, Kota should have probably told Axel that running a complex item such as a brain scan might short his system - but she could fix that before his bosses found out. There was only a 25% chance of that happening anyway. No point in worrying her friend.

“Gardenia, you don’t remember a Lily do you? Like someone at your owner’s house?”

Gardenia looked to Axel as she tried to remember Lilly. She never met Lilly, but... "Sometimes Trevor would call me that... I don't know why." He never changed her command code though, it was always behind closed doors... when he was 'using' her. For some reason, hearing the name made her feel sad.

Then she noticed how close Axel was with Kota and how Kota looked back at Axel. Gardenia wanted him back over with her, holding her hand while she was plugged up to the computer. Did Axel like Kota? Obviously in a way he did, but Gardenia was wondering how deep those feelings were.

Kota tapped away, everything else looked normal in Gardenia's head. She decided to do a quick search of all currently running programs. That's where she discovered the primary operating system was gone. Kota had assumed something was ADDED to Gardenia's Bloodwood programming. There was no trace of the primary operating system. Instead something else was running in it's place. A file called Genesis. The file was so huge, she didn't know if there was enough bandwith to download it from the android. This had to be what was made Gardenia... well, Gardenia.

Kota started the download anyway. She wanted to investigate what Genesis was. Maybe Gardenia could tell them. Turning around, she saw Axel and the droid. As after Axel assured Gardenia that everything was alright, she had lifted up from the exam table to hug Axel. The look on the droid's face at being so close to the man who found her... Well, the jealousy in Kota was starting to simmer back.

Gardenia was hugging Axel to her tightly. She wanted him to stay right there with her. The feeling of his body made her feel a bit more relaxed. Kota finding strange files made her a bit nervous, but Axel... made her feel like everything was alright.

"Before I woke up here with you... Trevor had me plugged into his computer. He turned me off so I don't know what it is that he was doing."

"He modified you." Kota cut in. The tall dark haired girl stood up and went into the back where she grabbed one of Axel's drinks. "He removed her primary operating system and he replaced it with something else... or he altered it. I'm not totally sure yet. I'm downloading a copy of it and I'm going to play around with it."

Kota grabbed Axel's arm and dragged him away from Gardenia. "This is bad, Axel. It is illegal to modify a droid and she has basically had a complete rework done! If Blackwood finds her not only will they probably delete all of the files, but they will probably think you did it if they find her with you."

Kota was torn about what to tell her friend to do. Gardenia didn't seem dangerous... but she was running on a complete untested program. For all they knew, she could be some kind of weapon. "I... I don't know if it's safe for you to keep her," She also didn't want to hand the droid back to this Trevor guy. What was he trying to make with Gardenia?

Gardenia could hear them. Kota and Axel might not have realized how droids could pick up sounds extremely well. She wanted to stay with Axel, but she also didn't want him to get i trouble because of her. "I..." She didn't know what to say to make things better. She couldn't say anything, except. "I would like to stay please..." Her eyes pleaded to both humans across the room.

Axel shook his head when Kota suggested that Gardenia not stay there. He wouldn’t have it, couldn’t think of anything better than her staying right here. Gardenia, listening was quick to request to stay, and the look on her face tugged at his heart to agree.

“I’m not letting her stay anywhere else, Kota,” Axel replied sternly. “If that means Blackwood comes down on me then so be it. We’ve done nothing wrong. All I did was follow protocol by helping diagnose and repair a unit that returned to the Hub on it’s own accord.” With a shrug he smirked, “technically speaking we have the evidence on our side. Look.

He moved Kota to the side and banged out on the terminal. “See, She logged a visit last night to the hub, logged in her second visit right now, and I am sure if we check out the time logs on the files we will see …” a couple of hits on another page and his voice dropped off “... no time log?”

“So much for that theory,” Kota chirped.

“What the hell is this thing? What were they doing with those files?” Axel was struggling at this point, but of course Kota was a few steps ahead on her struggles.

“I still say you need to get her away from you.”

Axel slammed his hand on the keyboard and turned abruptly. “Where, Kota? Where. I’m not gonna send her back to her owner, not until we figured out what the hell they were doing with her head … and God knows what other parts. She’s got No Place to Go!”

“She can come to my place,” Kota stood up in the face of Axel’s words.

“If you think that they are coming to look for her, you don’t think they won’t find you any faster than me?” Axel shook his head and turned back to Gardenia. “Until we figure things out, she’s not leaving my sight.” He took Gardenia’s hand into his, but turned to Kota to address her. “Actually, I think you probably need to get some distance. If there is trouble in this, let it be me that gets in trouble. You’re just an innocent bystander.”

Gardenia watched as the two argued about what to do with her, where she would stay. She felt bad that the two of them were starting to get heated because of her, but she was glad that Axel wasn't going to send her away. Gardenia didn't know what she would do if he decided that she was too dangerous to have around.

....

Dangerous

Is that what she was now? She looked at her hands as if she was inspecting them to make sure they weren't sharp or had developed some deadly toxin. She knew she wasn't dangerous in that sense... but she also knew that she wasn't doing things that way a normal droid should.

"You are an idiot if you think that I am just going to walk away and pretend that I am not apart of this. Besides, you need my help, whether you like to admit it or not!" Kota's voice had snapped Gardenia from out of her thoughts. She watched as the tall brunette too in a deep breath to calm herself down.

"I wasn't trying to suggest that she's bad. I don't think that at all. I'm just worried about what might happen to you if it's discovered that you have her." Kota explained calmly.

Gardenia was glad to know that Kota didn't think badly of her, but if her concerns were true... she didn't want Axel to get in trouble either. If that did happen, she would he taken away from him too.

"If you think everything will be fine, then I believe you." Kota honestly didn't want to fight with her friend, but her pride was also hurt as she felt like Axel was picking a machine over her. Gardenia was proving to be much more than a droid though...

"I want to check out those files. If I can get the brain scan repaired even to run, maybe we can... talk to Lilly, and see if we can figure out more." Kota sat down again in front of the computer. The file was downloaded, now she just needed to repair it.

"Axel?" Garden called for her technician. All the talking and strange findings was making her more and more nervous. She looked like a kid with a cavity, waiting for the dentist. She listened to Kota's fingers tapping away onto the keyboard as screens were flashing with all sorts of different data and programs. "No more fighting please."

At first, Axel watched Kota go to work on the terminal, but it was Gardenia’s voice that pulled him away.

"Axel?" "No more fighting please."

Her voice was pleading, almost childlike. Being in the dress that Kota bought for her only seemed to enhance her childlike mannerism. Of course, being one that is just coming to realize her personality as it continues to demand a new level of understanding, Gardenia’s maturity wasn’t a program but an evolution.

In effect, it just made Axel’s heart melt.

He walked over to the droid and put his arms around her to hug her close. Her head buried into his chest, and he could feel her warmth. “No more fighting, little one,” he repeated to her.

Kota kept focused on the terminal the best she could. Pounding away on the keyboard she could hear the tone in Axel’s voice, and it only caused that fire of jealousy to light a little hotter. It was getting to the point that she was starting to question her own intentions. Regardless, when this all blows over she was going to need to confront whatever this was.

Axel was rubbing Gardenia’s back while in the embrace. “How are you doing? Are you hungry? Do you need to rest? I can always take you home if we need to keep working here.”

Gardenia shook her head as she was pressed against Axel. She didn't want to leave him and Kota, she wasn't tried-

Her stomach let out a loud and strong growl. Gardenia had been surprised and jumped a little when she heard it. It must been because she recently has real food... Normally she just had the Gen3 supplements, and she didn't remember her stomach ever growling so loudly before... Maybe she just didn't remember. Wouldn't she remember though?

Kota wasn't getting anywhere with the brain scan. It seemed like whatever happened to it, it was damaged beyond repair... Maybe that was s good thing. Those things creeped her out. Getting your brain scanned had become a huge fad. It was basically a way for people to insure that after they passed, their consciousness would live on, but they were basically just software, a new program, etc. Kota had no plans of getting her brain scanned. She doubted people would be interested in what was rolling around in her noggin.

"I wouldn't be again a pizza or a sub... Mmm maybe pasta, or Chinese food!" Kota was rambling when she heard the mention of food. "There is no saving the brain scan... If we had the original copy I could fix it... But then we wouldn't need it."

Genisis was still down loading. Damn it was a huge file. Kota couldn't wait to get in and see how it was programmed and worked. "Hey, Gardenia13. What's your owners name?" She was curious as Axel never directly said it before.

Gardenia told her his name and then Kota was clacking away on the keyboard. Her curiosity was peeked. Who was this guy? Obviously not some random teen just messing with their droid. They created a pretty complex program-

A thought popped into her head. Kota wondered if she could take this file and see what would happen if she put it in another droid... But she didn't really have the funds to purchase a Gen3. She could document her findings on an older or cheaper droid though!

Immediately Kota spun around and looked at Gardenia13. "Hey! Is it ok if I record you while I ask some questions? It could help us trying to figure out what's going on in here" she tapped her own head "AND if we keep some kind of log it could help us if the authorities get involved- which hopefully doesn't happen." Ok, she told a little fib, but the scientist in her just had the need to document and experiment with this program. Plus she was going to make sure not to fiddle with Gardenia's head, per Axel's request.

"It's going to take a while for the file to finish downloading, so once it's done I'll just take it home and tinker with it and then I can come by tomorrow after work." Kota explained as she pulled out her phone to take a video. Gardenia hadn't even had a chance to answer her question, but it didn't look like the droid was going to protest either.

Kota motioned for Axel to get out of the shot and hit record. "Today is December 3rd, 2095. My name is Kota Anomizi. Blackwood Junior Field Engineer Axel Baniti," she panned over so the camera could see Axel before going back to Gardenia, "present as well. Subject was discovered at the Technician's Hub, it was offline and Mr. Baniti proceeded to service the subject. The subject in question is a Gen3, model was discovered to be a prototype, Gardenia Series."

Gardenia just sat there, taking everything all in. Kota wasn't talking to anyone directly, but she recounted the events that Axel previously described to her, of how he found her. Then finally, Kota addressed her and asked her to say her name.

"Gardenia." She spoke softly.

"Please say your complete name."

Oh, the droid huffed a little, "Gardenia13." Kota asked her to explain what she was. "I'm a Gen3 Android."

Kota continued asking questions and the droid answered them, they showed her access panel where she was plugged into the hub. Kota took video of the screens showing the file. Garden was then asked what she remembered before waking up with Axel.

"Trevor, my user, came home from work. He is an intern for Blackwood. He just sat me in a chair, opened his laptop and plugged me in. He never said what he was doing."

A few more questions and then Kota seemed satisfied. Gardenia had been obviously a little camera shy and nervous at first but now she was worried that the information might get Trevor or Axel in trouble.

The file was finally done and Kota took it with her and gently unplugged Gardenia. She had a smile on her face, excited to get some answers for the three of them. "Ok, you two kids are free to go!" She teased. Kota would have liked to hangout with Axel more... But she had a feeling she was going to feel like. Third wheel. "I'm gonna head out and get to work on this. I'll call you tomorrow," and she was out of the Hub before either human or droid could stop her.

Axel watched the door to the Hub close, and turned back to the Gardenia. He let out a long, slow sigh. He forced a smile, trying to give her some kind of reassurance. The day had been trying for him, so it must have been a long, difficult day for her.

“I hope Kota didn’t scare you,” he said to the droid. “She is … well … tough. She’s been through a lot. So she can be a little intimidating to some. But her heart is good, and she means well. She just … I don’t know …”

He gave a shrug, raised a hand up to brush a bit of hair off the android’s face. “You know you’re special, don’t you? There isn’t anything out there like you. It maybe hard for some people to figure that out … not until they get to know you more.”

Axel’s hand rand over Gardenia’s shoulder and down her arm until he was holding her hand. She still looked all kinds of cute in the dress Kota bought for her, and she still seemed an absolute doll. Giving a little grin he smirked. “We should find ourselves some food. Not that stuff I got back at the apartment, something good for us like … noodles … or something. Besides, this may be our last night to go someplace. If the corporation starts to smell around for you, it will take them at least 24 hours to convert internet traffic into a location - after that we can hide out somewhere.” He gave another sigh and thought about the original mission of the day. “Of course, we probably have to get you back to Trevor sooner or later.”

Gardenia felt a little bit better once Kota left. Not that she didn't like her, but she liked it more when it was just her and Axel. Looking up at Axel now, she could see how tired he was now that the day was coming to an end. He had been working for a while just trying to figure out what she was. They just ended up with more questions.

"Actually, I think Kota is pretty nice. She was nice for most of the day, but there were times where I couldn't really understand how or why she reacted to certain things." Like the way she would sometimes look at Axel with such affection and then other times she would look like she was ready to scream.

"I can tell she cares about you a lot, and I think there are times when she likes me." Gardenia smiled as he brushed some of her hair out of her face. Naturally her face leaned into the palm of his hand.

Looking up at Axel, she blushed as he called her special. Her heart was beating faster. Part of her knew he was talking about her programming... whatever it is that her user did, but it still made her feel happy. She wanted to always feel like this.

"Axel..." She held his hand back within hers. "I... I would like to stay with you. Just for a little longer, please." The mention of Trevor did remind her that eventually this would end. She would have to go back home and she didn't know if she would see Axel again... What would be there for her once she returned? How different would life be for her now? There were many questions, Gardenia didn't really want to know what the answers were. Not just yet.

Axel gave Gardenia a wide smile, and put his arms onto her shoulders. There was something warm and wonderful about her request. To keep the droid with him for a while longer is about as good of a thing he could think of. “I want to say that you can stay as long as you like, but we both kinda know that can’t happen. Sooner or later, we probably need to get in contact with Trevor. Or sooner or later the corporation will want to see you as well.” He shrugs a little, “but that is not going to stop me from saying you can stay with me as long as you like.”

He was tempted to lean in to kiss her, something that would seem most natural if they were in fact both human. Yet a little bit of insecurity shook Axel. She was special, she was unique - and she wasn’t a sex bot either. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel like, now that they were alone again, she had to start doing things with him right away.

“I should lock up,” he said, then turned away nervously to start shutting down the hub. “You know what’s odd? It’s almost 24 hours since you walked into my life, and I never expected to be this busy today. I mean, Kota and I were supposed to play games but other than that was just going to be time to sit around and watch movies.” Most of the systems were shutting down quickly and he started preparing the gates to be closed. “It seems now like it was forever ago when you came in, and we popped you up on the table and I …” He trailed off slightly, remembering exactly what he did to her on that table. He bit his lip a little with a smile and walked over to her. “You ready to go, little one?”

Gardenia just smiled as she took Axel's hand. She knew that eventually she would need to be returned to Trevor... but for now, she wasn't a droid or belonged to anyone. She was simply Gardenia.

Just as the two were exiting the Hub, She noticed that it started snowing... Gardenia knew what it was but she had never seen it before. The snowflakes started landing on her cheeks and nose. Then when she breathed out, she could see her breath. The temperature must have dropped, she concluded as she breathed out heavily a few more times, pretty fascinated with the smoke effect. Once Axel finished locking up the two walked down the slightly busy road. There were people walking along with them, lots of them carrying shopping bags. Gardenia even saw some older model androids. It was then she was noticing that no one was noticing her. She was glad of that.

On their way to food (she didn't know where they were going exactly) they passed a few shops that had holiday themed window displays. In terms of age, Gardenia was only a few months old. She never experienced a holiday before. She could tell you what they were, but she never experienced one. She had stopped walking, her hand still holding Axel's as she was looking at the window display. It was a pawn shop, but the owners still seemed to have put an effort into making the window look nice to attract costumers.

(Not sure if I am stopping here... or will add more later... tired... sleep now.)

There is something about watching someone who is experiencing something new that you have seen a hundred times before. It was that time of the year where Axel usually kept his head down low and muscled through the holidays. Not interested in the shopping or the displays, Axel saw this time of year only as the coldest time of year and nothing else. Gardenia, though, seemed to eat up all of it. The colors, the displays, the fun, the everything. She seemed alive with the sensations and the expectations. It led him only to feed off of that, and to be brightened by that as well.

They mostly walked hand in hand, which was about as new of an experience as everything else was to Gardenia. Her skin was warm, her grip firm, her presence there and close. It warmed him up as much as his light coat did. While she still wore the dress that seemed almost doll like, she barely even registered as anything but a girl to those who passed by, and he registered as nothing but her companion. It felt nice, in a way that felt like he was like everyone else. Like being with Gardenia made him feel more normal.

They reached the door to the noodle shop, and they opened it to the splash of warm yummy goodness. It was his favorite ramen place, where you could get big bowls of broth filled with tender meats, fresh vegetables, wedges of hard boiled eggs, and oodles of noodles. The place was full of long wooden tables that felt as authentic Japanese as the old man and woman running the place. They found a nice table and he waved down for two of the regular bowls. He sat on the same side of the table as Gardenia had, and his hand snaked down to find her hand as well holding it onto his knee. As often as it seemed he had been in this place, it never felt nicer than it did now. He never felt happier than now.

It was actually pretty busy in the noodle place, but thankfully they were able to find a seat quickly.

The very first thing Gardenia noticed when they walked in was the smell. Oh it was heavenly! Gardenia didn't have much experience with food, so being in a restaurant where there was nothing but people eating was exciting.

Gardenia hadn't let go of Axel's hand since they left the Hub, at least she didn't recall her hand leaving his. Lightly her fingers caressed against his. The sensation was calming, relaxing, and it made a weird feeling in her chest. She decided that she liked this weird feeling. She liked Axel very much. He made her feel warm and tingle inside (in her heart), and right now she couldn't stop smiling.

Soon there were two large bowls in front of them, filled to the top with a dark brown broth, noodles, meats and veggies. Gardenia tried to find a fork, they were only provided a weird looking spoon and two sticks. Looking around she observed how people were using the sticks. Quietly she fumbled with them. When she finally got them in one hand, she tried to pick up some of the noodles, but when she went in for a bite, they would slip through the stick and plop back into the bowl.

Axel tried not to laugh at her attempts to use the chopsticks, but there came a point when he couldn’t hold back. It was a chuckle, just passed a laugh, and just a hint of sympathy to it.

“They never programmed you to use these, huh?” He asked.

He reached over, took the chopsticks, and placed them correctly in between his fingers. Her skin felt warm and soft between his hands, and he held it there gently before smiling to her. “Now nice and easy, don’t feel like you have to pinch. And don’t be afraid to pick up too much, the more you try to grab the easier it is to pick up.” He guided her hand to the bowl, and showed her how to close down on the noodles lifting it up slightly to show she had a grip on it.

“Feel free to slurp it up too,” he playfully added.

Letting her give it a try with out his guidance, he took his hand off of hers. But missing the warmth of her skin he laid it down on top of her knee just at the edge of her skirt.

“It takes some practice, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get it right away. We all stink at using chopsticks at first … it is just part of being human to stink at things.”

Gardenia smiled as an embarrassed blush came over her cheeks. She felt silly, but seeing Axel's eyes shining as he laughed and smiled at her quickly quelled those insecure feelings.

Feeling his hand upon hers, she felt relaxed but then at the same time, there was a weird light tightness in her belly. Her AI took in the information of how he showed her to hold the sticks and she saw how he could pick up the food with such ease. Then it was her turn to try it on her own. Her fingers fumbled a little at first, but she quickly resumed how he showed her to hold them, gently picked up some noodles and... Success! She had a mouth full of warm delicious noodles.

Gardenia had taken in so much food that her little cheeks bulged as she chewed on the noodles. Eyes were wide as the flavors caressed over her tongue before she finally swallowed it down. Quickly, she took another big bite and slurped up some noodles, making soft sounds that only indicated how much she was enjoying the taste of dish. Who knew food could be so fantastic!

As they continued to eat, Axels words would keep coming into her mind. 'just part of being human'....

"Axel?" Gardenia asked suddenly. "What... else is part of being human? I mean... what do they do?" Honestly, she wasn't sure was she was asking or at least wasn't sure how to best articulate what it was that she wanted.

Axel was finishing one of the last bites his stomach could handle when she asked him what seemed to be a simple question, but with no easy answer. He took a moment to wipe the broth from his chin before he tried to answer.

“I don’t know,” he started. “I mean, I know. I am human of course, but … It’s not that, I guess, straightforward.”

Putting down his chopsticks, he shifted slightly to turn towards her.

“Most of us, most people I guess, there’s a lot of normal stuff. We go to school, we get jobs. Then guys get girlfriends. Then they get married. They have kids. Grow old. In between we hang out, have friends, make jokes, tease each other, you know, like Kota and me.” He scratched his head and chuckled slightly. “So I guess it is just stuff humans do. We Laugh, We Love, We Learn. Boring right?”

With a bit of a smirk he thought to continue. “I mean, not always. I went to school and got a job, but I don’t have a girlfriend .. or kids. Not that there is anything wrong with me. Or wrong with kids and girlfriends. It’s just that … I don’t know … there are just different humans and different things.”

With a shrug he chuckled, “I guess part of being human is to be different than the other humans.”

Then while rubbing his hand through his hair he laughed, “And sex I guess … humans have sex all the time .. kinda.”

(Oops -- didn't mean to post a second time.)

Gardenia turned towards Axel as they faced each other. It was hard for her to understand why her question seemed difficult, but as he tried to answer things started to become clear- somewhat.

Humans are different yet the same... Maybe she should do her own research on humans.

"So.... Kota is not your girlfriend?" Axel had plainly stated that he had none, yet Gardenia had this uncontrollable need for him to say it. To say that there wasn't something between him and the dark haired beauty.

"And... you don't have sex with her?" It felt odd asking him that. Her cheeks started flushing and she was too embarrassed to look at him.

Before he could answer, something had been placed on their table. Gardenia turned her head to see that an older Japanese woman, with her silver hair pulled back in a bun, placing a small wooden plate down with two strange bun looking things.

Gardenia honestly had no idea what it was that she was looking at. She knew it was some kind of food, but did Axel order anything else? The older woman just seemed to stand there waiting for them to pick up the buns, so Gardenia reached for one. Once her fingers touched it, she was surprised to feel how soft and squishy it was. The old woman smiled warmly which encouraged Gardenia to take a bite- It was sweet! Not a heavy sweet taste, but it was pleasant all the same. There was a filling in the middle. She took another bite.

"Arigato," Gardenia replied after finding the proper Japanese response.

Taking another bite Gardenia looked back at Axel, but her eyes caught something else. There were paintings all on the wall... they all had something in common. A red string or cord. Gardenia took in each imagine. Like the strange desert, the significance of the paintings were another thing her data base couldn't answer.

“Sex with Kota?” he blurted, luckily without food in his mouth. He shook his head nervously. His face turned a few shades brighter of red. He even laughed a little. “Umm, she is not my girlfriend.” With a bit of a cough he continued, “I mean, she is a girl and my friend. But … well … It’s kinda complicated.”

He tried his best to take a few bites from his own dumpling, but his clenching stomach on the new topic it wasn’t easy. He stuffed more of it his mouth. Chewed. Tried to swallow. Tried to drink something to make it swallow. All the while trying to find words to explain it to her. Or for that matter explain it to himself.

Axel ran his hands through his hair, wiped his mouth, and gave it his best shot. “Kota and I … well … it’s complicated. We’ve been friends for a while, and it’s not that she is bad or anything. I mean, you met her, she’s pretty and all and smart and funny but … well … I am probably just not her type. You know?”

He ran his hand through his hair again, and the waitress returned once more with the check. He paid it, thankful that something came along to distract from the topic, a topic he didn’t expect to be so uncomfortable to him.

Gardenia supposed that Axel's answer should have quelled her curiosity. Kota wasn't his girlfriend, but his words still left a confused and nagging feeling in the back of her hard drive.

As they started to leave the restaurant she realized that it was the way he answered. He said he thought HE wasn't KOTA'S type... Did that mean Kota was his type? Did he want Kota to be his girlfriend? There was a strange pulling like sensation in her chest. Weird, her system didn't indicate that there was an issue with her heart, but it felt like a strange kind of ache.

She hadn't realized it, but she had taken Axel's hand within hers as they continued their way home. As her mind started to fill with more questions, her head rested against his shoulder. Was this sadness? The idea that she was feeling human emotion was so alien to her, but what other explanation was there?

The more she let her mind linger with images of Axel and Kota... Axel embracing Kota... The two of them kissing. The idea of being without Axel was one thing, but now...

Gardenia stopped in her tracks when she realized that her vision was oddly blurred. She blinked which cleared her vision, but two warm droplets slipped from hers eyes. The streams didn't stop. Touching her face in confusion, she found that if she wiped them they were quickly replaced. Why was she crying? Her body wasn't physically hurt or damaged.

In vain she tried to remove the tears just as quickly as they came. The fact that she was crying in front of him as the crowd moved around them just made things worse. For the most part people ignored them but occasionally a pair of eyes glanced in the couple's direction.

There is something special about walking with a girl holding your hand, Even if she is an android. It’s something to do with the other fingers wiggling around between yours, like some foreign limbs intertwined where they aren’t supposed to be. Or something about the additional warmth against the appendages that get so cold on their own. Yet, it still feels like signals, thrashing around in in a man’s soul, that someone trusts you enough to be so close to you to hold onto them. When it comes to means of intimacy, there is nothing so simple that still makes a someone feel so taken in.

Axel could wax on in his thoughts on how nice it felt. To have someone who takes your hand, walks with you, and makes you feel … normal. Gardenia seemed to go quiet as they did. There was a touch of snow in the air, not much, just enough to add to the scene. People continued to move around them, dealing with their shopping and other activities as night was closing in. There was a simple peace to it all, a simple loveliness. Something that seemed satisfying, and happy.

Of course, Axel was oblivious to the deteriorating emotions of his companion. But that didn’t last. He first noticed her hand movement, reaching to wipe at her face. Her breath seemed to change, more tight and struggling. When he finally looked at her, he could not miss her tears.

“Hey Hey”, he started, quickly turning to stand in front of her and lowering his head to catch her eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

They were standing in a small plaza where on warmer days a fountain would be dribbling its water inside a circle of benches. People moved passed them as he confronted her, but seemed to move without noticing the crying droid.

“What’s this, Gardenia?” he asked, trying hard to not question his own acts to cause her to cry. “Why are you crying?”

"Do you love Kota?" She asked before she had even really thought about it. Why did she care? "Are you in love with her?"

She sniffled as she waited for his answer, but she soon regretted asking. It wasn't any of her business if he was in love with Kota, or any other human...

Human...

The one thing she wasn't. If she was human, would Axel love her?... Did she love Axel? She honestly didn't know. The only thing the little droid knew was that the thought of him loving someone else, it hurt. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't really hear his response, if he had given any.

Gardenia wrapped her arms tightly around the male human as her face pressed against him, her tears splashing against the fabric of his clothing.

The question confused him. More to the point, he wasn’t sure where it was coming from. No sooner did she ask it that she embraced him, hugging him close and pressing her face into his. The question, the challenge, the embrace, it was confusing. Not as much because of the suddenness of it all, but … he didn’t really understand how to answer.

“It’s complicated,” he replied in a reactive manner.

Remembering he was really with a droid who was still figuring out much of what it means to be human, he rethought his words and tried to restate it.

“I mean, I kinda do. We’ve been friends for a long time, you know. In a way that is love, but I don’t think … I mean, I am guessing that is not what you mean.”

He leaned back slightly and looked down to her big purple eyes. “Thing is this. Love is not something whether it is a yes or no. You can’t just plug in an equation and one plus two equals happy. People get married and do anything for each other, but maybe not be in love. Then others they love each other right away but it isn’t right either.”

Knitting his eyebrows he tilted his head, “but why does this make you cry? Do you not want me to … Is this something about … us?”

Gardenia shook her head. She certainly didn't want him to have feeling for Kota, but was it ok to ask someone to not feel a certain way? Was it even possible for a human to stop their feelings? She wanted this feeling she was having to stop, but much like how he explained loved work, or rather how it didn't work, nothing was stopping anytime soon.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered softly as her tears started to slowly subside at least. "I don't know whats wrong with me. I just..." finding the words to explain was hard, and she started to feel embarrassed, looking shyly to the ground. If her face hadn't already been flushed from crying it would have been red for acting so silly.

"Everything is so strange now and I don't understand. Why am I like this now? Why can't I turn it off?" The threat of new tears stung her eyes. "Am I broken?" If she was broken, maybe she could be fixed. Maybe Axel could stop these feelings and she could go back to how she was before.

"Axel... I want to go home..." She paused before clarifying what she meant, "Your home... please."