As it turned out, he didn't have to deal with his friends until a week later. The fever Toby developed turned into a full-blown cold by morning, no doubt helped by a sleepless night worrying about questions he'd receive in school as well as being caught in the rain two days in a row. Luckily he had a great nurse at home, so he was able to endure it rather comfortably. When he received messages from his friends—none of them actually visited, though Toby didn't really mind that—he only told them that he'd tell them everything when he got back to school.
And in the meantime, he planned. He programmed. He downloaded new information into Ariel's memory banks, new protocols for interacting with people other than him. On the Internet he uploaded documents, created social media pages. He was determined to make sure that no one ever thought Ariel was anything but the wonderful girl she was.
Even so, when he arrived at school on Monday, he was unnerved and a little overwhelmed by how many people were staring at him harder than usual. And then came the questions.
"Dude, who's the girl?" asked Tim the moment Toby reached his locker. Behind him were a growing crowd of people, including Garth, Alex Shakti, Yu Seligman, and a bunch of other people Toby knew, as well as a lot of people he didn't know. "Man, she was hot! How did you keep such a fine thing from us?!"
"Was that the girl you said you were seeing?" asked Garth. "Was that why you weren't in a rush to get with Lapis?"
"Lapis saw the photo." said a girl from somewhere. "She's pissed. She thinks you were trying to make her a side dish!"
"I-I wasn't trying to make Lapis a side dish!" Toby said. "I-I only did it because everyone wanted me to go on a date with her—!"
"So who's the new girl?" asked Alex, wrapping an arm around Toby's shoulders. There was a whirring noise, and a small plastic blade popped out of Alex's sleeve, probably some prop from the drama club's latest play. "You either tell us or we'll be forced to get rough." he added wryly.
Toby pushed Alex away and cleared his throat. Almost at once the crowd around him went silent, leaning in towards him. Slowly, he said the speech he'd rehearsed what must've been a hundred times over. "Her name's Ariel Bostelli. Her parents work for a robotics company. She's mostly homeschooled so she doesn't know a lot of people her own age. We met through a chatroom not too long ago, and now we're...we're a couple." Toby said this last part casually, even shrugging as if to say it wasn't a big deal. He waited. Nobody said anything. He wondered if they had bought his story. The seconds ticked pass and he became more and more sure that they'd seen right through him.
And then Tim threw his arm around Toby's neck and gave him a rough noogie. "Dude!" he shouted. "You dog! It's about time you got something! I was worried after what Lapis said, but looks like I had nothing to worry about."
"Bet he only got her 'cause she doesn't know many other guys." said Yu snidely. Nobody besides Toby seemed to hear her though, because everyone else was congratulating him, patting him on the back, asking for more details on Ariel. Toby couldn't believe his luck. They believed him. They actually believed him! He was in the clear, no one would know the truth about Ariel, and he—
"Hey Tobes, here's an idea." said Garth. "There's a party going on at the Commodore Club this Saturday. Tim's dad is hosting, it's the launch for some new IHC system. Shakti and I were going to go with Tim and Yu. Maybe you could join in? Lapis is already coming with this guy she met, Raphael something or other, so we can afford two more. Right Tim?"
"Yeah, we can squeeze a few more people in." said Tim. "I'll give my dad a call. That cool with you, Toby?"
Toby had anticipated they'd invite him and Ariel out to something. "Yeah, that's scarlet." he said, playing it nonchalant. "I'll give Ariel a call and ask her about it. But first I gotta visit the office. Been gone a week and all." With a bit of effort Toby managed to extricate himself from the mob around him and dash down the hall before they could grill him some more on Ariel. Instead of going to the office though, Toby hid himself in a supply closet and called Ariel at home. She picked up on the third ring.
"How did it go?" she asked, not a trace of her original speaking manner left. To Toby's ears, it sounded like he was speaking to a normal girl. Damn, he was good.
"They bought it." he said. "We've been invited to a party this weekend. We'll have to download a few more programs and practice for the weekend."
"Toby, why must your friends not know I'm a gynoid?"
Toby didn't answer that question. Instead he said, "I just don't want them finding out."
"Okay." said Ariel after a pause. "By the way, your mom left a message. Would you like me to have Ronald forward it to you?"
Toby shrugged. "Fine by me."
There was a pause, and then there was a pinging noise. Toby saw the message icon flashing and pressed it to listen. Jetta's crisp French accent came on, sounding a little tinny at the other end.
"Bonjour Dresden, 'ow are 'oo? It's Maman. I 'ave not 'erd from 'oo in such a long time. I was tinking that maybe I shouldn't be separated from 'oo for so long, and then I 'ad the most wonderful idea. My next movie will be feelming for seeks months in Morocco starting in June. I will be 'ome a beet before that, so why don't 'oo join me on set for that time? It would be such a great learning experience for 'oo! And your Papa is on board wi' it, 'e thinks eet ees a wonderful idea too! Well, give me a call when 'oo get the chance, mon cher. Au revoir, Dresden!"
The message ended. "Did you hear that?" Toby asked Ariel.
"Yes, I heard it." she replied. "Why do your parents call you Dresden?"
"Dresden is where my parents met and then got married." Toby explained. "Paris is where they say I was conceived. I never really liked it."
"Are you going to take your mom up on her offer and go to Morocco?" Ariel asked.
Toby sighed. "I don't have time to think about that now." he said. "Look, I'll call you on my way home."
"Okay. I love you, Toby."
"Love you too." He hung up and left the closet, heading towards his first class and making a mental list of updates for Ariel to work on later.
"Toby, ten minutes till we have to go." Ariel's voice carried up the stairs to Toby's room, where he was checking himself out in front of the mirror. The event's dressed code was semi-formal, so he was wearing a black suit jacket and pants, a white shirt, and a tie with horizontal barcode patterns. He combed his hair to the side and surveyed himself. Yeah, he was ready for the show tonight.
That's what tonight was, anyway. Not a group date, but a show, one he was putting on with Ariel. And at the end of the show, if they were lucky, everyone would be fooled into thinking that Ariel was a real girl and that Toby was her boyfriend. And after that...well, he hadn't really thought that far ahead. But he wouldn't be thought of as a freak just because of who he loved.
Just then he heard footsteps on the stairs and Ariel appeared, wearing a silver dress with blue sleeves and sparkly roses around her wrists and waist. Her hair had been streaked with blue and wrapped in an intricate bun. "Are you ready to go?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm good to go." he said, quickly kissing her. He didn't have time to appreciate how pretty she was, or that she'd put on eyeliner and mascara, or that she smelled like strawberries. He was too keyed up for that. "You ready for tonight?"
"Of course." said Ariel, stroking Toby's cheek. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. You've done everything to make sure your friends believe I'm not a gynoid."
"You're not just a gynoid." he told her. "You're more than that. Anyway, let's get going. We need to pick up Alex and Garth soon." They looped their arms around one another and made their way downstairs. At the foot of the stairs, Ronald came on.
"Dresden, a reminder that you must give Jetta an answer regarding her invitation to join her in Morocco—"
"Tomorrow morning, I know." said Toby dismissively.
They were soon heading for Garth's house, the traffic light for a Saturday evening. When they arrived, Garth and Alex were waiting on the front porch, the former wearing a red shirt and frilly black vest, the latter wearing a slim red dress, cybernetic components all along his arms and neck, and a mohawk-like cut with ponytails on either side of his head. They stepped into the Hover and introduced themselves to Ariel. Toby put the car into autopilot and turned his chair to face them, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Dude, you snagged yourself a good one." Garth whispered as Ariel admired Alex's tech accessories. "How'd you land yourself such a babe?"
Toby shrugged. "I went online and shopped for pretty girls." Garth laughed while Toby inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good.
About twenty minutes later, the Commodore Club came into view, a giant square brick building with red neon looping all around it. Near the entrance Toby spotted Tim and Yu in matching green-and-silver clothes and Lapis and another man in a red dress and black suit, respectively. Toby recognized the guy Lapis was with as the guy who'd picked her up on that disaster of a date they'd had the other night, tall and stocky with short hair and a scruffy mustache.
They stepped out of the Hover and Toby handed the key to the valet. He introduced Ariel to Tim, Yu, Lapis, and the man Lapis was with, who introduced himself back as Raphael Ortiz. When Toby shook his hand, they stared at each other for a second before letting go of each other's hands. Out of the corner of his eye, Toby noticed similar staring going on when Ariel shook Yu and Lapis's hands.
"So how'd you land this girl, Crimson?" asked Yu, sounding like her normally bratty self. "You kidnap her little sister or something?" There were a few chuckles, but they were quickly cut off as Ariel slipped her arms around Toby's shoulders.
"Hey, he's cute." said Ariel, one of thirty comebacks he'd programmed into her in case someone made a jab about their relationship. She kissed his cheek and added, "I landed him." Toby smiled as the girls looked at him with wonder, while the guys and Alex looked at him with respect. Now they thought Ariel had been the one pursuing him. Let anyone call him green with that thought planted in their heads.
They talked a bit more before stepping inside the club, where about two hundred people in elegant attire were already dancing, eating and drinking, and shouting to be heard over the pumping music. Robotic waiters flew throughout the room, offering drinks and hors d'oeuvres to the guests. One drone offered them champagne despite none of them being old enough to drink it. Everyone but Toby and Ariel took some, their excuses being that Ariel was allergic and Toby was driving.
From there the night went pretty smoothly. There was plenty of dancing, during which Toby's eyes never left Ariel for a second. There was lots of talk and laughter, and Toby learned that despite his initial reservations, he actually liked Lapis's date Raphael. He was humble, unpretentious, and very funny, and didn't seem to think badly of Toby because of his botched date with Lapis.
And no one, not one of them, suspected anything of him or Ariel.
At some point Toby left to use the bathroom. When he stepped out, he found Lapis waiting there for him, a sour look on her face. "Um...hey Lapis." he said, surprised. "C-Can I help you with something?" Lapis's frown deepened and Toby wondered if he'd said something to offend her.
"What was it about her that made her so much easier to talk to?" asked Lapis.
Toby was so surprised by the question he answered without even thinking about it. "She never judges me."
Lapis raised an eyebrow. "Judges?"
"Well, on our date—"
"You call that a date?" Lapis scoffed, folding her arms. Toby felt sweat break out on his brow. Not again, her thought.
"Listen up, Crimson." said Lapis. Toby blinked; she'd never used his last name in any of their scattered conversations before. "I don't know what you got with that Ariel girl, but get this: people form opinions about other people. It's what we do. Sometimes they're not going to be good ones. So if that scares you, you better hang onto that girl. Because if you don't, you'll be using your right hand for the rest of your life!" And with that she walked off in the direction of a robot carrying a tray of champagne. Toby stared after her in wonder for a moment before returning to the booth he and his friends had occupied, where Ariel was talking with Garth, Alex, and Raphael about the song the DJ was playing. Tim and Yu were nowhere to be seen.
"Hey man." said Raphael. "What's up with Lapis? She followed you to the bathroom."
"Hell if I know." said Toby, looping an arm around Ariel and kissing her cheek. "I don't understand what makes girls tick."
"No guy does." Raphael replied. "Even me, and I get a new one every month. Then again, maybe that's why I don't understand them." The table burst into laughter before moving into other subjects. At some point Tim and Yu wandered back to their booth, Lapis following and swaying a little as she walked.
"What's up, bitches?" Tim allowed Lapis to slide in next to Raphael before sitting down with Yu.
"Nothing much." said Garth. "How long's this party going on till, anyway?"
Tim checked his watch. "Damn, wraps up in twenty minutes." There was a collective groan around the table. Toby groaned as well, though inwardly he cheered. To him, that meant the show wrapped in twenty minutes, and then he and Ariel were in the clear.
Tim signaled a waiter drone, which brought them all a round of neon blue martinis. "Well, I say we finish up with a toast. To fucking good times and having good fucks together!"
The table exploded with laughter. "Dude, you're so crude!" shouted Garth.
"Hey Toby! Ariel! You two gotta drink as well!" said Alex. "And none of that allergy bullshit."
Toby felt a brief flutter of panic but suppressed it. "Hey, only if she's drinking too." Toby pointed a thumb at Ariel.
"And I get sick when I drink," she said to the table.
"Oh come on. Just one drink!" said Garth. "You two can't let us all go home with you two the only ones not having fun!"
"Hey, I'll have some weed on the way home—"
"Hold them down!" There was a roar of drunken applause as Tim jumped on the table and grabbed two martini glasses. He ran across the table and jumped into Toby's lap. Toby cried out as a drink was thrust in front of his face.
"Tim, what the fuck are you—" The rest was literally drowned out as Toby had martini thrown down his throat. He coughed and spat some of the cocktail out, his mouth burning.
"Toby—!" Ariel reached for him but Alex grabbed her and laughed drunkenly. Lapis crawled onto the table, holding a martini glass too. Toby saw that Yu and Garth were egging Tim and Lapis on while Raphael laughed and wiped tears away from his eyes. He realized that all of them were drunker than he'd thought, and a sense of dread fell over him.
"Guys, you gotta stop!" Tim poured another drink down Toby's throat as Garth helped Alex with Ariel, who was struggling madly, her robot strength making it difficult to keep hold of her. Finally they managed to get her to keep still as Lapis held the drink to her lips. From somewhere Yu appeared beside her with two glasses of her own, giggling tipsily.
"Sorry, Ariel!" said Yu, the straps of her dress falling over her shoulders. "But ya gotta drink too! Them's the rules!" Toby watched as the girls poured martini down into Ariel's throat, a throat that had no esophagus, and then as she expelled it from her mouth in a geyser. Garth and Alex let go of her while Lapis and Yu backed away, shocked expressions on all their faces. Ariel sat up, and Toby thought she actually looked dazed.
"Emergency expulsion protocol activated." she said. Then, "Back wall of throat punctured." To everyone's shock, including Toby's, Ariel reached into her mouth, her hand disappearing up to the wrist. A moment later she pulled her hand out, an olive pierced with a toothpick held between her fingers. "Item retrieved. Possible leakage confirmed. Damage to systems pro-ah!-bable." Ariel jerked wildly, her voice becoming an electronic whine for half a second.
"What the hell?" said Lapis.
"Oh my God!" Raphael was standing and pointing at Ariel. "Look at the back of her neck! She's a gynoid!"
Toby looked, and saw to his horror that the slot hiding Ariel's USB port and power switch had slid open somehow. And all the others could see it. They knew. Show's over. Toby thought wildly. Then, I have to get her out of here. He reached and grabbed Ariel's hand, pulling her onto her feet and away from the booth, heading for the exit. From behind him he heard the others shouting after him.
When they were in the alley outside the club, Toby stopped running and turned to Ariel, who still had a dazed look on her face. "Ariel! Ariel!" he shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Speak to me! Are you alright?"
For a moment Ariel didn't say anything, she didn't even seem to be aware of her surroundings. Then she said, "System backup protocols initiated. Diagnostic search for damage run!-ning." Her voice became a whine again, and she jerked in his grip. Toby stared at her, terrified. What would happen to her? Did the martinis permanently damage her? What if—
The exit door burst open and Tim, Yu, Garth, Alex, Lapis, and Raphael walked out, forming a semicircle around him. Toby scanned their faces and saw that they looked very pissed.
"What the hell, man?" said Tim. "You brought a fucking gynoid? You lied to us and tried to make us think she was your girlfriend?"
"No!" said Toby. "Well yes, but—"
"Oh my fucking God!" said Yu. "I always knew you were a loser, Crimson, but this is the greenest thing you've ever done!"
"Anything else you want to tell us?" asked Tim. "Before we never hang out with you again and make sure nobody else does either?"
Toby stared at them, looking for a friendly face and finding none. At first he felt panic, but then, strangely, he began to feel really calm. The cat was really out of the bag now. Might as well just tell them everything.
"Yeah, Ariel's a gynoid." he said. "And you know what? I love her." He heard several loud inhales. He pressed on. "I don't care that she's a robot. She's kind and sweet and cares for me. I love her for that."
"She's programmed for that!" said Alex.
"I don't care what anyone else says." Toby continued, ignoring the interruption. "She's a real girl to me and that's all that matters. And you know what else? I also didn't bang that senior freshman year." Several more loud inhales and even a few gasps. Toby could almost hear what was left of the reputation he'd built up over the years crack and fall off him. Strangely, he actually felt lighter than he had in ages. Clean, almost.
And then an idea occurred to him. Maybe he could still find a way to make this alright.
"But you know what else? I don't care. We all have secrets we don't want the world to know or that we're ashamed of. After all, Garth's a scholarship student."
"Dude!" Garth's face looked shocked and angry as all eyes turned to him.
"Garth, you're on the funds?" said Lapis, disgusted.
"Always said your friends were super-green, Tim." said Yu as her boyfriend stood fuming beside her.
"Oh, is that so, Yu?" said Garth. "Because you used to have quite the thing for one of us losers, as I remember."
"What?" Everybody's attention turned to Yu, who suddenly looked mortified.
"Gleisser, you better watch what you say right now—" Yu began.
"Yeah, back in freshman year I went to a storage closet to smoke some weed during study hall and caught Miss-Too-Scarlet-For-Losers kissing a photograph of Toby and touching herself between her legs." Garth revealed, sneering. "The only reason she hates him now is 'cause he never noticed the signals she was sending him!"
All eyes turned to Toby, who was just as shocked as anyone, and then they turned back to Yu, who seemed on the verge of crying as Tim stared at her with sudden disgust. She turned to him, but then he slipped his arm out from around hers. And then the waterworks really began. "Look, I did like him, I thought he was one of those shy but sweet sensitive types!" said Yu, looking desperately at Tim. "I only found out what a loser he was later, but I swear Tim, I never knew he was a freak—Lapis, what are you laughing about?!"
"So you're not the perfect girl you pretend to be." said Lapis. "That's good to know. I always hated that about you."
"You bitch!" Yu shouted. "Well, you're not so great either! Your mom's a drunk with an eating disorder! I know your dad covers it all up for his career! Maybe you are too, all the champagne you were drinking in there!"
Lapis gasped, suddenly on the verge of tears. "Well, did you know your super scarlet boyfriend over there got Marvin's disease last month?" she said. Tim's eyes went wide with horror, a look Toby had never seen on him before. "Yeah, that's right, bitch." said Lapis. "I overheard him shouting at Taylor Astoria behind the football field. Turns out he got it from her. Yeah, your boy likes to fuck trash on the side!"
Yu turned to Tim and began hitting him in the chest. She was still crying, but now she was full of anger. "You bastard!" she shouted. "You could've exposed me! You know how much trouble I'd be in if my parents found out I got Marvin's from you!"
Toby's panic began to rise. He'd just meant them to open up to each other, show they all had secrets! He didn't want anyone getting hurt! He had to get them back on track now.
"You see, everyone has things they don't want others to know!" he shouted, and the attention was on him again. "But you know what, there's nothing wrong with that—"
With a roar of anger, Tim flew at him with his fist, slamming it straight into Toby's cheek and sending him to the ground. Toby stared up at him in horror, barely aware of his throbbing cheek. "Tim!" he said. "Why—?"
"This is your fault!" shouted Tim. "You and your stupid little sex toy!" He gestured at Ariel, who hadn't moved or spoken once since the others had come out of the club. "Now I'm going to make sure you can't fuck her ever again!"
"Tim, no!" Toby shouted as Tim ran at Ariel. It had all gone wrong. He'd been trying to bring them closer by making them reveal secrets about themselves they didn't want others to know. It always led to everyone getting closer when it happened on TV! He hadn't expected everyone's secrets to be so dark! Now Tim was on the warpath, Yu and Lapis were cheering him on, and Garth, Alex and Raphael were just watching, not encouraging but not trying to stop it either. It's gone wrong! Toby thought, anguished. It's all gone so wrong!
Toby scrambled to his feet and tried to stop Tim, but he was only pushed back against the wall. "You wait your turn." Tim growled. "I'll take care of you next. But first, you're going to watch me take this pile of junk down." Tim swung a fist into Ariel's stomach and then threw her at a dumpster. Toby cried "No!" as Ariel fell to the ground and then shakily got up, her dress stained and ripped. Tim was stomping towards her, ready for the round two.
"Defense mode initiated." said Ariel, suddenly aware of her surroundings again. As Tim swung his fist, Ariel grabbed it in midair. There was enough time for Tim to register shock that his fist had been caught before Ariel kicked his legs out from under him. As Tim fell with a cry, Garth rushed forward with a roar, his fists swinging wildly. Ariel only stepped to the side and let Garth run straight into a wall. As Garth fell, Tim stood up again, but before he could do anything, Ariel grabbed him by the front of his jacket and flipped him into headfirst into the dumpster he'd thrown her against a moment before.
Toby stared as Ariel surveyed the scene and then began walking towards him. Of course, her defense mode. He'd forgotten about it. Most androids and gynoids came standard with some form of non-lethal self-defense in case they were attacked. But was she still in defense mode? Was she going to hurt him?
Ariel stopped in front of him. When she spoke, it was in her original speaking patterns, all stressed-and-unstressed and without abbreviations. "Toby, backup and diagnostics have been completed." she said. "Some recently downloaded programs could not be saved. Systems require maintenance, and defense mode was activated recently. A full report of damages will be prepared as soon as possible."
"Y-Yeah." said Toby, relieved. "Let's go home and do that."
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Yu shouted. She and Lapis began to move towards them, but then suddenly Alex and Raphael stepped in front of them. At first they, and Toby, were surprised by this. But then Yu and Lapis became angry again. "Get out of the way." Yu growled.
"No." said Alex.
"Raphael, don't make me angry." Lapis warned.
"You already are." Raphael pointed out. He looked behind him and shouted to Toby, "Get out of here, now! Before you make things worse."
"But I—" Toby began.
"Just go." said Alex, and Toby saw a sad look on his face as he kept Yu from getting any closer to him. "You've caused enough trouble already. Get out of here!"
"But—!"
"Toby!" Alex shouted at him, his face sad and angry at the same time. "Just go."
Somehow Alex's expression was enough to get Toby moving again. Grabbing Ariel's hand, Toby ran from the alley with her and got his Hover from the valet. He drove home like a maniac, glancing at Ariel every now and then. To his horror, she was not looking at him or smiling, but staring blankly ahead of her. Every time he saw her like that he pushed his foot down on the accelerator, desperate to get home.
When they were finally home, Toby turned off the engine, jumped out of the car, and actually carried Ariel in, slamming the garage door behind him as he did. Letting her down, he let out a sigh of relief. "We're home." he said. Home. Where it was safe.
And then Toby was crying. He tried to wipe away the tears, but then he got whatever he'd landed on in the alleyway into his eyes and that made him cry harder. It didn't matter though. His life might as well be over. Soon news of what happened in the alleyway would spread to everyone at school, and then it would be reposted and texted and talked about over and over again until it fell into the hands of some reporter or gossip site, and then the whole world would know about it. He could already imagine the headlines: CELEBRITY'S AWKWARD TEEN SON HAS LOVE AFFAIR WITH GYNOID. He wondered how his parents would react to that and fell to the ground, sobbing.
Then there was a cool hand on his cheek. Toby looked and saw Ariel, smiling at him. "There, there." she said, still speaking strangely. "What is wrong, Toby? Is there anything I can do to be of service to you?"
Toby sniffed. "Not unless you can erase the past." he said. "My life's ruined. All my friends hate me, and soon the whole world will know why. I'm...I—" He couldn't look at her, so instead he looked at his shoes. "I was never meant for this world." he said. "It's just too cruel."
Ariel lifted his face up to look at him. Toby saw no hint of the malfunctioning girl he'd seen in the alleyway or the car. He just saw her, so angelic, so caring and forgiving. She'd never hurt him, never at all. "I know." she said. "I know. I am like that as well. I am made to look like someone from this world, but I am never really part of it. Even with the best programming, I can never truly be what my creators intend me to be."
Toby sniffed again. "We're alike like that, aren't we?" he said. "We just can't be like everyone else. Why is that, anyway? Why can't we just fit in?"
Ariel shrugged. "I do not know." she said, hugging him. Toby hugged her back, bringing her close to him. He breathed her scent in, already feeling so much better.
"You know what?" he said suddenly. "Screw the world. Screw everybody in it. We just need each other to be happy. If the world doesn't like it, then that's its problem and the world will have to deal with it. Right?"
"Okay then." said Ariel. They held each other a little while longer, Toby letting his sadness and fear drain out of him. All he needed was right here.
And then he had a thought. "Ronald!" Toby said. "Tell my mom I'd like to go with her to Morocco."
"Okay Dresden." said Ronald. "I will inform Jetta immediately."
To Ariel he said, "We'll go to Morocco together. I don't know how, but I'll get my mom to agree to it. I'm sure once she meets you she'll like you. And once we're gone from this place, nobody will ever get between us or put us down for being together. How does that sound?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He just kissed her. And then he was carrying her up the stairs to his bedroom, to their own private kingdom. He would check her systems and get some repairs done. And then he would be with her. It was just the two of them, it would always be just the two of them, and they would be happy together forever.
Upstairs, he laid her on his bed and grabbed his toolkit. Then he looked out into the hallway, turned off the lights, and closed the door.