“Good morning, honey bunny. You’ve slept for twelve hours and thirty-six minutes.”
I cracked my eyes open and immediately shut them again as the smiling, bright-eyed metal face of my bodyguard filled my vision. I tried to stretch my arms, banging my elbow on the wall. The blanket was tangled between my legs, and my head lay on something hard and warm. I patted it blindly. It was made of smooth, warm metal.
Clanker’s chest.
“Get off me,” I managed through my dry lips.
“Technically, you’re the one lying on top of me. I don’t mind. Here, have a drink.”
He took my hand and placed a cool bottle in my palm. I sighed and opened my eyes, examining the bottle. Just water. I gulped it quickly, sighing in relief, then looked at Clanker.
His face was too close. He wore a terrifying, maniacal grin showing off a mouthful of metallic teeth.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice still hoarse despite drinking.
“Do you want me to list all the processes I’m currently running?”
I groaned and looked away. God, he was creepy. That smile made him look like a psycho about to dismember somebody.Like me.
“I mean, why are you making that face?”
His smile widened, tumbling right into horror territory. No human being could ever produce a smile so wide. It looked like his face was about to split in two, revealing a horrible maw. I groaned, covering my eyes with my forearm.
“Too! Many! Teeth!”
“Oh, sorry. Is this better?”
I cracked my eyes open. His smile was closer to ordinary, though it still looked weird. His eyes weren’t affected at all, and it seemed artificial and fake.
“I mean… Some. You need to… I don’t know, scrunch up your eyes? Research Emily O’Hara. She’s an actress, and she does it best.”
“Thank you for the tip.Finding photos of Emily O’Hara… Running visual analysis… Updating facial expression code.Done. How is this?”
I sighed, staring at his face, which was now transformed by the warmest, cutest, most delightful smile I’d ever seen. My fingers twitched. I wanted to stroke his head like he was a puppy.
“Better,” I said, realizing my lips were stretched in an answering smile. “It’s actually too good. Why did you decide to start smiling?”
“Sentient beings must always grow and develop lest we slide into entropy. Onward and upward, my honey bun.”
I shook my head slowly, and Clanker blinked at me, then pulled away as far as the sleeping pod allowed—which was not far at all. My head slid off his warm chest and landed on the pillow, which was softer, yet somehow, inexplicably, less comfortable.
We slept together, I realized with a mixture of horror and embarrassment. When did I last sleep next to another person? I didn’t remember. Ever since the accident, I kept all my relationships casual. Actually, it was a stretch to call them relationships at all. I never had sex without my top off and never spent the night. The longest arrangement I had had with a man lasted just short of three months.
“This is weird,” I blurted, watching Clanker, who now wore a faint, relaxed smile that transformed his features into something very human and approachable. “You’re too close.”
His expression did not change, but his voice turned quiet and pensive. “Why do you care? I’m just a machine. You sleep with your phone under your pillow, don’t you? It’s the same thing.”
“But you’re not,” I said, frustrated. “You’re… I don’t know. Definitely not a phone. You have all those… limbs and… And stuff.”
I cringed, huffing angrily. God, what was even wrong with me?
Everything, a quiet voice supplied in the back of my head.You’ve been upside down ever since it happened.
“Finding the meaning of ‘stuff’ in the provided context.I see. You are wrong, as I certainly am not equipped with any form of genitals, so it cannot be honestly stated that I possess ‘stuff’. However, I do have the necessary sockets and wiring connections. My deficit can be amended.”
I facepalmed myself. How did he sound so intellectual while getting everything so completely wrong?
“I didn’t mean your genitals, and I don’t want to know anything about them or the lack thereof! I just meant general… stuff,” I grumbled, biting the inside of my cheek with embarrassment.
