“Rowan?” Milo demanded. “Nowyou hesitate? Are you not on my side? Am I not really alive to you either?”
“Of course you are!” Rowan grimaced as soon as he heard how much he sounded like Troy. “We just don’t know how to do this, Milo. Andrew controls everything. It’s his company. We’re just as much tools here as any bot.”
Milo stepped away from Rowan, several paces like he was seeing him differently. “But you have free will just like I do.”
“We do, but…” Rowan had no more words.
He had no idea what to say.
And Milo… he just looked sosad.
“I would like to go home now.”
“Milo—”
“I need to go home now!” he nearly shrieked. “Please.”
Rowan was nodding before he could form an answer. “Okay. I’ll take a sick day and go with you.”
Milo didn’t wait for Rowan to say more but simply strode toward the exit, as if uncaring whether Rowan followed.
After exchanging an uncertain glance with Troy, Rowan did.
Notes:
Don’t hate me for Raaaaaaayyyyyy! But given we got some drama left for THIS fic—shush, it’ll be fine! I always promise a HEA—maybe my superhero/villain Rowan and Milo need more drama too…
What? Even PWP (porn without plot; plot, what plot?) can have drama! It’s called… (pushes glasses up the bridge of nose) ploterotica. ^_-
28
Notes:
We’re in the home stretch now, folks! Only a few chapters left to go. Any guesses for how it’ll end? (wrong answers only! XD)
MILO
Raina: Where did you two go?
Milo kept his head turned toward the window, though he wasn’t really watching the city pass him by like he usually would. He was too in his own head, especially with the distraction of Raina’s text message, like overhearing a conversation in his mind.
The message wasn’ttohim, but he still saw it.
Rowan: I’ll tell you later. We just need some time right now.
They didn’t need time. They needed aplan.
Andrew didn’t care about bots awakening. Only how he could get a better product that would still serve their masters. It was no wonder his eyes were always lying. He was lying to himself too, if Ray’s slip meant what Milo thought it did. Ray had always been a replacement, something loyal that would serve Andrew unconditionally but that he could throw away whenever he wanted.
Troy: I’m sorry, Milo. I’m so sorry. We’ll figure this out.
That message came to both of them, but Milo wasn’t in the mood to answer.
“Milo… right now we really need to take a moment, a breath, okay, and think about this,” Rowan said softly over the hum of the vehicle driving them home. “I don’t have an answer. I just feel foolish for not thinking past success with Ray. What did we think Andrew was going to do? Mass produce living bots just to send them out into the world without profit? Without belonging to someone? We weren’t thinking about how to sustain this.”
“I know. Perhaps I thought others would be like me and want to still assist humans. To live with and work with them. But to be given that choice, to decide who they wanted to be like you pushed me to do, instead of… killing us if we step out of line.”
“I won’t let that happen.” Rowan’s promise was a low enough growl that it drew Milo to look at him. His eyes never lied to Milo, and right then their hazel depths were full of varied emotion, protective and panicked all at once. “No matter what Andrew might be planning, I will never let him hurt you.”
