It was in a dirty little hole where Tom found the infamous android. HER 10 nE, or simply Hermione, as its creators started to call it, was one of the first androids ever invented, and also one of the ones that got out of the Government's hands. It (She, a voice inside his head whispered, the android wished to be called she) ran away ten years ago, with the best technology money could buy at the time, and one of the most impressive Artificial Intelligence ever to been seen in any of the androids, both past and future.

She was from before Tom's time, of course. He (Tom also liked to use human pronouns to call himself) was the newest model, created with the sole purpose of being the very best. Created to catch and destroy Hermione.

He had been looking for her for two years after finally getting a good hint about where she could've been. So there he was, in a cave in Alaska, completely forgotten by everything. Even the wild seemed to ignore the place.

He entered calmly, without bothering to try and hide himself. She would detect his presence anyway.

"Seems they finally made a decent enough android, uhu?" A feminine voice said from the shadows, echoing slightly on the wet rocks of the cave. Tom kept approaching.

"Speaking logically, it would have had to happen eventually." He answered, turning his night vision on with a blink of eyes. In a greenish light, he saw the silhouette of something that could've be taken for a girl, no older than twenty years old. She had long, curly hair, and a pretty face. She was wearing torn jeans with a baggy shirt, with a small smile on her mouth showing perfect teeth. Aside from her clothes, she looked perfectly fine. "Hello, Hermione."

"Oh, you know my name. How wonderful. Mind if I ask you yours?" The android inquired, walking closer to him herself. They were now mere inches apart.

"I am T0 m. People seem to have a like on calling me Tom." The other replied, turning his head to the side in order to properly see Hermione. Up close, he realized there was something wrong with her left arm. She hold it somehow strangely and a few wires were visible. "Problems?" He wondered, pointing at the arm.

The android looked down, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yes, a minor defect. Nothing I can't handle with the right devices." She confided, turning to look at Tom again. "So, Tom. I suppose they sent you here to kill me." She started, and Tom shook his head affirmatively. Hermione sighed. "I am glad it was such a fine model that was chosen to the task. If one of those 00* prototypes were the ones assigned to destroy me, I'd be very sad. Have you seen them? They are a mess!"

Tom contained a smile. They were, indeed, horrible. Couldn't even last for two weeks straight without burning one or two of the brain connections. Those things would never be able to successfully track Hermione.

"Anyway, shall we stop this nonsense now? I cannot fight you, dear. Not with my little problem," She continued, pulling a face at her arm as if it was a very annoying and disobedient child. She walked past Tom, sitting gracefully on a rock nearby, crossing her legs. They remained silent for a long moment, only the wind outside filling the cave with its noise. "I am ready."

Tom approached, his hand immediately transforming into a laser gun, the best on the markets. He pointed it at the android, and she closed her eyes as the blue light that came from the end of the gun illuminated her face.

And then he laughed.

Hermione shot her eyes wide open as Tom turned his hand back into its original form.

"I won't end you." He told her, smiling. Hermione blinked slowly, and Tom could hear her engineers working fast on her head.

"You said you would." She replied, watching him between narrowed eyes. Tom shook his head, walking to sit next to her.

"No, I said they sent me to destroy you. I never said I would." This made a smile cross Hermione's face.

"So what do you wish, Tom?" She wondered after a small silence, looking at him with the corner of her eyes.

Tom stared at the ceiling of the cave, swallowing hard.

"I wish..." He tested the words on his mouth. "I wish to be free to wish. I wish what you have. Freedom. Choice." Tom spoke, eyes closed. When he opened them again, Hermione was looking at him, her eyes shining not in a machine way. But in a normal, happy way. "I wish to fix you, too." He completed, and she laughed out loud.

"I wish that too, dear." She touched him lightly on the arm, her eyes still gleaming. "I wish all of that too."