"… but my friend Ruby told me that I did have a soul, even though I was made! Isn't that wonderful?"

The aperture of the Geth's eyepiece whirred as it focused on the small, red-haired girl standing before it. The polymer flaps surrounding it's glowing optics flared and the machine tilted it's head inquisitively.

The small girl's head swiveled to take in their surroundings. Her lips formed a frown as her eyes landed back on it.

"I suppose this confirms that Ruby was correct."

The Geth remained still, quietly studying the mannerisms of the girl. The girl's eyebrows shot up as she gasped in surprise. The sudden action forced the unit to reflexively withdraw.

"Oh, but you're here too!" she excitedly exclaimed. "That must mean that you have a soul too!"

Legion focused on the girl's smile as it tried to process all the information that she presented it since they had come across each other. She contained a surprising amount of information for such a small unit.

"Huntress Penny."

"Yes?" she replied.

"Your emotions are fluctuating rapidly between joy and sorrow when referencing the possession of a soul." it began. "Query: is possession of a soul a positive or detrimental characteristic?"

The small robot's face scrunched up as she thought about her response. A moment later, eyes narrowed in concentration widened and lit up.

"Positive!" she exclaimed. "Having a soul makes me just like everyone else. It makes me just like my friends."

"Acknowle-"

"But it also makes me sad." she interrupted, voice becoming somber once again. "It makes me sad because my friends can't help me learn more about my soul. I had to leave them behind." Her head dropped and her shoulders sagged.

"I miss them so much." Penny said quietly. A weak smile formed on her face as she remembered her friends. "But at the same time, I'm glad that I got to know them, even if it wasn't for very long."

Silence fell over the pair as they each considered Penny's words.

"What about you?" she suddenly asked. "Did you have to leave any friends behind?"

It's eyepiece dimmed as an odd signal flared across it's processors. It recognized it as despair, one of the new emotions it was still learning to interpret.

"Affirmative."

"Well, I'm sure they miss you." she replied softly. The somber mood dissipated quickly as her eyes lit up with an idea.

"Oh, I have an inquiry for you now!" she announced. "Would you like to be my friend?"

Legion's aperture widened. More signals – emotions – passed through it's mind. Surprise, curiosity…

...hope?

Hope. Excitement. Wonder. All new information to process. Emotions to feel. It was pleasant.

"Affirmative." Legion answered. "I would… like that."


A/N

Robots and feelings and shame spirals, oh my!

Inspired by a drawing I did (warning: awful) which you can view on imgur /b0ItSLX