"So, you having fun yet?"

Fletcher sighed, casting a sideways glance at his best friend, Darwin, "No. This isn't fun."

"You've just been standing here by yourself the whole time!" Darwin poked him in the chest, "Why aren't you out talking to people?"

"Darwin, you know I'm not good at that..."

The second Darwin heard about this social gathering of robots and humans, he jumped at the chance to drag Fletcher to it with him. He didn't object, mostly because it was nice seeing his closest buddy so excited, but that didn't mean he was excited to be here too. All of the robots were overly quirky, and all the humans were just dull.

"Well, I'll be over here if you change your mind." Darwin went back to where he'd been before.

Fletcher let his eyeforms glaze over as he looked around, just kind of looking at everyone. Some of the humans were drinking some strange-smelling concoctions from fancy glasses, while others were simply acting like delinquents...

Then...someone in the crowd caught his eye...

She was a human, with bouncy, wavy blonde hair. It was shorter in the front, trailing almost down to her waist in the back. She had dull golden eyes, almost a deep amber color. She was very curvy too, with wide hips and large breasts.

However, none of that is what really held Fletcher's attention. What he really noticed was her signature.

He could sense her signature.

He had never felt the signature of a human before. None of the other humans had a distinct signature, but all the robots had one, including Darwin and his old friends. One of the humanoid bartenders had a mystified feeling over her while a stylized party-goer was more contented. Another was crazy, and their friend was annoyed.

But this human...was she human? She looked and acted human, heck she even felt human...she was in a more neutral mood. She wasn't upset, but she also wasn't ecstatic.

Definitely intriguing.

Fletcher felt a smile cross his lips as this "human" downed another glass of red wine.

"Wow!" one of her human friends gasped in amazement, "OMG, girl! You cannot be serious!"

"I told you!" she smiled brightly, "I have high alcohol tolerance!"

"How high!?" another human shook her shoulders lightly, "You aren't drunk at all yet!?"

"Nope."

Fletcher kept watching their drinking game with interest. Who was this girl? He found himself wanting to talk to her. Maybe he wouldn't hate this party so much after all.

"Whew...that's enough, you guys." she said, sitting down at the bar, "I think I'll sit this one out."

"Your loss!" another human rose his arms, "ONE SHOT FOR EVERY PERSON IN THE ROOM!"

So, the one interesting human ordered a glass of ice water while she watched her friends binge on alcohol. She sadly shook her head at them, though she was smiling.

Fletcher grinned, sliding into the seat next to her. Now was his chance, "I don't suppose you'd mind if I took this spot?"

She laughed good-naturedly, "No, of course not. I could use a friendly chat with a new robot."

"Really though. I'm curious about you." Fletcher tried to keep his servo-pump from going too fast, "What's your name?"

"Straight to the point, huh?" she took a sip of her water, "I like you. Most guys I meet start flirting right away. Well, since you were so polite in asking, my name is Asteri."

"Asteri..." Fletcher nodded, leaning onto the counter, "My name is Fletcher. Nice to meet you!"

"Fletcher, huh?" Asteri took another sip, "That name sounds familiar. Are you related to Wall-E?"

"I am. He's my uncle."

"Ah, that makes sense." Asteri looked out among her friends, one of which had passed out and spilled wine all over a sober girl in a red dress, "Wall-E is pretty famous you know."

"I know." Fletcher let himself smile.

"But enough about him." Asteri fingered the rim of her glass, "Why did you come over here to talk to me? I mean, I'm not the most interesting girl here."

"Don't say that. Besides, I don't like these other girls. They're annoying."

"They are?" Asteri crossed her arms as she leaned back on the bar stool, "Well, yeah...I suppose they can be a bit much..."

"I'm not a huge fan of these kinds of parties." Fletcher explained, "I only came because my friend did. But, you seemed nice, so I thought I'd talk to you."

He was slightly afraid of saying something wrong, but he relaxed when she smiled, "Ah. I see. I initially came because of my friends too, but I found a way to enjoy myself. They really aren't so bad once you get to know them."

"I'm sure you're right." Fletcher swallowed, "I just..."

"Who're you talkin' to, Asteri?" one of the drunk humans stumbled to the bar, "You gettin' friendly?"

"Ack! Jared!" Asteri hiked her feet up on the stool, "What are you doing!?"

"Whassa matter?" he slurred, "Too close for ya?"

"Stop that!" Asteri scolded him, "You're drunk!"

"Hey!" Fletcher gently shoved him aside, "She said back off!"

"Huh?" his eyes met Fletcher's, "Oooh...you wanna go?"

Fletcher felt his neck heat up, "She wants you to leave her alone."

Jared took a swing at Fletcher, but he didn't even feel it, "Fight me and maybe I will!"

"Fletcher..." Asteri took his arm, "Don't..."

Fletcher backed up a little as the party goers stopped to stare. His face was flushed.

"Dude." Darwin said to him, "What's going on?"

"Um..."

"Fight me! Come on, you scared?"

"Cut that out!" Fletcher felt himself shaking, "I said stop!"

Jared kept throwing punches at him, "What's wrong, buddy!? You too chicken!?"