"Bea, your 3 o'clock is here."

Her shoulders immediately tensed, welding pen hovering midair. "The Browers?"

Lettie's LED cycles yellow and her hands clench slightly at her sides. Even if she wasn't programmed to respond, the answer was clear from that alone. "Yes, Bea." She let out a breath she hadn't meant to hold, rolling her shoulders to loosen them again. Bea didn't need yet another lecture about her poor posture, today least of all.

"Thank you, Lettie. I'll be out in just a moment."

The dark haired android nodded once and left, her hands folded behind her. Bea had to admit, she'd been dreading this appointment since she had to schedule it. Martin Brower was not someone she liked to see, and she had to see him much more often than should have been necessary when in the field of android repair.

Bea passed through the employees only door, after quickly checking to make sure she had no oil or dirt on her face. This particular customer was already prone to being condescending towards her. There was no reason to put it to the test when she already knew he was going to be difficult.

He stood at the front desk, arms crossed and eyes on Lettie, as though she should have let him right into the workshop instead of typing at her station. Her LED was a calm blue, but Bea could see the small signs of stress he'd caused in her. His wife sat nearby, wringing her hands together and Bea knew it wasn't going to be a great day for any of them.

"Mr Brower." Her hands went to her hips, showing that she wasn't going to let him intimidate her so easily. Lettie and Mrs Brower watched on, wary.

"Where is my android?" Straight to the point, then.

"Well," she started, glancing back behind her before solidifying her resolve, "there's no easy way to say it. He's gone. He ran away."

As predicted, the man in front of her didn't like that answer. He took a step closer to tower over her and even though she knew he wouldn't get violent, with her anyway, it took all of her willpower to not flinch. "What do you mean it's gone?!"

"I mean what I said. I finished repairs on his arm and was about to bring him out of low power mode to test reactions and run a diagnostic, when he jumped up and pushed me. Ran straight out my back door and down the road before I could get up." Her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Do you have any idea when he could have gotten this malfunction? It wasn't reported to me when you dropped him off."

Mr Brower scoffed. "You're supposed to be the android tech, you tell me. And what am I supposed to do now? Buy another?"

"If you want my opinion," she stressed the word, there was no finding out for sure with no android to check over, "I would say it happened in the fall. something bumped loose or something and it caused the malfunction. In theory, of course."

"Of course," he sneered at her.

"And as for what to do now, I would advise you to contact Cyberlife. No doubt that they wont want whatever this is getting out the the public, I'm sure they'll compensate you handsomely." She hoped that they wouldn't. The man wasn't fit to own a toaster, let alone an android. That wasn't her job, though. "But I'm afraid that's all I have for you. You wont be charged for the visit, for the inconvenience. Other than that, I believe our business is done."

Bea took a step back, moving towards Lettie to have her adjust the balance, when a hand reached out to grab hold of her arm. A split second of panic consumed her mind before quickly turning to anger as she twisted out of his grasp.

"That's it? Just call Cyberlife? That was seven thousand dollars worth of machinery you lost!"

"And I told you I wouldn't charge you for parts and labor, which I could. Your android had a preexisting malfunction that I wasn't told about upon drop off. I'm not liable for this, his fall is, and the sooner you accept it, the sooner you can get an updated model." She paused, looking him up and down, she hoped he could see the contempt in her expression. "One less prone to accidents."

The implication was there, and if his and his wives expressions were anything to go by, they got the message. He stared her down for a long moment, long enough for her to consider telling Lettie to call the cops, before he turned away. All the way to the door she could hear him grumbling about shitty workshops and how he was going to report her as he ushered his wife out in front of him.

She would have honestly liked to see him try.

She and her android watched him get into his automatic car and drive away and only then did the tension leave her body.

"Bea?" Lettie looked up at her with concern. "Should I close down the shop for the day?"

That girl was a lifesaver. "Could you please? Keep an eye out for that guy, though, he seems like the type to come back to yell at us some more." Her LED flickered yellow for a moment but quickly cycled back to blue with a smile on her lips.

"Of course, Bea. I will have the police on speed dial."

She snorted at the attempt at humor, making her way back into the workshop. The spare leg she'd been working on was still open, but the whole ordeal had sapped her energy. She stared it down for a moment, so consumed with debating with herself the pros and cons of continuing that she forgot one crucial fact.

"Why did you lie to them?"

The blonde android sat perfectly still on the workbench, watching her without so much as a blink. He didn't need to, of course. Breathing and blinking and moving abnormally were all human traits, meant to make them less of an Other. He was, though, and they both knew it. Bea sighed, rubbing her fingers into the spot between her brows and slumping down into her favorite chair.

"He pushed you down the stairs." She said it as if he should know why that would be unacceptable, but he only tilted his head in response. "And I'm willing to bet it wasn't the first time something like that happened. And I doubt if I had let you go back it would have been the last."

"It doesn't matter," he said, not breaking eye contact with her, "I'm a machine. I don't feel pain."

The words are rehearsed, but the feeling behind them was different. She had seen it before, and before she could stop herself her eyes drifted towards the door she'd come through. Lettie was the first android she'd seen to show something more, but she wasn't the last.

"You were scared." It was an accusation, and he seemed surprised by it. "I could see it when you told me what happened to you. One day that man was going to damage you beyond repair, you know that. Are you going to tell me that you want to go back?"

He doesn't answer, and that in itself is proof enough for her.

"I'll find you somewhere." She said, not just to him but to herself as well. It was a promise, and not one she would break . "Somewhere safe. With others."

"Where?" The mask he'd been wearing had shattered, his voice was desperate and she couldn't help but reach out to take his hand. It was cold, but when he tentatively wrapped his fingers back around hers it started to warm from her body heat. Bea focused on that feeling. He was alive. It was real.

"I have a couple of ideas."