The Bent Oak Bar sat on a secluded stretch of road on the outskirts of Axiom's capital city, surrounded by fields of saplings. Its interior was warm and dark, glowing through stained glass and thin smoke. It felt simultaneously out of the way and local, inviting a diverse crowd of customers ‒ so diverse, in fact, that meeting at the Bent Oak was rarely about the food: robots and aliens with no way to eat gathered in equal numbers with the human patrons. The non-paying customers didn't have to worry as long as they were with a human or two, but the ownership typically welcomed anyone as long as business was good.

Lucky for Darwin and Fletcher, business was always good. Many nights took them straight from the lab to the Bent Oak, and before long, all the staff knew them by name.

On this particular night, Fletcher and Darwin sat in their usual spot at the bar. It had a view of the whole restaurant, optimal for spotting intriguing newcomers. Fletcher in particular was always ready to flirt, his eyeforms sweeping over the crowd to find potential targets.

"See anyone interesting?" Darwin hummed.

"Everyone is interesting, Darwin. I'm looking for someone who might find me interesting."

"...Don't pull that 'Energy Vampire' BS on me, you're looking at humans. You can't read them."

Fletcher smirked. "You don't have to be an Energy Vampire to grasp the intricacies of observation. You know that guy at the end of the corner booth you've had your eye on?"

Darwin nodded, glancing around again.

"I know he might seem like he's just your type, what with the way he's been cracking jokes and since he has that crooked smile you like so much. He's sort of withdrawn from his friends, too, so he'll be easier to approach."

"Mmhmm, I noticed."

"But, if you took a closer look, you'd have noticed that he's had his legs crossed since the moment he sat down. He's not planning on getting up or moving around. The only skin he has showing is on his hands and his face even though it's the middle of summer, he hasn't had anything to drink, and his keychain is hanging out of his pocket. If you ask me, he didn't even really want to come tonight, he's the designated driver."

Darwin scowled, "You're such a buzzkill."

Fletcher gave a hissing laugh and shook his head. "Come on, man. Didn't you see him put out the candle with his fingers? He said it was 'science.'"

Darwin rolled his eyeforms and looked around again. "You know, I'm not really in the mood for this tonight. Jackson said he was getting some of the research department together to celebrate our grant. We can go ‒ "

But Fletcher wasn't listening any more. His back straightened and his head snapped toward the door. Two girls had walked in and taken seats at the other end of the bar. The Energy Vampire's eyeforms locked on the one closer to him, a blonde girl in a knee-length dress printed with strings of tiny stars.

Darwin followed Fletcher's gaze and narrowed his eyeforms. "I dunno, man. She seems a little classy for you."

"No, no, Win ‒ she... she looks like a human, doesn't she?"

"Um, both of them do. Why? Have your 'master skills of deduction' alerted you otherwise?"

"Man, she's a robot," Fletcher whispered, eyeforms wide.

Darwin looked again. "...Which one? They both just ordered drinks."

"Maybe it's not for her ‒ the blonde one. She's as robotic as it gets, even if her signature is somewhat exotic. I'm gonna go talk to her!"

Half of Darwin wanted to hold Fletcher back to keep him from embarrassing himself, but the other half wanted to see what would happen. Before Darwin could make up his mind, Fletcher hopped out of his seat and strolled over to the couple of girls. His visor flashed. Time to run a test.

"Hello," he smiled warmly, "I don't think I've seen you around here before! My name's Fletcher."

He offered his hand to the woman on the left first. She had dark skin and eyes, strict eyebrows, frizzy hair held back by a red headband, and a maroon leather jacket. Her hand didn't produce any reaction when it came into contact with Fletcher's ‒ now he could be certain that the signal wasn't coming from her.

"Amanda," she said.

"Amanda, nice to meet you," Fletcher nodded. He let go of her hand and turned to the blonde girl.

"Asteri," she grasped his hand. Fletcher's eyeforms gave off a pulse of purple light. Her hand was warm, textured, and perfectly detailed from follicles to nails. It was also alive with wiring. Though he could tell her signature was Earthling, it was like nothing he'd ever felt before ‒ it was completely free of any trace of Buy n' Large's influence. She was new. Well, of course she was ‒ even her hair looked real as it could be, pulled back into a twisted bun, and her diaphragm moved with artificial breath.

"Um... Fletcher?" she asked. He realized he was still holding her hand and let go, quickly searching her eyes. While optics were usually the dead giveaway for androids, the only remarkable thing about hers was their amber coloring, and even that wasn't terribly uncommon.

"Please, forgive me for staring, but I've never seen a robot anything like you before."

"Excuse me?" Asteri scoffed. Though she seemed affronted, Fletcher felt waves of alarm shuddering from her core, and Amanda suddenly looked ready to throw him.

"What's wrong? It's a compliment, you're remarkable!"

"I don't know what you're talking about! Come on, Mandy, let's find another bar," Asteri kept her eyes forward and grabbed her purse, leaving money to cover the drinks that hadn't even been served.

"Wait, can't we talk for a second?"

Amanda withered Fletcher with a single look. "Can it, metal boy. Go back to your giggling mess of a friend."

"What?" Fletcher spun around to see Darwin crippled with laughter. "Win, what the hell?"

Fletcher turned back again, but Asteri and Amanda were already out the door. He could deal with Darwin later.

Pushing through the door, he jogged to catch up with them in the parking lot, though they didn't slow their pace as he approached.

"What did I say? I didn't mean to offend you!"

Asteri kept walking as she scanned the surrounding cars for any bystanders who might overhear their conversation. "Will you back off?"

"Not until you tell me what you're so upset about!"

Neither responded, but Fletcher felt Asteri's agitation spike.

"Is it just because I called you a ‒ "

"Shut up!" Asteri hissed, whipping around to clamp her hand over his mouth. They had reached an empty row in the parking lot. Fletcher staggered, not prepared to stop so suddenly, not to mention that the contact of her palm on his face let him know exactly how panicked she was.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded.

Amanda pulled Asteri away. "Don't do this, just ignore him ‒ "

"No! He knew it the second he touched me. 'Fletcher,' was it? Who do you work for?" Asteri whispered urgently.

"Ok, you need to calm down. I'm not hunting for any secrets, I just wanted to meet you! I'm no ordinary robot, either."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm an Energy Vampire," Fletcher extended his wings as proof, "I have a sense for electricity, that's all."

"Are you kidding?" Amanda scoffed, "You think those tacky-ass teeth and wings are fooling anybody?"

Fletcher gave her a deadpan look. "Have you ever been off-planet? The galaxy is full of tacky-ass aliens, and my dad is one of them. That makes me only half-tacky."

"How can you prove it?" Asteri asked.

Fletcher sighed, "Well, I guess you'll have to trust that I'm not just guessing, but I can tell what you're feeling. The second I said 'robot,' you panicked, and you're pretty threatened right now for some reason. I am very sorry that I upset you, but if this robot thing is all you're worried about, I promise that I won't tell anyone else. I'll let my friend know that I was confused... he probably wouldn't be surprised."

"...You're serious?"

Amanda watched the bridge of her friend's nose wrinkle. "Asteri... what are you thinking?"

The android paused. Fletcher could feel her assessing him thoroughly. She had an intimidating amount of processing power. What are you for?

"I'm thinking... that Fletcher's telling the truth about how he figured me out. But that doesn't mean that I'm really okay with us just going our separate ways," Asteri squinted into his visor, "You know what? I think you owe us some drinks. Let's grab some to go and drive someplace we won't be overheard. We can have a little chat and get to know each other better."

"What?" Fletcher and Amanda said in unison.

"Yes. I could stand to be more convinced of our special little alien's powers, and it would probably do you some good to know what's at stake here. If this works out, I think it would be best to make you a part of the study."

"Study?" Fletcher cocked his eyeform.

Amanda's mouth drew into a tight line, but after sharing a look with Asteri, she gave a curt nod that bounced all her curls. "Fine. You better not skimp out on the drinks, bat-boy."

A/N: This one is dedicated to Erick-achan on devaintART! Happy birthday, sister! You inspire me to push my limits in writing and step out of my comfort zone, like dealing with Fletcher as a leggy, flirty adult. I hope you enjoy this one, and I hope you're all happy to finally meet Asteri! We'll really get to know her in part 2.

I think this is the first story I've posted of the Energy Vampires where I own all the characters! : P Also, Fletcher and Darwin are like in their late 80s here.

I want to give Asteri a bit more of a visual description here. I couldn't find a way to work it into the story without it seeming like Fletcher was ogling her, because he isn't romantically or physically interested in Asteri at this point; he's just fascinated by her inner workings. She might be manufactured, but she's no fashion model - I'm a huge believer in body positivity, and I want to represent more varied body types, because THEY ARE ALL AMAZING AND DESERVE MORE LOVE. Asteri is 5'5" and doesn't have a very defined waist or chest, her face is round with a button nose, and she is a total cutie.