A master's degree in genetic engineering, and a master's in mechanical engineering on top of a PHD in life science. Hanji Zoe was the perfect candidate for the new science of what they called progenetics. She joined in the early phase of the science, when progenetics focused on improving the human race via creating cures for diseases and correcting genetic mutations before the human was born. However, somewhere along the road, the science took a turn, a commercial turn, and now focused on the creation of the perfect companion. They were called ultrihums (from Latin ultrices, meaning electric, and the word human), and they were originally intended to become the perfect companion but became glorified sex objects because of their uniquely female appearance. It sickened Hanji to see woman that were literal objects, but they were sold like vacuum cleaners, and used as maids and housekeepers, on the surface. It seemed everyone had them.

And while it disgusted Hanji, this was her unfortunate life, she was locked in a contract, there was no getting out, so she continued each day with a fake smile as she created more and more ultrihums.

That was just life.

"Oh...dear. Look at you. I'm messed you all up." The electronic skeleton of what was supposed to be a Barbarella model 2 was laid out before Hanji. She had crafted it with her own hands, but realized it was all wrong. Too short, and there were no breasts or curves at all. Hardly feminine. "To the trash with you, then." She said it, but couldn't bring herself to move. She looked down at this lifeless mess of ultrachome and wires, that looked nowhere close to the mess of ultrachrome and wire that should become a Barbarella model 2, and her heart actually ached for it. "You're not even alive...why am I...?" She looked around furtively, seeing if anyone was around. "I...I have to finish you." A small rush of excitement ran through. She was about to commit something that could easily get her stripped of her title in this industry. "You don't look like a girl at all...so who says you have to be?" Creativity was seen as a crime in the field of progenetics now, even though it was creativity that started the science. Models were now drawn out and engineers like Hanji would craft them according to the pictures. But not today. Hanji shut off the screen that contained the image of the Barbarella model 2 and pulled out her notebook.

With smooth strokes of her pen, she created a messy image that she decided to base this imperfect ultrachrome skeleton on. She was about to make history, whether it was for good or bad. She was about to make the first male ultrihum model. She looked down at her sketch, then back to the skeleton. "What should I call you...?" She mumbled to herself, tapping her chin with her pen. "I guess we'll wait for that. Oh...you look so cold. I should give you skin." She looked around again to make sure she was alone, then left, locking the door to her lab behind herself. She kept to herself as she made her way to the supplies room, smiling as usual when she saw someone but not saying a word. Her mind was racing with idea.

The supply room isn't a proper title. It was more like a warehouse within the looming progentics building. It made up the bottom two floors of the place, Hanji's lab being on the third floor. Here, she could get everything she needed to finish her little project. "You're so short...I suppose you don't need too much latex, and, hmm...I think you need gray eyes." A roll of latex for skin, and two grayish spheres that would eventually become eyes. She held the roll under her arm, and carefully slipped the gray eyes in her pocket. Barbarellas were to have blue eyes after all. "I don't want you to be blonde, but I am supposed to be building a Barbarella..." She mused quietly to herself, taking some of the yellow polyester as a decoy. Underneath it, she held the color she wanted her model to have. A raven black. With quiet feet she slipped back into her lab, feeling wonderfully mischievous.

Tossing the blonde polyester aside, she set down the grey eyes and raven hair on her desk before unrolling her latex. He needed skin after all. "The first boy. Aren't you excited to be the first boy?" She looked down at the ultrachrome skeleton and smiled. There was a machine in her lab for fitting latex to ultrachrome, and it was here Hanji laid her skeleton down so she could give him skin. "My, you're short..." She thought allowed, looking down at the faceless skeleton. "Let's get you some skin." Loading the machine, she let it work while she began on the eyes. Every set of eyes was handmade, the only unique thing about ultrihums. She hoped no one noticed the missing set of gray eyes. Those were ordered the least because they were only used on Loretta models. With careful hands, Hanji pressed out the two circles within circles that were to be pupil and iris. She covered them with her thumb as she dipped the small sphere in white semigloss, which hardened instantly. The eyes were almost complete. Usually, they were considered done at this stage, but Hanji wanted so much more for them. She wanted to give them life, so, with careful detail she carved out and painted all the things that made an iris unique, the little fine lines and shades of color. When she finished, she was a little creeped out by how real they looked, and set them down to see how her skeleton was looking.

It was no longer a skeleton, but looked human now, with no genitalia and no face. Hanji pulled the warm thing from the latex machine and laid him back down on her table, looking at him with a soft expression. "Let's give you a face..." She smiled gently, taking out her scalpel and making careful cuts for the eyes, nose, and lips, filling in with her silicon pen here and there to give the face shape and life. She took a step back and felt her heart starting to race. "What am I doing?" She asked herself. "What am I...?" She couldn't believe what she was feeling. It wasn't just the thrill of doing something wrong. There was something else...something in her heart. She shook her head and turned back to her desk, picking up the eyes carefully with small tongs and placing them gently in their sockets, connecting them to the optic wires with surgeon like precision. She took a step back when she finished, the blank eyes staring ahead distantly. It made Hanji slightly uneasy, so she closed them.

She began to work on the body, using her silicon pen to give it form, texture, and shape. This was the second longest process of creating and ultrihum, and it required hours of arching over the body to get things just right. She had to stand up and take breaks throughout the process, skipping ahead to another piece of the project and then going back to it. She gave him hair, cut short, and when she sat him up and started cutting it, she thought she heard someone and jumped slightly, cutting a piece on the bottom far too short. She knew this was polyester, and wouldn't just grow back, and she panicked. As she tried to even it out, she realized something here looked nice, and her model ended up with an undercut, the result of Hanji correcting her mistake in true Bob Ross fashion. She did that, gave him eyebrows, accidentally giving him quite a cold stare, but she knew there was no fixing it, so she went with it, before finally finishing the body. When she looked up from her work, she saw it was an hour past closing, and she panicked. "I'll see you tomorrow..." She said softly, draping a tarp over her ultrihum and rushing out of the place as quick as she could.

Upon arriving home, Hanji was restless. She only had her forbidden ultrihum on her mind, and was working on improving her simple sketch, who looked nothing like what she had made. Nothing was going exactly according to her design, but it didn't upset it. In fact, she quite enjoyed all her mistakes. It made her ultrihum seem that much more real. She wandered around her apartment restlessly, unable to think of anything distracting. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep...she wanted so badly to see her ultrihum again. "What is wrong with me!?" She cried after laying in bed for three hours. "It's just another ultrihum, it's just another machine...so why do I want to see him again?" She paused. "And I'm assigning him a gender...oh lord..." She sat up, cradling her head in her hands. "There is so much wrong with me..." Picking up her glasses, she pushed them on her face and looked at her laptop. "I'm not gonna do this...that can wait, it can wait..." She mumbled to herself, standing up and turning on her lamp. She took her laptop in hand and sat back on her bed, turning the computer on. "I can't believe this...I'm obsessing. You're obsessing, Hanji." She opened up the program used to create coding for ultrihums. It was what gave them their "personality". On a few different stickynotes stuck to her screen were the various codes for the different models, but she peeled them off and let them fall to the floor. She didn't want to just copy a code...she wanted to make one.

In the section for quirks, she left it blank. In the section for mannerisms, she left it blank. As she scrolled down, she realized she left a lot blank. She could've given him an artificial gentle heart, or all the intelligence in the world, or a slightly outrageous personality like her own. But she left it all blank. "I don't just want to tell you how to act...I want to see...can you learn?" She had essentially created a code that would make her ultrihum act human, but with a completely blank slate. Limited knowledge, no personality. Hanji wasn't sure if it was possible, but she had hopes that those things would develop on their own if they weren't programmed in him. She felt like it was impossible, but she wanted so badly to see if maybe it wasn't. She didn't want just another ultrihum. She wanted a human. "I'm creating a human..." She shook her head and laughed at herself. "I'm fucking crazy...I'm trying to make a human out of ultrachrome, latex, and steel...oh shit..." She looked outside and saw the sun slowly beginning to rise. It made her laugh even more. "I'm absolutely insane." She stuck a flashdrive into her laptop and downloaded the code while she changed. She still had hours before work, and knew she should sleep, but she felt like going out.

With a yawn she pulled on her clothes, made coffee, and some flavorless toast. She glanced at her laptop, knowing the download would take a bit. While she waited, she sipped her coffee and sketched some more on her model. She scribbled out his face because it turned out nothing like she imagined, same with the rest of it, really. She tore the page out and crumpled it up, missing the trashcan, not caring that she did. She sketched out a new model, this one based on the ultrihum back in her lab. She gave him clothes, something sophisticated, and realized she really like it. She even felt herself blush. "Ugh...what am I doing?" She asked herself for the thousandth time as she checked on the downloading progress. She scrolled through the coding, just random letters and numbers, when something caught her eye.

00l_ev_i90_12a89i.20...

L...e...v..i. It stood out to her for some reason. Levi. "I'll call him Levi..." She started to laugh madly. "I'm naming him too, oh lord...Hanji you're just bonkers." She watched the download finish and stuck the flashdrive in her pocket, shutting down her laptop. She placed it back on her desk and finished off her coffee before pouring herself another glass, returning to her sofa where she had left her little notebook and sketch. In the top right corner, she messily wrote: LEVI. It seemed to fit for some reason, and now she couldn't stop referring to him as Levi in her head. "Levi needs some clothes." She said to herself in a slightly teasing way. She was making fun of herself for becoming so obsessed with this project.

Making sure to lock her door behind herself, Hanji left her apartment behind despite the three hours she had before work. She took a streetway (similar to a subway, but these across the streets instead of cars. Personal cars had become a rare sight.) down to the retail district, questioning herself the entire way. "If anyone finds out I'm jobless..." She warned herself as she walked into a men's clothing store. But even as she continued to warn herself, she didn't listen. She gave herself very good advice but very seldom followed it. "Could explain the trouble that I'm always in..." She giggled to herself, holding up a white button up dress shirt. "I don't even know what size you are, Levi, you're so small." The smallest size looked a little too small, she presumed, so she stuck with mediums. At the counter, she shook her head and cursed at herself for buying so much clothing for her obsession. She tried to tell herself he needed it, tried to justify her purchase, but she still debated whether or not she should she even finish Levi. She was at war with herself. She knew what she was doing was not only dangerous, but weird. Not just a weird hobby, but a creepy obsession.

She killed an hour in the retail district before returning home, setting her bags down in her room. "Is there enough room for us both to live here?" She asked herself, looking around. "Oh my lord, Hanji, I can't believe you just said that." She laughed pathetically as she made up her bed and picked up a bit, as if someone was actually coming over. She knew she might've been going too far, but at the same time, she couldn't stop herself. She was going to finish Levi. She nearly had a heart attack when her phone rang, afraid someone might've been spying on her. She carefully lifted the phone to her ear and let out a meek, "Hello?"

"Hanji? I'm surprised you're awake!" She recognized the voice on the other side. It was just Moblit, a close friend from university. "What are you doing up? You still have two hours to get ready for work, you usually give yourself ten minutes."

"Ah, well," Hanji didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she should tell Moblit or not. "I slept well last night." She lied. She hadn't slept at all.

"That's good to hear, don't you go and work too hard now." Moblit laughed a bit, and Hanji laughed with him. "Are you ok? You seem shaken over something."

Hanji froze. "Nothing's wrong, nothing at all." She assured him. I just might lose my job after today, but you know, life goes on. She didn't want to say too much. "Just um, worked late last night."

"I see. You don't mind if Erwin and I come over after you get off tonight, do you? It's the weekend after all?" Erwin was another friend, and upperclassman they'd both come to admire. They were like brothers to Hanji.

She paused before her answer. If she could trust anyone, it would be those two. But would they understand? "Yes, well, I'm going to be staying late again." She told him.

"That's ok," Moblit replied. "We can always come over after, you can just give us a call, ok?"

Hanji sighed internally and bit her lip. I'm going to just stress out more if I don't tell somebody...and I'm sure they'd understand. It's a risk, Hanji...but then again so is all of this. "Ok. I'll call you when I get back." What am I saying?

Moblit's laughter could be heard on the other side. "Sounds good, talk to you later then."

Hanji nodded. "Ok, bye Moblit." She hung up before her did, and ran her hands through her greasy hair. Hanji never really cared too much about her appearance. She was always much more wrapped up in her work.

After another two hours of stressing out and pacing, Hanji got ready for work and left in a hurry, her heart pounding with excitement. It was always fun to do something against the rules. But it was also slightly exhausting with all the stress involved. Hanji couldn't stop the pounding of her heart until she had finally made it back to the privacy of her lab. Being one of the higher ups, Hanji was very rarely checked on, and this brought her some comfort. Slowly, she pulled off the tarp. "Hello Levi...have a good night?" She asked the lifeless ultrihum on the worktable before her. She brushed his face and felt a tinge of excitement. This was such a taboo. She pulled the flashdrive from her pocket and stuck it in the port at the base of the back of the neck, something on every ultrihum. Within seconds, his eyes open, and, looking in them, Hanji could see the coding downloading into him. She smiled at the sight. She checked her work computer and found her schedule. She had to have a Barbarella model 2 completed by next week. She relaxed a bit, that was plenty of time, so she decided to focus on her current prohibited project. She turned around in her chair, staring at her ultrihum. The downloading process could take up to two hours, so she wasn't quite sure what to do with her time until then. She didn't want to start on another ultrachrome skeleton, but she wasn't sure what else to do, so she started on yet another Barbarella model 2, a boring task she had built so many. Within the next hour the skeleton was made, and she decided to check and see how Levi was doing. "Only half way there...oi..." She mumbled to herself, not wanting to continue on her Barbarella.

Being more highly ranked, Hanji could come and go from her lab as she pleased, so she decided to go down to the cafeteria and get some more coffee. She was exhausted, and the coffee helped very little. After two cups and a muffin, she went back to her lab to check the progress on Levi. "Almost there..." The bar was a little over three fourths of the way full, and she was pleased. She decided to just wait it out at her desk, sitting and staring at the computer screen until she eventually fell asleep.

Two hours later, Hanji awoke in a panic, not realizing how long she'd slept. "Holy shit!" She cried, looking at the time. "I overslept..." She laughed at her stupidity and fixed the crooked glasses on her face. Turning around, she looked over to wear Levi should've been, but was shocked to see him not laying there. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap..." She entered full panic mode as she ran around her lab, looking for Levi. She tripped and fell on something on the ground, and saw that it was in fact Levi.

She pulled herself off of the ultrihum and stared at his, and he stared back, his expression emotionless and cold as ice. "Um...hi there." Hanji said with a soft smile, reaching a hand behind Levi's neck and pulling out the flashdrive. "Can you talk?"

The ultrihum just stared back, watching her every movement, observing. His eyes watched her hand go from his neck to her lap, and watched her lips speak.

"Oh...did I not program you with a voice? Oh crap..." She muttered. She couldn't remember if she had or not. That was one thing that was never 100% certain with ultrihums. Their voices were the one thing that seemed to come from within, because the voices were so hard to program. All Hanji remembered was making it deeper than the other models so it would sound male. She tried again to get him to speak. She pointed at herself. "Hanji." She pointed at him. "Levi. Leeee-vie."

Something flashed in his eyes, and he opened his mouth. "I'm Levi." His voice was quiet, but definitely male. It sent a rush through Hanji.

"Oh, I'm so glad I programmed you with basic intelligence. That will make things much easier." She let out a sigh of relief before looking back at him. "You're Levi, yes. I'm Hanji. Haan-jee."

Another flash of programming lit up Levi's eyes. "You're Hanji." He said flatly.

"Yes, yes!" Hanji clapped her hands. She went through this with every ultrihum she made, but those had preprogrammed learning and understanding depending on their personality type, so the process was much easier and faster. Hanji chose to leave these things out, because she wanted Levi to be unlike any of the other ultrihums. She even had a theory that he might possibly learn for himself, but she knew that was unlikely. "I'm Hanji. You're Levi. What's your name?"

"Levi." He replied.

"And my name?"

"Hanji."

Hanji was pleased. The basic knowledge programming would save her a lot of time. It meant that he knew simple human things, like how to speak, walk, run, and various miscellaneous household tasks, like sweeping or vacuuming. Ultrihums started as glorified housekeepers, after all. She held out her hands and took his, his hands cold and slightly charged, as was typical of an ultrihum, and pulled him to his feet. "Oh..." She hadn't even realized. "You're still naked."

As if to confirm this, Levi looked down at himself. "I am." He said matter-of-factly, because he only knew fact. "What am I to wear?" Part of basic programming included a knowledge of various societal norms, including the knowledge that being naked was considered not normal. He knew he was supposed to wear clothing.

"Um...let me find you something..." Hanji sat him down at her worktable and left her lab, locking the door behind herself. There was a room for clothing, the last stage of the creation progress because ultrihums had to be clothed to be sold. However, Hanji ran into a problem. While there was much to choose from, they were all skimpy dresses. Ultrihums had to be sexy, after all. That was one of their main draws. She turned a little red as she browsed the clothing. French maid, cheerleader, housewife...? She didn't know what to choose. She looked at the school girl section. "I can't believe this..." She grabbed a size small and quickly went back to her lab, outfit in hand. "Levi, I have your clothing."

The ultrihum looked up upon being addressed. Part of basic programming included knowledge to dress himself, so when she handed him the clothing he quickly put it on. Basic programming did not include the knowledge of knowing about gender based clothing, so while Hanji was blushing like an idiot, Levi saw no issue with his school girl sweater and mini skirt, complete with knee high socks and Mary Jane shoes. "I am clothed now."

Hanji clapped her hands together and laughed nervously at his appearance. His small stature and cold yet youthful face made the outfit look slightly ridiculous, but she didn't say anything. "Yes, you're clothed now." She smiled. "Now walk around the room."

A flash of the eyes, and Levi started walking around the room, slightly rigid. That usually wasn't an issue for ultrihums, but Hanji assumed it was because she'd built the skeleton a little too small and therefore didn't connect all the joints quite right. But he was functional, up and walking, and she felt like that in itself was a miracle. When he finished his course, he stopped before her and his eyes flashed again. "I've completed my task."

Hanji nodded. "Very good, Levi, very good. Now sit down over there." She pointed at her computer chair at her desk. With the flash of understanding, Levi did as he was told. He looked very rigid and stiff, as if he was uncomfortable. She knew he wasn't, but she felt bad for him. "Go on, relax." She said, before putting her hand over her mouth. He's not human! She scolded herself.

A flash went across Levi's eyes again, and then they turned red for a moment. "Relax: make or become less tense or anxious. It is a verb. I cannot go on relax." Hanji knew she had to be more specific.

"I want you to relax." She said. "I want you to become less tense or anxious."

"I am not tense or anxious, how can I become less?" Levi questioned her, his programming making him unable to fully compute her request.

"Yes, you are tense. Sit back in the chair." He did so. "Loosen up your figure, Levi." The red flash again. He couldn't compute. "Stand up and stand right here." She said. He did so, and she in turn sat down in the chair, comfortably, crossing her legs and leaning back, her hands resting on the edge of the arms of the chair. "I want you to sit like this. Now you try." She stood up and took a few steps back, watching Levi to see if he would learn through observation, or if he was just going to continue fulfilling commands and tasks.

For a few moments Levi's eyes lit up slightly, then at their full brightness in understanding. He moved over to the chair and sat down, just like she did, and a rush of thrill ran through Hanji and she clapped her hands in excitement. He learned that. He observed and he learned it! Hanji tried to calm herself. Or he could've just been completing the task...we don't know yet for sure, Han. Let's just wait and see. "Very good, Levi." She smiled. "Are you comfortable?"

A red flash in his eyes. "It does not compute."

"That's ok," Hanji said softly, patting his head affectionately. I can't expect him to feel anything. He's not human. "Levi, can you go back to the table over there?" She wanted to see if she could fix some of that rigid movement. With the flash of understanding, Levi got to his feet, and he started to complete her request. However, something went wrong, and he started to fall. Hanji caught him before he did, and she looked at his eyes to find out the problem. "LOW BATTERY" flashed in them. "Ok, here, I'll help you." She'd forgotten to give him fresh batteries. The downloading process usually drained the tempory batteries ultrihums were given during the building process. She had to lay him down because he could no longer sit up. "Levi, say something." She wanted to know if the batteries were dead or not, because only completely dead batteries were allowed to be disposed of.

"Something." Levi replied, and Hanji sighed. He still had some energy in him.

So she waited, wondering how she could kill his batteries. "What's your name?"

"Levi."

"What's my name?"

"Hanji."

This went on for awhile, and Hanji watched the battery slowly die. Usually, Hanji wasn't bothered by this, but this time, it made her...sad. When an ultrihum's battery was close to dead, they looked like a very ill human. Their eyes grew hazy, and their voices quieter. It made Hanji upset to see Levi like this, and she was mad at herself for feeling this way over a machine. "What's my name?" She asked again. No reply. She looked down and saw his eyes, empty, the usual glow of life that all ultrihum's had now gone. She stood and left him, leaving to retrieve batteries. She locked her door as usual, slightly paranoid of anyone seeing what she was doing. When she returned, she locked her door again and opened the package containing a big, chrome cylinder. It help about 12 hours of life, depending on the tasks the ultrihum performed that day, and could be recharged each night via the port at the base of the back of the neck. She rolled Levi over and pulled up his sweater, the battery port being in the middle of the back. It was hard to find for most, but Hanji knew the exact location from memory. It was an invisible seam until you pressed down on the spot, and from there the port opened. Hanji pulled out the old battery and replaced it with the new, closing the port and pulling down his sweater before sitting him up. She sat and waited for him to react to the fresh battery.

"Hanji." He said, recalling the incomplete task.

For a few moments, she was confused, until she remembered that she had asked for her name again. "Yes, very good." She smiled. "Now sit up for me." Levi did so. With him now sitting, she started to check his joints, starting with his feet. She pulled off the Mary Janes and socks, and tapped around with a small tool to check the movement. Everything there seemed fine, so she went to check his knees next. "Levi, extend you right leg, then pull it back." As he did what he was told, Hanji observed the movement. It was a little stiff, unlike how it should be. She tapped around with her small tool, a device that would light up if there were imperfections in the ultrachrome skeleton. It lit up a few times, and Hanji saw she had really messed up on his knees. "Levi, remind me to fix your knees." There was the flash of understanding, and the ultrihum said he would. She continued to his hips, which were also messed up. "God damn it..." She muttered to herself. Everything else checked out ok, so Hanji told Levi to lay down.

"You are to fix my knees." He said, remembering his task from before.

"Yes, thank you." She smiled. "I'll start there." She wheeled her computer chair over to her work table and grabbed her repair kit. She slit a hole in the latex skin that covered both knees, and started to add oil and hydrolic fluids to the tubes in the joint cables, making them glide much easier. She did the same for both, then sealed the skin together using a heating pen, leaving no trace of her incision. She then had him stand up, and started on his hip. However, by the time she got his skirt down, she heard someone knocking on her door, and she panicked. "Levi, go hide where you cannot be seen." He looked around for such a place, choosing to crouch behind the latex machine. Hanji then cleaned her stuff up and opened the door. "H-hi." She said with a nervous smile. There was no one at her door, but she leaned her head out and saw the janitor heading down the hallway. Hanji figured the woman must've bumped into her door, and she shut it with a sigh of relief. She looked over at the clock. It was fifteen minutes after her shift...no wonder the janitor was out. They were closing soon. "Levi, you may come out now." Out he came, and Hanji noticed he was moving a little better. "No time to fix you up...I guess you're good enough." She said to herself, gathering up her things. She looked back at Levi, who stood, waiting for a command. She giggled to herself. "How am I gonna sneak you out of here?" She asked.

Half an hour passed, and Hanji unlocked her door, looking around the hallway. As she expected, it was empty. Most everyone was gone at this point. The place was technically closed. "Levi, follow me." She instructed, and he did. They went down the hall and down the elevator. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she felt very anxious. She was just waiting to get caught.

Somehow, though, they made it to the streetway without a soul noticing them. Hanji sat down and had Levi sat down beside her. She could feel the stares, and she realized it was because Levi, who everyone probably assumed to be a human male, was in a school girl uniform still. "We just got back from a costume party." She said with a smile. Levi said nothing, but just stared ahead coldly, creeping out the woman sitting across from him. "Levi, look down at your lap." Hanji whispered, and Levi followed the order. She hoped no one realized what he was. When they arrived at their stop, Hanji was quick to grab Levi by the wrist and pull him out, quickly dragging him to her home. Of course, the ultrihum didn't react to being dragged so forcefully. He just kept up when Hanji told him to keep up, and stopped when she said stop.

Upon arriving in her apartment, she instructed Levi to look around the place as she cleaned up a bit, remembering she was supposed to be having guess. In her slight paranoia she locked her door, and watched Levi from afar, wondering if he was feeling anything as he walked around her home. He wandered from room to room, literally stopping and looking around before continuing on his course. When he had seen every room, he approached Hanji in her bedroom and blankly said, "I have looked around."

"And what did you observe?" Hanji said, hoping he observed something. Observation was step one to learning. It was all part of her experiment, that if personality wasn't programmed, it was learned and developed.

Levi was quiet as he processed the request, and his eyes flash red in misunderstanding.

Hanji tried again. "Levi, tell me, what did you observe?"

Again Levi went quiet as he processed the information, and this time there was no red flash. There was no answer, either.

"Well..." She sighed. "It was worth a try. Levi," She looked at the ultrihum. "Please change your clothing." She was not going to present him in a school girl uniform. "I have clothes in those bags. You pick what you want to wear." She rubbed her hands together in slight excitement as his eyes flashed in understanding and he started to pull out pants and shirts. She bit down on her lip, her scientist side showing as she watched eagerly. He held up a white button up shirt and laid it neatly on the bed. He did the same with a pair of gray pants. He then started to change, Hanji watching as her heart raced. "Why did you pick that outfit, Levi?" She asked, reaching for her pocketbook and pen.

Levi looked up at her, stopping the process of changing. He was only in the school girl sweater and the lacy underwear the outfit came with as he answered. For a few moments he was quiet, until his eyes flashed in understanding. "They appeared to be decent clothing."

Hanji scribbled the answer down. They appeared to be decent...that means he had an opinion about them, right? That would imply feeling? She shook her head and sighed. I'm over thinking this. And... Her eyes widened a bit as he undressed himself. I didn't buy him and men's underwear...shit. He's just going to wear those lacy things? Damn it, Hanji. When he finished he announced that he was clothed, and Hanji nodded in agreement. "Oi, you're smaller than I thought. I should've gone with the small. Stand still." She got close to him and knelt down to roll up the bottoms of his pants and the sleeves of his shirt. Everything was a little big. She put a hand over her mouth and giggled a bit, finding it cute. She went to her drawn and pulled out a plain brown belt and told him to put it down, because his pants looked a little big around the waist as well. "Ok, not sit down on the bed and do whatever you want." She was testing him again, leaving to call Moblit. Her heart was racing as she dialed his number, afraid for what he might say. Technically, she had stolen everything she used to create Levi. Not only could she get fired, but she could get criminally charged, and they might even take him away. She tried to think of ways around it, and figured they couldn't charge her if she paid for everything she used. She could certainly afford it. There was one thing she could avoid. But there was still the issue of getting fired and of them taking Levi away. She didn't think she could handle that.

Her thoughts broke when Moblit answered. "Uh, hey, I'm home." She said, watching Levi from afar. He was doing nothing, just sitting on the bed and staring at his feet, which still had the school girl socks on.

"So can we come over then?" Moblit replied, noticing something strange in Hanji's tone. "Are you ok?"

"Yep." Hanji said cheerily. "Just fine. I'll tell you more when you guys come. See you soon, bye!" She quickly hung up, having suddenly grown very excited. Levi had moved from his spot and was looking out the window. She approached him quietly, standing a few feet behind him. "Hello, Levi. What are you doing?"

"Observing the world beyond this window." Levi replied flatly. It sent a rush through Hanji, and she scribbled it down in her pocketbook. Observation is the first step to learning. It is how children learn. Is he learning...? She was so excited she felt like she could explode.

"What do you see?" She asked him, thrilled for his answer.

"People." He said. "There are humans and ultrihums." He turned around and looked at Hanji. "Which am I?" He asked her, and the question shocked her.

For a few moments she stood there in pure astonishment. He doesn't know what he is, does that mean maybe he doesn't feel ultrihum? Or... She shook her head. I'm overthinking things again. "You're an ultrihum." She replied.

For a moments she swore she saw sadness in that flash in his eyes, but she told herself it was nothing. "I am." He said, as if confirming it. "What model am I?"

Another rush of excitement. This all appeared promising to Hanji. "You have no model name or number. You're a product of my very own design. I created you to be different, unique, unlike other ultrihums. Do you understand?"

There was the flash of understanding in his eyes, followed by the red flash of misunderstanding, and it confused Hanji a bit. But she didn't push it because she wasn't sure if his programming could handle it. She heard a knock at her door, and she assumed it was Moblit and Erwin. "Levi, stay in this room." The ultrihum computed the request and did not move as Hanji answered her door. "Hello there, you two." She grinned.

"Hello, Hanji." Moblit replied with a slight smile.

"I hear you've been busy." Erwin greeted.

The woman clasped her hands together in excitement. "Indeed I have. But first you two have to promise not to tell a soul." She decided to just spring it on them.

Erwin and Moblit exchanged glances, and Moblit looked at Hanji with a worried expression. "What did you do?"

"Just, wait right here." Hanji told them, before walking back to her room and approaching Levi, who, to her shock and excitement, was looking out the window again. "Levi, follow me." His eyes flashed as he did what he was told, his movement still slightly rigid from the repairs Hanji couldn't get too. She felt a little bad for him. "Ok..." She grinned as she approached her friends again. "This is my secret." She stepped to the side to present Levi, who stopped when she did and stared straight ahead.

Erwin cocked his head a bit. "Is this your boyfriend, Hanji?"

The woman turned bright red and then started to giggle with nervousness. Because, yes, she had indeed developed some sort of admiration for Levi. She found him so cute and exciting. "N-no." She said, stifling her laughter. "This is...my ultrihum. I made him. His name is Levi."