A/N: I just kept thinking of what would happen if Topher fell in love with a doll and this was the result of my boredom :)

I own nothing except the characters you don't know, unfortunately I don't even own Topher Brink :(

Topher looked around the dollhouse. He was looking for a doll to use for his 'diagnostic testing'. At first, he always felt a pang of hurt when he realised that this was meant to be a 'special day' but he was spending it in the dollhouse with a person who would be programmed to believe they'd been friends for years. That feeling left soon enough and was replaced with the excitement that he would be spending the day with any kind of person he wanted. Sierra was out on an engagement; she would be his first choice. She was attractive, but not overly-so, she had a cute accent, and she seemed…real. She wasn't quite the perfect fantasy so she didn't seem false. Today, though, he had to choose another Doll.

There was one doll, that he constantly found himself inexplicably drawn to; Zeta. She was…captivating, if nothing else. Usually, stocky brunettes weren't his type, but as much as he tried to stop, he couldn't help but feel an attraction to her. It wasn't like the usual 'look she's hot' attraction, it was more than that. He couldn't explain it, and part of him didn't want to in fear that if he knew what he was feeling it might go away. He sighed contentedly and continued to watch the brunette.

'Is she a brunette?' he thought to himself as he stood in his office watching Zeta walk around, vacantly smiling to everyone that passed her by. 'Her hair kind of has a reddish tinge…does that count as a redhead? Or is it still a brunette?' Topher shrugged and made a call to Adele, letting her know that he's made his choice. She gave him the go-ahead for the imprint.

He'd had a few encounters with her before. She was different than the other dolls. Not Echo different, just different. Sometimes, he felt bad for some of the imprints he had to give her. He couldn't explain it, but he felt guilty, even if he'd used the same imprint on another doll. It was just…her. He hated imprinting her as a hooker, or an 'easy' date or a dominatrix. He doesn't mind when it's other actives – he knows their handlers look out for them and that it's all fake, but he hates the thought of someone using her like that. She's not a sex toy; she's a person. Or at least, she was, and will be again in about four years' time.

He turned to grab a wedge and let out a loud yelp when he found Zeta standing in the doorway of his office.

"God, Zeta, you scared me half to death!" he brought a hand up to his chest in an attempt to steady his breathing. Zeta smiled, and his heart rate sped up again. He let out a long breath.

"Hello." She said sweetly.

"Hi." He said and smiled brightly.

"I drew this." She held out a picture to him.

"That's very nice." He replied. He was a little confused as to why she was telling him this, and why she was here, but he kept up his happy demeanour anyway.

"It's for you." She smiled again and held it further toward him. He smiled tentatively and took the picture from her. He looked at it and saw that it was a picture of a guy in a chequered sweater vest and a girl in a tank top and tracksuit pants, and they were holding hands.

"Is—is this us?" Topher asked, pointing to the couple in the picture.

"Yes. I like you. You're nice." She replied, just as innocently as ever. Topher laughed incredulously.

"Thank you, I consider myself a nice guy." He spoke fast and made a lot of hand gestures which resulted in an amused laugh from Zeta. "What's funny?"

"I find you very amusing." She told him.

"Well, I'm glad." He said and started to look around in the same frantic way he does everything. He grabbed two magnets and stuck the picture on his fridge.

"You like the picture?" she asked.

"I love it." He answered honestly. They stood in silence for a moment before Donald, Zeta's handler, came up the stairs.

"Oh, she's already here." Donald muttered. Topher strongly disliked Donald. He was a terrible handler and seemed to show little to no interest in Zeta's wellbeing. "Say, Zeta, would you like a treatment?"

"Yes, I enjoy my treatments." She said with another dimpled smile.

Topher nodded and led her into the imprint room. He sat her down on the chair and got out the imprint. He started the imprint and the chair lowered. He'd chosen a different imprint than the one he used on Sierra. This one was more 'nerdy' and less 'wanting-to-cause-terror-with-the-sleepies'. The neon light shone, and after a few minutes of mixed expressions coming from Zeta, the chair rose again.

Zeta, or rather whoever she was imprinted with, opened her eyes and smiled brightly at Topher then began to speak in the same quick manner that he did.

"Hey Topher; what are we doin today? Oh, do you wanna play with the sleepies?"

"I thought I got rid of that…" Topher muttered.

"Huh?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Nothing!" Topher waved and then his eyes lit up. "Do you wanna play laser tag?"

Zeta's expression matched Topher's. "Let's go!"

After they spent the day playing laser tag, battling it out on Halo, outsmarting each other in chess, and wreaking as much havoc as possible with Topher's extensive Nerf gun collection, they were left sitting on the sofa in his office completely worn out. Zeta wandered over to his fridge and paused for a second when she saw the picture. She felt a twinge of familiarity when she saw it, but figured it was nothing. She pulled open the fridge and grabbed two grape sodas. She plopped herself back down on the couch beside Topher and passed him a soda. Topher smiled and said 'thanks'. He then glanced up at the clock. He only had a little longer to spend with her; a little less than half an hour. The one rule of these 'diagnostic tests' was that they ended at exactly midnight, and it was now 11:37pm. He wasn't sure what he would miss more; hanging out with this person he'd created or hanging out with Zeta. There were a few things she did tonight that were very Zeta-like things to do. Like, she drew him a picture of a big, elaborate cake with lots of candles. He didn't put drawing skills in this imprint, but Zeta was always a lovely drawer, and she always drew things for him.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Zeta get up and walk back over to the fridge until she sat back beside him and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked and smiled when he saw her with a cupcake that had a single candle.

"I know the picture was better than this," she shrugged "but happy birthday."

Topher smiled and took the cupcake. "Thanks, Ze – uh, thanks." He corrected himself, but found himself wishing he was with Zeta, not just her body.

"It's cool." She smiled. "Make a wish." She nodded towards the candle.

He smiled and blew out the small flame that was rising from the thin candle. He ripped the cupcake in half and passed one half to the very person he wished for. She took it and the two ate in silence. Topher was sure his wish wouldn't come true. How could it when the thing he wished for was nothing more than a shell?

'Zeta is just a doll.' He reminded himself. He heard her laugh and he looked up at her.

"What is it?" he asked, a smile playing at his lips.

"You've got frosting on your face." She answered with one final chuckle. "Here." She reached out and wiped away the frosting from the corner of Topher's mouth. She saw Topher's blush, and felt her own crawling onto her face. She licked her lips and drew in a breath, moving slightly closer to the young genius. Topher sucked in a short breath right before Zeta's lips connected with his. This was Zeta. He modified this imprint so she would never have any interest in Topher; it was a purely platonic friendship. He didn't know how, but these were Zeta's feelings. Zeta pulled back to see Topher with a mixed expression on his face. "I'm sorry, I thought…you didn't want me to…sorry." She mumbled, looking at the floor.

"No! No I did want! I wanted very much. It's just…" Topher looked at the clock again. 11:58pm. He sighed and muttered to himself. "Screw it. You won't remember in a minute anyway."

Zeta was confused at this comment but before she could ask about it, Topher's lips were on hers and his hands were on her hips, pulling her infinitely closer to him. Topher was savouring this. It's what he wanted, it was his birthday wish, it's what – and he's not ashamed of it – he's dreamt of so many times before. His bliss was cut short, though, when he heard someone clear his throat.

He reluctantly broke away from Zeta and looked over her shoulder to see Donald standing there.

"It's midnight." He said stoically. Topher nodded as Donald walked up to Zeta. "Would you like a treatment?"

"Sounds good." She smiled to Donald and she and Topher got up off of the couch. Topher got the computer ready for the wipe as she sat down in the chair.

"You ready?" Topher asked, hearing his own voice crack.

"Yep." She told him brightly. "Oh, and tomorrow night, you're taking me on a real date." She told him and lay back in the chair, not seeing the look of disappointment cross Topher's face as he started the wipe.

It was a moment of brief flashes of pictures behind Zeta's closed eyelids. It was like a dream. When she finally opened her eyes, she looked at Topher. He smiled, but he looked sad. Zeta noticed. She wanted to make him feel better. She wanted him to be okay. She felt some sort of…something, for him. It was a feeling she wasn't used to. She wanted to ask him 'Are you okay?' but the words didn't come out. It was as if her brain was trapping the passage from her words to her mouth. So instead, she said the only thing she could manage to say at that moment.

"Did I fall asleep?"