About a week later, Nines was making himself a cup of coffee when the best idea ever hit him. GV200 had taken to calling him Nines quite well. He really wanted to give GV200 a nickname. Nicknames were a mark of friendship and Nines really fucking hated calling GV200, well… GV200. It felt far too plastic for someone with so much personality. Someone Nines apparently cared about. He should absolutely give him a nickname, now the question was what name would fit the android. He pondered around a few names. Gordon? Vinnie? Gabe?

"Gavin!" Nines exclaimed out loud in the middle of the breakroom. He wasn't that loud about it, but everyone around him was startled nonetheless. He rarely, if ever, spoke above a polite inside voice. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, but that didn't stop his excitement. Nines couldn't wait to hear what he had to say about it.

When Nines was leaving the breakroom black coffee in tow, he had to take pause. When had he started to refer to the android by, "he"? Nines couldn't exactly recall, but it felt far more natural than using "it." Nines found that he quite preferred the new pronoun. Androids deserved the proper pronouns just as much as the next person. So, at that moment Nines decided he would never again refer to androids as "its."

People noticed. Of course, they did. Most of them just looked confused for a moment as they deciphered who Nines was talking about or to. Some even gave him dirty looks for it. But Nines couldn't bring himself to care, because the androids on his team took notice too. Their small, pleased smiles they gave him when he used correct pronouns made it all worth it.

"Richard?" Nines would recognize that annoyingly squeaky voice anywhere, it was Dr. Mike Logan, one of the surgeons.

Great, Nines thought to himself. Dr. Logan was a terrible gossip and loved to talk about any and everything. Nines didn't care for gossip much, but he knew he needed to maintain a good working relationship with the older doctor.

"Hello, Dr. Logan. What do I owe the pleasure?" Nines voice was smooth and anyone who didn't know him well would mistake for something genuinely pleasant.

"Ah, nothing much, just had a question for you," Mike said, returning the smile.

"Ask away." Nines briefly looked down at his clipboard to see how much time he actually had for this conversation. A few minutes at least. Damnit, he was hoping to get out of this.

Mike looked to one of the android nurses walking into a room to check on a patient and frowned. When he looked back at Nines his face was far more serious than it had been just moments ago.

"Why are you so nice to the androids?" Nines was taken aback and just stared at the surgeon. Who took it as a need for clarification, "I mean, you treat them like people and honestly it's kind of weird and uncomfortable for some people myself included."

Nines audibly sighed and flipped a paper on his clipboard for emphasis. He did not have the patience for this conversation. When he finally responded his tone was harsher than he ever tried to use at the workplace, "Dr. Logan. I'm sorry my treating the androids as more than mere pieces of plastic makes you uncomfortable, but frankly, I do not give a shit about your opinion on the matter. Now just so you know I will continue to do as I please."

"Woah, calm down," Mike put his hands up in surrender. He was clearly not expecting Nines to react that way. "I was just saying it was weird."

"Well, maybe you should try it out sometime. The androids are quite pleasant to be around if you treat at least halfway decently," Nines made sure his tone left no room for further discussion, "Now if you'll excuse me. I have work to do." With that, he spun around on his heels leaving Mike in the dust. He smiled to himself, he felt good after doing that. Maybe Mike would take his advice, doubtful, but whatever. He'd proven his point.