As we dug into our lunch, graciously prepared by the domestically adept Genos, I kept my gaze fixed on the table top, chewing with caution to avoid making any weird faces... though I suspected my efforts were a bit counterproductive, judging by Kuseno's concerned expression.

"So... Akane-chan," the Doctor began, setting his plate aside. "I know you haven't had a proper tour yet, but how does it suit you? Have you given any thought to—"

"I'll take the job!" I exclaimed, standing up abruptly, slamming my hands down on the table with surprising force.

Taken aback, Doctor Kuseno blinked stupidly, and then he began to laugh. He wiped his eyes. "I'm so relieved!"

Quickly sobered by his reaction, I sat down, red-faced, throwing my hood back over my head and trying to sink into my scarf.

"I worked with Old Hawley for most of my career, you know, and Sakako-chan was my student. It was I who introduced them, so naturally I'm very pleased to be able to do something for them." His eyes glazed over as he looked out into the room at no point in particular. I shifted awkwardly.

Suddenly, Genos appeared at my side and I jumped away in alarm. "Would you like another sandwich, senpai?" He calmly asked.

"Uh… 'S-sen…pai'…?" I questioned as I looked him over, a strange picture with his huge metal arms, the sleeves shredded from his shirt, topped off with a frilly pink apron. Being called 'senpai' by a handsome sandwich-making cyborg was so… weird. Anime levels of weird. I think you mean hooot, I pretended not to have thought.

Doctor Kuseno returned to reality in that moment, and cheerfully added: "Anyway, with Genos fighting all of these powerful enemies lately, I'm not sure I can keep up with all of the repairs by myself!"

I tilted my head. "'Powerful enemies'?" What could that mean? Was he some kind of battle bot? And here I was under the impression he was just a housekeeper. But I guess that would be kind of wasteful, wouldn't it?

"Indeed," Kuseno went on. "Just last week, he destroyed both of his arms battling a—what was it, my lad?"

Genos straightened up like an overeager cadet called to attention, and he began: "A giant cockroach monster appeared in City A, threatening to consume everything in its path. Along with its enormous size and strength, it boasted extremely rapid reproduction and adaptability, and claimed the endurance to survive a three-hundred-year nuclear fallout. I, Genos, took this creature on, with the lives of millions at stake. While at first, it seemed that the battle would be quick, it soon proved more formidable than it appeared, and in no time, even my blasters proved ineffective against the hordes of—"

"Yes, yes, I think we get the picture," Kuseno interrupted. But I had leaned in, captivated. It sounded just like an action-packed shounen manga. Who wouldn't want to hear the whole story? I pursed my lips, disappointed. How did he defeat the cockroach monster? I needed to know! Was it actually one monster, or was it more like a whole bunch of small cockroaches that formed a monster, or—

"Well, since that's settled, Genos, why don't you give Akane-chan the tour of the facility?"

My mouth fell open in surprise. A tour sounded wonderful, but… through a curtain of peach pit locks I turned my gaze to the tall and imposing Genos. It wasn't that he was a cyborg. That was cool as heck, and nothing would please me more than to unscrew his chest plate and root around in the clockwork, but he was also—I gulped—a guy. And rooting around in that clockwork was a less pleasing notion. There were too many variables, too many uncertainties, not enough cold metal and rigid science. Reluctantly, I edged away.

Genos frowned and tilted his head questioningly. What could be going through his mind? I was sure… I must look really weird. I hadn't even taken a shower. Here I was in a room with a punch-bowl haircut geezer and a teen cyborg, and I felt like I was the one out of place; I was the—I stiffened.

"What's wrong with your arm? And why is your hair orange? Are you even Japanese? Freak!"

The freak, right? I clutched my prosthetic tighter than ever. Be brave, Akane. It's just a tour. You can pretend he's all robot. Just talk about specs. This is the one time in your life when that's an acceptable topic of conversation, so…

I shook my head. There was nothing to be scared of. If he ended up hating me, it would only be par for the course.

"Uh… W-well, if you don't mind," I mumbled, stepping a little closer.

Genos shut his eyes, expression dutiful, and removed his apron. Doctor Kuseno beamed. "There you have it. I'm sure you kids will find something to talk about. In the meantime, I'll see if I can analyze some of this combat data…"

In the barren hallways of the facility, I fell in step with Genos, whose stride was quick, whose gaze was forward, as he led me through the maze of hallways, in and out of rooms, giving extensive details on all of the equipment. "However," he repeatedly admitted after listing off exhaustive descriptions, "I don't really know much about it". Yeah right.

It was incredible to think that a facility this size was hidden underneath the streets of City Z, right in the middle of an ordinary shopping district. I wondered what it took to get the permits to build this… or if there was a devious city-ordinance-defying anarchist hidden under Kuseno's giant hairdo.

"Um…"

Genos stopped and turned to me attentively, and I instantly regretted ever opening my mouth.

"Did you have a question, senpai?"

I swallowed. Did he really have to call me 'senpai'? My cheeks heated and I pulled my hood a little closer around my head. "Wh-which way is the… the…"

He blinked at me uncomprehendingly. The what? The diagnostics lab? The workshop? He had no idea. I wasn't even sure if he would know where to point me. Did he have any need of that particular facility? Did he still have the required equipment? I thought I saw him eating earlier, but…

I swallowed down my nerves. "The… bathroom…?"

Completely unfazed, he pointed one shiny metal finger at the hallway just behind us. "First door on the right."

Feeling small and pathetic, I quickly scuttled in that direction. If I tried really hard, could I maybe just become one with the toilet seat and disappear forever? I wondered. No, no, not the toilet seat. What was I thinking? Did I really want people pressing their butts to my face for the rest of eternity? Maybe the mirror would be better. Yes. Then people would look into the mirror and all they would ever see would be their own faces, and I could finally be anyone but myself. Hah.

I sighed. It was kind of cool, though, meeting a cyborg superhero. Maybe he could fly or shoot laser beams from his eyes. That would be so awesome. I wondered idly about the exact structures that composed his body; whether he was solar or nuclear, what exact alloys composed his outer shell, and if his joints were hydraulic or electric. I clapped happily, wobbling to-and-fro upon the porcelain throne, giddy at the very thought.

But wait, I thought, snapped suddenly out of my daydream by dreaded lucidity. He's still human, so isn't this the same as objectifying him? I gasped aloud, pulling my hood clear over my face. It was, wasn't it? Should I be ashamed? Would he even care? Jesus, you're acting like you raped him, I pretended not to have thought. I mean, the FCC probably wouldn't even blur out his crotch, so…

I don't know. Why do they blur out crotches in the first place? There's nothing inherently sexual about human genitalia. They put it in textbooks, right? Gynecologists physically interact with hundreds of hoo-has every day, and they don't, like, become aroused, right? Not that I'd ever had the nerve to get a pelvic exam. Nothing all that interesting about flappy folds of flesh. And yet, here I was feeling guilty for thinking about the mechanics of a sentient machine. The real issue must have been whether or not he had feelings about it, then? Yes. Feelings were so complicated and icky.

I began to wonder, completely against my better judgment, which human structures still remained—If his adrenal systems were intact—Did he feel fear? Exhilaration? Happiness? Love? A terrifying notion, and yet, as I thought upon it, these were all feelings that didn't exist solely in the brain, that required the participation of other organs, that grounded humanity in the physical realm, that put a stop to all questions of soul and spirit, leaving only the marvelous realm of sweet, predictable science. Was it perhaps still possible to understand this creature on objective bases?

I began to bite my nails agitatedly. Scientific curiosity was ordinarily a pleasant pastime, but this was an ordeal. I curled up on the toilet seat, holding myself tightly. What a truly frightening being I had encountered. Human, or machine? A question that could be so easily taken for granted in fiction, but in practice posed so many complex dilemmas that it made my head spin. I could ask him... but then again, it's me, so I really can't.

A knock on the door startled me out of my reverie and I yelped.

"Senpai? Is everything alright?"

Panicking, I jumped up off of the toilet. "E-everything's—Ah!" I shrieked, tripping over my own pants, and landing with a crash on the bare cement floor. "Ohhh…"

"…Senpai?" Genos tried again.

"I'm fine…" I groaned defeatedly as I stood back up dizzily. Except, I soon realized, I wasn't fine at all. Dangling limply at my side, little motors clicking pathetically as they tried in vain to bend shattered joints, was my arm. I must have landed on my elbow. I let out a yowl of surprise.

"No way!"

"Senpai!? I'm coming in!"

"N-no wait, don—!"

But, heedless of my objections, Genos burst through the doorway, and the door itself, popped from its hinges, flew across the little restroom, crashing into the sink, a fist-shaped dent right in its middle. Water began to spew from the pipes.

I gaped, dumbfounded and awestruck, at the blonde cyborg who obliviously began to assess the situation. As his gaze turned to me, I frantically toiled, one-handed, to pull my pants up, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

"G-get out! Don't look!" I yelped. But Genos just stood there, staring wide-eyed, face slowly draining of color as mine swiftly sampled the spectrum of reds one shade at a time.

"Excuse me…" he eventually muttered, stiffly stepping back out of the bathroom, visibly shaken.

Mortified, I went on struggling with my pants, twice slipping on the newly formed puddle of water beneath my sneakers, and eventually, I was able to emerge from the wreckage of the bathroom, never less triumphant in my life.

Genos stood just outside, waiting like a bouncer with his arms crossed. Thankfully, we both seemed to be keen on avoiding eye contact. I cleared my throat.

"Uh… my… my arm broke."

To my horror, his eyebrows shot up and he turned to look at me with concern. His mouth opened as if to speak, and then quickly closed as he spied the vaguely skin-colored plastic of limp phalanges that drooped conspicuously at the end of my sleeve. He blinked.

"You're… also a cyborg?"

Taken aback, I balked. "I… what? N-no, it's a… This is obviously— I-I mean, I guess, depending on where you draw the line? Good question…"

"…Doctor Kuseno will be glad to fix it, I'm sure." With that, he began to march back down the hall and, baffled, I skittered after him quickly.

A/N: I dunno about this one. It seems with each new chapter, I feel less and less confident about this. ;_; But, hey, we're not too far from the action now, so please bear with me. Thank you everyone who has reviewed, fave'd, or followed! You're the best!

Also, anybody watch/read Mob Psycho 100? I finally binged it on CR a couple days ago, and it was Awesoooooome.