Me: I'm on Spring break! I have plenty of time!

Me: Oh ****, where did the weekend go?

Cecil slowly let go and began to step back. You let go as soon as she did, and you noticed her wiping away a tear. Wait, why do androids have tear ducts? There's no reason for them to have those…

"I must give my thanks, Theodore." Cecil sounded like she was barely keeping herself together. "I should… I could not have anticipated that I… I could not even conceivably consider this event would occur. Forgive me, but I think I need some time to… time to be alone." She turned toward the door, saying once final sentence before she left. "I hope we can meet again soon." She closed the door before you could say anything further.

You tensed up, realizing you probably had visitors. You weren't sure if 50G or 47D were still there, but Popola or Devola would probably be there with breakfast. How long had they been waiting for you? You hurried up the stairs and rushed to your door. As you approached, you heard one of the twins talking in your room.

"…n't have been in here, you know. Humans really need their sleep, and you being in there was going to interfere with it."

"We got here just as he was waking up!" 50G did not take kindly to the accusation leveled at her.

"And how do you know that?"

"He woke up right after we got here."

"How do you know you didn't wake him up prematurely?"

"He seemed to be doing fine. Sentences were coherent, he was making sense."

Pulling open the door, you found 50G and 47D sitting down on the spare bed, and Devola sat on your bed. The rift between them that you felt in their speech carried into 50G's and Devola's body language- those two stared right at each other. 47D was the only one who glanced your way seemingly doing her best to not appear confrontational toward the other two. Her stiff form immediately softened upon seeing you. 50G and Devola followed suit a moment later, something sparking in their eyes.

"Theodore!" both 50G and Devola stood up and turned toward you. They continued talking to you, but you lost what each of them said in the other's speech.

"Guys, slow down. One at a time." You seriously could not make out one android's speech from the other's.

50G was faster. "She's blaming us when we did nothing wrong. We were quiet when we got here, we didn't wake you up- we didn't do anything wrong. And yet she's still finding different reasons to put the blame on us!"

"Because you're supposed to leave humans alone as they sleep!" Devola turned on 50G. "Interrupting their rest can have consequences reaching further than you think. Sure, you didn't think that you weren't loud- overconfidence in their abilities is a hallmark of you Gunner models- but that could easily interrupt him in N1 or N2. I know this may be asking a lot from you, but perhaps showing a bit of caution and forethought in your decisions would be helpful."

"Can you two please stop?" It was obvious from 47D's pleading that she had heard enough of the bickering between the two. "50G, we made a mistake, we learn, we won't make the same mistake again. Devola, we understand what we've done wrong. You don't need to lecture us."

"I'm trying to teach her a lesson!" While 50G and Devola didn't say this exact phrase at the same time, the intent was the same. They resumed their argument, paying little heed to the other two occupants of the room. By now, 904 and 320 floated up to you, 320 carrying one of those containers in her hands that you learned to associate with meals from Popola and Devola. You took it from her and briefly considered where to sit- a loose plan was forming in your head, and you wanted to pull this off well. There was some space between 47D and the head of the bed, just enough for you. You took a seat next to her and popped the lid off.

"Well, 47D," you said quietly enough to insinuate this was only for her, but loudly enough that Devola and 50G should hear, "it's good to know there's at least one among you three that can take the role of 'android' seriously."

Devola and 50G floze at the same time. A sheepish look crossed Devola's face as she looked away, while 50G snapped over to glare at you. She looked like she was going to say something, but her mouth, pursed into a line, signaled she wasn't going to speak for the time being. For her part, 47D looked as though she wanted to say something under the cover of the argument, but the sudden silence crushed any chance of that occurring.

You popped the lid off of the container to reveal an assortment of muffins. The plain paper wrappings contrasted with the large variety of different types (and flavors, you assumed). You picked one up and inspected it more closely- it was supposed to be blueberry, but you could tell they were artificial. You glanced at some of the others as you took a bite. It was still warm- not hot as though it was really recently cooked, but some heat still remained. You couldn't really blame them for the muffins not having completely natural ingredients since they only received some fruits yesterday.

You glanced back at the quiet androids in the room, raising an eyebrow. You expected 50G and Devola to back down and apologize, not for them to stop arguing completely. They had sat down where they were before; you could still sense the hostility between them, buried though it was. You wanted this situation resolved, but where to start.

"I think," you started after you swallowed, "I understand where the problem is. 50G, you're right in that you didn't preemptively wake me."

"See?" 50G turned on Devola.

"Let me finish." You meant to be stern. Seeing how much she flinched, maybe you were too rough. "I think Devola was trying to make the point that you shouldn't be doing that, not that you hadn't made a mistake. And if I'm going to be honest, I don't want androids randomly showing up in my room when I'm waking up, so I have to agree with her." 50G turned away from you, apparently to sulk.

You turned to Devola to give her her piece. "You're not innocent here, either. It's one thing to make a point, but don't hammer it in."

Devola turned to face you. "I was just-"

"I know, but there is such thing as going too far."

Silence floated over the room as you took another bite. Maybe you went too far. Best to try to bring the conversation back.

"You three weren't waiting too long for me, were you?"

"No," 47D quietly started, "Devola arrived two or three minutes after you left, and she and 50G were basically fighting until you got here."

"I expected you to come by and shut her up," 50G gruffly shot off on the other side of 47D. "What took you so long?"

"50G," Devola's exasperated tone said more than her words, "do you complain when one of your teammates takes a long shower? Let him be. We don't know how much stress he's facing and he's the one who knows how to calm himself down best."

"Maybe, but I think androids would notice if suddenly somebody's taking 20-minute showers."

Devola raised an eyebrow. "We haven't been- was it really that long?"

Guess it's time to tell them. The three androids in the room turned to you as you spoke. "I met up with a few other androids- well, they kind of cornered me and tried to talk to me. They were Carolina and Dakota." Devola went wide-eyed upon hearing this, but 50G and 47D turned to each other in confusion.

"You haven't heard of them, have you?" 47D asked.

"I heard their names through gossip, but I never listen." 50G replied.

"Carolina and Dakota?" Devola's voice was quiet. You surmised these were names she didn't want to hear.

"Devola, is something wrong?" You wondered if she had a history with them… or if they had a history with the twins. But what would have happened to make her fear them like this?

Devola remained quiet, seemingly thinking of how to respond- long enough to draw the attention of 50G and 47D. "Popola and I… we've seen one of the worse sides of them. Theodore, please, please, don't trust them. They don't have the best intentions for… anyone other than themselves.

"They put up fronts. They find allies in the lowest and highest of places. They turn friends against each other. Anyone who says anything good about them has been flat out lied to, as far as I'm aware.

"I'm not going to go into every detail, Theodore. I'm just going to say this: don't trust them. Talk to them as little as possible. Stay away from them as long as you can. They're not thinking about you, they never think about anyone else. They only think about themselves."

How were you going to respond to this? If they were willing to work between themselves… Should you tell her? It would probably be too dangerous.

"Thank you, Devola. I'll… I'll try and stay away from them." You weren't entirely sure what to say to her. "But here's the thing: they, and a few other androids, think that I'm just some ancient android." This sentence seemed to settle into each of the androids here.

"But that doesn't mean-"

"I know, I'm still going to try to stay away from those two."

"Wait," 50G spoke up, "what other androids were there?"

"Cecil, Justa, and Ruffin. Any of you know them?"

"Oh! We've met Cecil. Haven't heard of Justa and Ruffin, though. 47D?"

47D turned to you. "No, sorry. Haven't heard of those two."

"Cecil's nice, though. If there's one android you couldn't avoid meeting, she's far and away better than Dakota and Carolina, by the sound of it. Wordy as heck, though."

"50G." 47D turned toward her, an upset tone in her voice.

"It's not a strike against her."

Devola seemed ready to speak as you turned to her. "I've only heard about Cecil. Justa and Ruffin are almost always together, far as I know. I've only met them once, though."

"So those three are fine?" You asked Devola.

"Just be careful around them. I won't tell you to stay away from those three- they may be nice- but if you can, try to get them away from Dakota and Carolina if you're going to meet up with them again."

"Alright." No problem for you, they didn't like each other already. Another silence passed over the room as you continued through your breakfast. You were just about to finish up the blueberry muffin when a thought struck you. "This is really good, Devola." You turned to 50G and 47D, holding what remained of the muffin. "Either of you want to try this?"

47D was hesitant to take it. "You sure? They made it for you…"

"I'm asking if you two want to try it."

There was a mix of emotions on 47D's face. Curiosity pushed her forward to take the food from your hand. Caution held her back. Several smaller forces eventually pushed her to take it from her, break it in two, and offer the larger piece to 50G. 47D ate the relatively small chunk in one bite, seeming to savor the taste. She turned to Devola.

"I can see why 85B enjoys cooking, if she's anywhere near as good as you."

"Please, 47D. Flattery gets you nowhere."

"I'm serious! Lucky Theodore here has you two cooking for him. 85B is highly exclusive of who she cooks for, I was lucky to get in once."

"She has trouble getting ingredients," 50G spoke up, "at least, that's what I've heard. Being based in the desert does that, so she savors every moment she's outside of that sandy hellhole. But you and Popola, you two must get have access she could only dream of."

Devola looked off to the side. "If only everyone thought like you did. Anemone's said that a number of androids need to cooperate with us more, but…" 47D's and 50G's faces fell. "…we make do with what we have."

"Make do?" You asked. "You two have been doing great. There's nothing you need to beat yourself up about."

"You say that…" Devola trailed off. Silence resumed through the room.

"Hey, 47D, 50G." They turned to you. "Either of you know who the administrator of Kaon is?"

"I mean," 50G sounded a bit frustrated with herself, "we have the contact route, but not much more. Why do you need it?"

"I know who it is," 47D interrupted, "it's 9O."

50G turned to her, surprise written on her face. "Huh. Barely anyone remembers who theirs is. I mean, thank goodness we have the contact routes, but still. How'd you know?"

"Oh, it's just- just one of those things I remember."

"To answer your earlier question, 50G," you tried to get back on track, "I think I found something questionable linked to something a YoRHa unit's actions."

50G and 47D sat forward. "What happened?"

"I found a number of audio bugs in my room. I just want to pass it along to someone who can deal with it."

"Who would have done that?" 50G asked. "I don't think audio bugs are widely available, what with there being no practical use for them, so it shouldn't be too hard to find out who supplied them. Anyway, I'll send 904 the contact route."

904 pinged a second later, denoting he did, in fact, receive the proper contact information. Conversation continued slowly throughout your meal and a little while after. Devola was the first to leave, saying that she needed to head out with Popola in a few minutes, without specifying what for. 50G and 47D were hesitant to go, but reluctantly agreed to when they heard you wanted to contact 9O without distractions. You waited for a few seconds after they left before you turned to your white pod.

"904, connect me to 9O."

Sorry to all the celiacs in the audience. There's a lot of bread, isn't there?