Samantha was on her building's roof. She sat, leaning her arms against the protective gate that ran around the perimeter, and stared out at the nighttime cityscape. So many lights, so many colors, so much life. She could see the highway where the autonomous vehicles sped by. She tried to count them and found that she actually could this time. All the times she had been up here as a human, she always tried but never could. She smiled a little and took a picture of the cityscape, storing it for later. A tap on her shoulder had her turning around. She already knew he was here. She heard him come up the stairs.

"Hey." She greeted him with a smile and he joined her on the edge. He stared out at the city too, then back to her. "I used to come up here a lot. I was wondering if it was going to be the same now that I'm not human."

"Is it?"

"Yes and no. It's a little different. But…I still like it. It's kind of peaceful looking out at the city like this. Just watching all the lights and wondering what people are doing. How they're living their lives and just wondering if they're doing okay."

"That's very compassionate of you."

"As antisocial as I am, I do care about people. If they're having troubles, I want to help them. That's one of the main reasons I became a police officer. And looking out at the city, bustling with life…just sort of affirms my career decision. And now that I'm an android, I can see a lot more to the life that I've sworn to protect. I know that I'll be around a long time, so maybe…just maybe, I can start to make this city a better place."

"And I'll be here with you to assist." She leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled.

"Yeah." She took in a deep breath. "Wanna watch the sunrise with me? I've always wanted to get a picture of it."

"Yes. I would like that." He returned her smile and they stayed like that, sitting on the edge of the roof, until morning. The sun peeked out from behind the buildings, red and orange and pink. Sam took a picture just as it dipped behind one of the structures, making the buildings look like shadows against the colorful backdrop. She never thought to take her phone up to the roof for pictures. But now, she had a camera built in. It was convenient. Hell, she didn't even really need her phone anymore, opting most times to just leave it at home. Connor announced that they needed to leave for work and stood, Samantha following soon after. The rest of the day was uneventful.

A few months went by and Samantha was adjusting well to her new body and abilities. She was now more efficient in her work, even opting to go out on cases more and more often. Summer passed and with the chill and snow starting to spread through the air, she put in a time off request. Her parents were coming up to visit for the holidays. And she was nervous. She hadn't told them anything that had happened in the last months. She hadn't even video chatted with them. Needless to say, she freaked out a bit and was in the process of scrubbing her apartment from top to bottom, Connor staring at her from the door as he just entered.

"…Samantha?" She didn't answer, only kept scrubbing at the kitchen counters.

"Samantha's parents are coming to visit." Susan answered for her. "She's panicking."

"Why would she be panicking about her parents visiting?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Susan laughed. "She hasn't told them anything!"

"Shut up, Susan!" Sam marched out from the kitchen. She was filthy from cleaning all day, dirt smeared across her cheeks, hands, and clothing. "And no. I may have…neglected to tell my parents about…well, anything."

"So they don't know that you—"

"Nope."

"Or that you—"

"Noooope!" She threw her hands into the air, dropping the cleaning cloth she was using. "They don't know shit! And now…now I don't know what I'm going to do! They're gonna kill me! I'm gonna die!"

"They are not going to kill you. I know your family has mental health issues, but that seems a bit extreme."

"God, I love you." Sam laughed at his assessment of her parents and leaned her head on his chest. "I need help."

"You know that I will always be here for you." He scooped her up and made for the bathroom.

"What're you doing?" She furrowed her brows at him, skeptical.

"You are filthy. I'm going to get a bath ready for you."

"Androids don't need to bathe."

"I know." He smirked as they entered the bathroom, closing the door behind them with his hip. The water was drawn and a bubble bath mixture was added. The bathroom fogged up from the heat and he stripped her down, placing her gently into the tub. He joined her and they were in there for quite some time, a moan or two escaping into the hallway.

"…It's nice to know we can still do that." She sighed contentedly as she wrapped a towel about herself and exited the bathroom, Connor right behind her.

"Why do you think I had you built with a HR400 body?"

"Because you're secretly a perv?" He raised a brow in thought for a moment, staring off. He shook his head and she laughed. "See. I knew you were a perv."

"No. I just…enjoy your…company." He turned a light shade of pink as they got dressed in her room. "And I concluded that it would be an easier transition."

"My 'company'? Or my ass?"

"…Maybe a bit of both."

"You are a perv!" She laughed again and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Thank you for the bath though. I needed it. To relax, ya know."

"I know. Your stress level was rather high." He ruffled his hair with the towel to dry it, sending curls in every direction. Sam absolutely loved it when his hair was messy and she resisted the urge to jump on top of him again.

"With good reason." She sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed. "My parents are going to be here tomorrow. And they don't know anything! Ugh…nervousness is a little different as an android. As a human, my heart would beat so fast that it hurt and I would feel like I was going to throw up. But now…it feels like I'm about to short circuit and just explode or something!"

"As that is quite possible, I would like if you calmed down. I don't want to have to take you to the repair shop."

"I could actually explode?!"

"In a sense, yes. You could self-destruct." He sat next to her and put an around her shoulders. "That's why you need to calm down and lower your stress levels."

"Fuuuuuuck." She let out a long breath with the expletive. "Ok. Alright…I'm ok. James will be here. He can be a buffer if things get crazy." Just then the door bell rang. "Speak of the devil. That should be him."

"I'll get it." Connor excused himself from the bedroom and answered the door. "Hello, James. It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, you too. And under much better circumstances." James chuckled and gave Connor a quick hug and pat on the shoulder. "Where's Sam?"

"In the bedroom. Uhm…she's nervous."

"Nervous?" James cocked a brow towards the bedroom door. "About what?"

"Oh, so…you don't know either." Connor nodded to himself. "I see."

"Know what?"

"Now, James." Sam's voice called from the bedroom. "Promise me you won't freak out?"

"I can't do that." He shook his head. "What the hell is going on?"

"Uhhh…" Sam very slowly opened the door, just a crack, and peeked out at her brother. He cocked his head, extremely confused. His eyes landed on her bright yellow LED.

"Samantha, what the fuck?!"

"I told you not to freak!" She came out all the way, quickly approaching the darker skinned man.

"How the hell am I supposed to not freak out?! You're…you're an android! You're not supposed to be an android! What the fuck?!"

"Oh god…if you're this bad I can only imagine how mom and dad are going to react!"

"Mom and dad don't know either?!"

"No! I…I forgot!"

"No, you don't just 'forget' something like this! You were trying to stall and it failed." James let out an exasperated breath and slumped onto the couch. "Ok…Ok, I'm calming down. Now, tell me. What the fuck were you thinking?!"

"Liar! You're not calm! Your stress level is at 72%!"

"Yeah, well, your's is at 86%!"

"Oh, Jesus!" She grabbed the throw pillow and let out a scream into it before sitting next to James on the couch. Connor was still standing by the front door, confused on what exactly he should do. He settled for nothing and just watched them, hands folded behind his back, until he was needed.

"Ok. I'm calm. For real. Sort of." He took a deep breath and turned to face his sister. "Alright. Spill it."

"Fuck…" Sam huffed and held out her hand. "This is easier."

"Shit, this is too fucking weird…" James frowned and took her hand, accepting all the information Sam had to give him about what had happened since he last saw her. The memories washed over him in crashes. Big, painful crashes. And when her hand left his, he was crying and for a moment, he regretted having that function installed. "…Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I…I was overwhelmed. The same shit that killed my mom was killing me. I-I didn't know what to do. I just…sort of…let it happen. I sort of wanted it to happen…when that doctor told me that I wasn't going to live…that does something to you. It changes you. And…I just wanted it to end."

"But, Connor…" The mentioned android spun around at his name and joined them by the sofa. "He…made this for you?"

"Correct." Connor answered instead and sat next to Sam. "It was the only way, that I could find, to save Sam."

"Then I owe you. You saved my sister."

"I did not do it alone. I worked with a team of specialists for a month. I wanted her body to be perfect so as to ease the transition, if only a little." He then motioned up towards one of the cameras in Sam's apartment. "And even then, I wouldn't have known about the process if it wasn't for Susan."

"What? Your home AI?"

"Yes, James." Susan joined them, laughing a little. "Me."

"Well then uh…if there's anything that I can do to repay both of you—"

"Keep your eyes peeled for an unprogrammed android body?"

"…What for?"

"For me. Being deviant and being stuck in the apartment is boring. I want to go out and see and experience things! And unprogrammed android bodies are hard to come across. And they're expensive."

"O…okay." James nodded a little. "I'll uh, keep a look out."

"Thank you!" Everyone was silent for a moment before Susan spoke again. "Samantha, you're getting a call from your father."

"Oh god no…" Sam's face paled.

"Shall I patch him through?"

"Fuck…yeah, I guess. He'll just keep calling if you don't."

"Alright." A beep sounded, signaling that the call was received.

"Heeyyy, dad."

"Hey, kiddo!" The familiar jubilant voice of her father came through the speakers. "Just thought I'd let you know that there was a slight change of plans!"

"Oh, no. What do you mean?"

"Well, mom and I will be there tonight! Let's go out to dinner!"

"TONIGHT?!" Sam bolted up from the couch, LED red and stress levels rocketing back up to 86%.