CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

It turned out that Peter didn't have a car, so I ended up driving him to Stratford Tower. I wasn't sure if that was all he wanted from me, but he did drag me out to meet his sister.

When we walked in, the receptionist smiled at him. "Hello, how may I help you?"

He smiled back. "Hi, I'm Peter Smith. I'm here to pick up my sister, Sarah Smith. This is my friend Artemisia."

The ST300 model's LED blinked yellow several times before replying, "Of course, if you need any help. Please, ask."

All throughout the lobby, there were people who recognised Peter as if he was some sort of celebrity. I felt myself shrinking away from the attention that was indirectly focused on me.

It was worse after going up the elevator to Floor 79. The people there were even more familiar with him.

"Hey, Peter! Here to take your sis home?" a man with the name tag, Frank, asked with a giant grin on his face.

Peter returned the gesture. "Yeah, is she still cleaning up the equipment?"

"Nah, she's just over there talking to Matilda. Who's that? I've never seen you bring a lady here. Is she your girlfriend?" he asked.

My face immediately turned red as Peter's did the same.

"N-No! She's just a… umm…"

He looked at me with wide eyes and I quickly replied for him. "I'm Artemisia. I'm his co-worker from CyberLife."

"Ouch! Not even a friend?" Frank gave a dramatic wince.

I could tell that he was only joking, but it was still awkward when I wasn't close to Peter, at all. Before today, I rarely even spoke to him. They had been such brief, professional interactions that I could barely remember them.

"I'm getting there," Peter jokingly told him, shaking off the awkwardness much quicker than I had.

As they conversed, I looked around the broadcasting room. It was much larger than I thought and seemed almost surreal. How many times had I seen news coverage from this very place?

"Hey, Petey!" A smiley brunette waved as she walked over.

Peter immediately frowned at her. "I told you not to call me that!"

She threw her arm around his shoulder. "And I told you that I don't care because guess what? I'm older than you!" Noticing me standing uncomfortably nearby, she turned her to smile to me. "Hey! I'm Sarah!"

I mumbled my name, feeling the regret of agreeing to this strange excursion.

"Aww… She's so cute, isn't she?" Sarah cooed.

"Okay, stop it." Peter pushed her away. His face was still the colour of a tomato. "Time to go. Artemisia drove me here and she said it was alright to drive us home, too. I don't want to waste anymore of her time."

"What? You're letting a lady trouble herself getting your fat ass here? You should be ashamed of yourself! We can just take a bus. Don't worry about it, Artemisia!" Sarah exclaimed.

I shook my head. "It's fine. I don't mind."

Although I wanted nothing more than to disappear through the floor, I knew that I had to move away from my comfort zone if I wanted any friends. Wasn't this what I had been looking for sine I came to Detroit? I really had to stop slinking back into my shell. Besides, Sarah and Peter have actually been very kind to me.

But what if I was wrong? I didn't want to be hurt, again. The last time I met a co-worker outside of work, I lost Simon and I was in the centre of a homicide case. That wasn't exactly what I wanted to repeat. What else did I have to lose?

"Hey, are you okay? You're looking a little pale," Peter noted, trying to see past the curtain of hair that had slipped in front of my face while I was trying to contemplate the pros and cons of every decision I was going to make.

"I-I'm fine," I reassured him. "Sorry, I'm ready to go when you are. Unless you have other things to do first… I can wait. Don't worry."

"Nah. I'm ready to crash on the couch and watch some reality TV!" she cheered, stretching her arms, until there was an audible 'pop!'

If that was what they wanted, I saw no more reason to linger. I was actually becoming quite exhausted with socialising. It was fine with androids, but for some reason, I couldn't find the same ease with other people.

As I was walking back out, I accidentally bumped into one of the swirly chairs. "S-Sorry!" I apologised to the JB300 who made no indications that he had been momentarily interrupted by my clumsiness.

"Oh, wait! I forgot my bag. Give me a sec!" Sarah ran back to where her friend was still conversing with her coworkers.

Peter and I stood by the door as it opened and suddenly, a handful of people came bursting in with guns pointed at us.

"Keep your hands where I can see them! Come on. Move!" the female demanded. Her uniform indicated that she was an android, but I had never seen the WM400 use the Traci appearance before.

Before I could look at anyone else, I was knocked to the floor and partially covered by Peter who was breathing heavily.

Screams burst out from all around us as some ran for safety, while others hid beneath the tables and desks. Eventually, they, too, left.

Sarah ran towards the door and grabbed Peter along the way. He stared at me with wide eyes, trying to pull me with him, but my attention was already stolen away by a familiar face in a JB300 uniform.

"S-Simon?" I breathed in shock. It couldn't be. It could've been any other PL600 who had gone deviant because he would never threaten anyone with a gun.

He turned and when our eyes met, I had no doubt that he was my Simon. His LED was a burnt yellow.

"Shoot him, Markus!" the female shouted as Peter continued to run.

"No!" a dark-skinned male protested. Out of the four, he was the only one without at uniform.

"He's going to pull the alarm if you let him go!" she argued back, snatching the gun from Markus' hand, but Peter was already gone, disappearing around the corner.

"Simon…?" I was the only one left in the room who wasn't an android. Finally, there was time to talk to him without other people judging us.

He took an uncertain step forward, while I scrambled to my feet and flew into his arms. "Artie…" he mumbled into my hair as I sobbed in his arms.

"I missed you. I missed you!" I repeated over and over again, clinging on to his uniform like a young child.

"I missed you, too, Artie," he replied, pulling away just enough to gaze at me. The smile on his face was gentle and his blue eyes were filled with what I could only describe as love.

At this very moment, he had never seemed more human.

I rose to my tippy toes, eyes fixated on the smooth lips I had come to know if only for a brief moment.

My heart was still racing from the adrenaline rushing through my body, but for a much different reason, now. It seemed like our more intimate moments always stemmed from something drastic. I was still shocked by the sudden raid, but –

Bang!

"Artie…?"