CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

After returning home, he was greeted with a tight hug that made his thirium pump work faster than it should. He missed this so much. The last one at Stratford Tower had been a nightmare that he never wanted to relive.

As he held her, he could tell that Connor was uncomfortable. The other android looked as if he was caught between wanting to take her away from him and wanting to join in on the embrace.

When he gave him an encouraging smile, Connor looked away. It was unfortunate that he still had trouble accepting himself.

Connor awkwardly announced that he was to return to the police department and sadly told them that he could very well be deactivated, soon.

Simon wanted to stop him, but didn't want to step out of line. If he would just accept himself as a deviant, then he could stop being a slave to their orders. Connor hadn't done anything wrong. Why should he be terminated? Thankfully, Artie got there first. She tugged the RK800 closer.

"You're both so, so important to me. I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if either of you are gone, so j-just…" Her tears began to fall and Simon could see several prompts telling him to ease her sadness. "Don't go…"

He could tell that Connor was also seeing the exact same suggestions. There was no amount of comforting that could be done by him, so he nodded when she told him she was going to go to the DPD.

He really didn't want her to leave because he had only just come back home, but it was not his place to stop her. For his patience, he was rewarded with a kiss. It was short and not quite on his lips, but it was enough. He just wasn't quite sure why she had done it. Did she really feel the same way about him?

He remained on the couch long after they were gone and only decided to walk around when he had all the prompts cancelled and his thirium pump working at a normal pace, again.

As he looked around the house, he noticed that everything was impeccably clean. He contemplated the notion of Artie cleaning, but she wasn't a very organised person.

When he first entered the house after being purchased, there were fifty-three tasks for him to do. There was dust on every bit of furniture, except her bed and desk. Moving boxes were left unopened. Her clothes were scattered in every room. He wasn't quite sure how her socks ended up on top of the television screen. The bathroom had twenty squares of toilet paper and she illogically squeezed her toothpaste from the very top of the tube.

Needless to say, there had been much to do.

There were moments where she tried to help, but she ended up knocking over the box of detergent, so he gently beckoned her to return to her research.

It took him thirty-seven hours to have everything in order and the house was sparkling clean.

She had thanked him profusely in between apologies.

He hadn't understood why she was doing either of them. Wasn't that what she had purchased him for – to clean her house and take care of menial tasks?

It had taken him a while to truly understand her and by that time, there was something that had already changed from within him. He was definitely not the same android who was confined to its stifling existence like many others.

Instead, she had taught him autonomy. When he was done all his tasks, she allowed him free roam and an allowance to purchase whatever he pleased. There wasn't much he ever wanted, but every once in a while, he'd find something that matched the house décor.

She seemed to like what he picked, so he'd occasionally go out to the shopping centres.

He stopped in front of the small white statuette in her room. This was her favourite. It was also the first item he had ever bought for her.

A smile graced his lips as he picked it up. He'd like to think that this signified that he was still very much in her life, but there was a part of him that wondered if Connor had already replaced him.

The RK800 was able to do everything and more. Simon was well aware that he was an old model that was slower and required more maintenance. There really wasn't much use for him anymore when Connor was here.

When Artie came back, she seemed to be in distress. He also noted that the other android was missing. "Where is Connor?" he asked.

She told him that he had gone off to find the deviants because CyberLife was threatening to deactivate her android. She also continued to angrily rant about the "stupid android" and threatened to kill him herself if she got her hands on him.

He fondly compared her to an angry kitten.

When she took a deep breath, he cut in. "I know where he's probably going. I can… I can see if I'm able to bring him back if you wish." He didn't mention that he was no longer friendly with the other deviants, but if it made her happy, he'd do anything.

Somehow, he had gone from doing anything to survive to simply doing anything to make her happy. Why? Was… love supposed to be so uncertain and so painful?

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around him and he felt his thirium pump race. He wanted to completely ignore the problems at hand and kiss her until she could finally forget all her problems, but would she want him to do that?

Instead, he opted to kiss her head, a compromise he was willing to make, until they had Connor back.

The strange headstrong android better come back safely because Simon wasn't sure if he alone would be able to fix Artie if anything were to go wrong.