The first thing Zane felt when it woke up was warmth. Considering its usual solitary state, being so warm was a decidedly odd feeling. However, the missing puzzle piece to this whole situation was why it was cozy in the first place. Last it had known, it was shutting down from an influx of previously unknown memories, and now it had woken up. Something to be determined was why it had shut down instead of destructed, but that was an issue for a different time.

For now, Zane attempted to sit up to assess its situation, but found it was being weighed down by something. It paused for a moment and attempted to scan the restraint to the best of its abilities in its compromised state, only to find that the object was indeed a human arm. Upon further inspection, the skin on this arm was rather dark, and the only residents of the Bounty with that dark of skin was Cole.

So it was being held (pinned?) down by Cole. And judging by the relaxed position of the muscles, the ninja was probably asleep. It was then that Zane noticed that it was charging, but it wasn't at its assigned charging station. It debated between adjusting its position to fully take in its environment or waking up the snoozing Earth Ninja, and decided on the former, the knowledge that it wasn't fully aware of its surroundings tugging at his chest.

With a gentle shove, Zane sat up, and Cole stirred with a quiet grumble.

Zane quickly glanced around to see that the pair were in Kai's old room, where the Fire Ninja stored his clothes. They were currently on an air mattress on the floor, and the Bounty around them was eerily quiet. Careful not to jostle the cords plugged into it, Zane checked to make sure that it was still fully intact, feeling over seams in its skin and the joints connecting the parts of its body.

Cole sat up too, rubbing his eyes wearily. He watched Zane prune itself curiously, and waited until the android was done to disturb it.

"Hey."

The ZN600 jumped, and Cole immediately smoothed a hand over its back.

"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"There is no need to apologize, I should not have been so oblivious to my surroundings."

"It's all good, Z."

The two sat in silence, Zane's eyes remaining blue, but their usual pulse was much faster. Cole thought it was almost like the android was wearing its heart in its irises.

"So, uh," The Earth Ninja began, and Zane braced itself for what it predicted to be the line of questioning. "What happened back there, what was that?"

"The setting in the movie you were watching caused memories I did not realize I possessed to force their way to the surface."

"Is that all?" Cole asked, and the android turned its gaze away. "Because usually people don't react like that when they remember something."

"I am not a person," Zane answered quickly, before it even knew what it was saying. "Using extrapolated data from your teammates will not line up with my programmed behaviors."

Cole bit his lip, holding back on grabbing Zane's shoulders and shaking some self-awareness into the android.

"Still, shutting down shouldn't be the initial reaction. You looked scared as you were powering off, and that's not normal."

Zane didn't respond, and Cole sighed.

"Look, you don't have to tell me, but if Jay asks you have to tell him, right?"

"I would tell you as well, any orders to do so would not conflict with any existent orders given to me by Jay."

"Normally I wouldn't do this, but I don't like seeing you in pain. What were the memories about that resurfaced?"

"They were memories from when I was being worked on back in Borg's lab. They were testing the physical capabilities of their new synthetic skin design."

"What were they doing to test it?" Cole asked, although he feared the answer.

"Testing heat resistance, mostly. As a housekeeping android, it was imperative to test that it couldn't be burned by simple slips of the hand."

Cole seemed stunned for a few seconds, taking a bit to gather his composure enough to ask for clarification.

"H- how did they test the heat resistance?"

"By simulating potential scenarios, such as hot irons, pans-"

Zane trailed off when Cole's face fell, eyes widening so much that the whites were clearly visible in the low light.

"Zane, what the fuck, oh my god-"

"Your response seems rather adverse, is everything alright-"

"No! Nothing is alright, you just admitted to being fucking tortured by the engineers who worked on you!"

"Torture might be too strong of a word choice," Zane said bitterly, but didn't refute Cole's claim.

"They burned you with hot metal, how is that not torture?" The Earth Ninja seemed like he wanted to cry, and Zane stared at him curiously.

"Why does this fact have you so worked up? It is not wise to be so stressed right before going to bed."

"Because you didn't deserve all of that!"

The explosion of emotion startled Zane, and its eyes flashed yellow for a brief moment as the noise rung thought its ears. The Earth Ninja let out a strangled sigh and took a deep breath. He reached out and held Zane tightly, tugging the android to his chest for a few beats of his heart.

"Zane, when we first got you, I didn't see this coming," Cole chuckled hollowly, and Zane nodded in its attempt to soothe the ninja. "Something's not right here. I don't know why, but something's not right."

Zane quirked its head, clear blue eyes pulsing gently as it took in Cole's expression.

"I have told you everything I know in regards to my life before being given to you all. I am afraid that my memory has been altered or otherwise erased."

"They erased all of your memories?"

"I do not know that for sure, but what I do know is that I cannot access them at this point in time. I can recollect my training, but that is it. If you are curious, I can display my memories either on my hand or through the camera app of your smartphone."

Cole blinked, and shifted back to hold Zane away from him.

"You can display memories?"

"Yes, I am not the first model to be able to do so. The KR400s and ST500s can do so as well."

"I'm not gonna pretend like I know what those models are."

"The KR400s are used mostly as academic tutors for small children, and the ST500s are used as secretaries or assistants," Zane explained, and Cole blinked in surprise.

"Y'know, that wasn't a question, but you learn something new everyday, I guess," Cole smiled to himself, but it quickly fell with another thought. "Y'know, if we had met in different circumstances, I think we woulda been great friends."

"Friends?" Zane asked, eyebrows furrowing. "Do you think of me as a friend? Because I'm nothing more than a tool for your disposal. I am not worthy of a bond that strong."

Cole could practically see the stress levels rising in the android's head as its eyes bored into his own, so rather than cause another confrontation, he decided to back off.

"Alright, alright. I won't say that, got it."

A few beats of silence passed in between the two, before Zane looked away as to not make Cole uncomfortable.

"Cole, do you truly mean what you and the others said earlier? Do you truly see me as too human?"

"What's the consequences of either answer?" The Earth Ninja swallowed nervously, and Zane's gaze flickered back up to him for a brief moment.

"If you answer yes, then I will likely alter my behavioral patterns to better fit the role I was made for. If you answer no, then I will stay as I am but be cautious of my actions."

"Then no, I don't," Cole could see that Zane was going to dispute based on his previous statement, but decided that arguing against one of its owners would be a bad idea.

"Thank you, Cole," The ZN600 seemed to relax, which made his heart twist. How could someone look so relieved to hear that they were thought of as an object. "Are you tired? It is rather late, after all. My clock says that the current time is two in the morning, so it is advisable that you get some sleep."

"I'm kinda tired, but I don't really want to go to bed," Cole admitted, and Zane nodded.

"Understood. Do you wish for me to assist you in feeling more comfortable? It is part of my purpose to ease your quality of life as well as take care of your property."

"Sure, Z. Whatcha got?"

"I can give basic massages, play white noise such as rainfall and ocean waves, read available ebooks available at your chosen public library, or play music if you so desire."

"Could you read something? Haven't done that in a while."

"Would you prefer that I change my voice to a different accent or pitch?"

"No, your voice is fine."

"Which public library would you like to me to access?"

Cole stared at Zane blankly, before the ZN600 smiled.

"I will access the Ninjago City Public Library as a default. Which book would you like me to read?"

"Surprise me, Z."

Zane thought for a moment, its blue eyes pulsing in processing.

"Alright, I shall begin. Would you like to lie down? I will monitor your vitals to ensure that I will pick up where you loose consciousness next time you wish to be read to."

Cole flopped down onto the mattress once more, Zane remaining sitting beside him.

"I'm ready when you are," The Earth Ninja smiled sleepily, and Zane returned the expression tentatively, sitting back to allow for a comfortable speaking position.

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun..."