Right after Kai and Zane left for the school, Cole and Jay sat in silence. Neither of them were eager to start this conversation, Cole knowing that he was still agitated from their earlier argument.
Jay was just stubborn, knowing that although Kai and Cole had asked him to see Zane as more human, it was still an android, and Cole's coddling was excessive in every way. But with a deep breath, Cole began the conversation.
"So," The Earth Ninja took a deep breath. "Why did you have Zane not speak?"
"It kept asking me things, and it was early and I was annoyed."
"Did you think about maybe just asking it to stop instead of ordering it around?"
"Why?" Jay rapped his fingers on the table, a nervous fidget he had picked up over the years.
"Asking it politely to stop would have been nicer than making it shut up," Cole explained gently, trying not to let his frustration get the best of him. "It doesn't want to disappoint you, Jay, just asking it would have accomplished the same task while being a little more humane."
"But why do I need to be humane? Borg's androids are programmed to follow the orders of their humans, and I'm its owner. Why should I need to be gentle?"
"I know it's easy for you to think that Zane's just another android, but I'm telling you something's not right. There's more going on in its head than it's telling us about."
Jay didn't really respond to the statement except for a hum while he thought of his next point. He glanced away when he asked his question of Cole.
"Why did you really stay with it last night? You said you didn't mean to, but I don't really buy that."
"What I said afterwards was true. It was really shaken up so I didn't want to leave it alone."
"What does it possibly have to be shaken up about?" Jay said incredulously, and Cole gnawed on his lip.
"There's more than you think. I asked it what memories I had triggered and it said that it had remembered testing that the engineers had done on it back at Borg's."
"Like what?" Jay's malice had given way to curiosity now that true robotics was involved, which wasn't too much of an improvement in Cole's mind, but still improvement nonetheless.
"It said that they had tested the heat resistance of the new synthetic skin with hot irons and pans while it was conscious."
Clearly, Jay hadn't been expecting that. He floundered for a few moments, blinking at Cole before resting his chin on his hand.
"They did that?" His voice had grown softer, and Cole nodded stoically.
"Yeah, it didn't remember up until I brought it in to watch the movie last night and something made the memories come back up. Then its stress levels jumped and I felt terrible to leave it alone again after I made it like that."
Jay didn't speak for a few moments, instead glancing around everywhere but the Earth Ninja, awkwardly rubbing his fingertips together.
"So you think it's human because of its reactions? Like all of the panicking and whatnot?" The Lightning Ninja quirked his mouth, and Cole tried not to let his happiness show that Jay seemed to be coming around.
"Yeah, machines don't react like that to being reminded of prior testing. It was seriously freaking out, but I calmed it down. Zane' machine side kinda mixes in with its more human side too, because I reassured it by making sure it knew that we still thought of it as just a house cleaning android."
"So it's an android with anxiety that's calmed down by being reminded of how worthless it is? The marvels of technology," Jay nodded in a daze, fingers drumming on the table again. Silence fell over the pair once more, both boys deep in thought and mulling over the statements made.
"We have to leave in a few minutes," Cole observed, and Jay hummed in acknowledgment. Cole could sense that Jay wanted to say something, but decided that forcing that statement out would ruin the sentiment behind it. He stayed silent up until the Earth Ninja tugged him up from his chair, and wrapped the Lightning Ninja in a tentative hug.
"I'm sorry if I've made you feel unwanted," Cole mumbled into Jay's hair. "I've just been worried about Zane, since it could literally die if left to its own devices for too long. After school is over, do you wanna do something? Like, make dinner together or get coffee or whatever?"
His boyfriend nodded into his chest, and took a deep breath.
"Was what you and Kai said the other night seriously true? Do you think that Borg isn't telling us everything about Zane?"
"I really believe that," Cole pulled away to look Jay in the eyes. "From what I've seen out of it, it's not like a normal household android. I just don't think it quite knows that itself. It really cares about you, Jay, even though you don't really feel the same back."
"Do you think I'm really that bad?" Jay's voice cracked, and his eyebrows crinkled inwards as if he were about to cry. "If you think Zane really is like a person, am I being too harsh on it?"
The Earth Ninja nodded, and his partner swiped at his eyes with his sleeve.
"Right, okay. Let's make dinner tonight. Gotta rush home to beat Kai and Zane then."
"Making dinner will do us good," Cole smiled softly, and ruffled Jay's head. "We can talk more there, yeah?"
"Yeah, we can," The redhead sniffed, and turned towards the door. "We need to get going. Hopefully we aren't too late."
"We'll be fine," Cole shrugged, and tugged Jay towards the door. "Just forget about it for now, no use worrying the kids."
"Yeah," Jay took a shuddering breath, and followed Cole out. "Yeah, later."
Kai was nervous out of his mind as he and Zane walked home. Sure, he had seen Cole and Jay in passing throughout the school day, but what they had discussed beforehand was still a complete mystery to him. Zane had entertained the kids well enough, spouting off fun facts about random animals that scurried by as well as the plants that they encountered, and Kai was grateful for the stress taken off his shoulders.
His boyfriends had gone home immediately after school ended, not wanting to wait around like they usually do to walk home together. He hoped that it meant that they wanted to talk more, but the fact that the conversation had probably turned into an argument nagged at the back of his mind. Kai had needed to finish up preparing for the next day's activity, and had decided to stay to do so with a little android assistance. So, unfortunately, the other two had been at the Bounty alone for a little longer than Kai had hoped.
"Kai, are you alright?" Zane asked, and the Fire Ninja jumped.
"I'm just worried is all, don't worry about it," Kai waved Zane away, and the android quirked its mouth.
"Part of my directive as a household android is to ensure the emotional wellbeing of the occupants. I will not pressure you into speaking to me, but I know that the last time you did you said that it made you feel more at ease."
Kai didn't verbally respond, but he nodded in acknowledgment before the pair continued on. They walked for a few minutes in silence, just listening to the birds for a couple moments of peace.
"Just... whatever came of their conversation, Zane, don't take it personally. If Jay is weird towards you, it's not because you did anything wrong. Alright?"
"Affirmative."
When the two walked through the door, however, the lovely smell of roasted vegetables and pork reached them. Kai furrowed his brow, and Zane's eyes flashed yellow at the thought of its owners having to prepare their own food, especially after the rough morning. Kai noticed the change in Zane's demeanor, and nudged it with his elbow.
"Hey, it's okay. It's not that late, they could have waited for you. You didn't do anything wrong."
Zane nodded, but it didn't look very convinced. The look it got from Jay when the two walked in did nothing to ease its nerves.
"Hey Zane, hey Kai," Jay greeted sheepishly, busy seasoning some greens on the stove. "Cole and I figured we'd do something together, so we decided to make dinner together."
Zane was still slightly stunned, but Kai raised an eyebrow. He wanted to ask for the reasoning behind this seeming change of heart, but could see Jay's hesitance in explaining more with the android standing right there.
"Zane, could you grab me some Tylenol or something? I feel a headache coming on."
"Of course," Zane broke from its stiff posture and left swiftly, and Kai sighed.
"Alright, what's actually going on?"
"Jay feels bad now," Cole said bluntly, and Jay huffed a little from his place by the stove. "He didn't realize that Zane had some sort of robot PTSD and-"
"Zane has what now?" Kai's eyes widened, but he didn't get to ask for more info before said android returned with a few pills.
"Based on your age and weight, I figured an appropriate dose was three pills," Zane explained as it handed Kai the medicine and a glass of water from the bathroom sink, and the Fire Ninja downed the pills quickly.
"Thanks. You can go and charge for a bit if you want, we can get dinner covered in here."
"If you think I should charge, then I will do so," Zane nodded, and it stepped out of the room once more, this time headed towards Kai's room where the charging cables still were.
"Long story short, it sounds like they did some pretty inhumane testing on it," Jay winced, and Cole nodded in silent agreement. "So Cole thinks that Zane is so jumpy and anxious because there's some sort of repressed memory saying that we're going to do something if it doesn't."
"And I learned something about the self destruct thing, I think," Kai tacked on, and his boyfriends' eyebrows raised. "It seems like all of the prototypes have it. They're only made to last a few years, so eventually all of them literally fall apart or they kill themselves from stress."
"But then why is Zane so stressed out now?" Cole's expression darkened, and Kai and Jay shrugged.
"Not sure. It's not like we're giving it any super strenuous work or anything," Jay quirked his mouth, and Kai felt a terrible feeling swirl in his gut.
"Guys, call me crazy, but somehow I feel like Zane wasn't actually made to be a household android."
"What do you mean?" Cole asked, not outwardly dismissing Kai but also not too sure of his statement.
"Well, I'm not an engineer or anything, but isn't there usually more than just one prototype made for a line as big as the ZNs? And why would Zane have such an issue with keeping calm while just doing normal tasks like cooking and cleaning and stuff?"
"Yeah, the fact that it seems to be the only ZN600 being tested is a bit fishy," Jay finished up his vegetables, plating them on the side of each platter as not to interfere with Cole's portion of the meal. "And the fact that Borg doesn't want to directly monitor its testing is a little suspicious too."
"Should we ask him?" Cole inquired, following up behind Jay's part of the meal with his own. "I mean, how much could it hurt just to ask, right?"
"Well, considering the fact that Zane seems to have suffered some sort of sketchy testing, and that Borg seems to be hiding information from us, asking about it might just make him take Zane back, which would not be good right now," Jay stuffed his hands in his pockets with a sigh.
Cole paled, chest tightening at the thought of losing the android so soon.
"Fair point," The Earth Ninja frowned, and that was the end of that conversation. None of the ninja quite knew how to continue the conversation, so they decided to drop it in favor of their dinner.
Meanwhile, Zane was in Kai's old room, sitting on the floor with the cables plugged in but not powering down just yet. The Fire Ninja had invited it to power off early into the evening, but it could tell that it was more of an order than a question. So it sat, not needing a recharge but also unwilling to leave the room.
The air mattress that Cole had used last night was sitting a few paces away, made up by the android before it had left for the academy with Kai. A strange pull in Zane's chest made it gnaw on its lip, eyes pulsing a faint yellow for only a split second before returning to their steady blue. It remembered how warm Cole's arm had felt around it, and how it had felt taken care of after it had lulled him to sleep.
An error message in its vision made it waver, and it attempted to think of something else as a distraction. It focused on the grooves in the wood floor, worn from desert sands and constant use. The gentle ridges gave it something to focus on, which it welcomed gladly as it calmed down from the warnings.
It distantly heard the crew eating dinner together in the dining room, the laughter of the team a stark contrast to the blanket of silence that seemed to fall over it. Much like the first time it had looked at the pictures on the nightstand, it felt a sense of longing that it couldn't quite understand.
To rid itself of the lingering sense of an error, it decided to power down early, despite its earlier resistance to doing so. With a quiet sigh and a slump into its arms, Zane fell into a dreamless stasis, alarm set for the next morning.