Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the support you guys have given in regards to Clara being Ace! It means the world to me, and I'm ecstatic to represent people like us. :)

57 Detroit 1.21.2039

Clara

I march into the office like a boss. And immediately lose all confidence as everyone stares at me. Now I feel like an idiot dressed up like this. Why hadn't I just worn jeans and a hoodie so I could blend in? Stupid, Clara.

"Got you coffee, which I see you already have," Tony says, approaching me while everyone else watches me like a leper.

"I need two," I tell him, taking the second coffee. "Let's get this over with."

"Don't sound so excited." Tony follows me into one of the conference rooms.

"I feel like I'm being interrogated. Do you want me in cuffs?" I ask, spiteful and snippy. I know this isn't Tony's fault. In fact, he probably saved me by volunteering to interview me and write the article. I trust him. The schmucks out in the newsroom? Hell no. Out there it's journalist pitted against journalist. It hadn't ever been that way with Tony and me.

"Relax, Clara." Tony sits, motioning for me to sit across from him. I perch on the edge of my seat. "Wanna warm up to this or should we just rip the bandage off?" he asks.

"Rip." I take a fortifying sip of coffee.

Tony sets his phone on the table and hits record. "When did you meet Connor?"

"You know when."

Tony sighs. "In your own words?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm not legally able to talk about that time in my life." I quirk a brow at him.

Tony pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I was writing an article on the injustices of androids, particularly within a household. Connor was on a case and we crossed paths. In the end, we worked together as journalist and detective to solve a case. We became friends and worked a few more cases together," I finally relent.

"What was your first impression of him?"

"Honestly?"

"Ideally."

I roll my eyes. "Honestly, I thought he was intimidating at first. He seemed much more aware than other androids I'd encountered. He was alert and intelligent and, though he was following orders like any android, he seemed to take some liberties many couldn't. He had a job to do, and he was designed to do that job well, which involved making his own judgment calls from time to time."

"When did you begin to feel something for him?" Tony asks. His tone is clipped now, professional. I can tell he's trying not to make me uncomfortable, but that's impossible. I shift in my seat and think of all the places I'd rather be.

"That's difficult to answer. It was a gradual thing and then kind of all at once," I finally respond.

"Was it any different than falling for a human?" He makes a face at this question to show me he doesn't care for it.

"No. I mean, I knew it was different. I knew it wasn't an easy thing I was setting myself up for, but the more I was around him, the more I realized I couldn't stand the thought of not being around him. We became friends first, but then I realized I was attracted to him. It didn't feel any different than being attracted to a human. To me, even though I knew he wasn't actually human, he was. Our differences didn't matter." I'm warming up to the interview now in a way I never thought I would. These questions give me a chance to spread a message: androids aren't so different from us.

"So what is different in your relationship?"

I lean back in my chair to consider this. "Well, he doesn't eat for one. But he does cook me dinner." Tony gives me an encouraging smile. "He's much more analytical than I'll ever be and knows a lot more than humans ever could, but part of that is his personality. He's a detective at heart. He's still learning how to be human and not because he can't, but because he hasn't been able to, because, until recently, no one would have accepted that he could be.

"Being out in public is probably where the biggest difference in our relationship is. Unlike human couples, we can't walk out in public hand-in-hand without getting judged. He has to wear a hat to hide his LED because no one is ready to accept us as a couple yet. No one is ready to accept him."

"That must be hard."

"It is. He still skirts around people because he was programmed to be subservient to them. I'm trying to teach him that's not true, that he is an equal whether they accept that or not, but it's just not that simple. If people keep treating him like he's less, he's going to keep believing that. And if there aren't consequences for hurting androids, people are going to keep hurting them." My voice breaks just a little as I say this. I had started off wanting nothing to do with this interview, but now I'm leaning forward, waiting for the next question.

"What are your plans for the future?" Tony asks, his eyes lighting up with genuine interest. He's rooting for us even if he's one of the only ones.

"That's a good question," I have to admit. "Our relationship is still new, but I want to think it will last. I have no intentions of breaking things off. No matter how hard it gets, I have his back and he has mine. We've been through too much together. I...I really feel like we were meant to be. I didn't think soulmates existed before, but I think I found mine." Tony grins at me.

"I hope we can get to a day when we can walk down the street hand-in-hand without him having to hide his LED. I hope we can get to a point where we could marry legally if we chose. That's a long way down the line, but it's something to consider." Now my mouth is getting away from me, and my cheeks flush. We hadn't been together long enough to talk about marriage. I'd never seen myself as someone who wanted to get married. I didn't know if that was in our future, but the thought of it warmed my heart.

"Okay, one final question." Tony mouths 'sorry' at me before asking. "How does sex work with an android? Obviously there are androids that were produced for that purpose, but do androids feel sexual desire or attraction?"

I knew this question was coming, but I still feel my stomach sink in dread. Did I come out and tell Tony Connor and I hadn't had sex, that I didn't know if we ever would? I didn't know if he felt sexual desire or attraction because we hadn't had a conversation about it yet. I was still figuring out exactly what I felt or didn't feel. Tony is waiting for an answer, and I realize it's been an awkwardly long time since he asked the question.

I reach out and press pause on the recording. Tony lifts a brow. "I don't know the answer to that," I whisper as if our coworkers are eavesdropping.

"You haven't had sex yet?" Tony guesses.

I shake my head. "I don't know if he wants to, but…" My cheeks have got to be a flaming shade of red by now. This is such an awkward conversation to have, but this is Tony. He's like family, and I know he won't judge me. I need to tell someone. "I know I don't want to," I finally say, the words coming out in a rush.

He furrows his brow. "Yet or ever?" he asks.

"Ever. It has nothing to do with Connor. I just...I don't feel sexual attraction. It took me awhile to figure that out, but it all started to make sense. I've never...I've never been intimate with any of my past boyfriends and I haven't actually really had an honest to goodness boyfriend before. Just dates that I don't end up following up on. I get scared of the thought of them wanting more. Connor is the first person I've had a real connection to. He's the first person I can't imagine spending a day apart from, but that doesn't change the fact that I am not interested in sex. I do not want to have it, and I don't think anything is going to change that including my feelings for Connor. I...I love him, but I don't need or want that to be a part of our relationship."

I huff out a breath at the end of my speech. Tony doesn't speak at once. He leans back in his chair, swaying side to side as he steeples his fingers together and considers. "So you're asexual," he finally says.

"Yeah."

"But you don't know if Connor feels the same? Have you even had this conversation with him yet?" He frowns, not disapprovingly but in concern.

I shake my head. "I was going to talk to him tonight. He's never asked for more and I honestly don't know if androids do feel sexual attraction or not. But if it's something he wants… I don't know how it's going to work and that scares me more than anything."

Tony's face crumples. He reaches across the table to take my hand. "Clara. He's not going to dump you because you don't want to have sex. But you do need to have a conversation about this."

"I know."

"Tonight for sure?"

"Tonight for sure. I don't know how to answer your question." I fiddle with one of the coffee cups, dragging the paper sleeve up and down.

"Just answer it honestly, but don't get personal if you don't want. Just give the straight facts. You haven't taken your relationship to that level yet, and that's something you need to figure out on your own."

I nod and press play on his phone. "I can't speak for androids," I say. "I honestly don't know if they can feel sexual attraction or desire. As for Connor and me, that's not somewhere we've taken our relationship, and it's something we'll figure out."

Tony nods and stops the recording. "You did good," he says. "I know that was rough."

"Not as bad as I was thinking." I frown down at my own phone as it begins to buzz. "It's Hank. I'd better get this," I say, surprised that the detective would call me directly.

"Hank?" I answer the phone. I can hear the fear in his voice the second he begins to speak, and my stomach drops.

"It's Connor," he says. "He's been taken."