A short while later, Andrea's nursing her sweet and sour Chinese food at a table meant solely for the construction of droids.

"We're gonna get demerits," she notes wryly to the older colleague sitting across from her.

Florence chuckles. "For sure," she agrees. "We're having lunch outside of the designated lunch space, after all."

And they'd each brought an android with them who probably shouldn't be in here.

The two of them had seen each other instantly as Andrea walked in. Both were surprised to see anyone else back here at lunchtime, but took it in stride. As Andrea settled in at the table, Connor tried to look as inconspicuous and disinterested in his surroundings as possible, while Florence's android-a blond with odd but attractive features-seemed to do the same.

Unlike Seven, though, Florence's companion was probably not… well, not as strange. One would certainly hope, anyway.

Is that the same droid she keeps seeing with Florence, or just several with the same look? Andrea's not sure at first.

"So, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Florence asks, her olive skin crinkling at the corners of her eyes. She looks quite nice for 54, Andrea's always thought. Her wrinkles seem like well-worn smile lines, and it's as if she glows with happiness at all times despite what Andrea knows about the tragedies in her life. Maybe her good times were just so good that they live inside of her now, a constant source of joy.

"Shoot," Andrea invites.

"What's with the Connor? I've never seen one outside of Sub Fifty."

Andrea chuckles, a smidge awkwardly. "Well… yeah. This one-he's a bit of, uh, an outlier. Remember Darren got fired?"

"Oh, who could forget it? Even the guards escorting him out weren't too gentle, and they looked mad as hornets."

"He got fired over this one." She thumbs at Seven over her shoulder.

Florence blinks, surprised. "He looks just fine! What's gone wrong, can you fix him?"

Andrea chuckles. "Sadly, no. It's a software problem, primarily. I think they meant to assign this to Andrew, though I guess they might have thought maybe I could extract the right bits to fix him if I could isolate exactly what Darren did to fuck him up. But I've been through his insides, and didn't find any extra parts or anomalies. The tinkering seems to be in his software only, and it'd take an evil genius to fix, so all I'm really doing now is trying to spin straw into gold."

"Ahh," Florence says in understanding. "That's your punishment for doing good work, young lady," she chuckles. "CyberLife has grown to think you're the worth extraction fairy. You should've slacked off more. Let that be a lesson to you!"

Andrea's grin is pained. "Augh, it's too real." But she chuckles, too.

After awhile of eating in comfortable silence, Andrea's eyes turn to the blond droid as Florence asks him to pass her water bottle. She can't help but blink as she sees him dragging his leg as if it hardly works.

That's immediately unsettling. She knows Florence lost an adult son who had a similar limp. Somehow Andrea never really thought about it, but she can see the photo Florence keeps with her, and the look of that droid is suddenly all too familiar. He was the inspiration for this face, Andrea knows, but did she get a droid with that look and hobble him? Seems out of character.

Just as she was trying to get up the courage to ask, Florence grows self-conscious and rushes to explain. "He was like that on the assembly line," she tells Andrea. "Faulty part in his leg. It reminded me of William, you know… I miss him so much these days, now that my parents are gone," she says with a strained smile. "They really helped me grieve. But my empty nest wasn't supposed to be this empty. William was supposed to be having kids of his own, and I…"

Andrea holds up a hand, unable to listen to that quaver she just heard in Florence's voice. "You don't owe me an explanation," she says softly, not wanting the quaver to turn into sobs. Andrea hates it when other people cry. She hates it when she cries. She just hates crying, in general.

A thought hits her swiftly after that reassurance. She tilts her head as she eyes Florence's devastated face. "You know, you've been working on him a long time, haven't you?" That's the only thing that makes sense now. "He might or might not be defective, but... you work for CyberLife. You make bank like we all do."

Florence is eyeing her with confusion now. Way better than emotional agony. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Buy him," Andrea suggests. "Like, why not? You don't already have one, do you? If having him around helps you process your grief, there's no reason not to. Fix his leg, but say you've grown attached to him and ask to buy him. Employee discount on your first droid-if you haven't got one yet, then go for it. He can take good care of you. Be there for you like William would've been if he hadn't gone out in a blaze like the hero he was. If anything gives you solace after what you've been through, then I say go for it."

Florence's eyes are visibly wet as she turns her eyes to the blond droid. Andrea has an odd feeling as her eyes slide to him as well.

"You know, that's a fine idea, actually. Thank you, Andrea. Maybe I'll do just that."

"The company's always happy to make a sale," Andrea points out. "I'm sure they'd be glad to part with one if it's the only way you'll buy. Especially if you offer to pay the store he would've gone to for the difference."

Florence is dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief by now, and she nods. "You're right. I've grown very attached to him. I can't let him go. He's been wonderful company." She pats his arm fondly. "I would hate to deprive him of love, but… maybe he can find it after me. Our mechanical children are basically immortal, after all."

Andrea nods. "Basically."

She tries not to think too hard about William… the surgery he had to fix his limp which was a success against all odds. The fire he died in, saving a family. Calling him a hero was an understatement, not a platitude. This is why she'd always been leery of the idea of having kids-all that work, all that pain, only to lose it forever and have to bury your child… it seemed too great a burden to take any chance of bearing.

Her eyes trace over the serial number on the droid. That's an odd number. So many nines and zeroes; a single one. Glancing up at his face, she decides there is something about him. Something she can't quite define. He darts her a glance that almost seems… nervous? No, that can't be. He's not warped like Seven… Florence wouldn't do that. Andrea's known her for years; she's too responsible.

After another, longer silence, Florence dives in again. "So, what exactly did Darren do?"

Andrea sighs at seeing that particular can of worms open. She points to Seven's serial: #313 248 317 - 007. Easy to miss the extra digit. "He's a walking Bond joke," she bluntly informs.

"NO," Florence dishes, gawking. "You're kidding!"

"Understand, this information is… for your eyes only," Connor tells her, and caps it off with an absurdly charming wink. Somehow the flirting is really cute when he does it to Florence.

From the way she's giggling in response, Florence must agree. In fact, the giggles turn to increasingly hysterical laughter, and one hand ends up over her heart as she slaps the table with the other. "I can't believe it!" she finally shrieks, breathless. "Darren, you beautiful bastard… oh, my dad loved Bond movies; if only he was alive to see this! You know, I thought Daniel Craig was the really handsome one..." she begins chattering.

As much of a headache as Seven has been, Andrea can't help but chuckle and glance at him as he banters back and forth with Florence. He's beaming as the lady's peals of laughter ring from the rafters, but Andrea will allow it. He may be ridiculous, but it's really not his fault... and he made a very nice lady extremely happy today. Comedy can brighten the darkest moments.

If only she hadn't thought that, and immediately ruined it by imagining her friend's broken shell lying sedated in a hospital bed-all the good times forgotten as if they never were.

She keeps the smile on her face, but there's a shadow behind it now.