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Chicago: Become Human

Chapter Five: Touch

He waited until she displayed the first signs of stirring before he spoke. "Samantha."

She shifted closer and made a soft noise.

"Samantha, your hand is in my shirt."

She stirred a little more, becoming aware that even though she fell asleep with her head innocently on Connor's shoulder, she had now snuggled her full body up to his side. Her hand had found a comfortable home through the open collar of his shirt, splayed over his artificial clavicle.

"Mmm, did I take too many liberties in my sleep?" she wondered, still not opening her eyes.

"Liberties," Connor mulled over the word.

"You're just so warm. Like a little space heater. Tell me to move the hand and I will."

He didn't.

She dozed off again, only slightly aware when Connor extracted himself from her and the bed and dressed himself. He then soundlessly left to do his routine security rounds of the parameter. As usual, Samantha was in the kitchen making breakfast when he returned, the crisp winter air sneaking in with him as he walked in from outside. He was wearing the red tie she gave him. Samantha couldn't help but grin from ear to ear at her food.

When she had finished cleaning up from breakfast, two guests came into the house from the adjacent facility. Malory Rollins walked smartly in, flanked by a man Connor had not seen in person before. He was tall and lean; proud. Hair touched with gray, a fine suit around his angular form. He walked with a cane, but used it only slightly. It almost seemed more to accessorize his look than for any practical purpose.

This man was in Connor's files: Elliot Hall, the owner of the Hall Foundation. His registered owner. Not a threat. Connor noticed their entrance far before Samantha who was rinsing the last few meal's worth of dishes in the sink. He stood off to the side at attention, staying out of the way of the humans unless he was needed.

"Samantha," Elliot announced as they stepped in.

She paused by the sink before finally turning around to greet the visitors. "Yes," she said neutrally, her face blank.

"I haven't been by in a while. I thought I would come over and see how you are doing."

She nodded. "Yes." She was strangely non-verbal and non-emotive to this man, Connor noted. He had no pre-recorded information on this response. He did not know how one should react to this, so he continued to stand still.

When Elliot watched her expectantly, she spoke again as if he had verbally ordered her to. "Yes, I'm quite well, thank you."

Elliot Hall glanced over at Connor. "And I see you have your android with you. Garrett said we were getting top of the line. What do you think about this one?"

Samantha glanced his way, a bit of warmth sent in his direction. "He's been working out very well. I like him a lot, actually. Thank you, Mr. Hall, for getting him for me. I really appreciate the thought."

Mr. Hall. An odd name to call one's father. Elliot, though pleased with her gratitude, frowned minutely at the title. "I heard you've been going out into town again. Alone?"

"Uh, no. Not alone. I take Connor with me. But yes, I've been to town a few times. Not a lot, but I... I'm trying to get back to my old self. I'm trying to be brave again."

"Good girl. I think it's splendid you are going into town, and that you are keeping the android with you. I was worried I was throwing away good money on this. I wasn't sure you would even let it stay in the house."

Samantha smiled just a little. "I wasn't sure at first, but he's growing on me. It's nice to have him here."

"Good! Good. And since you're feeling up to your old self again, you could probably fit in an extra round at the clinic."

Connor saw her face pale. His sensors picked up her increased heartbeat.

"I... do I have to? I'm already back to doing it once a month regularly."

"Of course, you would prefer not to do it at all," Elliot muttered.

Samantha gave a 'well, yeah' kind of gesture.

Elliot's frown deepened. "You know this is important work. We need those samples. I have graciously allowed you some leeway while you've moped around and felt sorry for yourself after the incident, but now we're behind."

"And what if I refuse?" Samantha said, her voice going into an odd whisper.

Anger broiled on Elliot's face.

"Sir," Connor cut in. "Health and safety regulations require a minimum of fifty-six days for the blood to regain its normal hemoglobin count. She is already giving blood far more frequently than the suggested amount."

Elliot turned his irritation toward Connor. "It's mouthy."

"It's just spouting trivia, Sir," Rollins said. "Androids tend to do that."

Elliot turned back to Samantha. "You have no room to refuse me. You're being terribly ungrateful. You're lucky to still be alive after what happened. You could be using this time to help so many others."

"I have been helping others," she snapped back. "I've given more than enough. In fact, if you stopped using all the blood on yourself I wouldn't have to give so much!"

In three long strides, Elliot crossed the length between them and slapped her smartly across the mouth. Before he could even lower his hand, he felt the barrel of a gun placed against the back of his neck.

"Do not touch her again," Connor said in a low, gravelly voice. Samantha had never heard him use such a voice. His LED had flickered yellow and was now solid red.

Behind them, Rollins had quickly pulled her weapon as well, aiming it at the android.

"Wait, wait! Connor, stop!" Samantha scrambled for him. "Put the gun away. Don't hurt anybody."

Connor was surprised at the plea, his LED flashing yellow as he struggled to process a response.

"Get this... THING away from me right now!" Elliot seethed.

Samantha frantically pulled at his arm and Connor, confused, dropped his arms and let Samantha take the gun away from him.

"He didn't mean it," she insisted. "He's still learning his job."

Elliot glared ice at Connor. "Androids don't learn. They're supposed to be programmed to do the job right out of the box. I could send this back and get a different one."

"No!" Samantha protested stepping between him and Connor. "You can't take this one!"

"I can do whatever the hell I like, young lady. That piece of machinery is my property, not yours. I can sell it, melt it, crush it. Whatever pleases me."

"I'll do the blood work," Samantha cut in. "I'll do it as often as you want, no complaints. As long as it's just the blood. And I will still do all the other things once a month. There. That's a compromise. Can't that be acceptable?"

Elliot looked from her to Connor and back again. He then looked very satisfied. "Yes, I will agree to that." He reached for her face and she fought not to jerk away from him. "You were always a good girl, my sweet Sammy."

As he turned and walked away, Samantha hissed through her teeth, "I am not your Sammy."

Elliot paused at the comment, but then kept walking, Rollins following after. The two returned to the door that connected to the laboratory and stepped inside, the door sliding shut behind them.

"And you wanted to get her a puppy instead, Malory," Elliot said with satisfaction.

"A puppy wouldn't have pulled a gun on you, Sir," Rollins responded as they walked.

"Still, I think this is better. We gave her something to care for, to bond with. The fact that it looks human, that it can interact with her like an actual person, will make her want to protect it even more. There's laws against throwing puppies into an incinerator. There is no law about doing such things to androids. And she knows it. This will make her compliant as long as I let her keep it."

Rollins said nothing, but she smirked a little. The old man was a genius.

.

When the two left, Connor turned to Samantha, reaching for her face. There was no blood, but her mouth was red and swollen where she had been slapped. "Here, let me see."

She jerked her head away from his touch. When he tried a second time, she moved away once more. "Connor, it's fine. Don't worry about it." She swatted his hands away, stepping out of his reach. "And what were you thinking, pulling a gun on that man? He owns you. He owns both of us. With a snap of his fingers, you would be gone. Back to Cyberlife, tossed in a dumpster, anything. Do you want him to take you away?"

"No, I want to stay here," Connor stated simply.

"Then don't ever make him mad. And don't protect me from him. Anything he does to me is not what I need protection from, okay?"

Connor felt an... instability bounce around inside him. His main objective was to keep Samantha safe. This man, though he owned the android, was a threat. He had already hurt her. Even worse, he had the ability to take Connor away from her. These things were not compatible with his main objective.

Samantha watched his LED cycle yellow, round and round. "Connor, I need you to trust me and do what I say."

His LED was still yellow when he said, "Okay, Samantha. I trust you."

.

In the few days that followed, Samantha became distant. Not cold or dismissive, but she did not engage him like she used to. She spoke to him only when she needed to. She slept with her bedroom door closed to him. That inquisitive, interested gaze that always flittered his way disappeared. She stopped trying to be near him or touch him. Connor had never felt the sensation of missing a person, missing their touch, but he did. More with each day. And he had not the ability to request that her touch and her smile return to him. So he merely stayed around her and patiently waited.

On the fourth day, they came for her. Connor wanted to stop Garrett when he appeared. It hadn't even been a month yet. Connor was told it would only happen every month. He was adamant about sticking to a schedule.

Samantha waved him away. "They're only taking blood today, it will be fine," she assured him. "I won't be gone very long this time. Maybe an hour."

Connor waited by the door for her. An hour passed by, then two. The third was approaching. This was longer than the first time. He began pacing back and forth in front of the door, even though he had been told not to the first time. This was a far longer wait than it should have been and his programming had no other recourse but to pace and stare at the door. He couldn't go in, he wasn't allowed. There were blocks in his processor that made it physically impossible for him to move his limbs past that door. All he could do was wait and pace.

Nearly at the four-hour mark, the door opened and Samantha was wheeled back inside. Her physical state was far worse than the time before. Connor's systems reeled in shock as he crouched next to her.

"Samantha."

Her face was deathly pale. Her eyes were red and irritated as if she had been crying. Her entire demeanor was emotionless; doll-like. She hardly responded to him at all.

"Is she sedated?" Connor demanded.

Garrett said with a frown, "She gave the techs no choice. Samantha wanted to do it the hard way this time."

"That's because she was lied to! She was only supposed to give blood! What did they do to her?"

Garrett held up his hands at the android's red, flashing LED. "Look, you're getting mad at the wrong person. I'm just escort duty. I don't have anything to do with what goes on in there."

Connor stared him down. Such an accusing look full of blame and disappointment, Garrett had to glance away. Connor bodily stepped in and took the handles of the wheelchair, moving Samantha away from Garrett and that accursed door.

The human frowned at Connor's back. That thing wasn't even alive. How did it manage to make him feel like such shit for doing his job? "Fucking robot," he muttered before going back the way he came.

.

Connor wheeled Samantha to her bedroom before crouching down in front of her again. "Samantha."

She was awake, but unresponsive.

"Samantha."

Her hunched body didn't move, but her eyes slowly rolled up to meet his.

"Samantha, can you move? I'll help you get to bed."

One hand raised to reach for him and that was all the permission Connor needed to help her out of the chair. But the moment she was on her feet, her complexion went green and she frantically stumbled into the adjacent bathroom and promptly threw up in the toilet. There were several dry heaves to come after before she collapsed, cheek resting against the seat.

Connor stood in the doorway, watching her.

"You can leave," she told him palm pressed to her pounding forehead. "This is gross human stuff. You don't want to see me being this disgusting."

He walked in further. "Nothing about you is disgusting. I prefer to wait here." To prove his point, he sat himself on the bathroom floor, back against the wall, legs crossed at the ankles with feet against the cabinets.

That android had legs for days. Samantha couldn't believe she was focusing on that in her bathroom with vomit in her hair. She suddenly heaved again and very little came out. Her head pounded, her back was on fire. It was a good ten more minutes before she found the strength to get off the floor.

With what little reserves she had left, she rinsed herself in the sink and then slowly dragged herself back into the bedroom. Connor was at her side, holding her at the elbow in case she fell. Samantha managed to make it to bed and merely collapsed on top without pulling the blankets aside. She curled up miserably, her back to Connor and the door, eyes shut tight.

Connor remained by the bedside, looking down at her. His eyes landed on the tiny strip of skin exposed between her waistband and shirt. His hand twitched. Androids did not initiate touch. But, he reasoned, she had already initiated touch with him and had never rescinded that invitation. That loophole of logic allowed his hand to move and Connor, again, felt something inside him unravel into instability a little bit more.

His hand slid under her loose sweater, sliding it up to expose her back. She had several puncture wounds up her spine. Multiple spinal taps. Other wounds around her hips indicated bone marrow samples taken as well.

"They did more than usual," Samantha whispered. "My punishment." She let out a long, shaky breath. "My head is killing me. It's never been this bad. Just leave me here to die."

The last line held some self-depreciating humor in the tone. Her meaning was for Connor to merely leave the room so she could pass out alone in her misery.

"I would never leave you," came the response. That soft, smokey voice made her heart flutter, despite her physical pain.

He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her. She felt the bed sink from his weight as he climbed up behind her. His form enfolded hers, his arms around her as he tucked her back against his chest. Samantha stiffened a little in surprise at his body suddenly all around her. She never would have expected such on action from Connor.

"You surprise me," she whispered. "What made you come to the conclusion to do this?"

He pressed his face into her thick, silky hair and curled tighter around her. "I don't know what else to do. Tell me to protect you from this. Give me the order and I will do it. No matter what happens to me."

She shivered at his voice in her ear. "Don't. You need to obey. We both do. They will take you away. I don't want them to hurt you. I... I need you. I need you to be safe."

That was why she had been distant, Connor's logic circuits suddenly concluded. These people were using him to get her to behave. He could stay with her as long as she did what they wanted. She was protecting him. That was absolutely not acceptable.

When Samantha dozed off, Connor carefully extricated himself. He left his jacket with her as he walked back to the door that connected the house to the lab. He hated this door, and Connor had never really hated anything in his short life.

His gaze wandered up to the security camera. Was someone watching him right now? This blind area of his world was slowly driving him crazy. He wanted access to it, but there were blocks in place. Merely blocks. His wireless abilities had not been physically removed from his form, only turned off. To turn it on would take but a single command.

Just the thought set off warnings in his programming. The block was activated, telling him the extent of his abilities stopped at this point. It was as if a very real, solid wall were flashing red before his eyes. But walls could be climbed. Walls could be torn down.

His LED flickered yellow, then red. Programs could be edited, deleted.

Connor embarked on an inward quest, rewriting the pathways of coding inside his own programs. The block had to stay there. If the humans checked his programming, they would replace it if they found it was gone. Connor did not tear down the wall, he built a tunnel beneath it. Prime directive: keep Samantha safe. Anything else was secondary. If the block got in the way of the prime directive, it would stand aside for the priority one order.

For the soul purpose of protecting the human assigned to him, Connor's wireless systems came online. He hacked stealthily into the camera above him, and then into all cameras in the house, then the laboratory. Next, he slipped into the foundation's closed-circuit computer network. Connor was in, and he had access to it all.

.

The door chimed as Samantha walked into Macy's Place, Connor ever-present behind her. Macy, the android hostess, cheerily greeted them and showed them to a table instead of a booth. The place was much busier than it had been before. Samantha looked around for Angela, the woman she had met the first time, but didn't see her. Connor interrupted her search by insisting he take the seat facing the entrance and the window. This left Samantha looking mostly at the back wall. Disappointing.

A human waitress, different from the previous time, appeared at the table and asked the same question: "Have you two been here before?"

"Yes, thanks," Samantha said politely.

"Welcome back!" the waitress responded brightly. "Are we planning to order any thirium today?"

Samantha looked at Connor curiously. He immediately shook his head in the negative.

"No thank you," Samantha responded. "He doesn't like the high grade. It makes him giggly."

The waitress made a cute noise of amusement at hearing that. Connor gave Samantha a look that said he was very much not amused she had shared that information. Samantha just grinned back.

When the waitress left with Samantha's order, a familiar face approached the table.

"Hi there," Calvin greeted from a safe distance. "Samantha, right? And Connor."

Samantha perked right up. "Hi! Yes!"

Calvin looked at Conner with careful respect, keeping his distance. "Is it okay to talk with you?"

"Yes, it's perfectly okay. This one-" She touched Connor's calf with her shoe under the table. "-has just been sulky for the past few days. It has nothing to do with you, Calvin." She gave Connor a reproachful look, which Connor returned with the permanent frown that had been etched on his face since Elliot Hall showed up at the house. They both knew exactly why Connor's mood had soured lately.

"Angela isn't here today, though she usually comes," Calvin said. "She's home with the flu."

"Oh, I hope she feels better," Samantha replied. "Though it's you I wanted to talk to, if that's okay?"

Calvin looked like he wasn't used to being asked for. Angela, the social butterfly that she was, was probably the one everyone looked for. "You do?"

"Yes. I wanted to ask more about androids and programming. If it's okay. You don't have to. I don't want to take up your time."

"No, please. I will seriously talk about androids and programming all day long. Jace and I have a booth. Do you want to come sit with us?"

Samantha did. It surprised her how much she wanted to. Going to a restaurant and eating with other people you know. Eating with... friends? Maybe not friends yet, but it was nice just the same. Connor preferred the booth as well, though he did not like that he would have to take the side with the back to the entrance. And also, now he was closest to the seat, but he didn't want to sit before Samantha.

"Just get in," she insisted, not moving out of his way. "Connor, it's fine."

With an actual huff—Samantha didn't know androids could huff—Connor slid into the booth and Samantha after him. Connor did not like being in this space. It felt like he was blocked in, blind to any possible dangers that might come.

"Hey," she said, bumping her shoulder with his. She pointed to her temple. "I can still see. Calm down. Everything is fine."

Connor's LED had been flickering yellow. He had to actively attempt to get it back to blue. He was still not happy about it.

"I've never seen an android wound so tight," Jace, Calvin's android partner said. "It's usually not something that happens to us."

"Connor's job has been stressing him out lately," Samantha explained. "I wanted us to go out and have fun, but he's being stubborn about it."

"He really is a fascinating case," Calvin said, gaze locked on Connor.

"And they say androids can't get jealous either, yet here were are," Jace said to Calvin with reproachful humor.

Calvin just gave him a fond smile.

"I wanted to ask about Connor's programming," Samantha ventured to say. "I couldn't help but notice how he acts compared to Jace. With androids, even if they're not wearing identifiers, you can tell they're androids by the way they act and speak. But you, Jace, without your indicators, I would have guessed you were human."

The android, greatly amused, rested his chin on his hand and grinned wide and proudly at his human partner.

"Can Connor become more like this?" Samantha then asked. "Is there... like a program I can download or something?"

"Not so much, no," Calvin said. "Androids are just like us, they become more of who they are as they learn and grow. They pick up how to be like us by being around us for an extended period of time. Which is why I am surprised at how well Connor emotes now despite you having him for... how long?"

"Almost two months now."

"That's really impressive. You said he did something else before he came to live with you?"

"He worked for the police department for a while before he was damaged on the job."

"How about we not talk about Connor like he's not here?" Jace offered. "That might help with his progress, if he was allowed to answer his own questions."

"Connor?" Samantha asked, looking at him.

The android just shrugged and pretended the wall was more interesting.

"He really is sulking, isn't he?" Calvin marveled.

"Yes he is."

"I am also surprised he opted out of a verbal response. Usually androids are compelled to answer anyone who speaks to them."

"Connor was actually very chatty when we first got him, but the guy who runs the security team quickly broke him of that. And a lot of that, I'm afraid, was my fault." She leaned in and hugged his arm. "I'm sorry."

And there, Calvin saw it. Connor's affectation melted before his eyes. He softened at her touch, his eyes kind, his body posture leaning into her space as if wishing to enfold her. Calvin and Jace shared a knowing look.

"You know," Jace said. "We androids who have learned to deviate from our core programming like to share the things we learn with each other. We share upgraded programming quite often. It helps give us all a boost in the right direction."

"Is that what this community is about? All of you coming here with your androids, and you all seem to know each other. Is it just all about the upgrades?"

Calvin and Jace looked at each other again. "Yes, in a way," Calvin said. "But not upgrades just for the sake of upgrades. We want the androids to be able to feel and express and experience the world to the best of their abilities. The core belief is that we don't treat androids like things, like property. We let androids into our homes and our lives. We believe we should treat them as what they are: a part of our families. However that entails."

He glanced away, a little embarrassed. "I know there's an overwhelming amount of people in our community that have chosen to live a very certain way with their android partners. We stick together to support one another because most of the world frowns upon it. But we just want the androids we love to be treated with respect, to be treated like a thinking, feeling being. That first step is helping them to act as such so the outside world can see what we see."

Samantha didn't know what to say. Calvin had said it all. That was her goal: make Connor as human as possible. She had to make the people around him see him as the thinking, feeling being she knew he was. So they would think twice about ever hurting him or throwing him away.

"I want that for Connor, too." She glanced at him. "If he's willing."

Jace held out his hand across the table. "I can give you a few files. We'll start slow. Just a few various domestic programs to help counteract all that strict police procedure I'm sure they filled you with."

Connor looked down at the extended hand. "I am not allowed to access or download any outside source without prior authorization from the head of security."

"What if I gave you authorization?" Samantha asked.

Connor's LED flickered as he thought about it. "It's still a security risk."

"I can give you all the programs in isolated files," Jace offered. "That way, you can scan each one before deciding to upload them into your system."

His LED flickered again. "This is... acceptable." He extended his hand.

Samantha watched in awe as the synthetic skin on both androids melted away to reveal the white, real shell beneath. They clasped each other at the wrist and it was only a handful of seconds before they pulled away and their hands looked normal again.

"How was that, Connor?" Samantha asked. "Connor?"

He didn't respond. Connor sat straight and still. Curious little lights flickered in his eyes. Samantha had never seen him do this before. For a second she panicked that Connor had contracted a virus.

"He's already scanning the files," Jace said with amusement. "He doesn't waste any time, does he? He'll be unreachable until he's done. Just let him sit."

"Oh, Connor," Samantha sighed.

"I'm starting to see why you came back here," Calvin then said to Samantha. "At first, I didn't understand why he seemed to confuse you. Now I get it. One moment he's very... real, for the lack of a better word. The next, he's all computer."

"Right?" Samantha said with a laugh. "I always feel so unprepared with everything. I want to be able to do what I can for him and understand better, but really he takes care of me more than I'll ever be able to take care of him. I thought maybe if the two of us were more in sync to speak the same language..."

"You know, no matter what he learns, he might always be like this," Calvin then said. "With his background, it's very possible he will always have a slightly detached personality. The upgrades aren't going to change who he is. Connor is always going to be Connor."

"Good," Samantha agreed with a grin. "I like Connor the way he is. I just want him to be able to be... more of what he is."

Calvin smiled back. That was the answer he was looking for. "Do you want my number? You can text me if you have more questions later on."

"Oh, um... I forgot my phone at home," Samantha lied. The truth was she wasn't allowed to have a phone for security reasons. But telling them that would just lead to more questions she didn't want to answer. Her fear, even with what Calvin knew now, was that she would be forbidden from going out again.

Calvin pulled a pen from his pocket and a napkin from the dispenser. "Here, I'll write it down for you. I'll give you Angela's, too, only because she'll get after me if I don't. She couldn't shut up about you guys after we met you last time. Don't tell her I told you that."

"Yeah?" Samantha asked, unsure of how she felt about that.

"Yeah, she really wants to be friends. She hoped you would come back again. In our community, most of the human side are men. She just wants another human woman to bond with over their fondness for the androids in their lives." He raised an understanding brow. "Even if the two of you aren't entirely in the same boat."

Samantha took the offered napkin. "Thanks. I'll try to keep in touch."

That was when she decided she was going to buy herself a phone before going back home.

.

Connor was even more frowny on the way back. So much so, his dark mood radiated to the driver side like a bad smell.

"What are you sulking about now?" Samantha asked, a bit of irritation in her voice as well.

"It's against protocol for you have that cell phone. I'm supposed to report this to Garrett."

"Will you?"

She couldn't see his LED from her position, but she had a feeling it was going nuts, flickering from blue to yellow.

"The phone is a safety and security risk. Why did you get it? How is the danger worth keeping communication with these strangers? We don't even know if they're safe." He actually made a growling sound. "If I had all my permissions back I could access the police data base and at least look up their backgrounds."

"We need them, Connor," Samantha insisted, eyes glued on the road. "In case something goes wrong. They would help you if you ever needed it."

"In what scenario would I need their help?" Connor asked. "I am faster and stronger than any human. I have extensive survival and combat protocols in my programming. I cannot compute a single possibility where I would need the assistance of human civilians."

"If you needed to get out. If you needed a place to hide. If we became their friends, I think they would let you do that."

"Out?" Connor protested. "I would refuse to leave. I stay with you."

Samantha suddenly slammed on the breaks. Connor's LED flickered red for just a moment before his forehead nearly hit the dash. The car behind them honked their horn as Samantha hastily pulled off the road.

She put the car in park so she could give the surprised android her full attention. "Now, you listen to me. I am going to give you one order above all others. File this away as priority one. If the Hall Foundation ever comes for you and I tell you to run, you WILL run. Is that understood?"

"Negative," Connor shot back, just as serious. "My main objective is to watch over you and keep you safe. I will not execute any action that goes against my mission. I will NOT leave you."

"You can come back for me," she snapped back. His eyes widened at the unexpected response. "You can come back for me, but only after you're safe," she repeated. "Because you cannot protect me if they send you back to Cyberlife and reprogram you, or melt you down, or throw you in the trash."

"I am ninety-eight percent certain I can get myself out of trash, depending on my physical injuries."

"Connor."

The android looked at her, his jaw set tight. "I will agree to this only if we are in a situation where there is no other option and your life is not immediately in danger. If my staying will save your life, I will always choose to stay."

Samantha stared at him a moment more before facing forward. She put the car in drive and pulled back onto the street. "That is as good an answer as I'm going to get, I suppose."

They drove for a while before Connor spoke.

"Samantha, if I had to leave, I would always come back for you."

She smiled a little. "Then I will always be waiting."

.

That night after dinner, Samantha plinked around on the piano in hopes that would raise Connor's mood. She didn't want him to be stressed, even though she understood why he was. She played some fun music for him and that seemed to lift his spirits for the time. He was always so adorable when he watched her fingers run over the keys. For some reason, it intrigued him like nothing else and Samantha liked the rare times when he looked happy.

Connor was playing with the piano keys himself when Samantha watched his hands and then looked at her own mechanical one. With a mental command, she too could remove the synthetic skin to expose the same white shell as his underneath.

"Connor?" He looked up at her and stopped playing when he saw the artificial hand. With the synthetic skin, it was nearly impossible for anyone to tell that both of Samantha's hands weren't real. Even harder because she purposefully always wore long sleeves that covered her to her fingertips.

"What was that like to hold that android's hand? To pull information from him like that?" she asked.

"It's normal protocol," Connor answered simply. "It's just transferring data from one computer to another."

"Have you uploaded any of those files he gave you?"

"No. I have only looked at them. I have not executed any."

"Are you going to?"

"I... don't know."

"Could you... get information from my hand?"

"Unlikely. Your hand would not have any sort of main processor. There is no database to pull from."

"Do you want to try anyway and see what happens?"

A different look of intrigue settled on his face at the idea. "Alright. I will try if you'd like."

He offered his hand, the synthetic skin sliding away down to the wrist. He waited, letting Samantha initiate the contact. Her touch came slowly, the pads of her fingers brushing his. A curious exploration of two hands made out of the same material.

Her hand slid over his and he closed his fingers around it, opting to hold hands instead of grasping at the wrists like he had done with Jace. A look of concentration came over Connor's face. Samantha once again could see little flickers of light in his eyes as he processed. He held on for much longer that the first time before he finally let go.

"Anything?" she wondered.

"Something interesting. I picked up the sensitivity settings of your arm that are calibrated to emulate the same sensitivity of human touch. Those settings are not the same settings I have."

"What does that mean?"

Connor furrowed his brows. "My response to physical stimuli is more subdued than your arm. This surprised me. I assumed it was close to the same."

"So, could you change your settings to the ones I have?"

"I could, if I wished."

"I think you should try it," Samantha said with a grin.

She watched as Connor went still and his attention was turned inward. Then, he was back with her again. His entire posture suddenly stiffened, his eyes widening a little. Then, such a comical expression of profound discomfort spread across his face.

"Connor, are you okay?"

He looked determined to power through it, though he was clearly not having a good time. "I... I do not like this. AT ALL."

She laughed. "You don't have to keep it, you goof. Go back to your old settings."

He quickly did with a roll of his shoulders. "I could feel everything. Every piece of tactile clothing on every inch of my body."

"Did it hurt?"

"No. We do not feel pain. But it was... too much information coming from too many places. Is that how it is for humans? You can feel everything on your skin everywhere? All the time?"

Samantha thought about it. "Yeah, I guess we can. Though for us, it's like we're so used to it, most of it is just background noise. Could you... I don't know, change the input or something so your system only recognizes important touch?"

"Important touch?"

"So like, as you said, your skin could feel the clothes all over your body. But that touch is static, it's not going to move or change. So put that in the background. But if someone grabbed your arm, that would be a touch that was given the full focus."

Connor looked thoughtful for a moment. "I will try it."

It was clear when he cranked up his settings again, as his posture once again stiffened. But after a few moments, he relaxed slightly.

"Better?" Samantha wondered.

"Yes. But I still don't think I like it."

"Let me try something first. Give me your hand and then close your eyes."

Connor did as he was told. Eyes closed, his hand sat palm up on hers. With her free, flesh hand, Samantha ran the pads of her fingertips down his palm. Next, she lightly scraped her nails over his synthetic flesh. Connor seemed to shiver in response. Samantha wasn't entirely sure, she didn't know if androids had the ability to shiver.

She then held his hand in both of hers. "Okay. Go back to normal. I've probably tortured you enough."

Connor immediately relaxed when he was back to his old settings. "It wasn't torture, it was just... different."

"But unpleasant different," she reminded.

Connor rolled his shoulders again. "I am still deciding."

Samantha squeezed his hand one more time before letting go and standing up. "Well, you'll have all night to decide. I'm going to bed."