If her throat wasn't so dry, Rin would be screaming into her pillow.

With the day waning outside her bedroom windows into a nasty thunderstorm, she's hardly left the comfort of her bedspread. Her hair is a tangled mess, she needs a shower, and she needs to eat, but all she can do for herself is lie here and scroll through her social media apps and pretend she's not wasting another day away.

Ever since that day when that guy had invaded her home and her sense of self, she's just felt so… lost. Trying to work her way through it on her own, futilely as it's been. And futile it has definitely been; all she's done is mope for a week and stew in it.

Not to mention her complete shunning of Len every time he's tried to comfort her, but even that feels tainted now. Like his touch would sting her like a bolt of electricity. She couldn't even bear to talk to him after that. What was she supposed to say, anyway? Apologize like it was her fault? Cry again, and feel weak? Accept his reassurances even if right now she doesn't feel she deserves them?

No, she has to stop telling herself that. What happened wasn't her fault and she has to stop feeling this way.

Yet just looking at Len's puppy-dog eyes and his immediate jump for anything she ever needed was overwhelming in itself, and she just couldn't bear it. Even though she promised to welcome him into her life as her lover, it still seems so hard to do, especially now.

She glances at the time on her phone; a quarter to seven. It'll be getting dark out soon. Len left awhile ago, and the apartment feels emptier. The silence stretches on painfully slow.

Reaching over for her cup of water, she digs into her nightside table for her little white bottle of pills, allowing herself to eject a few of them into her palm and then downing them as quickly as possible, attempting not to choke on the dryness with a big gulp of water. She also notes that her reasoning for staying in bed hasn't entirely been because of the 'incident', but because her health has been slowly recovering from her sickness. Trying to, anyway; she's been trapped in this bed more than anything else. That nagging feeling at the back of her consciousness warns her of what's happening, but she chooses to ignore it.

I can't spend every moment of my life fearing the inevitable.

Even though she can tell this to herself, it doesn't erase the pain when she tries to stand, the head rushes that keep her from going too far. It's times like this she misses Len's presence, and she argues internally about how she's handled things thus far.

He probably thinks I'm still upset with him. Not that I ever was, but I still feel so awful about the entire thing. I haven't even been speaking with Miku, and I know she's probably dying to see if I'm well. I don't want her to worry about me like this.

Len, though, I… I should let him know things are okay. That I am okay. He must be worried sick, too. I sent him away so harshly, and now I can't even reach him to talk with him.

Rin frowns at her phone screen. Dipping her head further into her pillow and snuggling up in the blanket, she sighs.

He doesn't even have a phone. Why haven't I bothered to get him one? I think that will take priority one of these days. If an emergency arises I won't be able to let him know. Even now, it's going to be pouring the entire time he's out.

I hope he's safe, at least.

.x.X.x.

The night threatens to take over the sky, and Len says his farewells to Miku and Kaito both.

After his inquiry of the bluenet, he was left with more questions than answers. The reassurances he had sought ended up being completely unhelpful. It had all only cemented the very real possibility that Len himself is… flawed. Faulty.

He shouldn't be able to think like this, to understand outside his lines of code. But it's all too true now, so obvious. He can't escape it.

What does this mean for me now?

I'll have to return to Rin and tell her. I have to explain this. There's nothing else I can do but have full transparency, but… how will Rin react? Will she return me for a different android?

It fills him with that same fear again that haunts his every step. The very-real dread of being forced back to the factory that made him, of having to leave Rin behind… he would rather be turned to scrap. He isn't sure if that's his pre-programmed response, or how he truly feels, but either way it seems a fate worse than death.

Even Miku was starting to realize how different he is. If she tells someone else, won't that mean trouble for him?

How do I approach this? I don't have anything in my inner manual on how to handle sentience. It should never have happened in the first place.

For once, I am completely unprepared.

His footfalls in the midst of the rain seem more muffled than usual, and he focuses on returning back to Rin. The storm seems to only be increasing with every few minutes,

He thinks of Rin lying in bed back at the apartment. Hopefully she's feeling better. Maybe with him being out of the house she'll be more willing to get up and do some things, as much as it saddens him to consider it. Whatever it will take to help her get out of the fog she's been in since that wretch tried to defile her.

I wonder what her response to me would be?

Would she be terrified of me? Sentience in an android is absolutely unheard of. It could be cause for great worry. She could try to destroy me, in fact, but… Rin isn't violent. I doubt she'd do anything of the sort.

If I knew anything about her, she would be gentle. Sometimes it's hard to understand how she feels, but I don't think she would hate me.

…Is that what I fear most? The thought of her throwing me away for what I've become?

Now that I've realized this, how will it be handled by her?

Turning the corner down a dark sidestreet lit only by a few scattered street lamps, Len makes his way through the shadowed walkway, allowing the rain to wash over him and coat his hair, matting it against his cheeks. He pauses and raises a hand to the rain, looking up to the crying sky.

His keen sense of hearing catches the lightest sets of steps behind him, and as he turns his head, a pair of hands grips tight to arm and yanks him to the side, temporarily taking him off balance. He rights himself quickly enough, but he's thrown against a brick wall in the nearby alley hard enough that it clatters his teeth.

Brain whirring, he takes note that he's completely surrounded on all sides. There's at least six or seven people standing between him and a way out, and when he tilts his head up, he scans their faces, pausing when he reaches the person at the forefront.

Bright teal hair and sea green eyes, a dead ringer for Miku, wearing a tight, soaked through black button up shirt and a pair of matching pants, is Mikuo Hatsune. His eyes are bloodshot, his mouth worn into a thin line. A quick scan deduces that he hasn't been eating or sleeping well, judging by the bags under his eyes and the pallor of his skin. There is malice laced in his body language, and scorn written on his face.

The others with him are unrecognizable, people Len hasn't seen before, except for one close to Mikuo's side; a man that he remembers had been harassing that stranger the other day in the middle of public. When his gaze meets his, the man spits on the ground.

It doesn't take much for Len to realize this isn't safe.

"Mikuo… what are you doing?" he says quietly, turning a fiery glare onto the human, and he returns it in full.

"Getting rid of a thorn in my side," Mikuo growls in response.

Len pulls himself back up, fists clenched at his sides and a poker face over his expression.

"What are you talking about?"

Mikuo gestures to either side of himself, and Len realizes that each one of them is holding some kind of weapon- some bats, an axe, an iron pipe. Each one crude and obviously well used, leading him to believe they're not planning to be friendly with him.

"You. You keep getting in my way, and now Rin won't see me again," Mikuo says, allowing the man next to him to hand him a bat laced in barbed wire. "If you weren't part of the equation, I'd have a better chance."

"What you did to Rin, no one would forgive you for," Len seethes, standing tall despite the odds against him. "You did that to her, not me. You're a disgusting excuse for a human."

A flare of anger rushes across Mikuo's face, and with a roar, he comes after Len. Len ducks under the swing of the bat, using his elbow to shove him to the right. As he dodges, another of the crowd knocks into him with the blunt end of their weapon, sending him back to the ground.

Mikuo towers over him, breathing heavily, fingers taut white on the handle of his bat.

"You forget your place!" he roars, and his bat comes down on him. Len raises his arm to shield him from the brunt of the blow, but the barbed end shreds his skin coating, revealing the metallic workings underneath.

"It's your disgraceful existence that makes us like this!" his assailant shouts out, and brings the bat down once more, this time hitting Len's shoulder. He feels the metal dent under the force.

The crowd closes in around them, and suddenly Len has no room to move. He attempts to stand, but someone swipes under his feet with a pole, bringing him face-first with the cement below. Another crushing strike on his arm severs his elbow from the joint.

There's a slash, and his shirt is torn from his body with an upward swipe, cutting through his skin again. Someone lands a hit down on his skull, and a flash of glitches enter his vision, static in red, blue and green.

I can't fight back like this.

He can feel parts of his body shutting down under the assault, and he is left to watch as someone cuts his left arm away from his body in choppy blows, revealing the wiring and intricate gears coated in violent aqua liquid underneath his shell. Sparks jump out from his frame, but it doesn't deter anyone else from continuing.

He feels his kneecap shatter, and someone flips him over. He is forced to stare into the merciless eyes of the humans above him, each one seething with bloodlust. He tries to stop the next hit from landing on his face, his right hand gripping tight to the pipe, but someone kicks the side of his head and he loosens his grip.

Mikuo takes a fistful of Len's hair, lifting him to peer into his eyes with a triumphant smirk.

"What will you do now? Beg me? Oh, wait- you're an android. You have to do whatever I tell you to, so stay down."

I can't reason or stop them. I can't do anything here.

He loses track of the minutes of torture that pass, as he's ripped apart by the group. The ground below him seeps in his blue blood, staining his clothes and the undersides of the crowd's shoes, trailing bright footprints all around him in the rain. The glitching gets worse as he's knocked around, unable to fight back.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, they all seem to pause, waiting for some go ahead from Mikuo. Len had lost sense of time, even lost consciousness, his systems struggling to maintain his self-awareness under the onslaught. One of his eyes is forced closed, dented to the side.

Mikuo crouches down beside Len, peering into his face, He scans over the damage they've caused, nodding his head in approval.

"I don't think you're getting up." He nods admiringly. "I think this is fine. I want you to short out slowly so that all that's left of you is this empty metal husk. If you're lucky, you'll be picked up with the garbage."

He stands up and nudges Len's prone body with his foot, happy to see no response.

"What? No snark for me this time?" Mikuo asks, cupping his hand behind his ear before scoffing. "Didn't think so. I'll make sure to give Rin my condolences when I see her next."

No. No, leave her alone.

"Mikuo… don't you dare," Len rasps, his vocals straining and surprising the tealet. "Don't you dare touch her again."

Mikuo stares at him for a moment, and then laughs, bringing his group into it with him so that it rings out over him. Then his shoe is pressed on Len's cheek, digging his head further into the cement. Len hears a snap somewhere.

"I don't think you really get a say anymore, you piece of junk," Mikuo hisses. "Now shut up."

Then his foot comes down on Len's face hard, and the world disappears.

As his systems display errors behind his eyelids and his inner alarms are going off wildly, Len regains his consciousness some time later, drenched and alone. He can feel his body straining to move, feeling out his internal damages.

I'm… a mess.

But… If I don't return to Rin, then I'll…

I'm very close to a permanent system shut down. If I don't get up now, I'll never see her again.

I… I need to see her again. Please.

Len forces his body to respond, and miraculously he is able to bring himself to stand up again. His leg is stiff and barely responsive, causing him to limp, and his arm is lying on the ground in pieces; they made sure it couldn't be reattached in any way. His blood drips across the pavement, painting a strangely gruesome neon scene.

He takes a step, and his body sways. His equilibrium is completely thrown, and the glitching errors are popping up with more frequency now. He doesn't have much time.

He begins the walk home. Thankfully it isn't far, but with the rain pouring down on him and all his open circuitry, he can feel it damaging his internals even more than they had been. There's an open wound on the side of his neck he tries to shield, noting his hair has come undone from his favored ponytail to fall in loose matted locks around his shoulders.

Finally, as if its taken forever, he finds himself at the entrance of Rin's home. As he approaches the stairs, his body threatens to give out on him. He's unsure if he can make it up, but he grips to the railing with his only good hand, just as the door in front of him opens.

He barely manages to raise his head as Rin steps out the door, at first not seeing him there in front of her. Only after the door has shut behind her and she's facing him in the rain, an umbrella gripped in one hand and her coat closed tightly at her chest with her hand, does she realize it's him. A loud gasp escapes her.

"R-Rin…" His vocals aren't working correctly, causing him to stutter his words in an erratic way.

"Len…?! Oh my god!"

She drops the umbrella and bolts down the stairs, but she's not quick enough to stop him from losing his hold on the railing, dropping to his knees. He's puddling the ground with hsi lifeblood, and he wishes she didn't have to see him this way.

How awful of me to make her see this.

I'm sorry, Rin.

"What happened?! Len?!"

She's gripping his shoulders now, her wide cerulean eyes searching his face. Her expression is nothing but fear and horror at his appearance, looking him up and down in complete disbelief. She's getting drenched in the thunderstorm. He wants to tell her to get her umbrella, to stay dry so she won't catch a cold, but he can't manage it anymore.

He can feel his consciousness seeping away, but as his eyes threaten to go dim, he realizes that her face is coated in not only rain, but tears. She's crying, her face red and puffy. It strikes a chord in his battered body, and he wishes he could comfort her, but it leaves him dumbfounded in his own way.

"Rin? Why… are you…?"

He's fading from her. He can't stay. His body collapses backward, and she screams, and all he can whisper before he's completely gone is;

"...crying for me?"