She was wearing what could only be described as turquoise today, and yet somehow that didn't seem to cover it. He didn't know how her human eyes had discovered such precision of color, but the shimmering tank top that both decorously and seductively covered her upper body reflected all shades of blue and green, matching both of her eyes beautifully. Instead of trying to achieve the same effect with her skirt she had chosen simply to wear gray, a pale gray that would hide whatever dirt she might pick up and yet contrast the brilliance of her top nicely. Her boots, black leather grayed by the dust as always, and her worn leather satchel were so much a part of her that he barely noticed them. She was waiting for him in the park but he stood in the shadows and watched her for a very long time before approaching.

She shifted from foot to foot as he admired the subtleties of her choice of clothing; he hadn't expected such precision from a human. Was this an attempt at seduction? Certainly her body language hadn't indicated that she thought of him in that way. Perhaps it was simply an attempt to impress, which he had noticed did not always accompany a direct attempt to seduce the receiving party. Sometimes... many times, in fact... it was a more generic attempt to gain the attention, respect, and good wilil of another human. He could work with that.

By the time he had reached this conclusion she had reached the conclusion that he wasn't coming, and picked up her satchel preparatory to leaving. He stepped out from within the trees and cleared his throat.

She smiled when she saw him coming. "Oh! You are there..." Pause. "How long have you been watching me?"

He saw no reason to prevaricate. "Half an hour."

"Oh." She blushed, embarrassed or pleased, he couldn't tell which. Probably both.

"If I have embarrassed you..." he started, which seemed to be the appropriate thing to say.

"No, it's okay..." A little smile crept across her face, which she seemed to be ashamed of. He couldn't understand why. He had never understood why happiness seemed to cause human beings so much pain and embarrassment. "Shall we have a game?"

"As you wish."

She blushed again, and he decided that it didn't merit looking through the database to find which was the most likely of the myriad reasons why a human might blush at that statement. They moved over to their customary table, and she began to set up the pieces.

"Why jade?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why choose those stones?"

"Oh." She thought about it for a second. "Jade... is said to be a very powerful stone. I thought that for a chess set, a focal point for human interaction, it would be appropriate. And blue tiger's eye is rare, and also symbolizes power. And watchfulness."

"I see." Pause. "It also compliments your eyes."

Blink. "You..."

"What?"

"You noticed..." She smiled again, and blushed."

"Yes..."

"I didn't think you had."

"Ah." Pause. "Your shirt, as well..."

"Yes?" Too quick, too eager.

"It is..." Pause, searching for a word. "Very becoming."

She smiled. "Becoming."

"What?"

"That's... archaic."

"Oh."

"Not that it wasn't sweet." Hasty, apologetic.

"Sweet?"

"Cute."

"Cute?" Had she just called him... cute?"

"Kind." She was smiling, or perhaps smirking would be a better word. He resisted the urge to scowl.

"Kind." Pause. Searching for something appropriate to say. "I can live with 'kind.'

She smiled. "And that's still more compliments from you than I"ve ever gotten. Not to mention more attention than you've ever paid to my clothing."

"It is... striking."

"I know."

"Oh."

"So what's the occasion?"

Blink. "Excuse me?"

"Why the sudden attention to my clothes?"

Pause. "Why the sudden effort to show off?"

Blush. "I don't know. I felt like being... daring."

"Is this daring?"

"For me it is."

"Ah."

They stared down at the untouched chess board, almost as though they were willing the pieces to move by themselves. Finally she looked up at him, whispered. "I'm not really in the mood for chess, are you?"

For one startled second (although of course he would never admit to being startled) he thought she was really trying to seduce him. Then logic reasserted itself, dictating that she was more than likely embarrassed by the topic of conversation. He would give her a graceful way out. "I suppose not."

She began to replace the pieces in her case, and after a few moments he joined her. She seemed to go out of her way to avoid brushing her fingertips against his, an action that he had noticed most often occurred when one human was enamored of another. Perhaps he had read all of her signals wrong...

"Would you mind if we just took a walk, instead?"

"No." Pause. "I would like that."

She smiled. "Thank you."

They turned into the park. Skaters and skateboarders whizzed by, and both Agent and human woman deftly avoidedt hem. She seemed to be used to it, reinforcing his belief that she came to this park often, had initially brought him here because it was her home territory and she felt more comfortable here. Was he really so threatening to the humans, even to those who did not know his true nature? He supposed he was.

"They say it's supposed to rain tomorrow."

Pause. "Oh?"

Nod. "It'll be the end of the stretch of good weather. Which is probably a good thing, since it was getting pretty dry out. I bet people are good and thoroughly tired of having to water their gardens all day..." she trailed off.

"You do not regret that you will not be able to go out and walk in the park?"

She glanced at him, puzzled. Or at least she seemed puzzled. "Why won't I?"

Pause. "The sun will not be shining, it will not be a pleasant temperature, and it will be raining. You will be wet, and cold."

"Ah, but there is a certain kind of pleasure in that, as well. Haven't you ever just walked out into the rain and enjoyed it?"

Pleasure in being wet and cold? This woman was certainly a perverse example of the species. "Actually, I find the rain..." Pause. "Distasteful."

"Hmmm."

"Don't you?"

She looked up at the tops of the trees, stepping off the path briefly so she wouldn't be run over as she stood there. The Agent joined her. "Normally, yes. But there's also a kind of a beauty in thunderstorms, in the patterns and colors that the lightning makes, and the rain drops as they fall in all sorts of directions. There's a kind of a nice smell that hands in the air when the water drips off the leaves, and the rain makes a wonderfully soothing sound on the trees. Sometimes it's just nice to go out and dance in the rain, no matter how wet you get. And, of course, there's a certain sort of satisfaction in finding a warm place to get dry and change into dry clothes after being in the soaking wet and mud and damp. "She turned her blue-green gaze back on him, more intense than it had been when she'd started the speech. "Don't you think so?"

He almost felt trapped. "I..." Pause. "I have never done any of the things that you describe. I would not know." They resumed walking.

Blink. "Never?"

"Never."

"How sad."

Pause. "Why?"

"Never to experience the various kinds of joy that can come from a single natural event? I find that sad... don't you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Pause. "I am not aware of what I am missing, therefore I cannot miss it."

"Point. Impeccable logic, that. Still, I know, and I can miss it for you as well."

"But why would you want to?"

"Because without sadness, there is no joy."

"Can't joy itself exist without the sadness?" It had been something that had always confused and annoyed him, why human beings could not exist in a perfect world. The machines had created the perfect world for them, several times over, and the humans had rejected it. He had never understood why. Neither had the machines.

"Of course not."

"Why?"

"You said it yourself... you are not aware of what you are lacking, therefore you cannot miss it."

"So, joy is having something, and sadness is lacking it?"

Pause. "No..."

"But that is what you said."

"That's not what I meant..."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I mean..." She took a deep breath, clearly frustrated. For once, Smith understood how she felt. The frustration that came from barriers to clear communication seemed to transcend the barriesr between man and machine. "Joy can exist without sorrow, yes. But we do not appreciate what joy there is before we have sorrow... we have nothing to contrast it to."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why can you not appreciate a thing until it is gone?"

Pause. "You're just being deliberately frustrating, aren't you?"

Now she was just sulky. He resisted the urge to grind his simulation of teeth. "No."

Blink. "No?'

"No. I genuinely wish to know."

Deep breath. "If there was no such thing as shadow... would human beings have a word for light? Or would we simply exist in it without any knowledge of what it is or isn't? At least, that's Plato's analogy. If there was no such thing as the ocean, would we have a word for land? Or would it simply be known as 'that which we stand on'?"

"Why do humans constantly define things in terms of what they are not?"

"We don't!" she protested reflexively. They were both becoming aware that she was starting to waver in her conviction.

"You just did."

"We don't always." Pause. "I mean..." Longer pause. They kept walking. After a while the Agent concluded he had won the argument. "It's not just that, you know."

Blink. "Just what?"

"It's not that we can't appreciate joy until there is sorrow. It's..." Pause. "It's hard to explain."

"Try." Why was he pushing this so hard?

"I can't. I don't know how to... I don't have the words."

"Make new ones."

"Make new ones?"

"Yes."

Pause. "Maybe."

Longer pause. "Why is it so difficult for you to explain?"

Deep breath. She turned around and descended off the path again, this time into a small clearing of trees. The population of walkers and skaters had thinned by now. They were almost entirely alone. "Talking with you gives me joy."

"What?" His tone was low, dangerous, and before he could continue she laid a commanding but gentle hand over his mouth.

"Hush. Just listen. Talking with you gives me joy. I take joy in the intellectual stimulation, the equality of it, your readiness to engage in verbal combat. I find your directness and willingness to ask the difficult questions refreshing, and I find your willingness to listen to my answers flattering. Your voice is also quite attractive, and you are very handsome, in my personal opinion."

Blink. "What?"

"Therefore, I take pleasure in your company." She continued on as though he hadn't spoken, although she did blush a little. "I took pleasure in your company before I knew what it was like to experience the lack of your company, and the pleasure is not diminished by your presence; the excitement in the anticipation of speaking with you does not exceed the joy of actually doing so."

"But you..."

"But," she continued again, pressing lightly on his mouth with her fingertips. "That does not mean I do not also take joy in..." Pause. Now it was her turn to search for words. "... in wishing for your company. In anticipating our next meeting. You see... What I think you do not understand is that sadness can also be a sort of joy. Simply because red is at the opposite end of the spectrum from blue does not mean that they are not related, or even complimentary."

There was a long silence. She lowered her hand, and he noted and logged the response that the motion triggered. As she watched him she appeared to be almost doing the same, herself. It was unnerving. Or it would have been, if he'd had nerves.

"So..." he said finally, trying to achieve some kind of comprehension. "There exists a sort of pleasure in strong emotions, whether or not they are beneficial or commonly pleasant ones?"

Pause. "I think so." Her voice was small, almost frightened. He didn't understand why. Nothing in the previous conversation should have been frightening to her. Perhaps it was that too-human tendency to lock themselves into rigid paradigms of thinking, reacting sharply and violently when they were moved from them. He skirted the edges of thinking that the machines weren't too far different.

Something occurred to him. "Even anger?"

Slow nod. "There seems to be evidence for that as well, as detrimental as that may be."

"That makes absolutely no sense."

Shrug. "It doesn't make sense to me either. But I didn't make the world, and I don't try to change it. I just try to live in it."

He stared at her intently. "Do you?"

"Yes. If I am not going to try and make myself happy, who will?"

He didn't have an answer for her on that one.