While waiting for the bus to arrive,the girl decided to start a conversation.
"Um, thanks again for saving me back there,"
"It was the right thing to do," replied 2B nonchalantly.
"The way you stood up for me was really cool," the girl smiled, revealing her straight and pearly-white teeth.
"Well, you haven't introduced yourself," said 9S.
The girl blushed. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Shauna Saint-Clair, nice to meet you,"
"Likewise. I'm 2B," 2B put a hand on her chest.
"And me, I'm 9S,"
"Your names are... Kinda unusual," Shauna ran a hand through her brown hair. "At least it's easy to remember,"
A bus approached. The trio stood up, queueing up at the front. Some passengers exited the vehicle, and they let them leave before boarding.
Coincidentally, they got off on the same stop, at the apartment complex.
"Oh, we live at the same place," remarked 9S.
2B and Shauna smiled enigmatically.
"You guys seem to be hiding something..." 9S narrowed his eyes. "Which floor do you live in, Shauna?"
"The fifth floor,"
When they arrived on said floor, they still headed towards the same direction. 9S was increasingly flabbergasted, while 2B and Shauna smiled knowingly. They stopped at adjacent doors.
"WE'RE NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOURS?" cried 9S. "2B, why aren't you saying anything, like you've already known everything?"
"You should stop playing games too often, 9S. I sometimes see Shauna when I go out with Kainé, but we've only nodded at each other so far," explained 2B.
9S only passed her a dirty look.
"Would you like to come into my house? I want to thank you two properly," offered Shauna.
2B and 9S agreed. When they walked in, the sweet scent of flowers registered in their noses.
Shauna's house was furnished to be cosy. When 9S glanced at their TV, it was wired to the latest gaming console. Of course, a rack of games complemented it. There were vases of flowers on every table in the house, each a different variety. A toy chest was sitting in a corner of the living room. Framed photos stood on the top tier of a three-tiered bookshelf.
"Big sister! You've come back!" called a cheerful yet childish voice. A small brunette ran over to Shauna, demanding a hug. They're basically clones of each other, but Shauna had freckles dotting her face. The child seemed to be eight years old at most. Her hair was fashioned into two pigtails, and a flower crown rested upon her head.
Shauna lifted her. "Wow, you've made another flower crown when I was gone," she commented.
"Who are these people, big sister? They remind me of the light haired lady who covers her face," she stared at the androids.
"They saved me from some trouble just now, so I invited them over. They're 2B and 9S," answered Shauna.
2B and 9S waved respectively.
"My name is Sanna Saint-Clair, nice to meet you, 2B, 9S!" The child introduced herself as she was being put down.
"Nice to meet you too," the androids answered simultaneously.
"Shauna, where's your parents?" asked 9S, as he had read about familial structures, and it bugged him that there were no parents to be seen.
"My father is working right now, and my mother..." Shauna trailed off.
"9S, it's best if we don't pry," whispered 2B.
9S apologized.
"Anyway, I baked some baumkuchen earlier, so you should have some," Shauna brought a jar from the kitchen. It was a better subject to turn to.
There were many cylindrical shaped pastries with a hollow middle. Their crusts were bronze, but the fillings were of different colours: yellow, pink and brown.
"Here, have some. The yellow one is the original, while I added chocolate and strawberry flavours in the brown and pink ones," Shauna opened the lid and held the jar out to the white-haired duo.
Chocolate-loving 9S took a brown baumkuchen without much thought while 2B took a yellow one. They both nibbled at the pastry.
"Man, this is so good! Did you put some secret ingredient or something?" complimented 9S between bites. When he finished it, he craved for more.
"I'm glad you like it," said Shauna.
"Our Dad taught us well! He's an amazing baker, by the way," said Sanna, beaming.
"Well, I'll give you some of my pastries the next time I bake them," said Shauna.
"That's cool! I can't wait," said 9S.
Shauna proceeded to find a container to put some baumkuchen in, so that the androids could bring them home. Sanna had vanished into her room. 2B took a seat on the sofa, scrutinizing the photos. There was a couple and a child, doing several activities. They were all smiles. 'Familial units, huh,' thought 2B.
"Why did the guys attack you back there?" she heard 9S ask.
"It's... kinda hard to explain, 9S, but they are bullies, so that's what they do," answered Shauna with some degree of uncertainty.
"Why would bullying be a thing, though?"
"Honestly, 9S, I don't know myself. It just happens, I guess,"
Sanna reappeared from her room. "This is to thank you for saving Big Sister," she declared as she fastened a white lily into 2B's hair, and subsequently put on a flower crown on 9S's head.
2B wondered if she should send the flower to 6O along with the kitten plush. Unfortunately, it was against protocol to bring living organisms to the Bunker, for fear of contamination. She supposed she could send some pictures over instead.
"2B, you can press the flower in a thick book, if you want to," said Sanna as she ran to the bookshelf and took out a well-worn book. All sorts of flowers were pressed and pasted in the book, along with its name and its flower language.
"That is certainly amazing, Sanna," commented 2B, "Did you make it yourself?"
"No, my mom was the one who made it," the girl shook her head.
"I see," replied 2B as the smell of the lily wafted into her nose.
_
"It's time for us to leave," said 2B when it was getting late.
The Saint-Clair sisters sent the androids to the door. They asked the latter to visit them anytime they want.
21O and Kainé greeted them when they opened the door. She regarded the flowers that 2B and 9S were wearing with a flash of familiarity. The first thing they asked was about the Operator's visit to the Bunker. Luckily, it had nothing to do with Pascal or A2, as WB had initially feared.
As 9S told 21O about his day (while eating the baumkuchen), he commented, "I thought humans live in harmony with each other. Seems like that intel was wrong."
21O took a moment before answering. "I've heard that the humans are very unpredictable, so I am not as surprised about this. Maybe you should stay around more and learn the hearts of people, 9S."
"Yeah, but it doesn't add up that the intel would be wrong. They live in families and communities and work together in order to survive, though. So why would it lead to conflict?"
"9S, maybe you should remember that sometimes, there will be something that doesn't have an absolute answer," said the Operator gently.
"Okay, I'll remember that, Operator," 9S yielded.