Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. Reviews are welcome. I don't own any characters other than Fenix Flarestone. Enjoy and stay ethical y'all.

Chapter 6: A Blast From The Past

Previously…

Stretching out, she decided to wake up for good and sat up. Lore asked, "How are you feeling?" "Better. Actually, I'm feeling… good." she flashed him a smile. "Do you wanna head back, Lore?" He nodded, "Probably a good idea, I'm guessing you'll be getting hungry s-" Her stomach growled, cutting him off. He continued, "You're hungry so yes, we should get back. Unless you want to eat fish from the lake like a savage." She shook her head, "Tempting, but nah… I'll pass." The two made their way back to the facility, Fenix running faster than usual, fuelled by the thought of food the sooner they make it back.

A few months later...

Fenix walked back into the lab wearing her ripped, stained, white Def Leppard shirt since her black one was drying. She walked to the coffee table, about to take a seat next to him with a cup of tea when Lore commented, "You know you could use the replicator to get another shirt, right?" and eyed her blood-stained and tattered shirt critically as he nursed his silicon-based drink. With a tea in one hand, Fenix inspected her shirt, "Yeah... that's true. It never crossed my mind because it's sort of still wearable." Lore sighed and yanked down on her shirt, ripping the bottom half off revealing her mid-riff. "It was wearable." He nonchalantly corrected her as he sipped his silicon-based drink. Fenix sighed, "Really, Lore?" He raised his eyebrows and looked at her whilst taking another sip, "Really, Fenix." then grinned. Fenix ordered the replicator for a small white t-shirt, and turned around the corner to get changed. Coming back in, she seemed mildly annoyed, "There, is that better?" "Much." Leaning back, he put his feet up on the table and ordered, "Sit. Tell me more about yourself since we're here on this planet indefinitely and there's only so many games of chess, risk and Igo we can play. I have a sneaking suspicion that there's other secrets waiting to be uncovered other than getting excommunicated. Talk." She rolled her eyes at his cocky demands. "Sure, but first, more tea and some… potato chips for me." He quirked an eyebrow, "Potato chips? Fried potatoes? Fried tubers? More fried foods?" he teased he, his judgemental tone a falsehood. She retorted, "Well yeah. Chips are the bomb!" She quickly brought a bag and offered him some. He stuck his hand in the bag and ate one. His eyes widened, "Now this is good. I think I these the most so far." She chuckled, "They just salted. Basic." He shrugged, "I like basic fried potatoes. Any ways… start talking. Rolling her eyes and grabbing a handful of chips, she began, "Where should I start? Should I start like David Copperfield? I was born April 13th, year… 1988." That got Lore's full attention, his solar eyes widened, with his mouth full he commented, "You were born when!?"

Fenix smirked and continued, "I was born in 1988 with hyper-regeneration, I had to keep that a secret my entire life. I don't know how my parents didn't catch on, but… whatever. My strength and speed didn't come until I turned thirteen, that's when I 'blossomed into womanhood'. I was adopted, my real parents are unknown, they named me and left me." Her eyes hardened for a moment before continuing, "At the age of two my intelligence was about ten years ahead of my peers so naturally, I didn't fit in with my peers." Lore smirked. I know what that's like… to be an outsider… to be misunderstood… I look human enough but that didn't matter to anyone, not that I cared. "The other kids didn't like me, I remember the teacher telling my parents, 'I disturbed them.' It's not my fault they were so stupid that I… might've been mean them. I was home schooled after that. I graduated by the time I was nine. I wasn't allowed to enrol in post-secondary education until I eighteen and... I got bored. Really bored." Lore asked, "What did you do to kill your boredom?" Her eyes shifted with a mischievous grin, "I made a completely legal recreational drug that I sold to everyone. It was my way of interacting with people, I was amused by their stupidity… they were so easy! Plus it was a really good way to make good money when you're not old enough to work. My 'small business' was very successful for a while until I got caught by the po-pos but they couldn't charge me since the substance I created was completely legal and on top of it, I was too young." Lore thought to himself. What nine-year-old creates legal drugs and sells them? Then again, that was rather ingenious to do that. I can see her doing that. "With the money I made, I spent some on tools and gadgets, musical instruments and whatever I wanted. When I was thirteen when I managed to fix a 1979 Chevy truck that was in the junk yard. Ever since I was young, I enjoyed fixing things as you probably know by now." her eyebrows raised as she cheekily grinned to Lore.

"Not at all. I would've never guessed you liked fixing things." He sarcastically commented and batted his eyes innocently. Fenix rolled her eyes and proceeded, "My adoptive dad, Oisin, taught me how to drive. He and I got along more when he found out I liked to fix things. It also helped that I ended up liking the same music as him, too." She smiled remembering her adoptive father, sadness tinged her eyes remembering he was long gone. She misses her adoptive father. She is still seventeen. She's still very young. Lore felt guilty realizing what he had felt back when they were laying in the sun after swimming. Desire… I felt desire… Desire to kiss her… and to do more… I need to stop seeing her in that light. It's not right. Immoral. Even I know that. "I fixed random things and made small-scale explosives, robotic cats, helped dad grow pot..." Lore asked her feeling confused, "Pot?" "Yeah, pot. Oh, um… marijuana. It's a weed." Lore's eyes flickered side-to-side as he quickly researched. Once he realized what it was, his eyebrows raised, "I see. A plant used for medicine, fabric, paper, ropes and… recreational drug use." he grinned. She added, "Yes, it has great medicinal benefits and dad grew them because he was always in pain from working as a heavy-duty mechanic. It's a lot safer than any over-the-counter painkillers and it's completely natural. Unprocessed. But most people just saw it as something to get high off of, which is why it's got such a bad rep." He nodded in understanding and let her continue as he grabbed a handful of chips, "What else did I do? Oh yeah… I was hacking into government encrypted sites to uncover some conspiracies they covered up... Damn it, I was so close to exposing everything, too… Like I said, I was really bored. My mom eventually had enough of me doing stupid shit and I was forced into an insane asylum. Dad couldn't stop her… I don't blame them for it, though. I kind of seemed unstable at times because I was… bored. I was so bored to the point where I was going insane." He added, "That'll happen, trust me, I know. Overtime, it gets to you… you start becoming jaded about everything." Fenix felt that he was understanding her more and more, "That's how I started to feel, too! I saw the world and how gay it all was. How retarded people were and how much I hated them. I hated society and how I couldn't go back to 'ignorance is bliss' any more. How this whole world and my life was a fucking joke. I didn't want to live in that corrupted world. My thoughts often took a wrong turn and I'd 'clock out'." she chuckled bitterly. Lore's yellow eyes held understanding and spoke softly yet passionately, "When you lack the ability to manage your emotions combined with intellect your view of everything becomes unbearable because you see the truth, you see it clear as day, to them you are insane … a 'conspiracy theorist' and also a threat to them because they are so helplessly blind but because… you're too close to the truth. They're afraid of change that they'd rather live as slaves than die fighting for freedom." Fenix flashed a faint smile as she reached out to briefly caress his hand which rested on his knee, a small expression of gratitude knowing how far Lore has come along from when they first met, "Ain't that the truth." and leaned in, shoulder to shoulder feeling relaxed in the moment. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that there were two outbreaks of viruses that killed nearly a quarter of the population during it all, and both times, my glorious antibodies in my blood was used to make vaccines. No side effects at all, whatsoever. It was a first, you know? You could say I saved the world. Twice." She gloated, which made Lore chuckle. "Things were going well until I was thrown 359 years into the future by some ass-hole who call himself 'Q'. He said that I wasn't needed in the year 2002 after the humans discovered vaccines from my blood, that I had another purpose in a different time and this 'time-move' was permanent." she took a break to eat some chips.

"You were too smart for you own good. Besides, it was probably for the best that you were put into this time instead of aimlessly floating around in the past." Lore commented. And for you to meet me. I'm glad this Q pushed you into my time and possibly to Omicron Theta. "That's one way of seeing it. A positive way, actually. Things always happen for a reason, and I believe in the saying 'where we are now is exactly where we're supposed to be'. But I missed my parents even if I didn't really have a connection with them but they were still my parents. Well… I did with my dad, Oisin. What can I say? I was still fourteen when I was shafted into the twenty-fucking-fourth century." "You've only been in this time for three years, explains your lingo." and smirked. "Is it that noticeable?" her eyes were mildly concerned, "Do I speak that weird?" Grabbing another handful of chips, he answered, "For anyone other than myself, no, they'll be too daft to notice. I find it charming how your speech is contrary to your hidden intelligence, it's honestly quite adorable." He casually complimented, inwardly anticipating her reaction. "Thanks for the back-handed compliment, ass." She sarcastically thanked looking perplexed and offended, yet she still couldn't stop the heat from rising to her cheeks. He chuckled at her childish name-calling, yet again proving his point. After she composed herself, she began, "After I got over my sadness, anger and feeling sorry for myself about being thrown into the future, I was excited. I didn't want to admit it at the time but I was so excited, so much new technology to get my hot little hands on... But I had to learn to adapt and catch up to the twenty-fourth century ways. At least 'Q' rigged the social security systems or whatever he did to make it seem like I belonged in this time and I was enrolled at Starfleet Academy. I took almost all of the courses, double the full course load since I don't need to sleep much. For once I was using my noggin', kept me out of trouble for the most part. I didn't get a chance to do the written and technical exams, it would've been nice to finish them, but… that wasn't in the cards. In the three years at the academy I made friends with Strenn and Vaum, they were one of the 'decent' organics I was talking about and they were... logical." She smirked before sipping her tea amused to see if Lore gets what she's getting at. "They're Vulcan. That's very fitting for you to befriend them." She cleared her throat before she spoke, "Yup, they are Vulcanese." Lore chuckled at her choice of words, "What can I say? I appreciated their ways of thinking. I learned their language and we learned Romulan dialects together and taught me some Vulcanese, too." Lore reminded, "You said you were staying out of trouble 'for the most part', elaborate on that, I'm curious." She grinned and cleared her throat, "I got in trouble for reactivating a restricted ancient Romulan ship at a museum. I figured I could learn more about their advanced technologies even if it was dated. That incident almost got me kicked out of school." The two snickered at that. "Of course, you did. Only you would find the time to do so on top of your ridiculous amount of course-load." chided Lore. "But hey! I still got what I wanted, I know how to fly the damn things and fix them, too. Any ways, around this time, my little accident with an experiment gone wrong happened. Strenn and Vaum tried to cover for me but Admiral Pressman was able to find a legal way to do experiments on me, Vaum's dad is a scientist for Starfleet and tried to find a loophole in the papers but he couldn't... and the rest is history." She didn't want to go into details on what sort of experiments she endured knowing he'd be upset to know what she had gone through. Lore clenched his knuckles. They failed her… they failed their friend when she desperately needed help… and she had to endure horrific experimentations… But she's here now. She's here with me. I know I'm selfish for thinking this but… I'm glad she's here, even though she's suffered so much. She exhaled deeply, "I haven't talked about my past until now. You know more about me than anyone. Not even Vaum and Strenn know about my past." She concluded.

Lore gazed at Fenix, feeling a vast array of emotions stirred within him by her story. He believed her. It was hypnotizing to know both of their events unfolded to her being here sitting by his side. He stood up and aimlessly sauntered and sighed before he started to speak, "And here you are now, in this very moment." With me...

"I'm a blast from the past, babe." She chuckled trying to mask her mental tiredness from vicariously living through her past from telling him her history. His mesmerized expression still unchanged, he looked at her, and stood. He extended his large hand gesturing her to stand. She grabbed his hand abiding his silent command. His hand still connected with her much smaller one he continued, "It wasn't serendipity for us to meet." With that, she leaned into him and rested her head on the crook of his neck closing her eyes in contentment, feeling safe and relieved to unload her secret, tears soaked into his shirt. Thank you, Lore… I'm so glad that I was able to meet you. I never knew how much I needed this… needed you... He released her hand go to wrap his long arms around her narrow shoulders, she returned the gesture and wrapped her thin arms around his middle. Never let me go, Fenix and I won't let you go either. Lore closed his eyes and sighed in contempt. This moment was something he never thought he'd ever experience, and realized he wouldn't have been able to had it been with anyone else. He looked at the empty bag of chips, "I ate all the fried potatoes..." Fenix giggled, "I don't mind, we could always get more, right?" He grinned, "Damn right we can!" She slowly let go of him and grabbed a few more bags. Lore suggested, "Let's play Igo. I like that one the most. I noticed you like war games..." She shrugged, "There's something very satisfying about taking over territories." I'm glad you do, Fenix. VERY glad you do… He grinned, "You'd make a great war lord, but not as good as I."

A few hours in, Fenix asked Lore, "I know you didn't have the best experience living here with the colonist and all, but what was it like?" His eyes flickered to hers as she made her move and she continued, "What was it like when you first became sentient?" Lore sat back as he inspected her move in Igo. His eyes scanning the board as he thought to himself. No one, not even my father had asked me that… Leaning back on the couch with a sigh, he recalled, "Everything and I mean even the slightest thing was… new. Exciting. My relationship with my father was… it was different to say the least." Fenix shifted in the couch to face him and sat cross legged.

"Is.. is Lore… sentient?" Dr. Noonian Soong asked his wife Julianna. "I… I think he is…" Lore looked at the two people he understood to be his father and mother. His eyes went to Dr. Soong, "You are my father." then to Julianna, "And you… are my mother." Dr. Soong's blue eyes widened as bright as his smile, "My boy! Lore! You know who we are!"

"It felt strange… I understood that they were my parents but I still felt like an outcast even when I was around them." Lore stated. Fenix understood to an extent how that felt knowing how she felt when she was around her adoptive parents. "Father was always pushing me to learn on my own accord. I got basic uploads so I don't end up accidentally harming someone. But I was curious and that curiosity always conflicted with what I had learned."

Lore stood outside in the gardens as he stared at the purple birds that loitered there. He faintly smiled and caught every single one of them and brought them back to his home. Unsure of what to do, he kept them in his room and marvelled at them. He enjoyed the small purple birds that batted their wings. Over the next ten minutes he realized they were flying against the window causing them to become stunned or die. His eyebrows knit together in confusion. Unsure of what to do, he lined up the stunned birds in a row. Dr. Noonian Soong walked in to see what Lore was up to, "Lore, did you bring the birds in here?" Lore looked up, "Yes, I like them. But they are dying. Why?" Dr. Soong saw the purple birds all in a row, "Because they don't belong inside. They needed to stay outside, untouched. In the garden they get everything they need: Water, sunlight, air and food." Lore tilted his head, "I can give all of those things in here." Dr. Soong checked the birds sighed, "It's too late, Lore. The birds are dead. It's not fixable." Lore sighed as his father continued, "Lore, if you want to enjoy them, just go outside. You don't need to keep them all to yourself, they're for everyone's enjoyment." Lore's eyes went to his father's, "But I do not want everyone to enjoy them. I want them all to myself." and gently touched the dead purple birds.

Fenix commented, "You were curious about them and you liked them so you wanted to keep them. That's understandable." She then added, "You were still learning, too." Lore nodded, "True, but what my father didn't understand was that I wanted them even if they were dead. Their purple feathers still shone brightly even when they were dead. They were still beautiful." Fenix began to understand why his father was compelled to deactivate him when the colonist urged him to do so. "I still caught one of them, but I put it in a cage this time and fed it food and water learning from my first mistake. Father let me keep it, and I named the purple bird 'Phoenix'." Her eyes widened at the coincidence

Over the next while, Lore diligently took care of Phoenix and his father sighed, "I guess having one is a compromise." and eyed the unenergetic purple bird, "Lore, you should let it out to fly sometimes, it looks… bored and lonely." Lore took offence to his father's innocent statement, "Phoenix has me looking after her. Why would she be bored? Are you insinuating I am not entertaining enough?" Dr. Soong stepped back and tried to reword his previous statement, "What I meant was that she is a bird, a wild bird at that. She wantsfreedom.. freedom to fly wherever they want." Lore shook his head, "No, last time all the birds tried to escape and flew into the window killing themselves. I will not risk her getting hurt. She will not leave the cage." Julianna overheard their conversation and huffed feeling her own self like a caged bird with Noonian Soong, "For the love of God, Lore. Let the bird go! Phoenix is a wild bird and she needs to be outside. It's wrong to keep her locked up like this..." Lore countered, "She is safe here. Nothing will harm her as long as she is here… in her cage." Julianna spat and added, "She'll die either way… at least let her have some freedom before she does." Lore smiled, "She can die in her cage, she can stay with me until her end." A chill went up her spine and left the room as she eyed her husband. Dr. Soong realized Lore was developing in a very questionable way, "Lore… there's a saying..." His yellow eyes flickered to his father momentarily before returning to Phoenix, "...If you set it free and it comes back, she's yours. If she doesn't, she never was." Lore looked to his father, "Then why would I take that chance?"

Lore stood and retrieved a couple of beers for himself and Fenix, "I took care of Phoenix, but… my father and mother were right. She was lonely and bored. She wasn't energetic at all. She slept all the time." He took a swig of beer, "But I didn't care then. I just wanted a friend and she was all I had. To my father, I was still a science experiment. To my mother, I was her husband's science experiment. That's why I wanted to keep Phoenix so I wouldn't be alone." Fenix understood his reasons for keeping the bird even if it was unethical. He was lonely like I was…

One morning, Lore walked in to see that Phoenix hadn't moved. He gently flicked the cage but there was no movement or any response. He opened the cage and grasped the bird in his hands, "She has died..." Dr. Soong looked over and saw Lore holding the purple bird in his hands, "Lore, did you-?" "Phoenix has died. She was not moving when I saw her." Dr. Soong walked over to Lore, "This is what I meant… she was lonely and bored." Lore softly petted the purple bundle in his palm as Julianna commented, "She died of loneliness, Lore. You could've caught a male bird so she wasn't alone… She needed her OWN kind..." Lore inclined his head to Julianna, "She had me… And adding a male bird would have only taken her attention away from me." She shook her head as she left the room. Dr. Soong began, "Is this what you wanted? For Phoenix to die?" Lore looked at the bird in his palm, "No… but it was inevitable. Everything dies…" Unfortunately, Lore's story of him and his bird circulated within the colonists like wildfire. When Dr. Soong heard the humours, he knew life for Lore would be very challenging especially when he was so curious. Dr. Soong mumbled to himself as he watched Lore walk out the door, "The colonists were already weary of him living amongst them but now… they've already made a judgment of his character." His blue eyes saddened at the fact but there was nothing he could do to rectify the situation.

"When Phoenix died, I knew I was alone again." Lore continued. Fenix asked, "After Phoenix, what happened?" Lore sighed deeply, "I began to go into town to seek if I could replace Phoenix with something else… something that was more my kind as mother put it." he spat bitterly. "I went into town and… I received a lot of negative attention. I didn't understand. I looked human, but they didn't like me. They were jealous that I was better than them." Fenix listened intently. Rumours destroyed any chance of you having any possible friendships…

Amongst the colonists, there were some that talked to Lore. Dr. Soong noticed they were only talking to him because they needed help with their work or own personal endeavours. Lore thought it was because he was progressing in human interactions. Over time, Lore too, understood that people only talked to him when they wanted him to do something for them. He became irritable and bitter towards them. On top of that, he was still alone amongst everyone. He spent his days at the waterfall some ways away from the community. It was another mundane day like no other except he saw a teenaged girl there trying to swim. His eyes watched the girl intently until he realized she wasn't coming to the surface. He jumped into the water and sank to the bottom of the small lake. He saw the girl and walked over to collect her. Carrying her bridal style, he walked back to the shore. Noticing his vitals weren't present, he began pushing her chest to expel water. When the girl didn't respond, he pushed harder and heard a crack. He scanned her bones and realized he had accidentally cracked her chest cavity. He tilted his head and carried her back to the community. When he entered the town, colonists saw the pale dead girl in his arms and panic spread like wildfire. Lore's eyes widened, "She drowned and I tried to resuscitate her!" But no one was listening. He yelled, "I didn't kill her!" Lore became extremely frustrated that no one would listen. In the distance he saw his father running to him, "Lore! What happened!?" Lore looked at the dead girl in his arms, "She was swimming and drowned! I tried to resuscitate her but I was too late. I think I broke her bones. But… no one would LISTEN!" Dr. Soong stepped back feeling scared, he feared his own son.

Fenix knew he was misunderstood and that incident was taken out of context and it escalated as Lore continued, "I remember holding that girl in my arms… She was about your age from what I recall. But by the time my father came to me, it was sheer chaos. Everyone was outraged and scared. I was berated by my mother and everyone in the town. They called me a monster, an abomination…." Fenix's eyes hardened understanding the predicament and torment he went through, "Did your father believe you at least?" He shook his head, "I don't know."

"Lore, I know you've said that you were only trying to help the girl, but that incident looked very bad. You know how the colonists are around you." Dr. Soong mentioned as he emptied his servos. "They're jealous of my abilities. They're jealous of me." Lore looked at him, "That dead girl… what was I supposed to do, father? Leave her to drowned? Would that've been a better option?" Dr. Soong diligently worked as Lore continued, "Maybe that's a good idea. Everyone and everything dies any ways. Some sooner than others." Dr. Soong finished emptying his servos with a sigh, "Lore, something seems off and I need to take a look at your emotional programming." He tilted his head, "Why? I'm perfect, you said that yourself, father. I feel just fine, but thanks." The two heard a knock on the door, "Lore, go to the back and stay there until I come fetch you." Dr. Soong stood and answered the door, it was the community council. Lore walked over to the back door, he opened then closed it with a smirk pretending that he had left as his father told him to. Leaning against the wall out of sight, he listened intently to who were talking to his father. He heard his father, "Hello Mr. Lindemann, what brings you to this neck of the woods?" Mr. Lindemann answered, "The colonists and I came to the conclusion that Lore has become a danger to us." Dr. Soong shook his head, "No. He tried to save her from drowning but-" Mr. Lindemann interrupted, "-There is no proof now is there? There were no witnesses. The girl's parents are now without a daughter." "I don't believe that Lore is capable-" "-He IS capable. Do you honestly think he's innocent? EVERYONE heard about his bird incident..." Dr. Soong retaliated, "He was young! He was JUST learning- no different than a child!" Mr. Lindemann countered, "Except he has strength, curiosity and a vast speed of learning- a complete recipe for creating an abomination!" Lore listened intently flexing his hands. Dr. Soong tried to reason with Mr. Lindemann, "I'll fix him… he's still so new- new to everything." Mr. Lindemann shook his head, "I'm afraid if you won't deactivate him, we- the people WILL. Or all of your funds will be taken away if you don't do it in the next three days." Dr. Soong clenched his eyes shut knowing he had no choice in the matter and nodded, "Fine..." Lore walked in, his face neutral and calm. Underneath his calm facade, he was in rage. Dr. Soong's eyes widened, "Lore! I told you I'd come fetch you when-" Without a warning Lore punch Mr. Lindemann in the face breaking his jaw. Dr. Soong was horrified, "LORE!" Lore ignored him as he proceeded to grab Mr. Lindemann and demanded his father, "Don't you DARE deactivate me! Just fix me! Make him understand or else..." and punched him in the throat causing his trachea to be crushed. "LORE! STOP!" Lore felt his body stopping from any further movement as Dr. Soong fixed Mr. Lindemann.

Fenix understood why he did it. You can only take so much bullying… I would've done the same thing, too. She asked Lore, "When your dad told you to stop, why did you?" Lore finished his beer then answered, "He made sure I'd listen to him… against my own will. My body just stopped." Fenix eyes widened, "That's kinda fucked up… I kinda get why he did that just in case something went wrong but at the same time… that's unethical." Lore tutted, "Tell me about it… After my father fixed Mr. Lindemann, I was still unable to move, but I was still sentient… heard everything." "What happened then?" Lore sighed, "I was a reduced to a statue as my father and talked to mother about Data, my little brother. They were mid constructing him when the drowned girl incident happened..." He sighed recalling the events, "While I was a fucking statue, father deactivated me… but not before I got contact with the Crystalline Entity." Fenix shook her head, "No one gave you a chance… not even your father."

"That's right… no one gave me a chance, Fenix." Lore echoed, his expression hard as he clenched his fists.

"Lore… I'm sorry that happened to you. You got the shit end of the stick and it isn't fair." He found her voice calming knowing she understood and empathized him, "So did you, Fenix..." and grasped her hand. She pulled him into an embrace. Nuzzling into her chest, she could feel his tears of pain. Massaging his scalp, she began, "Lore, life's never fair… we all suffer in one way or another… some more than others… it's just the cards we were dealt with. But, you're here now, reactivated and fixed." He mumbled into her chest, "And upgraded..." She smiled, "Exactly, you win some, you lose some." Composing himself, he retreated looking at her now yellow stained shirt, "Take the bad with the good, right?" "That's right, Lore." His yellow eyes flickered to her purple ones and thought of the birds he liked so much when he was still new. It was his turn to pull her into a hug and nuzzled into her hair. He was aware of how much smaller she was in his arms compared to him. This feels good… She's soft and warm… I can feel her… I like the closeness… I want more… At this realization, he abruptly ended the hug and stood. Seeing her blushing cheeks on her confused expression, he looked away. What am I thinking? She's too young… But I wanted her. I need to do a diagnostics test. Lore stated, "I haven't done a diagnostics test for a while, it needs to be done." And walked over to the work station and flipped open his scalp. I need to stay away from her for a while. I don't want to harm her. Fenix was beyond confused as she set her empty beer mug down and stood up to stretch, "Umm… yeah, okay. I'll be outside for a bit, working on meditation..." He didn't dare look up to see her stretching but his eyes betrayed him. Her midriff flashed for a moment as she stretched and he forced himself to tear his eyes off her. Stop looking at her. Stop thinking about her. Just do the diagnostics test… Fenix walked outside and began stretching some more. Eventually she closed her eyes and let her body go through the slowed motions of katas. After a while, Lore was perplexed to see there was nothing wrong with the diagnostics test he ran. Nothing… I'm fine… I don't understand. How am I fine? This must be what Fenix felt when all of her tests came back as human.