They pull the ship out into the open, K.A.T. scanning the skies and outer rim of earth's atmosphere for any telescopes in their path. She finds a spot later in the night that would work perfect for them to take their leave of the human planet. Ivan wrings his hands together over his scarf. While part of him is excited to go home, he knows not all of him will be leaving too.

"Sir," N.A.T. interrupts his desolate moment. Ivan looks to the robot with a neutral face.

"We have to," They say and disappear into the ship. Ivan nods his head though he wishes the mechanic was wrong. The wind blows against him making him cold. He tugs his body coverings closer to try and leech more warmth off them. He hasn't seen Alfred all day, and now that he's going to be leaving with the possibility of not saying goodbye has his lesser heart in knots.

He shakes his head and goes inside the ship, pressing a few buttons and bringing up his mission log, typing out a new entry for his mission update. He tries his hardest to keep his head clear as the sky gets darker and the time of their departure comes closer. Ivan finds his lesser eyes watering once more. N.A.T. says nothing to him as they curl in a ball in the corner and shut down for the trip home, not needing to be awake for the travel. K.A.T. appears in a screen in front of him, the R.E.T. units at his feet.

"Sir, he'll understand," K.A.T. says. Worst part is Ivan believes it. Alfred would understand that he had to leave as soon as possible, to go home and complete what he came to do. It doesn't stop the fact that the idea of leaving without one last time seeing such a smile kills Ivan inside just enough. One of the robots pull at his leg. Ivan turns down to the little R. bot, the one Alfred fixed from shaking.

"I stay?" The robot asks. Ivan blinks down at it, the other two tapping their robotic hands together in agreement. Ivan shakes his head at the request. They make little unhappy chirps at his answer. He can't leave one of them behind, that wouldn't feel right. But so does just leaving Alfred behind. Ivan sighs and pulls out one of the paper pieces that Alfred gave to him. He scrawls a quick note and ties it around the little R. bot. They whir in excitement and jump down from the ship. Ivan watches as it goes to hide in the barn.

"It's time," K.A.T. says gently. Ivan closes his eyes to prepare himself, his lesser heart clenching up in his chest. He presses his palms to his face to not let his sadness hinder his eyesight but this time it is his more sensitive eyes that well up in tears. He wipes them away.

"Okay," He says though everything he feels is far from 'okay'. K.A.T. starts up the ship, it humming to life easily and expertly. Ivan taps buttons on his control panel and pulls the wheel to lift the ship into the air. His lesser heart sinks low, as if trying to stay on earth like Ivan wishes he could. He can't help but keep glancing down at the surface of the planet as he pulls higher and higher away from it, wondering if for just one more moment he can spot Alfred beneath him. Even with his sensitive eyes open, the surface is too far away.

His gills struggle for air and Ivan rushes to his machine, enacting his third lung after so long. He waits there for a minute or two, making sure all his systems are working before exiting and staring into the vast openness of the stars. He rubs at both sets of his eyes again. E. and T. cling to his legs trying to comfort him. He kneels to them and pats their heads with an affectionate smile.

"Thank you," He tells them and they chirp out little noises. Carefully he picks himself up and sets the course for his home planet. His fingers sluggishly press the buttons, wanting with every fiber of his being to return back to the weird planet that started off as just another mission.

"Sir," K.A.T. says for the fifth time, trying to jog him out of his thoughts. Ivan jerks when the robot's voice finally registers in his head. He looks to the screen, finding K.A.T. looking back at him with a look of pity.

"Do emotions hurt?" They ask. Ivan looks to his feet. He knows K.A.T. must have read some of his entries since her mind is connected to everything in the ship. He nods his head softly.

"But it is somewhat worth it," He tries to smile though it feels more like a grimace. K.A.T. nods and disappears from sight. While the automatic transportation can't feel, it can understand, and that's the main goal. Ivan watches the stars go by, wondering if Alfred looks to them now as well. If they can see the same stars. It's all he can think about, all he can do keep himself together on the long trip home.


K.A.T. wakes him from another uneasy sleep just in time to enter back into his home planet's atmosphere. He's not as happy to see it as he once thought he would be. He lands in the right hanger, pulling at his body coverings before exiting. N.A.T. wakes and walks with him out into the large hanger. Someone is waiting for him.

"Ivanishka," The man says. Ivan bows his head politely to the formal call of his name. The other in front of him is the General, the one who sent him on his mission in the first place. Their talk is only business, discussing the details of his collecting with N.A.T. holding the elements in their thermal homes behind him. They are carted away by another automatic technician to be taken to labs to be tested and studied.

"You are missing one tendant," The General says to him. Ivan hardly bats an eye at the comment.

"It wanted to stay," He tells the General. They raise an eyebrow to him, lifting up their small hand held control panel.

"Did you?" Here Ivan looks away from the other in front of him. He racks his brain for an answer when the General pats his shoulder once then leaves him be. Ivan lets his head drop. T. and E. push at his legs and he finds it in him to get walking. K.A.T. comes to his side in her portable screen form, N.A.T. on his other. They guide him to his home, setting him down on the table provided for rest. Ivan curls in on himself.

He can feel the length of how long it's been since he saw Alfred. There hasn't been a day since he left he didn't think of the human. He has no idea how the other has reacted to his leaving. His lesser heart hurts too much to find out. The tears are slow to come but Ivan can feel the emotions in them all the same.