NOS-4A-2 approached Aya, being careful not to attract her attention. She was on the floor of his bedroom, reading one of his magazines. She didn't seem to notice him enter the room. His optics glowed, "You are now under my control, little one..."

Aya blinked, "Ow..."

IAMYOURMASTERIAMYOURMASTERIAMYOURMASTER!

"Ow! Stop!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Nos stopped trying to take control of her, "WHY ISN'T IT WORKING!?"

"Nos!?" Aya hovered to him, then back away, "I'm sorry, do you want me to leave you alone?"

"No! I want you to tell me why it isn't working!" he demanded, "Tell me now!"

"I-I'm sorry, but I really don't know!"

"YOU'RE A LIAR!" he screamed at her, "YOU'RE LYING TO ME! DON'T TRY TO DENY IT!"

"I'm sorry! You're right, I have lied to you, but I really don't know why your mind control isn't working!"

"LIES!" he scratched at the wall, adding more marks to the wallpaper, "TELL ME NOW! HOW DO YOU RESIST ME!?"

Aya felt so hopeless that she simply caved in, bracing for him to bite her and end it all.

"Huh?" he dropped his voice to a more reasonable level, "What are you doing?"

She seemed confused, "Weren't you going to kill me?"

"Wait, you mean...you really don't know?"

"Yes! That's what I was trying to tell you!"

"Oh..." he was slightly embarrassed, "Then..."

"Maybe it's how I'm built." she suggested, "Maybe it's my base software, or antivirus vaccines."

"Hm..." he thought about that for a second, "No, that can't be it. I've been able to take control of machines with your software, and ones with high-level antiviruses...I thought I had figured it out, but no..." he stopped to rub his forehead again, "I need a nap...hm? What are you reading?"

"Just something I found in the back of your closet." Aya glanced at him, "That's okay, right?"

"Yes, but I don't recognize this one..." he picked it up and thumbed through it, "Oh, it's one of these..." his eyes suddenly widened, and he burst out laughing. Not evil or maniacal like he normally would, but genuine real laughter.

"What?" she took the magazine from him, frowning at the block lettering, "'And his name is John Cena'?"

"Just something that went crazy in twenty sixteen...oh! Now I remember that magazine!"

"I don't get it..."

"That's okay..." he finally stopped laughing, but kept the smile, "Wow...thanks for finding that. I needed a good laugh."

"Really though? What is this magazine?"

"Don't worry about that...hm?" he noticed more of what she had dug up, "Did you go through my entire closet?"

"Ummm...maybe?"

He smirked, "That's interesting. I had no idea you liked ancient history."

"I love ancient history!" Aya was glad she got him in a good mood for once, "And I love geography! And old tech an' stuff!"

"Really?" Nos was intrigued, "How did you learn about all of that?"

"Mostly from the Axiom." she replied, "It has an expansive database of all kinds of cool info! I like to use the computer for that when my sisters aren't using it."

"Wow..." Nos chuckled, "That's quite fascinating, you know. I've never met someone else like me."

"You haven't?"

"Thank you, really." he told her, "My headache is gone. I really need to get back to my computer, but I'm glad I actually talked to you."

"You are?" Aya beamed, "Yay! I love making people happy!"

Nos couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, "Alright, I'll be downstairs."

"And I'll be up here."

So Nos left her to whatever she was doing. Maybe he had miscalculated in his judgement of her. He would have to avoid making that mistake from now on.

Nos sighed. He'd been at it for hours, and he hadn't gotten another bite victim since morning. He would have to go out and feed again. The batteries were taking a toll on his sanity.

He stopped to look at his handiwork. What was he missing? He was impressed with how complex Aya's design was, but it was in fact so complex that he had to weed through every little thing to find what was letting them resist so easily.

Wait a minute.

He did another calculation, simpler this time. INVALID. He tried another, with multiple pathways to scan more areas. INVALID. He did another and another, tweaking each one accordingly, and every time the result was the same. INVALID.

No automatic searches worked even in the slightest. He had always done these by hand, since he had much better control of where it went, but if not even one simple search brought anything...

"That's it!" he gasped triumphantly, "Yes!"

He had figured it out.

He saved the results of his tired work and bit the computer, sucking it dry of its energy. He wouldn't need it again for the rest of the day. He smiled once more before hurrying up to where Aya was;

"You are now under my control..."

Aya's eyes turned bright red, "Yes...Master...?"

"I did it!" Nos let her go, "I DID IT!"

"What? What happened?" Aya hovered to him, "Nos?"

"I got it!" he laughed in relief, "I figured it out!"

"Did you...did you take control of me?"

"Yes! And it worked!" Nos laughed for one more moment, basking in how amazing victory felt, when he suddenly stopped.

Now he would take control of all the EVEs and shut down the Axiom, draining all their power to his heart's content.

Isn't that what he wanted? That was the plan, right?

"Nos?" Aya became concerned, "What's wrong?"

Nos didn't respond at first, just lost in his own thoughts. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Aya?"

"Yes?"

"Why..." he tried to think of how he would word his question, "Why are you like this?"

"Huh? Like what?"

"You're, well...you're sentient." he explained, "I've never met anyone sentient besides myself before. Why are you so different from the others?"

"What?" Aya was perplexed to be sure, "What are you talking about? All the Eves were built to be sentient."

"What?"

"Well, all the robots on the Axiom except the stewards actually." she told him, "In fact, I don't think I've ever met a robot that isn't sentient besides the stewards."

He shook his head, "That's a lie."

Aya flinched, "What? You think I'm lying?"

"Yes, and you know why? Because I was the only sentient being besides you."

"No, you never bothered to get to know anyone else." she replied, "Sure I'm sentient, but you only figured that out because you learned what I was like."

"No...no..." Nos backed into the wall, hunched over, "That isn't true! It's a lie! You know it's a lie! Why won't you tell me the truth!?"

"Nos, I'm not lying!" Aya retorted, "All the sentries in the city are sentient too! I've met some of them! My friends in the city are sentient! My family is sentient! They always have been, and I'm willing to wager most of the robots you've ever met are sentient as well!"

His optic shrinked as he thought about that. So XR, Buzz Lightyear, that girl's parents, every sentry in the city...WALL-E and EVE and all the others...

"NO!" he screamed in realization, "IT'S NOT TRUE! TELL ME THIS IS A SICK JOKE! TELL ME NONE OF THEM ARE SENTIENT!" he grabbed Aya violently and she flinched away, "PLEASE TELL ME, AYA! PLEASE TELL ME WE ARE THE ONLY SENTIENT BEINGS IN THE MULTIVERSE! PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU!"

She couldn't respond. For once in her life, she was completely speechless.

"NOOO!" he let go of her and fell on the ground, hugging himself, "IT'S NOT TRUE! IT CAN'T BE TRUE!"

Aya watched in horror as he began to sob, glistening tears pouring down his one expressive eye. She didn't know how to handle this. How did Leah handle a situation like this?

She lay down on her side in front of him, "Nos?"

He opened his eyes just a little, "Aya...all those people I killed...they-they have...c-conscious...?"

"Hush, Nos..." Aya put her hand in his, thinking of her sister and brother-in-law, "You didn't know..."

He wrapped his arms around her, "Aya..." he kept crying, more softly this time, "Oh Aya..."

She hugged him back, hoping she was comforting to him. He kept crying like this until the sun was well over the horizon, and she didn't leave him once during that entire time.