Aya stretched groggily, "Uggghhhhh..."

"You're awake!" EVE checked her over, "Did you sleep alright? Any bad dreams?"

"N-No, I'm fine..." she shook her head, the memories of the previous day still blurring in her mind, "Where's Nos?"

"He's with the chief of police."

"What?" Aya was confused, "He is? Why?"

"Because he bit you! Remember!?" EVE shook her head, "Were you really that delirious?"

"He bit me...oh, right..." Aya's fingers trailed up to the bite marks and she winced. They were really deep.

"He's currently serving his sentence." EVE explained, "We can visit if you like. I want to know why he was behaving that way. Why he suddenly cares so much about you."

"Bring a memory reader!"

"What? Okay." EVE realized that was a good idea, "Wait here. We'll leave in just a minute."

EVE grabbed some bits of tech she thought she'd need before bidding the rest of her family goodbye and heading off with Aya. They arrived at the police station in record time.

"Here to see Nos-4a-2?" Chief replied, sipping a cup of coffee, "Sorry, but he's not seeing any visitors today."

Aya's heart sank.

"I have a permit." EVE replied, "Need I remind you that me and Jonathan are on very good terms?"

"Ugh...stupid captains think they own the place..." he grumbled, "Fine, you can see him." he stood up and lead them to a room in the back, where Nos was pacing back and forth, worry etched in his brow.

"Nos?"

"Aya!" he beamed hurrying to the edge of his confinement, "I'm so happy to see you!" his smile fell as he saw the bite marks still in her casing. He reached a hand through the bars and ran his thumb over them, "I'm so sorry, Aya...I really didn't mean to bite you this hard..."

"Stand back!" Chief barked.

Nos flinched, "Sorry...I just couldn't stop worrying about you, Aya...did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I'm fine..." Aya replied, "I'm sorry...I must have lead them to you..."

"It's fine. I deserve this anyway."

"No you don't!"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." EVE said, "I'm going to use this memory reader to see what happened from your perspective. Is that alright?"

"Yes, go ahead."

EVE stuck the device to his head and memories began to play back, starting with the most recent memory and going back until it settled on the first;

"I cannot be defeated! It's not in my programming!"

Nos laughed. He'd forgotten about this memory.

"Well then, maybe it's time you had a reboot!"

EVE shook her head, "Irrelevant." she fast forwarded.

NOS-4A-2 sucked another robot dry, not even stopping to listen to his cries for mercy. The rush of power to his system was addicting, and he sighed with pleasure every time. He dropped the now dead robot, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"It's still not enough..." he mumbled angrily, "I need more..."

"See you guys later!"

"Sh! Not so loud!"

"Oh please. Who do you think stands a chance against this!?"

"I remember that." Aya remarked.

"That was just a few weeks ago." Nos added.

Nos smiled. Now was his chance. Ruby had tried to stay awake the whole night, but ended up falling asleep. Nos slid one of the windows open and crept down the stairs, listening for a moment to make sure they were really asleep. He hoped Aya wasn't a light sleeper as he wrapped his arms around her and hungrily dragged her off.

He was almost out of the house when Aya suddenly screamed, "RUBY! RUBY HELP! HELP ME!"

"Shut up!" Nos hissed, bolting as fast as his wings would carry him.

"Aya!?" Ruby found Nos' eyes and brandished her weapon.

Nos cursed under his breath, flying faster and faster while Ruby shot melting explosives at him, "LET GO OF MY SISTER, YOU SICK FREAK OF NATURE!"

...

Aya noticed his pale pallor, "Um...are you okay?"

"Huh?" Nos turned to look at her, "Why do you care?"

"Well...you see..." Aya tried to keep the shaking from her voice, "...um...you just looked sick, and...I was just wondering if you are..."

Nos couldn't fathom why she would care at all still, but he didn't care. What was the harm in a little chit-chat? "I am sick..."

"You are?"

"Yes...I fell horribly ill because I went four months without any energy...I almost died..."

Aya gasped, "I'm so sorry...I didn't-!"

"You're sorry? Excuse me, you're sorry!?"i

Aya flinched.

"I'm not angry, I'm just confused." Nos said to her, "Why are you...wh-why do you..."

He was now eye-to-eye with her, only the bars of the cage separating them.

...

"Wait."

She froze, "What?"

Why was he doing this? "Can I talk to you? Just for a minute?"

"Huh?" Aya seemed surprised, he would be too, "Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

Well, she was going to die anyway. Might as well get this off his chest, "What does defeat feel like for you?"

"Hm?"

"Surely you've been defeated before." he replied, "Those scars couldn't have just appeared."

"Oh, right..." Aya thought about what to say, "They were from Forthright, but anyway, yeah, I've seen defeat. I'm always disappointed when I'm defeated, but I try to think of it as an opportunity to learn."

He slammed his fist on the console, "Why can't I think of it like that..."

Memory after memory, the device flashed through them like channels on an old tv. EVE's face went from blank to anger to sadness as she watched the old events transpire from the vampire's perspective. This last one though was played in it's entirety;

"...it isn't enough..." his quiet voice shook violently as he lifted another battery, "...I can't live on batteries alone...I can't do it..." he went so far as to scratch the battery casing with his teeth, but he didn't bite it, "...I can't..."

"Nos!" Aya darted to him and lifted his chin, "Are you okay!? What's happened to you!?"

"Aya..." he smiled sadly, "You came back...hahaha..."

"Nos!" Aya took one of his last full batteries, "Are these not helping?"

"Well...yes, but..." he shook his head, "I feel full, but I can't stop..." he squeezed a battery and it exploded in his hands, "I need that satisfaction from sucking the life out of machines...I need that...I can't live without it, it's all I have..."

"Nosferatu..."

EVE brought both hands to her face as Aya nobly offered her own energy to satisfy his thirst. She also noticed how Nos tried to resist, and how once he gave in, he didn't drink everything all at once, despite how ravenous he was. Finally, EVE took the memory reader back, thinking long and hard about what she'd just witnessed.

"Wow..." she finally said, "Aya was telling the truth..."

"Quite a flashback." Nos commented, "I wish I could have understood her sooner. Maybe you wouldn't have gone through so much trauma."

"Nos..." Aya said.

"We still can't let him go." Chief said, "He needs to pay for his past crimes."

"Right, of course." Nos agreed, "I'll stay as long as is needed."

"Your cooperation is appreciated."

"Nos." Aya hovered up to his level, "Will you be okay? I can bring you more batteries if you get hungry..."

"I'll be fine, Aya." he took her hand in his, "Didn't I tell you not to worry so much about me?"

She chuckled, "Shut up! I'm just concerned for you! I don't want that to ever happen to you again!"

"It won't. I'll see what I can do on batteries alone." he grimaced, "I never thought I'd say that out loud..."

Aya laughed.

"Come on, Aya. We'll visit again tomorrow." EVE tugged her sister along.

"Okay! Bye, Nosferatu!"

He waved passively, a smile on his eyes.

EVE lifted one LED eyebrow, "Nosferatu?"

Aya blushed, "Don't ask."