Nos lay in the repair ward, chewing absently on a battery. He tossed it aside to grab another.

"Nos?"

"Eve?" he replied, not glancing at her.

"It's almost morning." she replied, "You know, I can just pour energy into your body, right?"

He blinked, "You can do that?"

"Yeah, watch." EVE went to the computer near the door and began to type. Two cords popped out of the ceiling with clips on the ends, "Hold still." she attached the clips to Nos' fangs, turning the energy flow on.

"Ahhh..." Nos sighed with pleasure, "This is nice..."

"It's going at a hundred watts per second. If you feel like you need more or less, you can twist this dial here." she showed him one of the cords had a knob on it.

"Thank you, Eve..." he spoke around the clips in his mouth.

"Sure thing. Oh yeah, and don't go above three hundred watts a second for more than six minutes. Okay that's it. Come out when you're ready." then she was gone.

He scoffed. There's no way he could live off of this machine. Batteries gave him a better source of food, this thing was just a charger. Sure it made him feel better, but he would have to crank it up much higher than 300 watts if he was going to survive. Besides, he couldn't come back to this machine every time he thirsted for energy. Well, whatever he did, he couldn't bite Aya again. The risk of losing her was too high.

"How's Nos? Is he okay?" Aya's voice rang out beyond the door.

"Stop. He's fine, but he asked me to keep you away from him until he healed, okay?"

"What!? That's not fair!"

"Yes it is!" he shouted.

"Nos! Let me in!"

"No can do, little one. I can't risk your life anymore."

"Oh for crying out loud, let me through!" Aya burst in, "You can't stop me!"

EVE shrugged, "Sorry."

Nos sighed, "Whatever." he yanked the cords from his teeth and stood up, "You're more stubborn than I am!"

"I care about my friends!" she crossed her arms, "So shut up!"

He burst out laughing, "Really? We're just gonna go there?"

"I care about my friends and there's nothing you can do about it!" she said in a singsong voice.

Nos couldn't help laughing again, "What was that?"

"This is what Aya is like ninety percent of the time." EVE explained, "Anyway, we need to figure out how to get rid of Forthright."

"You mean what we have to do every single time?" Ruby growled.

"Yeah, except actually working." Rio added.

"Maybe Nos can help us out!" Aya said, "Do you think you could take over her mind once you bite her?"

He scoffed, "I doubt it. If I couldn't control her at all remotely, then biting her won't help. I need to figure out how to access her core data, then I can control her."

"You mean like the research you did on me?" Aya asked.

"Well, during that time, you were confined to my base so I could study you. She's always moving around. I don't even think I could get close enough to override, let alone control her."

"Wait, I have another idea." EVE said, "Nos, how fast can you drain someone's energy?"

"How fast?" he thought about that, "I think the fastest I've ever done it is three seconds."

"That fast!?" Aya shivered, her hands massaging her bite marks.

"Scared?" Nos chuckled, "I've only ever done that once."

"Well, if you can just get your teeth into her, maybe you can end her life before she even realizes what happened." EVE said, "First though, we need to get her out of that protective shield."

"Could we use the acid Giga and Chibi got for us?" Leah asked.

"No, we don't have the luxury of time like before." EVE said, "We need to do it fast. Maybe we can override its shielding from outside, or maybe we can lure her out, though that's unlikely."

"I may have an idea." Nos said.

"Oh?"

"Yes." Nos crossed his arms, "I could turn myself feral."

"Feral!?" EVE became angry, "No! We are not trying something that reckless!"

"But it could work." he pointed out, "I have no rational control when I'm feral, but I do have basic awareness. All I have to do is have my goal clear in my mind. I understand how risky it is, but what if we have no other choice?"

"Are you really that strong when you're feral!?" Aya exclaimed, "That sounds really scary..."

"I can do pretty much anything when I'm feral, but it's an incredibly scary experience, and I have no common sense when it's happening." he shivered, "But it does give us a chance."

"We should try it." Ruby cocked her massive weapon, "I can always knock him out if it gets out of hand..."

"Be careful with that thing..." Nos rolled his optic, "You could kill someone..."

"That's the point!"

"Ruby..." EVE calmed her, "Let's not do anything rash. Now, Nos. How do you go feral?"

"Well, I can't really force myself to go feral. It's easier when I haven't fed in awhile, and also when I've been eating nothing but batteries. Being under too much stress can do it too."

"Well, how does it work?"

"I just clear my mind and focus on nothing but electricity." he replied, "But it doesn't always work."

"Can you use mind control when you're feral?"

"I don't know. I'm not in my right mind."

"Let's just try it." Ruby said, "I can always stop him."

"Okay." EVE agreed, "But as soon as something goes wrong, we're aborting the mission."

"Good call." Nos said.

"Well, let's wrap this up." Leah replied, "Ted should wake up any minute now."

They heard a baby crying from the other room.

"And there he goes."

Nos lay on the top of the Axiom, staring at the stars with mild interest. He wondered if he'd ever been to some of those stars, seeing as they weren't clear from this far away. It was possible.

"Hey, Nos." Aya joined him on the roof, "Can't sleep?"

"I'm just not used to sleeping at night." he replied, "You?"

"I slept for an entire day after you bit me last, so I'm not tired enough to sleep now." she tapped her fingers on themselves absently, "You know, one thing that isn't really clear to me is where exactly you came from. I know of all history from now to when Columbus set sail, and yet I've never heard of Star Command."

Nos breathed out, "That's because it isn't here."

"What do you mean?" Aya glanced at him, "Is it in another universe entirely?"

"I believe so..." he frowned, "I suppose they declared me dead after I exploded in Zurg's ship, but I didn't die. I instead found myself here, with no apparent source of food. There was nothing, just garbage for miles and miles. Remember that time I went four months without a drop of energy?"

"Oh no..." Aya reached for his hand and held it tightly, "I'm so sorry..."

He shook his head, "I deserved it...after everything that I had done..." he sighed, "Anyway, I was incredibly damaged after apparently falling into a wormhole. I needed more energy to heal myself, and since I couldn't get it, I descended into madness much faster than normal. I don't even remember what happened for most of that time, but when I came to again, I had found and killed at least a dozen robots. That was how I found this developing city."

"That sounds so scary!" Aya said, "So that's how you became sick?"

"Yes. I was so ill I could barely move, but energy helped a lot." his eyelid drooped slightly, "You know...I'm really glad I met you..."

"You are, huh?"

"Yes. I don't know what I would've done had I not kidnapped you. Heh, does that sound weird?"

"Not at all. I'm glad I met you too."

They lay in silence for a time, just listening to the sounds of night. It was somehow soothing. Maybe Aya would sleep with the doors open.

"Aya?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to promise me something." he looked her in the eye, "Whatever happens, no matter how injured I may seem or how dangerous the situation looks, do not come near me."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I don't recognize anything when I'm feral. I will want to destroy Forthright, but I'll also hurt anyone who gets in my way. You can't call out to me or try to reason with me, because I won't be able to hear you."

"That sounds scary..." Aya found she was saying that a lot, "Fine, but if I promise that, you have to promise me something too!"

"Anything." he said automatically.

"Don't die!" Aya couldn't keep the emotion out of her voice, "I beg of you! Please! Whatever you do! Don't die!"

He blinked, "What?"

"You can do that for me, right?"

Nos felt his old question come back, "Why do you care?"

"B-because..." Aya squeezed his hand, "I think I'm in love with you..."

"What?" he laughed.

"I'm serious! Don't laugh at me!" she huffed in annoyance, "Listen. This feels a lot like when my sister Eve met my brother-in-law, Wall-E." she explained, "She was initially hostile towards him, but then she befriended him and eventually fell for him. She explained to us what that's like, and it was kind of the same story with Rio and Auto, or Chibi and Leah, or Telly and Rose!"

She smiled at the memories as she continued, "As for me, I kind of went back and forth. I really like Wall-E, but he's taken. I also really liked Chibi and Telly, but they were also taken soon after we met them. On the other hand though, I never liked them that way, it was always more platonic. But..." she closed her eyes, "Being here with you, and everything that's happened since we met, I would be very surprised if what I'm feeling right now isn't love..." she looked back at him, "Does that make sense?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

"What do you mean, 'surprisingly'!? Ugh! You are impossible!"

He laughed at her reaction, "That's not what I meant! But, as of right now anyway..." he paused to gather his thoughts, "I don't feel the same. I'm sorry."

"Right..." she didn't seem disappointed, "But still, don't die out there, okay? I don't want to see you die. I don't want you to die."

"Alright, alright..." he was amused, "I promise I won't die, okay? You're allowed to kill me if I break that promise."

Aya rolled her eyes so hard they almost drifted off her screen, "Couldn't I have fallen for someone who didn't have a morbid sense of humor?"

He laughed again, "That can't be right, because you're funny, and you're not morbid!"

Aya shook her head, "Thanks, I guess?"