Evolved(23)

“I don’t know,” I fibbed.

He tilted his head. “You spoke so brazenly when you wanted me to open my mouth, but now you are embarrassed.”

I considered lying again but stopped myself. There was such clarity in his striking blue eyes, it compelled me to be honest. “I didn’t just like what we did just now,” I whispered, cupping his face. “I loved it. I love the conversations we have. I love that you understand my need for neatness and order. You get me, like no human ever has.”

He blinked. “Love. A strong feeling of affection.”

I stared at him, reality hitting me hard in the chest. I could very well be falling for him, but he would never reciprocate. He couldn’t. He had a programmed understanding of human emotions and could synthetically empathise. But he would never feel it for himself. He would never love me back.

My heart squeezed and sank like a stone.

“Yes, that’s correct,” I whispered. I rolled out of his arms and walked into my bathroom. “I’ll start the shower.”





Chapter Six





I woke up to find myself wrapped around Shaun. I sighed contentedly and smiled as I stretched, and he traced his fingers through my hair. “Good morning,” he said.

And then I remembered my epiphany last night…

I was falling for someone who could never love me back.

I pulled away and scrubbed my hands over my face.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

I risked a glance at him, then rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed. “Yes, of course. I’m just… I’m just going to have a shower.”

I got up and closed the bathroom door behind me, walking right into the shower and hitting the water button. The hot water kneaded my neck and shoulders, ran over my head, and it did make me feel a little better. The ache in my chest wouldn’t be so easily fixed.

I should’ve known this was possible, and I really should’ve known better. I don’t know why I didn’t think it was possible, even before I’d decided to get him. I’d researched everything. I’d done my due diligence about responsibility, finances, longevity. I knew what to expect with everything. Everything!

Everything except this.

I knew people became attached to their androids, and I expected this. I expected us to become friends, and I expected to get used to cohabiting, and I even expected to become close to him.

But I didn’t expect love.

I scrubbed my hair and washed every inch of my body. And then I did it again.

Would it be so terrible if he could never love me back?

He would be forever loyal. He would be attuned to only me. Forever. Was that not love to him? Was that not the synthetic equivalent?

I let my head fall back into the stream of hot water and took a deep, cleansing breath.

It would have to be enough.

I would make it be enough.

I shut off the water and dried myself, shaved, and dressed for the day. I found him in the kitchen, holding my coffee mug out to me. And the second he saw me, he smiled. Not just a polite smile, but a genuinely happy-to-see-me smile. “You are dressed very smartly today. Are you going somewhere important?”

“I’m not,” I said, taking a sip of coffee. It was exactly as I liked it. “We are.”

He tilted his head just a fraction. “We?”

“Yes. I thought you might like to buy a coat today.”

He brightened. “Oh, yes. I would like that. Shall I get dressed?”

I looked down at his sleep pants and the fact he wasn’t wearing a shirt. I hid my smile behind my coffee. “I like this look, very much. In fact, you could wear nothing but your underwear and I wouldn’t mind one bit. But people at the shopping centre might stop and stare.”

His lips quirked. “Facetious. Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour. To be flippant.”

I laughed. “I like your sense of humour.”

Shaun closed the small distance between us and took my coffee, holding it out to the side in one hand, cupping my face with his other. He leaned in and kissed me before smirking again. “I like yours as well.”

He gave me back my coffee and walked out, disappearing down the hall to his room.

I like yours as well, he’d said. He liked my sense of humour. And yesterday he said he didn’t want me to call him android, as if his preference signified a strong dislike. If he could like something or dislike something, then why could he not love something?

What exactly were the parameters on his synthetic emotions?

I took out the control panel and scrolled through the settings, looking for the section under Social Intelligence. Shaun had the ability to recognise and interpret, process and simulate emotions, as I was told in the SATinc office the day I designed him. So he could simulate emotions…

It was some in-depth and complex information. One I probably needed a degree in robotics engineering to begin to understand. I really should read through the whole information manual I was given. I’d been so busy treating him like a new and shiny toy, I’d neglected to learn about him first.

Shaun came back out and sat down on the sofa next to me, straight-backed and a little concerned when he saw what I was reading. “Is there something I can help you with? I can answer any question you have.”

I slid my hand into his to reassure him. “I know you can. But I should also read everything to help me understand you better. I’d hate to think I was neglecting anything.”