Charade, in her usually subtle outfit, and Radiance, her holograms toned down significantly, are on patrol at the Halcyon Aerospace Museum. Reports of unusual activity over the last couple of days were just vague enough for the police to disregard, but Sergeant Amari mentioned them offhandedly to his son. And neither girl has anything more pressing to do at the moment.
“He checked you out, didn’t he,” Alycia remarks out of the blue.
“What?”
“I’m betting he checked you out at least once during your, sorry, conversation, not date. Checked out - that is the phrase, right? He ogled your body.”
Summer flushes, embarrassment transmuting to anger. “No!” Yes, he did, maybe. But for her to be so blunt, I won’t give her the satisfaction.
Her roommate grunts from behind her all-too-concealing mask. “Next bet. He knows you’re a robot.”
“… Yes.” God dammit, what else is she going to bet on?
“You gave him your email address.”
“Phone number.”
“Blue balls of Buddha.” Alycia now turns, incredulous. “A throwaway email address from a disreputable provider would have been far more secure. Cell phones can be traced, intercepted.”
“He goes to our school.” Summer rolls her eyes.
“Fine.” Alycia doesn’t act like it’s fine at all. “But OpSec is a habit. Act like you’re under assault, even when you think you’re safe. Especially when you think you’re safe.”
Summer doesn’t press this point. Eventually Alycia gets to her next bet. “He gave you the spiel about robot rights, but it’s half-baked and he’s clueless.”
“Nnnnnnnyeah, kind of,” concedes Summer. “It’s half-baked, but he–”
“–means well. Listen. It takes years of dedication, the utmost commitment, to understand an issue deeply enough to take meaningful action on it.” Alycia rubs her hands together through the gloves. “It’s an investment of will and a sacrifice of the comfortable life. If he’s not willing to make that, he’s going to fail himself.” She narrows her eyes. “And he’ll disappoint you.”
That’s what she doesn’t want to happen.
“I’m going to teach him,” Summer announces, to her own surprise. “I’ll help him understand what robots are about. Then we’ll see what he does. Okay?”
“Fine.” This time, Alycia’s voice is more convincing.
More silence, then: “He did check you out, though.”
Summer throws up her hands. “A little! Just, y’know, reflexively, like the boys at school do.”
“Pff. Boys.” The disdain drips from Alycia’s voice.
Why am I defending this? But she feels committed, somehow, to standing up for Colin, just a bit. “Listen, my shell - my body - was designed not to attract attention to itself. So, y’know, it’s just that cultural conditioning that boys get, I don’t think he’s a pervert or anything.”
“If he was, how would you know? Maybe robot girls are his thing. Maybe he’s got posters on his bedroom wall.” Alycia perhaps realizes she’s pushing this into awkward territory, and rolls it back to Summer’s silent gratitude. “Forget that part. What I mean is, you don’t know him well enough to say that.”
“Well I guess I’ll find out,” Summer says hotly. “And if he is, well, I can keep myself safe against him.” Oh god, she’s trying to figure out if she needs to go kick him in the spleen or something. Bail out, bail out. “But you know, maybe I want him to look at me.”
Oh good fucking God, what did I just say?
Alycia’s eyebrows arch, but she says nothing.
Fuck fuck fuck. Dig yourself outta this pit. Right. Deflect!
“I mean, let’s talk about you for a second. You told me to my face I didn’t need a bra, because I’m a robot and my mechanism doesn’t need it, or whatever. Well, I do! Hey, my original name was Pneuma - having a well-proportioned female figure. If I jog, there’s gonna be sinusoidal motion. So, y’know, at least maybe he’s paying attention to who I am, rather than just letting my robotness get in the way!”
This is a little unfair. Okay, a lot unfair. Summer realizes it immediately.
“I’m sorry. Lycia, I’m sorry. I know you have a history. I shouldn’t have pushed that button.”
Alycia’s gloved hands unclench. “Okay. Whatever. If he does something perverted, I’m gonna make him regret it,” she growls.
“If he does, I might let you,” grins Summer.
Things aren’t right as rain, but peace seems to be restored. Summer leaves it at that.