Chapter 25: Episode 25: A New Challenge

“NO!”

The scream ripped out of Nikki’s throat, as she scrambled off the sofa, and bolted. She ran leaving A-01, who stood there looking like a confused statue in his uniform, and practically threw herself into her glass-walled room.

She dove onto the bed and buried herself under the duvet, pulling it tight over her head until she was a trembling lump of shame.

Why did he have to fucking catch her everytime she was doing something naughty.

She lay there in the dark, her heart hammering against her ribs. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting.

She waited for the sound of footsteps, the glass door to slide open, and for him to come in, pull the blanket down, and maybe tease her or for him to say, It’s okay, Kitty. Come out.

Silence.

Minutes ticked by.

Nikki strained her ears. She heard the faint sound of the TV being turned off in the living room. She heard the soft clack of his boots on the floor.

And then… the sound of his office door sliding shut.

Nikki froze.

She slowly lowered the blanket, just enough to peek out. Through the glass wall of her room, she could see the living room.

It was empty. A-01 hadn’t come to check on her. He hadn’t come to ask why she was screaming. He had simply turned off the “noise” and gone back to work.

A cold, heavy stone settled in Nikki’s stomach.

“Right,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Of course.”

He doesn’t care, Nikki realized, sitting up and hugging her knees.

He doesn’t have any feelings. Last night was him giving me what I wanted.

To him, she was just a pressure valve. He had a system error, he used her to release it, and now that his systems were “stable,” he was back to business as usual.

He didn’t need to comfort her because the transaction was complete.

She threw the blanket off. Realizing that she was the only one who felt disappointed.

“Fine,” she muttered, marching out of the glass room.

She didn’t stay in her room. That would be retreating. Instead, she decided to haunt him.

Nikki stalked into the living area. She grabbed a book from the shelf, some dense text about architectural history, and slammed herself down onto the sofa.

A-01 eventually emerged from his office an hour later. He was holding a tablet, likely heading to the kitchen for water (or whatever coolant he pretended to drink).

He looked at her.

“Nikki,” he greeted, his voice calm and level. “Are you comfortable?”

Nikki didn’t look up. She turned a page of the book aggressively.

A-01 paused. He tilted his head. “Is the book to your liking?”

Nikki stared at the words on the page without reading them. She refused to speak or give him an answer.

A-01 waited for 3.5 seconds. When no answer came, he blinked once.

“Understood,” he said simply. “You wish to remain un-disturbed.”

He walked past her, got a glass of water, and returned to his office.

Nikki glared at his back, wanting to throw the book at his perfect, broad shoulders.

He doesn’t even get it! she screamed internally. What was he programmed to do if he doesn’t know simple care! He doesn’t even know I’m mad!

The rest of the day was a torture of her own making.

She stayed in his space. She ate an apple loudly while he reviewed holomaps in the living room.

She paced around the kitchen while he stood there running diagnostics. She made her presence known, a chaotic variable in his perfect orbit, but she gave him zero verbal input.

It only made her feel worse.

Every time she looked at him, his sharp jawline, his large hands, the way he focused so intensely on his work, she felt the distance between them.

He was a bio-printed android. She was a fleshy, emotional mess who had caught feelings for him because of single sex.

She shook her head and doubted that was it.

Night fell.

“I am going to take a shower” A-01 announced, standing up from his desk.

He looked at her, perhaps waiting for an okay or her voice.

Nikki stared at the wall.

A-01 turned and walked toward the master bathroom.

A few moments later, the sound of the shower started.

Nikki sat on the sofa, her arms crossed, biting her lip until it hurt.

He did this every night and morning. He didn’t sweat, but he was obsessive about contaminants.

Nikki closed her eyes, and against her will, the image flooded her mind.

She imagined him standing under the spray. The water running over those broad, white shoulders. Droplets sliding down the synthetic muscles of his back, over the firm curve of his buttocks. She imagined the water hitting his chest, running down over the flat stomach… and lower.

Her breath hitched.

She hated herself for it, but her body reacted instantly. Her thighs clenched together. A heavy, throbbing heat pooled between her legs.

She remembered the weight of him on the desk. She remembered how those large hands had pinned her down. She remembered the way he had looked at her, like she was the only thing in the universe that mattered, right before he wrecked her.

How can he just wash it off? she thought, despair mixing with the lust. How can he just go back to normal when I’m still feeling his fingerprints on my skin?

[Because he is not human babe.]

Arghhhhhh for real it’s driving me crazy!

She wanted to storm into the bathroom. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to push him against the wet tiles and demand he acknowledge what happened. She wanted him to look at her with blue eyes again.

She stood up, her feet moving toward the bathroom door almost on their own accord.

Just one look, she reasoned weakly. Just to see if his system had brought the image back to him.

[HOLD YOUR HORSES, COWBOY.]

[CURRENT STATUS: DOWN BAD AND EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE.]

[ANALYSIS: YOU ARE TRYING TO USE SEX TO FIX AN EMOTIONAL BUG. THAT IS A LOGIC ERROR.]

Nikki whined, defeated. “I’m not—”

[NEW QUEST: MAINTAIN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO TARGET (A-01) FOR 72 HOURS.]

[CONSTRAINT: NO PHYSICAL INTIMACY. NO TOUCHING. NO KISSING. NO “TEACHING.”]

[PENALTY FOR FAILURE: RESET OF RELATIONSHIP PROGRESS.]

[REWARD: 1,000 XP + DOMESTIC PROTOCOL.]

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