Chapter 19
Notes:
No, you cannot have more Superhero/Nemesis shenanigans! I have a Robot AU to write! XD But, like, stay tuned, because I am totally going to return to it eventually, lol.
And now onto Troy’s fuck-up! XD
ROWAN
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
Director Andreas knew everything—somehow—Rowan was arriving with extra prototype surge protectors but no Milo, when Andrew was absolutely going to want to see him now, and Rowan had absolutely zilch for a backup plan.
What if Andrew tried to take Milo? He couldn't legally, but if Rowan went to the authorities, the outcome might be ten times worse.
The government absolutely could take Milo if they deemed him a threat or too valuable to remain in civilian hands.
Andrew might even threaten to go to them himself if Rowan refused to give Milo up.
There were innumerable possibilities for what Rowan was about to face, and he was prepared for absolutely none of them.
“Whoa, where the hell are you going?” Raina demanded when Rowan blew into their workstation like a hurricane, only to dump his bag on his chair, deem that he actually needed everything in it, and almost took his shirt off while removing his jacket to at least leave that behind before going to the subbasement.
“I need to see Troy.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Palmer! The one who has a crush on you.”
“The—what? Rowan!” Raina leapt from her chair and seized Rowan’s arm before he could take off for the elevator again. He should have just gone straight down and not stopped at his station at all.
“I don’t have time—”
“You are freaking me the fuck out. Now what is going on?”
Rowan took a breath, something even he forgot to do, despite pushing the practice on Milo.
He needed to stay calm. He didn’t technically know everything yet, and there was no reason to panic until he did.
The cat was going to be out of the bag eventually anyway, and if it was already tearing its way around the chaos of his life, he might as well tell his sister.
Assuming she believed him.
“My M.I.L.O bot didn’t only survive that lightning strike the other night. He achieved singularity.”
Raina barely got out her exclamation of, “What?” through the laughter accompanying it, like she thought he must be joking, only for her good humor to immediately fade when Rowan kept his expression serious.
“He’s alive, Raina. Milo is alive. I went to Troy—Dr. Palmer from R&D—for help figuring out how it happened and what it means, and somehow, the director knows now, and I need to go down to see him, Troy, I mean, before my entire life implodes. Okay?”
“I… wha… how—?”
“I don’t have time! I’ll explain more later!”
If I’m not fired, Rowan thought. Or worse…
He wrenched his arm from Raina’s grasp, which she didn’t fight, maybe too stunned to try to keep him, as he took off toward the elevator. He knew Milo would be aware of his conversation with Troy, but he didn’t want to message Milo directly until he knew more.
The elevator ride seemed to take ten times as long as usual, and the moment it dinged and opened into the subbasement, Rowan burst out of it in a sprint.
He reached Troy’s lab to find him fretting over what looked to be Andrew’s personal M.I.L.O.
bot that had accompanied him during inspection day, currently sitting up on the table where a very human-looking body had been covered by a sheet on Saturday.
Had it been Andrew’s bot the whole time, the one he called Jay but that should have been Ray?
Maybe?
“What happened?” Rowan demanded, before Troy had even noticed his entrance.
“Rowan!” Troy spun around with a hand clutched to his chest. The bot was sitting upright but appeared to be in SLEEP mode. “Okay, so… um… it’s a little complicated, and I am so sorry—”
“Just tell it to me plainly, Troy, because everything I am conjuring in my head is way worse than knowing.”
Troy nodded and blurted out in a rush much like Rowan’s word vomit to Raina.
“The director donated his previous bot for R&D research, which I was using to test some of my theories around Milo, but Ray here is still connected to the same Cloud as the director’s current bot, Jay, which I didn’t know, I swear, but because of that connection, the director learned everything with his bot’s diagnostics report this morning.
All of my research. All of my notes on Milo. Everything.”
Rowan was so fucked.
At least he’d been right that Andrew’s personal bot was originally named Ray. He actually replaced him and named the new one Jay? That somehow seemed very twisted.
“How did you find out he’d learned everything?” Rowan asked.
“Director Andreas messaged me before I messaged you.”
“How did you respond?”
“I said we weren’t trying to hide anything from him! We were just waiting to bring to him all of the data after we confirmed what happened.”
“And how did he respond to that?”
“He… hasn’t?” Troy said like a question.
Rowan was beyond fucked. “I need to head this off. Message the director first before he messages me and—”
“And what, Mr. Rangecroft?”
Now it was Rowan’s turn to spin around at a surprise entrance, discovering Andrew and his bot Jay having beaten him to the punch.
It was also incredibly off-putting to see Jay standing right between them after seeing Ray, especially given the director had made the new bot look identical to the first, with the same green eyes and dark hair speckled with gray.
Creepy.
Rowan thought he heard Troy squeak behind him and very possibly shift so he was hidden behind Rowan’s larger size. Why couldn’t Rowan have asked for help from any other engineer?
“Director Andeas, I can explain—”
“I heard your explanation, Mr. Rangecroft. But even if I hadn’t, rest assured, I am not upset.”
“You’re… not?” Rowan supposed the director didn’t look upset, but he was difficult to read on a good day. This was decidedly a very bad day, but… maybe wasn’t?
“I’m not upset at all,” Andrew confirmed, continuing to approach Rowan with his bot close by, neither of which looked concerned nor seemed to care about Jay’s twin sitting on the table behind Rowan.
“This is truly fantastic news.” Andrew grinned, eerily wide, almost to the point of being chilling. “Fantastic for all of us.”
“Milo, I’m home!’
“In the kitchen, Rowan! And it is not a mess this time, I assure you!”
Rowan had been assured of a lot of things today. He didn’t think he fully believed any of them—least of all that Milo hadn’t made a mess again until he saw so for himself.
On the surface, it had seemed like Andrew was pleased by this turn of events.
He hadn’t acted like he was angry for the subterfuge.
It had only been a couple days’ worth of keeping the secret, and all during weekend hours.
Once Rowan had sworn up and down that he and Troy had only been waiting until they knew more before bringing their discovery to him, Andrew had expressed excitement not only for the surge protector like originally discussed, but the possibility of bot singularity being recreated.
His only stipulation was that Rowan and Troy not tell anyone else until their research was complete and the process duplicated.
“You are certain the bot is alive and not merely following some advanced programming?”
“I prefer to not deal in absolutes, Director,” Rowan had explained, “but I am 99% certain. I’ve never encountered a bot like Milo before. He feels, both physically and emotionally. He thinks for himself. He has likes and dislikes. He is a wholly independent person now.”
“Fascinating. I can’t wait to meet him.” The director had given that same unsettling grin. It was probably just how his face was when he was excited. Hopefully. “You didn’t bring him in with you today?”
“No, sorry. I wanted to prepare everything for the surge protector first and check in with Troy. We didn’t want to bring any of this to your attention if we proved to be wrong. But we’re not. I promise you, Director, Milo is alive.”
“Wonderful. Then we will be discussing your surge protector today, but tomorrow, I expect you to bring this Milo in with you. Understood?”
Rowan had agreed. It had always been the eventual plan, but he had been reluctant to share Milo when he didn’t know where all of this might lead. It seemed like a good thing now. Milo wanted other bots to experience what he had, and the director said he wanted that too. It was a win-win.
Right?
A mingling scent of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, with a complimenting sweetness and warmth assaulted Rowan as he entered the apartment, bringing with it a heavy wave of nostalgia.
Apple pie filling, even just the filling without the buttery addition of crust, smelled and reminded Rowan of home like few things could.
He’d almost forgotten Milo had planned to experiment today, and at least judging by the smell, he seemed to have been successful.
There was also music faintly playing over the household speakers.
Shania Twain?
Peering past the kitchen into the living room first, Rowan confirmed that Anabelle was gone, returned to Ethel as planned.
Good. It had been like having a comatose stranger in the house.
He was honestly surprised Ethel hadn’t stopped him in the lobby or something to thank him, per her usual routine, but with her bot back, she was probably… doing whatever she did with it.
He really didn’t want to think about that too hard.
“Milo, I—” Rowan was stunned, enough so that further words failed him as he took in the nearly pristine kitchen.
Milo must have cleaned while he worked, the way he used to when following his programming, because despite some dirty dishes, there were not any ingredients on the ceiling or coating Milo’s platinum hair this time.