Chapter 20
Notes:
Tell me if you made my pie recipe! Mm, yep, definitely making it in celebration when I finish this fic. Share pics! XD
MILO
Milo wore Rowan’s sunglasses when they were outside on the street, but he removed them once they entered the Andreas Tech building to avoid any issues with the security bot. Like before, they both breezed through with no issues reaching the elevator.
They headed straight down to the subbasement to see Troy—and to meet with Director Andreas.
Milo wanted to make a good impression so badly, so as not to cause any complications for Rowan, and because, if things went well, there might eventually be more bots like him who he could talk with, learn from, and befriend.
Rowan was wonderful, and Troy had been nice to talk to as well, but Milo wasn’t surprised to learn during his research how much humans sought out others like them or with similar interests and life experiences.
It was good to have a diverse group of people in one’s life, but having someone who could truly relate to you was important too.
And right now, Milo didn’t have that. He didn’t, but he longed for it similarly to, though not quite as strong, as how much he longed for Rowan.
He had Rowan, and further pleased Rowan by cooking for him and telling him about his day.
But Rowan had been so exhausted by the end of the previous night that they hadn’t done any “relaxing” together again.
Milo hadn’t wanted to push either, much as he would have happily “relaxed” with Rowan every morning, night, and in between—possibly multiple times.
Perhaps Rowan could have used some relaxation that morning, given how tense he was.
Master’s heart rate is at a 20% increase from its normal resting rate. Quickened breath and muscle tension also suggest—
Milo knew what it suggested. His programming wanted him to confirm whether or not Rowan was about to have a panic attack, but Milo knew it was only nerves. He supposed he was nervous too but was choosing to lean more toward excitement.
He also really needed to figure out how to tell his internal responses to stop using Master like his active self was used to now. Hearing it always made his nose wrinkle.
“It will be all right, Rowan,” Milo said, reaching to take hold of Rowan’s, well, wrist at first, since his hands were clenched into fists, but at his touch, Rowan relaxed somewhat and linked their hands together.
“I know. We were always going to end up here. I just don’t want anything to happen that I can’t protect you from.”
“I am here to protect you,” Milo corrected him. “I can also protect myself.”
Rowan’s handsome brow scrunched. “It’s not your obligation anymore to protect me, Milo—”
“Not my obligation, no. But it is my pleasure.” Milo smiled at him.
Tense as he still was, Rowan smiled back.
They arrived at the lab to find Troy already hard at work, setting up various connections and monitors to a currently dormant M.I.L.O.
model with green eyes and dark hair liberally dusted with gray for a somewhat “silver fox” look, as Milo had learned of it.
He—for Milo would consider him as such until corrected—was dressed down in only undergarments and sat up on the end of the table that had been in here before.
Rowan had told Milo to expect the bot, as he had been beneath the sheet when they were here earlier.
Troy had now added a second table directly beside the first, with the same connections and monitors that Milo assumed were waiting for him.
“Good morning, Troy,” Rowan announced their arrival. “Everything set?”
Troy's expression when he faced them said he was definitely leaning toward the excited route, just like Milo. “Yep! All that’s missing is you two. Well, mostly Milo. Hi, Milo! You’re still doing well?”
“Wonderfully,” Milo said. “I am continuing to learn and adjust and believe I am acclimating to my new state more and more each day. Rowan is most helpful in that.” He looked at Rowan adoringly, but Rowan’s cheeks flushed and he tugged his hand away like he hadn’t intended for them to still be connected while in Troy’s presence.
The rejection caused what felt like a small hiccup in Milo’s gears, but he should have remembered something Rowan said before they left that morning.
They weren’t supposed to act like a couple in front of others.
Technically, they hadn’t discussed whether or not they were a couple, in the sense that most humans coupled, but Milo liked to think they were.
He was waiting for the right moment to confirm that, or to at least ask Rowan if he would consider dating Milo instead of what Milo’s research called “fooling around.”
“We just can’t act too comfortable with each other in front of others at first,” Rowan had said. “People won’t understand. It could skew how they see you, what they think of you. Since the first human-looking bot was manufactured—”
“I am aware of the stigma against humans who have chosen to wed their bots or cut off normal human relationships for one,” Milo had interjected.
There were numerous examples, many of which involved humans who wanted their bots to be “real” or pretended they were, but none were truly like Milo.
“It is concerning. But if I am becoming more human, it is different for us, yes?”
“It is. But until we can be sure other people will agree with that and understand, let’s keep how close we are just between us. They’ll probably assume anyway, but… please?”
How could Milo say no when Rowan asked like that?
He cleared his throat politely and clasped his hands in front of him.
“Will the director be joining us this morning or later?” Milo asked.
“This morning,” Troy said, finishing securing something behind the seated bot’s back that Milo assumed was connected to his charging port—likely the surge protector. “In fact, he should be right behind you. Oh, if Rowan didn’t mention it, I should probably warn you—”
“Good morning, gentlemen,” a new voice said from behind them, and in Milo’s periphery, he saw Rowan flinch. “Ah, would this be the famous Milo?”
Milo turned, stretching into place his most winning smile, and—oh.
Having seen the bot on the table, Milo understood now what Troy had likely planned to warn him about because the director had an identical looking bot alongside him. Which was… creepy?
Yes. Creepy was definitely the word.
And feeling unsettled was the emotion.
The twin bot wore an entirely white suit, shirt, and tie, while Director Andreas was in blue.
He was handsome enough, well put together and stylish, but there was something off about him that Milo couldn’t explain.
Nothing obvious. Nothing physical. A feeling?
Without much more context, having not experienced many people yet who interacted with him while knowing he was an awakened bot, Milo could only equate it to how he’d felt when looking at the “AI Slop” art.
Like everything was just a little bit wrong.
Rowan elbowed Milo, alerting him that he had been standing there staring without offering a proper greeting. He needed to do better. This was important, for him and for Rowan, no matter how unsettling or creepy the director might be.
And his bot that looked like the other bot, yet Milo knew from the extensive A- and B- model catalog from Andreas Tech that it was not a standard appearance but incredibly custom.
Twice.
“Hello!” Milo blurted, probably a little too loudly.
“My apologies, Director Andreas. I have not interacted with many humans yet since my awakening. It is a pleasure to meet you!” He extended his hand, feeling a bit wrong himself, since he couldn’t say with absolute certainty if this truly was a pleasure.
The director took his hand, and at least his shake was fairly normal. “Please, Milo, if I can call you by your given name, you can call me Andrew.”
“Andrew,” Milo repeated. “I will! Although, as I do not have a surname, Milo really is all you could call me.”
Andrew chuckled, squinting his eyes like he was assessing Milo. “It’s witty.”
Milo’s summoned smile drooped. “He,” he corrected. “My preference would be for you to call me he if using pronouns, Andrew.”
Andrew tilted back slightly, assessing Milo even more invasively. He was only scanning Milo with his eyes, but it felt oddly intrusive. “My apologies.”
Wrong, Milo thought again. Everything about Andrew was so wrong.
He was smiling, but there was no hint of the expression in his eyes.
How a smile, which was concentrated on a person’s lips, could also be seen, or at least interpreted, in their eyes was still a new concept to Milo, but all fictional accounts pointed to it and seemed very accurate in this moment.
It couldn’t only be Milo feeling this way, because Rowan and Troy both seemed equally unsettled.
Just nervous still? Or did Andrew make all people feel this way?
He was their boss, which carried its own connotations that Milo didn’t have personal references for.
After all, Rowan had been his Master, not his boss, and he still wasn’t.
The elephant in the room, as it were—meaning the twin bots—was what continued to plague Milo most.
“Andrew, may I ask you something?” Milo queried.
“By all means.” Andrew’s words didn’t match the twitch to his expression. He was annoyed but still willing to entertain Milo.
“Was this bot also yours once?” Milo gestured back at the dormant model.
Andrew leaned around Milo to look at the bot, revealing no reaction when he saw it, just ambivalence. “I suppose it was.”
“Is it a particular personal bodyguard model?”
“I use it as a bodyguard and assistant, yes. Is that your question?” Andrew raised what Milo could only interpret as a condescending eyebrow.
Milo also refrained from flinching again at the use of “it,” but these bots weren’t able to choose what they preferred yet. “Then… you replaced this one that Troy is working on with that new one beside you? Why? They look identical.”