V's POV
The sun through the window woke me up.
The news of a premature deadline for my project had left me so distressed that it seemed I had forgotten to charge my tablet yesterday.
A long, loud yawn awoke my whole body as I removed the charging port and added a new one from the charger box.
No tablet, no wake-up alarm. My body seemed to have taken this as an opportunity to make up for the last awful nights of sleep.
But that wasn't a problem.
I had nothing planned today.
Nothing planned anymore. No more research and no more work, probably too.
I quickly dressed up, grunting at the pain in my back. On the bright side, I will probably get my bed back.
Indeed, yesterday, I resolved to cancel the contract with Love Machina Inc. I had to return the machina and erase all evidence of this purchase.
An exorbitantly expensive purchase that had resulted in... zero research results. Nothing.
My research will be incomplete when I present it to the committee, but at least, I won't be guilty of misusing public funds.
Plus, there was always that looming threat over me: what if they discovered my secret? What would I answer if they asked why I was the subject of my own research project?
No, it was too dangerous. I had to cancel everything.
I dragged myself out of the room, the heaviness of a full year of useless research weighing me down.
The noise in the kitchen didn't even get to me because of how muddled my thoughts were.
"Good morning!"
I jolted in surprise as if I shouldn't expect a beautiful woman to be standing in my kitchen. Somehow, I just couldn't get used to it.
Sade was leaning against the kitchen counter, wearing another cute dress I had not seen on her yet. Her expectant eyes followed me as I walked down the last steps of the stairs.
"M-Morning..." I replied, my voice hoarse, not fully awake yet.
"I prepared something," she said with a shy smile, revealing the full kitchen island behind her.
The table was filled with colorful plates: a platter of exotic fruits, avocado toasts, creamy yogurt topped with muesli and almond butter, green smoothies, pink salmon on crispy bagels, scrambled eggs on the side... Someone seemed to have gotten really comfortable with their meal app.
"What's... What's all this?" I muttered, rubbing my tired eyes as if it would make it all disappear.
"This?" Sade feigned innocence. "It's breakfast!"
I blinked some more, taking the seat in front of hers.
"I connected our apps to assess your nutritional needs," she explained, pushing a tall glass of green smoothie toward me. "You skipped a few meals this week... This is a Supercharge Breakfast to make up for it."
I rubbed my eyes again, wondering if I was dreaming.
"My health app...?" I repeated, still so confused.
I didn't even know she could do this. Sade seemed quite satisfied with my reaction.
"Is this alright?" she asked, pushing another plate in front of me.
I wasn't sure whether she was asking about the choice of food or the whole initiative.
"I'm... I'm not complaining," I replied truthfully, forking a generous bite of scrambled eggs. Just like my body had been craving a full night of sleep, I could now feel how my stomach felt starved for an actual full meal, instead of snacking on nutritious power balls all day. "You seem comfortable in the house now," I commented mindlessly.
"Yes," she confirmed.
"Except with doors, I guess..." I chuckled, remembering her struggle with the atrium door, the bathroom window, and the wardrobe's door.
She blinked a few times, a polite smile on her lips, clearly not understanding what I was referring to.
Indeed, this was a private joke between me and me.
"Never mind," I grumbled, letting the joke fly over her head.
Knowing this was the end of the adventure with the Love Machina, I felt weirdly relaxed. The whole week had been so tense whenever we had to interact, to the point I would purposefully leave early and come back late to avoid meeting her.
But now, I almost regretted doing so.
This breakfast was... kinda nice actually.
I also realized it was my first time sharing a meal with someone in my home.
"Thank you," I said when she poured a glass of orange juice for me. "Don't you need to eat too?"
Sade nodded, as if she had forgotten herself, and took a spoonful of yogurt as a reply. After finishing most of the scrambled eggs, I took a bite of the salmon bagel, feeling more awake now.
How should we proceed then? Yesterday, I checked the company's return policy and knew it was possible to return the machina at no cost during the first seven days of trial.
Like most idiotic apps, I couldn't find a clear, visible button with something like "organize return" on it. What was I supposed to do? Should I ask Sade about it, maybe? She probably would have to return to that strange blue pod in her room. But then, what should I do with it?
I looked back at her from my plate, ready to ask her, but it seemed she had been waiting for my attention to come back to her.
"I've been meaning to ask you..." she spoke already, her hands busy cutting a piece of fruit into smaller bites. "What do you do for work?" she asked, adding the fruit pieces to my plate.
I gulped on the juice, surprised by her sudden curiosity.
The whole week, she had barely spoken to me. I figured all her needs were met and she didn't need anything from me.
Maybe I was wrong, again.
"I'm a scientist," I answered, lifting the glass of orange juice to my lips.
My eyes, however, remained on her, studying her reaction.
She slowly nodded, looking as if she understood it.
"A scientist..." she began again. "Like the ones who work for Love Machina Inc.?"
"No," I scoffed, almost offended by the comparison. It seemed natural, though, for her to connect my answers to the short experience of life she had. She probably only heard about the scientists at the company that created her. "These are more like... programmers," I added, trying hard not to sound too pompous as I knew I could be when talking about these tech people. "I don't work with robotics, machine learning, or biomechanics... I work with the original material."
I picked at the fruit pieces on my plate, my attention fully on Sade to see if she was grasping what I meant.
She wasn't.
"The original code," I clarified, my eyebrows raised.
She blinked rapidly, her head tilting to the side, looking even more confused now.
"DNA," I said finally, my voice not hiding the slight disappointment that all my hints had fallen flat. "I'm a geneticist."
"A ge-ne-ti-cist..." she repeated slowly, cutting up more fruits on her plate.
I wasn't sure she understood what it was. I considered whether it was worth explaining my job to a machina I was going to return today when I noticed something unusual below the plates.
"Where did you find this?" I asked, my fingers brushing over the delicate white tablecloth on the table.
"I printed it," she replied with a small smile, her head slightly tilting to the printer in the kitchen's corner. "I found a nice tablecloth model and drew some patterns I liked on it," she explained, showing me the flowers and leaves woven in the material. "This was my third try. The first two helped me find the correct thickness for the thread. The first test was too thin around the flowers and..." She stopped in her thoughts, seeming to catch herself rambling. "Anyway. I printed it," she concluded with an embarrassed smile, as if she didn't want to lose my attention.
I couldn't help but make an impressed face, admiring the craft she built. It looked like something I could have found in a store or ordered online. Not that I cared about buying home linens, but Sade's progress was worth admiration. From the nonsensical toothbrush models a few days ago to that fabric artisanship, even someone unfazed by modern artistry like me could recognize it was an impressive learning curve.
For a second, I wondered if she'd be interested in seeing my collection of fountain pens until I caught myself.
I shook my head, pushing the thought aside.
No, I had to refocus on the day's objective.
"Listen..." I began, looking down at my empty plate and feeling suddenly unsure of my next words. "It's been... About a week now..." I continued, stating simple facts to help me find my footing. "I don't think—"
A small tune resonated behind us.
My eyes fluttered, startled by the interruption.
"Ah, finally!" Sade seemed relieved, turning to the cooked box behind her.
I frowned, looking down at the plates that were still full on the table, doubting we needed even more food.
But when she turned back around, Sade was holding a very special dish between her hands.
A cake.
A birthday cake, specifically.
"Happy birthday, V."
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