đą V's POV
"What should I say if someone questions me?" Sade asked on the way to my office. "If they wonder who I am?"
"Say you're a collaborator of mine visiting from another city," I answered with the perfectly crafted story I had prepared for her already. "You're a Botanical Agronomist, and you're helping me with a specific issue in my research."
I mentioned again that my project was one of the highest levels of confidentiality (and therefore, no one would try to push for more questions), but, as usual, Sade didn't look much impressed.
"A bota-what?" Her voice leapt into a high pitch, her eyes wide. "V... I can't pretend I'm some kind of scientist like you, I-"
"Why not?" I interrupted in a way I hoped was gentle.
When I'd woken up this morning, I found her standing barefoot in the atrium, a cup of water in her hands, pouring it all into the dry soil beneath her feet. Her brows were furrowed in quiet concentration, and it didn't take me too long to understand what she was doing.
"Will there be a grass field when we come back this evening?" I teased, alluding to last night's sprinkler incident.
Her lips pressed into a thoughtful line, her gaze still focused on the empty soil.
"I think it needs more than just water..." she murmured almost to herself, kneeling to press her fingers into the muddy ground.
Machinas weren't designed to have infinite knowledge. Their minds were meant to mirror humans, even regarding learning and discovery. Even knowing this, it was still fascinating to watch her experiment, draw conclusions, and form insights from her own observations.
Last week, it was the 3D printer. This week, the atrium garden. I couldn't help but wonder where her curiosity would take her next.
I gulped, catching myself once again projecting too far into the future. This was all temporary. In just a few weeks, she'll have to be returned. I needed to get a grip.
"I know you'll do just fine," I reassured her as we walked up the stairs of the research center. "You already ask questions like a real researcher."
I took a glance behind my shoulder to check if she'd catch the reference to the breakfast we'd just shared. She had grilled me with every question she could think of about growing a garden, all the questions NORA couldn't answer. I had tried to answer as best I could, pulling from the scraps of knowledge I'd retained from my biology classes, but somehow, every answer only seemed to spark even more questions in her.
She didn't seem to register the compliment. Instead, she climbed the stairs slowly behind me, her expression thoughtful and far away. I looked away the moment I noticed the slit in her skirt, swaying with each step, revealing glimpses of her leg beneath.
I really needed to get a grip, now.
Her concerns seemed to fade away as we got inside the building. Her curious eyes looked everywhere around, and for the first time, I seemed to notice some things I had never even considered in my surroundings.
I also had noticed patterns in her behavior. As usual, when she entered a new place, Sade would always look up to the light sources, whether they were bay windows, roof domes, or twinkling lights. Her energy management wasn't dependent on it, and yet, she always seemed attracted to these.
Then, there were the plants, of course. I had never paid much attention to the design or architecture of my workplace before, but with Sade here, I was forced to notice the cascading greenery on the stairs leading to the upper floors. She leaned over the railing, her hand reaching to touch a branch of the tall rising tree in the middle of the space.
"Magnificent..." she murmured in awe, looking down the banister to the trail of vegetation spiralling down.
My fingers grazed over her arm as I got scared that she would fall. I had never admitted it to anyone, but I have a fear of heights, and I wasn't too comfortable seeing anyone too close to the edge.
For some reason, I felt highly protective and responsible for Sade's well-being.
"Here, you'll be able to move in and out of the library as you'd like," I told her after connecting our tablets to share the necessary authorizations. "Bathrooms are this way. There's a drinking fountain inside and-"
"I brought snacks!" she said, proudly showing me the contents of her little bag. "Oh, and this is for you."
She slipped a small bottle out of it, one with a bright pink content.
"It's an Immuno Bloom. I got one for me too," she showed me again the inside of her bag. "It's to make sure we don't get sick, after yesterday's incident," she explained with a knowing smile, and a memory of her running barefoot into the sprinkling rain flashed through my mind.
"Right," I gulped, trying to push away the images of her dress's damp fabric sticking around her collarbones, down to her chest-arrgh! Stop it. "Thank you for that," I answered tensely, gripping the little bottle with both hands.
Images of Sade laughing with me in the cab back home were replaced by a memory of her giving me a green smoothie to heal my hangover this weekend.
I couldn't help but compare ourselves to couples I had observed around me, like Dionne dropping off some Morning Muffins she had made for Chandra, or our director receiving a care package from her husband on her bad allergy days.
Was that all a part of the loving thing?
Maybe this experiment was working after all.
"We'll meet again for lunch," I said, pushing open the library door and holding it for her to enter. "I'll come back to pick you up, okay?"
But too late, Sade's attention had drifted far away. Her jaw dropped as she stepped in, and her arms hung limp at her sides, as if too stunned to function.
"It's so... gigantic," she breathed, eyes wide as she took it all in.
Again, I tried to see the place through her eyes.
The library stretched upward into a luminous, multi-floor space. Dozens of floors spiraled above and below us, connected by sleek, floating walkways and gliding glass elevators. Each level curved gently around the open core, bordered by transparent railings and soft-glowing floor lights.
As usual in the City, a tree stood peacefully in the center of the space.
From the ceiling, a skylight bathed the space in light, rows upon rows of books lining the circular walls.
"Use your tablet to open the glass doors of restricted book sections," I instructed at last.
Sade mouthed a silent "okay", her light, tiny steps already floating to the Environmental Sciences section.
I smiled, knowing I should already brace myself for all the new questions she'll have for me at lunchtime.
I closed the door behind me, making sure no one had seen us. Thankfully, we had been early enough to avoid the busy hallways. Almost no one would visit this library anymore, as most documentation would be digitized nowadays. I could have given online access to Sade, however, I feared the digital footprints it could leave behind... At least here, the only recorded thing would be her entering the place. She could open any book without it being registered by my workplace.
Back in my office, I felt my face heat up at the research tabs still open on my desk tablet. I quickly closed the video links to popular entertainment shows (Crash Landing on Moon, Descendants of the Stars, Synthetic Beauty, Replay 3088, Station Del Moona...). I had been studying how love interests interacted on screen, but most of it felt excessively dramatic. I couldn't wrap my head around how people could just fall and find the other's lips for an impromptu kiss.
My first date with Sade had been so peaceful in comparison (aside from the sprinkler incident, though mishaps like that seemed almost mandatory in those shows). The First Date Checklist I'd created had been helpful, though Sade had correctly sensed that I would have been fine without it.
Except for the flower bouquet.
I never would've thought to bring one, and yet her face lit up when she saw it. I made a mental note of that.
Day 8, I reread the notes I had taken before bed yesterday.
Date preparation reduced anxiety, checklist gave structure and control.
Watching a movie allowed calm moment with low social pressure to interact.
Post-dinner walk helped digestion and allowed for casual conversation, I read, wondering if casual was really an accurate depiction. After all, I had never recalled these kinds of childhood memories with anyone before.
Unplanned physical activity (running from sprinklers, laughter) = endorphin release? I wrote down when I tried to describe and explain the rush of joy I experienced then.
Conclusions: no clear signs of emotional bonding, but positive emotions were recorded. Further observation needed.
I re-read my notes from the first week, too. It was all focused on Sade, and almost nothing was recorded about my experience.
The Love Machina and its functioning had fascinated me so much that most of my notes described her. I was so sure she would want to escape that I had not even considered taking notes about my perceptions.
Now, I tried to rewire my notes away from Sade and back to me. After all, I was the one supposed to be the subject of the experiment.
Objective: To monitor and assess emotional and physiological responses related to the potential experience of "love" and perceived affection, I read again the new goal I had defined for that second phase of the experiment.
I turned my fountain pen between my fingers, struggling to make sense of the thoughts in my head. For some reason, I couldn't help but replay the whole evening in my head. The way Sade's dress moved around her when she walked. The way she would tuck her hair behind her ear and lean in toward me to listen, her big, attentive eyes fixed on me.
Thinking of her eyes, I remembered the way they widened in awe when the cab door opened up in the air (she seemed still impressed by doors opening, it was quite cute).
As I let my mind float around, I had not realized my stare drifted to the little pink bottle of Immuno Bloom.
It looked so tall at the end of my desk.
Sade was probably right. Perhaps we were at risk of getting sick after getting soaked and entering the chilly air-conditioned spaces of the City. I had spent the night turning around my covers. My heart rate had seemed more hectic since yesterday, and I found myself sweating a lot for no apparent reason.
I seized the little bottle and drank its contents in one go. It tasted much better than the last time I tried it. Maybe they had improved the recipe.
Still pensive, my fountain pen found paper and began jotting some random notes in it. I knew I was supposed to focus the research back on me, but for now, it felt easier to write about Sade.
Likes flowers, plants, trees
Likes pizza and spaghetti
Likes printing and modelling
Likes mountains (but never seen the beach)
And then I added:
Doesn't like lists
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