Jodi and Shantal felt like throwing a camping vibe that night and so to complete the mood, Arvin tried set up a bone fire outside. But starting a fire out from scratch was not as easy as how the robot initially thought it was. After all, Arvin have never done it before. That was when Alex decided to give him a hand.
"First you need this."
He muttered under his breath right after he made a heap of dried twigs that he happened to collect along the way.
"I will go and get some more."
Arvin said as he also started to pick some dried branches. With Arvin and Alex's joint effort, they were able to use it to start a fire in no time. Just like what the two girls planned, they indeed make the most of the night. But, nothing eventful happened that night, anyway. Other than the fact that Shantal and Jodi both ended up wasting away. As they made sure to enjoy the rice wine up to its very last drop.
From the current look it. it even seemed that they were
Another half an hour passed with mostly Jodi and Shantal goofing around, and when their body was finally unable to handle the amount of alcohol that they were taking, they both went limp. So once again, the two gentlemen were left with no choice but to carry them on their back and bring them to their respective rooms. As soon as Alex was done tucking Shantal on her bed, he received a notification from the facility house and when he looked at its ID, he saw that the message was registered under Harold's name."Everything is ready on our end. Our car will be outside any minute from now."That was what he said in the message and Alex already knew what has to be done from there."Alright, I will get going."He replied with a simpered smile before he headed to the door. However, just as when he was about to step outside the room, he turned around and looked at Shantal for one last time."I guess, this is goodbye then."He mutter
For some unknown reason, Shantal woke up in the middle of the night. She was not sure why, but she suddenly felt like something was wrong and when she checked the end of her bed which was Alex's usual spot, that was when she realized that other party was nowhere to be seen.When that realization dawned at her, she quickly bolted straight up to her bed and look around her. She squinted her eyes and tried to strain them and looked past the darkness, yet there was nothing she could see at the moment but the pitch black room. So she untangled herself from her blanket and swung her legs at the edge of the bed to let her feet dangled as she tried to adjust her eyes from her surroundings. At this point, she was already sober enough to wonder where her robot had gone."Where is this robot of mine had gone at the middle of the night?"She thought to herself as she exhaled an exasperated sigh. Then as she used her feet to feel in the darkness; searching for her slippers,
'Perhaps he only speaks like this when he is trying hard to nail something in his head'Shantal reasoned to herself as she remembered the time when she told him to memorize her cell phone number in case something happened while she was out. Alex at that time pretty much did the same thing; albeit being less submissive compared to the latter.Also, at this point, Shantal felt defeated because looking at Alex who was not sporting a puppy-like expression, she felt like she was having trouble being seriously angry with him. Especially when it was apparent that the other party was only acting out of goodwill.'What else could I expect from an Android Partner? After all, that was how his system was built, so who could blame him for acting like that?'´Shantal told herself and with a small sigh, she extended her arms and reached out to Alex to touch him.“It’s okay.”She muttered
“I want to be human.”Alex confessed out of the blue and Shantal was startled when she heard him said that so she lifted her gaze and looked straight at his eyes.“You do?”She asked as she beckoned to him with her hand. She tapped the empty space right beside her and invited the other party to sit next to her in the bed.“Everyone where I come from does.”Alex replied softly and it was at this point that Shantal finally realized that the two of them had been talking at each other in a whisper ever since they started their conversation a while ago. His voice was hushed whenever he was saying his reply and without Shantal realizing it, her subconscious mind already made her matched the modulation of the other party's voice."Why are we talking like this, anyway?"She asked him in a whispering manner and Alex explained himself to her and told her his reason for talking that way."I am afr
Early the next day, Shantal decided to get some fresh air so she went outside and explore the town. She was planning to go to the plaza and checked whether it changed over the course of time that she had not been there. Her robot naturally tagged along and for some reason, Shantal felt that something had really changed about Alex, overnight. However, thinking that she was just overthinking things, she pushed the thought at the back of her mind. At the same time, the longer she stayed with the other party the more convinced she became that he really was not as intelligent as she initially thought and Android Partner would be.But that was not to say that Alex was dumb. No. But after the third time, Shantal has to grab him and pulled him back before he could even end up being run over by a speeding car, it was official that Alex was more than a little oblivious."I am so sorry."He said for the umpteenth time that Shantal already lost count of how m
"Maybe I can delude myself into thinking that I was just strolling around with a friend... or should I say, a roommate?"Shantal trailed off as she tried to reconsider how she saw Alex in her life."A person, then."She decided once and for all.'A person with a very young mental age. Although I am pretty sure there are eight year olds out there who aren’t as distracted by insects and shadows as Alex is.'When that realization dawned on her, she broke into another smile.“You have never seen any of this?”She asked Alex afterward when she sawthe other party fixated at a tree.“Oh, I have,” Alex smiled, stretching his hand up to touch the tree he was leaning against with.“But not in real life. I have a lot of images in my head of what everything is supposed to be and feel like but this is the first time I have ever really seen or felt them. Although, I can&rs
Shantal and Alex wandered around the city and they had so much fun together that they already lost track of time and the sun had taken a dip into the western horizon when they finally realized that it was about time for them to leave and go home."I had so much fun!"Alex squealed as his strides were laced with merry steps, almost hopping every now and then; his hands swaying at his sides in a leisurely manner as if he had no care for anything in the world."So do I..."Shantal whispered and she deliberately spoke softly that Alex no longer heard her said that.Meanwhile, Jodi had been wanting to meet Shantal ever since that morning. She wanted to tell the other party about what she saw in the kitchen last night. But since Shantal left first thing in the morning, she was not able to catch a glimpse of her. She also tried calling Shantal, but her phone was out of coverage and she could not think of another way to contact her. Thus, the girl was left
Inside their room, Shantal was a little distracted by the thoughts of what Alex could be getting himself into. She never knew expected her robot to take a liking of insects. In fact, the other party eve took the initiative of bringing some of the bugs he found on the park."You can't expect me to let you play with those in our room."Shantal told Alex once when she saw him placing the bugs inside a container and when Alex heard her dropped an ultimatum, his shoulders dropped on his side.Almost at that instant, Shantal felt the need to run to him and gave him a hug. Alex, at that time, looked like a deserted puppy that badly needed some comfort. But Shantal resisted the urge and tried her best to stand her ground.'No! This can't be happening to you, Shantal. You can't be a softie!The small voice inside her head warned Shantal. But the robot was simply too good at what he was doing and he seemed to know his way to Shantal.