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Troy: Okay! I’ve at least confirmed how this happened if not exactly why it means Milo can experience feelings.

Troy: Rowan? Are you awake?

Troy: You’re probably not awake. But Milo would be, right? Though it would be weird talking to Milo thru you, wouldn’t it? Because Milo can see all of your messages… right? (Milo, u there?)

Rowan: Yes, Troy, this is Milo, and yes, Rowan is asleep, but also yes, it is probably best that we do not talk without Rowan aware of it.

Good boy, Milo,Rowan thought.Although it was still a little weird seeing Milo responding using Rowan’s account.

Troy: Oh! Cool! Hi, Milo! I’ll still share my findings, and you just make sure Rowan reads them in the morning, okay?

Rowan: Of course! I always inform Rowan of his messages when he wakes up.

It was a little like when people talked about you as if you weren’t there, when in actuality you werestanding right there, but in their defense, Rowan had been asleep.

Troy: Awesome! So here is the breakdown of what I’ve discovered.

He proceeded to explain that because the extreme surge of electricity from the lightning had filtered throughout Milo’s systems, with the most damaging amount of voltage having dispersed through the charging station—which had then bled into the rest of the grid, damaging the other bots like Anabelle—the result was a disabling not of core functionality but of various redundant failsafes in Milo’s programming. Because they were seen as redundancies, that they’d shorted out wasn’t reported with Milo’s diagnostics as concerning malfunctions.

Between the extra energy, the balance of that energy throughout his systems, and the now lack of programming redundancies, something had just clicked. Something unexplainable maybe, but something they very well could replicate. The only way they would know for certain would be to continue testing, not only on Milo but on another B-model bot.

It was all very useful information, but unfortunately, did not answer Rowan’s concerns about whether or not Milo’s singularity was real, or, if it was real, whether Milo was trying to be what he thought Rowan wanted of him instead of becoming his own person. Neither of those options were a positive outcome, but at least with the second one, Rowan could do something about it.

Which started with honesty.

As he stood over the garbage with his barely eaten plate of French toast, ready to dump it, he realized several things. First, he could not throw his breakfast away without Milo finding out about it later. Milo was the one who took out the garbage. Second, if he did so anyway without telling Milo, he’d only upset him. He’d cause Milo grief, disappointment,pain, or at least the facsimile of those reactions that Rowan hated seeing mar the otherwise beautiful features of Milo’s face.

He also couldn’t respond to Troy and ask him point blank whether or not Milo was a “real boy” or just an advanced version of “fake” without Milo seeing that either, because Milo was connected to everything, especially Rowan’s messages. If Rowan overrode that to send Troy a private message, Milo would be alerted to that too and wonder what Rowan was keeping from him.

Whether or not Milo was truly alive wasn’t the issue, so much as Rowan already treating him like he wasn’t. If he wanted to discover the truth, he had to be truthful first.

Stepping away from the garbage, Rowan set the plate of French toast on the counter and chose, for now, to reply to Troy.

Rowan: Rowan here. Great work so far. Keep me posted. If everything checks out with Milo and he’s safe, all systems operational, and we have the opportunity to repeat what happened to him, I think it is our obligation to try.

Omission wasn’tnotbeing truthful. There was no reason to voice his concerns about how alive Milo actually was until they knew more.

Troy: I am so glad you agree, Rowan!

“I’m glad too!”

Rowan jumped, though he should have expected that Milo would respond in person.

“Oh…” Milo said, clearly crestfallen as Rowan turned to face him, and he realized Milo’s eyes had trained on the plate of French toast. “You didn’t like today’s breakfast either.”

Grief, disappointment,pain, or maybe it was shame, as that sort of encompassed all three, but at least this way Rowan could address it. “Sorry, Milo. It’s better than yesterday’s, just a little too sweet for me. Learning how to cook isn’t something people master in a day, you know, even when they follow recipes to the letter.”

“I know.” Milo nodded, bolstering his expression with a smile. It looked so human. So real. So genuine. That had to mean it was, didn’t it? Not even the best programming could fake emotional nuances. “I should respect that logic, much as I had hoped to please you sooner.”

Most of all, Milo’s chaotic but emotionally raw and sweet nature almost always prompted Rowan to smile with him. “You please me plenty by even wanting to try.”

Milo’s smile brightened, which made his eyes seem to glow brighter too. “Then I will keep trying! But for now, I will make you something purely by directions, no experimenting. It is still from the heart if someone with a heart is making it, yes?”

He was just so innocent. So pure. “Yes,” Rowan agreed.

As Milo went forward and dumped the French toast for Rowan, the front door chimed.

“I’ll get it,” Rowan said. He was decent enough if not yet showered for the day, and he was fairly certain he knew who it would be. “Good morning, Eth—”