Page 62

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 experiencedmany 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 bitwrong.

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 bitwronghimself, 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’slips, 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 hisMaster, 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.