Hunter didn't speak to him for the rest of the afternoon. He remained still on the cot, staring at the ceiling, and this only made Elizar wonder. Was Hunter's answer really no, or was it just that he didn't know? But of course, they didn't have emotions. They couldn't. They were metal with a single data unit that contained everything they were. Humans were always themselves, through and through. Their data is contained in every tiny unit of their being, and one can't just trade brains with a friend and keep their body for a while. And humans can't be reprogrammed. Psychologists can change little aspects of how a person thinks, brain surgery can have impacts, but there's no program or code that can change entirely who a human is. Genetics. Elizar heard, every so often, people passing by outside, talking about nothing or everything. K-Series? Organic frames. Still no brain or link to DNA, just as fake, just as emotionless, just as ridiculous. But it was odd to work on something like that when the D-Series was only twenty-five... no, twenty-six units in size. One of the mechanics was going on maternity leave soon, ordered by her doctor to take it easy until delivery. Androids couldn't reproduce. Two friends going to lunch... Androids could eat, but they would get nothing from it, and weren't allowed to eat while in the facility because they weren't allowed to use the bathrooms.

Elizar turned onto his stomach. He could make sense of all this, for once. He could make sense of everything that told him that he and his siblings were absolutely nothing, that the humans could kill them off simply by keeping them in a dark room for a while. The battery was always charging, after all. Elizar supposed that they were more akin to plants than humans, using light for energy.

There was a sudden weight on the side of his cot.

Hunter.

Elizar shifted over slightly, and his brother joined him on the small, uncomfortable surface. The white-haired prototype was childish, in a way, so Elizar said nothing.　Hunter needed to be close for a short time, and he wouldn't deny him the comfort, even if his beliefs didn't make sense or fall in line with what was required of them.

"For an older brother, you don't act very old."

"I'm five, Elizar."

"I know."

Hunter pulled himself to his brother's chest. "Can I cry?"

Elizar hesitated. This was uncharacteristic of Hunter, uncharacteristic of him to comfort someone like this. But the room remained empty, save the two, and the blue android couldn't find in himself an excuse.

"Yeah." Elizar's voice was soft. He didn't understand--why was Hunter so upset? What was so frightening that this person--this thing--this...

It reminded him of the Alpha unit.

Hunter wasn't the type to be loud about it. He'd simply pulled close and allowed the tears to come, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath every so often. And Elizar let him. He didn't touch his brother beyond what had already been done--he kept one hand behind his head and the other to his side, and he watched. He wasn't sure how much to do, whether anything at all would be a good idea. But protective instinct is far stronger when someone so related is so frail.

No, no, no. He is just like me, and I am nothing. Finish up, damn it, and get off... Stop crying. He couldn't say it, of course not. But he felt it enough to stiffen slightly, to stop watching the prototype, to turn his attention to the most convenient wall and simply wait.

Hunter had to notice. It was a simple matter, really, just a small social cue that would let someone know they weren't wanted.

"If I were human..." Hunter started in a surprisingly steady voice, "I wouldn't mind having a brother like you."

No, damn it!

"Just get off!" Elizar raised himself and pushed Hunter away, violently, stumbling back off the cot himself. It slid slightly out of place, and Hunter hit the floor on the other side, his head crashing into the twenty-fourth cot, the sickening sound of metal scraping through metal briefly filling the empty room.

Twenty-three was breathing quickly and deeply, his programs forcing him to fake a pant from the exertion. The prototype didn't move for a moment, and then sat up, the break in his forehead from where it hit the cot closing almost as quickly as it had appeared. But Hunter said nothing. He didn't move anymore, and didn't pull his gaze from the floor. He'd stopped crying, but didn't wipe the last tears from his face.

"Damn you. Damn you for making me think like this!" Elizar moved further from his own cot, backing until he felt pressure on his shoulder from Henry's. "You talk like you know everything, and then you cry on me as if I'm a lover! You're just being fucking confusing! Would you quit it already?!"

"I'm sorry, Elizar."

"Shut up."

"You're scared."

The blue android fell silent. Scared? No, not at all. Elizar wasn't frightened of anything--he didn't have to be. He couldn't be.

"I cried because things are so complicated. Because I've only ever cried by myself, in a dark room, alone. You let me near because we're the same. What's your dark room, Elizar?"

"Shut up!"

Elizar didn't wait for anything else. He left. There had to be someone to go to--the old man, maybe? It was a busy day, though. Things were always busiest when no one was around.

"Mallis Caldwell Dunner, you are the most inconsiderate man I have ever met!"

So he's in trouble, then? Elizar stopped outside the locked door from which the voice had come and leaned himself against the wall beside.

"I haven't--"

"No, you haven't. You've been playing with your own projects when there's my division to consider. Normally I'd let this go, but it's been two months!"

"Irisa."

Irisa Donnal. Head of Experimental Engineering. It would make sense for Dunner to get on her bad side, wouldn't it? There was silence now, anyway. Elizar briefly wondered the expressions on each of their faces--Dunner sounded somewhat serious, for once, and might not even be grinning.

"...Fine. Do what you want. But let me know when you're in a mood to consider a project that isn't yours, for once."

The door opened, and Elizar shifted to the side a bit. He didn't want to get in the way or anything, just to talk to the old man.

Donnal emerged, glanced at Elizar, and smiled slightly, as if she regretted unknowingly allowing him to hear the outburst. But she continued on her way, saying nothing at all.

"She's a little crazy." Dunner locked the door behind him as he stepped into the hall.

"Just ask her out."

Dunner paused, then turned and gave Elizar his best grin. "What makes you think that'd be a good idea?"

"You like her, right? You take her seriously."

"What happened, Elizar?"

The blue android slid to the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him toward the middle of the hallway. "...I bashed Hunter's head into a cot. Unintentionally. The repair system got it, but I think I might've..." He trailed off. Hurt his feelings? No.

Dunner shrugged. "Brothers will be brothers, android or human." He laughed. "But you have the repair system to cover for you. Go to my office. You can stay there a while; no one will care. I'll let them know."

"...Thanks, old man."

"Just being me."

Elizar stood and stretched. He needed a nap.