Shaun got my lunch ready while I dressed, though when he sat at the table with me, his brow would furrow, his lips would purse every now and then, and his eyes would focus on something only he could see. It was very obvious that he was trying to piece something together or trying to figure out how best to phrase something.

When I was done eating, I placed my knife and fork at twelve and six and neatly folded my napkin and covered my plate. I pushed it squarely away. “Shaun? Is there something you’d like to say?”

He glanced at me. “I do not wish to bother you.”

“I can assure you, you’re no bother,” I said, trying to comfort him. Was it even possible that he could withhold information from me? Or worse, lie? “Shaun?”

“You were concerned when reading my control panel earlier. Was something amiss?”

Now it was my turn to be honest. “I’m not sure.”

His gaze shot to mine. “Is there something wrong with me?”

I pulled my chair around so our knees touched and took his hand. “No. If anything, the instruction manual or information needs updating, that’s all. You,” I said, leaning forward and giving him a quick kiss, “are pluperfect, remember? Actually, I’m pretty sure if you checked the dictionary under the word pluperfect, there’d be a picture of you.”

He blinked and paused. “No, there’s not.”

Oh God, he literally just checked the dictionary. I chuckled. “I was joking, sorry. But maybe they should update the dictionary as well. There should be a picture of you under the word pluperfect.”

He finally smiled. “Is that a compliment?”

“Yes.”

He thumbed the back of my hand. “Have you eaten enough, or is there something else I may get for you?”

“I’ve eaten enough, thank you.”

He stood up and took my plate, but before he left, he leaned down and kissed me.

So much for never instigating a kiss. I smiled as I watched him walk into the kitchen. “So,” I said, knowing he could hear me, “I was thinking I would show you how to use the home hub so you can make orders or purchases, if you need or want anything.”

He appeared in the doorway, looking at me with an uncertain, shy smile on his face. “Really?”

I laughed. God he was adorable. “Yes, really. But please remember what I said about the no-luxury-car rule.”

He grinned. “No Lamborghinis. Understood.”

I went to the cabinet near the dining table. It was central to the house, so it was the logical place for the hub. I pointed to the sleek black disc on the top of the cabinet.

“This is the home hub. Every house has one, or one similar,” I explained. “I can do most things I need from here: grocery orders, thermostat, dry cleaning orders, email, phone calls. It’s completely voice activated, or you can press this button,” I pressed the On button and a holographic screen displayed above it. I showed him where the grocery order was. “All my meals are premade and I have them categorised into weeks, one through four. This week’s order will be week three.” I selected my standard pre-order titled Week Three, confirmed, and the amount of credits showed on-screen. I confirmed again and it was done.

“That was easy,” Shaun said.

“Okay, now I’ll show you the voice activation.” I hit the manual Off button and the hologram disappeared. “Home hub On,” I said clearly. The hologram screen reappeared. “Open Call Directory.” An alphabetised list appeared, admittedly a rather small list of my contacts. “Call Lloyd mobile,” I said and my phone on the cabinet near the door, buzzed. “End Call.”

I pointed to the list. “You can also call me at work, in the case of an emergency. Or send me an email. Just say Email Lloyd and it will convert your speech to text.”

“Work. The place where one is employed,” he said.

“Yes. I work at the university,” I replied, though I was certain he knew this already.

Oh, no. It just occurred to me. “I haven’t even thought about you being at home by yourself while I’m at work. I’ve taken this week off to be with you, but I have to go back on Monday.” God, he was going to be by himself…

He stared at the hologram and I could almost see him calculating the days, hours, minutes until then. His eyebrows pinched. “What hours will you be gone?”

“From eight until five. Monday to Friday.”

He paused for a moment too long, then looked at me. “I shall miss you when you are not here.”

Oh my God. My heart sank. “I shall miss you too while I’m at work.”

He looked back to the hologram, but he looked… I don’t know, sad, or troubled. I put my hand on his arm. “Shaun, you’ll be fine here by yourself. I’m sure we can find something for you to do during the day.”

He smiled, almost. “It will be fine.”

“Let’s get you set up to do this first,” I said, thinking the distraction was needed for both of us. I went into the settings on the home hub and selected Add User. I entered his first name and only when it was left blank did I realise the user settings required a full name, first and last.

“Oh,” I said. “It requires a surname.”

Shaun looked from the hologram to me. “I could have your surname.”

My gaze shot to his. “Um…”

“I would be Shaun Salter.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t think you realise what that implies.”

“Taking a surname implies family. Does it not?”

I guess in the literal world, it did. “Possibly.”

“Or does it imply husbands?”

I barked out a laugh, feeling my cheeks heat. “Uh, possibly.”

“Why do you react in such a way?” he asked, his head tilted.

“We’re not married,” I said gently.

“I rather like the sound of Shaun Salter,” he said. “And if I get to choose a surname, then I would choose yours.”

I stared at his blue, blue eyes. “You would?”

“I belong only to you,” he whispered. “If sharing the same distinctive surname as you indicates that I identify with you, then there is no other name I’d rather take.”

Oh boy.

His words took my breath away. “Oh, Shaun.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

I shook my head, and leaning in, I kissed him softly. “You said something very right.” Going back to the hologram, I added my surname to his. “Shaun Salter,” I murmured, my heart beating fast.

“You like how that sounds?” he asked.

I nodded. “I do.”

He smiled proudly. “My synthetic dopamine levels are elevated.”

I chuckled at that. “Okay, let’s get this finished,” I said, completing the set-up sequence. He repeated the sentence for voice activation, and the only thing left to do was test it.

I turned the hub off manually. “Your turn to activate it.”

“Home hub On,” he said.

The hologram appeared, and Shaun grinned. “Open Call Directory.” Then he said, “Call Lloyd mobile.”

My phone rang over on the counter and Shaun leaned in closer to me and whispered, “You’re supposed to answer your phone.”

I rolled my eyes but played along. I crossed the room and picked up my phone, answering the call. “Hello?”

Shaun grinned. “Hello, this is Shaun Salter speaking.”

I burst out laughing and ended the call, sliding my phone into my pocket. I walked back to him and kissed him, both of us smiling. I took his hand and led him to the sofa. “Come on. I’ll show you the TV.”

I hadn’t even turned it on since Shaun arrived. He really had taken up 100% of my attention, and I had to wonder how that would affect him when I went back to work. If my world for the last four days had revolved around him, then so had his around me, and I could only assume he would be at a loss for what to do when I was gone for hours at a time.

The TV seemed like a good place to start. We faced the sleek cabinet against the far wall. I leaned in close to him and whispered, “Say TV On.”

Shaun looked at me. “TV On.” The holographic rectangle appeared before the wall and Shaun spun his head to look at it. “Oh.”

I chuckled. “That’s the television.”

“Volume Up,” I said out loud and the TV volume raised slightly.

Still smiling, Shaun looked at me then back to the screen. “What is that?”

“That’s a movie,” I said. “It’s on the channel I watched last.”

“Movie. A cinematic film for entertainment or educational purposes.”

“Yes. Though I mostly watch for entertainment.” I looked at the screen. “Channel Up. Up. Up. Up.” I said, scrolling through channels, leaving it on some nonsense ad. “There are nine hundred channels.”

Shaun turned to me, his eyes wide. “Nine hundred? Is that not excessive?”

“Yes, it’s ridiculous, to be honest. Channels are categorised though. Movies are the four hundreds, news and current affairs is zero to one hundred, all the one hundreds are documentaries, which you might find very interesting. Things like history, engineering, and travel. Two hundreds are all infomercials and sales channels; I don’t watch them. I have no need. Three hundreds are all programs made for TV, like sitcoms and weekly serials. I watch those sometimes. Four hundreds are movies, as I said, and the five hundreds are music. Six hundreds are all sport channels, seven hundreds are the reality shows, which I don’t watch. I don’t care for them at all. Eight hundreds are… well, the eight hundreds are adult-only pornography. I don’t think we need to watch those.”

“Pornography. Printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate sexual excitement.”

“Uh, yes.”

He looked right at me. “I have the complete sexual position and activity information downloaded already.”

I snorted and could feel my cheeks heat. “Ah, yes. So you’ve said.”

“I do not need any help in recreating any activity you wish to experience.”

I shook my head. “How about we watch a movie or read a book?” I suggested. “We need to do some things together that aren’t sexual.”

He made a sighing sound and faced the TV. “If you wish.” When I didn’t reply, he made the sighing sound again.

I laughed. “Oh, stop it.” I leaned back on the sofa and pulled him down with me, settling in and cuddling, as a human couple might do to watch a movie together. His head was on my chest and I wrapped my arms around him. I kissed the top of his head. “Is that better?”

He hummed a happy sound. “Much.”

After a full twenty minutes of silence and movie watching, he said, “Lloyd?”

“Yes?”

“Although it does not activate all my sensors like sex does, I do rather like watching movies with you.”

I chuckled, kissed his head again, and we continued to watch the rest of the movie, both smiling like love-struck fools.

* * *

The next three days I spent with Shaun felt almost surreal. Like I was living in some dream holiday filled with incredible sex, stopping only to read chapters of Moby Dick and discuss in great detail every nuance, every ideal. I did eat, of course, meals he would dutifully prepare for me, and we would watch movies, only to end up making out and groping and having more sex.

Or making love.

Because that’s what it was. Sure, there was need and fire and passion, but it was slow and tender, and every emotion, everything I felt yet could not say, I showed him with my touch, with my body.

We laughed, we debated, we discussed, we laughed some more, we loved.

I didn’t care what robotics, or what my rationale told me. I believed my heart. The way he kissed me, the way he reached for me, it was in the light in his eyes when he looked at me.

He loved me.

I knew he did.

On Sunday afternoon, the day before I was to return to work, I suggested a walk along the river. He’d enjoyed it before, and as much as we were homebodies, I wanted him to experience life outside my home.

“I would like that,” he said. “I shall grab our coats.”

Shaun returned a moment later, just as my phone rang. It wasn’t the first time my phone had rung since he arrived, but I didn’t get a lot of calls. I didn’t exactly like enough humans to engage in conversations with them. “Answer Call,” I spoke out loud.

But this was a phone call I wasn’t exactly expecting. “Hello, Mr Salter?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Myles Dewegger, unit manager at SATinc.”

I frowned. “Yes? I remember you.”

“No need for alarm,” he said. “This is just a standard follow-up call. You’ve had your Fully Compatible Unit for a week tomorrow. How are you both adjusting?”

“Very well.”

“Do you have any concerns or questions about the health of you unit?”

My unit. I didn’t much care for that. “His name is Shaun.”

“Yes, of course. And how is Shaun finding life with you?”

“He’s right here, would you care to ask him?”

There was a brief pause, then Myles said, “Okay” like it was a question. But then he changed his tone, brightening somewhat. “Shaun, how are you?”

Shaun looked at me and answered, a little woodenly. “Very well, thank you.”

“I trust you are in good health?”

“Yes. Functioning at optimum levels, thank you. Lloyd has just suggested an afternoon walk before it gets too cold.”

“That sounds fun. I’ll let you both go,” Myles said. “Lloyd, I’ll be making another call in a week to see if there are any teething problems come to light.”

“Okay,” I replied. “I can’t imagine there will be.”

“It’s company policy.”

“Very well.” Then I remembered, “Oh, yes, Mr Dewegger, there was one thing. The control panel instruction manual, I believe it needs to be updated.”

Another pause. “Updated?”

“Yes. It would appear the information was incorrect or incomplete. Or perhaps the file I received was glitched. If you could resend it, that’d be great.”

“Sure thing.” I could hear him tapping on a screen. “Sending it through now.”

“Thank you.”

“Enjoy your evening.”

“Thank you. We will.”

The line clicked off and I shrugged the call off as unusual, but if it was company policy to follow up, then so be it. I looked up at Shaun. “Would you like me to help you into your coat?”

He smiled. “Thank you.”

A few minutes later, we left our building and walked out into the cool Melbourne winter sun. It was late afternoon on a Sunday, so there weren’t too many other people on the streets. We set off toward the river at a leisurely stroll, my arm linked with his.

It was lovely.

I pointed out landmarks and other things he found of interest: cars, trams, bicycles, trees, birds. We found a seat by the river and Shaun took my hand and smiled. We sat for a while, and I gave Shaun a brief history on the Yarra River, which I’m sure he knew, and actually, I’m certain he could school me in all things history of all countries, but he sat patiently and listened, smiling, it would seem, just to hear me speak.

Then, as evening began to set in, we stood and started for home only to stop when a couple appeared. They were walking, minding their own business. A man, maybe early fifties, distinguished, and his clothes and posture spoke of wealth. And a woman, much younger than he, with pretty blonde hair and perfect features.

A woman, yes. She was also an android. Well, a gynoid was the correct terminology, but still a woman.

Shaun stopped and waited for them to get closer, and the man looked at us expectantly, like he was trying to determine if he knew us from somewhere, when he noticed Shaun. He smiled at me. “Hello there,” he said. “I see we’re… in-laws,” he said, gesturing to his partner as though he found his joke funny.

Shaun addressed her directly. “Good evening. My name is Shaun.”

She smiled sweetly. “Good evening. I am Sheena.”

Sheena. I remembered that name. She was a Class-A unit, just like Shaun. All Class-A units names began with the letter S. After their creator, Sasha, I assumed.

“Handsome fella you got there,” the man said.

“Oh yes, thank you.” I wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. “Your lady is very pretty also.”

He smiled like it was his doing. I guess it was. “How long you had him for?”

“Almost a week. You?”

“Two weeks on Tuesday. Best decision I ever made.”

I smiled more genuinely at that. “Same.”

Shaun was watching Sheena, his head slightly tilted like he was trying to make sense of something. I’d missed their quiet conversation. “Yes, I like walks to the river. Though I much prefer reading, and then Lloyd and I discuss literature or aspects of philosophy.”

The man, whose name I still didn’t know, raised an eyebrow. “Got yourself a smart cookie too.”

“Yes, I requested full knowledge of literary and world histories, amongst other things.”

“Well, that explains that. All I requested was foot massages and dinner every night.”

I certainly didn’t know what to say to that, and my silence allowed me to hear what Sheena said to Shaun. “That is an unknown parameter.”

The man looked a little perplexed but gave a smile, perhaps out of politeness. “Did you ask her to explain the theory of mind? She can’t answer that.”

Shaun eyed the man curiously. “Can she not access any data file she requires?”

The man made a face. “Well now, I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’ve never really asked her questions I didn’t already know the answer to.”

Sheena blinked. “I can access any information downloaded into my processing unit at any time,” she explained. She had a sweet voice and a pretty smile. “Class-A androids are synced to the internet for information and general purposes.”

I could only assume this fellow hadn’t listed conversation high on his priority list of inclusions. “Well, I hope you enjoy your evening. We were just heading home.”

“Same to you,” he said cheerfully, taking Sheena’s arm.

“Good evening,” Sheena said woodenly.

“Enjoy your walk,” Shaun said, and we took our leave. But we’d only walked half a block when he stopped.

“What is it?”

“Sheena,” he said. “The A-Class android. She was like me.”

“Yes.”

“Yet she was not like me at all.”

I knew he’d picked up on that. Of course he had. I nodded slowly. “True. Though I’m starting to think that it’s you who’s not like her.”

He tilted his head in that cute way he did. “Can you please clarify?”

“I mean that I think Sheena is like all the other A-Classes. I think it’s you who’s different.”

His eyebrows knitted together, but before he could ask me anything else, I took his hand. “Come on, let’s go home.”

* * *

Shaun sat on the sofa, his eyes wide. “I am concerned.”

I sat beside him and squeezed his hand. “To be honest, I am a little too.”

“You think I am different, and this is a bad thing?”

“No. I think you’re better than they expected. I think you have intelligence and awareness outside of what they programmed.”

“And this is wrong?”

“No, it’s not wrong. You’re not wrong or bad.” I looked into his eyes and I knew he was processing every detail. “You say things like ‘I feel’ or ‘I believe’ which I don’t think is normal. And the manual said you shouldn’t initiate physical intimacy, but you do.”

“I like physical intimacy.”

I smiled at that. “I know you do. I like it too, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. I just think something in your programming is over and above what SATinc meant to give. Like maybe your CPU.”

“And this concerns you?”

“Yes.”

“For your safety? Do you think I will cause you harm?”

“No!” I answered quickly. God, he could never hurt me. “Nothing like that. My concern is for you. That they, being SATinc, will want to reset you, wipe your memory, or worse.”

“What is worse than wiping my recurrent neural networks?”

“Them taking you.”

His gaze shot to mine. “I do not want them to take me.”

“I won’t allow it,” I said adamantly. I held his hand in both of mine. “Shaun, look. It’s not likely they’ll ever know. I mean, how can they? They won’t ever see you again.”

“I have internet connectivity with the SATinc mainframe. If they can download updates into my microcontroller at will and without my consent, then is it safe to assume they can upload my data as well?”

I hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. And I can hardly ask them without raising suspicion. I don’t want them poking around in your head without your consent.”

“Neither do I.” Shaun frowned.

We were both quiet for a moment. “What’s a microcontroller?” I asked. He’d used that word and I hadn’t heard it before.

“A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input and output peripherals.”

Right. Okay, so that was a definition. Clearly, I needed to think about how to better ask him questions. “What’s your microcontroller.”

“My brain, as you called it. It contains the CPU and allows for inputs and outputs, which interprets signals from my sensors and adjusts my actions and reactions accordingly, memory, synthetic emotions. Much like your human brain.”

I sighed and leaned back on the sofa, pulling him with me so I could slide my arm around him, hold him. “There’s so much I don’t know about you,” I murmured. “About your internal components.”

He was quiet for a second. “I have some internal components you can check any time you’d like.”

Did he…? Was that a…?

He turned his head to look at me, a grin on his face.

He did just make a sex joke!

I barked out a laugh. “I thought that’s what you meant!”

“You mentioned internal components. How could I not make reference to my internal sensors?”

I tightened my arms around him and kissed the top of his head. I could have so very easily told him right then that I loved him. But I didn’t… the words were right there on the tip of my tongue, but it wasn’t the right time. We had enough to think about right now.

“How about we forget about what might not ever happen and just enjoy the last night before I have to go back to work.”

“Yes. I like the sound of that, very much,” he said softly.

“Want to watch TV?” I asked.

“No.”

“Want to read?”

“No.”

So much for androids being compliant… I chuckled and kissed the top of his head again. “What do you want to do?”

He turned in my arms and pulled me so I was lying down on the sofa. “Well, about those internal sensors…”

I laughed but the sound was cut off when he kissed me.