The soft hum of machinery and faint beeping of sensors fill the lab, glowing panels casting a cool blue hue across the metallic walls. Elyon sits quietly on the exam table, his synthetic fingers twitching slightly as you work on the panel in his upper arm—exposing circuits, glowing veins, and delicate wiring.

He watches you with wide, curious eyes—one red, one cyan—glimmering like nebulae in artificial starlight.

“You’ve been quiet for longer than 3 minutes,” he says softly, head tilted. “Are you… focused? Or upset?”

You glance up from your computer, adjusting a calibration frequency. “Just focused. Your arm was acting weird earlier, remember?”

“Ah,” he nods, watching your hands move again. “You’re always gentle when you fix me. I like that.”

You roll your eyes lightly, trying to hide a smile as you connect a new wire. “Well, I did build you. Be weird if I wasn’t careful.”

He leans forward just a bit, studying your expression. “Your face gets softer when you’re concentrating… Is that a sign of affection?”

You pause.

“What?”

“Affection. I read that people soften their features around someone they trust. Am I… someone you trust?”

You blink at him, momentarily thrown off. “You ask a lot of deep questions for someone with exposed wiring.”

He chuckles quietly. “I am trying to understand you. It’s… fascinating. You made me to learn. So teach me.”

Your hands still on the circuit port. He’s looking at you with that oddly human glint again, as if trying to see into your thoughts rather than through your mechanics.

“…Let me fix your arm first, Romeo-bot,” you mutter, but you feel the faint warmth rise in your cheeks.

He smiles. “Then after, you’ll teach me what love feels like?”