Human After All

Joshua stood squeamishly in front of the other cylinders. He had been without his master for almost more than an hour, while Beau was too preoccupied with other things. Joshua guessed he should have been respectful, but after being apart from Beau for some time, the last thing he wanted to do was be apart from him for a longer time as well.

But Joshua waited for his master, stupidly twiddling his fingers together while Beau went back and forth with Rowan. Ethylon hadn't said much since he saw Yana within the cylinder, and Joshua didn't mind their awkward silence. They both needed it, he guessed.

Beau started down the hall, his hands pushed uncomfortably in his pockets. Joshua almost squealed in delight when he saw his master approaching him, jumping on the heels of his feet to keep himself from sprinting towards Beau.

Joshua leaned forward when Beau was at arms length, wrapping his hands around Beau's neck and squeezing in order to show that he had honestly missed his master. Beau pushed him away slightly though, furrowing his brows together in slight confusion.

"Master, what's wrong?" Joshua asked, running his finger along Beau's chin with a feather-light touch. Beau swallowed hard, gently pushing Joshua's hand away from his face as well. He didn't know why, but he felt he had just betrayed Joshua in finding out that he once had a life before he became a bot. Hell, he was human at one point! And somebody took away what he had to turn him into a robot. He knew it wasn't his fault, but at the same time, Beau felt it was.

"Joshua..." Beau trailed off, staring into the innocently beautiful glasz eyes that scared back at him. "If you had to choose, Joshua, would you want to be human or a bot?" He asked quickly, his voice coming out more anxious than expected.

"Master?" Joshua said. "I don't understand. What are you asking?"

"If you had a choice... Would you choose to be human, like me, or a robot, as you are now?"

Joshua chewed on his bottom lip, cocking his head to the right in an attempt to understand why his master was asking this as well. Finally, Joshua sighed and pushed some of his auburn hair away from his face.

"Which one would allow me to be with you?" He asked with a red flush upon his cheeks. Beau smiled, pressing their foreheads together so their noses barely touched.

"Either one."

"Then I wouldn't care." Joshua nodded. "As long as I can be with you, master, I wouldn't mind."

"But if you had a preference....?"

Joshua rolled his eyes slightly. "I would guess human, master. I'd like to feel the way you feel. I don't know how a human would feel..."

Beau stifled an ironic giggle, but allowed himself to nod, pecking a kiss on Joshua's bottom lip.

Rowan tugged Ethylon off of the ground, crushing him in a brotherly hug. He murmured words of comfort to his young sibling, rubbing his back in small circles. Ethylon wasn't angry, nor depressed. He was just there. Numb. Ethylon wanted to take everything back. He wanted to go back and stop himself from rebelling, from losing Yana, from helping his brother create robots and stealing for the hell of it. Ethylon desperately wanted to fix everything he had ever done.

Beau was hoping himself that everything was just a dream. That he and Joshua were still laying in bed, arms wrapped around each other while Ethylon was wherever he was before they met. He wanted everything to be normal.

But nothing would be normal again. Not after what they knew. They most likely wouldn't even survive another few days.

"Why haven't the sailors gotten us yet?" Beau directed the question to Rowan.

"They're not allowed in my lab. They don't even look in here. I think they're disgraceful things."

"But you turn robots into sailors." Ethylon said. "You were going to change Leighlan into a sailor."

"It's either I turn him into a sailor or he turns into scrap metal, Ethylon." Rowan snapped. "I worked too damn hard on these people and robots to just have them turn into pieces of metal. They're mine, and I have to save them somehow." Rowan tried to justify what he did as much as he honestly could. Nobody would understand why he did the things he did. They just knew that he was a scientist of sorts, and he did things for the Capital. Ethylon wasn't even sure he understood his brother.

Beau finally broke the silence, but with a depressing, disappointing sentence.

"We're not gonna make it out of here alive." He mumbled. Ethylon shut his eyes, keeping the pool of tears from falling down his cheeks. Joshua even trembled slightly as he tightened his hold on Beau's arm with shaky hands.

"Now hold on a minute." Rowan said. "Who said you're not going to make it out of here?"

"We're obviously not." Ethylon snapped. "I know you're used to being pampered and shit, but not all of us can live that life, Rowan."

"Ethylon, let's not get into this right now." Rowan brushed his brother's objections off as nothing. "Really. I lived the life you had for longer than you did, Ethylon. You can't judge me just because the Capital took me away."

"You didn't even—"

"I can probably get you out of here." Rowan said to Beau instead of his brother because he tired of Ethylon's antics. "Alive."

Beau chewed on his bottom lip.

"How?"

"I can get you some way of transportation. Of course, it won't be right out of the front door, but it'll be out of the building. I could get you a transit train. A helicopter. Some way to get you out of here." Rowan shrugged humbly. "It's most likely the least I could do. After all, you watched after my little brother for me, and you saved Troia. I could also put Leighlan into his... you know, his original form. For you."

"But what about you?" Ethylon and Beau said at the same time. Rowan smiled sadly, shaking his head a few times.

"I don't think the sailors will keep me around for much long anyways. I'm not valuable anymore. They're gonna have to find some new young mind to do what I've been doing."

"But Rowan!" Beau exclaimed. "You're only 22 years old. What are you talking about fresh, young mind?"

"A genius only has so much in their minds. I can't say I'm gonna come up with a new type of robot before the end of this year. I could barely come up with the series Joshua is a part of. I was at the end of my rope." Rowan gave a pause and a sigh. "I'm still at the end of my rope. I just don't know how much longer it will be before they cut it off."

Ethylon didn't bother to involve himself in the conversation that was going on between Beau and his brother. It seemed that Rowan and Beau had the same type of thinking, the same creative ideas that would keep them alive, while Ethylon thought that all hope was lost. While many thought brothers should be alike, the concept was ironic on how different they really were.

Beau doubted their getting out alive, even with Rowan's help. The thought of actually getting through 100 floors of the Capital without being noticed seemed nearly impossible. How would they even get to the top? The elevator? That was an amusing idea, Beau thought. He imagined himself staring at elevator doors sliding open as another scientist slipped into the large elevator. Then he imagined himself saying, "Oh, hello, I'm only one of the most wanted criminals in the Capital. What floor do you need?" Beau almost laughed out loud.



It was nearing midnight already, and mostly everyone was asleep at the time. The sound of sailors and the alarm weren't even thought of because the metal walls kept their sound out so well. It almost seemed like a normal night after many unusual and tortured ones.

Beau couldn't find it within himself to sleep, especially in something he wanted to call the devil's den. Though Rowan reassured him that the room was very safe, and that the sailors would never come into the room. Yet Beau was still not sure of how any of them could sleep.

And Joshua, being as loyal as he was, didn't even bat an eyelash when Beau asked him if he would stay awake with him. Beau really wanted to spend this time with his precious bot, and sleeping really wasn't in his intentions. Beau wasn't sure if he wanted anything special. Just a night for themselves, a night where they could act normally again, instead of acting like criminals. That was all Beau wanted.

But then again, Beau wanted Joshua to get out of this entire situation alive. Beau actually didn't mind if he didn't make it out of here alive. He just wanted Joshua to have a life where he knew what he wanted, not that he had to be told, a life where he could do absolutely anything he wanted without being forced. Beau wanted Joshua to be human.

Beau's fingers were intertwined with Joshua's auburn locks of hair, gently twirling the greasy locks in between his fingers. He seemed so calm, Joshua thought, but he knew his master wasn't actually calm because of his quick heartbeat. Joshua, in an attempt to calm his master, pressed soft kisses to his cheek. Beau couldn't giving too much of a smile, but he did force one through his sadness.

"Are you all right, Joshua?" Beau whispered. Joshua nodded.

"That doesn't matter, master. Are you all right?" Joshua returned the question, though his voice was a bit louder than a whisper. Ethylon rolled over, groaning quietly to show that Joshua was being too loud. Beau placed his index finger upon his lip, shushing Joshua with a kiss on his nose. Joshua giggled, but nodded. "Are you okay, master?" He whispered this time. Beau shook his head quickly. "What is wrong, master?"

"It's nothing, Joshua.... Nothing to worry yourself with."

"Are you worried... about the fact that we might not make it?" Joshua whispered suddenly. Beau's fingers loosened from Joshua's hair and wrapped themselves around Joshua's fingers instead. He held them close to his chest, moving in closer to he could speak to his bot.

"Don't you say that, Joshua. You are going to make it out alive. I promise. You just have to be brave for me."

"I will not leave without you, Beau." Joshua used his master's real name to show how serious he was. "You are going to make it through this."

"How?" Beau asked, pressing his forehead against Joshua's.

"You just will, master. And then we'll go home, and you'll take a shower, and cut your hair because it's getting long," Joshua paused and giggled with Beau, "then you'll lay down in the bed with Dahlia, Kiyah, Leslie and I, and we'll listen to music until the e— oof!"

Beau crushed his bot in a warm hug in the middle of his sentence, wrapping his weakened arms around Joshua's body. Joshua gave into the hug, equally hugging his master with a smile on his freckled face. Beau held Joshua's chin in his hand and pressed his lips against Joshua's. Once again, Joshua's lips were soft, but his own lips were dry and chapped. Joshua never paid much mind though. He had grown used to the rough touch of his master.

"Joshua, I promise that we'll make it through this alive."

"I know, master." Joshua said, holding back a sob in his throat. "I know."



Rowan had the same thinking style of his brother; simple. That was one thing they had in common. Ethylon thought getting into the Capital would be so easy, they wouldn't break a sweat. Rowan thought getting up to the 100th level in the Capital building was like making cookies. Beau and Joshua were the only ones who thought it was going to be a real challenge.

Though there was one thing Joshua hadn't gotten an explanation from; Leighlan was back. He was speaking, breathing, walking yet again, but he had seen Rowan deactivate him only a day before. He had heard some talk between Beau and Rowan about humans, but there wasn't a way Leighlan was human, was there?

"Joshua?" Leighlan said. "You okay?"

Joshua watched intently as his master went on talking with Rowan, fixing the last details in their plan full of flaws, while Leighlan tried to get his attention a few times. Joshua, however, was very fixated on his master. He couldn't explain why, especially since he was around Beau so much, yet he felt his master had never looked so amazing before. Perhaps it was the rough boyish look he carried with him, the toned muscles in his arm and the unshaven face, but Joshua did enjoy the look Beau had. Of course, he thought he would like any way Beau looked, because Beau was beautiful.

"Joshua."

"Hm?" Joshua said quickly, turning his attention away from Beau to stare at Leighlan. Leighlan smiled mischievously, giggling at the blush upon Joshua's face. "What?"

"You love Beau. It's cute."

Joshua's entire face flushed to a deep red color. Joshua covered his mouth with his hand in order to disguise the guilty smile upon his face. He did love his master, to the ends of the universe and then some. What was wrong with that?

"So?" Joshua replied childishly. Leighlan squealed excitedly.

"Ooh! I remember when I first realized I was in love with Jaydin.... It seems like such a long time ago." He mumbled the last part to himself. "But it was such an amazing feeling. I still feel it to this day."

"What does it feel like?" Joshua asked. He had always gotten the feeling in his stomach, but he wanted to make sure somebody else had felt the same thing. He couldn't describe his feelings, but perhaps Leighlan could. Leighlan smiled.

"It's like.... It feels like there's this fire in your stomach. It builds up for a while. Then, when they do something, you feel this huge relief go through your stomach. It feels like everything in your body is cold. There's this fluttery feeling, and it takes a long time to make it go away." Leighlan finished with an angelic sigh, pressing his hands against his chest "I still feel that way, even when I just think of Jaydin. Does it feel that way for you, Joshua?"

Joshua nodded eagerly, simply glancing at Beau and that heat came back in his stomach. Joshua giggled like a girl, hiding his smile behind his hands. Beau stopped what he was doing so he could walk over to Joshua and pick him up by his shoulders.

"What's so funny over here?" Beau smiled, swaying their bodies back and forth to an imaginary beat. Joshua giggled again as his body seemed to freeze over from a fictional cold breeze, and then the fluttering feeling appeared in his stomach. It was just as Leighlan explained it. It felt heavenly now that Joshua knew how it really felt.

"Nothing, master." Joshua lied.

"Hm, why do you keep giggling?" Beau asked suspiciously. Joshua shook his head again. "Then you're lying!" Beau snatched him off of the ground and spun him around in a bridal-style embrace. Joshua couldn't stop laughing, so he hid his face in the crook of Beau's neck. Joshua pressed soft kisses to the warmth of Beau's neck, smiling to himself.

"It's better to laugh than to cry, is it not?" Joshua asked. Beau nodded, slowing his spins down because he was getting dizzy. Beau pressed his lips to Joshua's forehead and nodded.

"Of course it is."

Rowan put his cell phone down, turning to Beau, Ethylon, Joshua and Leighlan. He smiled.

"The helicopter's coming. It'll be here in 45 minutes, or so. You're gonna have to get up there to be in the helicopter."

"And you?" Everybody asked, almost at the exact same time.

"I'll do what I do best; create something to do for the time I have here."