Human After All

"Master, what is that?" Joshua pointed through the window in his new bedroom at a group of men walking down the winding streets together. Black cloaks fell down to their ankles, and the collars hid their faces up to their cheeks. As they walked down the sidewalk, many stopped with a look of fear in their eyes. The men didn't bother to interact, they only spoke among each other, and only small sentences were uttered between them.

Beau looked out the window, brushing his hair away from his face to get a better view. His eyes widened at the sight of the men, and without warning, he hastily pushed Joshua away from the window.

"Solar sailors." Beau mumbled while he hid Joshua from the view of the sailors. They walked away from the street, but Beau waited until they were absolutely out of sight to let out a breath that he had been holding.

The sailors' long black coats had blue and green highlights outlining the ends of their cloaks, and their boots were a shade of deep gray. Their hair was spiked, and even though you couldn't see past their reflective, demonically dark glasses, they were still terrifying. Beau turned to Joshua, and while Joshua was forgiving of his master, he still looked very hurt. Beau felt bad, and he reached over to his personal computer, brushing his soft hair away from his flawless face.

"Excuse me, Joshua. I didn't mean to push you like that."

"No matter, master." Joshua rose off of the bed, hiding his gaze from Beau's. "What was wrong? Who are those men?" Beau frowned.

"Please don't take what I did to heart. I didn't mean it."

"Master." Joshua said after brushing off the shove Beau gave him. "It's quite all right, master. I accept your apology."

"But I feel terrible because we just saw your abused companion a while ago, and I said I would never abuse my own personal robots, and then I pushed you." Beau ranted loudly.

Joshua cocked his head. "Unless you meant it as abuse, it is not abuse, master." Joshua said. He gave his master a quick nod. "Will you please explain what a 'solar sailor' is, master?"

Beau still felt guilty, and after a few more minutes of apologizing, Joshua crossed his arms over his chest as he had seen Dahlia do when she was impatient. Beau couldn't help but smile at how adorable his little Joshua was, especially when Joshua was trying to be serious.

"Okay, okay. Solar sailors are.... They're officers of the government. They don't do much other than keep the cities functioning. They are robots, as you are, but they feel no emotion." Beau paused. "Like, when you saw Troia scared of her master, what was the first thing you thought of?"

"Protecting her." Joshua said. "I felt that I must protect my friend."

"Yes!" Beau exclaimed. "Just that. Those robots, the solar sailors, they do not feel like they must protect others. Only the rules. They protect the rules, but to no purpose."

Joshua nodded slowly. "I understand. But why did you push me?"

Beau chewed on his bottom lip. "It's been rumored that the solar sailors like to take robots at random times, simply because they can. It hasn't happened in over 20 years, but there's no such thing as being too careful, right?" Beau shivered at the thought of any of his robots being taken by the solar sailors. They were not loving officers."I just don't want you to be taken, Joshua. The solar sailors— well, they also apprehend criminals. Torture them. Hurt them." Beau spat out the last sentence.

"Why are the solar sailors here, master?" Joshua's voice was slightly terrified. "Are there criminals?"

"I don't know." Beau looked out the window. Many of the citizens in the street were speaking, most likely discussing the solar sailors. "But they're gone now. They'll be in the next district within an hour, out of ours."

Joshua grinned, and ran his fingers along the silk blankets of his own bed.

"Thank you for the room, master." Joshua said to Beau. His eyes twinkled with satisfaction. "Oh, if I could, I would embrace you, master!"

Beau considered the idea. Another embrace couldn't be considered too much, he thought. It was just an embrace after all. Hell, Beau had sex with Drew and considered it less than a benefit between friends. An embrace was nothing! But the thought of when Joshua's first hugged him was still in the back of his mind. Why had his face flushed when Joshua wrapped his arms around him if he said it was nothing more than an embrace?

"You're so kind." Beau said, messing with Joshua's hair. He sat down next to his beloved bot, staring into the comforting glasz eyes that met his gaze halfway. Joshua was so innocent, Beau thought. So loving, kind, and naive. "Joshua, how do you feel about Drew and I?" Beau asked. Joshua tilted his head.

"I do not understand." Joshua's voice was quiet and delicate. "I accept what my master does. You are my master."

"But do you feel...." Beau sighed in defeat. He didn't have the words to express what he was feeling. "Do you like Drew?"

"Drew has been very kind to me." Joshua nodded. "I consider Drew an acquaintance." Joshua nodded.

"And you don't mind what we are doing?" Beau asked while he pushed Joshua's hair away from his face. Joshua shook his head, grinning from ear to ear.

"If master doesn't mind, I don't mind."



"Are you ready?" Beau's voice was quiet.

"Yes, master." Joshua nodded.

"I'm gonna put it in."

"Yes, master. I'm ready."

Beau slipped the USB drive into a small drive nearing Joshua's back. Joshua slid his eyes shut, and then opened them again, but his eyes were blank, gray. After brushing some of Joshua's hair out of the way, Beau pulled out his glass keyboard, tapping on the keys softly.

"Let's see what he can do." Beau pushed a headset to his ear. Although he never used them for his cell phone, he did use them for internet hacking. It was a way to keep contact with other hackers without having to type it all. Voices were altered through the headsets, so nobody could recognize it was Beau or not.

The paranoid-linux system opened right before Beau's eyes. Beau typed '936777' into the user entry, with which it opened Joshua's server. Beau was very quick with how he hacked. Don't spend more than five minutes on a website or somebody could hack your server. Don't screw up your codes, or you'll risk the chance of allowing a user to track your actual codes. And do not, under any circumstances, allow your computer to blue screen. This was the blue screen of death. It wasn't literal though. The robot did not die, nor did its memories and emotions get wiped. Far worse to a hacker; your robot could never be used to hack again.

Although Beau didn't think he would mind if he couldn't hack with Joshua, he did like how fast Joshua was working at the system. In less than a few seconds, Beau was in the government's data. He was searching for the reason the solar sailors were in District 3. Curiosity killed the cat, Beau thought. Then he thought of the blue screen of death. Maybe the cat pun wasn't the best to make at the time.

Beau found the page concerning the solar sailors. "Joshua, read paragraph three through five of the article aloud, please."

"Yes, master." Joshua's voice was uncomfortably robotic. Beau didn't like it at all. Joshua sounded nearly emotionless. Then Joshua's eyes went to a lighter shade of gray as he began to read off of the article's page.

"Lieutenant General Mark Matarazzo issued a warning to all solar sailors pertaining the safety of the people. There has been rumor of a code 291; rogue robot, accompanied by District 16 rebellion leader Ethylon Wright, age 18. The rogue robot described by many witnesses, is a fembot, nearly age 12 or 13, bleach blonde hair. The rogue's clothes are described as 'worn and torn', dirty, and most likely child-like, possibly blue jeans. Warning; said rogue robot is said to be armed, dangerous and causing heavy destruction to anyone and anything in its path.

"District 16 rebellion leader Ethylon Wright, age 18, is described as a rough looking male. Height is six foot, weight undefined. Clothes are described as dark, and most likely worn. Ethylon Wright had escaped juvenile bion through ways currently unknown to the government. Ethylon, after leading the rebellion that caused the destruction and ultimate demise of District 16, is dangerous. We repeat, dangerous. Solar sailors have been sent on foot to search for any sign of Ethylon. Citizens of all districts are warned to stay inside of their homes and to lock the doors and show no sign of obvious movement in order to keep safe.

"We advise many masters and mistresses to watch their robots carefully, as the fembot accompanying Ethylon is a skilled hacking bot, and could at any given moment, infiltrate any robot's defenses. Solar sailors are currently searching for the reason said rogues are on the run. Sources claim Ethylon is searching for revenge, but this is also unconfirmed. Citizens must know that if they are seen helping or harboring a fugitive, they will be killed on sight. If citizens have hints or tips about the rogues, allow them to reach the emergency line. A statement about the rogues will be released in a week if rogues are not caught within that time. If said rebels are caught and quarantined before a week's time, government officials are to say that it was nothing more than an annual sweep and should not be worried about solar soldiers."

Beau swallowed hard. A rogue robot? It had been years since a robot had gone rogue, and the last one had caused so many deaths.... Beau remembered nearly fearing for his bot's safety as Leslie was just a tyke.

"Joshua, read paragraph seven aloud, please."

"Yes, master."

"Government officials are calling the rogue team a 'rinzler'. They are loyal to their rebel cause, and they will stop at nothing to satisfy their hunger. While it is still unclear just what the rogues are fighting for, it is clear that they are willing to kill others to reach the goal. Officials have just received a body count of seven dead in District 9, and hear rumors of a body count of at least twelve in District 5. The rogues have been on the run for the past two weeks. The rogues, as said before, are armed, dangerous, lethal and most likely without mercy for anyone or anything. Generals advise a serious warning to citizens and their well being."

Beau leaned forward. "Thank you, Joshua." Beau clicked his fingers against the keyboard, quickly closing the pages, but he saved the article. After saving the file on his computer, Beau opened his encrypted email server, sending the file to Drew. He must have seen the solar sailors, there was no way he could miss them. After all, Drew walked to high school everyday, he couldn't have missed the solar sailors walking that morning.

Yes, Beau was sleeping with a high schooler. The idea in his head seemed dirty, but it couldn't have been.... It was only three years age difference, it wasn't too strange. Whenever somebody calls Drew a high schooler though, it sounded insanely different.

"Get ready for deactivation, Joshua." Beau walked up behind Joshua, his hands traveling down to the side where the USB met Joshua's skin. Beau carefully slipped the USB out of Joshua's back. Joshua stared blankly at the ground before his eyes restored to the breathtaking color they always were. Joshua rubbed his eyes as though he had just been woken up from a long nap.

"Did I do good, master? Did I satisfy?"

"You did fantastic, Joshua! Better than expected." Beau helped Joshua off of the high table by lacing his fingers together with Joshua's. "But I think we'll keep you away from the hacking for a little while." Beau remembered the article he had just read. It would be in everybody's best interests if Joshua stayed off the Grid for a while. Beau would never risk the safety of his dear robots.

"Why, master?" Joshua leaned forward, frowning slightly. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course not, Joshua." Beau tapped his index finger on Joshua's soft nose. "But there are some rogues running around the districts."

"Rogues?" Joshua's eyes widened like a puppy's, and Beau couldn't resist the urge to coo. He did so, but quietly.

"They're evil people, Joshua. They're killing others. One of them is a robot like you, but evil. She's a hacker, Joshua." Beau said to his robot, realizing that a grimace was now on his face. He was speaking firmly, trying to keep the distaste for the rogues out of mind. "She could hack into your defenses. I would never risk that, Joshua."

Joshua clasped his own hands together behind his back. "Why, master? Am I not strong enough?"

"No!" Beau exclaimed. Joshua jumped at how fast his master spoke. "No, no, you're very strong, Joshua. It's just that...." Beau paused. What was the reason for the concern of his bot? What was he so scared of? Joshua was a very complex robot, he could probably handle more than anyone thought he could. He was stronger than anybody could actually tell. It was the simple fact that Beau could lose Joshua. What if this fembot was harsher than the blue screen of death? What if she wiped Joshua's memories and emotions? Sure, Joshua was only a week old, but to lose the robot that Beau had grown so fond of in less than a second was something he would never risk.

"What, master?"

"I don't.... I don't want to lose you. Just as I don't want to lose you to the solar sailors, I don't want to lose you to the fembot either." Beau said quickly. He took a long breath after nearly saying the entire sentence without one breath. "You are very important to me, Joshua."

"And you are very important to me as well, master." Joshua said.

"Then you understand why I don't want to lose you." Beau smiled. He straightened Joshua's shirt out. "You're precious to me, Joshua, just as Dahlia, Leslie and Kiyah are." Beau laughed under his breath. "If not, more important." He said with a whisper. Joshua giggled, covering his mouth. "Don't tell them I said that."

"Yes, master." Joshua giggled.

Beau, after brushing away a few stray hairs from Joshua's face, leaned closer and whispered quietly.

"Have you ever heard music, Joshua?"