Human After All

Along the course of a few days, Beau found stacks over stacks of albums and CDs that he hadn't listened to since he was 15. Beau particularly liked playing music he and Joshua could dance to, simply because he loved to see Joshua giggle and smile so much.

Kiyah's voice was slowly coming back as Joshua worked little by little on her CPU and hard drive. At first Kiyah only gave small squeaks, but as she started to sound out other words, her voice began to come back. Joshua thought her voice was very beautiful, and she should take care of it because of how beautiful it was.

But the solar sailors had not left the district yet, which was terribly troubling because he and Joshua went out in public nearly every day. Joshua was squeamish when the solar sailors stared at him, and Beau was constantly having to create some sort of guise to keep the sailors away. While Beau hadn't heard anything on the sailors taking a robot yet, he also didn't want to risk losing Joshua.

"Master." Joshua squeaked after a few solar sailors walked past the candy shop with ease. He was tugging on Beau's sleeve. "When are the solar sailors leaving?"

"I don't know." Beau sighed. "They should have been gone already."

"The rogues. They are still within the district?" Joshua asked quietly. Beau searched his mind. If the sailors had not left, they would most likely put the other districts on lock down. The gates would be sealed until the rogues were caught. "Master?" Joshua poked Beau's shoulder. "Am I asking too many questions, master? I apologize."

"No, no." Beau said. "It's just that I don't know if the rogues are even here." Beau answered. "But.... If the other districts are put on lock down... that means there's a chance that the rogues aren't in our district." Then he paused again. "So that means they have no idea where the rogues really are. What the hell?" Beau nearly shouted. He threw his hand over his mouth. "Don't say that word, Joshua. That's not a good word either."

Joshua nodded. "Yes, master. Are you worried about the sailors, master?"

"A bit."

Joshua leaned his head against Beau's shoulder. "They will be gone soon. I'm sure of it." He said confidently. Beau smiled, running his fingers through Joshua's soft hair.

"C'mon, Joshua. Let's get that candy you wanted."

Joshua ran around the store. He pulled out two packages of chocolate covered marshmallows, rainbow lollipops, gumballs the size of golf balls, and a few jawbreakers. Licorice whips, peanut clusters, caramel chews, and finally, two candied apples. Joshua walked up to Beau, handing him a candied apple.

"Oh, Joshua. They're for you." Beau said. "It's all right."

"You do not want it?" Joshua pulled the apple away. He didn't look hurt, but slightly confused.

"Do you want me to have it?" Beau asked. He thought the whole reason he was buying Joshua all these candies was because Joshua wanted them, not for others. Joshua nodded. "Oh. Well, then.... Thank you." Beau took the candied apple in his thumb and forefinger, taking a small bite of the tender, supple apple meat. Beau wiped away some juice that trickled down his chin. Joshua smiled.

"You're a messy eater, master." He laughed.

"I know." Beau said in embarrassment. "Would you like to visit Troia today?" Beau asked. Joshua pursed his lips in deep thought, and Beau lost it. "Aww!" He exclaimed. Beau threw his hands over his mouth, trying to hide the undertones of a rosy pink on his cheeks. Joshua recognized the 'Aww' to be a coo of sorts. Dahlia did it plenty of times whenever Beau would kiss his cheek, or perhaps hold his hand. Dahlia said it was cute whenever things like that happened.

"Did I do something cute, master?" Joshua asked, sounding out the word 'cute' so he made sure he got it right. Beau nodded quickly. He decided his cheeks weren't as flushed as they were before, and he was safe to pull his hands away from his face. "Is that bad, master?" Beau shook his head. "Oh, okay." Joshua smiled meekly.

After paying for the bag of candy that Joshua allowed his master to look inside this time, they started down the sidewalk again. They would pay a small visit to Troia, and then start for home. Beau wanted to hack a bit more, send a few encrypted emails to others he knew, but that was all. Beau would never risk Joshua for a bit of encryption.

Joshua was just getting used to his master doing things out of the blue because the solar sailors were in town. Beau would snake his arm around Joshua's hips, or maybe kiss his cheek, or hold him close just to ward off suspicion. The feeling of random touches from his master was seemingly normal now.

Beau's fingers laced together with Joshua's, and a spreading warmth surrounded Joshua's soft flesh. Joshua looked down at their fingers locked together. He smiled, and without realizing it, searched for solar sailors. There had to have been one around fro Beau to do this. Joshua knew his master only really did that when they were around.

But there were none. No solar sailors were parading down the street with their flashy jackets, and their piercing gazes. Joshua looked down at Beau's fingers intertwined with his own. He then peered up at his master, and he realized that his master's cheeks were flushed. Dahlia had explained to Joshua that the cheeks flushing was also a sign of embarrassment and anxiety. Joshua pondered. Was his master nervous to hold his hand?

Joshua gave a small squeeze, and Beau's fingers curled around his more, as if he had just received approval from Joshua. The corners of Beau's lips tugged up into a weak smile. Joshua watched as he realized his master was honestly nervous to hold his hand.



Beau tapped quietly as the girls snoozed quietly in Joshua's bedroom. They had taken a new found fondness to his bedroom, which was good, because sometimes Beau needed his room for himself (although he never really minded when Joshua walked in).

Beau sometimes didn't even want to use Joshua for hacking. His eyes were an unnatural shade of gray that he didn't like at all, and he just seemed so... robotic, honestly. He loved the Joshua that was sensitive, and kind, and sweet, the Joshua he loved.

So Beau quickly finished typing the encrypted source codes he was creating for a few friends in another district before he hit send.

The screen flashed white once, and that was enough to grab Beau's interest. Flashing lights were not a good sign. Beau tapped the keyboard gently, although what he was typing was a complex code that would allow him to see what was going on within the computer. The screen flashed again. In the corner of the page popped up a paper clip. It blinked twice. Somebody was trying to use Beau's server.

"We'll see about that." Beau laughed to himself. He cracked his fingers separately, and began to type vigorously into his computer. Files over files opened. Pictures, music, screenshots. The hacker was good, Beau though with a laugh. "I finally have some competition."

The hacker was trying desperately to cover its tracks by allowing some different files to open itself on the computer, but Beau wasn't an idiot. It was easy to cancel an action. All you had to do was push a few buttons and poof! The action was finished. All Beau had to do was push another button, and—

All of the files shut down.

"What the hell?" Beau stood up, pushing his keyboard closer to the table. The screen flashed again, and finally, a text box appeared on the screen.

YOU LOSE.

Beau ran his hands through his hair, desperately trying to figure out a way to counterattack the hack. If he didn't—

"Oh God." Beau said loudly. The screen flashed red, and another text box appeared.

CLEANING FILES NOW.

Beau reached behind Joshua, hastily pulling the USB cord out from behind him. Beau waited a few seconds.

"Joshua." Beau touched his bot's face. "Joshua, say something."

There was no response. Joshua's eyes had slid closed, so the eerie gray color was no longer there, but Beau was beginning to hyperventilate. "No, no, no, Joshua. Please wake up." He pushed Joshua's hair away from his face. "Joshua!"

Another short silence. Beau felt his heart speed up, he couldn't catch his breath. Joshua couldn't have been cleaned so fast, he was a complex bot. They weren't in his server, were they? No! They couldn't have been!

"Master?" Joshua asked while Beau was grasping at his chest. Beau had a very mild case of asthma, and while it didn't bother him most of the time, it tend to come back whenever he was extremely nervous. "Master, are you okay?" Joshua pushed himself off of the table and stared up at Beau. Beau gasped audibly.

"Joshua, you're okay." Beau exclaimed, throwing his arms around Joshua's shoulders. "You're okay, you're okay." He repeated over and over.

"Um... master?" Joshua said quietly. Beau was mumbling things, whether it was to himself or Joshua, Joshua couldn't tell.

"You weren't speaking to me, Joshua. I was so worried." Beau pulled away, brushing Joshua's hair away from his face. "But you're okay."

"Oh...." Joshua said. "T-thank you, master." He stuttered quietly, mostly because Beau had never worried for him that much. Beau usually allowed Joshua to care for himself, but now he was worried for his bot.

Beau peeked at his computer. A bright, blood red colored screen was on the computer screen. In the upper left corner, a text box. As soon as Beau turned to the screen, it began typing.



Beau furrowed his brows together, staring at the screen in obvious confusion.



Beau reached over to the keyboard while Joshua absentmindedly sat upon the couch.









Beau scoffed under his breath.





"Master, what's going on?" Joshua read the speeding lines on the screen. Beau sucked on his bottom lip thoughtfully. The letter he sent to Drew mentioned that Ethylon had a bot with him, and it was a great hacker. Only a complex mind could do that to Beau's complicated system.



Beau thought lying would be best in this situation.



Beau swallowed harshly. There was a ball forming in the back of his throat. This couldn't have been Ethylon. Ethylon was a criminal in hiding, wasn't he? He was afraid of being caught by the government. And only an imbecile would tell somebody they were a wanted criminal just seconds after talking to them. Was Ethylon dim? Apparently, Beau thought. But he knew his name, so maybe he did have some brains somewhere in there.







There was a pause in between their sentences.















Beau watched as the red screen closed and returned to normal. He heaved a sigh of relief while Joshua twiddled his thumb stupidly at the couch. Beau sat down next to him, leaning his head back against the couch. Whatever had just happened hadn't been processed in his head. He had just spoken with the dangerous, lethal, armed criminal Ethylon Wright. And he didn't seem like a lethal criminal.

They never do.

Beau pressed Joshua's head against his chest, and through silent breaths, Joshua drew a heart on Beau's chest again. Then Joshua dozed off, leaving Beau in a puddle of problems and silent arguments within his own head.