Bunny tried to soothe the agitated guard dog in front of her.
"Of course I’ll take responsibility for you."
"Then how are you going to prove it?"
Bunny immediately regretted opening her mouth. "How exactly do you want me to prove it?"
Liam’s narrow eyes blinked slowly as he delivered his answer word by word.
"Let me become your man."
Her actual man.
Bunny rejected the idea without hesitation. "Not right now."
The man’s eyes reddened almost instantly. "I knew it. You were lying to me."
Back when he’d still been scavenging through garbage on Terra as a child, there had been a sentinel older brother who lived nearby. A Guide had taken advantage of him, then cast him aside. Unable to cope with being abandoned, the sentinel had eventually taken his own life with a gun.
Bunny patiently explained, "There’s a process between becoming friends and becoming lovers. We should date first and give ourselves some time to get used to each other."
Liam’s handsome face was filled with confusion.
What exactly did dating mean?
It wasn’t really their fault that they didn’t understand.
The implanted knowledge and memories given to them when they were produced in the gestation facilities naturally contained no lessons about romantic relationships.
The sentinels only knew that once a Guide and sentinel were mutually attracted, they could simply go to bed together.
After all, the post-apocalyptic world had never given them the time or circumstances to fall in love. Romance was a luxury they couldn’t afford.
"Why do we have to date?"
Bunny spent a considerable amount of time explaining the concept before Liam finally grasped the basics.
Essentially, he was currently a husband-in-training. Once his probationary period was over, he could officially graduate to the position.
That explanation satisfied him enough.
Afterward, however, Liam became even more clingy, constantly asking Bunny for hugs and kisses.
It was strangely fascinating.
No one had ever taught them these things, yet sentinels seemed to instinctively understand how to seek physical closeness with their Guides.
"Your base only has eleven sentinels. Where is the twelfth?"
Bunny had noticed the discrepancy on her very first day.
Whenever a sentinel died, the base was required to immediately report the death to the Sentry Bureau. Deliberately concealing a casualty was a serious offense.
But Liam clearly didn’t want to discuss it. "He’s missing."
"If he’s missing, why haven’t you reported him to Central?"
Liam gave her a long, meaningful look. "Just because he’s missing doesn’t mean he’s dead."
Bunny understood––they believed he would come back.
But outside, with alien creatures running rampant and resources dwindling by the day, surviving alone was practically impossible.
Perhaps the bond between these men wasn’t nearly as cold and detached as it appeared.
Bunny gently patted Liam’s head. "I’ll come see you again tomorrow."
"Stay away from Cyrus." Liam’s sudden warning caught her off guard.
"Why?"
"He’s not a good person."
The reason for Cyrus’s exile had been classified as a top-level military secret, but Liam had vaguely heard enough to know that whatever had happened must have been serious.
***
Bunny kept thinking about his warning as she headed back. She was curious as to why so many males were careful around Cyrus, while he himself was rather nice around her.
Could it be that they were all hiding far more than they let on?
On the way to her room, she ran into Orion. He had apparently been waiting specifically for her this whole time.
The moment he saw Bunny, he eagerly presented the package he was carrying as though he’d brought her some priceless treasure.
It was freshly baked cookies. Apparently, an electronic book had told him that Guides loved sweets.
Bunny was pleasantly surprised. Her impression of the mute sentinel improved yet again.
He began signing rapidly, explaining that this was his first time making cookies. Thankfully, the robot translator was able to interpret his complicated hand gestures.
This is his first attempt?
Then his talent was seriously impressive.
She tasted one, and it was actually quite good. She nodded approvingly and gave him an enthusiastic OK gesture.
After accepting the cookies, Bunny suddenly asked, "If you have time, would you teach me how to use a gun?"
She’d thought about it excessively––Orion was obedient, gentle, and easy to work with; he was practically the perfect candidate for the job.
Orion looked genuinely delighted. To him, this meant he’d have more opportunities to spend time alone with Bunny.
He liked that very much.
The handsome mute sentinel nodded repeatedly.
When he finally said goodbye, he practically seemed surrounded by pink hearts.
Since Bunny was supposed to accompany Xander the next day to familiarize herself with the defensive posts, she went to bed unusually early after taking a shower.
But sometime in the middle of the night, she woke up hungry again.
Assuming everyone else was already asleep, Bunny decided to sneak quietly into the kitchen and find herself something for a late-night snack.
The living room was completely dark. Only a thin shaft of pale moonlight slipped through the windows.
Hunching down, Bunny carefully made her way to the refrigerator.
She opened it as quietly as possible and picked out several of her favorite drinks and snacks from the rows of food inside.
Just as she gathered everything into her arms and prepared to retreat, a man’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Are you a thief?"
Bunny nearly jumped out of her skin and almost dropped everything she was holding.
Turning around, she saw the silhouette of a man sitting on the living-room sofa.
The moonlight was faint and scattered, revealing only the vague outline of his sharply defined profile.
His voice carried unmistakable irritation and sleepiness, as though she’d just dragged him out of a deep sleep.
Bunny recognized the voice immediately.
Cyrus.
Was there something wrong with this man?
He had an entire bedroom all to himself, yet he was sleeping on the sofa?
"Why aren’t you in your room in the middle of the night? What are you doing out here?"