You know, waking up to the feeling of someone else’s stare is pretty unsettling.
The first time, I nearly screamed.
This time, the second time, it doesn’t provoke quite such a violent reaction in me anymore, but 2B’s stare still puts me on edge.
And yeah, exactly, her stare!
I’d talked her into removing that fabric covering the upper half of her face.
Though it’s not quite fabric, more like some kind of visor.
Something like nanite-based optics, useful in combat conditions.
But we were in a peaceful setting, and nothing like that should’ve been happening, so there was simply no need to wear it constantly, and I find it a lot more comfortable to see my conversation partner’s eyes (in this case, partner’s).
Which is what I tried to explain to a somewhat stubborn Yorha.
I even brought up the comfort angle — maybe I shouldn’t have, but…
I’ll admit, I haven’t suddenly become super social, in that department it’s really only Ax-Man, currently mid-assimilation, throwing me a bone.
Seems to have worked out, though.
And while that genuinely did make things more comfortable, just like before, I still can’t read her emotions, and I can’t now either.
And it’s not like I can say she doesn’t have emotions at all (otherwise she wouldn’t argue with me over certain little things), it’s just that they don’t show up on her face.
Or they show up so faintly I’m simply not capable of noticing, which is also possible — I’m no expert at reading faces to begin with, if anything, quite the opposite.
“Again?” I said, resigned.
“Master, you are far too careless with your own safety,” came the answer from 2B, rising from a chair in the far corner of the room.
“You were summoned on the twenty-sixth.
It’s already the morning of the twenty-eighth, and nothing’s happened to me this whole time!
It’s not that I’m careless, it’s that you’re being way too overprotective,” — sure, I understand where that kind of care is coming from, but this is getting to be a bit much!
But saying it that bluntly would be way too harsh, in my opinion.
After all, her concern is genuine, and responding to it like that would basically be spitting straight into her soul.
“On the very first day of my presence here, a shootout between criminal elements occurred on your street.
My concern for your safety is entirely justified,” came the answer, without a shred of hesitation or doubt.
And also, Yorha’s re-education is moving along sluggishly — there she goes with those words of hers again!
“Criminal elements” instead of the perfectly ordinary “crooks.” Ugh, I’m going to have my hands full with her.
But at least over these two days, I’ve fully convinced myself of my safety from her attacks…
no wait, that came out wrong.
I’ve convinced myself that nothing at all threatens me from her side.
It’s hard to suspect someone of anything when she’s the one literally carrying my exhausted carcass after every single training session and looking after me.
If she wanted to hurt me, she could easily have finished me off three hundred times over during moments of weakness like that, even if she had, instead of her already-demonstrated power level, merely an infant’s level of strength, since after my training sessions I couldn’t put up a fight against an infant for the first half hour either.
Training…
yeah…
my desire to grow stronger, mixed together with this childlike joy that blooms in my chest every single time I successfully pull off another energy technique, because, hey, sure, it’s not MAGIC exactly, but it’s something pretty close.
And what boy, guy, teenager…
basically, any male my age or younger, hasn’t dreamed of possessing Power?
Pretty much anyone, honestly, as long as it’s cool enough and the mere fact of possessing it is there.
And, getting swept up in that feeling and my desire to fully master this ability, I ended up sliding, without even noticing, into Axel’s habitual training regimen.
That exact kind that’s “just barely beyond his own limits,” so the outcome of every single session like that was pretty much predetermined.
But even knowing that, I can’t do a thing about it.
Though I recognize that the biggest problem here isn’t with the assimilation — not when I’m already able to suppress even the strongest emotional spikes and whatnot from whoever I’m assimilating down to barely noticeable levels.
The problem is me!
I just throw myself too completely into this feeling.
But even knowing that, I still can’t change anything.
I figure it’ll ease off eventually.
I really hope so, because collapsing onto the floor (or rather, into 2B’s arms, carefully catching me every time I fall) after every single training session has gotten pretty old already.
The sad realization that if I were just a bit older this wouldn’t hit my brain so hard, simply thanks to a more mature mindset and hormones that weren’t raging quite so much, didn’t add much joy to the outcome of every training session.
I’d like to believe I can burn through this phase quickly and that my training will get more constructive.
Though Axel’s memory keeps insisting, stubbornly, that these exact training sessions of mine right now are the most effective, since they’re also aggressively pumping up my energy reserve, not just helping with assimilating the fighting style and improving control over this energy.
“You’re overdoing it,” I said, sighing, getting up and, as I dressed on my way to the bathroom, stretching out my slightly numb right arm.
Must’ve turned over wrong during the night.
“Registering a certain increase in muscle mass and minor changes to your appearance, totaling roughly three percent,” Yorha’s voice sounded from behind me.
“We’ve been over this already, it’s normal.
I’m messing around with life energy, after all — of course it has a positive effect on the user’s body, especially as it grows,” I waved it off, since this topic had come up for the second morning in a row now.
Though this time…
farewell, freckles on my shoulders — and with my slightly bronze skin tone, you looked pretty cool, if you ask me.
I really hope the ones on my face stick around at least, since they genuinely suit me!
I check the mirror in the bathroom and let out a relieved sigh — my good ones are still there!
Except apparently I’ve gotten even more good-looking.
And I guess I should be happy about that, but it feels a bit too conspicuous for comfort.
And Ax-Man’s assimilation is still nowhere near finished.
No, I need to do something about this.
If I can cut off the mental effects from “low-rarity cards” by now, the physical changes are another story…
I need to figure something out, unless I want to wake up one day looking like some kind of freak of nature.
Mulling all this over while getting myself ready and squeezing in a bit of time on the exercise bike, I headed off to cook, ignoring 2B, who’d stationed herself right behind me.
I really should get her some kind of socialization going.
Maybe try sending her out shopping?
Good idea, but the main question is: with me, or without?
On one hand, if I’m nearby, I’ll feel a bit calmer being able to rein her in if needed, or whatever else.
On the other hand, sooner or later she’s going to have to go out alone anyway, and probably for more than just shopping too (since it’d be pretty stupid not to use a combat android for her intended purpose at all).
And given how much free will these summons of mine actually have…
whether I’m there or not, given the difference in raw power, if something ever triggers her, there’s nothing I could actually do about it either way.
And I shouldn’t forget the single most crucial detail here — 2B needs clothes bought for her, and not only am I no good at that, going clothes shopping with a girl is a whole hassle in general, and given that the only person I’ve ever gone to stores like that with was my mother, I’m worried a shopping trip with Yorha would be way too uncomfortable.
And would also stir up some unpleasant memories of loss.
Hmm, then…
give her a credit card…
no, better a limited amount of cash, and see how it goes?
If she manages fine — great, she’s ready for independent action; if not, I’ll accompany her next time.
Sounds like a plan.
At breakfast, I informed 2B of my plans.
Strangely enough, the strongest pushback came not from my plans to socialize the android, nor from the need to buy her new clothes, but from the fact that she’d have to leave me unsupervised.
Oh, it was a whole war, over the course of which I agreed to stay reachable — luckily I had a small stash of old phones left over from upgrading to newer models, plus a spare SIM card…
although, I’m perfectly willing to believe Yorha could’ve contacted me some other way regardless, but phones were the least attention-drawing option.
I also had to promise not to leave the house’s grounds while she was gone.
I agreed to all of that easily enough, since I wasn’t planning on going anywhere regardless.
If nothing else, because the 25th and 26th were over now, and a number of companies had started operating again.
At least until New Year’s.
So I’d already been busy for a second day straight — two of the three companies I advertise for happen to be among the ones back in business.
Ugh.
So, finishing up my snack and spending a bit more time with 2B…
unfortunately not doing what I sometimes wanted to, especially while staring at those perfect curves…
ahem, hormones.
Just delivering yet another lecture about this world and answering the questions she’d come up with from books (I’m not letting her onto the internet yet — the memory of a not-yet-created Ultron looms too large in my mind, so I’d rather wait one more week) or movies.
Yeah, movies — everyone needs some emotional downtime, and what could be better than watching a good movie in the evening with a gorgeous girl sitting right next to you?
Well, except it’d help if said girl could at least read the room a little.
Because sometimes her questions completely wreck the whole mood of the movie.
In one instance I actually had to admit that in a whole string of scenes, the actors had clearly gotten dumber purely so the plot could keep moving forward.
Damn it!
And that movie used to be my favorite just three years ago!
Still, two gorgeous evenings of watching movies with a girl were worth that minor disappointment.
After that I got down to my morning training, after which Yorha dragged my nearly immobile carcass over to my desk, and only once she’d waited for me to come back to myself a bit, did she finally head out shopping.
On the level, so to speak, where I could move around, but definitely wouldn’t be leaving the house without her help.
As for me, I kept going with what I’d started after hauling my little body around — working the contextual ads.
Which, by the way, was especially relevant right now, since some of my competitors hadn’t come back yet, and bid prices over the last two days had ended up drastically different from their usual selves.
Barely an hour into this kind of time-killing and half-hearted musing on the topic of “how do I untangle this latest clusterfuck that’s crept up on me?” I got a message from 2B.
About that “clusterfuck” I mentioned.
As I’d already noticed yesterday, and confirmed again today during training…
these training sessions have stopped helping my assimilation progress at all — the percentage, which had earlier stalled at 11%, is now stuck hovering at 26%, not budging half a percent for the entire session.
Damn this Ax-Man!
Why’s he so demanding when it comes to assimilation?
And what am I supposed to do now?
Go street racing on motorcycles?
Fight in an actual real fight?
Chase after girls (though they tend to throw themselves at the pretty-boy on their own)?
All of it at once?
That’s way too much, and way too risky for an antisocial element who — sure, isn’t a complete coward anymore, as my reaction to that shootout right next door proves — but who can still get jittery and lose his cool!
“Ugh, what a hassle you are.
If I’d known it would be like this, I’d have picked someone less demanding to assimilate.
All right, let’s see what 2B wrote,” I sighed.