Darcy sat by the bathtub, giving her cat a bath. The two had been gone for hours. She rested her head on her arms, "What's taking them so long?" she asked her cat, who was playing with the bubbles in the bath. The cat meowed back to her as usual. She smiled, "Yeah, you're right."

"Do you think Amara hates me?" she asked again.

"Meow."

"Is it because I hate myself? Is it because I can't get over the fact my two favourite people are dead?"

"Meow."

"Or is it because I'm spending way too much time with Nines?"

"Meow."

"Yeah," Darc sighed, "Maybe, she feels like I'm taking her android away. I mean, it's her creation, so he probably means a lot to her. I would get angry if someone took you away."

"Meow."

Darc chuckled, cleaning her cat's ears, "You talk better than anyone I know, Boiled Chicken," she gently caressed the top of her cat's head with a finger, "Oh, what will I do without you?" she sighed, smiling. The cat sat still in the bathtub and looked at Darc. 

"Ready to come out?" 

"Meow." 

"Alright, come on," she picked up the cat and placed him on a towel. She wiped the pink cat dry, "Wanna watch TV?" she asked, picking up her cat and walked to the living room. 

"Meow." 

"Yeah, wanna watch about your feline cousins or bad behaving cats?"

"Meow."

"Yea, I wanna watch about leopards too," she placed her cat on the white sofa that was facing the large-screen TV. Her feet brushed against the white fluffy carpet as she sat down beside her cat. "TV on," she said as her cat settled on her lap. The TV screen lit up the dim living room, alongside the sounds.

»»————-　☠　————-««

The door unlocked and the keys jingled. Amara opened the door, "Dar--," she stopped, looking at the lady on the couch. Darcy's head tilted back, her eyes closed, with one hand on her cat. Mara sighed, looking over to the TV, seeing a documentary about the smallest cat in the world. She awed at the little rusted-spot cat on the screen.

Her gaze turned back to her roommate. She walked over to her, slapping the side of her face. Darc jerked awake, her cat jumped off her lap. "Ow!" she cried out, looking to her side, "Oh," she said, rubbing her cheek. Her eyes went to the TV, "Sorry," she mumbled, "I feel asleep waiting for the two of you."

"You should have head to bed, Darcy," Mara shook her head, "Even if I snapped at you, I still care about your health," she said in a warm voice. Darc blinked, "Cool." Mara made Darc stand up and dragged her to Nines, who was standing by the door. "At least I can reintroduce the two of you now," she gestured to him, "Darcy, meet RK900," she said, "We can't call him Nines anymore, he's Connor."

Darc snapped her head to Mara, "What do you mean reintroduce?" She narrowed her eyes at her friend, "Amara, what did you do? Why can't I call him Nines anymore?"

Mara sighed, running her hand through her orange-hair, "Look, I got him reset--."

"You what!?" Darc shouted, turning to her friend fully. She looked over to the android, "Why did you-- Isn't that going to affect his investigations?!"

"Only the unnecessary parts were reset. The important stuff stayed."

"I... I got erased from his mind?"

"Yeah, but I didn't," Mara laughed a little, "It's kinda funny."

Darc looked into his grey eyes. They were cold and lifeless. Changed. She turned to Mara, her eyes watering, "I..." her voice broke, "I need a moment," she ran past Mara and headed to her room. "Oh, Darc, come on! Don't tell me you got attached to this one too?" Mara threw her hands in the air and stood still as her friend rushed to her room.

Mara looked at her android, "Can you believe her?" She groaned in frustration, "RK900 is just an android, why can't she see that? The same goes with RK800," she mumbled, walking to her friend's door. She gently knocked, "Darc, you want me to explain?"

Darc opened the door wide, letting her cat in, "Why did you do it?"

"He was showing signs of deviancy," Mara shrugged, as if it was nothing. "I reset this chunk of tech. Like a computer that has a virus, y'know?" she pointed to RK900 with her thumb. "This thing was nothing but wires and blue blood."

"I'm nothing but muscles and red blood, Mara," Darc gestured to herself, "Do you hear yourself talking?" She gestured to Nines, "Do you not see anything inside him? Do you not feel anything when you look at him?"

"Darc, I need you to stop calling it a 'him'," Mara sighed, "Sorry to sound like Gavin, but this thing is a machine. I know this because I practically made him. When I look at him, I see pride, 'cause he's functioning like I planned him to," she crossed her arms, "Darcy, you need to stop this. You're a professional, you have a certificate from my uncle. Your type of attitude is gonna bring down Cyberlife."

I don't give a fuck about Cyberlife! Darc looked at Nines, her eyes watery. Reminding the moment she was on the bridge. The breakdown. The awkward hug. The way those grey eyes locked onto her as she stood by the edge of the beam. Her breath became uneven, her hands jerked, and the door was slammed close.

Amara flinched and took a step back. She sighed, "I should set her up for therapy." She turned to RK900, "She'll get used to you, don't worry," she said, "She's just...." she looked at the door, "Handling issues." Mara walked over to her room, "We'll check in on her a few hours after. She'll be okay by then."

The door was closed gently, leaving the android standing by the hallway. He stared at Darcy's closed door. Her appearance was familiar to him. 

His vision glitches a little, remembering those vibrant emerald eyes.