Puma's POV

I awoke with a start, opening my eyes to see my cracked open door. I looked around to see Artemis on her window perch, pale green eyes glaring at me. She must have opened the door at night. Feeling the bed next to me, I got to admit I was pretty disappointed to find it empty.

I quickly got dressed in a loose translucent dark green shirt and black shorts, since I didn't plan on going out any time soon. Thundering down the steps (and making a lot of noise) I saw Connor blankly staring straight ahead of him in the middle of the kitchen. I've got to admit, it was kind of creepy.

"Uh... Connor?" I called, walking up to him. "Connie?"

The android blinked and looked around, seeing me in front of him.

"I apologize, Puma. I appeared to have gone to sleep mode."

"It's all good." I shook my head and started looking through a cabinet for a fork.

"Your father came in while you were sleeping. He had brought your eggs and some milk chocolate with a note."

"Oh! Chocolate?" I rushed over to the fridge, furiously looking for the chocolate.

"I left it on the kitchen table," Connor added.

"Ohh, my babies! You're all gonna die in the next five minutes!" I ran over to the kitchen table and ripped apart the thin cardstock and unwrapped it from its wrapping, biting into it.

"He also mentioned you should act like a five-year-old and eat two of them a day, there should be enough for a week," Connor stated, starting to go up the stairs.

"Uh-huh, I hear you." I didn't hear what he said but had to reply.

I had eaten two chocolate bars and put the rest away in disappointment, fighting to not reach for any more sweets. I walked over to a bookshelf I had right outside the kitchen a plucked a random book from it.

Divergent. Eh, always good to reread a middle school favorite. I thought to myself as I slumped down on the couch.

'There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our fraction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair. I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blonde ring. When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can't say the same about myself.'

"Are you going to walk your dog today, or would you want me to do it for you?" I heard Connor from my book world.

"No, I'm coming with you," I nodded.

Connor's POV

Puma way too invested in her book to hear me, and I got a slight idea to test my theory out.

"Alright, are we coming to get ready soon?"

"Yeah, totally." She responded, not looking up.

"You can't hear me, can you?"

"Don't think I do."

"I think we should murder Gavin on our way here."

"Totally, great idea."

"And I'm going to lick his blood to analyze him for evidence."

"Been there." Puma nodded, looking up. "You think I didn't understand you?" She gave a small giggle.

"I figured there might be a possibility." I nodded my head, deciding to leave Puma to her book. I got Hunter's leash and clipped it on his collar.

"No, no I want to come with." Puma threw her book aside.

"No need, you should stay at home. You look pretty... thrashed from what happened yesterday."

"Okay... Thank you." She said, frowning a bit as she went back to her book to read. "Have fun with Hunter I guess?" Puma peeked over her book.

"Certainly. Have fun reading Divergent. I think Four is an... interesting character. Did you read the book?" I asked, softly raising my eyebrows while going through the old book that was recorded in my memory while getting Hunter ready.

"Yep, a favorite from when I was in middle school." She let out a laugh that sped up my regulator.

I need to find out why she has this effect on me. I decided, opening the door.

"I'll see you in two hours."

"Bye Connie!" She called out the door as I closed it.

"Come on Hunter, let's go," I told the dog. I've seen humans talking to their pets a lot, acting as if it were another human ability to understand them. I decided to drop the stupid act and walk Hunter alone.

While we ventured to the park, I decided to run a diagnostic on myself.

No malfunction detected.

Maybe I should contact CyberLife and tell them what's been going on. I thought as I unleashed Hunter so he could play at the park. I stood against a tree while I watched Hunter playing with the other dogs.

After twenty-three minutes and ten seconds Hunter had already found a stick and was begging for me to play with him. I threw the stick as far as possible, coming to my original stance.

***

(A/N: the following is a song I started writing, I never really finished it but it's an old version of it and I didn't know what to put for when Connor came home. Enjoy, trash.)

"Street... lights blare. It's cold... tonight... I suffer through this time of night. It's not my day. Piercing silence. No music to play... But tomorrow is a better day...  A better day... A better day... At least it's what I've been told-'' Puma suddenly breaks her character and gives out a sharp scream of frustration. "No... No, no, no! It all sounds wrong!" I heard a melody of a guitar being set down and the fast pacing of Puma. "Cloudy night it's raining hard. I'm still in desperation. Yeah, desperation my ass!" I heard her coming downstairs with angry loud footsteps. "Why can't I just write a good fucking song for once-" She stops dead once she sees me, face going red from embarrassment. She looked down at her feet.

"Oh... Hi Connor. I'm sorry you had to hear me like that. You know I don't normally swear." She looked up, her redness fading away. "How was your walk with Hunter?"

"Pleasant as usual. I liked your singing. For how long have you been playing guitar?" I tried using small talk while detaching Hunter's leash from his collar. The dog happily pounced up to Puma.

"Well, a couple of years now. Not many know. Just Dad. Orion. And another friend of mine." Puma ruffled Hunter's head and went to sit down on the dining table.
"Do you want anything to eat?" She asked, half bored.

"No, thank you." I nodded, putting Hunter's leash away and readjusting my tie. "I've noticed you like to cook. Your counter and overtop were dirty last night." When I saw a slightly panicked look on her face I reassured her. "It's alright. I cleaned up for you yesterday."

"You didn't have to. I just... as much as I hate to say it I forgot." She covered her face with her hands.

"It wasn't problematic for me. I'm an android. Multitasking isn't ever a problem." I reassured her again, sitting opposite her. "Would you feel better if you shared your song with me?"

"No, you're going to trail off on how you don't give opinions and are neutral on everything." Puma looked down and grabbed a napkin, starting to tear it into small pieces.

Stress level: 71%

"Your stress levels are very high. Would you like to watch a movie or go out on a walk?" I tried being helpful.

"Maybe later. I'm a fan of walking at night. Dad and I did that a lot."

"Then would you be interested in watching a movie in the meantime to lower your stress? It's very bad to have stress levels above forty percent."

"Well knocking down my stress is gonna be hard. What's it at? Fifty? Sixty?" Puma sped up tearing her napkin. Her hands slightly shook.

"Your stress level is seventy-one percent and rising," I said analytically. Without thinking, I reached my hand over to cover hers. Puma instantly stopped ripping her napkin and stared at my hand. I felt her hands shake underneath mine.

"I hate it when this happens. How do I stop them from shaking? Why do I have to be insecure, nervous, anxious about everything?"

"I could help you find out." I offered. "But first, we need to knock your stress down."

"It's fine. My stress has been so high before that my hair started falling out in middle school. I'm sure I can deal with this."

"Well, that's certainly bad. How about we go upstairs and I can read you a book?" I recalled the time yesterday when she was reading a book before bed.

Puma let out a quivering sigh. "Alright." She shook her head. I removed my hand from hers and stood up, pushing my chair in. Puma picked up the forty-seven scraps of tissue and threw them in the trash. We both walked upstairs and she handed me the book she was reading.

"I thought you were reading Divergent before I left," I questioned, looking at the cover of the book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

"Eh, yeah. I'm that person that reads five books at once." Puma replied, laying down flat on her back, folding her arms at her stomach. I, still standing by her bed, opened my mouth a little to lick my finger and list through the pages.

"I should have a post-it note as a bookmark," Puma said, staring ahead of her at the pale white ceiling. I walked around Puma's bed, seeing Puma's guitar lying on the foot of her bed, a black strap around it so she could wear it on her shoulder for when she plays. I took the guitar and carefully placed it in a corner, leaning up against the wall to the left of her, and putting the sticky note on her bedside table. "Right there." Puma and I collided shoulders as she tapped the paragraph she was just reading. I nodded and started to read.

(A/N: so if you haven't read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it's a snippet from the book itself, but it doesn't have any spoilers in it so it's okay to read.)

"'Although Snape didn't know it, Harry had taught at least half the class (everyone who was a member of the D.A.) how to perform a Shield Charm in the previous year. None of them had ever cast a charm without speaking, however. A reasonable amount of cheating ensued; many people were whispering the incantation instead of saying it aloud. Typically, ten minutes into the lesson, Hermione managed to repel Neville's muttered Jelly-Legs Jinx without uttering a single word, a feat that would surely have earned her twenty points for Gryffindor from any reasonable teacher, thought Harry bitterly, but which Snape ignored. He swept between them as they practiced, looking just as much like an overgrown bat as ever, lingering to watch Harry and Ron struggling with the task." I paused, seeing the break between the paragraphs to look at Puma smiling to herself. I could tell she liked the book and had read it many times. I continued reading. "Ron, who was supposed to be jinxing Harry, was purple in the face, his lips tightly compressed to save himself from the temptation of muttering the incantation. Harry had his wand raised, waiting on tenterhooks to repel a jinx that seemed unlikely to ever come.'"

Puma let out a small chuckle. I snuck a peek at her but continued reading.

"'Pathetic, Weasley,' said Snape, after a while. 'Here - let me show you-' He turned his wand on Harry so fast that Harry reacted instinctively; all thought of nonverbal spells forgotten, he yelled, 'protego!'. His Shield Charm was so strong Snape was knocked off-balance and hit a desk. The whole class had looked around and now watched as Snape straightened himself, growling. 'Do you remember me telling you that we were practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?' 'Yes.' said Harry stiffly. 'Yes, sir.' 'There's no need to call me 'sir', Professor.-"

I was interrupted by Puma bursting out laughing when I read the last phrase. I tilted my head with an attempt to smile as she was finishing off her laugh.

What's so special about her laugh? I thought.

"You really don't have a joke-detector program installed," Puma said, which caused more confusion.

"No. I don't. And I also don't understand why this is funny."

"Well, you know the books, right? Harry and Snape are mortal enemies and hate each other with all their passion and that kind of jazz? Well," she continued, not waiting for me to respond. "Snape is always telling Harry to call him sir since he's a professor, and Harry doesn't take it seriously and sometimes refers to him casually from that hatred. So, what he did here is he sassed at a professor, basically talked back to an elder."

"Why is it considered funny? I would take it as disrespectful." I stated.

"That's what's happening..." Puma sits up colliding shoulders once again. I got a feeling she was doing it on purpose. But I didn't mind. She was running her finger along the lines of the book. "Right here. 'Detention, Saturday night, my office,' said Snape. 'I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter... not even 'the Chosen One.' So yes, you are right. But it's just considered funny because it's like 'Harry Potter, the God of Sass.' He doesn't give a shit about a professor- I don't know the phrase is just funny for us humans." She laid down again. I stared at the book for a while, rereading it before assuringly nodding my head and continuing the chapter.

***

When I was done, Puma seemed very close to sleep, so I put the book away and hummed a tune of white noise to keep her falling asleep.

"Don't forget we're going on a walk in a few hours," Puma muttered with her eyes closed.

"I will wake you up," I stated, sitting up against the wall.

Puma seems to have an interesting personality, much like Orion. She gets stressed very easily, but always risks her life. If you distract her, her mood changes very quickly. I can tell she's suffered a big trauma. Maybe it's her younger brother Cole, whom she refuses to talk about. Yet there's something about her I don't understand. She has this immense effect on me that I don't understand. Her love for hobbies is quite a peculiar selection as well. Playing guitar, cooking, walking, songwriting. Maybe even more. But that doesn't exactly matter now. Only one more day, and we can get back to the investigation. No matter what happens, I need to focus on the investigation. Not Puma.

At midnight, I lightly shook Puma's shoulder. "Puma? Wake up. It's midnight."

The sleeping girl's response was stirring in her sleep and pulling her light blue blanket over herself. I shook her again.

"Wake up Puma!" I said, louder this time."It's me, Connor!" She opened her eyes and gave a slight jerk.

"I'd be concerned if it was anyone other than you. Is it midnight?"

"Correct."

"Five." She said, putting up five fingers into my face.

"Five more minutes?" I asked, specifying.

"Uh-huh." She gave a small nod and closed her eyes.

"Alright." I bowed my head and got out of bed, starting to get ready. Puma grabbed me by my wrist, not opening her eyes.

"Can you stay?"

"I don't know. Can I?" I raised my eyebrows, listing through my comeback program.

"Yeah you can." she simply responds. I'm confused by her answer but get back in bed with her again, awkwardly leaning up against the wall.

When five minutes had passed, I shook Puma's shoulder. "Puma, your five minutes are up," I informed her. She opened her eyes and gave a sigh as she sat up.

"Okay." She rolled out of bed, literally, hitting the floor softly.

"Are you alright?" I stood up and walked over to her. It seemed as Puma did this often because she nodded her head. "I'll be waiting for you downstairs." I bowed my head and clicked my shoes as I walked down the wooden stairs. Artemis greeted me with a meow, and I pat her back. The cat didn't like the action and bolted upstairs. Taking out my coin, I started practicing tricks near the door, waiting for Puma to come down for our midnight walk. That thought had my heart pumping faster. The action confused me, seeing as I've been alone with Puma many times. I shook my head and checked myself.

No malfunction detected.

I put my coin away as I heard Puma coming down.

"You ready?" she asked, slipping on her sneakers.

"Yes." I simply nodded and opened the door, letting Puma out before following her.

Puma's POV

It was a cool breezy night. Connor and I wandered down to an empty park in silence. I was quite surprised he didn't start a small talk, but it's not like I minded. I liked it quiet. My head slightly hurt from the stress you were having a couple of hours before Connor managed to calm me down.

God, I must be a handful for him. I looked up at Connor who was staring ahead of him. I looked ahead and spotted a unique figure out the corner of my eye.

I saw someone walking through the street in a black leather coat. It was slightly ripped and I could see what looked too much like an android uniform. But... he looked familiar in a way.

"Markus?" I gasped before I could stop myself. Markus turned around swiftly and saw me, further zipping his jacket and giving me a wave. I waved back.

"Do you know him?" asked from beside me.

"Eh, yeah. An old friend." I said. Then I froze. As Markus walked away I noticed there was no usual yellow LED embedded in his right temple.

Was he a deviant? Well, yes I'd suspect him to be, from that report I read a couple of days ago on him.

"Are you alright, Puma?" Connor brought me back to reality, turning his head toward me with a concerned expression.

"Yes. I am." I looked over to see an empty playground by the park we were walking in. "Let's go." I gestured him to follow me and I sat down on a swing, tucking my foot under me and kicking off the ground with the other. Connor awkwardly looked around, staring into nothingness.

"C'mon, sit down." I jiggled the swing next to me by the swing ropes.

"I'd rather not, thank you." Connor declined politely.

"You're no fun." I sighed. "Sit down, give it a try!"

"I'm not programmed to do things like this." He responded.

"Ugh, you and your programs. You have no fun in your life." I give a small laugh as I kick harder, rising higher and higher.

"Your chances of falling right now are forty-three percent. I advise you to not go as high." Connor ignored what I said.

"Make me." I giggled. "You're supposed to keep me safe, aren't you, Connie?"

"Okay. If I swing with you, will you lower the speed you're going at?"

"Maybe," I said, kicking harder.

Without hesitation, Connor grabbed the swing next to me and sat down. I grinned, slowing down slightly. The android awkwardly kicked the ground beneath him, making him swing back and forth.

"Hey, I wanted to apologize." I suddenly said after a couple of minutes of silence. I'd slowed down completely and was rocking back and forth in the swing.

"For what?" He asked, looking at the sky above him.

"You have to practically babysit me. And the make things worse I'm emotionally unstable- uh, I just feel like shit right now. So I thought it would be right to apologize."

Connor was silent for a few moments. "It's alright. You don't have to apologize. You aren't emotionally unstable and you are certainly not shit."

I suppressed a laugh, Connor doesn't curse and it makes it funnier that he was addressing it so calmly.

"No, you really didn't deserve it. I'm making you sidetrack from your job, something you're programmed to do, and doing things that you- well- aren't programmed to do."

"As I said before, adapting to human unpredictability is one of my features."

"Followed by a wink," I muttered.

"Sorry?" Connor turned to me, his lips slightly parted.

"Nothing." I shook my head quickly. "Thank you for forgiving me, then."

"Any time."

A couple more minutes pass, and I start to gain speed again.

"Puma..." Connor said warningly.

"Relax, I'm only getting off." I rolled my eyes with a smile.

"Don't people usually slow down when they want to get off?" Connor asked.

"Nope. Not me." Once I gained enough speed, I quickly jumped off the swing and swiftly landed on my feet. I looked back, seeing I've flown a good two to three yards. Pulling on a grin I looked at Connor. Yet he wore the most annoyed android expression he had in his program.

"Puma." he exhaled sharply.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I don't know how to get off any other way. I've been getting off like this for years." I crossed my arms, grin fading from my face as I looked the other way.

"You slow down to a stopping point and stand up, just like you would with a chair. You've sat in chairs before, right?" He turned to me, his eyebrows raised. I looked at him.

Was he being sassing me?

"Yes." I looked away, my chest heavy. I let my arms fall. We were quiet. "I... I think we should start heading home," I said quietly, starting to head in the direction of my house. Connor gave a nod and followed me.

I guess I am acting childishly. I will never grow up, will I? I thought sadly. I thought after Cole I would be stronger and more independent. I guess not. I'll have a mental age of seven forever. I'll be broken forever. There's no going back after what happened.

It was quiet for the rest of the night. When we got home I walked off the bed, and Connor did some smart android things. When I got to bed, I stripped, putting on an oversized shirt and comfortable shorts before climbing into bed. I fell asleep crying about my little brother.

A:N: here was a fun little chapter! Don't worry, by tomorrow their little squabble is going to go away.

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