Selene's attention was captured by a woman screaming at a small android. "You worthless piece of junk! Can you do anything right?!" The small robot was releasing noises that almost sounded like crying.

"Excuse me," Selene coughed. "Is this booth open?"

The woman screaming at the android paused to acknowledge her. Her angry scowl morphed into a fake smile. "Why hello, Madam. I'm deeply sorry for ... that." She gestured to the robot still huddled in a ball like a child. How could an android register emotions on that level?

Two other girls wandered into the space behind the booth. One looked older by a few years and was as sour as a lemon. The other was younger and appeared sweet and innocent.

"Is there anything you are looking for in particular, Miss?" Selene scanned the area for something to catch her eye, but all that came up was the android. She pondered what it could be useful for. Maybe to help her remember important agendas, or aid her with her plans. Or maybe just something to talk to.

"Are you selling that android in the back?"

The woman's face dropped in disbelief. "Uh ... Yes! Yes of course," She ran back to where the poor thing was, pulled it into her arms, and brought it to the front of the booth. She dropped it with a thud onto the table. "How much would you like for it?"

The device store up at her with uncertainty, another odd thing for an android to do. "Whatever you think it's worth, Madam ..?"

"Adri. Linh Adri. And I think this bot it worth ... 700 universe." Her voice trailed off and Selene's orange light flickered in her head. Never the less, it was an okay deal.

"Done." Adri's face lit up, and so did the elder girl's. But the younger teenager was desperate to conceal a frown. Selene held out her wrist, adorned with a bracelet with an ID chip inside. Her wrist was scanned and shock washed over Adri's face. She dropped her head and bowed. "Your majesty. I'm sorry I did not recognize you." The girls behind were confused, but lowered themselves anyway.

"It's fine, Madam. There is no need to bow."

The three rose and the little robot squealed. "I knew it! You're Princess Selene of Luna!"

"Shh!" Selene was now upset, with an android! "Please don't."

"Cinder." A hand rested on her shoulder. "Oh thank the stars you're alright." Damn it, Kai! The three women bowed again because they surely knew who this man was. "Okay .. now might be the best time to leave."

"Agreed." Selene took the android in one arm and turned back in the direction of the palace. The two ran to the gates as they swung open. Once inside, they crashed onto a bench in the gardens to rest. "Well that was fun." She face Kai, who was looking back at her with his eyes so dreamy and soothing.

"Glad you had a good time. But next time, please don't scare me and run away." He paused and his face reddened. "I mean, that is ... if you would like to do something like that again."

"Yeah. Now that I know you have no intentions of forcing me to marry you, that would be great." Cinder tightened her hold on the little robot, stood up, and began her way back to her chambers. Not daring to see how Kai reacted to her last statement.

She closed the door to her room lightly and gently let the the Android down on the floor. "Oh my stars! I can't believe that I am now property of the Princess of Luna!" it turned to address her. "You're not going to destroy me or anything, are you?"

"No! Ugh. Is that what eartherns think of us now? That all we wish to do is destroy and watch people suffer?"

"Yes," it said plainly. "My name's Iko, by the way."

"Well hello, Iko." She store down at her new companion. No taller than two feet and a few inches. "Say? Do you think you'd like a ... taller body by chance? I don't think I'll be able to look at you without breaking my neck."

"I would love a new body! Preferably an escort droid. They have color changing hair!" Iko began to swirl around in circles. "This is the best day of my entire life!"

Cinder couldn't help but laugh at the little thing running around her room. "How do you have such human like emotions?"

"It's just my personality chip. Everyone says it's a design flaw. But I think I'm just special and unique!"

"Well that you are, Iko. Come on now. Let's find you a new body." Selene opened her door to she her aunt on the other side of the frame.

"Good. You spent more time alone with the prince than I anticipated. Now, all you have to do, is work a little magic on him. And you'll be able to see your friends again," Levana left down the hall and Selene's shoulders fell as far as they could.

"What was that about?" Iko asked.

"The reason why I bought you. I need help!"

"Uh, mental or physical. Cause I'm not exactly a psychiatrist or a physical therapist."

"Before we get into that. You need a new body. But if you'd rather wait and hear me rant on about my problems-"

"No! That's fine. Let's get that new body first!" The two searched the palace for hours until they found the ideal body for Iko. An escort droid with dark skin and long royal blue hair. Once they deactivated the droid and brought it back to Selene's room, she was finally able to do what she does best. Work with the parts and rewire the body to her liking. "How do you know how to do this?"

"I ... I just do. I'm naturally gifted." Liar! She could do this because she was a cyborg. "Now I have to take out your chip for a few minutes."

"Okay. Just get me out of this stupid thing!" Selene removed Iko's chip from her body and did likewise with the other droid. When they were both disabled, Selene opened the compartment in her calf and dropped the chip from the other droid inside. Thinking it could come in handy at a later time. At last, she connected Iko's chip to the interface of the new body and reactivated her. She sprung to life and squealed. "I love it! I love it! I love it!!!" She jumped up and down like a giddy child. "Thank you so much Selene!"

"Ugh. I hate that name!"

"Fine, then I'll call you ... Oh what did the prince call you back at the marketplace? Sarah, Cindy, Silver-"

"He called me Cinder. Like the ashes."

"Yeah. I'll call you Cinder. If that is okay with you, Your Royal Highness." Cinder could tell Iko was enjoying this a little too much. "Now, the reason I'm here." Iko sat down on her bed and patted down on the spot next to her. "What's made you so desperate that you bought a crazy android?"

Cinder went into how her cousin and friend had been taken hostage by Levana. Also how the only way to save them was to glamour the prince into marrying her before his coronation. All in effort for Levana to find a place of power on Earth. "That's wrong on so many levels," Iko remarked.

"Tell me about it." Now for the final piece. "But there's one more thing ..."

"The fact that Kai is falling for you without you using your glamour?"

"WHAT?! No! Where would you get an idea like that?!"

"The way he was so relieved to see you were okay at Adri's booth. How he watched you leave to your chambers, love clear in his gaze. Come on! Tell me you've noticed it." Cinder was so confused that she couldn't speak. "Wow, you lunars are blind!"

"The prince does not like me! There is no way he could ever like someone as horrendous as me."

"Really?! What's not to like about you! You're super kind, easy to talk to, and fairly attractive." The last part was sort of mumbled through. The only thing Selene could do to prove her wrong, was tare off her glove. Her metal hand glinted in the light from her ceiling. "Oh ..." Yes, oh. "Well, that's not so bad. Even if lunars and eartherns alike hate cyborgs."

"What I meant was," getting back to the point of this conversation. "The queen thinks that my glamour is weak. If I convince her I am truly that weak, there is no way I'd be able to get the prince to love me. And everyone would be okay."

"That could work ..." Iko trailed off. "But I still think that the prince likes you." Her grin was devilish. "Oh, you'd look so cute with him."

"Where you listening when I said Levana would take over the E.C. if I got into a serious relationship with him before he's crowned?"

"Yes. So you should marry him after he becomes emperor. That way, you'd be in control with Kai and not Levana!"

"Maybe I don't want to marry the prince."

"That's impossible. Every girl, earthern or lunar, wants to tie the knot with him."

"Well I guess I'm the odd ball then. Or, I'm secretly a man!" she shouted, heavy on the sarcasm.

"That would be gross." Iko was finally getting a grip on reality. "So, how to make sure the prince does not fall deeper in love with you than he already is?"

"He doesn't like me!" This android was hopeless. "And, I could try to avoiding him." Ugh. This was hopeless.

"There is no way you could stay way from him for the rest of the trip. Levana will make you spent time with him. Not that it's torture being around him."

"Well, I can pretend I'm a mute when I'm with him."

"Yes. And just completely disregard that he too is a human being while you're at it."

"Then what do you suggest I do."

"You could tell him what's going on and hope he understands."

"That's a death wish. I only told you because I trust you."

"You trust me?" Her face light up and something sparked behind her robotic eyes.

"Right now, you're the closest thing I have to a friend." Iko wrapped her arms around Cinder and squeezed the life out of her.

"You are the best person I have ever met, Cinder." If Iko had the ability to cry, Selene thought she would have at that moment.