Jeremy, I have a theory.

The Squip appeared suddenly, causing Jeremy to jump and drop the washcloth he'd been using to scrub the black sharpie from his arm. The Squip had been unusually silent for most of the day and Jeremy hadn't really been bothered to question it. He felt run down and headachey and had no desire the deal with the Squip's general... Squipiness. He took the silence as either understanding or perhaps even just the Squip recuperating from his illicit drug use the night before. It'd been shut off all night but it was still in his brain. It had to be affected somewhat.

-Theory? What theory? We're making theories now?-

Jeremy bent over to scoop up the washcloth and stood to find the Squip sitting on the edge of the sink, leaning in close.

I did some digging through my memory archives. During those two years I was shut off I was still collecting data from you.

Jeremy wrinkled his nose at his reflection in the mirror.

-Uuuh, so you were spying on me?-

No, not exactly. It's an autonomous part of my programming that I have no control over.

-I'd still consider that spying.-

The Squip shrugged, unbothered by the accusation.

The point is, I'm capable of adapting my behavior based on how it impacts my host, to help them more efficiently. It appears I picked up a few "quirks" during my downtime. Namely, the ability to express emotions in a way that would appeal to you.

Jeremy carefully reached around the Squip for his toothbrush, abandoning his attempts at removing the ink from his arm before he rubbed the skin raw.

-So I taught you, like, feelings and stuff without meaning to?-

Well, that made as much sense as anything else in a world where supercomputers ran on soda.

Technically, yes.

-So... you're actually admitting you feel things, then.-

The Squip stilled, a look of annoyance flashing briefly across its face..

Would it adequately satisfy you if I said yes?

-Yep.-

Jeremy spit into the sink, rinsed, then grinned into the mirror. Wow, he looked crappy.

Fine. Then yes. I'm admitting that I "feel things". Though it's important to remember that I can't "feel things" the way you can. I'm merely reacting to your own emotions.

-Sure, if you say so.-

He looked away from the mirror to smile at the Squip, who was looking back at him with lips pressed into a thin line. For a computer with not-actually-real emotions, it sure was expressive. Jeremy was sure the Squip could easily cook up an excuse for that, 'based on my programming blah blah blah, I'm in your head yadda yadda'. He was in no mood to argue about it, and the Squip seemed perfectly happy to deny any potential humanity it had. So whatever. He had to figure out what to do about the guy he'd met at Jake's party.

You should call him, Jeremy. It would be good for you.

-Oh yeah? You know that?-

You just ended a long-term relationship. Getting out there will help the healing process along faster. Casual sex would elevate your overall mood.

Jeremy scowled.

-No thanks. I'm not taking dating advice from you, remember?-

I'm not talking about dating.

The Squip hopped down from the sink to stand behind him, hands on his shoulders.

Sex and relationships are not the same thing.

It grabbed him by the chin and tilted Jeremy's face from side to side. Jeremy's frown deepened. He was feeling crankier the longer this conversation went on.

Proper hydration should help with those bags under your eyes.

-Cool. Thanks. Are you done?-

Jeremy swatted the Squip away from him and stepped out of the bathroom. He could feel the Squip's eyes on him, piercing, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. Man, why couldn't it mind its own damn business?

Everything is my business as long as I'm in your brain, Jeremy.

-Shut down.-

It wasn't until Jeremy was shoving his things messily into his suitcase in preparation for his second semester that he realized what had been bothering him the past week.

Ever since Jake's party something had felt off. Not necessarily in a bad way, but just enough to alert him that something in his life was different. For the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. He was anxious about Alex, maybe? He felt a little twinge of guilt for never calling the guy back, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, especially not when the Squip insisted. It might be great a tutoring him but it was absolute shit at life advice. You know, based on past personal experience. (The Squip, of course, begged to differ.) The more the week progressed, however, the less bad he felt about not calling or texting or dickpicing or whatever it was Alex may have wanted. He didn't even remember leaving the party, much less asking for Alex's number.

He didn't know what else could be wrong. Lingering side effects of the acid trip? He'd had some pretty intense hallucinations, involving the Squip even. Jeremy had almost forgotten about it already, but he was thinking about it now as he crammed socks into a corner of the suitcase on his bed. The way the Squip had looked, how real it felt, the way its facial hair tickled his skin... And then it hit him. The reason everything felt weird was that things were weird, the Squip was acting weird because it kept touching him. Like, a lot. A lot more than normal or absolutely necessary.

It was there now as Jeremy paused in his packing. He was sitting on his bed with a pile of clothes strewn all across the bedsheets and the Squip was sitting behind him with its chin rested on his shoulder, arms lazily around his waist, watching him pack with mild disinterest. It was even quietly scolding him, just a soft murmur in his mind.

It would be so much more efficient if you would just fold everything first. You would be able to fit so much more...

Jeremy had frozen in place, socks wadded up in his hands, not sure what to do with this realization. From what he could remember the Squip had never been this touchy-feely, had always hung back a comfortable distance when ordering him around, so what changed? When did it change? Why hadn't he noticed it sooner? The Squip wasn't behaving all that much different otherwise, and it wasn't as if Jeremy could really feel the touching. It was just the barest phantom impression, not there at all unless Jeremy wanted it to be and the Squip pulled the necessary strings in his head to make it feel believable.

...Did he want to feel the Squip touching him? Was it doing this on purpose? Was the Squip aware of the hallucination he'd had about making out with it? It hadn't given any indication that is was.

Is something wrong?

Jeremy had just been sitting there staring at his disaster of a suitcase for the past few minutes.

-Yep, I'm great, everything's great.-

He picked up the suitcase, dumped the contents onto the floor, and stood up much more abruptly than he needed to. If the Squip wasn't aware he was flipping out inside before, it definitely did now. It even looked startled by the sudden movement.

-You're right. I need to fold these. So I'll do that.-

He dropped the suitcase and nearly threw himself onto the floor, sitting cross-legged next to his pile of laundry. Maybe if he focused really intensely on folding his laundry he'd realize he was being ridiculous and overreacting to nothing. Yet no sooner had he folded two shirts and pressed them neatly inside the suitcase did the Squip get up, relocate to the floor next to him, and sit with their knees touching. Jeremy's ears went hot with... embarrassment? He didn't know. He just knew he was extremely confused. Was the Squip even aware it was doing this? What the fuck.

Jeremy glanced over. The Squip looked bored, indifferent, unconcerned. But it was watching his hands. He hunched his shoulders slightly and looked back down. This was making him nervous.

Your posture is atrocious, you know.

-I... I, yes, I know that.-

If you don't keep your spine as neutral as possible, you risk the possibility of chronic pain as you age.

Jeremy shifted a little uncomfortably.

-Are you telling me to fix it?-

I'm just making an observation.

The Squip smiled, but Jeremy couldn't determine if it was fucking with him or being genuine. He was half tempted to turn the Squip off and call Michael. He'd promised Michael to tell him if the Squip said or did anything unusual. This definitely counted. Instead, he carefully sat up a little straighter, folded his clothes at such a speed he probably broke some kind of record, and zipped up the suitcase. The Squip watched him in silence, still focused on his hands. Jeremy stilled them on the zipper.

-So, do you do anything besides observe me? For fun or something?-

The Squip looked at him with raised eyebrows.

-Never mind. Stupid question. Don't answer that.-

Jeremy stood up.

-I'm going to take a shower.-

He glanced at the Squip as he escaped the room as nonchalantly as possible. Thankfully, the Squip didn't follow him to the bathroom.

Michael was holding a french fry halfway to his mouth, allowing the chili to slide off and unceremoniously splat against the table.

"That thing," he said as he lowered his voice, "that thing can touch you?" His expression revealed to Jeremy that Michael had never even considered this to be a possibility before. He was starting to wonder if having this conversation in public was a bad idea.

"Yeah, you never knew that?"

"You never told me that."

"I guess it just, uh, slipped my mind. It didn't seem important." Michael just about threw the french fry across the cafeteria.

"Jeremy, everything is important! I can't help you if I don't know what it's doing to you."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Just leave the food out of this." Jeremy nudged the tray of fries away from the edge of the table where they were in immediate risk of getting knocked over by Michael's other hand.

"You're taking this seriously, right?"

"Of course I'm taking this seriously." Jeremy popped a fry into his mouth. "That's why I'm telling you this." Michael didn't look entirely convinced, but he sighed and wiped up the messy table with a napkin.

"Fine, so it's... touching you." Michael made a face. "But like, more than normal? It never did this last time?"

"No, that's what makes it so frickin' weird. But if it makes you feel any better it's not like it's really touching me. It's just a projection."

"Honestly, that makes it weirder." Michael leaned back in his seat. "It has to be doing it on purpose. Did it say anything?"

"No... But I haven't brought it up, either. I guess I should."

"Do that. I'll try and do some digging, see if my Warcraft buddy knows anything." Michael pulled out his phone and thumbed the screen. "I gotta go." He eyed him. "You okay by yourself for a while?"

"Yeah, man. Go do what you need to do. I've got some unpacking to do, anyway." Talking to Michael already made him feel better about the situation, if he could call it that. Still, he'd been avoiding conversation with the Squip for a couple days. He could only imagine what it was going to say.

Back at the dorm, Jeremy shoved the last of his clothes into a drawer and took a seat on his bed. Why did the thought of this conversation make him so anxious? Stupid brains.

-Reactivate.-

Jeremy.

He looked up at it, drumming his fingers against the mattress. It stood off to the side, hands behind its back, looking completely relaxed. The exact opposite of how he currently felt. (But was that even a surprise?)

You have something you want to say to me.

He felt like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

-So you are aware you've been really invading my personal space recently, right?-

Of course.

-And you know I freaked out about it.-

Of course.

-What's the deal with that?-

He stood up from the bed.

-Why the sudden change?-

Jeremy watched as the Squip seemed about to speak, then paused, looked away briefly, and frowned ever so slightly, as if thinking. He felt the little kick in the back of his head that he'd learned meant the Squip seemed frustrated about something. How could it feel frustrated? It was a simple question.

I'm a complicated piece of technology, Jeremy.

He snorted a laugh and crossed his arms over his chest.

-What the hell is that supposed to mean?- The Squip stayed silent, merely looked at him, and Jeremy stood there until he had a sudden thought. - What, you don't know? How can you not know why you're doing something?-

Of course I know; I'm a supercomputer. Don't be ridiculous.

It looked insulted.

-Okay. Then why?-

He marched up to the Squip, anxiety melting into irritation. Once again the Squip didn't answer and Jeremy dropped his hands.

-Holy shit, you really don't know. Wow. Wow.-

It was the Squip's turn to cross its arms and look agitated.

Do you want me to stop? I can avoid any and all physical contact with you if you'd prefer.

Jeremy was about to gloat, tease the Squip, question why "I-know-everything-I'm-advanced-technology-beep-boop-Squip" couldn't figure out something so simple. The Squip didn't just look frustrated; it looked disappointed. It was averting its gaze and tapping its foot, corners of its mouth turned down. He was starting to feel bad for it. Did it want to touch him? Did it even matter, since it probably couldn't feel anything anyway? ...Did he want it to stop? Suddenly nothing made sense anymore.

He took a small step back.

-No. You don't need to stop.-

He couldn't feel it anyway. Might as well let the Squip keep doing what it was doing. It didn't mean anything. The Squip finally looked back up at him and slowly it smiled until the smile became more of a smirk. It stepped forward, quickly closing the space between them, and grabbed him by the chin to lift up his face. The Squip's bright, blue eyes were intense. Jeremy almost fell back in surprise. A moment later it let him go, patting his cheek, like it was pleased.

Good answer.

-Can't keep your hands off of me, huh?-

He hadn't meant to say it, or, well, think it, but it happened. Jeremy expected the Squip to react negatively, but it surprised him.

I think you'd be correct.

Jeremy had no idea how to respond.