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Lumine stared down at the unconscious girl laying on her carpet with emotionless eyes.
She was proud of herself in a way; she was able to carry the tall girl all the way from the alleyway to her apartment. It was tough, but her determination gave her enough strength to get the girl to safety. But now, she felt clueless what to do next. Would the girl wake up and try to attack? Lumine wouldn’t blame her, waking up in a stranger’s home would scare anyone.
Lumine searched the girl, only looking at her appearance and avoided touching the woman. It didn’t look like she had any belongings with her, and nothing that could identify her easily. The blonde took a deep breath as she brushed the other girl’s hair out of her closed eyes, noticing a small red tassel hanging from her ear. As she leaned closer, the knot was positioned on her earlobe like a stud earring with the tassel connected to it. Lumine’s thumb brushed over the stud, surprised when she felt her finger push a button in the middle of the knot.
She jumped back as she heard the sound of fans whirring, small beeps coming from different parts of the woman’s body. Lumine continued to step backward to give the girl space as she opened her eyes, meeting Lumine’s gaze.
“Hello. I am Shenhe,” she stated calmly. “What is your name?”
“Um, I’m Lumine… Are you alright?”
“What do you mean?” Shenhe tilted her head to the side, earning a sigh from Lumine. She took a seat in front of the white haired woman, deciding the lack of fear in Shenhe’s eyes meant it was okay to get closer.
“I found you in the alley by my place, and you’ve been unconscious since I met you,” Lumine said. “Do you remember how you got there?”
Shenhe’s eyes cast downward in thought, searching for an answer. But when they met each other’s face again, Lumine could see that there was nothing.
“… I’m not sure. It seems as though my memory card has been damaged,” she replied. Shenhe stood up suddenly, looming over Lumine in a blink of an eye. “I must get it repaired and find my master.”
“Woah wait, hold on!” Lumine followed her as Shenhe moved toward the front door. She blocked the exit in a hurry, hands against the doorframe. “Memory card? Does that have to do with… Uh…”
The words left her brain and she was forced to motion to her ear, fingers tugging her own earlobe. Shenhe nodded quickly, standing firm in front of the blonde.
“Yes,” Shenhe said. “Many of my primary functions are incomplete without my memory card. It’s also a hassle to not remember what my purpose is, and what I need to do now.”
“Okay, well how about we take a seat? I’ll call someone to help us and then we can—“ Just as Lumine instructed it, Shenhe turned around and sat on the couch. Her posture was completely straight, hands folding neatly on her lap and she sat on the very edge of the seat.
Her gaze burned into Lumine’s eyes, causing her cheeks to turn red. Shenhe’s eyes were more striking than any other woman Lumine had met, the color reminding her of soft purples and pinks in the sky during twilight. She wasn’t sure she could handle such a beautiful woman giving her undivided attention like this, even if Shenhe was an android; but she was confident she didn’t want it to stop.
Lumine pulled her phone out of her back pocket and dialed a phone number before placing it to her ear. It didn’t long for her brother to pick up on the other end, and she barely let him get a word in as she spoke.
“I brought a girl home.”
“And? That doesn’t sound like strange behavior for you,” Aether laughed.
Lumine groaned, crossing an arm over her chest as she began tapping her foot in annoyance. “You don’t get it! She’s a little… Unique.”
“Okay? What else is new.”
“Aether!! This is serious, she says she’s…” She glanced over to Shenhe, her position the same as it had been the past few minutes. Lumine turned around to avoid her gaze, putting the thought out of sight. Her voice lowered into a hushed whisper. “She says she’s a robot.”
“… Huh,” Aether finally replied after a beat of silence. “I wasn’t expecting you to be into that sort of thing. But I’m happy for you either way—“
“S-Stop thinking like that! I called because I needed your help figuring out where the hell she came from, not to be teased.”
“Fine! Fine,” Aether let out a breathy laugh, calming his sister down only a little bit. “Send me a picture and I’ll ask someone.”
Lumine turned back to Shenhe and positioned her phone, taking a quick picture and texting it to Aether. The photo shows Shenhe in her upright position, but now her head was tilted to the side.
Shenhe spoke up as Aether paused the call to talk to his friends. “What was that?”
“Oh, it’s a picture. Shouldn’t robots know what pictures are?” Lumine lips quirked up into a smile.
“I’m aware of what a picture is,” Shenhe said. Lumine swore she saw the girl pout, her eyes falling down to the ground. “I wasn’t sure why you would want a picture of me.”
“My brother might have a friend who could help us.” Lumine heard a noise from the other end of her phone and brought it closer to her ear. “Aether? You there?”
“Hello, Lumine,” a deeper voice spoke through the phone. “It’s Zhongli. I recognized your new friend from one of my colleagues' projects.”
“You have friends who make robots?”
“Technically, yes. Cloud Retainer enjoys working on many different types of machinery, and I remember her mentioning an android she created in a hurry.
“I’ll have Aether send you the location of Cloud Retainer’s office,” Zhongli continued. “She should be able to fix the android’s problem and return home.”
“Return home… Right. Thank you, Zhongli.” They said their goodbyes as they both hung up, and Lumine put her phone away with a smile.
“Alright Shenhe, let’s go meet your creator.”
The train station was packed, which wasn’t too unusual for a Saturday morning. Cloud Retainer’s office was a couple hours away by train, and it was way faster than traveling by car.
Lumine waded through the crowd, guiding Shenhe as best as she could. She would glance behind her once in a while to make sure Shenhe was still there, but she followed behind without trouble. Most of the problem with the crowd came from Lumine’s height, as she began to worry what the android would do if she lost sight of the blonde.
Fingers took hold of Lumine’s hand and she was about to fight the person off, until the android appeared out of the corner of her eye. Shenhe squeezed her hand and pushed through the crowd to stand at Lumine’s side, looking down at her with concern.
“Wh… Why did you grab my hand?”
“I noticed many other pairs were doing this to stay together, so I decided it would be the best way to make sure we don’t lose each other.”
“I-I think they’re doing that because they’re dating, Shenhe.” Lumine felt her cheeks heat up, stuttering out her response.
“Dating? Do you mean these pairs are in romantic relationships?”
“Yeah, usually couples hold hands when they’re walking, hanging out, cuddling…” Her voice trailed off, noticing Shenhe’s soft expression. It was easy for Lumine to forget that Shenhe was an android; her skin was just as soft as any other human she had touched. She was blunt and straightforward, but so many others spoke similarly enough that it could be passed off as normal. Any other couple could look at Lumine and Shenhe and see a normal, human couple.
But would it be okay to indulge in romance like that with her? Lumine didn’t want to let herself fall for Shenhe, an android she had only just met. But as she looked into the soft pastels in Shenhe’s eyes, she couldn’t help it.
“Come on, we should get on the train before it gets too late.” Lumine tugged the robot’s hand toward the train, leaving the conversation behind them.
She never let go of Shenhe’s hand even after they boarded the train, and Lumine held her phone in her free hand as she looked at their tickets. They walked down the aisle and she glanced between the numbers on her phone and on the side of the seats, before she finally found their assigned seats.
Lumine took a deep breath as she looked down at the stranger in her seat, forcing herself to stay calm through the situation she knew what she was going to get into. “Excuse me, sir. You’re sitting in our seat.”
“Huh? No way, kid. This is my seat.”
“It’s our seat, we paid for it,” Lumine replied as she held up her phone, showing him the seat numbers. “Check your ticket again, you’re in the wrong seat.”
“Well I’m already here, so what do you expect me to do? Move?” The man went back to his magazine, and Lumine squeezed Shenhe’s hand. She was about to turn to get security, until Shenhe slipped away from the blonde.
In a blink of an eye, Shenhe had the man’s collar gripped in her fist, holding him up slightly above the seat. “This is Lumine’s seat. Now that you are out of it, you’re going to go sit in the correct seat or else I will throw you out of the train.”
The man nodded quickly and she dropped him down, the two women watching as he rushed to a completely different cart. Lumine stood there in shock as Shenhe took her seat, patting the open spot. “Let’s sit before the train starts moving.”
“You really didn’t have to do that,” she said as she took her seat, biting the inside of her cheek.
“Lumine, you saved my life today. It is only fair that I do the same for you,” Shenhe replied. She reached out to grab Lumine’s hand, observing it carefully. “Besides, I… I felt the need to do what I did for you.”
“Well, thank you Shenhe.” Lumine gave her a small smile. She contemplated her next thought, deciding to vocalize it anyway. “What did you think when you saw other people holding hands like we did?”
She watched as Shenhe took a moment to think over her answer, the cogs in her brain literally turning to find a conclusion. “It made me curious. I don’t have much information about human romance and the emotions surrounding it, so it felt satisfying to see what that was like.”
Lumine nodded and stifled a yawn, shifting to get more comfortable in her seat. Shenhe noticed the change and grabbed a nearby blanket, pulling it over the blonde.
“You should get some rest, Lumine. I can watch over you during the ride and make sure you are safe.”
She laughed quietly and closed her eyes, her head falling on Shenhe’s shoulder as she drifted off to sleep.
When Zhongli mentioned Cloud Retainer’s office, Lumine expected something that actually looked like an office building. She couldn’t believe she found herself in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by greenery and mountains. The building blended in well with the trees, fitting for the scientist her friend called Cloud Retainer.
She walked up to the front door, Shenhe following behind her as she rang the doorbell. Lumine thought about ringing it again after no response for a few minutes, until the door opened suddenly. A woman about the same height as Lumine appeared, with white hair very similar to Shenhe’s. Her eyes wandered from Lumine to Shenhe, widening a bit.
“There you are, Shenhe. I’m surprised you returned so quickly,” she said. “Come in, let’s talk.”
Lumine looked to Shenhe, noticing the hesitation in her eyes. She linked arms with her and gave her a smile, nodding toward the door. The two followed Cloud Retainer inside, the front room decorated with a few couches and a coffee table.
“So, what is the reason for this visit?”
“My memory card is damaged,” Shenhe said. “Lumine saved me after it was broken, and now we’ve come to get it fixed.”
“I see… I’ll take a look. Please sit.” Cloud Retainer moved behind Shenhe as she sat on the couch, her hands reaching to move the android’s hair to the side. She inspects the nape of the back of Shenhe’s neck, a soft hum escaping her lips.
“It seems like the memory card is gone completely. It normally wouldn’t cause much damage, but whatever happened must have caused your internal programming to wipe its data.” Cloud Retainer moved away, adjusting her glasses.
“Can it be fixed?” Lumine asked.
“Of course. I’ll be back in a moment with the data.” She left swiftly, with Lumine and Shenhe to wait in silence.
“… How are you feeling?” Lumine couldn’t help but ask, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized it might have been a mistake.
“Me? I’m… Conflicted,” she said. “I’m curious to see what my memories will give me, however… I have this sense of dread when I think of it for too long.”
“It’s probably scary to get all of that information all at once. I can't blame you.”
Lumine wanted to reach down and give her comfort, whether it was holding her close or caressing her cheek. It amazed her how attached she felt to Shenhe after being around her for only a day, and she was worried herself about what came next.
“Alright, this will only take a moment.” Cloud Retainer’s voice echoed throughout the room as she entered, a few devices in her hands. Lumine stepped back as Cloud Retainer took a seat beside the android, and got straight to work.
The scientist attached a temporary memory card in the same spot she looked at before, but this time it was connected to a small tablet. As the scientist got to work on her tablet, Lumine watched as Shenhe’s eyes brightened from the information being entered into her system. It took a few minutes for the entire process, with Cloud Retainer removing the card when she was done.
“Alright Shenhe, you should be good to go now. I apologize for the hassle,” Cloud Retainer said.
The android was quiet, her gaze aimed at the ground. Lumine kneeled down to try and catch her eyes, but it didn’t capture her attention.
“Is she okay?”
“Yes. I am fine,” Shenhe replied suddenly. She turned to Cloud Retainer, a frown across her lips. “Is this truly everything you have for me?”
“Of course it’s everything,” she sat on the couch across from them, crossing her legs.
Shenhe stood up quickly, rushing out the door. Lumine stuttered a quick “thank you” toward Cloud Retainer before running after the android.
She closed the front door behind her and saw Shenhe crouched on the ground, hugging her knees with her head hidden. “Shenhe! Wait, what happened?”
Lumine sat beside her, desperate to see the girl’s expression. Shenhe glanced up to look at Lumine before looking away quickly, rubbing her eyes a bit.
“It… Was too much for me to process,” she said softly. “I received every memory, from my life as a human to my memories as an android.”
“Human… You were a human before?”
Shenhe nodded, voice quiet. “I was going to die, but Cloud Retainer transferred my consciousness to the android body she was working on. And then it was only recently she allowed me to leave and explore the human world.”
A pain stabbed at Lumine’s heart, the thought of a wandering Shenhe getting injured just as she was about to experience the world. She pulled Shenhe into her arms, hugging her close. It took a moment for the girl to respond, slim arms wrapping around Lumine.
“I’m not too sure what I’m supposed to do next, Lumine,” she mumbled against the blonde’s neck.
“You could stay with me,” Lumine replied, her own voice soft as she pulled back a bit. “I’d love to show you what the human world is like.”
She placed a kiss on Shenhe’s cheek, and watched a smile grow on her face.
“Will we be able to hold hands more often like the couples at the train station?”
“Absolutely.”