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Max held his head and groaned. That had been…unexpected. And more than a little unpleasant.
Getting knocked down by a large number of basketballs falling down was unfortunate.
Getting hit by the falling medicine ball that had been clearly placed in the wrong place was painful. (And dangerous. It could have killed someone!) His glasses were completely broken in two and his nose felt, if not broken, at least bent.
“Max buddy, are you okay?” Kim asked and Max rubbed his head.
“I calculate that there is a ninety-five percent chance that I may have suffered a concussion of some kind. Or would have if I was anyone else.”
“What do you mean-oh!” Kim said as a look of understanding crossed his face.
“Mr Kante, how do you feel?” Mr D’Argencourt asked as he knelt in front of him. Max looked at his broken glasses.
“I believe that I am in acceptable condition,” he said and Mr D’Argencourt sighed.
“Very well. Mlle Rose, escort Mr Kante to the nurses office and-“
“I believe that unnecessary sir,” Max said Mr D’Argencourt shook his head.
“I would prefer to be safe. As your teacher, I-“
A sudden loud crack cut him off and everyone turned to look at Max. Rose gasped and Kim abruptly put himself between Max and the rest of the class, trying to shield Max from their sight. Even Mr D’Argencourt pulled back in surprise.
Max looked down at the floor and that’s when he saw it.
Looking up at him was a familiar face.
Or rather, half a face.
More specifically, half of HIS face.
Gingerly he picked it up and began explaining it. The world around him began to feel vaguely distant. He could feel his heart pounding as he examined the fallen piece. He turned it in his hand, looking at the normally hidden veins of various nanofibres running across the other side of his face.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. His classmates had gathered around him with looks of concern and surprise and despite Kim’s best attempts to shield him, they could see. They could see all the details that revealed his deepest secret. They could see his face…and the smooth nanofibres that ran beneath.
He stared at the floor once more, determined not to see the looks on his friends' faces. He couldn’t bear to see the curiosity, the surprise and the fear.
Especially the fear. He didn’t want to see his friends and classmates looking at him like he was some kind of monster or something to fear.
He could still hear them talking though. Talking and murmuring in low voices.
“What is THAT? It’s hideous!”
Of course, Chloé was not quiet. Max doubted she had ever been quiet in her life. Unfortunately she kept talking.
“What are you, you freak!?! Get away from me!”
He could hear Marinette saying something, but his ears were filled with static. Freak. Chloé was…they really would…he was a freak. An aberration. Chloé was only saying out loud what the rest of them were thinking…
Red error messages flashed across his eyes. His emotional regulator was dealing with multiple spikes. His emotions were interrupting his sensor array and cognitive processing programs.
He ran.
He ran from the nearest bathroom and locked himself in the nearest cubicle.
Suddenly a new voice began talking to him. A seductive, familiar voice.
“Roboteer, I am Shadowmoth.”
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“It’s terrible Kagami. Max hasn’t come back to school since it happened. He’s not picking up his phone or answering text messages or emails or anything. Not even from Kim.”
Kagami took a sip from her juice as she allowed herself to process everything her girlfriend had just told her. It was…a lot to take in. A robot being raised as a human. Worried friends not knowing how to help.
Kagami had no doubt that Marinette would figure something out. She was…uniquely talented in the area of problem solving unique situations.
Still, it was upsetting her. Kagami did not like seeing her girlfriend upset.
“We just want Max to know that it’s okay. That it doesn’t matter that he isn’t human.” Kagami felt a sense of…something. She wasn’t exactly sure of what it was she was feeling, but it was…something. Marinette continued. “Max is our friend. He’s not just a robot. He’s our friend and we’re worried about him.”
“Do you know who placed the medicine ball in the wrong place?” Kagami asked as she tried to identify her emotions. An emotion that felt like a strange combination of anger, frustration and understanding all in one.
It was frustrating to feel something that she didn’t understand.
“We don’t,” Marinette said with a slight frown. “It was really careless of them to do that.” She sighed. “I just…this would be so much easier if we could just talk to him!”
“Have you attempted to talk to him in person?” Kagami asked and Marinette sighed once more.
“We can’t even get past his mother,” she said with some exasperation. “He doesn’t want to see is and…”
Kagami stood up sharply and Marinette looked up.
“Kagami wh-“
“This is upsetting you and it is upsetting him. This is not acceptable,” Kagami said briskly.
“…”
“I will resolve this problem myself,” she continued, ignoring Marinette’s dumbfounded expression.
“Kagami, you are not threatening Max with your sword!” Marinette said quickly as Kagami started to move. Kagami looked in surprise at her girlfriend.
“Marinette, I have no intention of involving my sword. I am surprised that you would come to that conclusion.”
“You used your sword to make Lila tell the truth when she managed to get me expelled!”
“I did not use my sword,” Kagami protested and Marinette gave her a look. Or at least Kagami assumed that it was a look.
“You threatened to cut her nose off.”
“I did not,” Kagami said calmly. “I merely informed Lila of the consequences of her actions should she not correct her statements. And it succeeded. Lila is now in a boarding school in Italy, receiving the help she needs, and she is no longer a threat.”
“Kagami, Max is not Lila,” Marinette said with some exasperation. Kagami just looked at her.
“You are correct. Max is not Lila and the conversation we need to have is a different one. Rest assured Marinette, my conversation to your friend will be very different to the conversation I had with Lila. I have an…” Kagami paused as she searched for the right word. “An insight into his situation. A perspective that neither you, nor your friends, can provide.”
“Kagami…”
“Marinette, you are a thoughtful, wonderful, empathetic person. Your heart of gold is one of your greatest qualities. But this is something that I am better placed to understand. I would ask that you trust me with this.”
“I…okay,” Marinette said and Kagami smiled.
“Thank you,” she said, before turning to walk away.
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When Max Kante heard a knocking on his door, he expected it to be his mother. (Technically she was simply the one raising his artificial intelligence as a human, but he preferred the term mother.) Or maybe someone from the research institute that had made him like Dr James from Cambridge University or Dr Müller from IDS Scheer perhaps.
He did not expect Marinette’s stoic Japanese girlfriend to walk through the door with a determined look on her face.
“Please be quiet,” she said, putting a hand over his mouth. “I merely wish to talk.”
Max nodded and she removed her hand.
“Your friends are concerned about you,” she said and Max grimaced.
“They’re worried about what I am,” Max said and Kagami raised an eyebrow. “I’m a machine. A hyper-realistic human facing android pretending to be human.”
“Have your interactions with your classmates been deceptive?” Kagami demanded and Max frowned.
“It’s not that…I…it’s complicated,” he said and Kagami frowned again.
“Perhaps I was unclear. If you were not an android, do you believe that your interactions would be different? That your personality would be different?”
“I…no. I don’t think so?”
“Then your existence as an android should not be an issue. I believe that you entrusted your secret to your best friend Kim, correct?”
“Well…yes.” He paused and smiled. (Should he be using such a human expression? But it felt right.) “He’s an idiot, but I would trust him with my life.”
“Do you not trust your other friends?”
“Yes, but-“
“Then trust them completely,” Kagami said, cutting him off. “They are concerned about you and they deserve your trust. Let them support you.”
“It’s not that easy!” Max protested, before turning away. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re not a fake human being like me.”
“I am.”
Max looked at Kagami in shock. Kagami looked at Max in shock, as if unable to believe that she had said that.
“It is true that I am not an android,” she said quickly and for the first time since the two of them met, Kagami looked vulnerable. Scared even. “I am however…not human either.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I am what is commonly known as sentimonster.”
Max took a step back and Kagami raised her hands in surrender.
“It is…a complicated story. One that…I find hard to explain. It is…a secret that I have shared with no one. Not even Marinette.” She paused and looked up at Max. “But this is what I do know. I know that my feelings for Marinette are real. I know that she will love me, no matter what I am. I know that Adrien will remain my friend. Like you, I have been afraid of what the people I care about will think of the truth.” She paused and shook her head. “I am sorry. I should not be pushing you about your secret while hiding my own. I must remedy that situation.”
“Wait.”
Kagami looked at Max, surprised by his sudden response.
“You’re right,” he said and Kagami looked him in surprise. “You’re right. My friends are still my friends. I don’t need to hide away. They…I trust them. And Kim…well he’s always been there. He didn’t treat me any differently when he knew.” He looked at Kagami. “You should trust Marinette. It’s not fair to her that you told me and not her.”
“I will,” she said and Max smiled.
“It’s time to face the world,” he said as he picked up his phone and began calling the familiar number of his best friend.