Work Text:
Ten years ago...
"Hello!"
"Hi!"
"So, I guess we've got paired up together, huh?"
"Yes, I believe we did. You can call me Nasir."
"And you can call me Agron."
"Hello, Agron."
"Hello, Nasir."
"So, Nasir, how about we go on a test-drive, to see if you need some fine-tuning before going into the wild?"
"Sure, give me a minute and take a seat while I get everything started. After all, you won't get very far with a spaceship without the technological knowledge of its A.I."
"And you won't get very far as a spaceship without the mechanical knowledge of its android driver."
"..."
"..."
*Both burst out laughing*
"I think you and I will get along very well, Agron."
"Yes, I think this is the beginning of a great partnership."
"...and a beautiful friendship."
"Yeah, also a beautiful friendship."
**********
And that was how the partnership between A-GRON2755, or Agron as the android was most commonly known, and Nasir, the way the Artificial Intelligence of the spaceship he'd been assigned to called himself, was born.
Space-traveling wasn't done by humans anymore, but by androids, along with other professions back on Earthly grounds. Since the uncanny valley had been beyond reached in their construction, androids were as capable at space exploration as humans had been, maybe even better.
And also, with no need of oxygen to survive, they could go onto any planets of their choosing without extra precautions and since they had developed a mind of their own by the time they'd begun their attributed profession, they didn't need the help of overseeing humans back on Earth.
They however needed an A.I to help them travel with said spaceship. This was how it'd been for nearly two centuries now: an android was built, then he or she would be assigned to a specific ship with a specific A.I installed into it. Together, they'd go into space exploration for a cycle of over ten years and afterwards, the android would officially be retired as a space-traveler and become an helpful full-fledged member of society back on Earth, while the spaceship would itself be reassigned to another android for further missions and so on and so forth until the spaceship was to be retired because of old age, instead of the end of a contract like its driver was.
And so, in the end, the A.I would be disconnected and the ship would be recycled into something else, depending on what things needed which parts.
Luckily for Agron, the spaceship had been brand-new when he'd been assigned to it, so Nasir had a very long life-span ahead, even after he himself would be done with space-traveling. But luckily, that wouldn't happen for a very, very long time and he and Nasir had lots and lots of time to get to know one another, hop and glide around every galaxy that they could find and have many, many wonderful adventures together...
***********
The thing with time is, you don't realize how fast it can go until you reach the end of something.
It only seemed like yesterday that Agron was standing in front of his boss, Spartacus, as the man was explaining to him what he was about to do for the next ten years or so and now here he was, in front of the same man a decade later, being officially discharged. Those ten years that had only seemed to begin just a second ago were now behind him, along with all the many, many wonderful adventures and wonderful time he'd shared with...
Agron sighed sadly as he looked throughout the office window and half-listened to what Spartacus was busy spurting out.
Sure, as an android he didn't have a heart beating inside his chest, but that didn't mean by the time he'd been built, programming hadn't advanced enough to replicate what a heart could accomplish. His body could do almost all the things a human one could do: sleep, sneeze, burp, even the act of copulation. He just didn't need to breathe, eat nor drink to keep himself sustained.
He could also think for himself, but that also meant that he could feel for himself.
Fear, happiness, anger...
Even sadness, just like he was feeling right now.
He and Nasir had become inseparable over the years. Through all the traveling that they'd done and all the things that they'd gone through together, the A.I had become his partner, his confident, his best friend, his home.
He'd never thought of a future where he would be somewhere and Nasir would be some place else entirely and being faced with that reality now was filling him with an emptiness he never thought he could feel. A life without Nasir, the one constant in his entire life, it was almost inconceivable. Even more so now that he'd realized that he...
"Agron, are you even listening to what I'm saying?" the director's words interrupted his thoughts.
Finally, the android turned his head away from the window to stare at the man.
"Sorry, sorry, Sir. I'm following you now." he replied, straightening up his spine.
Spartacus pushed his glasses further up his nose as he looked at his notes and said:
"As I was saying, you are now officially discharged of traveling duty and your spaceship, the NASIR-400, will therefore be reassigned to Castus, our newest employee, this afternoon to begin further missions by the end of the week."
He'd met Castus earlier that day. Dark skinned, a bit taller than he himself was, but seemed a genuinely nice around guy. He and Nasir would probably get along quite nicely and make a fantastic pair, just like Agron and the A.I had been over the past decade.
"Yes, Sir." Agron acquiesced with a nod.
"As Nasir is scheduled to leave with Castus tonight for a first test-drive, I think it would be best if you go to the hangar and the two of you exchange your goodbyes in the next two hours or so, so that it'd leave time for you to settle in your brand new home and for the other android to settle into his before leaving. Understood?" Spartacus added.
"Yes, understood, Sir." Agron replied with a nod and with that, he stepped out of the office with a sure step.
Two hours? That would leave him some time to get his parting gift for Nasir, the one he'd hoped would express everything he'd wanted to say but never the courage to actually spell out...
**************
"What would be your dream life partner?" Nasir had asked out of the blue, one evening about a year into their partnership, while one half of the duo was busy travelling to their next destination, while the other was in his bed doing some paperwork.
"You dummy, androids can do a lot of things, but you know they still can't dream." replied the one busy with a bunch of reports.
"Alright, alright bad choice of words...sorry." Nasir responded in a sarcastic voice.
That made Agron chuckle as he put the paper back on the the top of his bed sheet.
"Restructuring my sentence...if you could have the choice of your perfect partner, what would it be?" Nasir once again asked.
"Hmm..." Agron began to ponder. "'Never really thought about it, really..."
A moment of silence filled the small room.
"Well?" Nasir said impatiently.
"Give me a minute, you big baby!" Agron admonished with a shake of the head, as he fell back down on his pillow and started with his eyes closed:
"Well, I'd probably want a guy-"
"So you like men?" Nasir pondered.
"Would you please let me continue?" Agron asked with one eye cracked open.
"Sorry, sorry." and Nasir let the android continue.
"Anyways, I'd probably like a guy that's smart, but also modest about who he is and what he can do. Someone that makes me laugh even if his jokes are super lame, someone that's patient, kind, honest, understanding and extra, extra loyal." Agron finished saying.
Another moment of silence fell between the two.
"Okay...and what about physical attributes?" Nasir said after a couple of seconds.
"Well, I'd want someone that's fit, but not too bulky. With dark eyes that I could get lost into for hours on end and long, luscious hair that I could run my fingers into when I hold him in my arms..." he responded. Turning his head towards where he knew Nasir could see his face, he asked: "And what about you? What would your perfect partner be like?"
The A.I seemed to hesitate for a moment or two, but then replied: "I...I don't know. I mean, I'm an Artificial Intelligence so there's no way I could ever be with someone like you could..."
"Well, there are ways you know, back on Earth. All you'd have to do is transfer yourself inside a empty shell and presto-chango, you'd be just like me!" Agron said.
"Oh....well I'd rather be flying around and go where I want to go, instead of being stuck in one place with my feet on the ground. So, thanks, but no thanks." the A.I answered to that piece of information.
Agron closed his eyes once again as he said: "Ah well, it's your choice, but I think we'd get along pretty well even if we weren't assigned to one another."
"You think so?" Nasir asked after another moment of silence.
"Of course! I mean, we're best friends here, who's to say we wouldn't be best friends somewhere else?" the android asked.
And for a moment there, Agron thought he'd heard Nasir silently whisper:"But what if I wanted to be more than just best friends somewhere else?"
The android opened the other eye this time around and raised his head. "What did you just say?"
"Oh, hum, I mean, I'm sure we'd be way more than best friends somewhere else, we'd be the bestest of best friends! Am I right or am I not?" Nasir corrected himself.
"Yeah, yeah...we would be." Agron replied as he laid back down and with that, dropped the subject.
But in the back of his mind, he knew what Nasir had initially said...
And it made him re-question everything he thought he knew about the A.I.
But more importantly, made him re-question everything he felt towards him...
***********
"Hey there..."
"Hello..."
The tone in both of their voices was a lot less jovial in this particular greeting than when they first met one another. The hangar that Nasir was staying at seemed much colder and lonelier than it'd been the first time Agron had stepped into it and had introduced himself to the A.I.
"So, I guess you're officially a full-fledged member of Earth society now?" Nasir asked.
Agron kicked the floor underneath his feet and looking down, he scratched the back of his head: "Yeah, I guess so."
He looked back up.
"And when's Castus supposed to come by?"
"Oh, in about an hour or so..." the A.I replied.
And just like it was the norm, a moment of silence fell between the two.
"Agron, listen..." Nasir began.
But the android raised a hand to silence him. "No, just...this is hard enough already. Don't say goodbye, because if you do then I don't know if I'll have enough guts to do what I'm about to do."
"What are you talking about?" Nasir pondered.
Without a word and gathering all of the courage he had inside of him, Agron reached inside his jacket pocket and took out a tiny red plant. And for a moment there, he thought he heard Nasir emit a tiny gasp of shock.
Agron looked up at the ship once again as he raised his hand towards it: "It's a Vitryl flower, from the Zalek planet you and I visited, remember?"
"Yes, yes, of course. The one that the planet's people are supposed to give to their partners during their marriage ritual as a pledge of their eternal love for them." Nasir replied in complete wonder.
Another couple of seconds ticked by.
"Agron?"
Another tense moment passed.
"Why are you holding a Vitryl flower in your hand?" Nasir tried again to ask.
But Agron didn't respond, couldn't respond. He licked his lips, his stare now fixated on the deep red plant he was holding between his fingers. Slowly, his eyelids closed and silently, almost reverently, he dropped a tender kiss on the top of the flower and, after reopening his eyes at last, put it right in front of the ship- no, Nasir's metal feet.
"I hope Castus treats you well...and that you guys have some great years ahead together, even though I doubt they'll ever begin compare to ours. " Agron finally managed to say.
"Agron..." came Nasir's voice once again through the speakers, only this time much quieter than Agron'd ever heard it in their ten years together, as if the A.I was at loss for words over what his traveling partner had just done and said.
Once again, the android didn't answer and, with one hand on the edge of what contained what had been his home for the last decade, Agron took a look back at the one thing...no, the one being that would always be everything to him.
"Goodbye, Nasir. Hope you won't forget me like I'll never forget you."
And in that moment, as he stepped out of the huge hangar and away from Nasir, he knew that if he had a heart, it'd probably be shattered into a million little pieces right about now.
***********
One year later...
The community Agron had settled into was nice. He'd made quite a few new friends among the other retired androids he'd met in the past few months. He'd even started a mechanic business with the one he'd become the closest to, Duro, whom he had come to love like a little brother.
Heh...love. Just the thought of that particular word made him think of Nasir. He wondered where he and Castus were at the moment. They were probably having the time of their lives right about now, hopping from star to star up there while he was down here, all alone among all these billions of people and androids alike.
If only he'd done more than give the A.I a plant, if only he'd said something the moment he'd first felt the feelings that had been gnawing at him for the better part of a decade now and suspected Nasir to also harbor. Then maybe things would be different and he and Nasir would somehow be...
Agron shook his head in disbelief of himself...
An android and a ship's A.I? As if that could ever...
"Agron! Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Duro's words interrupted his thoughts.
Agron silently chuckled as he turned his head towards the other android. "Yeah, sorry? What were you saying Duro?"
The younger android shook his head and rolled his eyes playfully. "As I was saying, I can't wait for you to meet my friend. He's actually best pal of this girl I've been seeing, you know, Chadara? I mean, I've only known him for a couple of weeks, but he's so cool! He's actually pretty new around here: he was transferred into an empty shell of his choosing about two-three months ago.
Something about a failed partnership and wanting to let his feet stay on the ground for the first time or something like that. But despite being new and all that, he actually seemed to know you! Because the moment that I mentioned your name, he got all emotional and asked all these questions about you!"
That right there peeked Agron's interest. This other android knew him? "Really? Well what's his name, maybe I've already met him and I just don't remember..."
Duro smiled and was about to say something when the ding of a bell was heard inside the cafe he and Agron were seated at."Well, speak of the devil, there he is!"
Agron turned his head to greet their new guest and...
And...
In that particular moment, he knew that if his jaw could fall, it would be right there on the floor just about now.
Because before him, stood a fit-but-not-too-bulky man, with dark eyes he could get lost into for hours on end and long, luscious hair that just screamed to be run through by his fingers.
But the most important detail about this particular android wasn't his physical appearance, as pleasing as it was. No, what had made Agron gasp out loud and stand from his seat was the fact that, between the android's slender fingers', was...
A deep red Vitryl flower.
Duro's voice "Ah well, let me make the introductions: Agron, this is-"
"...Nasir." Agron finished for him on a whisper.
"Yeah! Wait, how do you know that?" Duro said with a confused look upon his face.
"Because we've already met, a long time ago." the other android finished with the voice Agron thought he'd never hear again and he let out a wet chuckle, too overwhelmed by everything to say actual words.
And just like always, a moment of silence fell between the two, but this time it wasn't because of any awkwardness or because they didn't know what to say...
But because they had broth strode toward one another in unison and their lips and tongues were now busy colliding against once another instead of talking.
And Duro just stood there, scratching the back of his head and looking at the pair, wondering what the hell he'd just witnessed...
***********
"You know...I never answered my own question, all those years ago." Nasir pondered much, much later, as he and Agron were laying together on the taller android's bed, inside his cozy Earth apartment, after a couple of rounds of what-was-once-thought-impossible sex.
Agron tenderly kissed the other android's on the top of the head as he replied: "Oh yeah? Well, Nasir, if you could have the choice of your perfect partner, what would it be?"
Raising his head up a bit to stare at his new lover, Nasir grinned as he tenderly caressed Agron's cheek with his hand and murmured:
"It's always been the same answer since the day we met: you're my perfect partner."
Agron couldn't help but smile back: "And you've always been mine."
Nasir's eyes shined as he slowly leaned closer.
"In every sense of the word?"
And with the deep red plant Nasir had given him, symbolizing how the former A.I had always felt for his former driver, standing inside a vase on the night-stand near the large bed that they were laying on, Agron leaned into his best friend, his partner, his home and whispered against the other's android's lips before sealing them with his own:
"In every sense of the word."