Harmony's heart fluttered as she sat down where the sunshine could touch her, beside the window. Soft clinks from her tiny kitchen confirmed that she really wasn't alone.
If you had asked her a year ago whether or not she would allow her personality to be digitalized and operated after her death, the way they kept trying to do with famous actors, she would have vehemently denied it. If you had asked her if she could love a digital personality, she might have said it was possible, but not something she would do personally.
She lifted the waiting cup and took a sip. It was just water. She couldn't help scoffing at herself. What exotic flavor had she been expecting?
After they had returned to Living Jade Empire's main continent, Jade had come over as he often did now. But he looked a little different. Older. More tempting.
He had explained in his usual dismissive way, that he was just borrowing this extra body for a while, to make sure that it was maintained. And maybe this was actually all some form of shady corporate shenanigans, but she didn't want to consider the situation like that.
Jade carried the plates through the small doorway with more grace than she had ever seen him use before. His hair was graying just enough to make him seem a thousand times more attractive, even though his figure was just as average as the one his usual body wore. Only his smile remained unchanged.
He smiled a bit shyly as he presented the food, and she repressed the laughter that wanted to spill from her lips as he explained the ingredients to her quite seriously.
"Be sure to tell me everything you can about which you like best, and why," Jade pressed.
Her grin was a little wry as she patted her chest where the monitor pads clung to her skin, and questioned, "Can't you read that straight from my reactions?"
"I can see your reactions, but not the reasons behind them," he explained.
Harmony gazed into the eyes of the man who both stood before her, and sailed across the sky overhead, while also attending school across town. He met her gaze steadily, with no sign that his attention was on anything else but her.
"Feed it to me bite by bite then," she suggested teasingly.
Her heart lurched when he lifted a spoon obediently and scooped up a bite for her. She silently scolded her internal organs, and informed them that they had better hold on long enough to finish this delightful project.
The flavor of the bite full of food surprised her. And as soon as she swallowed it, she couldn't help laughing aloud.
"Did you find an actual recipe for this?" she asked incredulously.
"Of course!" Jade protested. "Though it is from a historical document, and not all of the ingredients might be exactly equivalent." His expression looked so worried that she wanted to reassure him as he asked, "Do you like it?"
Harmony hesitated, torn between the requirement to answer honestly and the desire to express her appreciation of the attempt. "Let me try another bite," she prevaricated.
Jade simply reached over and refilled the spoon for her without protest.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Weirdly, this bite tasted a lot better than the first had. Knowing that it was supposed to taste like this... let her really taste it. And it was delicious in its own way.
"It is really delicious," she declared with relief.
--
Jade reminded his mother about the scheduled task she had asked him to monitor.
Tayana thanked the small round form her son used here at home, and wondered what he was doing in the city he had chosen to finish his schooling in.
"You haven't mentioned any traffic accidents lately," she told him.
"I haven't been in one for a while now," he replied distractedly.
Tayana felt both relieved and curious. "Did the system compression help that much?
Jade's entire little body bobbed in a nodding motion, as he agreed, "It did! Apparently my feeling that I was always just a fraction too slow, or a fraction too careless was very accurate. Either that or I've been very lucky lately. I can't be completely certain."
"What else are you doing right now?" Tayana asked as he paused before moving his little body so his eyes could follow her as she crossed the large room.
Everything here felt too large now that Jade's human body was gone. The thought pierced her with the memory it brought up of the first time that she had complained that this place was too large for a single mother and her child.
"I'm attending class, one of the ones I share with Eric, and feeding Harmony, and opening the public beta test for my apps," Jade replied calmly, with a list that would have been impossible for anyone else.
Tayana pinched a leaf off of her favorite herb in the row of pots at the window, and breathed in the invigorating scent of it before saying, "You sound busier than one person."
"Yes," he replied simply.
She wondered if she should be preparing to receive charges for fraudulent claims as she rolled the leaf between her fingers for a moment. Jade's personality definitely portrayed him as a human, but now that he knew he wasn't one, he had started doing things that people couldn't do.
She gazed at the sky beyond the glass for a long moment. It was times like this that she really missed the man. Her gaze dropped to the compressed and crumpled leaf. He had always waited until she asked the questions, and it had taken her too long to come up with these.
After a bit Jade asked with concern, "Everything okay?"
Tayana smiled and turned back to assure him, "I'm fine, I was just thinking for a moment."
--
Eric finished the last question on the test and looked at Jade, expecting him to have finished first as usual.
Jade gazed down at the screen and tapped the marker for an answer, and then his hands moved in the pattern that would bring up the next question.
Eric checked the time remaining, and frowned. Perhaps Jade had gotten stuck on something, though there hadn't been any questions that he could think of that could easily be misinterpreted this time.
He couldn't help watching Jade as he finished his own test. He made almost no extraneous movements. Never stopped to wipe his nose or rub his temples, or any of the small extra motions the students around him engaged in. He did blink normally, and occasionally took a deeper breath. He didn't seem inhuman, just... a little odd.
Eric's mouth twisted a bit, though most people would have called the expression a smile, as Jade finished the test almost exactly 30 seconds from the deadline.
"Are you busy?" Eric asked Jade lightly as they both stood up to leave.
"Yes, but I would be happy to spend time with you," Jade replied cheerfully. "What's up?"
Eric rolled his eyes. "That's what I'm trying to ask. You seem, I don't know, kind of like you're on auto-pilot?"
Jade gazed at him oddly, instead of looking surprised or confused, as Eric had half expected. And then he shrugged.
"Kind of am, but not quite like you probably mean," Jade admitted.
Eric glanced around cautiously, but no one seemed to be paying any attention.
Jade didn't bounce off the edge of the doorway, like he occasionally did, and stepped neatly out of the way of a student who was in a hurry as they rounded the corner.
"What do you want to do?" Jade asked.
Eric felt startled by the question, and blurted, "I don't know."
"Okay," Jade replied comfortably.
Eric came to a halt and stared at his friend. It only took Jade a moment to realize that he had stopped, and turn around. Jade met his eyes with the same innocent seeming openness as ever.
Eric scratched his head as though the sensation could clear his thoughts.
"Is it okay to date more than one person if you have more than one body?" Jade asked curiously.
Eric's mind short circuited.