Alyssa and I sat next to each other and ate a nice meal. She had been right about the restaurants, because they had mixed the brown algenate discs into their food and it tasted so much better than it normally did. There wasn't much room on the couch, so we kept our elbows tucked in while we ate.

“Was that really you that altered the recipe?” Alyssa asked as she finished the last bite of her hamburger and sat back to look at me.

“I really did.” I said. “I can show you a copy of the submission form if you want solid proof.”

Alyssa chuckled. “No, I guess I can take your word for it.”

“Are you sure? I am still technically your boss.”

“Yeah, I don't think I can forget about that.” Alyssa said. “You pulled my squad off advanced deployment to babysit you.”

“I'm not going to apologize for that.”

“Why, because you're the boss and I needed to follow your orders?”

“No, because it saved your life.” I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. “You saw the front line get ambushed.”

Alyssa opened her mouth to say that she would have been fine; but, they both knew that she could have died at any time if her squad had been deployed on the front lines. Especially since they didn't know about the advanced weaponry that had been available to be used against them.

I finished my meal a moment later, and we tossed the empty containers into the recycler. The silence seemed to drag on and became a little uncomfortable, and I thought about using my portable display again to get some more work done. Instead I sent a low priority message to Nurse Deloris and told her where I was staying.

“Do you want to watch some vids?” Alyssa asked and touched the wall. Only a single 3 foot by 3 foot wall panel lit up to show the screen, and not the entire wall like in my apartment. “I'm sorry it's not a full-”

“There's no way you could get the full wall unit in here.” I said and cut her off, then chuckled. “If you split it and had half on this wall and half on that wall, maybe it would fit.”

“That would be hard to watch.” Alyssa said and smiled.

“Not really.” I said. “If you could somehow sit yourself upside down on the ceiling in the opposite corner, you'd have a great view.”

Alyssa laughed. “I'll pass, thanks.”

“Good, because I think keeping the cozy version is better.” I said.

“Cozy version?”

“Well, you said you didn't mind seeing my not-unpleasant face.” I said and put my synthetic arm around her shoulders. “Otherwise this couch would be cramped.”

Alyssa's smile faded. “I'm not going to be your rebound girl.”

I opened my mouth to say that wasn't the case, that all I wanted was to get more comfortable; but, I could tell she wouldn't believe that, even if I explained that it gave her more room on the couch. I took my arm back and tried, unsuccessfully, to put it between us instead.

Alyssa saw the problem and moved over slightly, which put her dangerously close to the edge of the couch, and I saw the realization on her face about what I had tried to do.

“I'm such a jerk.” Alyssa said, and I heard the apologetic tone in her voice. “I assumed you were trying to make a move on me.”

“What if I was?” I asked, even though I wasn't. “Why is that so bad?”

“You're still living with the girl you intend to spend the rest of your life with.” Alyssa said. “Which I assume may change soon, considering what happened between you.”

I sighed and rubbed my face with my normal hand. “Yeah, I... no, I mean... I can't just... dammit.” I sighed again. “I love her; but, I can't trust her as far as I can throw her with my normal arm.” I said. “She moved in with me, which means she gave up her own apartment, and I can't just toss her out without...”

“That's not your concern.” Alyssa said. “It's not your responsibility to take care of her, not after what she did.”

“But...”

“Yes, I know that if she had just been open and honest with you from the start, you might not be where you are now; but, she wasn't and you're here now.” Alyssa said. “You aren't wishy-washy in any other decisions you've made in your life so far, so why are you hesitating now?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I don't know.” I said. “It should be easy. I'm logical, analytical, and can do euclidean math in my head without using the cybernetic upgrade package; but, when it comes to her, I...” I shook my head. “Logic and reason go out the window.”

It was Alyssa's turn to sigh, then she nodded and tapped my synthetic hand. I lifted the arm and she leaned into me, then I draped my arm over her shoulders like I had tried to do only a moment before. Only this time, the both of us were considering it was something more than just conserving space.

We watched several entertainment programs and wasted quite a bit of time just keeping each other company. The silence between us wasn't strained or uncomfortable, either. Neither of us was tempted to speak or felt the need to fill the silence with anything except each other's breathing. I was actually feeling quite relaxed by the time Alyssa yawned beside me.

“Bed time.” I said to her, and she nodded. We stood up and moved out of the way of the couch and table, and I picked up my portable display while Alyssa hit the button. Rusty barked at the table as it folded down out of the way and the couch folded out to fill the space. It became a nice-sized bed, considering the small space it was in, and it reminded me of living in a similar one of these apartments myself.

I sat down on the edge of the bed with my portable display while Alyssa went into the bathroom. Once again I only did light work while I waited for her to finish, and when she came out of the bathroom wearing a fresh unitard, I shut my portable display down and tucked it into the same closet that I had my backpack in. When I turned around, Alyssa already had a sheet and blanket on the bed.

“Which side of the bed do you normally sleep on?” Alyssa asked.

“Whatever side you want me on.” I said.

“That's avoiding the question.”

“Technically, it's me deflecting my response to hear your choice instead.” I said and smiled. “Do you want to cuddle with the synthetic side or the normal side?” I asked and indicated each one as I spoke.

“Would you hate me if I said synthetic?” Alyssa asked, because she knew of my previous aversion to cybernetics.

“Only if it's because you prefer it.” I said. “If it's because you don't want to take the chance that you might hurt me, then I appreciate your concern.”

Alyssa smiled slightly. “I don't want to have to lock my limbs down like the time we shared a bed at your vacation house.”

“I wondered why you stayed in the same pose all night.”

Alyssa chuckled. “I was really afraid that I would move or roll over in the night and crush you or something.”

“I'm glad you didn't.” I said. “What would that report look like on the general's desk?” I asked. “The target of protection was severely injured when primary guardian rolled over in her sleep.”

Alyssa snorted a laugh and climbed onto the bed, and I climbed in beside her. We laid down together and I pulled the blanket up and over us. Surprisingly, there was actually a bit more room for the two of us to be side by side with the couch folded down; but, I lifted my arm anyway and Alyssa cuddled in to my chest and I hugged her shoulder.

“Goodnight, Jack.”

“Goodnight, Alyssa.” I said, and closed my eyes. I felt bad that this would be the second woman I had been in a bed with since Sandra's accident, and neither of them had been Sandra. I knew that was an irrational feeling, considering how things were progressing between Sandra and I. I couldn't help feel it, though.

“Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“Can... can I touch it?” Alyssa asked.

“You complained earlier about me putting an arm around you, and now you want to-”

“Not that!” Alyssa exclaimed, and I opened my eyes to look at her. “Your synthetic chest!”

“Oh.” I said, and used my normal hand to quickly unfasten the unitard I wore. “Go ahead.”

Alyssa eased the cloth aside and her hand rubbed along the scar tissue between the normal and artificial parts, then she traced her fingertips across the synthetic chest muscle.

“They say that these new bio-memetic attachments increase the sensitivity matrix, and it's almost like having real skin.”

“Not so far.” I said. “It's more like you're touching me with gloves on.”

Alyssa frowned. “That's not right.”

“Yeah, I think it's because I haven't had a cybernetic part before and my brain can't handle the exchange.”

“No, I mean even I get normal sensations properly. You should be almost ticklish when I touch you like this.” Alyssa said.

“Really?”

Alyssa nodded.

“Then I guess this is a good time to catch up on some reading I have to do.” I said and closed my eyes again.

The first thing I did was check on what Alyssa had said earlier about my processors ramping up to speed and making microseconds count. That was in the basic cybernetic files and reminded myself that it took several months for the brain to adjust to the foreign material inside of it, namely the cybernetics, and then the interface would be able to handle the extra information load.

The second thing I did was check the difference between my old interface records and the new one. The new one had a significant drop off rate for compatibility, mainly because the doctor had been right. My brain had been thoroughly used to the old interface and was set in its ways, and the numbers showed that.

I should have brought the portable maintenance station with me. I thought, then started to read the project files for the bio-memetic synthetic parts. It was interesting reading, especially if you were into the design and function of synthetic parts, and before I knew it, I had read through everything the lab technician Astra had given me assess to.

I checked the time on my HUD, and saw that barely half the night had passed. Since I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep again tonight, I started to sketch out plans for the things I would need to get the server up an functional. It may have been my father's dream to get people to start using the L.I.F.E. system again; but, his ideas and outlook seemed to be too low for the current technology available.

Just the interface alone needed a major change. I thought. It was too clunky and didn't make sense not to have access to it at all times, and that was an inherent code that would need to be integrated into the main program and not the satellite programs. It could be done with the smaller programs, except that all of the smaller programs would need to be changed to include that code. It would be more difficult to make it part of the main program; but, it would save hundreds or even thousands of lines of code that would need to be in every satellite program.

I couldn't do much inside my head, with it being in limited mode until my brain adjusted, so I did what I could and then pushed it aside. I needed to at least try and get a few minutes of sleep, so I did my best to clear my thoughts and relaxed. I had a feeling that morning was going to come before I knew it, and I wasn't going to be relaxing much, not with Alyssa here to make sure that I kept busy.