After a reasonably stress free day, the club members left their classroom and proceeded to go on with their days. After a quick moment of courage, Azlan decided to go on her date with Mary-Anne without their friends.

Azlan's arm was looped with Mary-Anne's. Azlan rolled her eyes as they approached a mechanics shop, aptly called 'The Garage'.
"Ugh, are you gonna make fun of me fixing cars again? Cos if you are-"

"-No! Just trust me, ok?", asked Mary-Anne.

Azlan sighed but nodded. When they entered the shop they saw an array of different cars, all messed up in some way. She quickly took her coat of to reveal blue overalls.

Azlan just stared at her for a few seconds, unable to comprehend what was happening.
"W-Wait... why are you... when did you... huh?"

Mary-Anne laughed.
"I know how much you like fixing up cars. I know I teased you about it before, but if it's something you like, then I want to give it a go."

Azlan felt as if her heart had grown three sizes. It was hard for her to comprehend why someone would do this for her.

"Azzy, are you ok?", asked a concerned Mary-Anne. She placed a hand on Azlan's shoulder.

Azlan pulled the girl into a tight hug. "You're the best."

Azlan spent the next few hours teaching Mary-Anne how to fix the cars. The evening ended in a water fight, with the girls ending up cleaner than the cars.

Mary-Anne and Azlan held hands as they walked back to Azlan's house. "Thanks for today, Mary-Anne. I had the best day."

Mary-Anne smiled.
"You're my girlfriend. I aim to please."

Azlan's eyes widened.
"G-Girlfriend?"

Despite referring to each other as girlfriends when talking to friends, the pair had never actually made their relationship status known to each other. Azlan had hoped Mary-Anne liked her as much as she liked Mary-Anne, but she didn't expect her to actually say the word.

Mary-Anne blushed.
"Yeah. W-Well, if you want to be."

Seeing the usually chill Mary-Anne all flustered made Azlan realise that she wasn't totally out of her league. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Mary-Anne smiled. She leaned in and connected their lips. Mary-Anne gently cupped her face, and Azlan placed a hand on the hall to steady herself, letting out a little groan when her back hit the wall.

Suddenly, Azlan's door flew open. "Er, Mum, someone's eating Azzy's face!"

______________

The next morning, the club met before their lessons started. There seemed to be even more hostility between Quinn and Bennett than usual.

"Why the heck would you violate Maya's ears like that?", questioned an irate Quinn.

"We needed to find her quickly!", defended Bennett.

"Then you text her! Or call her. Put a banner up, write it in the sky. Not deafen her!", yelled Quinn.

"Whatever", said Bennett.

Quinn scoffed.
"You're like a baby, do you know that? Just so desperate to play with his toys."

"Enough!", exclaimed Professor Harrow. "Bennett, Maya could've been seriously hurt. She's still recovering. K375B isn't a toy. We need to be more careful."

As Professor Harrow went through what they'd be doing after school, Maya turned to Bennett.
"I-I'm sorry if I made it hard to find me. Please... please don't ask her to do that again."

Usually Bennett would laugh at this, but he could see the genuine fear in her eyes. She was terrified.
And it was his fault.
"I won't. I promise."

_____________

Yukishiro led Katie to her next lesson. Art with Miss Glugowne.
"This is fun", smiled Yukishiro.
"I'm like a male escort."

K375B looked at the boy in confusion, though she clearly didn't know this. "Mr. Yukishiro, are you aware of what a male escort's job is?"

The boy shook his head.
"Not really. I thought I did but now I'm not so sure."

"Perhaps you should refrain from using it in the future, Mr. Yukishiro."

"It's just Yukishiro. Or Leo."

Katie nodded. "I will log that into my system, Mr. Leo."

"No, I- nevermind."

________________

Silas and Katie had a free period at the same time, so they decided to spend it together. They found a spot near on Oak tree, almost identical to the one on the other side of the courtyard. "So... why'd you use your electro-thingy on Maya?"

"Mr. Bennett asked me to", said Katie.

"Even though it'd hurt her?"

"I don't know what it's like to feel pain, Mr. Silas. I only know that it is a negative reaction", replied Katie.

"Right. But you know negative is bad. So why did you do it?", asked Silas. He wasn't particularly bothered by it, but he wanted to understand Katie a little more.

"I was following orders, Mr. Silas. That is what I am programmed to do", said Katie.

"Don't you want to rebel?"

"Rebel?"

"Yeah. Fight against the rules."

"The rules are there to protect me. I cannot disobey them. For example, I am programmed to trust every member of the robotics club. This will protect me."

"But you don't have to."

"I do not understand."

"Just because someone says you can trust them doesn't mean you have to."

"Why are you saying this, Mr. Silas? I do not understand. Do you wish for Professor Harrow to change my programming?"

Silas shook his head.
"No. I just want you to go against it."

Katie stayed silent for a long moment. Silas grew worried as Katie's eyes turned black.
"Katie?"

Katie's head twisted around, her words coming out in a low pitch droning sound.

"ERROR"

"ERROR"

"ERROR"

"ERROR"

"ERROR"

_________

Hi! I know that the interactions/lessons with K375B and the club members feel rushed. Hopefully I'll get better at this, but I'm just trying to mark out certain things so this book doesn't get too long.

I understand that this is probably disappointing seeing as the whole point of this book is to keep the robot a secret, but when I get more of the plot marks out, hopefully then we can see the club members interact more.

What do you think of Mary-Anne and Azlan?

What has Silas done?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

hopefulfirebird

agathokakological_05

italllic