Cole was the one who had opened the door, and Zane was overjoyed to see the scene he'd revealed.

Jay was sat on the bed, legs crossed, no longer under the duvet. His cheeks had a healthy flush, and a slight smile shined brightly, as it usually did. It looked like the old Jay was back, for now at least.

"... hello Jay. I see you are awake."

"Yeah, I've been awake for ages now though."

The nindroid stepped inside, and smiled a thanks at Cole for opening the door.

"I daresay you two have been having a good time?"

"Pretty good, yeah. We've pretty much just been joking around and talking."

Cole let out a loud contented sigh, then pulled out a second chair for Zane, before sitting down himself.

"How was your time out with Kai and Nya? Lemme guess, she was ok but Kai was a transphobic pile of-" Cole started, but Zane cut him off.

"Actually, Kai expressed at least a small desire to understand Jay's situation. Whether he did that to make himself look better or if he meant it genuinely, we will not know until time passes on."

Cole shrugged, not quite convinced.

"Well, Bluebell? Feel like telling tin-can your story?" He turned to Jay, casually. Jay stretched his arms and scooted closer to the end of the bed, letting out a little laugh.

"I'm starting to regret my choice of telling everyone separately. By the time I tell you all I'm gonna go looney."

"... you do not have to if you do not feel comfortable. I am perfectly content waiting until a time better suited, if that is the case?"

"No, no.. I'll tell you. I might as well get it all out of the way, right?"

"... only if you are sure you want to."

"I want to. I promise. I just... don't want to have to say it all again and again, but... but I also don't want to have to talk to everyone at once. Ughh I don't know what to do..."

Zane cocked his head.

"... why don't I record you?"

Jay looked up from his lap, his newly miserable expression lifting from his face.

"Huh?"

"I could record you. I have the inbuilt ability to record, so, I could simply listen to you talk, and then relay it to the others when the time is right. I will delete the recording immediately after we have all seen it, you have my word."

Jay looked very very happy.

"Zane, that... that would be great! Thank you!"

"You are very welcome, Jay. Shall we begin then?"

"Yeah. Yeah! Uhm... well... how do I start... uhhh..."

Zane opened his control panel and tapped a small button in the corner, and a tiny beeping noise signalling the recording briefly sounded.

"... I... I always knew I wasn't a girl. Always. Every since I was tiny..."

---

Relaying his story to Zane took a lot less long than to Cole. While Jay couldn't pinprick a specific reason, he did consider that he had already gone through it.. and knew exactly what he was going to say, when and where.

That - however - was good though. Jay finished talking after only about fifteen to twenty minutes.

After the talking was finished, Zane finished the recording and Jay collapsed backwards onto the bed.

"Why does this even need to matter..." he sighed, groaning and rubbing his eyes.

"It's ridiculous." Cole agreed.

"I know. There are few things that I do not understand, but, discrimination makes no sense to me at all."

"But you're a robot. You can't not make sense."

"That just proves it's wrong, doesn't it?"

"Haha, I guess."

Jay sat back up and sniffed his t-shirt.

"Eww. I need a shower. I'm so damn sweaty."

"Yeah, you really are. I swear you aren't usually like this."

Jay bit his lip.

"... uh... I sweat a lot when I... uhm... when I have panic attacks."

"Panic attacks? That's what you were having?"

"Well, yeah."

"I thought only crazy people had them..."

Jay scratched his head and sighed once more.

"Yeah... a lot of people think that. It's not true, it's a stupid misconception that's spread all over the place."

His eyes widened and he stopped talking.

"... uh... I just realised, I accidentally left out an important detail."

Cole sat up a little straighter.

"... what is it? Are... are you ok?"

"Yeah yeah I'm fine, I just... I forgot to say, I'm... I've been diagnosed with  Depression and Anxiety for years now... so... uh... that's something."

Both his friends looked pretty shocked.

"... how did you miss that out?"

"I don't know, I just, I'm kinda stressed at the moment, ok?"

"Right, sorry."

Cole took a moment to think.

"... Anxiety? But... you don't seem anxious at all? Well, you do now, but usually..."

"That's not what Anxiety is. You're not just anxious all the time, there are certain... triggers. Like, for me, I can't do public speaking. Around friends I can be as loud and confident as I want, but, if you put me in front of a crowd I'll probably have a breakdown."

"... I swear you literally hosted a TV show a couple years ago."

"Right. It changes over time. I used to be fine with crowds and being in front of them, performing, but, over time I've just... lost it. I also can't deal with other people being mad at me. Like, if I anger someone, if I upset someone, if I disappoint someone... my throat gets all tight and I can't breathe and I need to go somewhere to calm down. Hence why I walked off into the desert that time Kai was getting pissed. Anxiety often goes hand in hand with Panic Disorder, where you get panic attacks, and, unfortunately, the tiniest things can set me off. I've learned how to suppress the attacks... but when I do... it's like boiling water. If you keep boiling it, it's gonna boil over eventually..."

Cole nodded, vaguely understanding and working it out in his head.

"... what about Depression then? Lemme guess... it's not just being sad all the time."

"No, it's not. Depression is sort of like... low mood. You can have low mood without depression, but if you have depression, you have low mood. It can also effect different people in different ways. For me... I'm just... instead of feeling neutral, I feel down. Things I used to enjoy, I can't enjoy anymore... when other people are having fun... sometimes... I feel blank."

He furrowed his brows as the direction of his speech became much more intimate and personal, and he clasped his hands together as well.

"... then, I often get all these horrible thoughts... you know... like, that I'm just... trash... useless, replaceable and forgettable... insignificant... stupid... and they don't go away. They're always there. Sure, quite a lot of the time I'm distracted but other things, and I don't even think about them, but all I need is one thing to go wrong and they're all back... and... a lot of the time, I wonder whether life is even worth it..."

There was a moment of quiet in the room, quiet that was only disturbed by the low whirring of Zane's workings.

"... Jay... I... had no idea. I'm sorry you've been going through that..."

"It's ok. I'm almost used to it."

"It is not ok. Personally, I will do all I can to make sure you feel better about yourself. You are a wonderful person and do not deserve such a negative existence." Zane chimed in.

"Thanks, Zane..." Jay replied, a tiny smile making it's way through the sadness.

"Are you on anti-depressants?"

"I used to be, but I was taken off them because I had improved. I didn't need them anymore... but... it looks like I might have to go back on them at this rate..."

Zane nodded.

"I will go with you to the doctors, if it will make you feel better." He suggested. Jay shook his head.

"I don't think you understand. Because of our bloody healthcare system, medication costs money. Anti-depressants are expensive, and the one that works for me costs even more money than the others. Money I don't have. Money I'll never have..."

"I have a simple solution. I'll pay for you."

Jay's head jerked upwards, fixing Zane with a shocked stare.

"... what?"

"I'll pay your prescription for you. You won't have to worry about the money."

"... but... how will you get it?"

"Oh yes. I told Kai and Nya while we were out, but not you two, obviously. I have a job at Borg Industries. I am helping him develop Artificial Intelligence that is much easier to access. The pay is quite good, if I do say so myself." Zane explained with a small smirk.

"... you mean it? You'd really pay for me?"

"Of course, Jay. You're my friend, and you need help I can easily offer. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

Jay jumped off the bed and pulled the nindroid into a tight hug, undoubtedly hiding a few tears of gratitude.

"... thank you... thank you so much..."

"You're welcome, Jay."

Cole smiled at Jay's newfound happiness. After such negativity he had endured over the previous evening and current day, it was good to finally have something looking up for him.

Jay sat back down, wiping his eyes.

"Jeez, I'm getting emotional..."

Cole rubbed his shoulder.

"It's alright. I uhh... I do have something to ask though."

"What is it?"

"... what did you mean by, the kind of anti-depressants that work for you? I thought there was just... one?"

"... right... there are more than one kind, and they all have different side effects."

"... this mental health stuff is bloody confusing."

"Haha, I know right?"

Cole asked a couple other questions about the conditions, which Jay answered swiftly and simply.

"I... I can't explain how grateful I am for your support... it means so much to me." He spoke, looking from Cole to Zane, the latter of which slowly stood up and took a deep breath on and out.

"It is my own opinion, and if you do not think it is a good idea I will not go through with it... but I believe it would be best if I go and relay your story to the others right away. I could collect all four of them at once. You would not need to interact with them until you were ready, and it would give them time to think it over."

Jay hesitated, then nodded.

"... I think you're right. I appreciate it."

Zane gave him one last smile before leaving the room.

"... Cole, you can leave too. You don't need to stay here."

"I'm not gonna leave you... that's not fair."

"... I don't wanna be an inconvenience..."

"You aren't. I'm choosing to stay here on my own accord. Jay, you're my best friend. I'll always be here for you..."

He held out his pinkie.

"I promise."

Jay stared at his hand then snorted with laughter.

"You're seriously pinkie promising?"

"Hey! I'm trying to be nice!"

He chuckled again, but gave in and shook his pinkie.

"... so, what do you wanna do? We might be here for a little while until Zane comes back."

"... can we sneak to the kitchen and make some... pasta or something? I'm starving."

"As long as you do the cooking, absolutely."