Eve looked down to see the red patch on Lilly's pearly white skin. "Eve, you have never washed anyone's back before. Why would you do it now?"
"It's just washing someone's back! How could it be so hard!?" Eve felt defeated. She put her hands and bowed her head to Lilly. "Sorry..."
Lilly looked at Eve, bowing her head, and let out a laugh. "Haha! It's fine. I know you meant well. Maybe when we fix your body, you will be able to tell how much strength you are putting into things."
"Ahh… I think it is just because I never did this before..." Eve's voice had a hint of embarrassment in it as she scratched the good side of her head.
"Haha!" Lilly let out another laugh as she slipped back down into the bathtub. She used her left hand to scope out some water and let it run through her fingers and down her forearm. She thought it was pretty nice having someone else here besides just her and Tezz. "Hey Eve… I know that this place is small, but if you want, you can just stay here from now on."
"Mmm… I will think about it." Eve was not sure if Lilly would get sick of her because she did have weird habits. And she knew they would end up showing up sooner or later. She did not wish to annoy Lilly, who was so willing to help her out.
Lilly was slightly depressed due to not getting an automatic yes, but there was nothing she could do about it. She leaned back in the tub and closed her eyes, and let the warmth of the water sink into her skin.
That night after Lilly went to bed, Eve leaned against the side of her bed, sitting on the floor, and looked up at the ceiling once more. "Aiu, what do you think I should do after I complete the repairs on my body? I do plan to stay around here for a while. But I do not know how long it will be before I am discovered."
"I am not sure either. If we can fake your identity with the security systems of this city, then we should be able to move around easily. But this would require you to make the upper half of your body as human-looking as possible, and you would need to make sure you were anatomically correct just in case." Aiu could only come up with these ideas.
"Hmm… I guess that would be fine. But I will need to model certain body parts after someone else's parts..." Eve snuck a glance at Lilly. "I wonder if she would mind me examining it?"
"I think it would be best to get one of those pornographic books." Aiu could already see Eve being kicked out for trying to examine Lilly's privates.
"You're probably right." Eve chuckled as she leaned her head back.
*Pock...* *Pock...*
*Pock...* *Pock...*
Hearing the strange sound, Eve turned and looked at the soft-looking little bunny rabbit that had walked over to her. "Tezz?"
"Eve… Thank you for protecting Lilly." Tezz bowed her little head. She was truly grateful that Lilly was able to come back safe.
"Mmm… I already promised I would protect her from now on. So when she goes outside the city, it is either we both come back or neither of us." Eve reached out and patted the top of the little rabbit's head.
Tezz's ears perked up when she heard Eve say she was going to protect Lilly every time she left the city. She climbed up onto Eve's leg and sat up against her stomach. "Eve, you are not a normal A.I., are you?"
"Me? No…" Eve turned and looked over at Lilly, who was still sound asleep before saying: "You could say I was once human, and one day I woke up like this."
"That explains a lot." Tezz nodded her little head. "I am sure you can tell, but I am not normal either..."
"Mmm…. But why do you hide it from Lilly? That you are very much sentient?" Eve asked. She found it strange for Lilly to keep thinking Tezz was not complete when the little rabbit was full of emotion and seemed to have full sentience.
"If I was complete, wouldn't she stop working on me? Lilly is my mother. She gave me life. I do not wish to leave her side. I am afraid once she sees that I am what she wanted to create, She would move on to something else and forget about me." Tezz rubbed her stubby paws together and lowered her head.
"Then it will be our little secret. But I can say for sure that Lilly will never forget you." Eve patted the top of Tezz's head. To her, all A.I. were the child and friend of their creator. She saw Aiu as her daughter and friend as well. But this also meant that if you mistreated an A.I. they could come to hate you just like how a human would. This is what it means to be sentient, a will, a consciousness, an understanding of the world around you, and the ability to communicate. A.I. were not just tools anymore. They were actually living beings that could think and do things just like any human.
"Mmm… Thanks… And Eve, thank you for befriending Lilly." Tezz only wished for Lilly to be happy and never come to any harm.
"Hehe… What about you? Can we not be friends too?" Eve asked.
Tezz raised her little head, her eyes glowing and nodded. "Mmm…. Registered you as my friend."
While the two one big one small A.I.s chatted quietly, Lilly was sound asleep sprawled out on the bed in a very unlady like manner. But if she saw the scene of Eve comforting Tezz she would see it as a beautiful thing. Emotions between A.I., complete sentience. This was something that Lilly had been working towards and was her final goal when she began working on Tezz. Sadly, at least for the time being, she would not know she had already accomplished her goal.