Binary Love (18+)

Creature Comforts

It looked almost exactly the same as she remembered it; the elevated workstation was still illuminated by the soft blue lights of data screens, while the large assembly floor stretched out to house a line of incomplete androids, strung up by yellow metal cranes. To the average person, it probably looked just right. Exactly the same before the break in.

But Nova could spot the differences right away.

The new reinforced door was large and imposing. It's crisp new paint job - white, with black lines down the centre to show where the door opened - was at odds with the rest of the place. It was too new. Too perfect. Completely unlike the warn down metal, and mismatched wires, that were scattered across the rest of the place.

What also caught her eye was that the workshop was clean. Really clean. Someone had tidied away all the debris from the break in, and had even gone a step further by putting all her tools back in the correct place.

From the look of it, she was lucky that she had taken all her work on the chassis with her, as whoever had cleaned up had been very thorough. She shuffled on her feet, uncomfortable with the idea that someone had gone through her things.

Despite the clinical feel her workshop had now, she knew it wouldn't last long and it would return to it's lived-in feel. Besides, the new door actually put her at ease, so she wasn't going to complain about it.

She took in a deep breath, filling her lungs. At least one thing hadn't changed; it still smelled like home.

The doors behind her opened with a mechanical hiss, before Mark stepped through carrying two storage containers stacked on top of each other. He was completely unfazed by the weight of them, even though they were filled with her equipment and therefore extremely heavy.

"Where do you want these?" He asked.

"Just put them down by the work station, I'll unpack them in a bit." Placing her own bag by her bedroom door, she then made her way towards the kitchenette. Nova pulled out the coffee machine, patting the glass dome affectionately as she said, "I missed you."

In the background, she could hear Mark begin to unpack, while she brewed a batch of coffee for them both.

"Have you tried coffee yet?" Nova called out to him.

"No."

"I'll make you a cup - see if you like it."

While she waited for the water to boil, Nova went through the options on the food synthesiser, looking at dishes suitable for lupus consumption. Being carnivorous, the lupus never seemed to develop much of a cuisine culture, resulting in most 'recipes' simply being a slab of meat from various animals. From what she could tell - if they were feeling particularly fancy - they might char or grind various meats together, but that was as far as variation went.

Nova tried her best to guess what Mark might like to eat, but all the options just looked like raw meat to her. In the end, she went for the most stocked item, presuming that it meant it was popular. For herself, she just chose a simple vegetarian stew.

Once the coffee and food was done, she placed them on a tray and made her way towards the workstation. She found him gazing intently at the data screens, illuminated by the soft glow of florescent light. It seemed to embellish the sheen to his fur, and how his eyes shone with an unnatural electric blue. Nova had thought she hadn't been that long making food, but the look of Mark's ridged body and intense concentration said otherwise.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, while gently placing the tray down beside him.

"I've been thinking about the tunnels on Arcadia, so I gathered some data and drew up a rough layout of the network." His eyes never strayed from the screen; his focus so absolute, that he didn't seem to even react to the fresh food placed beside him. Nova lent over beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder to keep her balance.