Chapter Two: Adhere

In an unknown place and time.

Shel woke up in an apartment bed. She looked around and didn't recognize anything. A man in a lab coat entered the room.

"Hello there, miss.. Shel. You can call me Sir Thomas, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, where am I?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Come, follow me."

The two walked into the dark hallways, until they are engulfed by the darkness

Present time.

Alex runs and opens the first door he sees. They enter a fancy restaurant. In his mind, after a few seconds, he starts to think.

"Huh, I thought we were in an apartment? Resorts? Restaurants?"

Conveniently, there's make-up, wigs, a suit and a dress left on display

Conveniently, there's make-up, wigs, a suit and a dress left on display. Alex quickly takes them all and runs into the men's bathroom.

"Quick, put these on" Alex says to Shel.

Without hesitation, Shel puts on the dress and make-up. Alex hesitantly quickly looks at her while she undresses. Shel displayed slight embarrassment before returning to her default neutral face. After Alex puts on the suit, he turns to Shel.

"How do I look?"

He asks.

"Cute, I mean sufficient." Shel replied.

She holds her hands tightly for a moment and looks away

She holds her hands tightly for a moment and looks away.

"Uhh, thanks. You look perfect by the way, f-for an android."

Alex peeks his head outside the bathroom and looks around the restaurant.

It's empty, then he noticed a sign that says:

"All you can eat, completely free today, no need for reservations"

It's empty, then he noticed a sign that says:"All you can eat, completely free today, no need for reservations"

"Hmph, well, isn't that something."

He grabs Shel's hand and sits, facing eachother. He looks at Shel with a curious face.

"Do you even eat?"

"I do" Shel replied.

"Alright then."

A waiter who appears seemingly out of nowhere asks the two.

"Hello sir and madam, hope you two are having a wonderful evening, what would you like to eat?"

The two look at each-other then back at the waiter. Alex with the reason of trying to impress Shel, speaks confidently, more so than if he was alone.

"I'll have your finest duck breast with pomegrante-citrus blaze"

Even though he pronounced 'pomegrante" incorrectly, Alex felt proud of speaking to a human person without feeling nervous.

The waiter turns his head to Shel.

"What about you miss?"

"The same, please." Shel says almost like a whisper.

"And for the dessert?"

"I'll have the strawberry gelato with kitkat bars and marshmellows on top"

"That's my favorite!" Shel yells out-loud and quickly regretting.

"That's my favorite!" Shel yells out-loud and quickly regretting

Wide-eyed, Alex slowly moves his eyes to the waiter.

"Make that two, please."

"That'll be all?"

"Yes."

The waiter leaves. The two are staring at each-other silently, with eyes moving constantly, table tapping, and finger fiddling. Alex looks at Shel.

"I guess you really like Gelato? heh."

Shel looks away.

The waiter returns with their meals set-up and warm, he arrived so soon it almost feels like he had them prepared already. He places the trays in-front of them.

"Hope you two enjoy, have a wonderful evening"

"Thanks"

Shel starts eating quickly.

"Whoa, slow down there!" Alex says with a worried tone

Shel slows down, looks at Alex and back at the food.

"You look like you haven't been eating for a decade"

"Yeah.." Shel says, like passing wind.

After a few seconds of eating, Shel is done with the duck breast.

"Ugh it's so good!" Shel says with food in her mouth

"I didn't know you had literal good taste" Alex says while wiping her face with a tissue

"Hmph, good one." She grabs the gelato and starts scooping away.

While she eats, Alex stares at her blue eyes. Mesmerized, by how human-like it appears.

"Your eyes, it's so lifelike.. it's like I see an endless sea, full of life, full of wonder."

She looks down at her dessert trying to keep a straight face, and continues eating

She looks down at her dessert trying to keep a straight face, and continues eating. Alex looks like he regrets saying what he just said and tries to act like he never said it.

After a full minute of silence from the two and a half-empty cup of gelato, Shel looks at Alex with an odd face.

"Speaking of fish, what do you call a fish with a top hat and a monocle?" Shel says to Alex with a slight curve on her mouth, almost like she's smiling.

"W-what?"

"So-fish-ticated!" Shel says with a full smile, but the smile decays overtime until Alex also smiles.

"Heh. I guess you do have a sense of humor after all.."

Shel smiles like she has never smiled in years. Looks up and after a few seconds, looks at Alex again.

"Ooh, here's another one! How do you turn water into holy water?"

"You boil the hell out of it!"

Alex chuckles, Shel's grin is at its maximum potential. Alex puts down the silverware and makes a thinking face for a split second.

"Alright, here's a classic one." Alex says to Shel, while preventing himself from laughing

Shel leans in and places her cheeks on her hands

"What's brown and sticky?"

"What?" Shel asks with a curious look.

"A stick."

"Oh."

Shel bursts out laughing, Alex is surprised with her natural expression of emotion.

"Come on let's get out of here before I vomit" Alex says while laughing.

"Oh, hold on, there's some ice cream on your face"

"Oh! hehe, thank you."

As they were walking away from the table, Shel slips on a seemingly out-of-place puddle. Alex catches her.

"Oof, that was close. Again, thank you."

The waiter quickly walks towards them with a worried but slight strange look.

"Oh, sorry about that madam, I must have missed that puddle, my glasses are missing"

Shel looks very upset at the waiter for an unknown reason. Alex doesn't notice this and proceeds to forgive to the waiter.

"It's fine."

They walk through the hallways, still with their "disguises" on. They chat along the way.

"I'll be honest with you, this is the first time I found someone to talk to, without.. feeling trapped. It feels relaxing, you probably don--"

"Glad to be of honor, Alex, you're not such a bad guy yourself."

"This is gonna sound weird but, do you talk to a lot of humans?"

"Uh, I guess, some friendlier than others, there's this one guy in particular though--" Alex cuts her off abruptly.

"Me on the other hand, I was always felt like I was forced to talk, like I'm not one of them. I just want to be alone, knowing these types of people exists, it's like they're not even my family anymore. Not a single good connection.."

"I'm so sorry Alex."

"Thank you."