“Woah, a robot!” Victor walked closer to the chrome colored robot that was a couple of decimeters shorter than him.

  “Oh you mean Stella? She’s a mechanical assistant, now with co-pilot protocols unlocked. She is pretty young but her AI will make her learn very fast how to become an excellent helper,” Timothy explained to deaf ears as Victor had stopped listening halfway through. The boy was now completely focused on exploring the apartment that was full of peculiar trinkets and gadgets. After he felt done with the exploration, he walked up to Gem to establish that she looked very different from every other person he previously had met. 

  “Why are you blue?” Victor asked as he reached out his arm to touch Gem’s exposed hand with one finger. 

  “Victor, you can’t just touch people,” Andrea said from the couch, still recovering from the action of getting her son out of the group home to the apartment.

  “It’s alright,” Gem assured. “I’m from a planet where everyone is different shades of blue,” she answered without going into details about the science behind cells, lights, atmospheres etcetera. 

  “Awesome! Where did you get the guns?” Victor asked, jumping quickly to the next subject.

  “From a couple of different places. They can come in handy when you’re traveling through the galaxy. I can teach you how to use them if you want.” 

  “Really?!” Victor said with excitement but then looked over to his mom, a little hesitant. “She doesn’t really like guns, or weapons.”

  “Andrea, maybe I could teach you as well? And I think it would be a good idea for us to workout together,” Gem said as she stood tall and strong at the center of the room. 

  “Yeah, I’m good.” Andrea pursed her lips into a polite smile to the offer. However, she was dying inside on the thought of intense exercise beside the very fit, newly gained, blue friend. Her expression made Timothy crack up in an uncontrollable chain of chuckles, as he knew very well what her thought process looked like by now.

  “Shut up.” Andrea smacked Timothy on the arm but couldn’t help to smile.

  “I’m glad that you got out alive,” Timothy said in an attempt to lighten the implications of his outburst of laughter.

  “You better,” Andrea said, giving him a second smack.

  Andrea stood up and stretched out her arms to then take out a cigarette and a lighter from her pockets.

  “I need to smoke. Can I go somewhere?” She asked Gem since she didn’t want to be disrespectful.

  “Ehum, no. It’s probably not a good idea to go anywhere,” Gem replied.

  “Is it okay if I smoke here?” 

  “You gotta think of your health and your kid’s health. And what about our health? Second-hand smoking has more damaging effects than you would think,” Timothy chimed in.

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Andrea said, fifty procent jokingly and fifty procent irritably. 

  “No, preferably not,” Gem said in reply to Andrea's question.

  “Well, fuck me.” Andrea scratched her head.  

  “HAHA, you’re not allowed to say that!” Victor pointed at his mom while laughing. 

  “Shi-, sorry. I could do it in the bathroom if there’s a fan there,” she suggested. 

  “Girl, if you need to take a smoke just do it under the kitchen fan. We’re not gonna be here for long anyway," Gem gave in as it didn't seem like a big deal under the circumstances. 

  “Thanks. Sorry, it really calms my nerves,” Andrea said, a bit embarrassed as she knew the lengths she was willing to go to. 

  “Are we going somewhere? Why aren’t we gonna be here for long?” Victor asked, not forgetting what Gem just said.

  “Well, let me tell you about that.” Gem clapped her hands together.