Keith was at least impatient; the drab sound of the chronometer in his helmet was drilling his nerves while he was stirring uncomfortably in his position.
Just 10 more tics left…
"Come on, come on, come on!"
There were footsteps in the hall.
His hand tightened over his knife, shoulders tensing like he was a prowling feline. The tics remain indifferent beating in his helmet.
The owner of the steps; a slender alien soldier, completely armed, with four hands and a lonely glowing eye in a red skinny face, went with steady march towards the end of the corridor. Keith sharpened his ears, listening the soldier's beating heart and breathing: some benefit had to have being a half-blood of the most terrific warrior race in the universe. Even if his anatomy was apparently a normal human anatomy, his senses deeply trained were really sharp, and they told him that the plan was going fine (or "peachy" how his partner would like to say). The soldier was peaceful, for him this was a perfectly normal day.
Just that it wasn't.
A smile lengthened on Keith's face, nothing better than a perfectly executed mission to lighten up his mood. The soldier's footsteps stopped in front of a door with an imposing "Do not enter", but it didn't seem like a problem to the alien soldier, who typed in the password and completing some pupil scanning, the door had opened in no time.
One step inside, and Keith was already in his back, knocking him out with one fluent and efficient movement. With the soldier unconscious on the ground, Keith entered the room.
A fast scan of the room allowed him to notice that it was a small place. A narrow room full of computers and panels, with some kind of platform in the center. Upon this platform was a black un-gravitational sphere and it was malignly floating surrounded by some kind of force field.
Getting to the sphere was his goal, but Keith doesn't really know how to get it out of the force field. If his inner count was right, it means that only a few tics remain before completely ruining the plan. Keith frowned, his mind moving at full speed, he wasn't a tech expert so trying to disconnect the device manually was out of the question.
Therefore, the decission had to be made quickly and, like all in Keith's life, an impulse, guided by his instinct. Quickly taking the gun from his belt and aiming carelessly, only two shots were needed at the base of the container to make the force field fall. Less than a second after, the alarms began to sound. Keith had already imagined that this would happen, so he quickly took the sphere and threw himself towards the door before it closed completely locking the thief there (and it was fortunate that the room was really small, or he wouldn't have achieved it).
The hallway was fortunately still empty, so it was easy to run there. Keith managed to keep the sphere in his bag while he thought about the next step. His partner, who had the mission to lower the defenses and clear the ship's port, should be still full hands with the defenses (which were not an easy task for what Keith had noticed when he infiltrated before).
He ran to the ship's port, knowing that he would have to take care of the sentinels by himself, even if he was in danger of losing the newly recovered treasure. However, a new surprise was waiting for him when he arrived at the port.
His partner (the one who was supposed to have finished his first task) was sitting comfortably on a pile of sentries, his long legs stretched out, his bright blue eyes staring at him amused as he swung his weapon between his hands.
-Hey agent, the port is clean - he sang, and Keith could have sworn he sounded self-satisfied.
- A002, what are you doing here? You aren't supposed to be here already. - Keith didn't know whether to sound angry or relieved, certainly he was confused. His android partner wasn't supposed to break his orders. He wasn't supposed to "be able" to break them anyway.
-Lance - amend his partner, sounding annoyed - I told you, I hate be named by my code. I prefer the name I chose.-
-W...wha… nevermind, Lance. Why did you break my orders? - Keith questioned again.
-Huh… well, I could hear you, by the transmitter, I realized something was happening, so I made my part quickly. Was I wrong? - Lance looked repentant, almost sad. And Keith was confused again by how human the android looked. A small vibration of the sphere in his bag reminded him that there were other issues to attend at this moment.
-We have to go. NOW! - Without waiting for his partner to follow his instructions (and perhaps fearing he would break them again) he took his arm and pulled it towards the nearest ship.
Later when they were already far from the planet they had assaulted, and back in their ship, Keith was still thinking about what had happened, while observing his partner's side of the corner, tapping a song with his feet on the control panel of the ship. It was the fourth mission they completed together, and this time Keith could really feel that there was something more in the way they synchronized. He knew that Lance was "supposed" to have to synchronize with him, yet he was uncomfortable with the feeling that there was more than one program, a set of codes, in the way they followed each other's steps.
Keith sighed, brusquely brushing the hair off his face; the length was becoming annoying, but for some reason he was reluctant to cut it, maybe… remembering to have read on earth a book about ancient warriors in the East, who didn't cut their hair until someone defeated them. Nobody has defeated Keith yet.
Soft fingers, a little more icy than normal slid down the nape of his neck startling him.
-Let me- Lance murmured hastily at his back while taking Keith's hair in his hands. Keith felt his muscles tighten. He had been so distracted that he didn't notice when he had approached. He didn't feel comfortable with another person or "thing" so close.
-No, Let me go- he growled in response, moving away from Lance's hands.
-Easy man! I'll just make it more comfortable for you.- Lance talked out still in a light tone, reaching Keith's hair before he could get away. Keith felt a small tug and then the air on his neck. Lance had put his hair in a ponytail.
Immediately the android moved away from his back, turning around to face him, pondering with his hand on his chin.
-Hmm, I'm a genius. You look handsome like this, Red.- He pointed smiling brightly. -Even if you don't look as handsome as me, I have to admit you're a close match.-
-We aren't in a mission. We don't need code names now A002, and you're a soldier android. You aren't supposed to know 'how' I look handsome.- Keith could hear his twitching tone, but the sensation of half understanding "something" didn't let him do it any other way.
Lance's smile fell.
-I'd prefer if you just call me blue, or Lance like I asked you, a million times now-
Keith didn't answer and Lance sat back down, apparently giving up on the interaction, at least for 5 minutes.
-You could thank me ... By taking me to the recovery room? It has been two days since the last time I charged and I'm starting to lose part of my functions.- He sounded somehow embarrassed, although it could also be Keith's imagination.
-I didn't ask you for…- Keith replied, without giving in. He wasn't thanking for something he didn't ask for. However, he stood up, making a hasty gesture to follow him.
Their ship wasn't a really big one, but enough for Lance to try to talk on the way. This is why Keith quickened his pace, quickly reaching a round white room, with what looked like a giant conical fish tank in the middle. Keith sees Lance disappearing on one side of the room, then he appeared with his chest uncovered and only shorts on the shelf at the top of the tank, and then submerge without doubt in it.
Keith turned on the controls of the recovery chamber, setting it up for Lance. The android didn't need to sleep, but he had to dive there at least once a week to keep working. Keith was still not sure what would happen if he forgot to recharge him. Maybe he would just go out? Then he would look like he was sleeping, just like now while he was floating in the bathtub, or maybe he would finally look like a robot, without all that human illusion.
He sat in front of the capsule, watching the droid with a thoughtful air. It was almost painful how human he looked, tan and smooth looking skin, long legs, gently contoured muscles, brown hair. Damn it, he even had freckles and moles on him…
The only clue to his non-human origin were soft blue lines that ran between the joints of his extremities, and slid down its chest like little streams delineating the pectorals and joining in its belly button, like a tribal tattoo. Moreover, the other non-human factor was the connector at the nape of his neck, where the cable was now fitted to a new data transfer in him, making the marks shine with luminescence and giving him an ethereal air as if he were a fairy. Keith had to strain to take his eyes off, those damned scientists had made Lance (no, A002 he remembered himself) hot as hell, dammit.
Keith still remembered the day they had assigned him to haul as if it were yesterday, even though it had been almost a month since then.
Keith was returning from an exhausting mission, and felt devastated, in a more than physical sense. He had just lost his eighth partner in a row, and he still remembered the screams of the bastard in the transmitter. He just wanted to rest and wished that they would finally allow him to work alone as he had been his first years in the agency. However, there he was, listening to an infinite talk about the new regulation, and the non-exemptible rule that each agent should have a partner.
Keith remembered thinking that this was one of the negative things about working in an intergalactic peace agency; sometimes the aliens could be terribly rigid with the rules in the most absurd things.
It wasn't so irrational for him, to leave him alone. He had worked for them since he was 14, when he had illegally obtained permission to leave Earth, a planet where was nothing left for him. He had worked with them since then, thanks Shiro's recommendation, (the only friend he had once, and who sadly was in a too high rank to ask him to be his teammate). He knew everything about the functioning of the agency, which was an agency that was practically omnipresent in space but rarely imposed directly in conflicts, which its mission was quietly keep the peace so hard won thousands of years ago for a princess and a legendary warrior, who had freed them from the most fearsome race in the dawn of the universe.
He knew that for that mission, for the sake of it, many times they themselves had to antagonize, commit illegal acts, act behind the scenes; dismantling conflicts before they arose, stealing deadly dangerous items and keeping them under many keys, watching over the universe as an angel and a demon at the same time. Keith knew everything. He had spent his life in the agency, at least the whole part of his life that mattered, and he had worked hard to become the damned best agent they could have.
So… why the hell now they were so damn obsessed with giving him a mate? Even when they had verified that, they were only destined to die after not much time.
And it wasn't like Keith was not trying enough, but he had the most dangerous missions and they just did not seem to be able to keep up, even when he managed to save some of them, they immediately requested a change, claiming that he was a crazy, impulsive and suicidal bastard. Cowards!
And again, he was being scolded, his boss reminded him unnecessarily of the importance of working as a team (nonsense), and hundreds of other things that Keith omitted with boredom, until finally his boss fell silent, looking at him gravely.
-Keith, I don't want to do this, but if you don't get a definite partner to the next attempt, I'll have to fire you, or transfer you to the offices. I can't keep wasting agents with you and you know it.-
-Eh? Come on! You know I'm the best! You cannot just kick me out! Just leave me do my job alone like I always did. I don't need a partner!-
-You need one! It's too risky leaving you alone, especially because all that you know about us... Some… someone can try to kidnap you- his boss argued, not very convinced.
So, Keith understood, it was distrust. That's why they didn't want anyone to work alone, they were simply easier to control if they were two. Keith clenched his jaw and fists.
-You don't have anyone who can keep up with me- he still argued. Puzzled, he watched as his boss smiled.
-Oh ... I think I have it. In fact Keith, what I wanted to tell you today, after making you understand the importance of a partner, was that we have a new project in which we want you to participate in.-
-What are we talking about?- Keith asked surly, not being fooled by the cloying tone of his boss.
-You are the perfect candidate for test 'my android friend- he said and continued talking before Keith could interrupt it.
-We will assign you an android partner- and then it was no longer a proposal, it was an order.
-With a scan of your personality, battle skills and full physical profile, we reached the perfect option. I assure you that this partner will be everything you never thought you wanted and more. Let me introduce you,- he continued, beginning to walk without waiting for Keith to follow him. The raven had to run after him to the door of an office.
-Keith, this is A002. It's one of the first prototypes of our project. - Next to his boss, there was a guy. He was about the age of Keith, a little taller, tan skin, impressive blue eyes, the feeling in them making Keith's heart skip a beat. If his boss had not just presented them, Keith couldn't have said that the boy in front of him was not human.
-A002, this is Keith. He will be your companion from today. - The android stretched out his hand in a friendly gesture, and Keith took it. The eyes of the android began to shine, blue with a few small bars passing through them, from somewhere came a sound, like when a computer does a lot of work.
-Keith Kogane, born on earth, racial hybrid, half his blood is Galra although they are almost extinct, born on October 23, good hand-to-hand combat skills, prefer to fight with blade or short sword.- Keith snapped his hand harshly, looking at him angrily. Lance tilted his head.
-I'm sorry, I think that was rude on my part. I will update my data on human behavior. By the way, your body temperature is a bit high. Do you want something to cool off?-
It had been a lot to process in a very short time, and even at that moment, Lance despite his appearance, had not left him in any doubt that it was a machine. Keith wondered how they had arrived where they were now, how Lance had developed a personality. One that even allowed him to disobey direct orders, one that apparently found Keith attractive.
Making a face again, he wondered if he should make an effort and go to the head office, bring Lance in for a checkup. He was not sure, the humanization worried him but somehow, it was not so bad.