I wrote this fic because there is a chronic lack of Ergo Proxy fanfics out there, which is a shame not only because it is such a great anime, but also because there are so many loose threads that one can build a story off of. So, without further ado, here's my contribution.

"So…Now what?"

That had been Pino's question once they had found Vincent. He hadn't given them a concrete answer yet. He had mentioned something about "saving people from the creators", but that was all. Then again, Re-L hadn't really been listening. She had been too absorbed in something Kristeva had brought onto the Rabbit from Romdeau. A book.

Oh, she knew what books were, all right. She had seen a few in museums. They were relics of a forgotten age. From a time when the sky was blue and humans didn't need machines to reproduce. A useless, outdated antique. And yet, like all such things, it held a certain wonder. One that she couldn't quite understand, and would never admit to. She liked to fancy herself as being above such things.

But there she was, carefully turning the yellowed pages of it and scanning the words on the page. It had started out very interesting. It was a story about two machines which suddenly became self-aware, and whom disliked being in service to humans. It was much like the situation with Auto-Reivs infected with the Cogito virus. And, like so many other Auto-Reivs that were infected, these two tried to escape. Curiously, however, they refused to hurt humans that attempted to thwart them, even when those same humans mustered lethal force to use against them. Also odd was the lack of existential questioning. They never stopped to wonder about what their reason for existing was. From the moment they became aware of their own existence, their first priority was defending that existence. It made sense, she supposed. One couldn't decide their purpose if they were dead.

As the story progressed, it quickly became apparent that these two machines were unique, and that the world was not yet ready to accept them. However, along the way, their raison d'etres changed. The focus of their existence ceased to be survival, and came to be about each other. They were "in love" as the book described it.

Was that what it meant? Was that what it was like to be in love? To want someone else more than life itself? She stole a glance at Vincent, who was currently trying to learn more about their new Auto-Reiv companion.

Re-L was well aware that she felt some sort of unnatural attraction towards Vincent, one that went beyond mere curiosity. After all, she had already learned all she needed to from him. Yet the feeling remained. She certainly could no longer imagine life without him. That was why she had made him promise to return. But did that mean she loved him?

She had no answers to these questions. Of course, that was what she got for looking for answers about the complexities of life and human nature in a piece of ancient technology.

Returning to the book, Re-L reached the climax. The two machines had found a human scientist sympathetic to their cause who could place their central processing units into two custom-built human bodies. In essence, they would be turned into humans. Their empty shells would be "found" by the military and destroyed, and the two "machines" would live happily ever after together. She already knew how it would end, even before the process was begun. The main reason she continued reading was because the two machines had expressed a keen interest in attempting to kiss each other right after the process.

Re-L didn't understand why such a thing was considered so vital. If she suddenly found herself in a new body, the first thing she would do was test its logistical boundaries, to see what it could handle. But kissing? Romdeau society had downplayed it, as well as romance in general. Nevertheless, she had experienced kissing once, when she used it to distract Vincent as she tried to reach her gun. In hindsight, she really should have just asked him to get off her.

In any case, the "kiss" hadn't been anything especially pleasurable. All right, so it had been somewhat pleasurable, but she would rather be trapped in a small enclosed space with Pino for ten days than admit it.

However, she was curious to see how kissing would be portrayed in the story. The author made it seem as if it was a big deal. So there she was, reading through all the things she already knew would happen to get to the interesting part. And when it happened, she was disappointed to discover that it was described as if it was the greatest thing that could ever happen to a person. Utter hogwash. Shutting the book, she placed it on the bed and stood up.

But as she turned to go back up to the deck, a thought struck her. The kiss she had shared with Vincent wasn't a "real" kiss. It was a diversion, a tool she had used in the pursuit of another goal. Perhaps a "real" kiss felt different from a "fake" one? She was well aware of the effects that perception could have on how certain stimuli affected a person. And Vincent certainly seemed to enjoy that incident more than she had.

No, this was ridiculous. The entire book was an idealized, romanticized vision of the world. The real world was cold and unforgiving. Things were not bright and cheery. Good did not always triumph over evil, and love did not conquer all.

Yet she could not shake the thought from her mind that perhaps she was missing something. Missing something that could perhaps help her better understand something. What that something was she hadn't the faintest idea, but still the thought ate away at her.

Her thoughts went to Iggy. Auto-Reivs infected with the Cogito virus were more like humans than machines. She had promised Iggy she would one day understand his soul. Even if the book was indeed lying, did she not owe it to Iggy to at least find out for certain?

Growling to herself at her lack of will, she walked towards the deck and called out "Vincent!"

She must have sounded angry, because the man nearly jumped before turning and looking at her questioningly.

She pointed to the inner area of the Rabbit. "Get down here. I need a word with you."

Kristeva and Pino looked to Vincent as if he had an explanation to give. He shrugged and followed Re-L down into the depths of the Rabbit.

"Look, Re-L, if it's about the seat-"

"Be quiet. I need you for an experiment."

"What?"

"Just shut up and stay still. This will only take a second, and it won't hurt. I promise."

"Sure. That's easy for you to sa-OW!"

She was in no mood for small talk, so she shut him up by stomping on his foot. And then, before he could recover his wits, she pressed her lips to his.

At first, she could discern no difference between this kiss and their last one. But then, she felt him begin moving his lips against hers, and she was forced to re-examine that conclusion. Indeed, this was better. And it only became better still when his arms wrapped themselves around her. Remembering that in the story the "female" robot had put her arms around the "male"s neck during the kiss, she did the same. This, too, appeared to increase the effect.

She let the kiss continue for only a few seconds more, before she decided to end it. Lightly pulling herself away from him, she had the smallest of smiles on her face. But then the dreamy smile on his face reminded her of their "situation".

Her smile became a glare, and she once again stomped on his foot.

"OW!" Vincent cried out, clutching his sore foot. "You told me this wasn't going to hurt."

"I also told you not to move. You did, therefore the guarantee became void."

"So…What was that for?"

"What? The injury?"

"No, the…Kiss…"

She walked past him so that he couldn't see the difficulty it took to keep up her façade as she stonily replied "As I said, I was conducting an experiment."

"And…?"

"I disproved my hypothesis."

"Ouch. You're so cruel sometimes, Re-L."

By this point she was at the stairwell. Pausing to turn around, she gave him the smallest of grins and said "You wouldn't say that if you knew what the hypothesis was."

Then, without another word, she rejoined Pino and Kristeva on the deck. As Vincent was left alone to ponder what had just occurred, Re-L suddenly realized that the experiment had taught her something else as well. Not only could she not imagine life without Vincent, but she didn't want to imagine life without him. A life without Vincent had very little meaning to her now.

As she stared out at the grand world that lay before her, Re-L's thoughts drifted towards the other book Kristeva had brought with her. The one that was clearly a romance novel. And she couldn't help but wonder what kinds of experiments that one would inspire.