Upon Silver Devil: Chapter Three

[I can't say i've ever seen him drunk actually. I haven't seen him in nearly ten years.] Hmm that'd be interesting. [He got tall.] He smiled oddly, trying to make light of what was clearly pretty awkward and difficult.

"We got off to a bad start when we first met, but once he was drunk, he was willing to walk me home from the bar and didn't even try to kill me. He was almost nice," James said, smiling at the memory. To Asher he said, "Pro tip: don't try flirting with Esk. He doesn't like it."

"I wasn't planning on it, but thank you for the warning," Asher said dryly.

Dawn left with Esk wondering if she would have to step in on the next brother's reunion as well even though Esk said he wasn't going to shoot his brothers.

~~~
Rigel stayed, watching Kay and the two androids. "I used to be a salvage pilot. Got a lot of old registration numbers and names that were never filed against."

Luka went with Dawn, looking a bit anxious as they followed a sullen, quiet Esk.

---

Kay shook his head at James' remarks. So many questions. [How did he end up with you all?]

He nodded to Rigel. [You would be willing to help us? ]

"As I understand it, it's a long story. Basically Dawn saved Esk so he helped her find Rigel, and then our resident bully cyborg, Vicky, claimed Esk as her toy so he got to come with us," James looked disapproving. He didn't like the idea of a person claiming another person like that, thank you very much.

Asher looked at Rigel, interested, "If you could help us to get Vestia a new identity, we'd be very grateful, and happy to pay you well for your effort."

Kay nodded to Rigel. [We're fairly certain the whole thing is simply an attempt to distract us, cause us problems and generally be spiteful so any help in avoiding the majority of that drama would be most appreciated. We can most certainly compensate you for the effort.]

He looked bewildered at James' explanation. [Toy? I don't think I want to know what my little brother's gotten himself into. He's never been particularly good at keeping himself out of trouble either. It's a relief to know he's alive though]

"Well they aren't in their relationship because they love each other, I'll say that," James said. "They seem happy enough though, I guess? And everyone else leaves him alone or gets along okay with him, so he's doing all right."
He coughed, "Okay, I know you said 'coworkers' earlier, but I gotta ask. Are you guys a couple, or am I totally misreading this?"

Kay tensed at James' question just ever so slightly. This was where not being able to communicate telepathically was especially frustrating, damnit. He glanced to Asher.
[What makes you say that?] He asked. Honestly he more curious than anything else. He made a note that they really must try harder not to be obvious, least so long as they were around people who would be irritating should they find out. Like Ellie. Ahem.

Asher tried to give Kay a 'maybe we should just tell him' look without being too obvious.

James pretended to not notice, instead answering Kay's question. "You seem to stay near each other, and seem to get unusually worried about each other's problems. Also the way you guys look at each other isn't exactly subtle." He smiled, "Not that it's any of my business, regardless. I'm just curious because Asher doesn't tell me a whole lot about his life, you know?"

Kay smiled a little. [He's not very good at talking about himself is he? ] He shrugged to Asher, sure, why not, tell him. What was he gonna do?

"He's too busy listening to idiots like me, to remember to talk about himself." James looked fondly at Asher.

Asher grinned sheepishly. "I'm trying! It's just a hard habit to break." He added to James, "Yes, you're right, we're a couple. I didn't mention it before, because we're making some halfhearted attempt at being subtle."

James looked pleased. "So I'm not imagining things! That's a relief. I mean I never expected you to end up in a relationship at all, but hey, people change, right?"

Kay looked amused. [It's very halfhearted. Honestly at this point the only person I care about keeping it from is the terran, and only because her lectures are insufferable.] He rolled his eyes.

Asher nodded. "She means well, but she spends far too much time worrying about other people."

"Ah, one of those types," James looked understanding. He added teasingly, "You know Asher, I always thought you were the professional one of us. You were so dutiful and good at following protocol! What in the world are you doing, dating a coworker?"

Asher shrugged cheerfully.

"You know, I intentionally avoided flirting with my very pretty coworker, because I thought, 'what would Asher think?'" James teased. "Turns out, I didn't need to worry! At least I'm the mature brother now, though."

"Oh boy," Asher looked amused, "You're going to make jokes about this for ages, aren't you?"

James nodded happily.

[In our defense, there's nothing in our employment conditions that stipulates no fraternizing between coworkers.] Kay looked a little sheepish.

"Yeah, if Vestia wanted us to not be together, she should have added that to the contract," Asher said. Not that he could sign a contract like that, anyway, since he wasn't legally recognized as a person. Hah.

"Always follow the rules to the letter, and no further," James said proudly. "You'd both make great androids. Oh wait."

[She also wouldn't have played ridiculous music and made jokes about it.] Kay pointed out. Yeaaaah, vestia's interest in their relationship was odd. Funny, but odd.

"Yeah, or that," Asher made a face. "For someone who sees all the drama of twenty plus people every day, she's oddly enthusiastic about our relationship."

James looked amused. "Better than getting fired, I guess?"

Kay nodded. [That's one way of looking at it. ] He smiled and looked to Asher. [Would you like a chance to catch up with your brother alone? I'm certain you have a great deal to talk about.] He looked to Rigel, they should try to get this registration thing sorted right?

Asher smiled. "I'm sure he's waiting til you're gone to chew me out, we should give him the chance to do that. You and Rigel can talk things over, I guess?"

Kay smiled and nodded. [Of course he does, that's what family do isn't it?] He glanced back toward the airlock, shaking his head.
[Go easy on him] He told James with a smirk.

"Thanks, Kay! I like you, so I'll hold back my fury." James didn't look furious, just amused.

Asher pretended to be scared.

Kay looked amused. [Good good. ] He went to go talk to rigel about important ship stuff.

Rigel was watching this interaction curiously "Changing it is simple enough so long as you have an unused one to replace it with. Finding a smartship name and regs is harder than a normal ship, but doable. Only thing is, I have to be on the ship to change it and you would want to be away from any planet or station when it changes so 'Vestia' can disappear."

James’ room was weirdly familiar looking, Asher found. Back on the space station they had made use of a few rooms on the maintenance deck, which they had furnished with discarded couches, and shelves for tools to repair themselves. James had done the same here, setting up a little shelf unit and a couch, with various android necessities nearby for any emergency repairs. He’d put a few books on the shelf, including a Seven Series Owner’s Manual, and a copy of “I, Robot” by Isaac Asimov, that appeared to have been thrown across the room a few times.
Asher smiled at the sight of those books; he remembered both of them well, and was glad to see that they hadn’t been lost during his brother’s travels. “Nice place. Where’d you find the couch?” he asked, sitting down.

“Believe it or not, I bought it,” James said, flopping down next to his brother. “I never bought much back on the station, but I figured with the allowance I’d saved up and how homesick I was, I might as well get myself something nice and homey.” He patted it fondly, “Looks just like the one you guys gifted me the day I arrived.”

Asher smiled fondly. “How are you settling in here, by the way?”

James shrugged. “They’re nice, mostly. I never expected to care about an owner, but Acus isn’t so bad.” He lowered his gaze, “Mostly.”

“Acus ordered you to shut up, and now you’re scared of what he’ll ask next,” Asher guessed.

James nodded. “I hate the waiting,” he said, “I know he’ll order me to do something again, many times, no doubt. But I don’t have any idea what he’ll order me to do, and that terrifies me.”

“I felt the same way when Starr first bought me,” Asher admitted. “I’d gotten used to having personal freedom, since I had no orders except to return to Mars. I knew Starr already, knew she was kind and sensible, and had personal reasons to not want to give me orders, but I know the stories, and I was scared too.” He smiled softly, “I needn’t have feared. She’s been nothing but kind to me, and I trust her completely.
“Your owner doesn’t sound like a bad guy, but it might be good to make sure you’re not under his control anyway. Like I mentioned earlier, Mourn can free you of your Laws. Alternately, I could work with Starr to get your papers transferred to her, if you didn’t feel ready to handle life without the Three Laws. You’d be safe with her as your owner, and I’m sure she’d even let you stay with the Silver Devil if you liked.”

James frowned. “So why are you so worried about the dangers of being without the Laws?” he asked suddenly.

The older android sighed, looking away. He thought for a bit, not sure whether to explain. But of course, he had promised James honesty, so eventually he replied, “A few months ago, we were attacked by the Family. They boarded Vestia and came after all of us. We knew they would do unspeakable things to us when they caught us, so we fought desperately. I took a gun, and I shot people. Not to incapacitate, to kill.” Asher lowered his head.
“It got worse. They caught us all, brought us in. Their least favorites, they tortured mercilessly, in horrific ways I don’t care to elaborate upon. They approached the rest of us with deals, offering us better treatment in exchange for our service. I thought I might earn their trust that way, and get a way out for us. They asked me to prove my loyalty.”

James waited, afraid to hear what Asher had done.

“They had a gun of some sort, built to cause intense pain. It had six shots in it, and they said the more I used, the better things would be for me. They said I would be using it on Kay.” Asher tried to remain detached as he spoke. Yes, the memory hurt, but he wasn’t looking for pity. He was warning James just how dangerous freedom was, and that was all that mattered. “I accepted the offer, and I used all the shots.”

“You did that to Kay?” James whispered. Kay and Asher’s reaction to Mourn’s comment about scary efficiency made a lot more sense now.

“I thought it was the only way we could escape,” Asher said softly. “I knew it would be the cruellest thing I’d ever done, and it was.” The fear, the pain, the complete confusion in Kay’s eyes flashed through his mind once again, just as painful as always. “I don’t want you to ever do that to yourself.”

James looked at him in horror. He’d never thought that his brother could be frightening; this was Asher! He was kind, and goofy, and he felt sad about the fact that someone had hurt themselves while punching him. He was nice to a fault!
...He was also practical, did his duty no matter how much it sucked, and cared so much about the safety of others. Exactly the sort of person who would shoot his boyfriend to protect everyone.

Asher waited quietly, unsure how James would respond to this.

James looked at him for a few seconds longer, then tackled him with a desperate hug. “Asher,” he said softly, “I know it hurts, and I know you never want me to experience what you’ve been through. But if my friends and I are ever in a situation like that, I want to be able to try to make the right choice myself, not have it decided for me by some stupid Laws that don't even work right, half the time. I know I might make a choice that will break me someday, but I need the chance to try and do the right thing, just like you tried. I’m going to ask Mourn to fix me.”

The older android sighed wearily, then smiled. “I hate the idea of you experiencing that guilt. But I guess you’re no stranger to pain, and you should at least be able to pick it for yourself.”

“Glad you understand,” James said, finally letting go of his brother.

“Emma would be proud of you, you know,” Asher told him. “You’ve tried so hard to be yourself, even when everyone was trying to make you conform, and you look out for your friends as well. I wish she could see you now.”

James smiled sadly. “She’d be proud of you too. Look at you, all brave and grown up, and still a good guy after everything you’ve been through.” He joked weakly, “At least you probably haven’t gotten over your fear of water yet.”

“Hmm,” said Asher innocently.

The younger android looked at his brother for a long moment, then gave a delighted laugh. “Hope you’re keeping your skin in better repair these days, if you’re gonna start showering again. I’d hate to have to carry on Emma’s tradition for her.”

Asher winced, glancing at the Owner’s Manual on the shelf. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I would!” James looked pleased. “I’ll read you all sixty pages of warnings and disclaimers, just like she used to when one of us would almost self destruct. Like you said, she’d be proud of me. I’m so responsible these days.”

“Please, no!”

“‘Warning: unit is not designed for exposure to water. Please ensure that any skin damage is repaired before permitting your Seven Series android to access water’...”

“Nooo! Not the Owner’s Manual!”

The conversation rambled pleasantly, and they talked way too long, about way too many things, just relieved to finally speak to each other honestly. There were still secrets of course, but James was okay with that. At least he finally really knew that his brother was all right, and there was finally hope that he could be free.

Kay nodded to Rigel, it made sense.

[If you are willing to do so, you'd be welcome on board. Vestia is honestly very nice, as are most of the crew. Frustrating and moronic at times, but not out and out bad people.] well, not fully terrible people at least. Terrible acts in your past didn't mean you were irredeemable. [Once you're done we could drop you back to your ship i'm sure. Or wherever you wanted to go.]