All of Brandon’s incredulous comments about robots in the city made Nat pause for a millisecond before a smile formed and she chuckled.  Of course there were no robots in the city.  Why would a person even believe such a crazy thing?  She gave his hand a squeeze as they continued down the stairs before bursting through the front door of the building and stepping out into the sunshine.<br/><br/>The giant bear hug was an unexpected surprise but one that made her laugh.  Wyman was always saying things like that and her silly boyfriend was more than happy to oblige his friend in giving her hugs or big kisses on the cheek or even saying silly things designed to make her laugh.  Sensing him coming in to kiss her cheek, she tipped her head and lifted her chin to present the target to his lips.  “You know, if your men could see how goofy you are, they might never listen to you again,” she teased him as they headed down the street.<br/><br/>The pair practically skipped down the sidewalk, full of the excitement of moving into their BRAND NEW apartment later that day.  The movers were scheduled and were due to appear in a few hours.  Like any good teacher, Natalie had gone over the plan numerous times to ensure that everything would go smoothly.  Normally, with such big plans looming on the horizon, she would be going over the itinerary with Brandon until they were both quite knowledgeable about their respective parts of the operation.  Today though, her mind was a bit preoccupied with the supposed Robot Kidnapping.  At some point, she was going to have to reveal the truth about what she truly was.  A year ago, he had expressed ideas that he felt that maybe androids integrating with society wasn’t a bad thing.  Maybe he wouldn’t take her<i>big surprise</i>that badly.  Her brow furrowed slightly as she considered when and how it would be best to tell him.  The issue here was not<i>what</i>she was; it was that she had waited so long to tell him.  That was the part she thought he might not take so well.  She’d have to find a way to soften the blow.  Natalie’s lips pursed slightly as she sank deeper into thought.  Out of nowhere, the best idea<b>ever</b>popped into her head.  Puppies!  He liked puppies!  She could tell him she wasn’t human<i>and</i>get him a puppy at the same time!  He would love that!  She hoped.<br/><br/>Their wandering had taken them a few blocks down the street by now, the Bell Coffee Shop looming ahead of them.  It was a nice little spot.  She liked their strawberry tarts but they didn’t have bacon and her snookums specifically said ‘Bacon!’.  He wanted bacon so it was bacon she would provide.  As they got closer to the cafe, that low-key buzzing began in the back of her brain once more.  The alerts seemed to go off at the most inconvenient times.  Huge blue eyes flickered back and forth almost imperceptibly as her hand tightened in his, trusting him to guide her as her attention was elsewhere.<br/><br/>There were several androids in the Coffee Shop.  Most of them were inactive, their human side running the show at the moment as they fetched their morning beverages and snacks.  There was one anomaly in the list.  One of the androids in the shop was self-aware.  Natalie grumped softly to herself.  She hated this.  How was she supposed to tell if it was a programming glitch or one of the androids who had infiltrated the Resistance?  She couldn’t.  Part of her job was to catch programming glitches; this problem in the matrix meant she couldn’t complete a critical part of her function.  And it annoyed her to no end.<br/><br/>Brandon noticed her mood change and tugged her along with a laugh.  It was contagious and she couldn’t help but laugh too.  He really was the best man she had ever met.  There were times when she watched him sleep, amazed at how one small mistake a year ago (granted, a small mistake that included handcuffs) had led to this relationship.<br/><br/>“C’mon, sweet cheeks.  Let’s get you that<i>bacon</i>your tummy is demanding.”  Her voice dropped into a deep approximation of his when she said that one word, her eyes widening almost impossibly.  Natalie bumped her hip into his as they continued down the block to the Post House, a diner most famous for its pancakes and pork products.<br/><br/>They were seated quickly in a small booth built just for two.  Under the table, she rested her left foot on his right thigh, leaning back to get comfortable.  This was not their first time coming to this diner for a meal and the waitress quickly dropped off two cups of steaming hot coffee with a hurried “I’ll be back in a minute to take your order” before she dashed off to deliver food to another table.<br/><br/>“So what else did Wyman say about this crazy kidnapping?  Did they find the guy yet?  What about the crazy sign chick?”  Her brows lifted, her eyes looking even bigger.  “You better watch out if you try to track her down.  She might clock you real good and damage your pretty face.”<br/><br/>Their attention was diverted by the waitress finally appearing near their table.  The blonde smiled at the overworked middle-aged woman.  “I’d like the short stack of pancakes with scrambled eggs and…<i>bacon</i>.”  Once more she imitated her boo, laughing the entire time as the waitress huffed an exasperated sigh.  Brandon’s order was quickly scribbled down on the pad of paper before she disappeared to put their order into the kitchen.<br/><br/>Nat took a moment to doctor up her coffee with plenty of cream and sugar before lifting it to her lips, blowing across the top before she took a sip.  Blessed caffeine!  “Soo… puppy?  A big dog like Titan or a smaller dog that has to wear a sweater when it gets cold outside?”  Mental fingers crossed as she hoped he picked a smaller dog.  Titan, the police dog who had visited her classroom shortly after they met, was a nice dog but he was a<b>big</b>dog.  She wasn’t sure if they were ready for that responsibility yet.  “I’m thinking something small and cute.  Just like me.”  One eyebrow lifted, her coffee cup hiding her little smirk as she took another sip.<br/><br/>Two things happened at the same time.  Their food arrived, the table soon laden with plates and a breaking news alert appeared on the television mounted in the corner near the ceiling across from the counter.  As she fixed her pancakes with plenty of butter and syrup, she devoted half her attention to the broadcaster.<br/><br/><i>”We now have an update regarding the kidnapping of a Mister Thomas Moore.  Police have identified a person of interest they would like to question.  Based on a picture obtained from video footage, the young woman has been identified as Kassia Ochoa.  If you have any information regarding her whereabouts, call the number shown below.”  While the male reporter was speaking, a blurry picture of Kassia flashed on the screen with the phone number for the police tip line shown below.</i><br/><br/>She nudged her boyfriend with the foot still resting on his thigh and pointed with her fork towards the screen.  “Looks like Wyman was actually able to do something useful.  Maybe you’ll actually get to enjoy a whole weekend off so we can spend time together breaking in the new place.”  Natalie winked at Brandon before tucking into her breakfast.  She was hungry!<br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr"/><br/>Mekhi Washington was a man on a mission.  Word was that the Butcher had a new<i>client</i>delivered to her last night by Kassia and Jeremy.  He knew she never waited long to dig into her new test subjects, always hoping she’d find something that would help their cause.<br/><br/>He was on his way towards her quarters when he heard the distinctive sounds of nails on the concrete that made up the floor.  As long as she had Dante with her, it would be impossible for her to sneak around HQ.  Mekhi followed the sound and soon enough, after turning a corner, he encountered the woman for whom he was looking.<br/><br/>“Hey, Al.  Hey, Dante.”  He greeted the pair as he pulled a bit of cheese out of his pocket, a little bite he had saved from his breakfast on the off chance that he ran into the dog.  For her, he pulled a little bag of gummies and a napkin-wrapped blueberry muffin that wasn’t too squashed from being in his pocket.  “I figured you might like something a bit more filling than the gummies.”<br/><br/>Not wanting to interrupt their daily exercise, he fell into step beside the Butcher, his eyes drifting towards the papers she was holding.  More than likely her notes but he wouldn’t ask to see them nor would he demand she take them to Jacob.  No, he’d simply ask her.<br/><br/>“Find anything useful in that bucket of bolts?”