“I will protect you as well Corrine.  It is my purpose, but . . .   Perhaps.”  She hesitated a bit, those cool blue eyes flicked to the floor, for a moment,   a slight twitch moved through her mechanical form.  She scanned her mind for the correct words to apply.  “But, perhaps . . .   It is my desire as well.”  There was a hint of softness in that tone, as big blue eyes fell shut for the first time, at least since Corrine had encountered the mechanical maiden.<br/><br/>Elohim watched the other woman head toward the altar, her eyes never leaving Corrine.  She was most interested in what she would do with that tiny bit of her.  She watched as a ‘secret compartment’ opened up within the rock, and watched as the other woman removed the chest and stowed that tiny portion of Elohim’s ‘mind’ within it.<br/><br/>“My heart?”  She asked she did a quick scan through her database that was not the object that pumped the life blood of her body.<br/><br/>There was another definition.<br/><br/>The seat of affection . . .   Could, Corrine be right?  That these moments were revealing themselves as the blossom of something that should have been outside of her grasp?  How could it be so?  It did seem as if she cared for the woman, it shouldn’t have been possible.  But, there was affection in her, compared to a human’s it was dull and muted, but to the mechanical maiden, even a spark of human emotion was like a conflagration<br/><br/>“Thank you Corrine . . .   It is an honor that you would keep it so close to you own.”  Once more that little flicker of affection was apparent in that soft voice, barely noticeable except by the closely observant, though, her brilliant aura remained constant.  Not even a flicker at its edges.  She took a step forward as the other woman approached her.<br/><br/>Elohim watched as the woman drew fourth some of her own blood, licking it from her fingers.  She did not understand the purpose of the action until it was spoken, and she gave a bit of a nod.  Her eyes reflected the licking flames, and she lifted her hand, a scalpel blade appeared from the tip of her finger.<br/><br/>“I bleed as well Corrine, but, you should not drink it...”  She pressed her index finger to the softness of her flesh, slowly dragging the weapon across her pseudo-flesh, immediately her sensors went dead in the area to numb the hint of pain as the gash appeared in her dermal layering, a shimmering substance almost like quick silver coursed from the wound, dripping down the contours of her orbs, and slowly sliding down the vinyl that encased her body, as clothing.<br/><br/>The small blade receded back into its housing, she then returned her finger to the wound, running the slender digit over it gathering some of the shimmering quick silver on the mechanical digit.<br/><br/>“If we are to be bound in blood...  I must share as well.”  She extended the digit, slowly running it down Corrine’s cheek.  The fluid itself was as cold as ice, and did in fact have a similar constancy as blood.  She drew a single line downward.   “Is this...  Adequate?”  She whispered, all the while her body stemmed the flow of her ‘blood.’  The wound remained though, as a slight fold within her false flesh.<br/><br/>“We go to war...”