"By the way, you still have yet to explain to me what 'figure of speech' is."

"Oh, that's right. Well, allow me to shed a little light on it."

The entire way he spent explaining to her the concept. No matter how hard he tried though, it continued to befuddle her.

"So wait, you're telling me that due to intonation and various implications, that a straightforward sentence can mean something entirely different?"

"Exactly."

"That's completely silly!" she yelled

"The thing is you have to look for how ridiculous it sounds. For example, if I say I'm as hungry as a horse, it doesn't mean I'm actually as hungry as an equine. It just means I'm very hungry."

She cocked her head

"But horses aren't all the much hungrier than your average human, and it would also depend on the condition of said horse and-"

He could help but bust out in laughter. She could do over a billion complex equations in a second and analyze the entire human body in a night, sarcasm was just a bridge too far. She turned bright red.

"W-what's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing. It seems there are just some concepts we don't understand."

She grumbled a bit

"Oh, I'll show you not understanding."

"Sunset look!"

She turned her head to see the beautiful lake. It was an stunning sapphire blue and completely still. Sunset walked over to the lake and dipped her fingers inside.

"This is exceptionally cold." she said

"Exactly."

Anon began to strip down to nothing but his underwear. Sunset blushed again, looking away.

"What are you doing?"

"Going for a swim of course."

"It's ill advised to go swimming in this lake. Due to altitude and source of the lakes water, the temperature if far below acceptable-"

Not listening to a single word she said, he dove in with a running start. It was beyond freezing. He may as well be swimming in the glacier itself. He ran out within five seconds, shaking and shivering.

"I told you so." she scolded

He quickly began to put his clothes back on, shaking like a tree in a hurricane.

"I-i-i-it was s-s-s-so w-worth it th-th-th-though." he said through chattering teeth

Sunset lifted her eyebrow, giving a 'are you kidding me' look

"I don't really see how."

"That was a rush. Nothing wakes you up more than jumping into a freezing cold lake."

"I suppose that's true." she giggled "here."

No matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop shivering. The breeze was making it impossible to warm up. Sunset wrapped her arms around him. She was like a heater all of a sudden.

"You're so warm."

"My internal functions generate quite a bit of heat. If I don't vent it, I can become extremely warm like this."

"You're not going to overheat on me are you?"

"Of course not. I'm just keeping in enough heat to warm you up. I'll be sure not to let my heat rise to unsafe levels."

"Good."

Anon rested his head on her shoulder, basking in the pleasant warmth. This was the first time he had gotten a good feel of her. Her skin felt completely real, not like the sort of rubbery mesh that most androids had to simulate skin. She even seemed to be sweating. He listened closely and, sure enough, he could here the thump, thump, thump of a heart beat as well. They really were trying to make her as human like as possible. Never in all his years had he heard of an android with a heart beat. After about five minutes he was warm enough to let go.

"Alright. I think I'm good now."

As he let go, he heard a loud hissing sound, almost like that of air from a high pressure tank escaping. On the ground at Sunset's feet, the ground was scorched black.

"Jeez. That is some heat. You scorched the ground."

"I had to vent my heat sink."

"So what exactly is your internal body like? Do you have veins to pump oil around?"

Sunset chuckled

"No. I'm assuming you were listening to my heart. I don't actually have anything resembling a heart in my body, it's just the sound of one. My internal workings aren't too different from most common androids, except for materials. But the basic structure is the same."

"You were sweating too."

"Yes. I am able to synthesize the byproducts of my oil into something very similar to sweat."

"That's amazing. Is there anything else you can do that's like that?"

"Not really. Other than light hair growth."

He moved too a sitting position, Sunset beside him and looked out at the lake. He put his arm around her shoulder.

"What are your hobbies?" Anon asked

"My hobbies?"

"Yeah. A good way to get to know someone is to discuss their hobbies."

"I never really thought about it. I suppose I really like cooking."

"I can tell. You ought to teach me."

"I'd love too. Though I doubt you are capable of doing it to the level of precision I can."

"So long as we have fun, it doesn't matter."

"What about you what are yo-"

She abruptly stopped mid sentence. Not just her voice, but her entire body, even down to the position of her lips. It was as if she had been frozen in time.

"Sunset you ok?"

Anon waved his hand in front of her eyes. She just sat there, not moving an inch.

"Sunset? Sunset?"

He was beginning to get really worried now. Was this the glitch she was talking about? He shook her a few times

"Sunset! Sunset answer me god damn it!"

Sunset felt like her body was suspended in air, like it were floating through space. She couldn't see. She couldn't move. Couldn't speak. All she heard was a faint voice calling out her name over and over. She wanted to tell it to be quiet. It was so relaxing her. So peaceful. The voice, like an angry mosquito gnawing into her ear was disrupting the tranquil peace of this place. A face flashed in her mind.

Sunset jolted awake, as if some pressed a electricity to her.

"Sunset! Are you ok?"

Her auditory functions were slightly off, so were her visuals. His voice had a fuzzy quality to it, as if she were listening to a radio that didn't have good reception. Her vision was extremely blurry and in gray scale. After a few internal checks it was all set to normal once again.

"Yes. I am alright. Sorry about that."

"What in the world was that?"

"An error in my OS caused me to freeze. I had to preform an emergency restart to prevent catastrophic damage."

"Was that the glitch you were talking about?"

"I am not authorized to answer that."

"Is this going to be a consistent problem?"

"I am not authorized to answer that."

"We're going to get you help soon ok? I get payed when we ship out. So just hang on a little longer ok?"

"I will."

"For now, let's just take in the nature."

They sat there for a while in silence, looking out over the sapphire blue lake. The was hardly a sound except for the birds chirping and the breeze flowing. It couldn't be more picturesque. Anon checked his watch. It was half past noon and he was starting to feel hungry.

"You ready to head back, Sunset? I think some lunch is in order."

"Absolutely."

They got up and began to stroll back down the path

"So, what else does camping entail?" Sunset asked "What do we do after lunch?"

"There's a lot we can do. There's a little lake close to the campground where we can go boating. There's also plenty of trails to explore. We could even go cave exploring if you'd like."

"Cave exploring sounds like fun."

"Well then it's settled. After lunch, it's cave exploring."

As they walked further back, Anon was beginning to feel the strain. He sat down, panting hard.

"Sorry." he gasped "I'm not used to so much physical activity. I just need a minute."

Sunset gave a sympathetic smile

"Allow me to assist."

She squated down slightly

"Hop on my back. I'll carry you the rest of the way back."

"Sunset, I can't do that."

"Why not? I'm more than capable of carrying someone your weight. I can carry up to a maximum two tons at once."

It was amazing something so small could carry so much. Anon could hardly believe it.

"I know but..."

"But what?"

"It feels impolite."

"Don't worry about it. You're not inconveniencing me."

Anon reluctantly agreed, climbing on her back. It was then he realized she smelled rather nice, as if she were wearing perfume.

"What's the matter?" she asked

"Nothing. Just observing is all."

"Observing what?"

He went quiet. What was he supposed to say? That he was admiring how she smelled?

"Your heart rate is rising again."

"What did I say about monitoring that!?"

"Error. As per my programming, I am required to monitor your vitals at all times."

"I get it, I get it."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Don't worry about it."

Sunset giggled some more

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing." she said sarcastically

After a long while of uncomfortable silence, they found themselves back at the camp. Sunset placed Anon on the ground.

"Enjoy the ride?"

"Don't say it like that, it sounds weird."

Her pupils did the tic again

"Why?"

"J-just don't ok?"

Sunset walked over to the fire pit and the sound of pressurized air escaping filled his ears. Within moments, the fire was lit.

"Clever. Using your heat sink to light the fire."

"I figured flint might be inefficient."

"Hey, Sunny?"

"Sunny?"

"You don't like that pet name?"

"What's a pet name?"

"A pet name is cute nickname you give to someone you love."

"Hmmm... I've got one: Nonny!"

He cringed a bit.

"Needs some work. Usually their names of cute things. Like bunny or cutiepie."

"Hmmm... How about Lovepie?"

"Keep working on it, honey. But I did have a question."

"What's that?"

"What's your dream?"

"I don't dream like humans. That requires REM sleep, which I can only simulat-"

"No, I mean your dream as in your goal. What do you want out of this life?"

Without a moment of hesitation, she answered

"To be unique."

"Unique?"

"Yes. I want to be remembered for being something more than just a robot."

"Well consider that goal accomplished."

"What about you?" she asked "What's your dream?"

Anon had never even considered it. As it stood, he was set to take the head of the family business. But to him that was more a vehicle with which to make money, not a passion or a dream. He had his hobbies of course, but none of which he actually saw as a major goal. He stared into the crackling fire and asked himself one question: What did he ultimately want in life?

"I have no idea."

"Really?"

"Really. No matter how much I think about it, I just don't know what my main goal is."

"Well..." Sunset said "Since my goal is more or less achieved I'll readjust. My goal is to help you realize your own."

"With you, anything is possible."

Sunset walked over to the pit and removed the eggs she'd been cooking, placing them on a paper plate and adding various spices.

"I tired something a bit different with this one. I think you'll enjoy it just the same."

Anon took the plate and dug right in. She certainly did something different, however not for the better. It tasted awful, as if the spices she used were sulfur with a pinch of asphalt and tar. It took everything in his power not to simply spit it back out. He looked at Sunset's hopeful face and just couldn't disappoint her like that. He summoned all his will and pushed it down is throat, his eyes watering. Sunset, however, was not blind to this charade. She looked concerned, almost like she might cry.

"Are you alright?" she asked

"Yeah I'm-"

Anon had to fight a sudden urge to barf

"Fine." he finished

"You didn't like it?"

"No, no, no!" he rushed "I totally loved it!"

He took another huge bite of the vile eggs. The things he'd do for his android crush. To his surprise, Sunny's eyes filled with tears. Not those synthetic tears either, the ones you could tell were quite fake. But real tears.

"You know I can tell you're faking it right?"

He wrapped his arms tight around her

"I know. But I did it because I love you."

"Because you love me?"

"Yeah. I know cooking is your passion. So I bit the bullet and did it."

"But that's so silly."

"It's one of those weird things we humans do." he said "Sometimes we do things we don't want to do because we love someone that much."

"I'm sorry I made it so bad."

"It's perfectly fine. Don't sweat it."

She really did experience emotion. This was far from any imitation. She was human.

Author's Note

Sorry this was so incredibly late. Life happens you know. I'll try to keep chapters more regular.