//Nathan: Connection

Nathan was glad that he hadn't made a move on Sae. He rubbed his throat gently. The feeling of the blade only centimeters from his neck had not been a pleasant one.

'Who does that, anyway!? If I tried to hit on her, she probably would've killed me!'

He was now more grateful than ever that he took the time to get better at acting. If they had realized he wasn't really asleep while they were talking during the night, who knew what they would have done?

While he was a bit disappointed that Sae and Ahn didn't trust him yet, he couldn't blame them. He probably wouldn't have if he was in their position. It hurt more than he would've liked to admit, however, that Amanda was reinforcing their suspicion.

'I suppose that most people would just hate me entirely if they saw what she did,' he thought. 'I should be happy that she's still able to look me in the eyes.'

His stomach grumbled.

"You should eat," Ahn said to him, gesturing to the small bag of food in the center of their raggedy campsite between the plain buildings.

Amanda and John sat up wearily, rubbing the sleepiness out of their eyes.

"I'm a bit hungry, too," Amanda said, reaching for the bag

"By all means, I only paid for it, no need to hold yourself back," Nathan commented bitterly.

.

Amanda shot him a glare, lifting her shirt to reveal the bloodstained bandages on her stomach. "I feel like I might need it a little more than most."

"Will you pay me back, at least?"

A protein bar flew at his head. He caught it and unwrapped it, devouring the entire thing in under ten seconds. Amanda shook her head as she took two more out, one for John, the other for herself.

Nathan looked up at Ahn, who was leaning against the stone wall. "Do you want some? You must be hungry too."

Ahn shook his head. "I've already eaten."

Nathan had to stop himself from laughing. It was a little too entertaining to mess with them. The androids, that was. While Sae and Ahn had been very efficient about concealing the fact that they weren't human, but they had been unlucky enough to come across him. He was probably part of a minority of under one percent of people that could identify them without using any form of technology, let alone understand how dangerous they really were.

He probably would have stolen their credits and ran by now if he wasn't so blatantly aware of what they were capable of. They really were freakishly strong. It wasn't just their physical capabilities or weaponry, either. The way they carried themselves, the concise movements they made; everything about the way they presented themselves radiated the fact that they were not only strong, but were incredibly skilled in combat, as well.

Nathan had met very few people who could beat him in a one-on-one fight, with or without weapons, but those two could probably finish him in a matter of seconds.

"Oh. My apologies, I must have not seen you eat," he said, struggling to keep a straight face.

Ahn looked at Sae for a moment, appearing to have a conversation without actually talking. Sae turned her cold gaze to Nathan briefly before returning her attention to Ahn.

'Telekinesis?' Nathan thought. 'Whoever made these two really knew what they were doing.'

He'd always been interested in technology, especially when it came to artificial intelligence. He was more skilled than the vast majority of the industry's most renowned scientists, and was able to see minute details that others couldn't. Many people claimed that modern AI seemed so human it was almost scary, but Nathan had not once seen an android that fit that description. They were all missing something. That went for these two, as well, but they were far closer than any others he had seen. It was like they were human, but had forgotten what exactly made them so.

He didn't think they held any form of malintent, but it didn't seem that they would have been the type to hesitate before killing someone that got in their way.

'Well,' he decided, 'I best not get in their way. I feel like whatever side they're on is going to win.'