Hello, potential future employer! The below document contains several samples of my writing. The first, Pilgrimage to the Bladeswept Valley, is a short fantasy story I wrote in the wake of an obsession with reading The Lord of the Rings over the preceding months. The second, ghost-lichen safety vhs, is an attempt at an analogue horror-style safety video from another world for avoiding uncaring yet destructive ghostly entities that freeze time for every object they intersect with, including humans. The third, Cosmic Bloom, is a conversation between two astronauts investigating a strangely compelling stellar object. Fourth is Here Lies Earth, a short poem about different people from different walks of life reacting to a world-ending cataclysm. Fifth I selected Hoverboard Vec, a story originally written for a creative writing assignment in university, following two people who share one body and their experience with a video game they’re playing through together. Finally, sixth up is A Romantic Moment in Space, a somewhat self-explanatory short story about two sentient robots and their shared life aboard the TCS Silver Lance spacecraft. All stories were written with ABSOLUTELY NO use of LLMs/generative AI. What you read here is pure human creativity informed by my own life experiences and careful study of media I love and understand deeply. I truly cherish the opportunity to share these with people, and I hope what I wrote reaches you in a meaningful way. If you’re looking for examples of my more professional writing, they can be found at my Medium page.
Day broke over Windtown as a traveler stepped through the crowd, all with bleary eyes as they wakened from the sleep of mere minutes ago. The traveler, clad in a cloak with purple-dyed fringe, was weary; she was also aimless, for the moment. She had several more days to pass the time in the town before her porter would finish making ready for their shared journey, and the quarries of the Bladeswept Valley were many days' travel. Stumbling forth, she came upon a tavern, and swinging the doors open found it to be in an off-peak hour. Her tired vision lead her to an empty seat near the table, and she took it without hesitation, drawing her bag up to the table and clumsily rifling through it for her wallet.
The bartender enthusiastically stepped up to her. "Your face I have seen naught before, traveler. Welcome, and please stay as long as you may wish! The busy hours await long into the day." The tired traveler could muster only a weary "thank you" as she settled in and let her eyes fall on a large chalkboard, the script on it just slightly too small for her to read without squinting. Seeing her struggle, the bartender quickly handed her a paper copy, and from there the traveler easily chose a drink. The bartender asked what her name may be, to which she replied "I am called Alem"; with that, she was left alone, parted with the smile of someone with a long day of tolerable work ahead of them, with a heart put at ease by a kind customer.
"Hello, fair traveler. On what errand do you visit my beloved hometown?"
Startled, she looked to her left, where someone of great stature had somehow taken the seat unnoticed. They wore a cloak, but underneath were clad in bright-burnished armor inscribed with the circular emblem and script of the Zeu. An aura of importance and a command of respect surrounded them. Why was someone of this demeanor speaking with a lowly traveler? Alem drew her cloak in on herself, taking her bag back under it. The strong-statured person noticed, and quickly reassured her; "you need not fear around me, traveler. I care for all who pass through Windtown, short their stays may sometimes be. If you would tell, it would please me to learn of your errands here."
Alem considered for a moment, then flatly stated "I am here only for two days more, for my porter will arrive soon ere we set out on our harsh journey."
"A journey! I do hold a fondness for those who would make such plans deep in my heart. It seems all too infrequent that anyone should set out beyond the borders of our town in these times. My work is with the traders, and we have never been in want, not so long as I have captained the routes." With this they drew up to a boastful pose, sweeping their cloak to the side. "I am Zasta, the one who manages the balance on which this town rests!"
"And what does someone in the realm of business need with such prideful armor?" Alem was not particularly fond of people involved in business; it seemed a boring life to her, one filled with the love of money and items and material things, which overemphasized strategy and research to drain life of its discovery and wonder. She had never met a businessperson who could appreciate the sun glistering off the brink of a towering waterfall, or could sit still for a moment to take in the unsettling beauty of the lakes in Fara's Sward, a long-forgotten town from another age visible on clear days through its deep blue surface.
Zasta simply shrugged. "My pay affords me niceties, and I find the armor suits me well, uncomfortable as it may sometimes be."
With that, the bartender returned to Alem and slid a tall, bubbling glass across the table. Alem rifled through her bag again for her straw, which she mainly used ironically; she found the looks she received when drinking through the hollowed-out bone amusing, and it was more comfortable and sanitary anyway. Finding it, she placed it in the glass, and with a polite thank-you to the bartender sipped of the refreshing ale. Then she spoke.
"Zasta, you strike me differently from the other business-people I've seen in my travels. Most of them pay people like me no mind."
"Really? I supposed I hadn't noticed. I speak not for the other trademasters of this town, but for myself, I enjoy learning about those who pass by here just as much as I care for those I speak to upon every new morning." Zasta swiftly took a menu as they said this, before settling on ordering the same ale as Alem.
Alem fell silent for a moment again, then spoke. "I would tell more of my errand to you, if you would listen. My time in this town has been lonely, and I would rather like to make a friend before I go."
"I would be glad to listen to your tale," Zasta paused, "but I should know your name first. Forgive me for acquainting you with mine before asking for your own."
"I am called Alem", spoke Alem, "and I can surely tell you some more of my plans." She swung her arm around the chair's backrest, turning to the side, and began her long tale.
"I set out for the Bladeswept Valley a week ago, for I desire to look upon the quarries in which my parents worked. In my youth the Valley was attacked by the Peak-people, and old spoils from their crusade must still rest there. I seek the swords of my parents, which I remember the markings of from their visits to me when I was a child."
"Pause, Alem. You seek swords from the Valley?"
Alem stole another glance at Zasta's armor. "Indeed. The Empire of the Zeu from which your armor comes would buy its metal ores from the Rent, which is a story I'm certain you know from your time in trading." Zasta looked down at their armor's engravings with a sharp wonder, and immediately their commanding air inverted to one of mild guilt.
"As I was saying, it's possible those swords still lay there, though I predict looters have not been kind enough to leave everything in place. My journey will take me to the quarry, where I will remain for several days, searching the dark for those blades. I may not find them at all, but since my youth I had resolve to try, and I've finally made ready to carry out my long-planned pilgrimage."
"Alem, you may not need to look so far." Zasta spoke with a trembling voice, moved by Alem's unwavering spirit. "Years ago, my trade convoy seized some spoils from that terrible battle. It may be that your parents' swords lie within this very town."
Alem jumped up, hurting her knee on the table. "If you speak truly, please take me to the stores at once!"
With that, Zasta lead Alem to the warehouse within which was kept the spoils of the Bladeswept Valley quarries. With Zasta's assistance, Alem searched through hundreds of blades. Each blade's surface contained the script of the Zeu, coiling around itself in elegant patterns that would often draw near the edge of the blades. Suddenly, Alem cried out. "Zasta, look! I recognize these inscriptions, for this blade bears my father's favorite poem. Hope is with me that he cleaved at least the skin of the accursed Peak-people before they felled him." They both solemnly slid the blade into a sheath, one of three that Zasta had gifted Alem for safekeeping. In time, they found the blades of Alem's mother and stepfather as well, stowing them safely before opening the warehouse door to find that it was night.
"Thank you, Zasta." Alem spoke with deep gratitude. "With these, my errand is done, but I wish to visit the Valley anyway ere my porter arrives in Windtown."
This took Zasta by mild surprise. "Why travel to the valley now? I'd presume you would want to return home with your newfound prizes."
"They are not mere prizes to me, Zasta, but also excuses. I planned for adventure in the Valley, but I found it here with a new friend. Now I wish to find more adventure, and a journey to the Valley should prove an interesting detour, though my challenge be complete." With this, Alem turned back to Zasta. "Would my friend care to share in the journey?"
Zasta thought. Still moved by Alem's story, they desired to share more words and travels with her, but were still bound by thoughts of business. "Would it be right to leave my post at the trading center for a flight of such a trivial pursuit? I need not to see the quarry."
"Zasta, you misunderstand. I go not for a trivial reason; I go to seek the beauty of Fara's Sward that lies on the path, and to explore the place my parents would live their lives in, and to see what else I may find upon the path there and back. Is it not enough to seek a journey for a journey's sake? Never have I met a business-person who could see the beauty in such things, but in you I see the seeds of one who could appreciate some severance from the crushing pace of a business-minded life. You have an adventurer in you. Would you let them demonstrate the wonders of the unfamiliar to you?"
Zasta spoke quietly: "I will go, Alem."
Alem smiled. "I entered a tavern today looking to sate my thirst, and I find a friend to ease my heart. Thank you, Zasta, and may we have interesting travels."
Rem Starre
Jan 19, 2025
in the event of observing a ghost-lichen drifting in your direction, follow these simple steps
step one: stay calm. excessive flailing may make the situation worse. ghost lichen exist on another plane of reality and as such cannot hear your screams or observe your desperation.
step two: move out of the way. scan the nearby area to determine whether it is safe, then briskly but not hastily move out of the ghost-lichen's path. if you cannot move out of its way or it changes direction back towards you, skip to step three
step three: if a ghost-lichen intersects with your body, remember that they are not malicious and will not devour your flesh if you do not move while intersecting. stay calm and keep the affected body parts as still as possible until you are certain that the ghost-lichen has passed completely through. try not to turn your head and if you are uncertain wait as long as you are comfortable doing so before moving.
step four: attempt movement. if you can take steps forward and are not physically harmed, you have successfully survived your ghost-lichen encounter. if while moving you feel pain, however, stay as still as possible and attempt to signal for help.
addendum: if the pain is inside of you, the ghost-lichen may have chosen to lay its eggs at the worst possible time. do not fret, however; medical professionals are trained in rapid organ replacement and can attempt to remove you from the eggs before they hatch. please do not attempt to walk away from the eggs without medical professionals at the ready, as ghost-lichen eggs have the same destructive properties as ghost-lichen and as such can kill unprepared individuals.
remember: stay still, stay safe!
hey. hey jare. you read me, right?
yeah, i read you.
jare, you've been out by that thing for a while. are you okay?
yeah, i'm fine. it's just fascinating. this thing just has a pull to it, you know?
its gravity looks normal.
i mean an emotional pull, fen. emotional. i'm aesthetically fascinated by it
yeah?
a flower in space. a bloom in the stars. it looks so much like the ones back on earth, just.. big
jare. can you come back to the ship?
yeah, anytime. i just want to study this a bit more. if only i could have brought my notebook.
you're in a space suit, jare. you couldn't hold a pencil if you tried.
couldn't i try, though?
..
..
yeah. i guess you could try.
fen.
jare.
i can't move.
what?
you heard me. i can't move.
hang on, jare. i'm coming out.
fen. i can't fucking move. oh god i can't fucking move.
jare, i'm exiting the airlock now. tether's on. propulsion's on. how are you for air?
my air is fine, fen. i can't move. oh god. i can't move i can't move i can't move
jare. i'm on the approach now. i don't like this thing.
i can't move i can't move i can't move
jare, what is that? that thing touching your boot?
oh god i can't move i can't move
jare, it doesn't look like it's grabbing you. why would it? it's a flower.
it looks like a flower, you mean
what else could it be? looks like one, and what else would it subsist off besides starlight? it's not like anything lives out here for it to grab like a barnacle.
fen i can't move please
jare. i'm coming up in front of you now. let me grab you and pull you back.
fen there's something in my helmet. fen it's me
jare. you're fine. you're still talking to me.
fen.
jare.
i'm taking off my helmet
don't be a fucking fool, jare. we'll get you back on board. you'll be okay.
fen i'm doing it
..jare. please.
fen i'm sorry you can't take me back i'm sorry i'm so sorry
jare, you- you. your head.
..
jare, i'm so sorry.
..
jare, i can't take you back to the ship. not like this.
..
jare. i'm going back.
..
you always did love flowers.
here lies earth, as i watch from above.
a voyeur to destruction, safe in my ship.
had enough money to escape to the sky
now i live like a monarch while i watch the rest die.
here lies earth, on a section of my comic page.
a superhero flies by displaying pure rage.
"how could this happen, i lust for revenge"
as our hero looks down on his fallen friends.
here lies earth, killed by neglect.
this is our punishment i expect.
men are born sinful, ripe for redemption
if my god chooses this path i will let them.
here will never lie earth, i scream. i deny.
i look up and whimper "i don't want to die"
as i watch the fireball scream closer and closer
i refuse to admit my life will soon be over.
here lies earth, i state plainly, staring up at the sky.
i promised my mother that i would not cry.
we could have had a shot if we had tried
but executives meddled and space privatized.
here lies earth, i shout running towards it
the asteroid approaches, the sky brightly lit
if i know i am about to die
i might as well be first to the impact site
here lies earth, i heard the radio chatter
thousands of years ago the planet shattered
could the shot not be easily deflected?
with such basic technology they could never have expected
"This place is beautiful in all the wrong ways."
Looking out over Blitz City, Vec couldn't help but wonder aloud as she considered the world. A few hundred meters above, after all, gave both a perfect view of her surroundings and a nice quiet place to ponder them. Glowing holographic projections dotted the once-clear sky, made possible by the ever-growing satellite advertising network in low-Earth orbit. She would stare at the stars, but she had given up on space as a comfort long ago when what she thought was a meteor shower turned out to be an advertisement for "singles in her area". Beyond the year 2030, she could no longer trust in space as her escapism.
She heard a sound and jumped, realizing she should have known better than to speak so close to a balcony. Her silent perch upon a tall apartment building transformed into a weapon, with the telltale red sights of taser-turrets trained on her. She needed to get down, and fast.
Cursing at herself for her carelessness, she grabbed her hoverboard and maglocked it to an exposed pipe. As she desperately tapped at her wristdeck to activate her repulsor, buckles fastened themselves around her feet and the board dropped, along with her stomach as she made the grave mistake of looking down to the ground twenty-two floors below. The taser fire behind her began and with it more turrets revealed themselves, the weapons charging and communicating through a central network to take the delinquent down.
Vec kept mobile, dodging taser fire as the horrific lightning-like shots arced through the air. Atop the board she twisted, spinning herself around each shot. Two taser shots hit each other in the air and made her lose her balance, giving another the chance to aim at her leg. It struck, bouncing off her repulsor but bringing it down in the process. Any more hits would knock her out.
Finally reaching the fifth floor, Vec began slowing down, just enough to kill her downward momentum entirely as she deactivated the maglock and pushed off the pipe. Her sideways jump brought her just out of range of the ground floor tasers, which retracted in defeat as she darted away from the building and toward home.
After mere minutes of hopping between powerlines and rooftops, Vec finally entered the sewers she knew so well. She rode up to a wall and cringed as she phased through the projected surface, finally safe in her hidden home. She rode into a pillar of light and the world stopped.
---
Ben selected [SAVE AND QUIT], waited a few moments and turned off his PlayStation 2. The *Hoverboard Vec* disc inside spun down as the system's power cut off. It was getting late and he would need to go to school tomorrow. Deciding to check in on his friends, he powered on his PC's monitor and listened to the CRT whir to life, the electron beam beginning its rapid scans across the screen. As the Windows desktop came into focus, he noticed that the demo for *Half-Life* had finally finished downloading, promptly forgetting about sleep and excitedly opening mIRC to tell his friends. He logged in as Jen, a running half-joke spawned of mistyping his name the first time he had joined his most active server.
```
jen> ayy half-life download finally done
jen> gonna play it when it's done installing wish me luck
grime> aye nice
jen> download finish on your end yet?
```
As Jen held the conversation, Ben slipped into his mind where he could be Vec again. Not quite a dream but not quite real, he allowed Jen to pilot the body completely as he slipped entirely into his own mind. The room faded, the computer screen and his friends unimportant as they were replaced by the Blitz City sewer save room falling into place around him. He knew in the back of his mind that this was separate from the world on her *Hoverboard Vec* PS2 disc; pushing that thought away finally set him free to explore the world as her mind reconstructed it. He could exist in this space as anything she wanted and so he chose the role of Vec. Her body constructed itself as she stepped out of the save point, jumping up as she threw her board beneath her feet.
---
```
grime> yeah it's done
jen> sweet!
grime> hey before i get invested how's ben?
jen> oh ben's fine
```
Ben and Jen, over many years of practice, had devised ways to seem unassuming and normal on the internet. Only their closest friends knew of their separated experience. Without knowing of extant words to explain themselves they were outcast by all but the most understanding.
The wounds of rejection never completely healed, though, and in times with no one else to turn to they turned to themselves. Pulling from their various interests they built worlds for themselves inside their mind, learning to manipulate their memories and senses to create places of comfort and familiarity. Ben, as Vec, could forget the outside.
Jen did not have that luxury. In this house, they were rarely safe enough to both enter at once.
Jen sat quietly and listened for a moment. Ben's parents across the hall were snoring loudly, but her unease prevented her from slipping into Blitz City with Ben. Sighing, she pushed away from the desk and stood up to go get a snack. Three steps to the door and a careful, slow opening later she slipped out into the dark hallway. Stepping out of the light beaming in from their room, she felt it cover her completely and began walking the path to the stairs that she had taken hundreds of times before. At the bottom of the staircase was an abyss, one that she stepped into moving down the creaking stairs slowly and carefully. Unable to see her hands, she felt along the walls to safely descend the rest of the steps. As she reached the bottom a car drove by, its headlights illuminating the room beyond.
---
As soon as Vec reached the Blitz City Dome she maglocked her hoverboard to one of its metal support structures and began riding it up. From here she could look in on the lives of the Blitz Elite, the families with enough money to afford a home inside the shielded Elite District. She knew it wasn't healthy, but she would come back here often just to silently mock the pretentious rich kids locked inside. The elite saw the dome as protection; Vec saw it as a zoo filled with the greediest people in Blitz City. From the Glamour District to the Work District every person was an exhibition of the many ways money and power can corrupt.
Vec could only imagine how terrible and unsatisfying it must be to live such a privileged life, spending every day with all the means but none of the drive to make Blitz City a better place. The Dome's perpetual cleanliness only emphasized the rot of the people inside.
Defense drones shot out of hidden charge stations and unfolded. Vec reached for her wristdeck. Even in her own head she couldn't find safety.
---
Jen started back up the stairs, holding a glass of iced tea and a bowl of yogurt. Ben hated iced tea, but Ben was busy so he would be indifferent. Jen considered how mundane it had all become; she still thought about her past sometimes, and how afraid of Ben she used to be. The fear was not entirely unfounded. Before Ben figured out that Jen was more than an aimless voice, he would suppress her around others out of fear that her existence would cause suspicion--
She pushed those thoughts away. She couldn't afford to cry when Ben's parents might hear. Stepping back into their room, she carefully placed the snacks on the desk and sat down to eat.
Only a single sip of icea tea later, Jen felt her consciousness move aside as Ben returned, exhausted from his time as Vec in Blitz City. "Back from the city?" mused Jen as Ben readjusted to life without a hoverboard. "Yeah, got noticed so I figured I would lay low out here for a while." Ben chuckled at the irony of his statement as Jen groaned and took a spoonful of yogurt.
---
```
grime> hey before i get invested how's ben?
jen> oh ben's fine
```
After reading the tone of Jen's reply, Victor pushed away from his desk and spun his chair. He could tell that Jen didn't want to chat, or at least he thought he could. He had never been good at reading tone in conversations. He turned on his TV and picked up the controller beside it to continue his game of *Hoverboard Vec*. As he directed Vec to ride a power line into the Fortified District, he wondered why Ben spoke so highly of the game. Sure, Vec is a cool character, but she never felt very relatable to Victor despite having a similar name. He concluded that there was some plot metaphor he wasn't getting and made a mental note to ask Ben about why he holds it in such high acclaim.
---
Jen glanced at the clock next to the bed. The glowing seven-segment display had just turned to 1:00 AM; tired, she finished the bowl of yogurt, chugged the last of the iced tea (to Ben's disgust) and turned off the computer's display. She groaned at the thought of having to go back to school in a few hours, but took comfort in herself and Ben having finished the day's assignments hours before.
---
Written for Creative Writing assignment, submitted Feb 19 2022
Rem Starre
30/10/2021
Vector stared into its PC monitor lost in thought, leaning back in the uncomfortable desk chair. It had meant to pick up a new chair at Crosscolor Station but couldn't find one for a decent price. Frustratingly, the cargo on the TCS Silver Lance could have paid for a hundred desk chairs if only Vector could find a buyer.
*Maybe there will be one at Andro,* Vector mused as it typed in a command.
Mere seconds later, the ships engines kicked in, sending vibrations throughout the ship as they built up charge. Years ago, Vector would have been terrified of the vibrations coursing through its mechanical body, knowing that a nut loosened even slightly could bring its components clattering to the ground. Thankfully, the new maintenance centre prevented such things, with a weekly step inside the chamber providing a full refresh. Now that it was thinking about it, a refresh was exactly what Vector needed. It stood up from its chair and turned toward the hallway, the door leading outside its quarters opening itself well in advance.
In less than a minute, Vector arrived. The brilliant design of the maintenance centre would have been mere fantasy just fifty years ago, but through the annoying power of a multi-trillionaire kicking the bucket and a fraction of his estate being inherited by someone who actually gave a shit, the technology that kept Vector in working order without human intervention finally came into existence. Vector hung up its lab coat and stepped into the chamber, letting the door close behind it.
The cleaning process was designed to be completed while powered off, but Vector preferred to stay on for as long as possible. The feeling of its components detaching from its body for cleaning was fascinating to it. As the deconstruction process began, Vector's limbs were the first to be unbolted and unplugged. Manipulator arms extended from gantries at the sides of the chamber and busied themselves unbolting Vector's left arm. Once unbolted, thin devices slid into the joints to unplug the cables; a major improvement over human maintenance personnel, who had broken the frustratingly delicate connections before. Vector directed its thoughts elsewhere and waved a somewhat pointless goodbye to its left arm before the manipulators returned for its right.
After a similar process took the rest of its limbs, the arms returned once again for Vector's display head. In preparation, Vector shut down. It may have found the feeling of losing parts of itself fascinating, but it preferred to avoid the mild horror of losing its final remaining senses.
> UNIT VECTOR-492 SHUTTING DOWN...
[...]
> UNIT VECTOR-492 BOOT COMPLETE
After what felt like only a second, Vector came back online, fully reassembled. It took its time testing each joint and motor to ensure they were fully functional before stepping out of the maintenance chamber. It wasted no time stepping back out into the hallway, starting back toward its room. The light strips behind the handrails on the immaculate walls glowed a slight pink, matching Vector's lab coat as it stepped through the transitional space.
It considered how much time had passed. A standard session in the maintenance chamber took half an hour and the ancient engines on the outdated TCS Silver Lance were inconsistent at best. Vector guessed the engines would be charging for the next several hours.
Suddenly, Vector's face lit up and it dashed to its room with a newfound sense of urgency. Flinging itself at its keyboard, Vector began typing as it sat down on the uncomfortable chair once again.
> and as we lay together
> staring out into the starry expanse
> i reach over to hold your hand
> on the TCS Silver Lance
It stopped. A familiar metal hand lay on its shoulder. Mildly surprised, Vector turned to greet the intruder.
"Who is this for?" A simple question, yet one Vector became flustered at the thought of answering. Unit Aio-1975 was no stranger to Vector's shy nature; xe knew as well as Vector did that articulating thoughts into spoken word was difficult for it. With a chuckle, Aio dismissed Vector's increasingly corrupted attempts at an explanation. Xe already knew exactly who it was for and made no attempt to pry the answer from Vector.
> >//<
Aio tapped the front of xyr faceplate against Vector's antennae, making the springy telescoping protrusion slide into itself slightly. The cooling fans inside Vector spun up, perfectly audible over Aio's silent liquid-cooling system. Aio enjoyed Vector's attachment to its older Robody revision and found the outdated systems only added to its charm.
Wordlessly, Aio took Vector's hand and tugged, gesturing to the door. Vector quickly stood up and followed Aio as xey stepped toward the hallway, already knowing what would come next. Its fans began to calm down as Aio lead it to the ship's observation deck.
Aio opened the door, revealing a staggering expanse of stars covering the domelike room, broken only by a control panel against one wall and a large, comfortable couch in the center. Stepping out onto the displays covering the floor never fazed Aio, but would be dizzying for Vector's squeamish self. Vector hesitated to follow, but quickly realized the amount of choice it had in the matter when Aio reached to cradle it in xyr arms. Aio carried Vector across the starry floor, directing its view up to the equally stunning ceiling as xey slowly laid on the soft couch.
Vector redirected its attention from the projected stars above to Aio's faceplate. It could easily stare into the darkness for hours, past those lit-up "eyes" into the apparent void of the curved plastic visor. Aio was a newer model, capable of expressing xyr current emotional state through the color of xyr "eyes." For the time, Vector stared into a beautiful display of amber light cutting through the darkness. Aio tilted its head, offering as much of a smile as could be displayed without a mouth.
> ^^
Vector, at ease, reached for Aio's hand. Aio gently offered it without hesitation, taking a moment to stare out into the starry expanse. Vector, following Aio's gaze, grasped Aio's hand tighter as it became lost in the sights of the universe.
Aio leaned down and bumped xyr faceplate against Vector's display. An attempt at a kiss. Xey chuckled as Vector became flustered again, its fans working to coax the increased heat from its body.
"A successful experiment," teased Aio.
"Only because you're so damn cute," Vector responded.
Vector wished to itself that it could stay with Aio for longer, but realized its battery was running low. Aio, however, gestured to the floor underneath the couch. Vector carefully reached under and its arm emerged holding a connected charging cable, perfect to stay with Aio for hours on end.
Vector considered the several hours it would take for the engines to charge, then leaned up to return the kiss Aio had attempted just moments before.